I Was Supposed to Be the Villainous Consort

The affair between the Baozhuang Building and the Tao family had been the talk of the Capital City for a while, but now Yan City had become the new topic of gossip.

The noble ladies of the Capital City would only sigh that such a good granary had burned down just like that, and that the people of Yan City would probably have a hard time next year. But their concern ended with a single sigh.

Yan City was far from the Capital, so it didn’t affect the people there in the slightest.

However, the attitude of the court officials was completely the opposite. After hearing what his son had to say, the Left Minister in particular felt that the situation in Yan City was likely even more complex than he had anticipated.

As it involved military affairs, the Left Minister wanted to host Prince Zhenbei to ask for his guidance, but the prince claimed illness and refused to see anyone, shutting his doors to recuperate.

Helan Yue was still training with the army, so no one could get ahold of him. He Lan Yun, however, became the target for everyone trying to fish for information. Unfortunately, Duke Qin had seen the writing on the wall and made plans early on, sending his mother and daughter-in-law to a country estate under the pleasant guise of "admiring the autumn scenery."

After hearing Zhang Maoquan’s report on the outside world, Song Yunzhao thought that Duke Qin was a truly interesting man. It was He Lan Yun’s good fortune that he was so thoughtful on her behalf.

Song Yunzhao had done all she could. The rest was a political game to be played out in the court, and it had little to do with her.

Since it involved the military, Prince Zhenbei was refusing all visitors. What did that mean? It meant he didn’t want to get dragged into the mess.

The military was already a murky business. If one waded in, they might find themselves completely submerged before they could even gauge the depth.

After careful consideration, Song Yunzhao wrote another letter to Feng Yi. In it, she indirectly touched upon the current situation in the Capital City. Her main purpose was to report that someone was targeting her father, with giving a hint as a secondary goal. She read the letter over one more time and, finding no oversights, sealed it and had Zhang Maoquan deliver it to Taixi Hall.

Feng Ze was sleeping soundly beside her. Yun Zhao turned her head to look at her son. ’Children grow up in the blink of an eye.’ This little guy could eat, sleep, and get into trouble, and his small frame was growing quickly. Nowadays, if you put him in the Imperial Garden and didn’t watch him like a hawk, he’d be gone in a flash.

He would disappear the moment you let go.

He was only this quiet when he was asleep. She reached out and gently poked her son’s cheek, then got back to her work.

She had to pick up the matters of the Baozhuang Building again. The terms of cooperation for the southern business also needed to be redrafted.

Xie Jinshu had sent a letter in, reporting that Ling Yunhe had contributed a great deal to the grain collection efforts. Moreover, he had used the situation to seize control of the Ling Family. He was quite adept at using a situation to his advantage.

Since Ling Yunhe had shown his sincerity, Yun Zhao naturally wouldn’t go back on her word. She would still entrust the Baozhuang Building’s partnership to him, but to avoid a repeat of what happened last time, the contract would be much stricter.

Previously, she had entrusted these matters to Feng Yunjin, and she planned to have her continue to manage them this time as well.

The Baozhuang Building’s business was booming. It had to be said that the improved formulas from Princess Consort Wan were truly effective. After all, what woman doesn’t want to be beautiful?

Even a young woman from a common family would save for months to buy a box of Rouge, as long as the price was acceptable. If used sparingly, one box could last a very long time.

This time, Song Yunzhao also separated out the business for the Treasure Pearl Building. She wanted to hand it over to Xie Jinshu. She couldn’t repeat the same mistake she made with the Ling Family, so this business would be given to Xie Jinshu alone, with no connection to the main Xie family.

As for how Xie Jinshu would divide the profits with the main branch of the Xie family, that was his responsibility.

By giving the business to Xie Jinshu alone, she was undoubtedly increasing his standing within the Xie family, and that was enough.

Song Yunzhao had many ideas. Consort Shu couldn’t be bothered with such trivial matters, and Princess Consort Wan was completely engrossed in her fragrance formulas, unable to tear herself away. So, she summoned Feng Yunjin to discuss business. After settling the general arrangements with the Ling and Xie families, she had Wang Zhaorong, Han Jinyi, and Lu Zhixue invited for a small gathering.

Han Jinyi and Lu Zhixue hadn’t been idle lately, either. Business was so prosperous that the workshop was preparing to expand. Finding artisans wasn’t an issue, but if the workshop were to grow, their current space would no longer be sufficient.

Either the surrounding workshops had to be moved to make room for them, or they had to move out. The two of them had been wrangling with Fan Deshi over this very issue.

Upon seeing Yun Zhao, Lu Zhixue, who never minced her words, immediately started to complain. "That Fan Deshi is completely unreasonable! No matter what we say, he refuses to move the neighboring workshops, but he won’t let us move out either. It’s infuriating!"

Han Jinyi was usually good-tempered, but even she was nodding nonstop in agreement with Lu Zhixue, which showed how truly incensed she was.

Wang Zhaorong chimed in with a specific example. "Next to us is a chamber pot workshop, the one that supplies the entire palace. The place isn’t large, and they aren’t usually busy, so moving it elsewhere wouldn’t cause any problems. But Fan Deshi just won’t agree. If it were a place for raising chickens, ducks, fish, or geese that was difficult to relocate, we wouldn’t push the matter. But what’s so difficult about moving a chamber pot workshop? He simply won’t budge."

Song Yunzhao was taken aback for a moment. "There’s a workshop dedicated to making chamber pots?"

’Well, that’s a new one.’

"Of course there is. The Inner Workshop is prepared to supply basically anything that might be used in the palace." Whether it was actually needed was another matter—the point was that it had to be available.

Song Yunzhao understood the implication. ’No wonder the palace’s annual expenses are so massive. With so many idle people on the payroll, how could they not be?’

"Then what is Manager Fan’s reasoning? Did he give one?" Song Yunzhao asked.

Lu Zhixue grew even more furious at the mention of this. "He just opens his mouth to say ’This servant is incompetent’ and closes it with ’This servant is at fault.’ What are we supposed to do with him?"

’I’ve never seen someone so shameless. He’s great at paying lip service, but the moment you ask him to solve a problem, he just plays dumb.’

"A court-appointed official acting like a common rogue, and there’s nothing we can do about it," Han Jinyi sighed.

Song Yunzhao hadn’t expected to hit a snag here. Since becoming General Manager, Fan Deshi had been doing everything strictly by the book, refusing to step even an inch out of line. He was clearly terrified that someone would find a reason to have him kicked out of his position.

"Then let’s just wait for now," Song Yunzhao said. She guessed that with the Emperor away from the Capital City, Fan Deshi didn’t dare to make any decisions on his own authority.

"But if we can’t produce enough Rouge, what will the shops do?" Wang Zhaorong asked with a frown.

Song Yunzhao considered for a moment before speaking slowly. "Let’s discuss it again after I’ve made some inquiries. We can’t be too hasty with this matter."

’Swapping workshops in the Inner Workshop isn’t something that can be done on a whim. There are procedures to follow. With the Emperor away, Fan Deshi doesn’t want to offend anyone, nor does he want to put in the effort.’

’Song Yunzhao could understand his position. She had no special connection to Fan Deshi; he was a court official, and she, a mere concubine, couldn’t do anything to him. He was just using clever words to stall them. Once the Emperor returned to the capital, the problem would naturally be solved.’

"Could someone else be behind Fan Deshi, instructing him to make things difficult for us on purpose?" Lu Zhixue suddenly asked.

Hearing this, Han Jinyi said with some hesitation, "I doubt it. After all, this is a matter concerning the Inner Workshop. Who would normally pay attention to something like this?"

"The Tao family!" Lu Zhixue exclaimed. "Didn’t the Tao family just lose a great deal of face a while ago?" The more she spoke, the more plausible it seemed. ’It might be difficult for others to interfere, but the Tao family has the Empress Dowager behind them. For them, it would be easy.’