Yang Hang nodded to let Lie Dang continue. Lie Dang said: “This sort of behavior from Bai family is simply like they see Bei Guan City as their own. Miss Bai’s actions are beyond belief. At such a young age, she dared to speakconceited nonsense in public. And those soldiers of the northern army weren’t surprised by her outrageous words. It can be seen that she usually also acts like this. And the northern army along with the citizens of the Bei Guan City only know that there’s Bai family and forgot that there’s still an emperor.”
Lie Dang kept saying that Bai family is this and that. Apparently, he didn’t believe what the spies had said earlier – that miss Bai had the last word on the matters of Bai family. But it’s no wonder, who would believe that the tyrant of Bei Guan City was actually an arrogant girl who hadn’t received the hairpin yet.
“But,” Lie Dang pondered for a while before continuing, “If we can convert Bai family for our own use……”
He raised his eyes to look at Yang Han who was sitting in front of him. From the information of the spies, it seemed miss Bai Fu Ling was a key player who could influence Lu Ying and Bai couple. As long as they had this girl in their control, many problems could be solved.
His master was famous in the capital for being a loose man. Although on the surface, he had no job or power and only had n.o.ble royal blood, but he was the dream lover of many ladies in the capital.
That miss Bai’s origin and status was but an ordinary merchant’s daughter. Although she acted arrogant and vicious, but from what they heard, her relationship with Lu Ying was close and her family was really wealthy. Her looks were also something rare in this world. Making her become master’s qiewas something possible. An ordinary merchant’s daughter could become theqie of a prince, for her parents and household, it’s a glory that they couldn’t even beg for.
Marriage has always been a way to combine power. If marrying a girl could affect the att.i.tude of the general of the northern army Lu Ying, then this could be considered as ‘the thing is worth its value’.
Yang Hang understood his meaning and smiled: “I didn’t know that you also liked to joke. Do you also think that someone with such an ident.i.ty like Lu Ying would be ordered around by a little girl?”
His impression of Bai Fu Ling wasn’t very good. She may be beautiful but she was too arrogant. She doesn’t know how to keep face and doesn’t know the virtues of a woman. He didn’t know how Bai family taught their daughter. Although his character was that of a loose man, but it’s not like the moment he saw a beauty, he’d want to make her his own.
Yang Hang shook his head. In his mind flashed that arrogant and proud expression of Bai Fu Ling. It’s the first time he saw such beautiful woman who also liked to show off. Have to admit, compared to the ladies in the capital, she seemed more fresh. The process of taming such a woman must be interesting.
Thinking like that, Yang Hang’s lips slowly turned up in a small arc.
Bai Fu Ling and her entourage arrived at ‘Tong Cai yahang’. The people of the yahang had received a message in advance that miss would come take a look. The shopkeeper as well as the laborers lined up at the front for a grand welcome.
The so-called yahang, in ancient times, is where buyers and sellers make transactions, where they a.s.sess the quality of a product and also act an intermediary for the prices. It’s somewhat similar to the intermediary companies of modern times, but the business was more flexible. Satin, jewelry, antiques, furs, food or animals could be sold using a yahang as an intermediary. The letter ‘ya’ means interaction, however, Bai Fu Ling, Bai family’s eldest miss, had a more direct and terrible explanation: The so calledyahang was a place where you will be ruthlessly bitten when you come in!
The ya of yahang literary means teeth.
This exclusive explanation of Bai shi’s is like a rule in this yahang……
Tong Cai yahang was located at the busiest street of Bei Guan City, the north-south street. Not to mention how impressive yahang’s front was, just in front of the entrance, a ten square feet small-scale stone-paved plaza showed its position in Bei Guan City. Compared to the government office of Bei Guan City, this yahang was only a tiny bit smaller. In front of the yahang, on the small-scale plaza, there was a three feet high flagpole with the name Tong Caiyahang on it. Lining in front is a pair of glittering giant lions with mighty claws. Compared to the government office, the front even surpa.s.sed it. Indeed, this was the biggest yahang of the frontier.
Originally, Bei Guan City was just only a small city at the frontier. There were no formal local officials. There were only the generals of the military who protected the people’s livelihood. On horse, they were a soldier, off the horse they were an official. It’s just that only in recent years, it had developed into a bustling place for business people. Tong Cai yahang could be so arrogant, it’s suffice to say that the relationship with the northern army’s general Lu Ying is like iron.
Because of Bai Fu Ling’s arrival, yahang had officially posted a notice. Today at weishi (1-3pm), they would not receive any guests. Even the carriages of the merchants on the small-scale plaza were driven away. The small-scale plaza was now full of people of Tong Cai yahang.
When these people saw that the carriage of miss had arrived, they all bowed. Really a lively scene. If someone didn’t know the truth, they would think that the imperial family had arrived.
The businessmen who’d originally come to yahang today, didn’t mind the little delay. Instead, all of them went to a nearby restaurant to stick their heads out and look around. All of them wanted to see how this ‘prestigious’ Bei Guan City’s Bai family’s miss looked like.
Bai Shang Lu personally escorted Bai Fu Ling into the yahang. After some visiting around the counter hall, they went into the accounting room at the backyard to rest. He commanded someone to go get the key of the warehouse. After Bai Fu Ling checked the accounting books, he wanted to go with her to the warehouse to let her pick out some fresh stuff to bring home to play with.
Bai Fu Ling stared at the pile of accounting books in front of her and looked at the businesslike Bai Shang Lu next to her who was planning to explain the accounting books to her. She looked around and said: “The moment I see these, I get a headache. Ding Xiang, Ma Lian, you two check!”
The two maids standing behind her looked at each other silently.
Bai Shang Lu said with a fierce look: “Miss!”
“I raised you all till you are all so big so you can get the burden off me and to work like an ox and a horse. It’s not to let you chase me to work!”
Bai Fu Ling said that righteously. She didn’t bother about the fact that if she’d just picked one of the people she had ‘raised’, they would all be older than her.
The other stewards were accustomed to their miss’s manners. All of them pulled a long face and maintained the same expression—-no expression.
If they dared to laugh, the moment they turn around, they would be scolded by the head shopkeeper. It’s said to not be afraid of the magistrate but must be afraid of the shopkeeper in charge. They all were making a living under head shopkeeper Bai. Naturally, they couldn’t tear down their superior’s stand.
But if they helped head shopkeeper Bai ‘persuade’ miss, their fate would only get worse. Miss’s ways of tormenting people were always new and never the same.
At such a time, the best way to keep their lives was not to help either party. Close their mouth and pretend like they were furniture.
“I remember that miss once said in the past that with insufficient ability, wealth won’t come.”
Bai Shang Lu didn’t move an inch.
“I also said using people don’t suspect, suspecting people don’t use,” Bai Fu Ling said slovenly.