Lu naturally knew that the management rights of this street were the foundation of her livelihood. She could rent a shop, but she couldn't pay a penny less. The management rights of this street were used to support the Eastern Palace, and she must not give it away as a favor.

That's what he thought. When he did it, Lu also followed the principle of exchanging money for goods. There were many people who wanted to rent the shop. Lu started to divide it from top to bottom according to the size of the official position and the size of the power, trying to attract more supporters for Zhu Biao.

Of course, there were two shops, which Lu took over to run for his own business. After all, he was in power and he thought there was nothing wrong with seeking some benefits for his father.

When dividing the shop, Lu talked about how difficult it was for him, and how so-and-so also wanted the shop, but he gave it to you in the end... No one believed so many high-sounding flattering words, but some things had to be said.

While expressing gratitude, the other party also thanked Lu profusely and said that he would definitely support Lu.

You rented this shop to us, right? According to the current market price, this shop will cost five hundred taels per year, right?

Row!
We rent for fifty years!

Those who wanted to rent shops said that if they signed the contract, they would pay the rent for fifty years in full.

When Mrs. Lu heard the other party being so straightforward, she was shocked, but she soon came to her senses. Paying the rent for fifty years in one go should be done for Zhu Biao's sake. The other party wanted to climb up the big tree of Zhu Biao.

Since the other party was willing, Lu naturally agreed and signed the contract happily. All that was left was to count the money happily.

……

There were twenty-three shops on one street, and most of the contracts were signed for fifty years. Lu divided the rent of the shops according to the location, and in just one month, he collected nearly seven hundred thousand taels of silver in rent.

Seven hundred thousand taels of silver...

Lu was going crazy.

With so much silver, how much can the Eastern Palace spend?
Mrs. Lu could not contain her inner joy. When she was sitting and chatting with Mrs. Chang, she proudly told her that she had collected 700,000 taels of rent for the shop, with a sense of pride in her words.

After hearing this, Chang couldn't help but open her eyes wide, feeling very incredible: "Sister, you rented 23 shops for 50 years?"

"Yes."

Mrs. Lu thought that Mrs. Chang was shocked by the amount of rent she received, and said modestly: "I guess they are also doing this for the sake of the Crown Prince. Otherwise, who would pay fifty years of rent at once?"

"Sister, you've been deceived."

Chang shook her head helplessly, "They are not doing this for the sake of the Crown Prince. They are just looking at you because you are a novice and are trying to trick you."

Faced with Chang's ridicule, Lu didn't take it to heart at all.

I am the Crown Princess. Who would be so bold as to betray me?

impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
"Sister, you've been deceived."

Chang looked at Lu's disbelief and reminded her again, then explained: "Sister, when you were dealing with these shops, you must have thought about their backgrounds, right? People with such a big background are basically from families that fought with His Majesty to conquer the world. They only need to respect His Majesty, not the prince. Do you understand?"

Mrs. Lu did not understand. Instead, she refuted Mrs. Chang because her words were meant to belittle Zhu Biao, saying, "Sister, the crown prince is the heir to the throne of the Ming Dynasty. He is second only to the emperor and above all others. How can they not respect the crown prince?"

"Even if the prince ascends the throne and becomes emperor, can he do anything to them?"

Chang asked back, and then explained to herself: "As long as they don't rebel, the prince will respect them, so what are these people afraid of? As long as they don't rebel, don't bully the people, and don't touch the reverse scale of your majesty, they will not be afraid of anything."

After a pause, Chang continued, "So, if they want to make money through business and let their families live a better life and enjoy a few years of peace and quiet, these people will turn their attention to doing business."

After listening to Chang's analysis, Lu felt that it made a lot of sense. That was true, but why did you say that they were cheating me?

Seeing that Mrs. Lu still didn't understand what was going on, Mrs. Chang continued, "Sister, we have just entered the seventh year, and the price of a shop has risen to five hundred taels of silver a year. Judging from the current situation, five hundred taels a year is indeed very high, but our Ming Dynasty has no enemies around us now, and sooner or later it will far surpass the Han and Tang Dynasties. Yingtian, as the capital of the Ming Dynasty, will definitely be very expensive in the future. Five hundred taels for a shop is indeed a good deal now, but what about five years later, ten years later... or twenty years later? In addition, the location of Fuqian Street is so good, and in the future, others may fight for the rent of five thousand taels a year."

After hearing what Chang said, Lu was stunned.

Can it still be calculated this way?
This business... is there so many tricks?

Lu was a little confused when he heard what Chang said, but when he thought about it carefully, what Chang said made sense. Lu suddenly felt that he had lost seven million.

And, that's not all.

Chang continued to say to Lu: "Moreover, if you rent out your shop for fifty years at one time, then during these fifty years, you will no longer have the right to manage this street. The seven hundred thousand taels of silver is a one-time deal. During these fifty years, you will no longer have any management rights over this street. Aren't you being ripped off?"

Chang was very straightforward when he spoke. When Lu heard it, she felt a burning pain on her face.

This is a complete slap in the face.

When I first started the business, I was full of confidence and secretly vowed to do it well so that everyone would look at me with admiration. But in the end... I was tricked into becoming a big fool?
In her entire life, Lu had never suffered such an insult.
Why didn’t the housekeeper tell me?
Why didn't Chang say anything when he first discovered the problem, but had to wait until everything was done before saying anything?

Why did those people dare to cheat me? Do they really think I can't do anything to them?

Damn!

All deserve to die!
Lu clenched her hands tightly into fists under the table, her nails digging into her flesh. She had never expected that the people in the palace were so vicious. When they found out about the problem, they said nothing and just stood there watching her make a fool of herself.

It seems that my father was right. No one in the palace can be trusted!
At this moment, Lu really wanted to walk away, take the signed contract to find those people, and ask them to change the signatures one by one.

With such a huge loss, Lu really didn't know how to explain to Zhu Biao.

I finally managed to cross this street, but in just one month, I destroyed it.

Fifty years... a full fifty years!
Lu's heart was bleeding, and the fear in his heart was beyond words.

If you don't do things well this time, you will lose the opportunity to do things next time... Who would be willing to employ someone who made a mistake?
"Sister, I have something else to tell you. Don't think about asking them for money, and don't think about getting the signed contract back. It's useless."

Chang took Lu's arm and smoothed her fist: "We have to admit that we were cheated by others in business. If we go to them to get the money back and re-sign the contract, it means we don't know the rules. We have to admit this loss."

"But……"

Mrs. Lu was still unwilling to give up, but Mrs. Chang said to her, "It's okay. Isn't this 700,000 taels of silver? You can use it to do business. With your intelligence, you can use this 700,000 taels of silver as capital. You won't have to worry about not making money in 50 years." "Sister, you're just making fun of me."

Seeing Chang laugh at her like this, Lu felt even more annoyed. She was so proud that she would not allow someone she looked down upon to laugh at her, so she asked Chang directly: "If it were you, how would you do business with this money?"

"Me? My idea is simple. Just give the money to Sister Miaoyun."

Chang's throat was dry after saying so much. She drank some tea and then said to Lu, "Give the money to Sister Miaoyun. It will save you trouble and make money. You don't have to do anything all year round. In seven or eight years, these 700,000 taels of silver can become 7 million taels. In less than 20 years, 70 million taels is possible."

"..."

Mrs. Lu was speechless after hearing this. She thought, I worked hard to collect rent for fifty years, but still couldn't make as much as Xu Miaoyun did in twenty years?
Chang saw that Lu's face was so grim, and she thought of what Zhu Biao and Zhu Kai had said to her, that Lu was not a family, so she quickly made up for it, "Of course, I'm letting you manage this street so that you can get familiar with the rules and regulations of doing business. You can use this 700,000 taels of silver as capital to start your own business. It doesn't matter if you lose. It's said that every failure makes you wiser. Next time you start a business, you will surely succeed immediately."

"..."

What does it mean that it doesn’t matter if you lose, you will definitely succeed next time.

If I lose all the profits from this street for fifty years, how can I have the capital to continue doing business?

The petty-minded Lu always thought that Chang was just making fun of her and had ulterior motives, just wanting to see her fall from favor in the harem...

What a vicious heart!
"Have you given birth? Have you given birth?"

Zhu Kai was outside the Fengxian Hall, anxiously leaning against the crack in the door and looking inside, but he couldn't get in at all.

Even though he had put on protective clothing and told Zhu Yuanzhang and Ma Xiuying that it could isolate the virus, they didn't believe him at all. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and blocked the Fengxian Hall with a goose-feather knife: "You brat, I won't let you in. If you dare to talk nonsense again and affect my daughter-in-law and grandson, I'll break your legs!"

Ma Xiuying was very satisfied with Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude. She twisted Zhu Kai's ears herself and asked him to stay outside obediently. Zhu Kai had to give up the idea of ​​going into the house to accompany Xu Miaoyun and Feng Yuting. He stood aside, holding the unfinished bun in his hand, feeling conflicted.

Yes, Zhu Kai’s two wives, Xu Miaoyun and Feng Yuting are about to give birth.

In the morning, Zhu Kai and Feng Yuting were still fighting over who would own the last bun, but before the final owner of the bun was decided, her water broke because of her excessive movements...Xu Miaoyun, who had been watching Zhu Kai and Feng Yuting fighting, became nervous when she saw that Feng Yuting was about to give birth. She was nervous because she was also about to give birth.

Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang had a large family and wealth, and Fengxian Hall had several midwives and experienced maids, who made all the preparations for Xu Miaoyun and Feng Yuting in an instant.

Then, the news that Xu Miaoyun and Feng Yuting were about to give birth spread throughout the palace like the wind. Ma Xiuying, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Li Zhen... and so on, all the people who could get around came, and they waited outside with Zhu Kai, waiting for the final result.

"What are you nervous about?"

Zhu Yuanzhang noticed Zhu Kai's nervousness and came over to comfort him: "It's okay. When I gave birth to you and your elder brother, I wasn't nervous at all. Don't worry, our Zhu family is blessed with good fortune and everything will be fine."

Although he knew everything was fine and hoped everything would be fine, Zhu Kai couldn't stand Zhu Yuanzhang's words of advice: "Dad, when my elder brother and I were born, you were fighting in Yingtian Prefecture and you weren't with Mom at all."

"..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was exposed, and his face was a little embarrassed. He subconsciously wanted to slap Zhu Kai, but he finally put his raised hand down: "You little bastard, you still have time to argue with me? You are not as nervous as you look."

After saying that, Zhu Yuanzhang ran aside angrily, secretly blaming himself for talking too much and being fooled by Zhu Kai again.

For someone like Zhu Kai, there's no need for me to comfort him. It's good enough that he doesn't provoke others.

Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Chang also came. Originally, pregnant women were not required to come, but Mrs. Chang wanted to be the first to hear the good news about her little nephew. Mrs. Lu had other thoughts: Zhu Biao and Zhu Kai were brothers who were friendly and respectful to each other, so she, as their sister-in-law, could not be bad either.

So, unlike Chang who came and went to Zhu Kai first, Lu came to Ma Xiuying.

Ma Xiuying was very happy to see Lu coming to see her. She walked up to her, held Lu's hand and stood with her.

Mrs. Lu felt that Ma Xiuying favored her.

In order to show her motherly side, Mrs. Lu said to Ma Xiuying: "Mother, you and father should go back and rest first. The prince and we are here. Sister Miaoyun and Sister Yuting will definitely get along well."

"..."

Ma Xiuying's words were suddenly pulled back.

What is this word?

You are a lady from a scholarly family, and you tell me this when your brother's wife is about to give birth?
If you can't speak, don't speak.

"I am accompanying my daughter-in-law."

Ma Xiuying responded very bluntly, and did not say the rest to Lu, and even pulled her hand out of Lu's hand.

"..."

Mrs. Lu was completely confused. She had no idea what the right thing to do was at this moment.

The key point is, no one told her that what she did was wrong.

How to do?
Suddenly, Mrs. Lu panicked. She found that she had offended many people inadvertently.

This time he offended Ma Xiuying again... Could she have offended Zhu Yuanzhang as well?
Mrs. Lu suddenly didn't know what to do... How about trying to find a teacher here?
Just as Lu was thinking about what she should do, the sound of a child crying was heard from Fengxian Hall.

"Wow...wow...wow..."

A child was born.

Zhu Kai stood up quickly, clenched his fists, and tightened the bun in his hand.

Soon, the midwife opened the palace door and announced the good news to Zhu Kai and others: "Your Highness, the baby is born... Both princesses have given birth, and both mother and child are safe!"

All given birth?
Zhu Kai instantly felt like he was struck by a thunderbolt, and the only thing left in his muddled mind was: "All sons? No daughters?" (End of this chapter)