Remarrying Chun Yuan

Chapter 420 Adding chaos

"That cunning old fox, does he think he doesn't understand what you mean? Unless he's pretending not to understand."

Li Chengyue knows his father too well, but he is also furious that Liu Yuechu sold him out!

"If you wanted to get rid of Xu Shan, you should have told me beforehand. You just betrayed me like this. Luckily, I dodged quickly, and the old man didn't have a knife on him!"

He was hit on the head several times, and his skin still hurts.

Liu Yuechu hurriedly instructed Xia Zhi beside her to step forward, "Quickly apply some medicine to our young master Li's wounds. He is an official of the imperial court, and he cannot be injured even in the slightest!"

Xia Zhi tried to join in, but Li Chengyue quickly dodged.

"Your reputation is already tainted, and now with the scent of your perfume on you, it's even harder to explain!"

"I'll really help you this time! Make sure to transfer the money for the next batch of goods directly to me. I'm desperately short of cash!"

Li Chengyue's cooperation was also motivated by money. He had become a true war maniac, completely addicted to making weapons.

Liu Yuechu readily agreed. After parting ways with Li Chengyue, she personally went to the Imperial Household Department's warehouse to inspect all the carvings in the second batch and categorize and price them.

This time, the wood is better than the last batch, and the craftsmanship is also better.

Aside from Song Ziwen's item, the rest sold for 15,000 taels.

As for the statue of the saint that Song Ziwen had, she directly priced it at 50,000, take it or leave it.

Although the merchants from Yan did not buy it, they hoped to spend money to commission a statue of a deity from Yan.

Liu Yuechu scratched her head. How could she decide what Song Ziwen should sculpt? It was indeed a major problem. But someone was willing to pay, and she had to satisfy the buyer's needs…

Actually, wasn't the whole purpose of this carving competition just to lure Song Ziwen in? Everyone else's pieces wouldn't sell for much, only his would fetch a high price…

"How is Song Ziwen doing?" She would naturally send someone to keep an eye on him, lest he get drunk and cause trouble.

Liu Tao became a little follower, "Master, why don't you ask how the Xu family is doing?"

Liu Yuechu: "..." She's already made arrangements for Xu Xianglan, why is she still concerned about the fate of the Xu family?!

But Liu Tao seemed quite interested and kept talking, “They haven’t found Miss Xu yet, so they reported it to the authorities. The county government just accepted the case and told them to go back and wait. Xu Shan’s old mother was acting like she was old and said that her son was participating in a carving competition and was a government official, and that the county magistrate must take it very seriously.”

"But not only did the county magistrate ignore her, even the registrar didn't pay her any attention. It was the head constable who pinned her down and gave her a beating for disturbing the court."

"Given her age, the county government didn't punish her severely. She only received three strokes of the cane before she fainted."

"The county government didn't even call a doctor for him; they just had Xu Shan take him home."

“But they didn’t have a moment of peace even after they got home. The wealthy man from the neighboring county had already sent betrothal gifts, but no one was there. They’re making trouble for them now.”

……

Upon hearing this, Liu Yuechu couldn't help but sigh, "That's what they got for it."

"Actually, they're just brainless." Liu Tao's lips almost curled up to the sky. "There are so many people coming and going in the capital, who doesn't know that the Duke made their whole family kneel in front of the Duke's mansion a while ago?"

"With just this one action, their family should understand that they can no longer use the Duke's mansion as a shield. But if they don't have the Duke's mansion as a shield, will the county government even bother with them?"

Liu Tao, after all, came from a humble background and had seen the ugly faces of these people since he was a child. "He's just a carving master. No matter how good his skills are, he's still just a craftsman."

"No wonder Xu Shan's carvings are so ugly; his mind is not at peace, and his hands are not steady." Liu Yuechu specially asked someone to bring his work for a closer look this time.

Nowadays, it's not just ten times cheaper than Song Ziwen, it's probably fifty times cheaper.

That piece couldn't even compare to other unknown carving masters; truly, the student surpassed the master.

"Just keep an eye on it. No matter how much trouble the Xu family causes, as long as Song Ziwen can participate in all these competitions and carve the object for me, that's all that matters." Liu Yuechu remembered the Yan people's requirements. She had originally planned to watch the last competition, but now it seemed she would have to participate in the next one to give Song Ziwen another cold shower.

Liu Tao nodded and accepted the order, then happily went off to get to work.

Liu Yuechu was still figuring out how to get Song Ziwen to carve a statue of a deity from the Yan Kingdom. She had also heard in the palace that her carving competition had been a great success and that she was starting to make money from it.

"This Liu Yuechu is quite capable. She can sell the scrap wood from the garden as carvings, and at a considerable value."

The Empress also heard that she had brought back several master sculptors, and even Song Ziwen, who had been out of the public eye for a long time, had come out of seclusion.

"I heard they asked the Sage of Painting, or perhaps it was the Sage of Painting who gave them the idea," said Granny Chang.

"Ultimately, it's just a father and daughter. It's only right for a father to help his daughter when she's in trouble." After saying this, the Empress looked at Emperor Qi Xiao. It was only because Emperor Qi Xiao was resting in her palace today that she deliberately brought it up.

Emperor Qi Xiao remained silent. How could he not know what tricks Liu Yuechu had played?

He never expected that she could persuade the people of the Mongol Kingdom to buy all the carvings, and even people from the Yan Kingdom would come to place orders.

"It's only because you praised her that she dared to act so recklessly this time, giving all the money directly to Li Chengyue without even telling me."

"I just received a complaint from the Minister of Revenue and came here to have some tea and rest. Sigh... People will make trouble when they have no money, but they will make even more trouble when they have money!"

"What's the Minister of Revenue doing? If he's so capable, why doesn't he organize a grand event like this and contribute to the capital's prosperity?" The Empress sided with Liu Yuechu this time. After all, Fang Ziqing and his daughter had previously caused trouble for the Liu family, almost leading to some absurd situation. She didn't know how to make amends and apologize, and was afraid that Yuan Cuo and Liu Yuechu would hold a grudge.

"You're speaking up for her." Emperor Qi Xiao's expression was full of scrutiny. How could he not know the Empress's thoughts? She was deliberately trying to stabilize the situation and hoping that the Crown Prince would give birth to a grandson soon.

"I'm not speaking up for her, but asking for fairness. At the beginning of the month, she abandoned her two children because of this. What mother could do that?"

The Empress mentioned Gu Yu and Xia Zhi, "When they came to my court, they also mentioned that she was working exceptionally hard. If Your Majesty feels compassion for her, why not send the Painting Master Liu to help her as well?"

"The six arts are inseparable, so let's make this grand event even more lively."

Upon hearing the Empress mention this matter, Emperor Qi Xiao's lips twitched involuntarily. "Forget about him. With his personality, he's only good for playing chess with me."

"Then how about I have the Crown Princess go and help her out? They're all juniors, so it'll be easier for them to talk and act." The Empress had already abandoned Fang Ziqing, so she wanted to get the Crown Princess out of the palace. It was better than her being trapped in the Eastern Palace like a bird with a broken wing.

Emperor Qi Xiao pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

The Empress immediately expressed her gratitude on behalf of the Crown Princess.

Upon hearing that the Crown Princess was coming to help her with the carving competition, Liu Yuechu was instantly displeased. "...When will the palace stop causing trouble?"