Chapter 362 Private
Ye Jiayao was only free for half a day and was busy again the next day.

There was no way. During the time she was missing, many people were still worried about her. For other people, they could just send a message or something, but she had to go to the palace and Prince Helian's mansion in person to report her safety.

Therefore, Ye Jiayao went to Prince Helian's Mansion early in the morning to reassure the old ancestor, and then went to the palace with Princess Yide to meet the emperor and empress.

This wandering lasted the whole morning. The Queen asked her and Youshi to have lunch in the palace, and they left the palace only after lunch.

Ye Jiayao suggested going to Tianshangju. Youshi had no objection, but she insisted that several guards from the Marquis' Mansion follow her just in case.

After something like this happened, the people in the Marquis' Mansion were extremely cautious when traveling, and Ye Jiayao herself did not dare to be arrogant, so she just followed! It was a rare opportunity to show off.

The brothers in Tianshangju knew yesterday that the Second Young Madam had escaped danger. Thinking that she must need rest after just returning, they did not dare to disturb her. They thought of sending a representative to see her in two days. But, unexpectedly, she came.

Ye Jiayao asked everyone to gather in the lobby and talk together.

"I'm sorry to have worried everyone these days. I heard that you all have no interest in learning cooking and have been looking for me everywhere. Are you worried that if I disappear, your year-end benefits will be ruined?" Ye Jiayao joked.

But seeing that no one laughed, Deng Haichuan and others seemed to be quite dissatisfied. Ye Jiayao coughed twice and said, "Well, this is not a good start. The ancients were more honest and lacked a sense of humor."

"Hehe, I'm just kidding. Of course I know you all care about me, good brothers! Let me see who has gained weight. Gaining weight means you don't care about the boss, so I will deduct your benefits."

Cui Dongpeng laughed, "Second Young Madam, Ah Xing got stung when he poked a hornet's nest in the backyard the other day, and his face is swollen now. Does that count as gaining weight?"

Everyone burst into laughter. Ye Jiayao saw Ah Xing hiding at the back, with his head down and his face covered. He was originally a skinny guy, but now he has become the second senior brother. She couldn't help laughing, but then she straightened up again and said seriously, "Stirring up a hornet's nest is considered to be eliminating harm for the people. The medical expenses will be reimbursed, and an additional five taels of silver will be awarded."

Ah Xing covered his face and smiled painfully.

Everyone laughed even louder.

Ye Jiayao got back to the point, "Tomorrow is the New Year's Eve. Everyone has worked hard for a year, so it's reasonable to treat everyone to a good meal. However, now is an extraordinary period, and we have to be cautious. It's not worth it to have a lawsuit over a meal. How about this, tomorrow morning, let Manager Zhao come to distribute the year-end benefits to everyone, and then everyone can clean up the store and go back to celebrate the New Year! Go back to work on the eighth day of the first lunar month, and the restaurant will be closed after the New Year. Everyone come back and learn cooking skills for me. Do you have any objections?"

Everyone said in unison: "No problem."

Ye Jiayao paused and continued, "As for the holidays, the hotel still needs to send people to guard the hotel, every three days, two people each time. Zhong Xiang, Deng Haichuan, Wang Mingde, Cui Dongpeng, the four of you will be responsible. As for who will be on duty on which day, you can discuss it among yourselves. If you live far away, don't arrange it. It will be troublesome to rush back and forth."

The four of them agreed readily.

Ye Jiayao then asked everyone to disperse, leaving Zhong Xiang, Deng Haichuan and four others to talk upstairs.

"The four of you should take advantage of the New Year to research new dishes. Once the mourning period is over, Tianshangju will launch new dishes in a big way."

The four of them knew very well that the shopkeeper was giving them a chance. If they did well, their dish would become famous. They immediately put in their best efforts and said that it was no problem.

What Ye Jiayao wants is everyone's enthusiasm for competing with each other. Needless to say, the cohesion of Tianshangju is great. Everyone is of one mind. What is needed now is to mobilize everyone's enthusiasm and enterprising spirit.

"You guys should pay more attention to see which people are more diligent and insightful. The key is to have reliable people who need to be trained. The more talents the better. When Tianshangju opens branches in the future, we will need your great efforts. You are my brothers and the veterans of Tianshangju. You are all trustworthy and can be entrusted with important tasks." Ye Jiayao said sincerely.

Ye Jiayao's words made everyone's eyes light up. Open a branch? Could it be that the Second Young Lady wanted to send them to open a branch in another place and take charge of it on their own?
This is something I have never thought about!
Ye Jiayao looked at the four people with a smile: "What? No confidence?"

Deng Haichuan gritted his teeth and puffed out his chest, saying, "The Second Young Madam has praised us, how can we embarrass her?"

Cui Dongpeng also said: "We will do whatever the Second Young Madam says."

Wang Mingde was a little unsure. It was fine for the Second Young Lady to let him manage the kitchen, but he had no confidence in being in charge of a restaurant! Managing a restaurant is not just about being able to cook.

Ye Jiayao saw Wang Mingde's concerns and smiled, "Everyone starts from not knowing how to do something. If you don't dare to challenge the opportunity, then you will lose 10%. However, don't worry, I have a plan, but I won't expand it too much all at once."

Ye Jiayao plans to open two branches in April and May, with locations in Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Zhong Xiang said: "I can't say for sure it will work, but we will try our best anyway."

Ye Jiayao nodded. Just do your best in everything. Man proposes, God disposes.

After returning from Tianshangju, I heard Xiangtao say that Manager Duan and Manager Lin from the Chamber of Commerce had come. When they knew you had entered the palace, they went back first, saying that there was nothing to worry about and that they were just glad to know you were back.

There is also a man who calls himself Mu Qinchu. He came in the morning and is still waiting in the side hall. He must see you. Ye Jiayao frowned. She hadn't cared about the Mu family for a long time.

Come to think of it, it was she who took advantage of the Mu family in the beginning. Ye Jiayao would not do such a thing as crossing the river and then destroying the bridge, so she went to the side hall to meet Mu Qinchu.

Mu Qinchu was almost losing his patience waiting, but he couldn't just go back, so he could only sit and wait.

Finally seeing the Second Young Madam, Mu Qinchu quickly stood up and saluted.

"Second Young Madam."

Ye Jiayao sat down leisurely: "Is your mother feeling better?"

Mu Qinchu replied respectfully: "Thanks to the Second Young Madam, my mother is much better now. I came here today on my mother's orders to see her."

Ye Jiayao smiled. No one comes to visit you for no reason, so there is no need to say any high-sounding words.

Mu Qinchu said: "Thanks to the Second Young Madam's planning, my father's case was re-examined, and he was given a light sentence and exiled a thousand miles away. My mother decided to go to Xiangxi with him. In this way, the Second Young Madam's suggestion of opening a branch of Tianshangju..."

Ye Jiayao understood that he was here to ask for money. If the family wanted to settle down in Xiangxi, they needed some assets. De'er, she had made a promise and she had to fulfill it.

"Since this branch store cannot be opened, I can't treat you unfairly. How about this, I'll give you two thousand taels. When will you leave?"

Mu Qinchu felt that two thousand taels was not enough. Although it was the Second Young Lady who instigated them to overturn the case, it was their Mu family that ultimately benefited. Otherwise, his father would be exiled to Mobei to do hard labor, and the family would probably never be able to reunite again. So, he felt embarrassed to say that it was too little.

"Father won't be exiled until he's fifteen."

"Okay, I could have given you the banknote now, but the situation of Datonghui is unclear right now. If you don't mind, you can come back to me after the eighth day of the Lunar New Year. If the banknote from Datonghui is not useful by then, I can give you a banknote from another bank." Ye Jiayao said.

Mu Qinchu thanked him repeatedly and did not dare to raise any objection.

Ye Jiayao ordered Qiao Xi to fetch a hundred taels of silver for Mu Qinchu: "Take these first, they are not included in the two thousand taels. The New Year is coming soon, buy some winter clothes for your family. I will ask someone to find a connection in Xiangxi, and when your father arrives there, I will exempt him from hard labor."

Mu Qinchu was overjoyed, this was something that could not be bought with any amount of silver!

Thank you again, this time with all my sincerity.

After sending Mu Qinchu away, Ye Jiayao was just about to take a rest when Chunfeng came and said that Zuo Qingyun wanted to talk to her, and her father and Xiaojing were also there.

On the way, Chunfeng talked to her, the general idea was that there was no way to convict Zuo Qingyun, and they kept delaying for fear of problems, and they couldn't even report it. Without real evidence, pointing the finger at the Rongguo Mansion and Prince Yu would instead lead to the charge of falsely accusing the prince.

It just so happened that Zuo Qingyun herself proposed to settle the matter privately, and her words sounded very reasonable. She said that this kind of thing happened because of his lax governance and poor judgment of people. He was responsible and was willing to pay a certain amount of compensation. The Marquis wanted to hear her opinion.

Ye Jiayao thought, since she couldn't do anything to them, and they asked for compensation, she would have to extort a large sum of money from them. After all, the last thing Chase Exchange lacked was money.

When they arrived at the Dali Temple, they did not meet in the prison, but in Chunfeng's reception room.

The five of them sat down.

Zuo Qingyun first confessed his crime and offered to pay one million taels of compensation to the Jing'an Marquis' Mansion to make up for his mistake.

When the Marquis and others heard this number, they were all shocked. It turned out that he was very rich and powerful, as he asked for one million taels at the beginning.

Zuo Qingyun looked at the reactions of the crowd with an indifferent expression, and he was certain in his heart that, in the current situation, they couldn't do anything to him. One million taels was just a way for each other to save face and keep the peace.

Ye Jiayao, however, had a sarcastic look on her face and said in a gentle voice: "Although I, Ye Jinxuan, am not as capable as Manager Zuo and cannot compare to Manager Zuo in making a fortune every day, I am not poor either. I really don't care about one million taels. Besides, is the reputation of the Marquis' Mansion and my reputation worth just this little bit of money?"

Upon hearing this, the Marquis agreed, "That's right. We at the Jing'an Marquisate don't lack this little money, but someone from our Jing'an Marquisate was kidnapped in broad daylight. Isn't this a slap in my face? This is intolerable."

"Also, in order to find me recently, the Marquis' Mansion, the Prince's Mansion, and all my friends and brothers dropped their work and started looking for me everywhere. Who should compensate for their losses? Me?" Ye Jiayao said with a sullen face.

Zuo Qingyun's face darkened. He thought that throwing out one million taels would easily solve the problem, but he didn't know that Ye Jinxuan was so bold and wanted to take the opportunity to make him bleed. This woman was too good at seizing opportunities.

(End of this chapter)