CHAPTER 345: CHAPTER 345: I WISH TO OFFER SEVERAL MEN TO THE COUNTY PRINCESS

The Zhu family and the Yang family almost simultaneously learned that the County Princess and the head of the Niu family had a pleasant conversation.

They intended to have Niu Ruosu probe the County Princess’s intentions.

However, they didn’t expect Niu Ruosu to appreciate the County Princess.

Women, after all, are unreliable.

Niu Ruosu had her own private agenda and couldn’t explain why she didn’t want to share what Meng Yao disclosed to her with the Yang and Zhu families.

So, when the Zhu and Yang families invited her to meet, she brushed it off with a smile.

She was confident that Meng Yao wouldn’t become close with the two families any time soon and would surely not reveal the information given to her.

Almost all the businesses in Le’an were monopolized by their three families.

Among these, the proportion of the Zhu and Yang families was slightly heavier than that of the Niu family.

The current emperor was dissatisfied with the tax revenue from Le’an, essentially meaning he was unhappy with the tax silver paid by their three families.

Previously, they deceived the authorities and covered the sky with one hand.

Now, Niu Ruosu had a premonition that they couldn’t cover it anymore.

Niu Ruosu called her most capable people and asked them to organize the accounts for the past five years.

The Niu family’s businesses mostly involved cosmetics and fabrics.

The Niu family’s ancestors came from the Western Qin Country, where women ruled, so the level of cosmetics production in Western Qin was far superior to other countries. It could be said that most top-grade cosmetics were transported from their Western Qin Country to various nations.

Textile and embroidery skills also held a dominant position.

The Niu family’s ancestors mastered these two crafts, which is why the Niu family gradually monopolized these areas.

Niu Ruosu once heard from the elders that when their Niu family first arrived in Le’an, the Zhu and Yang families joined forces to seize these two crafts from the Niu family. After failing, they realized that even though the Niu family was led by a woman, they were not to be trifled with and thus slowly accepted the Niu family.

However, after so many years, they still haven’t given up on this idea.

Every year, there are people from these two surnames marrying into the Niu family.

Yes, the women of the Niu family do not marry out.

This is the Niu family’s rule.

Even if men marry into the Niu family, they are still unable to learn these two crafts.

And it is precisely because of this that the Niu family can stand firm.

However, it is also impossible to surpass those two families.

But now, she has an idea.

"Head of the family, here are the organized accounts," someone under her interrupted Niu Ruosu’s thoughts.

Niu Ruosu glanced over them and said, "Prepare two hundred thousand taels of silver in the accounts."

This large sum stunned her subordinates.

They were specifically in charge of managing the accounts, and although the overall silver in the Niu family’s accounts was more than this, taking out such an amount was somewhat strenuous. After all, the silver in the general account was needed to maintain the entire family’s operations.

"Head of the family, is this?" her subordinate asked cautiously.

Could it be that the head of their family encountered a group of fraudsters?

Anyway, they couldn’t think of any business venture that would require investing such a large sum all at once!

"I have my uses for it," Niu Ruosu said.

"According to the family rules, the head of the family can only use up to one hundred thousand taels. Over one hundred thousand taels must be jointly decided by the elders of the Niu family on whether to use it," her subordinate said with difficulty.

Though the Niu family’s development flourished under the current head’s leadership, the rules set by the ancestors still stood.

As members of the Niu family, they could not disregard the rules set by their ancestors.

"Then invite the elders over for a meeting," Niu Ruosu said in a calm tone.

In any case, whether they meet or not will not change her decision.

Since she took over, situations like this have happened before.

In the end, didn’t she still prevail over them?

——

To Meng Yao’s surprise, two days later, Niu Ruosu came to visit.

Moreover, she got straight to the point and placed a box in front of her.

With a face full of doubt, Meng Yao opened the box to find it full of silver notes!

"What does this mean, Madam Niu?"

"This is the back taxes for the past five years from the Niu family, two hundred thousand taels. To make up for more from before, the Niu family could still manage, but I must consider the livelihood of my clan," Niu Ruosu said. "In the future, the Niu family will dutifully pay tax silver each year according to the Court’s regulations."

Meng Yao remained expressionless.

"I hope the County Princess will not pursue this further. I assure you that the Niu family will be well-behaved in the future," Niu Ruosu said. "Moreover, the Niu family has never done anything outlandish all these years."

At least, since her leadership, she has been fairly strict with her clan members. While she may not claim they are law-abiding, there haven’t been any heinous crimes committed.

"In the future, whatever regulations the Government enacts, the Niu family will unconditionally support them," Niu Ruosu added.

"What does Madam Niu seek?" Meng Yao asked bluntly.

"The Niu family’s peace and safety," Niu Ruosu replied.

"If the Niu family’s textile technology could be spread, it would benefit countless people, which would be a great deed for the country and the people," Meng Yao said with profound meaning.

Niu Ruosu’s face changed slightly; indeed, the County Princess was not easy to deal with.

It seemed that even offering a gesture of goodwill was not a simple matter.

"The Niu family is willing to submit all our cosmetics formulas to the Court, and in the future, any new formulas will also be submitted," Niu Ruosu said.

Textile technology is a very important technology in the Western Qin Country.

Even though their Niu family left their homeland, they are still citizens of the Western Qin Country.

The Western Qin Country’s laws stipulate that without the Court’s permission, no citizen of the Western Qin Country is allowed to leak the textile technology.

If leaked, it would be considered treason.

Of course, Meng Yao knew this.

She demanded the textile technology to encourage Niu Ruosu to willingly hand over the cosmetics formulas.

These formulas have been continuously refined by various families and are considered family secrets.

"Madam Niu is truly a woman of great courage, few men in the world can match that," Meng Yao praised Niu Ruosu.

"I can’t compare to the County Princess," Niu Ruosu replied with a bitter smile.

"Madam Niu, there’s no need for modesty. In the future, there will still be many areas where I will rely on you," Meng Yao said.

Having made a decision, Niu Ruosu decided not to wallow in sorrow anymore. Collaborating with the Government, though it may tie her hands in the future, also had clear benefits.

"What kind of man does the County Princess like?" Niu Ruosu directly asked Meng Yao.

"Ah?" Meng Yao was taken aback.

"I wish to send a few men to the County Princess," Niu Ruosu said. "A talent like the County Princess should have more people attending to her."

Fortunately, Zhao Ting wasn’t present, or else Madam Niu might have had to leave horizontally.

"I appreciate Madam Niu’s goodwill, but one husband is enough," Meng Yao directly refused.

"One husband is enough, but it doesn’t prevent the County Princess from employing others! Always facing the same person, you may grow tired!" Niu Ruosu said. "Occasionally changing flavors can be refreshing."

So, the thought processes of women in the Western Qin Country are quite similar to the thought processes of men in the Zhou Country.

Just as the men in Zhou Country are, so are the women in Western Qin Country.

This really is...

Determinedly, Meng Yao refused Niu Ruosu. Niu Ruosu was a bit disappointed. Since the County Princess didn’t accept her people, it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to ask the Princess to give up her husband. It seemed that the so-called General was quite capable if he could captivate the County Princess to see only him.

It’s not that Niu Ruosu was unaware of the customs of the Zhou Country, but she believed that as the County Princess, she surely had special privileges that wouldn’t require her to live like an ordinary woman.