Li Rui did not have an outstanding appearance, nor did she have an enchanting figure. Even her talent, which she was so proud of, did not stand out among the many concubines.
However, she had the help of the Empress Dowager.
Although the current Emperor was not the Empress Dowager's son, he was still under her name. Even if he did not have much affection for the Empress Dowager, he still had to pretend to be filial.
Therefore, the Emperor not only had to dote on Li Rui, who was sent by the Empress Dowager, but he also had to dote on her greatly.
With the Emperor's favor, Li Rui, like the other concubines, wanted to be pregnant with the Emperor's child and obtain more through the child.
However, she did not understand.
For the Emperor, everyone in the harem could give birth to a child, except for Li Rui. Even if he did not have a child in this life, he could not let Li Rui give birth to a child.
Jiujiu was very surprised by Li Rui's entering the palace.
However, this matter did not have much to do with her, so she did not pay much attention to it.
After Jiujiu and Gu Yuan got married, she did not start to take care of her husband and children as others thought.
Before Jiujiu and Gu Yuan got married, they had already agreed that she was not the kind of 'good wife' who was content with staying indoors. She wanted to make a name for herself.
Gu Yuan respected Jiujiu, so he gave Jiujiu enough convenience. In order to make things easier for Jiujiu, not long after the two got married, Gu Yuan took Jiujiu out of the Prime Minister's residence and lived in the residence that the Emperor gave him after he became the top scholar.
Jiujiu was a woman, and this dynasty had many restrictions on women, especially for a woman like her who came from a prestigious family. There were more restrictions than ordinary people.
Jiujiu could do things that were very limited. Jiujiu could only choose a few things that she was good at.
When Jiujiu got married, Marquis Su gave her a lot of dowry, including a lot of banknotes.
Jiujiu had Steamed Bun change his name to Bai Sujiu and bought a few shops in the capital. After renovating them, he quickly opened a new shop.
One was an inn, one was a rouge powder and spices store, one was a jewelry store, one was a clothing store, and the last one was a tavern.
The restaurant was responsible for food and accommodation.
The rouge, powder, and fragrance shop was filled with Jiujiu's fragrances and powders. Unlike the monotonous scents in the capital, Jiujiu's fragrance shop had hundreds of different fragrances. If you couldn't find the fragrance you liked, then you could describe the fragrance you wanted. Next time, the other party would take out the fragrance you wanted.
The most troublesome issue for the young ladies of the capital was the issue of spices.
After all, it was possible to judge who wore the same outfit based on their appearance and figure, but there was no way to judge the fragrance.
Jiujiu's fragrance shop had greatly solved their problems, allowing everyone to find their own fragrance.
As for the cosmetics, they were even more satisfied.
The cosmetics matched according to your skin color and temperament. There were also professional servant girls who taught you how to put on makeup. Even though you were still the same person, the way you dressed was different. In an instant, your spirit and energy would change.
As for the jewelry and clothing stores, they were neighbors with the fragrance and cosmetics shop.
When the capital's young ladies came to buy the cosmetics, they would be recommended to go to the jewelry and clothing stores to match their clothes and jewelry.
When they saw that their clothes and jewelry were matched, they would be very happy to buy them all.
As for the wine in the tavern, they were all fine wines.
Any wine that you could name would be available in the tavern. Even the wine that you couldn't name would be available in the tavern.
The capital's high officials and nobles who loved wine were all guests of the tavern.
On the first and fifteenth day of every month, the tavern would auction off fine wines. The capital's high officials and nobles would spend a lot of money just to get a bottle of fine wine.
Even the Emperor wanted to join in the fun and buy a bottle of Thousand Days Drunk.
Thousand Days Drunk, as the name implied, after drinking it for a thousand days, there would be an endless fragrance of wine lingering on the body.
When the Emperor was a prince, he was fond of wine and loved to drink. He had only read about Thousand Days Drunk in books. When he heard from Prince Li of the First Rank that there was an auction for Thousand Days Drunk in a tavern in the city, he specially took out a day to buy it.
But what he didn't expect was that the usually cultured and refined officials would be red in the face and neck when they bought the wine. Their voices were louder and louder, and their prices were more and more exaggerated. In the end, the bottle of wine fell into the hands of Prince Liqin.
Prince Liqin specially gave the Emperor a bottle of wine. When he opened the bottle, the fragrance of the wine instantly filled the entire palace. The guards standing guard outside were also intoxicated. It was clear how powerful this wine was.
The Emperor, who originally thought that the wine was ridiculously expensive, finally understood that it was worth thousands of gold.
However, Thousand Days Drunk wasn't the best wine in this shop.
The best wine in the tavern was called Ten Thousand Years Spring.
As the name implied, after drinking it, one would be full of vitality like spring.
In the end, the wine was bought by an old merchant who was over fifty years old for ten thousand gold.
After buying the wine, the old merchant, who was on the verge of death, drank the wine and his old illness was cured. A few days ago, he even had a new male heir.
The effects of this wine were so powerful that it attracted countless people like a flock of ducks. Many people even regretted that they didn't buy it because of the price.
After all, this wine was equivalent to buying a life at home.
Ten thousand gold had a price, but a life was priceless. In front of a life, ten thousand gold was nothing more than dirt.
The huge profits from the tavern quickly helped Jiujiu accumulate a lot of start-up capital. Jiujiu also used this start-up capital to start her plan.
Jiujiu's shops started in the capital and quickly spread to the surrounding cities like the plague.
Just like in the capital, Jiujiu always found the best locations to open her shops.
This time, Jiujiu's shops had an additional grain shop.
Jiujiu's grain shop always bought grain at a high price and then sold it at a normal price or even lower than the purchase price. This allowed people who couldn't eat to start eating. Jiujiu's grain shop quickly received the gratitude of many people.
Many people even advised the owner of the grain shop not to mistreat them because they didn't want to eat. After all, there weren't many people who knew how to be grateful.
However, Jiujiu's grain shop still did this.
Over time, although no one tried to persuade the owner, there were people who offered a memorial tablet to the owner of the grain shop.
When they found out that the owner was a madam, they even called her Goddess Pushan.
In some places, temples were built and the incense was very strong.
When Jiujiu heard this news, she revealed a proud smile and then continued to expand her grain shop.
Three years later, after becoming the largest grain shop in the country and even abroad, she began the next step of her plan.
Xiao Bai, alias Bai Ze, began to join the army.
Xiao Bai's identity was a youth whose father was killed by bandits. Because of his father's death, he chose to join the army.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
