As soon as Jiang Fuying returned to the mansion, she received a birthday "gift" sent from the neighboring Pingning Marquis Mansion.
The "gift" was personally delivered by Chunhua. On the surface, it was just an ordinary brocade box.
"Eldest Miss, our young lady heard it's your birthday today and hopes you'll accept this gift," Chunhua said.
A cold glint flashed across Jiang Fuying's autumn - water eyes.
Was Jiang Fuyue really kind enough to send her a birthday gift?
Seeing that she didn't say a word, Chunhua got a bit flustered. She held the brocade box and pushed it forward. "Eldest Miss, won't you open it and take a look?"
"Sure enough, she's the most well - behaved Second Miss of the Jiang family," Lu Huaizhou's mocking voice came from afar. "This is the first time this prince has seen a gift - giver insisting that the recipient open the gift on the spot!"
Chunhua's face instantly changed.
How could she not hear that Prince Lu was implicitly mocking her young lady for not knowing the rules of gift - giving?
But her young lady's order was to make the eldest miss open the gift in person. She...
Just as she was about to say something, she saw Lu Huaizhou wave his hand and give an order to the guards.
"Come here. This prince will take this gift and present it to my aunt next door!"
The guards immediately stepped forward, rudely snatched the brocade box from Chunhua's hands, and strode away.
Chunhua's face turned deathly pale as she hurriedly chased after them.
After they left, Jiang Fuying asked in surprise, "Does the prince know what's in the gift she brought?"
"I don't know," Lu Huaizhou raised his eyebrows and smiled, then naturally sat down beside her. "But I know she has ill intentions."
"Coincidentally, my aunt is both vain and shrewd. Since she likes giving gifts so much, it's better to give it to my aunt."
Jiang Fuying couldn't help but burst out laughing.
What should she say?
When Jiang Fuyue met the Marchioness of Pingning, it could really be described as -
"Meeting at the peak"!
Next door, in the Pingning Marquis Mansion.
After the Marchioness of Pingning saw the gift in the brocade box, she flew into a great rage. She scolded Jiang Fuyue for disgracing the marquis mansion and forced Jiang Fuyue to kneel in the ancestral hall in the middle of the night.
However, Lu Huaizhou and Jiang Fuying didn't care about these things.
He ordered people to carry out several glass mirrors of different sizes. "Take a look. Are these sizes suitable? If not, I'll have some more made."
Jiang Fuying carefully inspected them and nodded repeatedly. "They're very suitable. Thank you, Prince."
"With these glass mirrors, I'll go and talk to the shopkeepers about cooperation tomorrow."
"Then I'll wish Eldest Miss Jiang a successful cooperation in advance."
"Thank you for your kind words, Prince."
...
The next day.
Jiang Fuying took the finished glass mirrors and took a carriage with the flag of the Zhennan Duke's Mansion and appeared in Bailu Alley.
The shop was about to start renovation, and the shopkeepers of the surrounding shops would soon know her identity. Instead of hiding her identity, it would be better to make good use of the title of "the wife of the heir of the Zhennan Duke".
Among the several shops, she decided to start talking about cooperation with the silk shop first.
Hearing that the wife of the heir had come, Shopkeeper Bai of the silk shop rushed out to greet her. "Madam, this way please. May I ask if there's any silk or cloth you like? I can..."
"Shopkeeper Bai, I'm not here to buy silk today," Jiang Fuying interrupted his sales pitch and got straight to the point. "I'm here to talk to you about a cooperation."
Shopkeeper Bai's smile immediately froze on his face. "Madam, are you joking with me?"
The wife of the heir of the Zhennan Duke had condescended to come to his small shop just to... talk about cooperation?
Jiang Fuying looked serious. She raised her hand and gave an order. "Caipu, Caizhi, carry the glass mirrors up."
Several glass mirrors of different sizes appeared in front of Shopkeeper Bai.
"Shopkeeper Bai, you can see that these glass mirrors are more reflective than bronze mirrors. If they're placed in your silk shop, I think..."
Before Jiang Fuying could finish her introduction, Shopkeeper Bai suddenly interrupted. "Madam, please forgive my bluntness. Our shop may not be suitable for cooperation with you."
"The bronze mirrors we currently have are of good quality. We don't need your glass mirrors. As for cooperation..." Shopkeeper Bai sized her up and down, then shook his head. "Madam, you don't understand the tricks of selling silk. There's nothing for me to cooperate with you on."
He bowed. "I still have some business to attend to, so I won't receive you anymore."
After saying that, Shopkeeper Bai left directly.
Seeing this, Caipu was a bit indignant. "Miss, you came here sincerely to talk about cooperation, but he didn't even want to listen. Look at him..."
"It doesn't matter," Jiang Fuying suddenly stood up and said calmly. "Cooperation is a matter of mutual willingness. Since Shopkeeper Bai is not willing, let's go to the next shop."
Actually, before coming, she was already prepared to be rejected.
After all, it was her first time talking about cooperation with these shopkeepers. It was reasonable for them to have concerns.
The next shop was a rouge shop.
But as soon as he saw her, Shopkeeper Meng of the rouge shop looked at her with disdain.
"Madam, over the years, I've seen many noble ladies like you who are dressed in gold and silver and want to open a shop to do business. But without exception, none of their shops succeeded."
"Please allow me to say something unpleasant. You live a life of luxury and know nothing about business. Why don't you just stay in the mansion and be pampered?"
Jiang Fuying's face turned as cold as ice. She looked at him coldly.
If he didn't want to cooperate with her, he could just say so. Why did he have to look down on women like this?
If it weren't for women buying things, how many of the rouge in his shop could he sell?
He could refuse to cooperate with her, but he must not belittle women like this!
"Shopkeeper Meng, there's no need to belittle others here," Jiang Fuying raised her voice and said word by word. "Women are also people. If men can do business, I can too!"
"Let's just wait and see!"
What she didn't know was that as soon as she stepped out of the rouge shop, the shop boy asked Shopkeeper Meng.
"Shopkeeper, aren't you afraid of offending her?"
"Afraid of offending her?" Shopkeeper Meng smiled smugly. "I'm just taking money and doing things for others. The person behind me is naturally not afraid of her."
After leaving the rouge shop, Jiang Fuying went straight to the jewelry shop.
This time, she learned her lesson and prepared a lot of words in advance to introduce the glass mirrors, recommend customers to the jewelry shop, and offer benefits to the shop.
Unexpectedly, Shopkeeper Wu of the jewelry shop didn't show up at all. He just sent a shop boy to reply. "Madam, the shopkeeper said that our shop is doing well and doesn't need to cooperate with you. Please go back."
Shopkeeper Wu clearly refused, so Jiang Fuying didn't say much and could only leave.
Not only these shops, but she led Caipu and Caizhi to talk about cooperation in Bailu Alley for an afternoon, and all the shopkeepers refused her for various reasons.
As the twilight deepened, on the way back to the Zhennan Duke's Mansion, Jiang Fuying felt very frustrated.
Although she was prepared to be rejected, she never expected that today she would only encounter rejections.
She couldn't figure it out. In her previous life, she had ten years of experience as the mistress of the family and was quite good at running shops. Why did the cooperation talks turn out like this today?