Author: Pei Xuanhuang

Seeing He Shou's arrival, not only Qiao Wang behind the counter, but also other pen workshop craftsmen and congratulatory guests who heard the news came out of the backyard to greet him.

He Shou had no intention of disturbing Zhiyongzhai's business. He simply said hello and told everyone to go their own way and not to crowd around him. After speaking, he looked around and gestured to the private room on the left: "I'll go in and sit down."

After taking He Shou's gift box in person, Lu Shu raised his hand and signaled: "Your Majesty, a table has been prepared in the backyard, please move..."

He Shou shook his head: "Your Majesty ordered me to check in the store. There are many things going on in the palace, so I will have to go back soon."

Lao Zhu asked He Shou to come and stand for a while. He Shou couldn't really stand, as that would scare people. He could sit in a private room for a while and let outsiders see. It would be enough if the meaning that should be conveyed was conveyed.

After saying that, he walked to the private room on the left.

Lu Jie asked another craftsman, Tu Xian, to take charge of the reception. He followed him personally and made tea and water. He Shou talked to Lu Jie and mentioned the order of 1,000 pens, so that they would not be in a hurry and looked at it.

The lively sales scene had begun outside. After drinking a cup of tea, I stood up and said goodbye.

After seeing off He Shou and returning to the increasingly lively shop hall, Tu Xian, another workshop craftsman who had just been asked to take his place to see him off, came over and whispered to Lu Ju: "Shopkeeper, someone from the Right Prime Minister's family is also here."

Lu Zhu didn't react for a moment: "That?"

Tu Xian simply pointed it out and subconsciously lowered his voice: "General Zhengpi."

Just as Lu Zhuo showed surprise on his face, another guest came in. He quickly restrained himself and greeted him. This time it was Hua Fu, the steward of the Hua Gao family, the naval commander, who was going to Mingzhou with the head of the family.

Governor Hua has the best relationship with his family, so he cannot be neglected.

Lu Zhu personally took Hua Fu to the entrance of the backyard behind the counter on the right, returned to the main hall, and then looked at Tu Xian.

After confirming that everything was correct, and thinking that all the important guests who were supposed to be there had arrived, Lu Ju simply asked Tu to take over for him, and he also bypassed the counter on the right and went to the backyard.

The person in charge of registering guests here is named Li Mingli, the uncle of Qingniang next to the owner of the house, and he is 61 years old this year.

Lu Jie greeted the old man, picked up the registration book, and quickly confirmed that the residence of the General of the Conqueror and the Right Prime Minister of Zhongshu had indeed sent a steward named Zheng Pu to congratulate him. He asked the old man a few more questions, and Lu Jie followed the instructions.

A thin man in his forties sitting at a table to the left is Zheng Pu.

Zheng Pu had already started talking to Hua Fu, who had just arrived, and the two seemed to be quite familiar with each other.

As Lu Zhu walked over, his mind was racing.

The favor shown by His Majesty the Emperor to the family head is on one level. The interactions between the family head and officials are on another level.

Lu Ju is also well versed in the world and understands that both are important.

Lu Jian just didn't expect that today's visitors had already exceeded his expectations, but there would be one that even exceeded his expectations.

Conquering General Xu Da!

The first military general of the Ming Dynasty, and second only to Xuan Guogong Li Shanchang in the imperial court.

Lu Zhu could think of some interactions between General Xu and his family master. His family master came from the war-torn Shandong, and it happened that General Xu sent people to escort him to Jinling. However, with just this intersection, it was difficult for Lu Zhu to know more about the inside story.

Understand, how could General Xu send his family over to congratulate the opening of a small shop?

You know, this is more than just congratulations.

By showing up like this, you are showing your attitude.

What attitude?

From a small perspective, General Xu has a good impression of his young master. From a serious perspective, it means that the Xu family wants to be on good terms with the Zhu family.

After all, court officials with lower official positions than his little master came to congratulate him, maybe they were just fawning over him. Xu Da's status was very different, and his every move carried far more weight than those petty officials.

Just like Li Shanchang, the left prime minister who was rumored to be on the wrong side of his little master, and Tao An, who was in charge of the Hanlin Academy and had the same official rank as the master of the family, there was no movement today.

No matter what, I must write a letter and send it to Mingzhou as soon as possible to inform the head of the family about this matter.

While Lu Zhu was socializing in the backyard, the business in the front shop got better after a large number of customers came in.

Qiao Wang, who was in charge of accounting, had opened 16 orders in a blink of an eye.

According to the owner, this is called an 'invoice'. There are two copies of the invoice. One is kept in the store and the other is given to the customer. If there is a problem with the pen, the invoice can be used to repair it for free within one year.

In addition to the invoice, it will also be recorded again in the clear account book form.

Qiao Wang helped the Wang family in Yizhou manage Zhuangzi and was also responsible for keeping some bills, but those were just running accounts. He did not expect that there would be such a comprehensive and meticulous accounting method in this world.

However, Qiao Wang had no time to lament this at the moment.

Qiao Wang was a little panicked.

Because, behind the 16 orders, 29 pens have been sold, and many customers have purchased more than one, including two treasure inlays worth 666 taels.

It has only been open for a few minutes!

At this sales rate, and considering that the workshop has been stocking up for nearly a month to have 316 pens in stock, Qiao Wang thought, don't tell me what to do tomorrow...afternoon?

I had just opened an order for another customer when a voice came from the side: "Man, take those two off and let us take a look."

Qiao Wang looked over.

This is a round-faced middle-aged man wearing an indigo silk robe. His accent is a bit strange. He seems to be from the southeast, and he is deliberately imitating Jinling Mandarin.

Qiao Wang had noticed the other party before.

The middle-aged man had been wandering around the store just now, until the emissary ordered He Shou to leave. He seemed to be no longer so restrained, and then he spoke.

Qiao Wang immediately understood what the other party wanted to see, and recruited another literate clerk to temporarily help with the billing. He took the initiative to go over, and carefully took off the 'Xingtian', and said to the middle-aged man: "Guest, this is designed by the owner himself, and he took out the ancient strange book. The strange beasts recorded in "The Book of Mountains and Seas" are so magical that we plan to create a set of unique ones, each with a number. This is the first number, called "Xingtian". Tao Yuanming has a poem that says, "Xingtian dances with his limbs, and his fierce ambition is always there." It can be seen from Dongli Mr. Xing Tian’s admiration..."

Qiao Wang said as he opened the lid of the mahogany box.

In a large mahogany box that is one and a half feet long and one foot wide, there are several small grids separated by bright red silk.

In the rectangular grid on the far left, in another small wooden box without a lid, a pen with a black lacquer base, full of golden fine lines, and inlaid gems at both ends and key parts of the texture appeared in front of several guests who gathered after hearing the sound.

If you look a little closer, you can tell that the delicate texture on the pen vaguely forms a picture of a headless giant dancing a giant axe.

In addition to the pen, there is also a set of nibs in other compartments, two bottles of ink that look very high-end, a red silk booklet, and a small scroll.

Qiao Wang continued talking, and just as he was about to take out the scroll with the word 'Xingtian' on it and show it to everyone, a short man beside the round-faced middle-aged man who had spoken before had already said, "I bought this.

There is the Jingwei above, the shopkeeper, all the buttons..."

The round-faced middle-aged man with a strange accent was still bowing his head to admire it. Hearing this, he immediately became anxious. He pressed the box in front of him and glared at the short man next to him: "Do you know how to come first, first served?"

The short man countered: "You only said to take a look, but you didn't say you wanted to buy. If it's a first-come, first-served basis, I'll be considered 'first come'!"

Seeing that the two of them were about to quarrel, Qiao Wang quickly dissuaded him: "Two of you, please listen to me. My master has personally priced these two orphan products at 1888 taels of silver..."

The short man didn't wait for Qiao Wang to finish, but interrupted again: "I'll give you two thousand taels."

Qiao Wang was worried that the people in front of him would misunderstand, so he explained: "My master set the price and specifically emphasized that there can be no discounts, but he must not increase the price. Furthermore, guest, these 1888 taels are one piece, not two pieces."

The short man smiled and said: "Of course it's one, I'm not that messy person. Give me both, and I'll ask someone to bring the money in."

The round-faced middle-aged man was still pressing the box in front of him, and now he looked at Qiao Wang: "First come, first served, I looked first."

The short man didn't give in at all: "I'll buy it first."

Seeing that the two were about to argue again, Tu Xian, who was greeting the guests, had already come over. Qiao Wang winked at the waiters on both sides and carefully tried to put away the 'Xing Tian' in front of him to prevent the two of them from accidentally destroying the treasure.

Just as we were about to get into trouble, suddenly there was another powerful voice from the side: "You are so outrageous, and you don't even look at the author of the work in the middle hall. If you dare to cause trouble here, get out of here!"

The two people who were about to quarrel were immediately frightened.

react to.

The plaque at the door and the enshrinement hall are all written by His Majesty the current emperor.

Thinking of this, the two of them subconsciously took a few steps back. Then they thought of something, paused, and looked at the speaker together. He was a bearded man in his thirties, tall and well-dressed.

The two of them didn't know each other's identity for a while, they didn't dare to advance, they didn't want to retreat, and the atmosphere suddenly became a bit stalemate.

Today... I came here with orders from my master.

If you go back empty-handed, it will be difficult to explain.

Seeing the two of them move aside, the tall man's originally serious expression softened. He squeezed over and turned to Qiao Wang, already showing a bit of a smile: "Shopkeeper, I want these two. One thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight taels, I don't want it."

I understand, but it sounds like an auspicious number. Please open the order for me quickly. Besides...are you just collecting gold?"

Round-faced man: "..."

Short man: "..."

Guests around: "..."

The tall man ignored the stunned people and said that he had already received a wooden box from the attendant behind him and carefully carried it onto the counter. Even though the man deliberately moved lightly, there was still a thumping sound, which showed that the wooden box was heavy.

This sound finally woke up the people around him, and the two men immediately rushed over to him.

"Xie Di, you guy..."

"False threats, shameless..."

"Store, give me an invoice. Mo Li, these scoundrels, I brought a thousand taels of gold, how can I exchange the silver?"

"..."

After such a fuss, after Qiao Wang's coordination, 001's 'Xingtian' and 002's 'Jingwei' were taken away one by one by the two people who spoke first. The tall man who brought a box of gold did not bother them, and

I bought five 666-tael Baobao inlays and ten other pens of different styles and materials in one go, and I came away satisfied.

Lu Zhu entered the backyard and stayed to entertain the guests.

After sending away Zheng Pu, the steward of the Xu Mansion, who had only been seated for two-quarters of an hour, Lu Zhu took turns toasting and greeting everyone. In the blink of an eye, more than an hour passed, and Hua Fu, the steward of the Washington Mansion who was still staying, was commenting on the song sung by the actress just now. Duan, suddenly a waiter hurried over, his mouth wide open and unable to speak, he just raised his arm and pointed forward.

Lu Zhu was startled and thought something serious had happened. Without asking any more questions, he stood up, picked up his clothes and ran over. Some of the remaining guests also quickly got up and followed.

Everyone hurried to the front shop in panic and looked at the empty shelves, not to mention the pens and ink that had been wiped out. Then they looked at Qiao Wang behind the counter, who was looking at the account books in front of him in slow movements. They didn't react for a moment.

This broad daylight is bright and clear, and it is Jinling City at the feet of the emperor.

Is it possible...

How could he be attacked by a strong thief?!
Chapter completed!