Chapter 489: Visiting Card
Chapter 489: Chapter 489: Visiting Card
Gu Kaiyuan walked over and held her hand, silently giving her courage. "I know that when you encountered that pregnant woman last time, you actually wanted to give her your medicine to use, right?
"But you held back and only brought out the medicine Nanny gave you. That is already very good."
Bai Suihe was still a bit fearful when she thought about the situation back then. If she hadn’t held herself back at the last second, many things would have been impossible to explain.
"In the future, you and the baby must remember to remind me more often," Bai Suihe said, lacking a bit of confidence. Though she was afraid of death, she was also soft-hearted.
(Dear readers, please hold your fire. Our female lead is merely a modern transmigrator. She was an ordinary person before crossing over, and ordinary folks simply aren’t capable of cold-blooded ruthlessness right off the bat. Please go easy on her in the comments...)
Bai Suihe didn’t know that many madams had actually come to their senses after returning to their estates. They hadn’t gone to watch a spectacle at all; Mrs. Lin had merely invited them to act as witnesses.
They just chuckled and paid it no mind. After all, how could a woman manage a household without a bit of cunning?
The next day, Gu Yeshi laughed in anger when he heard his butler’s report.
He had assumed these merchants would be intimidated by the power of noble families like his, but it seemed he had truly underestimated them.
Harsh lands really did breed unruly people. To think they dared to scheme against him!
Then again, it was also that stupid woman’s fault for giving them such an opportunity.
His chest tightened with frustration at the memory of going door-to-door to apologize. The worst part was that he had nowhere to voice his grievances. Without evidence, how could he accuse the other party of faking it?
"Let Madam continue reflecting on her mistakes behind closed doors," Gu Yeshi ordered. He had thought they were just rustic merchants who would be easy to manipulate, but he was wrong. It was better to keep that foolish woman locked up before she caused more trouble.
"Mr. Jiu, should we go see Lord Xu?" the butler asked.
"You mean Xu Zitian? Have you forgotten that his branch of the family is notoriously stubborn and obstinate? Before I left, the Duke made it clear that I am traveling as a private merchant. I cannot parade around under the banner of the Duke Mansion."
Gu Yeshi was so furious he could almost spit blood. They claimed to be giving him authority, yet tied him down with endless rules and restrictions.
"What about Gu Kaiyuan’s situation? Didn’t you say he had some shops and farming estates for sale and approached a few families? Did we receive an invitation?"
"To answer Mr. Jiu, we did not receive one.
"I also asked around. He only sent them to a few familiar families. There is absolutely no interaction between us and the Gu Family," the butler replied.
"The Gu Family? He and Gu Baijiang are father and son, right?" Gu Yeshi’s mind raced as he tried to untangle the web of relationships in Capital City. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "If I remember correctly, in the maiden family of the Princely Heir’s wife, her second aunt is a daughter of the Bai Family, isn’t she?"
The butler was dizzy from the convoluted connections, but after calming down to think carefully, he agreed. "That’s actually true. This Third Madam Gu, based on the relations, should call our Princely Heir’s wife her older female cousin."
Even so, in such noble households, they had likely never even met. The Princely Heir’s wife certainly wouldn’t know who Bai Suihe was, nor would she have ever cared about the niece from the maiden family of a concubine-born second aunt.
However, now that they were far away from Capital City, this layer of connection could be leveraged.
Gu Yeshi thought for a moment. "I address the sisters of my sister-in-law’s maiden family as cousins. This Third Young Madam Gu can also be considered my sister-in-law’s cousin, so it’s all the same. Let’s go meet this cousin-in-law of mine."
The butler was already accustomed to his thick skin. As long as he could accomplish the tasks assigned by the Duke, Mr. Jiu would probably even call Gu Kaiyuan his uncle if he had to.
"Bring me a calling card. I will write it myself." Gu Yeshi knew it was impossible to buy cheap land in the short term, but if he could attend whatever auction Gu Kaiyuan was holding, he might gain something.
He had heard the prices would be a bit higher, but having never participated in one before, he found the concept novel and thought it would be a good way to broaden his horizons.
Perhaps he could even use Gu Kaiyuan’s banquet to completely open up his prospects in Lingnan.
Not daring to delay, the butler quickly fetched a calling card. Once the ink was dry, he personally took men to deliver it.
Gu Kaiyuan was somewhat surprised when he received the calling card. He had assumed this Mr. Jiu would lay low for a while, but it seemed the man had set his sights on him instead.
It appeared that since Bai Suihe had narrowly escaped their previous scheme, they were now coming straight to his door.
Considering their current standings, Gu Kaiyuan didn’t want to make an enemy for no reason. Besides, the guests invited for tomorrow were from several other noble families. Even if Mr. Jiu lacked common sense, he probably wouldn’t do something as foolish as his wife had.
With a brief shift in thought, he accepted the request. Only then did the butler leave in satisfaction. Coming to Lingnan, they finally had one thing go their way.
The day of the banquet organized by Gu Kaiyuan soon arrived. Since the guests hadn’t brought their wives along, Bai Suihe didn’t need to make an appearance to entertain anyone.
After instructing the servants in the backyard to prepare the items she had ordered earlier, she followed Nanny Pang to the medicinal herb shop.
Now that their reputation had grown a bit, people were gradually bringing herbs over to sell.
Although most of them were quite common, they occasionally received some good items.
Today, someone had brought over blood vine. Blood vine had significant medicinal effects—it invigorated and nourished the blood, regulated menstruation, alleviated pain, and relaxed the tendons and collateral channels.
From her modern knowledge, Bai Suihe also knew that blood vine could be fashioned into handicrafts. When paired appropriately, the resulting items were quite endearing.
Nanny Pang looked at the blood vine with satisfaction. It had just been chopped from the mountain. Taking a knife, she sliced off a corner, and bright red liquid instantly dyed the handkerchief she used for the test.
"Not bad," Nanny Pang said, fully satisfied, and offered a fair price.
The herb seller was delighted. The rate was slightly higher than what they used to get from other pharmacies. Though not by much, it was enough to afford a full meal.
After accepting the calculated silver, the herb seller deliberately asked, "Do you still want more of this blood vine?"
"If you have more, send it all over," Bai Suihe replied. She certainly wasn’t afraid of having too much stock. Once they processed these herbs, other pharmacies would come to buy from them.
The profit margin for these common herbs wasn’t very large, so the other pharmacies wouldn’t nitpick over it with them.
Bai Suihe had long declared that she opened this shop merely to facilitate her own medicine-making and didn’t intend to use it for profit.
The major medical clinics had been half-skeptical at first, but after purchasing from her a few times, they finally believed her words.
The prices she offered were lower than what it cost them to procure the herbs themselves.
Even if they bought raw herbs and went through the process of sorting and refining them, the final cost would be roughly the same. It was far better to directly purchase the processed herbs from Bai Suihe, which also saved them a tremendous amount of time.
Most importantly, their doctors could observe and learn a few things from her, allowing their medical skills to improve.
The herb seller left with a thousand thanks. He had to hurry back into the mountains while it was still early. Otherwise, if he waited a few days, the treasure trove of a spot he had discovered might be found by someone else.
"Nanny, why do we need so much blood vine?" Bai Suihe asked. She doubted the few medical clinics in the county town had such a large demand for it.