In particular, she and Zhuling were now as close as if they were real sisters.
Seeing this, Bai Zheng smiled and said, "Previously, Zhou Yuanning gave me a bunch of small medicine jars. There should be some burn ointment in them. I'll go get it."
With that, she rummaged through a rather large wooden box in the room. After some searching, she finally picked up a cyan bottle and said, "Found it!"
Before Bai Zheng could finish her words, Bai Fu's voice came from outside, "Miss, Young Master Song is here to visit."
Song Yiqing?
Bai Zheng nodded. She walked up to Zhuling, opened the wooden stopper of the medicine bottle, and said to the outside, "Tell him I'll come right away after I finish what I'm doing."
Zhuling immediately understood what Bai Zheng meant. Frightened, she quickly retracted her foot and said, "What are you doing, Miss?"
"Applying medicine to you. Don't move around." As Bai Zheng said this, she stretched out her ring finger and dipped it into the bottle, trying to get some ointment to apply on Zhuling.
Seeing this, Qingshao quickly snatched the medicine bottle from Bai Zheng's hand and said anxiously, "What are you doing, Miss! Let this servant apply the medicine to Zhuling. Since there's a guest outside, it's better for you to go out and see the guest quickly."
"Yes, there's no reason for a young lady to apply medicine to a maid." Zhuling was also so frightened that she didn't pretend to be burned anymore. She stood up and pushed Bai Zheng out -
"Zhuling is fine. I was just teasing you and Qingshao, Miss. You'd better go out and see Young Master Song quickly. We owe him a debt of gratitude for this morning. We can't keep him waiting."
"It's just applying some medicine. It won't take long..." Although Bai Zheng said so, she was no match for the two maids' strength. In the end, she was helplessly pushed out of the room by them.
"Remember to be gentle when applying the medicine..."
"This servant knows!" Before Bai Zheng could finish her words, Qingshao closed the courtyard gate.
Outside the gate, Bai Fu, who hadn't gone far, looked back and saw his young lady shaking her head helplessly at the closed courtyard gate. He then smiled and said, "You're just too kind, Miss. Look how spoiled these two maids are. They're so lawless."
"You're right, Uncle Fu. Next time, Uncle Fu, please teach them a good lesson for me." Bai Zheng gave a charming smile. She joked with Bai Fu and then followed him to the front hall.
Unlike the always polite Fifth Prince Feng Jingyi, Song Yiqing didn't sit quietly on the chair sipping tea.
When Bai Zheng entered, she saw him with one hand behind his back and the other gently waving a fan. He was touching things here and there, looking around. Finally, he was attracted by a painting hanging on the side wall of the front hall and was looking at it intently.
"This was painted by my father when he was young. If you like it, Young Master Song, I'm sure my father will be willing to give it to you." Bai Zheng smiled.
Hearing this, Song Yiqing immediately clapped his hands and laughed, "So it was painted by your father! No wonder I've been looking at this painting for a long time and couldn't figure out its origin. Your father is really a man of hidden talents! If you hadn't told me, Miss Bai, I would have thought it was painted by the great master Xu of the previous dynasty."
Bai Zheng raised her eyebrows, "Your words, Young Master Song, actually make me a bit scared."
Song Yiqing was puzzled, "What are you scared of, Miss Bai?"
Bai Zheng reached out her hand and made a "please" gesture. Only then did Song Yiqing walk to the guest seat and sit down.
Bai Zheng tilted her head and glanced at the painting. She said indifferently, "Miss Bai and Young Master Song can be said to have a bit of acquaintance. I know that whenever Young Master Song flatters someone, there must be something he wants. I wonder what it is that you want from Miss Bai today?"
Song Yiqing looked embarrassed, as if his disguise had been exposed. He said in pain and regret, "Is this what you think of me, Miss Bai?"
Bai Zheng waved her hand, "It seems I misunderstood then! Young Master Song is just here to have a cup of tea at the Bai Mansion.
Uncle Fu, quickly bring out the top - grade Longjing tea picked before the Rain - Precipitation Festival.
Young Master Song, if you like this tea, you can take some more back from my mansion later. Thank you for your help this morning. This tea is just a token of my gratitude."
Seeing Bai Zheng change her attitude so quickly, Song Yiqing didn't know how to continue the previous topic for a moment. So he stopped beating around the bush with Bai Zheng and simply said.
"I've had quite a bit of Longjing tea picked before the Rain - Precipitation Festival. It doesn't matter. I just heard that your shops are almost ready, but you're still short of some manpower..."
Hearing this, Bai Zheng understood the purpose of Song Yiqing's visit.
The matter of opening the shops wasn't that urgent. Everything was going step - by - step, so no news had leaked out.
Bai Zheng always dressed as a man when she went out. With the secret guards sent by Feng Linyuan to protect her and clear away those who were tracking her, even Bai Sheng and Bai Di, who were most concerned about her movements, didn't know much about what she had been doing during this period.
If it weren't for the appearance of Princess Yunxi, which made Feng Linche hurriedly order to set the wedding date between her and Feng Linyuan for next month, taking her by surprise, this matter wouldn't have reached Song Yiqing's ears.
Bai Zheng smiled faintly. She smoothed out her dress and then looked at Song Yiqing, who was looking at her obsequiously. She listened to him continue.
"Given our acquaintance, if you need any help, just say the word and I'll surely do my best. Now that you're short of people, my Song family has quite a few servants who are very handy. I can lend them to you for a while."
Bai Zheng laughed.
She knew exactly what Song Yiqing meant.
On the surface, it sounded nice, lending manpower for a transition, but the real intention was obvious.
Song Yiqing knew Bai Zheng's capabilities.
With her help, just in this one month, the bookstores and paper shops opened by the Song family in Yongding City using the papermaking and printing techniques had a turnover of 20,000 taels of silver.
20,000 taels! This was the annual income of all the pottery shops under the Song family's name!
Now when Song Yiqing looked at Bai Zheng, his greedy and covetous eyes were shining like he was looking at a pile of gold.
This little girl could make the Song family earn a fortune with just a wave of her hand. Now she had been busy for more than a month in secret, preparing to open those shops. One could imagine how much profit they would bring.
Seeing a source of wealth, it went against Song Yiqing's usual style if he didn't hug Bai Zheng's thigh and get a share of the profit.
Thinking of this, Song Yiqing smiled even more brightly. His obsequious look made Bai Zheng feel that if she were to nod and agree, he would surely kneel down and kowtow without hesitation.
Bai Zheng frowned and pretended to suddenly understand, "No wonder I just asked someone to ask for your help this morning, but you were so eager to bring a group of people to help me out. So it was for this..."
Hearing that his little plan of getting Bai Zheng to owe him a favor by helping her out had been exposed, Song Yiqing immediately waved his hands nervously, "I only had one thought at that time, which was to help Miss Bai out. I definitely had no other motives!"
"This is nothing. Miss Bai will always remember your kindness, Young Master Song. But this is one thing, and the matter of the servants..."