Chapter 325 Old Friend
Xia Chunyu came back not long after he went out this time. He didn't say anything, just like nothing had happened. When he went to the palace to be on duty in the afternoon, the commander of the guards said that he had been busy in the past few days and asked him to go home and rest for two days, and then go to Jiangxi to do an errand. Xia Chunyu knew that it must be the emperor's instruction to prevent him from interfering and deliberately arrange him to go out, so he gladly accepted it.

Two days later, Xia Zhuofeng and You Shi went to Hangzhou with great fanfare, while Xia Chunyu set off for Jiangxi.

Xia Chunyu originally wanted to keep Song Qi with him, but Ye Jiayao disagreed. Who knew if this mission was dangerous? What if someone wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of Chunyu? She insisted that Chunyu take Song Qi with him.

Although Song Qi's martial arts skills are not very strong, he is smart. Think about the time at Black Wind Hill, so many court spies were caught, but Song Qi was safe and sound. It's not that he was lucky, but that this guy was really good at concealing things.

No matter what, Ye Jiayao would feel more at ease with a loyal and capable person following her.

Now, the entire burden of the Marquis' Mansion truly fell on Ye Jiayao.

The accounts for October came out, and Zhou Xingjia not only did not restrain himself, but became even more aggressive. According to Ye Jiayao's original plan, Zhou Xingjia would be dealt with, but the situation was different now, so it was better to hold back and stabilize the people first, and let Ziming go to Hangzhou with the Marquis. In name, Ziming was going to meet his father and get familiar with the business in Hangzhou, so as to get rid of this restless factor first and make Zhou Xingjia happy. While sending people to keep a close eye on Zhou Xingjia, he also paid attention to Liuli's movements.

The strongest fortress will always begin to collapse from within. She cannot make the decisions on things outside, but she will never allow any problems to arise within her own organization.

The long-awaited food festival finally kicked off, and the weather was also good. It had been raining for a long time, but it cleared up on this day. People who had been bored at home for many days came out to join in the fun.

Along the Qinhuai River, there is a row of neatly arranged simple sheds and a line of big red lanterns hanging high. Thirty-nine restaurants determine their booths by drawing lots. No one says which restaurant has a better booth because of its reputation. It all depends on your luck and no one can say anything about it.

A large water platform was built on the river surface opposite the booth. This is a place for the nine beauties to display their talents. Three beauties will perform in turn every day, and there will be three lottery draws. People will get a ticket after spending at the food festival. They keep half of the ticket for themselves and put the other half into the lottery box. There are five prizes. The first prize is a golden pig weighing five taels. The second to fifth prizes are free coupons of varying values ​​from various restaurants. People spend enthusiastically for the golden pig. Even if they can't draw the golden pig, it's good to get a free coupon.

Ye Jiayao and the people from the Chamber of Commerce were in an elegant room overlooking the river in Tianshangju. It was only a few steps away from the venue of the food festival, so it naturally became a place for everyone to rest and chat.

Everyone was drinking tea, listening to the pleasant singing coming from the waterside pavilion, and looking at the crowded exhibition tent, all with smiling eyes.

"Shopkeeper Ye has so many ideas! The publicity is in place and the methods are innovative, and the effect is much better than I expected." Lu Xiaotian looked at Ye Jiayao with a slight smile. Although he was very restrained, the appreciation in his clear eyes was still very obvious.

"Isn't it? Yesterday I was worried that no one would come today, but when people came, they left disappointed." Lin Changchun said with a smile.

Ye Jiayao is not greedy for credit. Credit is something that only needs to be recognized by others. It is meaningless to give yourself credit. She said politely, "How could that be? Everyone has worked very hard, and the guests are very satisfied."

"The key is that Manager Ye's idea attracted so many people, and the lucky draw promoted consumption. I think, if this continues, the income from the food festival alone will be considerable." Duan Qilin said pertinently.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I guess Fu Kee and Xiang Yi Lou must be regretting their decision now..." Lin Changchun laughed, showing his undisguised gloating.

"That's their own lack of foresight, no one else's fault," someone sneered.

Lu Xiaotian said with emotion: "Finally, we have a good start. The reputation of the food festival has been established. We can hold it every year in the future. By next year, we will start promoting it early to attract people from the surrounding areas to participate."

Ye Jiayao said: "Then it's best to move the time forward. August and September are the best. It's a little cold now, and it's often cloudy and rainy during this season. If it rains, the effect will be greatly reduced."

Lu Xiaotian nodded in agreement. If he had not been beaten by Xia Chunyu and had been bedridden for two months, he would have brought this up long ago.

Suddenly, Ye Jiayao seemed to see two familiar faces in the crowd and stood up excitedly.

He walked to the window and took a closer look. He could not contain his joy and said goodbye to the people from the Chamber of Commerce in a hurry.

"I saw a few long-time friends. I didn't expect them to be here too. I'll go meet them."

Lu Xiaotian smiled and said, "Please feel free to do as you like, Shopkeeper Ye."

Ye Jiayao hurried downstairs and called Xiao Lu.

"Xiao Lu, do you recognize the Yongning Marquis's son?"

Xiao Lu nodded repeatedly: "I recognize him...but he hasn't been here for a long time."

Ye Jiayao said, "Go to the dessert shop booth now and call Yongning Hou Shizi over and tell him that I'm looking for him."

Xiao Lu uttered a sound and trotted out.

Ye Jiayao instructed Xiao Yang to prepare cakes, tea and fruits.

I really didn't expect that Zhao Qixuan and Susu would come back. These two guys came back without saying a word.

Not long after, Xiao Lu brought Zhao Qixuan and Su Su over.

Su Su still had a blank expression, pretending to be cool, but she was wearing a moon-white brocade robe, with a straight and tall figure and an elegant gait, which attracted people's attention wherever she went. Zhao Qixuan still looked like a dandy, cynical, and even in the middle of winter, he was waving a fan and swaying behind Su Su, not afraid of catching a cold.

Ye Jiayao deliberately kept a tense face, but she was very excited in her heart. It had been a long time since we last met! What a surprise. Su Yi approached, and then she smiled slightly, as a greeting.

Zhao Qixuan started yelling, "I wanted to come over and give you a surprise later, but you were so sharp-eyed that you spotted it first."

Ye Jiayao glared at him: "Tell me the truth first, when did you come back?"

"We came back last night and heard about this food festival as soon as we got back. When we asked about the location, we found out it was near Tianshangju, so we came to take a look." Zhao Qixuan said with a smile.

Su Su nodded, proving that this was indeed the case.

Well, Zhao Qixuan is a smooth talker, and Ye Jiayao should take his words with a grain of salt, but Su Su is a serious person. Since Su Su nodded, it means Zhao Qixuan did not lie.

Ye Jiayao then smiled and said, "You two guys, you've been gone for such a long time without any news. Have you forgotten your friends in Jinling?"

Zhao Qixuan said exaggeratedly: "How could that be possible? We are thinking about you all the time!"

"Bah, don't exaggerate. There's not even a letter." Ye Jiayao sneered and led them inside.

Zhao Qixuan followed behind and explained: "It's true. You don't know that it's a remote place with poor transportation. Even to write a letter, you have to send someone to walk three days to the town to find a post station. Oh, it's really a place where no one can lay eggs."

The three of them sat down.

Ye Jiayao asked: "Why is the border trade business located in such a remote place?"

Zhao Qixuan waved his fan and said, "It was remote, a lawless place, but now we have border trade, roads have been repaired, and houses have been built. In less than a year, it has changed a lot."

That's true. Back then, Grandpa Deng drew a circle on the edge of the South China Sea, and it was a wasteland. However, it quickly developed into a prosperous city in just a few years. With strong support from the state, merchants moved in and capital poured in. Even a barren place can be turned into a treasure trove.

"Well...how is the business over there?" Ye Jiayao asked with interest.

When asked about this, Zhao Qixuan beamed with joy, unable to conceal his pride: "We were the first group of people to go there to dig for gold, and we seized the opportunity. Now, Susu and I occupy most of the commercial street, and we are considered the local bigwigs."

Su Yi drank his tea calmly, with a nonchalant look on his face, as if what Zhao Qixuan said had nothing to do with him.

"Oh? Is it too late for me to invest now?" Ye Jiayao did not invest at the beginning because of financial constraints.

Zhao Qixuan said with a smile: "I came back this time to take you to make a fortune. I have bought a lot of shops and land for Xiaojing and Chunfeng. By next year, the benefits will be apparent. The medicinal materials, ivory and jade of Nanyue, the fur and minerals of Xifan, and the silk, tea and porcelain of our Huaisong can all be traded there. It's very prosperous!"

Ye Jiayao was moved and said, "That's perfect. I have prepared the money I owe you and am waiting for you to come back. I have some spare money on hand, so I will use it as an investment."

The instability of Jinling made Ye Jiayao think like this. If she couldn't make it here, at least she could still have some business over there.

Zhao Qixuan was stunned: "Your Tianshangju is so profitable?"

In such a short time, he was able to pay off the eight hundred thousand debt and even have some spare money? It was really amazing.

Ye Jiayao sneered and said, "I don't only have Tianshangju as my property."

Zhao Qixuan shook his head and said, "I really admire you. Your ability to make money is almost catching up with me."

Ye Jiayao laughed and got back to the point: "Have you seen Xiaojing since you came back?"

After the prince was placed under house arrest, Xiao Jing was given a sinecure and the Helian Palace is now deserted.

Zhao Qixuan and Su Su exchanged a glance, and Su Yi said, "It's better for us not to get too close to the Helian Palace now."

Ye Jiayao was stunned for a moment. So, they already knew about it, but what did this mean? Were they trying to distance themselves from the matter? Or did they have some other plan?

Su Yi noticed Ye Jiayao's confusion, and stood up and looked at the door.

Ye Jiayao said: "This is where I work. It's very safe."

Su Yi nodded, closed the door, and sat back in his seat.

He said lightly: "It is better to be cautious."

Zhao Qixuan also put away his previous playful smile and said seriously: "We all know what happened. I didn't expect that such a change would happen in the court after only being gone for more than half a year."

(End of this chapter)