Chapter 26: Mei Niang Goes into Business

  A group of maids and female servants watched Qin Mu Bai with infatuated expressions for a while, then retreated with giggles.

  "All the idle people have left, tell me, what do you want to do?" Qin Mu Bai sat down in the chair and asked while drinking tea.

  "Oh, is it always so stiff between husband and wife?" Wu Meiniang smiled slyly, holding the ball and slowly pacing around Qin Mubai's side in a circle, but not saying a word.

  Little girl, you're still trying to outdo me?

  Qin Mubai couldn't help but laugh in his heart, but his face remained stern. He said, "I'm on duty and busy, I don't have time to idle away with you. Speak, what's the point of sending a foolish maid to tell a foolish lie to deceive me?"

  "Hmph, how boring! You're not even a decent person, not as interesting as Wu Yuanqing and the others!" Wu Meiniang seemed to be slightly annoyed, threw the ball away, stomped her feet and sat down beside Qin Mubai, but turned her face away, refusing to look at him directly.

  "You gave up so quickly, how boring." Qin Mubai said with a chuckle while sipping his tea.

  "You!... Hmph, you scoundrel!" Wu Meiniang's little trick was exposed, and she felt utterly humiliated, her face flushing with anger as she puffed out her cheeks.

  "I knew it, those two foolish brothers of yours, how could they possibly have the guts to bully you and your mother?" Qin Mu Bai smiled and said, "The result is not beyond my expectation. Not only did they not dare to bully you again, but they also became your servants, obediently listening to your orders and enduring your bullying. Tell me, what kind of magic spell did you use on them, little demon girl?"

  "Hmph, you call your plan a strategy, and mine is just a wicked trick? Wu Meiniang sneered and rolled her eyes, but a hint of pride appeared on her face as she said mysteriously, "Isn't it because I have a powerful backing and grasped their weakness?"

  "What's the handle?"

  "Do you want to know?" Wu Mei Niang smiled slyly, picked up a cup of tea and slowly drank it, waited for a while before saying, "I won't tell you!"

  "You don't have to tell me, I don't care, it's your family business," Qin Mu Bai said. "I just think that you're always infighting in this family, is it interesting? They didn't provoke you, but you took the initiative to bully them. An eye for an eye, is it fun?"

  "Qin Mubai!!!", Wu Meiniang suddenly shouted loudly, jumping up and pointing at him, scolding with anger, "You dare to pretend to be a virtuous gentleman in front of me! To think about it, isn't all this because of you?"

  Qin Mubai didn't get angry, but was a bit stunned and surprised: "What does it have to do with me?"

  "Wasn't it you who told me to pretend to be a villain, act like a seductress and do all sorts of evil things to annoy the Emperor? I'm doing exactly that now, but instead you're scolding me. You're not even a real man!" Wu Meiniang shouted angrily, "The Emperor likes women like Empress Longsun - she's filial, so I'm deliberately disobedient and bully my own brother; she's wise, so I'm overbearing and unreasonable; she's reserved, so I'm... (vulgar), and I even bought a bunch of beautiful concubines to come back with me, to keep me company every night in song and dance. And that's not all - I even let them share my bed on spring nights!"

  "Huh!......" Qin Mu Bai's mouth twitched a few times, and his eyes were even slightly straightened - same bed spring night? Grinding glass?

  It's fine to bully Wu Yuanqing a bit, it's just an act. But bringing a group of beauties... and sharing the same bed with them*, that's probably a bit too much.

  Well, even if it were a man, it would be considered immoral at most; but if it were a woman... cough, if one's own wife had the wrong sexual orientation, it would really be a headache!

  A moment later, Qin Mubai's heart flashed brightly and couldn't help but laugh secretly: She was still an innocent little girl who hadn't experienced the world, that shouldn't be possible. This little girl was intentionally angering me, and almost fell for her trick!

  "How come you're not speaking up? Everything is going against Empress Longsun, making me infamous, isn't this the result you wanted?" Wu Meiniang said indignantly and rapidly, "You should be very satisfied, shouldn't you be praising me profusely?"

  "Mei Niang, although you say so, but you also need to grasp the measure, right? You haven't even crossed the threshold yet, and you're already with a bunch of women... Where do you want me to put my face?" Qin Mu Bai followed her meaning and teased her into speaking, but in his heart, he wanted to laugh.

  "Hmph, stinky man, you also know to care about your reputation? It seems that I, Wu Zetian, don't need to care about my reputation and can be shameless!" Wu Zetian retorted sharply.

  "Alright, I know you're a clever person and won't do anything too out of line. You're just mad at me and trying to annoy me." Qin Mu Bai said with a smile, "Speak up, what did you call me here for?"

  "Can't you show some excitement, indignation, or even yell at me and argue with me? It's not fun! There's no sense of accomplishment!" Wu Mei Niang sat down in a huff.

  "Hehe, it's rare to see you, I don't want to quarrel with you. If I really hit you, scolded you and bullied you, wouldn't that be a waste of you?"

  Wu Meiniang had been holding back her temper for a long time, and finally she rolled her eyes and hummed: "Don't worry, I'm not some kind of weirdo. It's just that the winters in Guan Nei are much colder than those in Jingzhou, so I get a few sisters to sleep together with me to keep warm, it's not as dirty and shameful as you think!"

  "Alright, stop fooling around," Qin Mu Bai said with a smile, "speak up, what's the real matter?"

  "I want to start a business!" Wu Mei finally got down to business.

  "Doing business? How did you suddenly bring this up?" Qin Mu Bai asked in puzzlement, "Now your family is a first-class national duke's mansion, and you're the second daughter of the family, what kind of merchant are you supposed to be?"

  Originally, in Qin Mubai's mind, doing business was a great thing. With his talent and knowledge in this era, doing business would naturally be very profitable. However, the current environment had placed a huge restriction on him for doing business.

  In the minds of the Tang people, merchants were very lowly. The four major classes of "scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants" ranked merchants at the bottom. The Tang Code even explicitly stipulated that the sons of merchants were not allowed to participate in imperial examinations, nor could they become officials or join the military. In the eyes of the world, merchants were also cunning, profit-driven, lowly people. Even if you were rich enough to rival a country, you would still be looked down upon, and not even have the social status of a farmer who tilled the land.

  The Wu family, in fact, also originated from merchants. Wu Shiyue, the father of Wu Zetian, was a timber merchant at the end of the Sui dynasty. At that time, he invested all his property to Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang, who started an uprising in Taiyuan. Later, when Li Yuan seized power and became emperor, the Wu family gained merit for their contribution to his success, thus transforming from a humble sparrow into a majestic phoenix.

  However, despite this, the Wu family in the court of the Tang Dynasty and in the eyes of officials still cannot shake off the shadow of their merchant origins - no matter how high a position Wu Zetian had held, her colleagues still looked down on her. This is also one of the reasons for the decline of the Wu family's fortunes today.

  The emperor, although considering the face of the former emperor, posthumously conferred on Wu Shizong a third-grade Shangshu title and retained his first-grade Duke of Yingguo treatment. By reason, he should have let his eldest son Wu Yuanqing take over the position of "Jingzhou Dudu" that Wu Shizong held before his death, or at least transferred him to an official position of the same level. However, Wu's two sons, Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuan, did not even get a ninth-grade official position, and could only guard their mansion and fields in vain, waiting for death. A major reason was that they were born into a bad family - as sons of merchants, they were not allowed to hold office.

  "What's wrong with being a merchant? My father was once a merchant too." Wu Meiniang had a bit of a spoiled temper and hummed, "Anyway, our Wu family has become like this now. Even if we don't do business, others will still consider us as children of merchants. Moreover, because of what happened between you and me, the emperor dislikes our Wu family even more. If I want to make achievements in my official career, it's absolutely impossible. So why not just accept my fate, take over my father's business, and earn some practical wealth to live a better life? I love money, so what? You can't give it to me, but you won't let me earn it myself?"

  Qin Mubai was speechless for a moment. This Wu Zetian, although her personality is a bit strong and radical, but she is a person with a strong spirit of progress, dare to break through the old rules and customs, and everywhere shows the characteristics of a businessman who is willing to work hard. However, thinking about it, if she didn't have this spirit since childhood, how could she possibly direct a feminist movement in history, overturning all the old rules in a male-dominated world and becoming the first female emperor?

  "You're the one who's supposed to be talking!" Wu Mei Niang said with some impatience, stamping her foot as she pressed him for an answer.

  "If you want to do business, then go ahead and do it. Actually, I think there's nothing wrong with that. If my father hadn't opposed it, I would have wanted to do business myself. But since you're doing business, what brings you to me? Is there something I can help you with?" Qin Mu Bai said.

  "Hmm, you're not just flattering me to make me happy, are you really interested in doing business? Humph, the third young master of the Qin family would stoop to being a merchant? You must be kidding! But never mind, I won't hold it against you!" Wu Mei Niang clapped her hands and smiled mysteriously. "I called you here because you can help me with something. Otherwise, do you think I'd still be thinking of you? I'll just say three words and you'll understand."

  "Say."

  Qin Xian Wine!

  "Huh?" Qin Mu Bai's eyes lit up, "How did you know?"

  "I didn't know either, because our Wu family couldn't attend the grand celebration banquet at the imperial court." Wu Mei laughed with a hint of cleverness and said, "However, merchants are the most diligent and well-informed people in this world. They always manage to get wind of something first whenever they want to know about it. The imperial palace is often where the biggest business opportunities emerge. Once the emperor likes or praises something, it will inevitably become a trend throughout the land. You should understand that, right?"

  "It's true," said Qin Mu Bai, "Qin Xian wine is brewed by me. Throughout the Tang Dynasty, I'm afraid only I know how to brew it. The emperor personally visited my family and bestowed the name 'Qin Xian wine' upon it. At that time, I had a strong urge to sell the wine commercially. However, my father was a stubborn and strict person who adhered to etiquette, and he was in poor health, so I didn't want to upset him, therefore I never mentioned it."

  "That's great, now the opportunity has arrived!" Wu Mei Niang clapped her hands and laughed, "Yesterday, a big merchant came to our Wu family, specifically looking for me, saying he wanted to cooperate with me to sell this 'Qin Xian Wine'."

  "Which merchant?"

  "Chang'an's first rich merchant - Zheng Fengqi!" Wu Meiniang said, "It was him, the big businessman who once boasted to Emperor Gaozu. He said that no matter how many trees were on Mount Zhongnan, even if a piece of silk was wrapped around each tree, his family's silk would not be used up. Although it was somewhat exaggerated, this person was indeed extremely rich, almost richer than the national treasury. In the early years of the Zhenguan era, when the emperor went to war with the Turks, he asked Zheng Fengqi for financial assistance. Zheng Fengqi single-handedly sponsored all the expenses of a 100,000-strong army, so the emperor personally granted him the title of 'Great Tang Righteous Merchant' and gave him the exclusive right to sell salt and iron in Great Tang."

  "Zheng Fengzhi, a renowned name, I've indeed heard of him," said Qin Mubai. "This person is different from ordinary merchants. Not only is he not discriminated against, but he also associates with some dignitaries. The businesses he engages in are mostly related to the imperial court, such as the salt and iron monopoly you mentioned earlier. Therefore, this person should have some status in the emperor's eyes."

  "Spoken like a true adult." Wu Mei stood up, hands clasped behind her back, pacing as she spoke. "This Zheng Fengzhi is indeed a man with eyes and ears everywhere! The Emperor had just used Qin Xian wine to entertain his meritorious officials, and he already knew the news. Not only that, but he even obtained the Emperor's consent, allowing him to monopolize the sale of this tribute 'Qin Xian wine'. Now all that's missing is your brewing method, Qin Mubai. He knows that the Qin family has a strict code of conduct, and directly approaching you would likely result in being kicked out by your respected father. So, he actually went through twists and turns to find me, first persuading me, then having me come to you... Ha! Is this person not extremely clever, destined to be the richest man under heaven, the greatest merchant of all time?"

  "He's indeed a clever businessman." Qin Mubai said, "Did he tell you how to cooperate?"

  "She said," Wu Mei Niang said, "He said, don't involve you, just cooperate with me, so it won't tarnish the reputation of your Qin family, right? Moreover, I only need to provide the brewing method and guarantee not to tell others. In this way, I can get 40% of the profit from selling wine. As for the rest, I don't have to worry about it."

  "Hmm, this Zheng Fengji is indeed good at doing business." Qin Mubai couldn't help but shake his head and smile, thinking to himself: Wu Meiniang grew up in a merchant family environment from a young age, with the idea of 'profit first' deeply ingrained in her bones. She has a business mind. The method she proposed seems feasible. Anyway, I won't lose anything, it's just a simple wine distillation method, let her go ahead and do it!

  Just as she was about to agree, Wu Mei Niang said: "I do business, the most obvious benefit is that I can earn a lot of money. Merchants are not shameful, but few people really dislike money, and money is a good thing. Moreover, if the emperor finds out that I, Wu Mei Niang, am doing business, he will certainly look down on me even more from the bottom of his heart, isn't that a great thing? However, if your respected father, Qin Shu Bao, finds out, he will also look down on me and order you to divorce me, haha, then I won't be blamed!"

  "Don't worry, my father is stubborn but not overly conservative, he's actually quite open-minded, especially when it comes to trusting me. I'll explain things clearly to him and it'll be fine," Qin Mu Bai said with a nonchalant smile. "You want to do business? My husband will agree to it. Whenever you're free, teach me how to brew wine. As for how to cooperate with Zheng Feng Chi, I won't get involved."

  "Yes, yes, you're a noble-born official's son, how can you manage business matters? Just let the lowly Wu Zhaodao handle it!" Wu Meiniang gave Qin Mubai a cold glance and muttered under her breath, "Hmph, I'd rather have your old man disown me and divorce me!"

  "Are you really willing to give it up?"

  "Go eat, go eat!"

  .??，！