The Tyrant's Beloved Empress

29

Here you go, freshly edited chapters! And I apologize for the sudden remove of the chapters a while ago, I just had to edit it 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️
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An Chang Qing was feeling anxious but
Xiao Zhige's reassuring words calmed him. He thought and said, "In that case, I have to get to work as well. I have tallied up the money for all the shops with He Lan. We'll withdraw them to buy more padded clothes, grains, and coal for the winter."

In his last life, he had heard the servants talk about how the price of coal had risen sharply. The coal stored by wealthy families could normally last up to the end of January and they would not need to restock till next winter. But the winter this year was harsher and lasted longer than expected, causing many households to run out of coal quickly. As a consequence, coal prices went up and the coal business boomed.

Xiao Zhige said, "There are still funds in the general accounts; let Steward Wang to withdraw them for you, though, I'm afraid that there's not much left to buy."

"We'll just buy as much as we can," An Chang Qing said.

After they finished their discussion, the two had dinner together. The next day, An Chang Qing had Steward Wang summon all the store managers to talk about the procurement of goods. They were supposed to come on the twentieth but as things were urgent, An Chang Qing asked them to come 2 days in advance.

Lately, An Chang Qing had been occupied with one thing after another and did not have the time to figure out how he should deal with these managers.

On the other hand, the managers who were left hanging had gotten more anxious with each passing day. After hearing that An Chang Qing had sent the manager from Tian Yi Fang to jail followed by Steward Wang's intimidating warning, they would've preferred to come to the Wang Manor and beg for mercy instead. Other than the few who had been honest, the rest had gone down a few garment sizes due to the loss of sleep and appetite.

Being summoned to the Wang Manor was actually a relief for them, even if it was a death sentence, they were simply glad that they no longer had to live in fear.

Unexpectedly, Wangfei did not drag them into the torture chamber to interrogate them as they had imagined. He only smiled at them pleasantly and enquired about the situation of each store. After they had answered honestly, they heard him say, "I've asked you to come here today for an important matter. Wangye and I want to purchase a batch of winter clothes, grains, and coal but due to the lack of manpower, I'm wondering if you'll be able to help."

All the managers felt as though they had just escaped from hell when they heard his words. They understood that as long as they could accomplish this task, they would be able to redeem themselves.

Among the several guilty managers, one of them stepped up and spoke, "How many does Wangfei want?"

An Chang Qing thought it over and asked, "How many can you buy?"

The managers considered briefly before they could give a definite answer. They had a wide range of contacts and a variety of channels to make the purchases but how many they could acquire still had to be calculated.

Someone answered, "We'll have to go back and confirm."

An Chang Qing said, "Please do so and report to me by tomorrow."

They did not know why An Chang Qing wanted to buy this large supply of goods but since they bore a guilty conscience, they dared not question him and could only comply.

After talking about the purchase, An Chang Qing saw that they still looked worried and said, "One more thing- You must already know that the manager of Tian Yi Fang has been locked up by the magistrate for the crime of colluding with outsiders and embezzling from the store."