Chapter 211
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"Oh. Doing some... work things for once." Yanmen Mengxiao almost bit his tongue from saying "owner-like things" since there was a third-party here. From what they've heard and his attitude, he's nearing her true identity but has yet to fully grasp the tru importance Shen Tianyu has to Lavender Palace. Since she hasn't told him outright, he wasn't about to spill the beans.
"That's right. It's rare for Miss to want to do some work. What came over you? Were you so bored, you just decided to work for once?" Wu Linghao asked a little sarcastically.
"Shut it, just give me the report." Shen Tianyu took her teacup and drank some of the tea.
Rong Jian just watched their conversation from the side. He was here to provide her with transportation and support. It was already a great act fo trust that she's letting him listen to their report on their profits, he wasn't going to intrude himself on their conversation.
Yanmen Mengxiao was in charge of reporting on their profits while Wu Linghao would sometimes add things that the other forgot. Basically, the business was doing well but the profits weren't raising at an exponential rate or anything, the profit line was more or less straight.
"We were kind of wondering if we should report this but we basically have a monopoly of the Flower District so I'm not sure if we can expand any more..." Yanmen Mengxiao told Shen Tianyu at the end, after her fifth cup of tea and their sixth pot.
"How can you say that? As businessmen, if you don't try to innovate, the business will die. No matter what, you can never be satisfied with what you have. Greed is the foundation of wealth, you know. Though there's a fine line one musn't cross if you don't want to destroy your own business." Shen Tianyu scolded them. She then smirked and looked over at Rong Jian from the corner of her eye. "You guys still remember the 'chocolate' introduced, right?" She asked as she put down her teacup again.
"You mean..." Yanmen Mengxiao caught on quickly and so did Wu Linghao, both widening their eyes. "But that product was to be an exclusive to Lavender Palace. If we begin to sell them..." Wu Linghao trailed off in worry.
"Don't we have a splendid business partner right here?" Shen Tianyu tilted her head as she looked at Rong Jian.
"...Huh?" Rong Jian came back to himself after finding that the room had fell silent. He jolt4ed in surprise when he found that everyone in the roo was staring at him. "Um... Did I do something?"
"Fourth Wangye, if I remember correctly, you wanted to buy some of our 'chocolate' before, yes?" Shen Tianyu spoke to him using his title as she fiddled with her teacup in calcualted boredom.
"I did... Is there a problem?"
"No, not at all. In fact, I believe the right opportunity has come."
"And by that you mean..."
"Fourth Wangye, would you like to be our first partner in our sale of Lavender Palace's new product line, 'chocolate'?" Her teacup made a clinking sound as she set it down on the wooden low table.
"Really?! Of course!" Rong Jian excitedly agreed, throwing his earlier confusion into the wind.
"Before we can sell it, though, we'll need to go through with some legal procedures. I believe we want an official audience with the Emperor and Crown Prince. Perhaps it would be beneficial if Qiao Wangye and Jun Wangye were in attendance as well." Shen Tianyu smiled at Rong Jian and the two men sitting opposite them gave out a sigh of relief.
"If Miss will be taking charge in selling it, then there's nothing to worry about." Wu Linghao whispered to his companion. Yanmen Mengxiao nodded in agreement.
"Of course! I'll arrange an official meeting with Emperor Father and Elder Brothers for you immediately!" Rong Jian got up from his seat with a wide smile. However, Shen Tianyu pulled on his sleeve form her seat to stop him.
"Hold it. Calm down, you can do that later today, we're in no rush." Shen Tianyu had a calm expression now, no trace of her previous bright smile to be seen.
They certainly weren't in any rush, Lavender's Palace numbered in the hundred millions in terms of yuan. Not only were they the monopoly of Flower Districts across the world, they were also a top go-to in terms of information buying. They were richer than even some countries, looking at the company income numbers alone. However, only a small portion of that actually went into development and savings. No matter how loyal you're workers were, they still needed money to survive. Factoring in the inflation due to the indsutrialization of businesses surrounding the business establishments and the additional wages paid to people in high positions of power that required more brainpower, a large portion of the income was already gone. People who were in high positions of power were there because they were more efficient at managing things and should therefore be better compensated for their work. Add in the amount of money needed to keep the establishment running, such as candles, scented aromas, and building repairs, the profit they churned out were nearly reduced by three quarters. And most of the last quarter was sent back to Yaodu in order to keep the organization functioing and the money earned by Lotus Pavillion was supposed to be added into the organization's savings so that they could buy certain rare materials. The staff of the Lotus Pavillions, which existed on every continent except Nang Zhou because the people were too low-level to produce any good treasures, but repair costs were still there. Especially because it's an auction house so people were more prone to get into fights, even with a "No fighting" rule in place. Though the profits from Lotus Pavillion did make up most of the savings used to buy things from other big families or auction houses.
That being said, the portion set to stay within the Lavender Palaces as emergency funds, which was only a quarter of the last quarter of profits, still wasn't small. It numbered up to tens of millions of yuan at least. Those savings were spent to buy "prizes" for the courtesans. In addition to their monthly wages, courtesans were put into a special systeme exclusive to them. They would earn "points" for the amount of money their costumers and clients spent for them. The gifts from the costumers themselves were excluded from this system of course but there was some good stuff that were limited. Things like hidden weapons, famous books, limited time aromas and such were posted on a special "board" for all the courtesans to see along with how many "points" they needed to have to trade in for them. Each courtesan would have a servant assigned to them whose sole purpose was to note down the "points" they earned. Those servants were usually ones already a part of Yaodu so there was less worry of being bribed to falsify reports. At the end of the month, all the courtsans would be informed of the number of "points" they got and they would be able to trade them in for said items. There was also a special prize, wherein the courtesan that reached the required amount of points, they could request for something to be bought as a prize that wasn't on the "Prize Board". So the last portion of profits were usually quite small by the end of the month due to all of that spending. Of course, there were some measures in place so that the courtesans wouldn't become hyenas to get that speical prize by killing off competition or stealing clients.
Despite all that spending, Lavender Palace did have a monopoly of the Red Light District already so there wasn't many places they could expand from there. And if they were to expand, it would cost more to do so since they needed to advertise and make sure someone else wasn't copying them and stealing their customers.
"And, those two will be attending the meeting as well." Shen Tianyu pointed at Yanmen Mengxiao and Wu Linghao while her other hand was still gripped around Rong Jian's sleeve.
"...Us?" Wu Linghao pointed at himself and his companion with a questioning look.
"Of course. You're the Manager and Vice-Manager in charge of this region so you should at least understand how this will work and the resulting implications. You guys also know the laws, demographic, and market better since you're stationed here as businessmen. That kind of thing is important, which means any input you guys come up with will at least be considered. The Royal Family may be the ruling family of this kingdom but they have a lot of things to look at, they can't concentrate on just one thing like businessmen do. Qiao Wangye sells pretty much everything but he's not well-informed in the prostitution industry because he can't enter it due to our monopoly. On the other hand, you guys don't have much knowledge on the dessert and food markets so having Qiao Wangye to provide some insights will be beneficial." Shen Tianyu explained their purpose in needing to be present for the meeting.
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"Oh. Doing some... work things for once." Yanmen Mengxiao almost bit his tongue from saying "owner-like things" since there was a third-party here. From what they've heard and his attitude, he's nearing her true identity but has yet to fully grasp the tru importance Shen Tianyu has to Lavender Palace. Since she hasn't told him outright, he wasn't about to spill the beans.
"That's right. It's rare for Miss to want to do some work. What came over you? Were you so bored, you just decided to work for once?" Wu Linghao asked a little sarcastically.
"Shut it, just give me the report." Shen Tianyu took her teacup and drank some of the tea.
Rong Jian just watched their conversation from the side. He was here to provide her with transportation and support. It was already a great act fo trust that she's letting him listen to their report on their profits, he wasn't going to intrude himself on their conversation.
Yanmen Mengxiao was in charge of reporting on their profits while Wu Linghao would sometimes add things that the other forgot. Basically, the business was doing well but the profits weren't raising at an exponential rate or anything, the profit line was more or less straight.
"We were kind of wondering if we should report this but we basically have a monopoly of the Flower District so I'm not sure if we can expand any more..." Yanmen Mengxiao told Shen Tianyu at the end, after her fifth cup of tea and their sixth pot.
"How can you say that? As businessmen, if you don't try to innovate, the business will die. No matter what, you can never be satisfied with what you have. Greed is the foundation of wealth, you know. Though there's a fine line one musn't cross if you don't want to destroy your own business." Shen Tianyu scolded them. She then smirked and looked over at Rong Jian from the corner of her eye. "You guys still remember the 'chocolate' introduced, right?" She asked as she put down her teacup again.
"You mean..." Yanmen Mengxiao caught on quickly and so did Wu Linghao, both widening their eyes. "But that product was to be an exclusive to Lavender Palace. If we begin to sell them..." Wu Linghao trailed off in worry.
"Don't we have a splendid business partner right here?" Shen Tianyu tilted her head as she looked at Rong Jian.
"...Huh?" Rong Jian came back to himself after finding that the room had fell silent. He jolt4ed in surprise when he found that everyone in the roo was staring at him. "Um... Did I do something?"
"Fourth Wangye, if I remember correctly, you wanted to buy some of our 'chocolate' before, yes?" Shen Tianyu spoke to him using his title as she fiddled with her teacup in calcualted boredom.
"I did... Is there a problem?"
"No, not at all. In fact, I believe the right opportunity has come."
"And by that you mean..."
"Fourth Wangye, would you like to be our first partner in our sale of Lavender Palace's new product line, 'chocolate'?" Her teacup made a clinking sound as she set it down on the wooden low table.
"Really?! Of course!" Rong Jian excitedly agreed, throwing his earlier confusion into the wind.
"Before we can sell it, though, we'll need to go through with some legal procedures. I believe we want an official audience with the Emperor and Crown Prince. Perhaps it would be beneficial if Qiao Wangye and Jun Wangye were in attendance as well." Shen Tianyu smiled at Rong Jian and the two men sitting opposite them gave out a sigh of relief.
"If Miss will be taking charge in selling it, then there's nothing to worry about." Wu Linghao whispered to his companion. Yanmen Mengxiao nodded in agreement.
"Of course! I'll arrange an official meeting with Emperor Father and Elder Brothers for you immediately!" Rong Jian got up from his seat with a wide smile. However, Shen Tianyu pulled on his sleeve form her seat to stop him.
"Hold it. Calm down, you can do that later today, we're in no rush." Shen Tianyu had a calm expression now, no trace of her previous bright smile to be seen.
They certainly weren't in any rush, Lavender's Palace numbered in the hundred millions in terms of yuan. Not only were they the monopoly of Flower Districts across the world, they were also a top go-to in terms of information buying. They were richer than even some countries, looking at the company income numbers alone. However, only a small portion of that actually went into development and savings. No matter how loyal you're workers were, they still needed money to survive. Factoring in the inflation due to the indsutrialization of businesses surrounding the business establishments and the additional wages paid to people in high positions of power that required more brainpower, a large portion of the income was already gone. People who were in high positions of power were there because they were more efficient at managing things and should therefore be better compensated for their work. Add in the amount of money needed to keep the establishment running, such as candles, scented aromas, and building repairs, the profit they churned out were nearly reduced by three quarters. And most of the last quarter was sent back to Yaodu in order to keep the organization functioing and the money earned by Lotus Pavillion was supposed to be added into the organization's savings so that they could buy certain rare materials. The staff of the Lotus Pavillions, which existed on every continent except Nang Zhou because the people were too low-level to produce any good treasures, but repair costs were still there. Especially because it's an auction house so people were more prone to get into fights, even with a "No fighting" rule in place. Though the profits from Lotus Pavillion did make up most of the savings used to buy things from other big families or auction houses.
That being said, the portion set to stay within the Lavender Palaces as emergency funds, which was only a quarter of the last quarter of profits, still wasn't small. It numbered up to tens of millions of yuan at least. Those savings were spent to buy "prizes" for the courtesans. In addition to their monthly wages, courtesans were put into a special systeme exclusive to them. They would earn "points" for the amount of money their costumers and clients spent for them. The gifts from the costumers themselves were excluded from this system of course but there was some good stuff that were limited. Things like hidden weapons, famous books, limited time aromas and such were posted on a special "board" for all the courtesans to see along with how many "points" they needed to have to trade in for them. Each courtesan would have a servant assigned to them whose sole purpose was to note down the "points" they earned. Those servants were usually ones already a part of Yaodu so there was less worry of being bribed to falsify reports. At the end of the month, all the courtsans would be informed of the number of "points" they got and they would be able to trade them in for said items. There was also a special prize, wherein the courtesan that reached the required amount of points, they could request for something to be bought as a prize that wasn't on the "Prize Board". So the last portion of profits were usually quite small by the end of the month due to all of that spending. Of course, there were some measures in place so that the courtesans wouldn't become hyenas to get that speical prize by killing off competition or stealing clients.
Despite all that spending, Lavender Palace did have a monopoly of the Red Light District already so there wasn't many places they could expand from there. And if they were to expand, it would cost more to do so since they needed to advertise and make sure someone else wasn't copying them and stealing their customers.
"And, those two will be attending the meeting as well." Shen Tianyu pointed at Yanmen Mengxiao and Wu Linghao while her other hand was still gripped around Rong Jian's sleeve.
"...Us?" Wu Linghao pointed at himself and his companion with a questioning look.
"Of course. You're the Manager and Vice-Manager in charge of this region so you should at least understand how this will work and the resulting implications. You guys also know the laws, demographic, and market better since you're stationed here as businessmen. That kind of thing is important, which means any input you guys come up with will at least be considered. The Royal Family may be the ruling family of this kingdom but they have a lot of things to look at, they can't concentrate on just one thing like businessmen do. Qiao Wangye sells pretty much everything but he's not well-informed in the prostitution industry because he can't enter it due to our monopoly. On the other hand, you guys don't have much knowledge on the dessert and food markets so having Qiao Wangye to provide some insights will be beneficial." Shen Tianyu explained their purpose in needing to be present for the meeting.
"Oh. Doing some... work things for once." Yanmen Mengxiao almost bit his tongue from saying "owner-like things" since there was a third-party here. From what they've heard and his attitude, he's nearing her true identity but has yet to fully grasp the tru importance Shen Tianyu has to Lavender Palace. Since she hasn't told him outright, he wasn't about to spill the beans."That's right. It's rare for Miss to want to do some work. What came over you? Were you so bored, you just decided to work for once?" Wu Linghao asked a little sarcastically."Shut it, just give me the report." Shen Tianyu took her teacup and drank some of the tea.Rong Jian just watched their conversation from the side. He was here to provide her with transportation and support. It was already a great act fo trust that she's letting him listen to their report on their profits, he wasn't going to intrude himself on their conversation.Yanmen Mengxiao was in charge of reporting on their profits while Wu Linghao would sometimes add things that the other forgot. Basically, the business was doing well but the profits weren't raising at an exponential rate or anything, the profit line was more or less straight."We were kind of wondering if we should report this but we basically have a monopoly of the Flower District so I'm not sure if we can expand any more..." Yanmen Mengxiao told Shen Tianyu at the end, after her fifth cup of tea and their sixth pot."How can you say that? As businessmen, if you don't try to innovate, the business will die. No matter what, you can never be satisfied with what you have. Greed is the foundation of wealth, you know. Though there's a fine line one musn't cross if you don't want to destroy your own business." Shen Tianyu scolded them. She then smirked and looked over at Rong Jian from the corner of her eye. "You guys still remember the 'chocolate' introduced, right?" She asked as she put down her teacup again."You mean..." Yanmen Mengxiao caught on quickly and so did Wu Linghao, both widening their eyes. "But that product was to be an exclusive to Lavender Palace. If we begin to sell them..." Wu Linghao trailed off in worry."Don't we have a splendid business partner right here?" Shen Tianyu tilted her head as she looked at Rong Jian."...Huh?" Rong Jian came back to himself after finding that the room had fell silent. He jolt4ed in surprise when he found that everyone in the roo was staring at him. "Um... Did I do something?""Fourth Wangye, if I remember correctly, you wanted to buy some of our 'chocolate' before, yes?" Shen Tianyu spoke to him using his title as she fiddled with her teacup in calcualted boredom."I did... Is there a problem?""No, not at all. In fact, I believe the right opportunity has come.""And by that you mean...""Fourth Wangye, would you like to be our first partner in our sale of Lavender Palace's new product line, 'chocolate'?" Her teacup made a clinking sound as she set it down on the wooden low table."Really?! Of course!" Rong Jian excitedly agreed, throwing his earlier confusion into the wind."Before we can sell it, though, we'll need to go through with some legal procedures. I believe we want an official audience with the Emperor and Crown Prince. Perhaps it would be beneficial if Qiao Wangye and Jun Wangye were in attendance as well." Shen Tianyu smiled at Rong Jian and the two men sitting opposite them gave out a sigh of relief."If Miss will be taking charge in selling it, then there's nothing to worry about." Wu Linghao whispered to his companion. Yanmen Mengxiao nodded in agreement."Of course! I'll arrange an official meeting with Emperor Father and Elder Brothers for you immediately!" Rong Jian got up from his seat with a wide smile. However, Shen Tianyu pulled on his sleeve form her seat to stop him."Hold it. Calm down, you can do that later today, we're in no rush." Shen Tianyu had a calm expression now, no trace of her previous bright smile to be seen.They certainly weren't in any rush, Lavender's Palace numbered in the hundred millions in terms of yuan. Not only were they the monopoly of Flower Districts across the world, they were also a top go-to in terms of information buying. They were richer than even some countries, looking at the company income numbers alone. However, only a small portion of that actually went into development and savings. No matter how loyal you're workers were, they still needed money to survive. Factoring in the inflation due to the indsutrialization of businesses surrounding the business establishments and the additional wages paid to people in high positions of power that required more brainpower, a large portion of the income was already gone. People who were in high positions of power were there because they were more efficient at managing things and should therefore be better compensated for their work. Add in the amount of money needed to keep the establishment running, such as candles, scented aromas, and building repairs, the profit they churned out were nearly reduced by three quarters. And most of the last quarter was sent back to Yaodu in order to keep the organization functioing and the money earned by Lotus Pavillion was supposed to be added into the organization's savings so that they could buy certain rare materials. The staff of the Lotus Pavillions, which existed on every continent except Nang Zhou because the people were too low-level to produce any good treasures, but repair costs were still there. Especially because it's an auction house so people were more prone to get into fights, even with a "No fighting" rule in place. Though the profits from Lotus Pavillion did make up most of the savings used to buy things from other big families or auction houses.That being said, the portion set to stay within the Lavender Palaces as emergency funds, which was only a quarter of the last quarter of profits, still wasn't small. It numbered up to tens of millions of yuan at least. Those savings were spent to buy "prizes" for the courtesans. In addition to their monthly wages, courtesans were put into a special systeme exclusive to them. They would earn "points" for the amount of money their costumers and clients spent for them. The gifts from the costumers themselves were excluded from this system of course but there was some good stuff that were limited. Things like hidden weapons, famous books, limited time aromas and such were posted on a special "board" for all the courtesans to see along with how many "points" they needed to have to trade in for them. Each courtesan would have a servant assigned to them whose sole purpose was to note down the "points" they earned. Those servants were usually ones already a part of Yaodu so there was less worry of being bribed to falsify reports. At the end of the month, all the courtsans would be informed of the number of "points" they got and they would be able to trade them in for said items. There was also a special prize, wherein the courtesan that reached the required amount of points, they could request for something to be bought as a prize that wasn't on the "Prize Board". So the last portion of profits were usually quite small by the end of the month due to all of that spending. Of course, there were some measures in place so that the courtesans wouldn't become hyenas to get that speical prize by killing off competition or stealing clients.Despite all that spending, Lavender Palace did have a monopoly of the Red Light District already so there wasn't many places they could expand from there. And if they were to expand, it would cost more to do so since they needed to advertise and make sure someone else wasn't copying them and stealing their customers."And, those two will be attending the meeting as well." Shen Tianyu pointed at Yanmen Mengxiao and Wu Linghao while her other hand was still gripped around Rong Jian's sleeve."...Us?" Wu Linghao pointed at himself and his companion with a questioning look."Of course. You're the Manager and Vice-Manager in charge of this region so you should at least understand how this will work and the resulting implications. You guys also know the laws, demographic, and market better since you're stationed here as businessmen. That kind of thing is important, which means any input you guys come up with will at least be considered. The Royal Family may be the ruling family of this kingdom but they have a lot of things to look at, they can't concentrate on just one thing like businessmen do. Qiao Wangye sells pretty much everything but he's not well-informed in the prostitution industry because he can't enter it due to our monopoly. On the other hand, you guys don't have much knowledge on the dessert and food markets so having Qiao Wangye to provide some insights will be beneficial." Shen Tianyu explained their purpose in needing to be present for the meeting.
