It was the ninth lunar month, the season of late autumn. Although it wasn't extremely cold, the mornings were still quite chilly.
On this particular day, before dawn, the front of the Li Family Wine Shop was already crowded with people.
Each person hugged their arms tightly and huddled shiveringly in front of the door, fearing that they would be pushed to the back.
Wu Yao was on duty at the wine shop last night. As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by a deafening uproar outside.
The narrow alley was filled with people, stretching for dozens of meters!
Seeing that someone had finally opened the door of the wine shop, the crowd surged forward, waving their clattering silver notes and vying with each other to buy wine.
"Lord Chen, the lieutenant colonel of the cavalry, wants to buy ten jars of Golden Jade Hall wine!"
"Lord Liu, the assistant to the director of the Court of Appeal, wants to buy eight jars of Golden Jade Hall wine!"
"Lord Du, the judge of the Court of Revision, wants to buy fifteen jars of Golden Jade Hall wine!"
...
This startled Wu Yao.
He was stunned for a moment, then rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked in disbelief, "You... are all here to buy wine?"
"Yes!"
The person in the front beamed, "Miss Cheng supplied the wine for General Feng's welcome banquet last night. All the noble guests at the banquet praised it highly! My master came back last night and said that he must buy ten jars today!"
Someone from the back chimed in, "Yes, yes! My master also said that the wine is sweet and mellow, even better than the usual Chenbi wine. He told me to buy as much as I can!"
"My master said the same!"
"So did mine!"
...
Wu Yao was dumbfounded.
Who would have thought that overnight, the Golden Jade Hall wine would become famous throughout the capital!
What should they do now?
They had been busy with the welcome banquet for the past few days, so there wasn't much wine left in the shop for daily sales.
Apart from the two hundred jars that Li Wanming had set aside for aging, there were less than twenty jars left...
It was understandable. During this period, apart from Princess Chengping and Young Master Zhao, the regular customers only bought one or two dou (a unit of volume) of wine at a time. Occasionally, someone who bought a whole jar was considered a big spender.
Who would have thought that suddenly, overnight, the situation would change drastically, and a bunch of people would rush in to buy wine, and in large quantities of eight or ten jars!
Wu Yao thought for a moment and said, "Wait a moment." Then he retreated into the shop and slammed the door shut!
He quickly slipped out through the back door and rushed home in Pingkangfang as fast as his feet could carry him.
No, no!
The situation was too overwhelming for him to handle. He had to go back and report to Li Wanming immediately.
The people outside were stunned when they saw him suddenly close the door. Then they heard someone shout from the back, "The shopkeeper has run away!"
...
"Why did he run away?"
"Does he not want to sell us the wine?"
"That won't do! My master said he must buy the wine today!"
"My master also said that he wants to use the Golden Jade Hall wine for the full - moon banquet of the young master in our family. He told me to make sure to order it today!"
"Then what are we waiting for? Chase him!"
"Yes! Let's chase him quickly!"
A large crowd rushed after Wu Yao and started running in the alleys of Pingkangfang at dawn.
If it weren't for Wu Yao's martial arts skills, he might not have been able to shake them off...
After Wu Yao ran all the way to the Cheng Mansion, he didn't even bother to knock on the door. He simply climbed over the wall.
He ran along the wall towards the Luoxue Pavilion at the back. After jumping into the yard, he started pounding on the door, "Cousin, Cousin - in - law, wake up quickly. Something's wrong!"
...
At first, Li Wanming didn't believe it.
The welcome banquet in the palace was held last night. Even if her wine was going to gain a reputation, it should take some time. How could it become so famous so quickly?
It wasn't until she followed Wu Yao to the alley in front of the wine shop and saw the customers who had returned to wait after failing to catch up with Wu Yao...
"These... are all here to buy our wine?"
Wu Yao nodded vigorously, "Yes. If I hadn't run fast, I wouldn't have been able to escape!"
Xiao Jingnan just smiled, "What did I tell you? Wife, your wine is going to be famous throughout the capital!"
"So soon?"
Li Wanming asked in confusion, "But the banquet was just held last night..."
Xiao Jingnan said, "The banquet is not important. What matters is the attitude."
"The Emperor visited in person, bestowed a name on it, and designated it as the exclusive wine for General Feng's welcome banquet... This already shows the Royal Family's attitude."
"Last night's banquet was just a window, a window for everyone to know the Emperor's attitude."
"Actually, the Emperor doesn't need to praise it much at the banquet. Just a word or two from him is enough for these smart people who are good at reading the situation to know what to do."
"It's not surprising at all that your wine has become popular throughout the capital overnight!"
Chuntao's eyes sparkled, "Miss, are we going to make a fortune?"
Caiwei and Qinglan were also excited, "Cousin - in - law, tell us what to do! We're ready to follow your orders!"
After Li Wanming finished calculating the accounts last night, she actually gave each of them a tael of gold as a bonus!
They were first - class maids in the Prince Ning's Mansion, and their monthly allowance was only two taels of silver.
Li Wanming's generous gift was almost half a year's salary for them!
This made Caiwei and Qinglan realize a fact: This Princess Consort was not only capable but also very generous!
If they followed the Princess Consort, they would have a good life!
After some discussion, they made up their minds: From now on, they would firmly support the Princess Consort, do their jobs whole - heartedly, and work hard to achieve financial freedom as soon as possible!
Li Wanming took a deep breath, "Everyone, our opportunity has come."
She stood on a stone by the wall and scanned the crowd with her eyes:
"The Emperor has helped us build our reputation. Whether we can seize this opportunity depends on ourselves!"
"Everyone must produce with all their might and strictly control the quality of the wine. We must not let the Emperor down! Let our Golden Jade Hall wine become a truly famous brand as soon as possible!"
"Yes!"
"Cousin - in - law is right!"
"Miss, tell us what to do. Just give the order!"
Lu Ping, Wu Yao, Caiwei, Qinglan, Chuntao, and Xiao Jingnan all had eager looks on their faces, like the rising sun on this autumn morning.
Li Wanming was also infected by them, and her eyes shone brightly.
"The two hundred jars of wine have been sealed and cannot be touched. The current stock in our shop is definitely not enough to meet the demand. Starting today, we need to go all out and increase production."
"Caiwei and Qinglan, you two will register in the shop. Find out how much each person wants, when they need it, and whether they can wait."
"Chuntao, you go and contact the major warehouses and fruit stores. Ask them how much raw material they have left. Make sure to ensure the supply of raw materials."
"Lu Ping and Wu Yao, you go and call back the previous workers. Tell them that our Li Family Wine Shop is going to start working again!"
"What about me? What should I do?" Xiao Jingnan looked at her eagerly.
Li Wanming said, "You? Since you're so good at calculating, of course you'll be in charge of the accounting!"
She just found out last night that Xiao Jingnan could move the abacus beads so quickly. His fingers flew like lightning, and he calculated extremely accurately. There wasn't a single mistake in the entire ledger!
If she had known this earlier, why would she have let him go out to tell fortunes?
She should have kept him in the shop to do the accounting, so that she wouldn't have to be dizzy from keeping accounts every day...
"Okay, everyone do your own jobs. Let's get to work!"
After Li Wanming finished speaking, she lifted her feet and ran towards the other end of the alley.
"Where are you going?" Xiao Jingnan asked.
Li Wanming shouted from afar, "The stock of dried lychees must not be enough. I have to ask the Liu Family's convoy to send another batch urgently!"