Remarrying Chun Yuan

Chapter 222 Support

“No matter how unreliable the eldest young master is, he is still the eldest young master of our mansion. I’m afraid that someone will take this opportunity to take away a share of our Liu family’s business.” Granny Fang directly expressed her concerns.

Liu Yuechu remained silent; this was indeed a question that urgently needed to be considered.

Emperor Qi Xiao already looked down on her as a female merchant who showed her face in public; now that she was pregnant, he had even more excuse...

"We still need to invite all the senior managers over, including my eldest brother. Business matters need to be properly divided up, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to show up again."

Even though Yuan Cuo assured him that everything would be entrusted to him, the Surveying and Mapping Department already had a very heavy workload.

Besides, he's an official; how could he hold an official position and also engage in business? Even if Chen Zhongyao pretends to be blind and ignores it, the other members of the Inspectorate won't let him off the hook.

Seeing that Liu Yuechu had taken the advice to heart, Granny Fang nodded in agreement.

The next morning, several of the Liu family's chief stewards arrived at the mansion.

Song Liu'er, Yao Wei, Wang Fu, the Chen brothers, plus Liu Muchi.

Nowadays, apart from the horse farm being managed by Liu Musheng, the fur business with Mongolia is managed by Liu Muchi and Yao Wei, Song Liuer is in charge of the rice shop and six miscellaneous shops, Wang Fu is in charge of antiques and calligraphy and paintings, and the Chen brothers are running a pawnshop with Fang Suozi and also manage three escort agencies, supporting hundreds of servants for the Liu family.

Although the staff appears to be fully staffed, these individuals are actually being rotated around. Whenever one area is busy, they will step aside to take charge of that area.

“If my elder brother goes to deal with the Imperial Household Department, we need another person to keep watch at the horse farm. Although Lu Bingyang can be a helper, he can’t handle it all by himself. Don’t count on Pei Chun. Just treat him as someone who gets a share of the profits,” Liu Yuechu said.

Liu Muchi said softly, "Why don't I go? I can contribute more."

“But you can’t control those spoiled brats,” Liu Yuechu said, revealing the most fundamental reason.

Don't underestimate Liu Musheng just because he's not much of a person. When he acts like a domineering young master, he can actually get along well with those people. But Liu Muchi is, after all, born out of wedlock, and he instinctively backs down when things happen, making him easy to manipulate.

"If even the young master can't control them, then there's no point in talking about the rest of us." Song Liu'er kept his distance from those people, as he couldn't stand seeing them squander their money.

"How about we let Mu Chi deal with the Imperial Household Department?" Liu Musheng also offered a suggestion.

“Brother, I am not the legitimate son of the Liu family. The palace will blame our Liu family for neglecting this.” Liu Muchi understood this very clearly.

Liu Musheng scratched his head. "I'm not necessarily incapable of handling this, am I? How about I give it a try?"

Liu Yuechu couldn't help but sigh, "Then let you try first..." The newly appointed chief steward of the Imperial Household Department hadn't had any interaction yet.

It is said that she is close to the Imperial Concubine, and it is unknown whether she will deliberately manipulate the Liu family. Moreover, she is also worried about Liu Musheng. She said to Song Liu'er, "Be prepared to merge the rice shop and the general store. When that happens, let Brother Chen Cheng send one of them to manage them. If there is any trouble at the Imperial Household Department, you can help your elder brother." This is also one of the solutions.

Song Liu'er nodded repeatedly, feeling that Liu Yuechu was making a mountain out of a molehill. "You only carried the baby for ten months, and after giving birth to the young master, you'll only have about a year to recover. A year is nothing, how could we not make it through? Don't underestimate us, mistress!"

"Alright, alright, am I really as useless as you say?" Liu Musheng said confidently.

He comforted Liu Yuechu, telling her to take good care of herself during her pregnancy, "Even if someone is gone, life goes on as usual. Just focus on getting better and give me a lovely little niece. Don't worry about anything else, I'll take care of things at home!"

……

Liu Musheng made his boastful promise, and in just seven days, he lost a lot of weight.

The newly appointed eunuch Chang of the Imperial Household Department was exceptionally strict. When he was sent to a meeting, he had to ask in detail about the weight, season, and color of the fur, and even memorize the recipe for the sachets used for storage.

Even regarding past accounts, Liu Musheng knew nothing.

He went to the Imperial Household Department every day and was scolded by Eunuch Chang every day. Meanwhile, there were also discrepancies in the accounts at the horse farm. Many merchants came to him for help, but Liu Musheng's attendants had lost the accounts and could not verify them.

This included complaints about the paper and pens from Liu Family Trading Company, the incorrect goods, and even the printed books having the wrong number of pages.

……

Ultimately, a whole host of troubles piled up, completely exhausting Liu Musheng!

"Someone must be deliberately going against our family and making things difficult for us!" Liu Musheng had already cursed the old eunuch Chang to the bone in his heart, but he really couldn't answer the details that Chang had raised, and he had no confidence to argue back.

Liu Muchi was also exhausted and his face was ashen. Only now did he realize that without his second sister in charge, the once orderly Liu family would be in complete chaos.

"Why don't we go find my second sister?" He knew that if he delayed any longer, things would only get worse.

Thinking back to his boastful words, Liu Musheng felt embarrassed, "Wouldn't she laugh at me to death..."

"That's still better than things not going to work out, right?" Liu Muchi was also disheartened.

"Where's my brother-in-law? Didn't he say he would take care of everything?" Liu Musheng immediately thought of Yuan Cuo.

Having lived with Yuan Cuo for over a year, he had long since gotten used to asking Yuan Cuo for advice when in doubt. He didn't feel ashamed to admit defeat in front of this brother-in-law; on the contrary, he found him easier to talk to than Liu Yuechu.

Liu Muchi still felt he shouldn't trouble his brother-in-law, but Liu Musheng had already rushed to the entrance of the Surveying and Mapping Bureau, not even allowing Yuan Cuo to return home.

Yuan Cuo rubbed his forehead; he had also been assigned a task today.

Qin Mushuo suddenly recommended him to serve concurrently as the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial.

Because the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial suddenly fell seriously ill and was unable to get out of bed, the Ministry of Personnel recommended a group of people, but none of them were very suitable.

Qin Mushuo's reasons for proposing Yuan Cuo were simple: firstly, surveying the territory required negotiations with various countries; and secondly, Yuan Cuo had traveled extensively and was very familiar with several neighboring countries.

However, if a sixth-rank official were to concurrently hold a fourth-rank position, it would be considered a promotion of three ranks.

Although Emperor Qi Xiao did not immediately agree and indicated that he would postpone the discussion, the trade negotiations between the Meng, Yan, and Chu states and Daliang had been increasing recently, so the Honglu Temple really needed to be taken seriously and could not be delayed.

Yuan Cuo took the Liu family's accounts home and sat by the window to organize them. He felt at ease listening to Liu Yuechu's sound snoring.

After a busy night, Yuan Cuo checked the accounts of the horse farm. At dawn, he summoned Liu Muchi and instructed him on how to handle the situation.

"The difficulties imposed by the Imperial Household Department can only be borne by the eldest brother himself. He has to take on the burdens he has to bear, otherwise the business will definitely be questioned and others will steal it."

After leaving these words, Yuan Cuo hurriedly went to the Surveying and Mapping Department, as he still needed to take care of yesterday's matters.

Liu Musheng was dejected; a shadow had fallen over his heart.

Unsurprisingly, he was once again scolded and expelled from the Imperial Household Department by Eunuch Chang.

"I'm not bragging to you. If I were to go to the Imperial Household Department, do you think Eunuch Chang would dare to make a fuss?" Pei Chun suddenly suggested while drinking with him, "Actually, your Liu family is just putting on a brave face. You have to find a powerful family to rely on, someone to back you up."