The whole family died tragically? The eldest daughter is the most powerful in the capital after her

"You must go find the wife of Duke Wen right now and rescue the shopkeeper. I'm going to the Zheng family first." Lord Wu's tone was filled with unquestionable determination.

Mrs. Wu nodded quickly.

Mr. Wu is going out now.

Mr. Zheng was sitting in the hall at this moment, with a smile on his face, holding a cup of tea, and listening leisurely to the servant beside him reporting on the business of the clothing store.

Ever since the Wu family's clothing store was closed down by the Merchants Bureau, the Zheng family's business has been booming.

Dignitaries from all walks of life rushed to pre-order winter cotton-padded clothes, cloaks and other items. The Zheng family received orders every day, and the goods continued to flow in, and business was incredibly good.

The servant was talking about the recent orders: "Master, today alone, several ladies from the mansions have placed large orders, especially the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo, the wife of the Duke of Wen, and the wife of the Minister of Rites. They have all ordered a lot of thick winter clothes and cloaks. Tomorrow, several masters from the noble mansions will come to our shop in person to choose ready-made clothes."

Hearing this, Mr. Zheng's smile became even brighter, and even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes appeared. He felt so happy in his heart.

He took a sip of tea, his eyes full of pride and satisfaction. "Okay, okay!"

He nodded repeatedly, his tone showing his joy. "It seems that our Zheng family has really established a firm foothold this time. I'm afraid that the largest clothing store in the capital will belong to us in the future. When this winter is over, the silver will flow into our Zheng family's warehouse by the truckload."

Just thinking about it made him happy.

He leaned back in his chair contentedly, in a very good mood, thinking about the rising success of his family business, with the future glittering in his eyes.

At this moment, the doorman hurried over, walked to Master Zheng's side, and reported: "Master, Master Wu sent a visiting card, saying that he wants to see you."

"Lord Wu?" When Mr. Zheng heard the name, his smug smile froze for a moment and his face darkened slightly.

He put down the teacup in his hand, frowned slightly, regained his composure after a moment, and a hint of coldness appeared in his eyes.

The Wu family's clothing store is now in a precarious situation, and Lord Wu is probably here because of the clothing store's matters.

Lord Wu came to him just to discuss a solution, but Mr. Zheng was no fool. Now was a good time to suppress the Wu family. How could he possibly lend a hand to the Wu family at this critical juncture?

Mr. Zheng sneered, with a hint of disdain in his tone: "I think it's better to forget it."

He shook his head and said without hesitation: "Just reject it directly and tell Lord Wu that I am very busy recently and I really don't have time to see him."

The doorman obeyed the order, nodded quickly, and left to pass on the message.

The doorman came to the gate and returned the visiting card to Lord Wu.

Lord Wu took the visiting card, his face darkened slightly, and anger surged in his heart.

He thought that Mr. Zheng would at least consider his reputation and meet him to discuss the matter of the clothing store. He did not expect that Mr. Zheng would be so ruthless as not to even give him a chance to meet.

Lord Wu's eyes flickered, and he wondered in his heart why Master Zheng suddenly became so tough? There must be someone behind the scenes directing him.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong, but soon he calmed down and had a plan in mind to deal with it.

Since Mr. Zheng is unwilling to meet and talk, we have to take another approach.

Lord Wu had an idea and signaled to the groom beside him: "Let's go to Qinglan Lane."

As the carriage drove towards Qinglan Lane, Lord Wu's eyes turned gloomy.

Arriving at Qinglan Lane, Lord Wu walked into Zheng's house. The house seemed low-key, but it was very elegant.

Lord Wu walked straight in. The person living there was Mr. Zheng's mistress, and they also had an eight-year-old son who was being raised there.

As soon as the concubine saw Lord Wu come in, she looked flustered.

She knew that the Wu family and the Zheng family had been engaged in a price war recently, and in the end the Zheng family won.

Mr. Zheng was very happy about this and gave her a lot of silver.

When she saw Lord Wu here at this time, she had a premonition that something bad was going to happen.

She stepped forward respectfully, trying to suppress the nervousness in her heart: "Master Wu, why are you here suddenly?"

Lord Wu smiled coldly, without a trace of politeness in his tone: "Master Zheng refused to see me, so I had no choice but to come to you."

When the outer room heard this, her heart skipped a beat and her face turned slightly pale, but she managed to calm down and asked tentatively, "What instructions does the master have?"

Lord Wu took a step closer, his eyes stern, and he lowered his voice to threaten, "You know why I'm here. Mr. Zheng is in a strong position now and doesn't want to meet with me, so I can only pass the message through you."

He sneered, his eyes swept across the corners of the room and landed on the tightly closed door, "I know you raised a son here, is he Mr. Zheng's flesh and blood?"

When she heard the child mentioned, the outer room's face turned pale instantly. She instinctively took a step closer to the door, her eyes full of fear and vigilance.

"Please don't hurt him, he's just a child!" The outer room's voice trembled, and her tone was filled with pleading.

She understood what Lord Wu meant, that he was threatening her with the child.

Lord Wu looked gloomy and said coldly: "I don't want to hurt him, but if Master Zheng doesn't see me again, I can't guarantee what will happen."

The concubine almost burst into tears. She tried her best to suppress her inner fear and quickly agreed: "Don't worry, as long as it doesn't hurt the child, I am willing to do anything. As long as you let him go, I will definitely help you invite Master Zheng."

Seeing her so flustered, Lord Wu smiled slightly and softened his tone: "Very good. I know you will consider the child. You must let Master Zheng come to see me as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

The concubine nodded and hurriedly took off a jade pendant from her waist.

With trembling hands, she handed the jade pendant to the maid beside her and instructed, "Take this jade and give it to the master immediately. Ask him to come in person."

The maid nodded and left quickly, heading towards the Zheng family mansion.

Half an hour later, Mr. Zheng hurried to Qinglan Lane.

As soon as he stepped into the yard, he saw his concubine with tears in her eyes and a face full of fear. She fell to her knees and almost threw herself at him out of control, begging in a hoarse voice: "Master, please save the child! Lord Wu, he threatened to... hurt our child!"

Mr. Zheng's heart suddenly sank, his brows furrowed, and he helped his concubine up with concern, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes.

He glanced around and saw Lord Wu standing not far away.

Lord Wu had a sneer on his face and his eyes were full of threats.

"Lord Wu, what do you mean?" There was a hidden anger in Mr. Zheng's voice. Although he was always calm, he was obviously furious at this moment.