protect my lady

The shops here in Jiaxing Mansion are a little strange to Mu Qingchen, and the shopkeepers of each shop are more or less sizing up when they receive Mu Qingchen, wanting to see who their future masters are appearance.

If nothing else happened, the person in front of him would be their future leader. Can a woman's family really support such a huge shepherd's family?

The shopkeepers and stewards present all had this question in their hearts, Mu Qingchen is not young, what will happen to the Mu family after she gets married.

Jiaxing Mansion and Suzhou Mansion are next to each other, and the shopkeepers are very well informed.The shopkeepers in charge basically knew that a young son-in-law had come to the Mu Mansion, and they heard that there was a high possibility that he would be the future eldest son-in-law of the Mu Mansion, that is, the husband-in-law of their young lady.

If they didn't guess wrong, that young master must be the one in front of them.

Fu Feiyu gradually got used to the indistinct scrutiny of her body from the beginning, and finally she was able to ignore other people's scrutiny, so it was very natural for Mu Qingchen to show her when she was talking with the shopkeepers. Refill tea, or feed one or two small pastries while reading the account book.

These actions are perfectly natural to Fu Feiyu and Mu Qingchen who get along day and night, but the same actions are different in the eyes of shopkeepers.

While lamenting that the news was accurate, he also underestimated Fu Feiyu.

Look at this attitude of serving people, I'm afraid that Master Mu is not someone who was deliberately recruited for the sake of rectifying the family style. On the surface, he said that he was marrying off the young lady, but in fact he was recruiting a son-in-law for her.

"Shopkeeper, why did the purchase price of grain increase this year? Is it because the harvest here is not good?" Mu Qingchen put down the account book and asked with a frown.

The shopkeeper of the rice shop cupped his hands, "Back to Miss, it's because farmers' land rent has increased."

Mu Qingchen raised his eyebrows, "The purchase price in the entire book has gone up, you mean the land rent in the entire Jiaxing Mansion has gone up?"

"Miss doesn't know that this year is the year when the magistrate's old mother celebrates her birthday. Those landlords and wealthy businessmen spent a lot of money on gifts. In order to make up for the loss, those landlords discussed increasing the rent of [-]% of the land this year. "The shopkeeper replied.

"Is there such a thing? Could it be that the magistrate acquiesced?" Mu Qingchen frowned even deeper. Isn't this a tax collection for cash?How can there be such a magistrate.

"Miss, of course the magistrate doesn't know about this kind of thing. The landlords just said that the harvest is not good, so they need to increase the land rent to get back the money." The shopkeeper explained.

"Miss, you don't have to worry about this anymore. This kind of thing happens everywhere, and the price of grain will fall back next year. It's not the first time this kind of thing happened, and the master knows about it."

Mu Qingchen didn't say anything, indeed, such a matter is not in the hands of her as a merchant, and the magistrate is not just accepting bribes on the surface. His old mother's birthday is over, so maybe he has to stop the gift giver.

After thinking for a while, Mu Qingchen said, "This year, when purchasing grain, we will raise the price by two cents per bucket, and when selling it, we will keep the original price."

"Miss, will this dissatisfy the other rice shop people?" The shopkeeper hesitated.

"Just as I said, now is the time to make a good reputation." Mu Qingchen closed the account book, "The price difference is only a few pennies, if other rice shops are not satisfied, you can also follow our example Come."

The price of a few pennies is nothing to ordinary people. Generally speaking, people with a little wealth will not go to the rice shop of the herdsman to buy rice for the price difference of a few pennies, and those big households who purchase grain will not buy rice. They all have fixed partners, and the price difference of a few pennies will not make them change suppliers.

The only ones who have benefited are those families with relatively small harvests and poor families.And those families have limited ability, and they will not buy food in large quantities at all.

To sum up, the price of a few cents per bucket will not have any major impact on other rice shops, but it is just a small profit made by Mujia's rice shops to the poor.

It's worth it to exchange some silver for a good reputation in the local area.

The shopkeeper is not a fool, after pondering for a while, he came to his senses, and quickly flattered Mu Qingchen.

"Missy is indeed the successor chosen by the master, and her brain is more flexible than us, admiration!"

"The shopkeeper's reputation is too high, I just look at the account books, and I have to rely on you for the specific store management." Mu Qingchen smiled slightly, and cupped his hands at the shopkeeper here, "The new year is coming. I hope you will continue to help manage the shop."

"Miss is serious, this is my duty."

"That's for sure, we will definitely live up to Missy's expectations."

After coming out of the shop and entering the carriage, Mu Qingchen relaxed and let out a breath of foul air slowly.

"Feiyu, is it true that merchants like us can't fight against the government?"

"This..." Fu Feiyu thought for a while, and answered truthfully, "Generally speaking, yes."

"The people in the government are all appointed by the imperial court. If they confront the official government, they are indirectly confronting the imperial court. Anyone who makes a mistake can be imprisoned."

What Fu Feiyu said was very straightforward, she could see that Mu Qingchen was somewhat dissatisfied with the behavior of the prefect of Jiaxing, but the reality is cruel, the people can't beat the officials.

No matter how rich you are, you can't resist a seal from the government.

"But Qingchen, don't worry, I still have a little privilege." After seeing Mu Qingchen frowning, Fu Feiyu quickly added, "Now the imperial court treats martial arts people very well, especially those like me. A man of great martial arts."

Speaking of which, Fu Feiyu straightened his waist, and took out the token that he was carrying with him, "As long as you have this token, even if you commit a crime, the local government has no right to imprison you, let alone use lynching, and you must send a special police officer from the capital city." Only officials can handle it."

Mu Qingchen blinked suspiciously, "This senior sister mentioned it to me, but isn't the number of tokens very small?"

"That means I'm skilled and I'm one of the best in the Jianghu." Fu Feiyu raised his eyebrows and said, "Qingchen, if you can't see what Jiaxing's magistrate has done, I can go directly to the capital to sue him. There is a special yamen in the capital to accept it." Our pleadings."

Mu Qingchen was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head, "It's better not to use it for now, we don't have any evidence that the magistrate took bribes, let's find out the situation first."

Mu Qingchen is not an impulsive person, dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, but she will not be allowed to do impulsive things, the best policy is to make a decision before acting.

Moreover, Jiaxing is not yet the place where the Mufu takes root, and its contacts are limited.

Fu Feiyu rubbed his chin, and there is indeed a problem if there is no evidence, "Then let's put this matter aside for now, and I will go to the capital after I find the evidence."

The Mu family doesn't have many stores in Jiaxing, so it took two days to check the account and discuss about the branch by the way.

Mu Qingchen was very calm and steady throughout the whole process, and she blocked the intentional or unintentional temptations of the shopkeepers without hesitation.He also came up with a few good ideas for opening branches, which relieved many shopkeepers who were worried.

Everyone has to support their families. Whether the host is a man or a woman, it is always good to be more capable.

After dealing with the business of the store, Mu Qingchen didn't stay in Jiaxing, and took advantage of the clearer weather to hurry on.

"Stop the carriage in front for a routine inspection." Just as the carriage drove to the gate of the city, the officers and soldiers at the gate stopped the road.

"My lord, may I ask what you want to check, we didn't bring any goods this trip." Cuizhu got out of the carriage and went to negotiate with the officers and soldiers.

"Girl, there are a few wanted criminals running around in Zhejiang recently, and we have been ordered to interrogate people who enter and leave the city gate." Probably seeing that the carriage is expensive, the officers and soldiers spoke quite politely, "Let the people in the carriage get down , we just have to take a look."

"What's the matter?" Fu Feiyu opened the curtain first and looked out.

After seeing Fu Feiyu's appearance, the officers and soldiers couldn't help but stare at her a few more times.

"Young master, we need to check the carriage, please come down for a moment." The officers and soldiers withdrew their staring eyes and said politely.

This son is really handsome, his face is whiter than the girl's.

"Wait a minute." Fu Feiyu glanced at the officers and soldiers, then got back into the carriage, and put on the cloak and hood for Mu Qingchen.

Fu Feiyu took Mu Qingchen out of the car, blocking the scrutinizing eyes of the officers and soldiers, "Check it."

The wanted criminals were all men, and the officers and soldiers squinted their eyes to look behind Fu Feiyu, making sure that there was a girl's house behind them, so they looked away.

Mu Qingchen's carriage is very big, but after opening the curtain, you can see the whole picture at a glance.

The officers and soldiers quickly finished the inspection, cupped their hands and said, "Excuse me, you can leave the city now."

"It's troublesome." Fu Feiyu jumped onto the carriage first, lifted the curtain and helped Mu Qingchen up, blocking Mu Qingchen with his body the whole time, without letting the officers and soldiers look at him.

The officers and soldiers were a little embarrassed when they saw Fu Feiyu's action of protecting the calf. He just took a few extra glances just now. Is it necessary to be so defensive? He is a married man.

While the officers and soldiers were thinking about it, the axle wheels of the carriage turned again, and the horse flicked its tail and continued to walk forward.

When the carriage was less than 200 meters away from the city gate, a rush of hoofbeats reached Fu Feiyu's ears, accompanied by loud roars from the city guards.

"Stop, stop quickly!"

"Where are the archers, get ready!"

"They are wanted criminals! Get on the horse! Chase them!"

In just a few breaths, the sound of horseshoes became heavier. When Mu Qingchen heard the sound and reacted, Fu Feiyu opened the curtain and looked back, and saw two people riding towards them quickly, And behind them was a group of officers and soldiers carrying bows and arrows.

Just when Fu Feiyu was thinking about whether he should meddle in his own business, the person on the horse saw the carriage in front of him, his eyes lit up, and he said loudly without thinking.

"Brother, the people in the carriage in front are either rich or noble, why don't we take the people in the carriage as hostages?"

"Okay." The man called the big brother shouted, drew out the cross knife at his waist, and approached the carriage.

His calculation was very good. If the two had hostages in hand, those officers and soldiers would definitely not dare to use bows and arrows. This would greatly increase the chances of him escaping successfully.

Unfortunately, what they met was Fu Feiyu.