Rebirth of the Excellent Daughter of the Marquis Household (REDMH) - Chapter 83

Far away in Jiangxia, Gu Yu Qi was naturally unaware that her reputation in the capital had once again caused a great commotion due to an urgent letter from Yun Ke.

Yun Ke calculated that it was about time, so he lifted the restrictions on the backyard and announced that he had fully recovered under Gu Yu Qi’s care.

The news that Gu Yu Qi could treat the plague spread like wildfire, and the entrance to this courtyard instantly became a place where countless people sought medical advice. Yun Qing had to send soldiers to protect the courtyard. Yun Qing was both curious and annoyed with Gu Yu Qi. He could not help but glance at her a few more times. The more he looked, the more beautiful he found her. However, he was not interested in her beauty. Moreover, Gu Yu Qi had been in close proximity to Yun Ke day and night for a long time, so who knew if there were any untoward matters between the two of them. As soon as Yun Ke arrived in Jiangxia, he specifically requested to stay here. Did that make it clear that these two people had known each other long ago in the capital? Yun Qing was an extremely proud person and had no intention of taking his brother’s woman. He was annoyed with Gu Yu Qi because she had healed Yun Ke. Although Yun Ke still looked sickly, struggling to walk and appearing on the verge of collapse, he had survived.

Fortunately, Yun Ke was sensible enough to pretend to be ill. He handed over all the disaster relief work to Yun Qing. Otherwise, Yun Qing would have had to figure out another way to kill Yun Ke.

Gu Yu Qi revealed the prescription in her possession, finally ending the siege around her courtyard.

Now, as long as it was within Jiangxia, all the pharmacies from the large to the small had a copy of this prescription.

In the capital, the Imperial Institute of Medicine also announced that the prescription sent by Prince An Yun Ke from Jiangxia could cure the plague. Immediately, all major pharmacies received prescriptions issued by the court, and the price of fadeleaf skyrocketed.

A while ago, the three shops under Gu Yu Qi’s name had already sold most of the rice and grains they had stockpiled. Now, her pharmacy was the only one in the capital with a large stock of fadeleaf. With the news, business just kept flowing in.

With the prescription for curing the plague, people were no longer afraid of the disease. The city gates of the capital opened wide and agricultural products from various aristocratic households’ farms could be transported into the city smoothly. Hence, the price of rice and grains plummeted. Those rice merchants who had hoarded goods and had not sold them before were now deeply regretting their decisions. They hurriedly brought out their rice and grains to sell, but who would pay attention to them now? Gu Yu Qi’s shops had already established a good reputation after the disaster, so even after the disaster had passed, people continued to flock to her shops.

Moreover, during the disaster, Gu Yu Qi’s shops did not hoard grain due to continuous price increases. All their stock was converted into silver, and the silver was then exchanged for fresh grain which had both superior quality and prices compared to other shops.

This made other rice merchants jealous and angry. They did not hesitate to go and cause trouble at Gu Yu Qi’s shops. However, she had gained the backing of the Crown Prince’s favour and the Crown Prince himself was personally inquiring about these shops’ affairs. This made the rice merchants think twice about causing problems, as they had to consider their own weight. So, the troubles they could cause were limited to things like finding sand in the grains bought from Gu Yu Qi’s shops and fabricating other such baseless rumours. However, these were easily handled by the shop managers. When the commoners learned about these tricks played by other shops, they trusted Gu Yu Qi’s shops even more.

Gu Yu Qi’s pharmacy also made a significant profit from the continuous price increase of fadeleaf and the introduction of ready-to-consume processed medicinal products. Those who had the money to purchase fadeleaf naturally did so. However, for ordinary people who did not have the means to buy fadeleaf but needed medicine to save their lives, they sold the processed medicine which could also treat the plague. As a result, the reputation of the pharmacy soared and this in turn boosted business for other medicinal herbs. The shopkeeper and assistants were busier than ever, hardly finding time to even drink water.

In short, after nearly a month and a half of hustle and bustle, Gu Yu Qi’s wealth was growing at an astonishing rate.

When Run Ying in Jiangxia received the news, even she was left speechless for quite a while. The speed at which they were profiting was staggering and the silver that came pouring in almost knocked her out.

The little girl was so stunned that she asked Ran Mo to pinch her several times before she believed she was not dreaming.

Gu Yu Qi had long anticipated this outcome so even though she was happy, she was not as shocked as Run Ying.

After a few more days, the river water slowly receded and the plague came under control. The displaced people gradually returned to their hometowns. The disaster caused by the spring floods and the plague began to subside and Jiangxia City gradually returned to its normal state.

The Heng River could be navigated again, and the merchants who had hastily sold their goods began to regret their decisions, especially those selling spices who had let Gu Yu Qi and Run Ying take a huge advantage.

Gu Yu Qi had Run Ying negotiate a long-term cooperation agreement with a local bodyguard agency and also asked her to purchase a storefront. Since it was just after the disaster, everyone needed money so Run Ying managed to buy the storefront without spending much silver. Run Ying now had a lot of confidence following Gu Yu Qi and hardly haggled when finalising the deal.

Gu Yu Qi chose an auspicious day to open the shop for business. When pedestrians saw the interesting name of the shop, “Ji Shun Express,” written on a sizable gold-painted signboard on the bustling street near the wharf in Jiangxia City which really attracted everyone’s attention.

People tended to inquire when curious, and to cater to their curiosity, Gu Yu Qi hired two fast-paced storytellers. They turned the purpose of Ji Shun Express into a fast-paced storytelling performance right outside the shop, attracting a crowd.

On both sides of the shop’s entrance in the places where others hung couplets, Gu Yu Qi had two signs made and placed at the entrance. The two phrases on the signs, “Ji Shun Express, the mission will be completed”, were catchy and easy to remember. After a few days, even the children playing at the wharf could not stop repeating them.

With this modern touch of publicity by Gu Yu Qi, Run Ying initially thought it would take a long time to attract business. However, unexpectedly in just a few days, the name of Ji Shun Express had become well-known in Jiangxia City, spreading to every household. Merchants who had just arrived at the wharf to transport goods began inquiring about Ji Shun Express’ delivery times and shipping fees.

This inquiry left everyone astonished because the fees and delivery times were lower and shorter than what they had expected.

Immediately, someone began discussing with the shopkeepers and to their amazement, not only did they handle the deliveries efficiently, but they also provided compensation. As long as you purchased something called “insurance” beforehand, even if your goods were delayed or damaged, you would receive compensation from Ji Shun Express. Many people signed contracts on the spot.

After processing a few orders, although they were all short distances, Ji Shun Express delivered the goods quickly and efficiently according to the merchant’s requirements. This garnered a lot of praise.

Ji Shun Express had become well-known, but there were still some who were not pleased, namely, the old business owners who used to handle cargo transportation. They hired some local ruffians and troublemakers to create a scene outside Ji Shun Express. Initially, Yun Ke had been pretending to be recovering from illness while secretly observing Gu Yu Qi’s actions. However, when he saw people attempting to vandalise Ji Shun Express, he felt that if he did not intervene now, he might be completely forgotten by Gu Yu Qi.

She was busy every day, leaving home early in the morning and returning late at night. Yun Ke often ended up falling asleep just to see Gu Yu Qi once… Gu Yu Qi did this intentionally to avoid him, and Yun Ke understood. He was afraid of pushing her too hard so he endured it. However, he still had someone secretly follow Gu Yu Qi every day, both to protect her and to find out what she was up to.

Even Yun Ke felt that he had truly changed. In the past, when would he ever have waited for Gu Yu Qi?

Moreover, Gu Yu Qi’s daily actions brought him different surprises each day. Even he could not figure out how she had so many strange ideas in her mind, and she seemed to turn every idea into reality one by one. After observing her for several days, the time Yun Ke looked forward to the most each day had become the moment when his undercover agents reported Gu Yu Qi’s activities. He could never predict what she would do next.

Gu Yu Qi was like a treasure trove. You never knew what you would discover next as you delved deeper.

The current Yun Ke believed that Gu Yu Qi was not just making empty promises when they formed their alliance. She was genuinely working hard to make money. The thought filled Yun Ke’s heart with a mixture of joy and bitterness. He could not believe that he had pushed her to this extent… He dared not even think about her emotional state in her past life after being deeply misunderstood by him.

So when he received the message from his undercover agents that someone was planning to cause trouble at Gu Yu Qi’s shop, he immediately rushed there with his bodyguards.

His Highness Prince An came to the Ji Shun Express and spent the entire afternoon in the shop, leisurely sipping tea and having friendly conversations with the merchants who came to sign agreements. How could the troublemakers dare to act up? The merchants were even more astonished and signed the agreements in a daze, not fully understanding the terms. They left the shop feeling as if they were in a dream. They wondered how many incense sticks their ancestors had burned before they could see a prince from the capital on disaster relief… Usually, they could not even see a county magistrate.

Upon reflection, these business owners realised that they could not afford to mess with someone with connections like this! These were not just ordinary connections, it was a prince from the capital. How could they possibly challenge him? They slinked away dejectedly with their tails between their legs.

When Gu Yu Qi found out that Yun Ke went to the store, she frowned but did not say much. Throughout history, there has always been a principle in doing business. It was not just about brains and money, but also about fists. Why else would there be collusion between the government and businessmen? She was originally earning money for Yun Ke, so it was not wrong for Yun Ke to come out and assert his presence.

It would be a waste not to use existing resources!

In fact, she had already considered in advance that her Ji Shun Express would definitely face competition and threats from other businesses in the field. She had already come up with a way to deal with it, which was to negotiate cooperation.

The cake was so big, she could not swallow it all by herself. She also needed to be able to digest it. Her own transportation capacity is limited, and now that Ji Shun Express had just opened, there were not too many orders yet so her hired escorts can still handle it. However, when she took on more and more orders consecutively and received more business, she was already feeling overwhelmed.

So, that was why Gu Yu Qi thought about cooperating with other trade businesses.