Chapter 89: This Is What Opportunists Look Like
This novel is translated and hosted only on Bcatranslation
The Great Sheng Empire once had two Empress Dowagers. One was the late Emperor’s Empress, who, upon his passing, naturally became the Empress Dowager as the current Emperor ascended to the throne. The other was the birth mother of the present Emperor and the Carefree Prince.
These two Empress Dowagers resided in the Eastern and Western Palaces, sharing equal honors. The one who passed away earlier was the Eastern Empress Dowager, the late Emperor’s Empress. The one Yu Zi Xuan referred to as being out of her mind was the Western Empress Dowager.
…
That evening, the Yu family returned to the Yu Mansion. When they learned that Yu Zhi Yi had refused to help rescue Yu Jiao Jiao, the brothers were all livid. Second Brother, Yu Ming Yu, had a glint of coldness flash in his eyes. “She thinks her wings are strong enough now, doesn’t need the Yu family anymore, and doesn’t even bother to pretend.”
Fourth Brother, Yu Ning Gui, sneered with a casual air. “Opportunists… they’re just like this.”
Yu Meng Qin frowned. “Enough, let’s not mention such ill-fated people. We have real matters to discuss.”
Only when Minister Yu saw his sons quiet down did he make a decisive statement. “We’ll follow Zi Xuan’s suggestion and seek out that divine physician.”
Yu Meng Qin’s eyes sparkled. “That alone won’t suffice. We must connect this matter with Jiao Jiao, so the Emperor will see her contribution and pardon her.”
Minister Yu clapped his hands in agreement. “Yes, yes! I’ll enter the palace at once and claim that only Jiao Jiao knows the whereabouts of the divine physician and can persuade them to help. This way, Jiao Jiao will be released.”
“Once the divine physician cures the Empress Dowager,” Yu Meng Qin added with a glint in his eye, “the Emperor will surely be lenient, considering Jiao Jiao’s merits.”
Finally, Madam Zheng concluded grimly, “If all else fails… we’ll have to use that.”
…
Unbeknownst to Yu Zhi Yi, the Yu family was working tirelessly to save Yu Jiao Jiao. That night, she had an unusually vivid dream.
In the dream, a young boy trailed behind her, running breathlessly to keep up. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake him. Finally, she stopped, glaring at him fiercely. “I am NOT your sister!”
The boy’s gaze was filled with confusion and innocence. With a guileless expression, he wiped the tears from his face and declared, “Big Sister Yi will always be my sister. Zi Xuan will never disown you.”
“I understand now! Someone must have bullied you. I’ll go teach them a lesson!”
“Don’t be afraid, Big Sister Yi. Zi Xuan will protect you.”
“When Zi Xuan grows up, I’ll buy you lots of pretty clothes and beautiful hairpins. I’ll even get you a huge estate so you’ll never have to worry about food or shelter again.”
When Yu Zhi Yi awoke, her lashes were damp. With a blank expression, she wiped away the traces of tears and scoffed at herself. “This is why I shouldn’t sleep.”
…
In the following days, the Yu family refrained from bothering her. Yu Zhi Yi’s mood gradually settled.
One day, Du Zi Heng came rushing in excitedly. “Zhi Yi, my bookstore is holding a Literary Youth Competition. Do you want to come watch?”
“Literary Youth Competition?” she echoed, puzzled.
Du Zi Heng explained, “Previously, my bookstore promised to hold a competition every so often, where the winning scholars could earn a ten-tael silver prize. After I took over, I continued the practice. From now on, we’ll hold it monthly, awarding prizes to the top three instead of just the first.”
“Today is the monthly competition. Would you like to join me?”
Having resolved to redeem his reputation after past failures with the bookstore, Du Zi Heng poured his efforts into revitalizing it with innovative strategies. The Literary Youth Competition was just one of many methods he devised.
Additionally, he modified You Bing Yue’s policies. Though impoverished scholars and commoners could still read for free at the bookstore, complimentary tea and snacks were no longer provided. To prevent freeloaders, a new rule required anyone reading for free to produce insights within three days. These could take the form of written reflections or recitations of the text they were studying.
The bookstore supplied materials for this, such as lead pencils, a versatile and affordable tool introduced a century ago by the Senior Princess Jia Luo of the Great Luo Empire. While unsuitable for formal writing due to its erasable nature, the pencil was perfect for practice.
The South Wind Bookstore provided lead pencils for practice during preliminary rounds and brushes for the formal competition. Participation remained free, but contestants had to leave their completed essays for the bookstore to use without charge.
With a bright smile, Du Zi Heng asked, “Can you guess the purpose of these collected essays?”
His eyes shone with both anticipation and pride.
Yu Zhi Yi answered dryly, “The mediocre ones will be compiled and made available for others to read, reducing costs and wear on existing books. Exceptional ones will either be displayed as inspiration for future visitors or awarded as prizes to outstanding contestants in subsequent competitions.”
“In either case,” she continued, “this will motivate scholars to strive for excellence. Over time, the bookstore’s reputation will grow, attracting more talented individuals and boosting business while fulfilling its educational mission.”
Du Zi Heng’s smile froze for a moment. “Well…”
His wife’s sharp intellect always made him feel inadequate. But moments later, his grin widened.
Having his efforts understood and appreciated filled him with a sense of kinship. Yet, bitterness soon followed.
The wife he had once thought he would loathe forever turned out to understand him deeply, while the one he had believed to be his soulmate raged at him for rejecting her contributions.
Yes, in the short term, my reforms caused losses for the bookstore. But so what? What business doesn’t require upfront investment? And those so-called losses? All I did was stock up on books.
These books will either sell or draw readers; they’re not going anywhere. The membership fees alone bring in hundreds of taels each month and will only increase over time. It won’t be long before profits outweigh losses.
Why couldn’t she be patient and wait a few more months?
But your reforms? They truly squandered money on pointless materials without achieving anything!
Remembering her accusations made his head throb.
A quote from my teacher:
“Its easy to have a heart for the poor. But its not easy to have a mind for the poor.”
When helping people, you have to be clever and account for all the pros and cons in a business. It has to benefit the business man first and foremost because how can they do their social mission if they don’t have MONEY to pay for their workers. Next, the business has to appeal to the market. Unique enough its not a copy and paste trend, and distinguish the business from the rest. Then, the target consumer has to be the wealthy first, a specific demographic, and then the general public.
So much for being a QUEEN OF NIGHT. Nothing but a brute brain individual. How can anyone like her? Even my most friendliest friend would dislike such a person. My younger sister, the “trendy friend of everyone even the oldies” said You Bing Yue? is stupid and brainless, how da heck she became a queen of night? And thats putting what she said mildly.