Read Novel Full Chapter 321: Plague ( 2 )
Chapter 321: Plague ( 2 )
At noon, another visitor arrived.
"Miss Yao, are you at home?"
When Yao Zhi heard the familiar voice, she went to open the gate. Seeing Zhou Boming and Zhou Ziyuan, she greeted them with a smile, "Boss Zhou, Brother Zhou, what brought you here today? Please come in."
The two of them entered the yard and saw the green vines in the gardens. They sat on the bench under the tree while Yao Zhi poured them a cup of water.
The weather had warmed up, and the temperature at noon was high. Although it was not as hot as during the summer, they were still sweating a lot.
After she served them some water, Yao Zhi said, "Boss Zhou, it has been more than two months since your people picked up the goods. I thought you no longer wanted the fish sauce and soy sauce anymore."
Hearing this, Zhou Boming wiped his sweat and replied, "Miss Yao is joking. My family’s shop depends on your sauce now. Unless you no longer want to work with us, we will never stop this cooperation."
After he drank some water, he sighed and continued, "In these past months, the new Magistrate has made a lot of new rules. We can’t sell the soy sauce and fish sauce now because we need a permit from the Yamen."
"Boss Zhou, what do you mean by this?" Yao Zhi asked doubtfully.
Zhou Boming placed a box and an envelope on the table. He handed the letter to her and replied, "These are the new rules. We have to register our product and pass the initial safety inspection first before it can be sold to the people."
When Yao Zhi heard this, she frowned. She read the rules and realized that the inspection included checking the process of making the sauce and submitting the recipe.
"This is nonsense. If I submit the recipe and show the process, wouldn’t I be giving away my family’s secret recipe for free?" she said with a darkened face.
Zhou Boming let out a sigh and nodded. "That’s the reason lots of merchants have been protesting in these past months. But no matter how we negotiate, the Magistrate insists on these rules."
"Have you discussed this matter with the other merchants?"
"We did. But without any backing, we can’t go against the Magistrate. Out of 34 merchants in Zhu’an town, 21 of them already submitted their recipe and showed the process of making their goods."
Yao Zhi frowned deeper and asked, "Why don’t you want to find the General’s wife? I heard that her maternal family was also merchants. This matter should have implicated her, too."
Zhou Boming looked at her with a strange gaze and replied, "Miss Yao, not everyone can meet with Madam. Our status is low. Not to mention the Madam, even meeting the Steward is hard."
Hearing this, Yao Zhi thought for a moment and said, "I will find a way to resolve this matter."
Although he held no hope, Zhou Boming still nodded and said, "It would be best if we can solve this matter. Otherwise, my family might have to return to our hometown and find another way to earn a living."
After he let out a long sigh, he added, "Miss Yao, these are the earnings from auctioning your spicy chili crisps after deducting the auction fee and my portion."
"A total of 375,890 taels of silver from auctioning 350 jin. I exchanged them for 3,758 taels of gold and 90 taels of silver. Please count it."
Yao Zhi counted the ingots for a while and nodded. "Thank you, Boss Zhou. The number is correct."
Zhou Boming and Zhou Ziyuan finished their water before they stood up. "Miss Yao, we hope you can get a good result regarding this matter."
"I will inform you when I have a solution," Yao Zhi nodded.
After she saw them off at the gate, she returned to her room and stored the money in her system’s storage. Thinking about the pelts she hadn’t sent to Xue Ya’er, Yao Zhi decided to visit the General’s Mansion tomorrow.
Later that night, before they went to sleep, she told her husband about her plan.
"Wife, do you need me to accompany you?" Fu Chen’an asked.
"No need, I will go with Shi’er and Shiqi. We still need you to supervise the work at home. What’s more, Madam might know about you from the General. It’s better to avoid them since I’m going as Lei Feng."
Fu Chen’an nodded and said, "Okay. If you need any help, just let me know."
Yao Zhi snuggled into her husband’s embrace and replied, "I will."
It had been two weeks since her husband returned from the barracks, and they had slept on the same bed since then.
Even though they didn’t do anything, she loved to cuddle with him. She thought that her husband’s muscles would be hard, but only after she lay on his body did she realize that his muscles were firm but soft.
It was very comfortable to sleep in his embrace. After they chatted for a while, she felt sleepy and soon fell asleep.
When Fu Chen’an heard his wife’s soft snoring, he smiled helplessly and stole a kiss. He didn’t dare to linger for long and only gave her a peck. But even this light touch made his heart beat so fast as if he had been running for hours.
Holding his wife’s soft body, he let out a sigh and stared at the ceiling for a very long time before he finally fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Yao Zhi woke up before dawn, and after washing up and having her breakfast, she left with Ling Shi’er and Ling Shiqi.
As usual, they stopped at the abandoned temple. Yao Zhi put the donkey cart into the system’s grassland and took out her horse carriage. Afterward, she put on her disguise as Lei Feng and changed her clothes.
Right now, both Ling Shi’er and Ling Shiqi are already used to their master’s great disguise arts. After she returned with the horse carriage, they continued their journey.