Tianliangyuan

Chapter 147 All-round attack & Marquis's happy event

After reading the letter, Deng Xuan realized that the losses in Jiangnan were far more severe than those in the capital.

Because bamboo paper and cheaper books from Jiangnan were available on the market three days earlier than those in the capital!

Moreover, it is said that several other major merchants in Jiangnan are also involved, which has almost formed a siege against the Deng family's businesses!

Deng Xuan thought that even if he was no longer an official, he still had the Jiang family.

But who could have imagined that in the Jiangnan region, where the emperor was far away and local officials were more powerful than county officials, the people there didn't take the Deng family seriously at all.

Previously, when you, Deng Xuan, were the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, those merchants and local officials naturally took good care of the Deng family's businesses.

But you are no longer the same now, and you have made a grave mistake. You were only spared exile thanks to the Jiang family. It will be extremely difficult for you to regain your power.

In officialdom and business, who isn't shrewd and calculating?

Everyone can smell it!

With the introduction of bamboo paper, anyone with a business mind could smell the money and naturally took this opportunity to try and take a piece of the Deng family's flesh.

We're all just trying to make a living, so nobody should think they're so great!

You, Deng Xuan, have Jiang Taifu behind you, so how do you know that others don't have someone else relying on them?

In this world, there is more than one nobleman than Grand Tutor Jiang.

The court in Daxing was not so corrupt that the Jiang family could control everything.

Therefore, what appears to be just a business war is actually a power struggle between various forces.

Xu Zhaozhao produced bamboo paper in order to take this opportunity to suppress some powerful families and reduce the cost of education.

But she clearly couldn't do that on her own.

This is all thanks to Prince An.

Prince An is a prince, and Xu Zhaozhao only needs to leak a little bit of information to gain his strong support.

Therefore, with Prince An in charge in Jiangnan, who would be afraid of a small Deng family?

Moreover, the brilliance of Xu Zhaozhao's actions lies in the fact that her business partners in Jiangnan were local powerful families, and Xu Zhaozhao never showed her face from beginning to end. The other party didn't even know that their business partner was from the capital.

This is also where Xu Zhaozhao's brilliance lies.

To prevent Prince An from causing trouble in the future and implicating the Marquis's mansion.

As for the capital, it's even simpler.

Xu Zhaozhao made contact with Princess Leyang, which naturally led to a connection with the Prince of Qi's mansion. In addition, bamboo paper and low-priced books are now selling like hotcakes all over the country, and the ultimate beneficiaries are the students and scholars, and even the high and mighty Emperor Yong'an.

Therefore, Xu Zhaozhao has nothing to be afraid of.

They're sold everywhere, so it's not surprising that they're sold in the capital. As for whether they're all under the same master, well, you can investigate all you want, it'll exhaust you!

Xu Zhaozhao was willing to give up her relic in Jiangnan in order to hide herself, all for the sake of long-term benefit.

In other places, such as Jizhou, the capital, and Taiyuan, there are business partners everywhere. The apparent owners are local wealthy merchants, so Xu Zhaozhao has nothing to fear.

If it weren't for the Deng family members coming out to annoy her second brother, Xu Zhaozhao would have thought of letting them keep causing trouble for a few more days.

Now, in order to ensure that my second brother and Princess Anhe can get married smoothly, we have to take action sooner rather than later.

Xu Junfeng's marriage is a major event for the Marquis's family.

Xu Han and Xu Junan both took leave for this reason, while Xu Junting was not allowed to take leave because he had to worry about corn planting. He could only try his best to go back home to help whenever he had free time.

In fact, there are servants in the house who do the actual work, so there is no need for him at all.

On his wedding day, Xu Junting finally got a day off and put on his new clothes early, looking very energetic.

Xu Zhaozhao teased him, "Today is Second Brother's wedding, why is Third Brother dressed so handsomely?"

Xu Junting was so angry that he flicked her on the forehead!

"This girl always teases me. Today I'm going to accompany my second brother to pick up his bride. You stay home and wait patiently. After the bride is brought back, you'll be staying in the bridal chamber with her."

"Don't worry, Third Brother, I know everything."

A wedding is a joyous occasion, and naturally, a celebratory banquet is indispensable.

The banquets for men and women were set up separately, but Xu Zhaozhao went directly to the bridal chamber to take care of her new sister-in-law.

During the Daxing Dynasty, it was customary for women to cover their faces with a round fan when getting married. After the wedding, a fan-removal ceremony would be performed in the bridal chamber.

After all the formalities are completed, some relatives will inevitably come to see the bride, and some younger relatives will come along to make a ruckus in the bridal chamber.

However, since the Marquis's family was composed of military officers, very few people would be so tactless.

Xu Junfeng was dragged out and forced to drink alcohol. After Zhang Shi rolled over on the bed with the child in her arms, she also left with a smile.

Xu Zhaozhao then gave some fruits and snacks to the children and coaxed them to disperse, finally bringing peace to the bridal chamber.

"Second sister-in-law, are you hungry? I've ordered someone to prepare some simple food for you to have a little something to eat."

Princess Anhe blushed and said, "Thank you, Zhaozhao."

"Now we're truly family, so why are you being so polite with me, Second Sister-in-law? By the way, I told you before that my Second Brother's room only had two matrons responsible for basic daily tasks, and the rest were all servants. Now that you've married into the family, does that make sense?"

Princess Anhe's face turned as red as her red wedding dress, and she scolded playfully, "Don't tease me anymore!"

"Alright, alright, Second Sister-in-law, come and eat something. Second Brother probably won't be back for a while."

Princess Anhe was indeed hungry.

Getting married is a time-consuming and energy-draining affair, especially for wealthy and powerful families.

The etiquette was complicated and the preparation time was long. Anhe County had only eaten two eggs in the morning and had not eaten or drunk anything since.

To put it bluntly, the concern was that the bride might do something indecent during the journey. Nowadays, once the bride is married into the family, there are naturally fewer such restrictions.

Xu Zhaozhao accompanied her and helped her with some simple things, also to make her less nervous.

When Xu Junfeng returned, Xu Zhaozhao chuckled to herself.

"Miss, Xie Sanlang is waiting in the corridor ahead and wishes to see you."

Xu Zhaozhao hesitated: "Has he been drinking?"

"He probably ate something, but I'm not sure if he's drunk."

"Then I won't see him. What if he gets drunk and goes on a rampage in the mansion? That would be a laughing stock!"

"Yes, ma'am."

As a result, Xu Zhaozhao had only taken a few steps when Xie Sanlang actually caught up with her.

"Zhao Zhao!"

Xu Zhaozhao felt a headache coming on. He walked fairly upright, but his eyes were clearly somewhat dazed. Even if he wasn't drunk, he was probably in a state of semi-drunkenness.

"It's getting late, you should go back and rest."

Xie Zheng refused and blocked her path: "Zhao Zhao, believe me. You are the only one in my heart, there is no one else."

"Yes, I believe it."

Xu Zhaozhao knew how difficult it was to deal with a drunk person, so all she wanted to do now was agree with him and coax him away.

"You're lying to me! You don't believe me at all."

Xu Zhaozhao was exasperated. Why was she suddenly acting all cute and spoiled?

"When did I lie to you? I trust your character, so why are you blaming me? To me, you're clearly here to cause trouble!"

Xie Zheng looked aggrieved, his eyes clear: "Zhao Zhao, let's get married too!"