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Seeing Lu Chen return, Mu Zixuan and the other two ladies quickly handed the children in their arms to the nannies and maids by their sides and immediately came over to attend to Lu Chen.

Zhou Xiaoxiao hurriedly pulled out a chair, while Zhou Youyou brought over a basin of water for Lu Chen to wash his hands, and Mu Zixuan fetched a towel.

Normally, these were tasks for the maids; the three of them, as Lu Chen’s wives and concubines, didn’t need to personally attend to him.

However, they liked to serve Lu Chen this way because they believed attending to their man was a method of closing the distance between them.

After Lu Chen had washed his face and hands, he sat down to eat.

At this time, Mu Zixuan spoke up, “Prince, Wang Qingci came to me earlier and said that in the future, the goods produced by the Prince’s Mansion could be sold to other dynasties and countries through the Rain-listening Pavilion.”

Mu Zixuan merely mentioned this matter without asking about the relationship between Lu Chen and the Rain-listening Pavilion.

Currently, not many people were aware that the Rain-listening Pavilion belonged to the Prince’s Mansion; even those within the mansion knew very little about it, as it was an organization Lu Chen used to gather intelligence— the fewer who knew, the better.

However, upon hearing Wang Qingci’s mention of the Rain-listening Pavilion’s partnership with the Prince’s Mansion to sell goods, Mu Zixuan roughly guessed to whom the Rain-listening Pavilion belonged.

Wang Qingci herself was one of Lu Chen’s women, and clearly, the Rain-listening Pavilion was associated with Lu Chen. Moreover, since their arrival in North City, a Brocade Guard agency had suddenly appeared, along with fifty thousand Heavy Cavalry. Another establishment like the Rain-listening Pavilion didn’t seem surprising at all.

While eating, Lu Chen said, “The Prince’s Mansion can do business with the Rain-listening Pavilion, but it must be done through public accounts.”

Hearing Lu Chen’s words, Mu Zixuan instantly understood his intention and immediately replied, “I understand.”

Clearly, Lu Chen did not want people to know that the Rain-listening Pavilion was an extension of North Prince Mansion’s power. By dealing through public accounts, future transactions between the Rain-listening Pavilion and the Prince’s Mansion would seem like business dealings with any other merchants.

At this point, Lu Chen asked, “By the way, how is the business in the Capital City doing now?”

Some time ago, with Mu Changtian’s family being exiled, North Prince Mansion’s businesses in the Capital City were left unattended. As a result, many of their shops were smashed, forcing them to close temporarily.

Who was behind it, Lu Chen knew very well—the perfume and soap business had made many people envious.

Mu Zixuan answered, “Since the end of the conflicts in North City, no one has vandalized the shops in the Capital City anymore. Now, the soap and perfume from the Prince’s Mansion are in such high demand that the shops often run out of stock to sell.”

Hearing this, Lu Chen set down his chopsticks and fell into thought.

Although perfume and soap were selling well, the business of the Prince’s Mansion was still too narrow in scope. Most importantly, it was possible that other Aristocratic Families would be able to replicate these products before long. Moreover, the profit from these items was insufficient to sustain his large-scale development of North City.

Despite having earned millions of silver taels, that money couldn’t even produce the armor for twenty thousand sets of Heavy Cavalry if it were all invested in that endeavor.

Of course, if he weren’t so ambitious, several million silver taels would be more than enough for Lu Chen to live lavishly in North City.

But how could he not be ambitious? Now with the system at his disposal, and with internal turmoil brewing within Great Sum, the era of many competing lords was approaching.

There’s a saying, “Rowing against the current: if you don’t advance, you will be pushed back.” He must strive forward; his feudal state had to become strong. Otherwise, even if he had no desire to be Emperor, trouble would find him someday.

Lu Chen thought to himself that indeed, he needed to have Mu Zixuan and the others bear him more children—surely the system rewards would then grant him methods to make more money.

With this in mind, Lu Chen said, “Then we’ll just have to recruit more workers.”

Upon hearing Lu Chen’s words, Mu Zixuan expressed her concern, “Prince, I have recently heard that other Aristocratic Families are already replicating soap and perfume. Although their products are not as good as those produced by North Prince Mansion, they are cheaper. If we continue recruiting workers and our business later falters, these people might find themselves without a place to go.”

In North City, the concept of “workers,” a term coined by Lu Chen, referred to “people who labor.” Nowadays, both the Prince’s Mansion and the merchants of North City referred to those manufacturing perfume and soap for the North Prince Mansion as workers.

Most of these workers had previously been poor commoners, even including many displaced people. Initially, to ensure these individuals didn’t sell the formulas of the North Prince Mansion, Lu Chen had them sign servitude contracts.

Even with a contract of servitude, these workers lived better than the average commoner: guaranteed lifelong employment and daily provisions. In ancient times, this was already more comfortable living than most common folks.

This group of workers, in fact, were servants of the North Prince Mansion, and what Mu Zixuan was considering was the mass recruitment of workers during good business times. But what to do with these workers if business declined later? They couldn’t possibly all be accommodated within the North Prince Mansion, which didn’t need that many servants.

Hearing Mu Zixuan’s concern, Lu Chen smiled lightly and then said, “My beloved, you need not worry about this issue. Just go ahead and recruit the workers. I have even bigger business for you to manage in the future, and even if our business can’t continue, there will always be a need for people to cultivate new fields in North City.”

Upon hearing Lu Chen’s words, Mu Zixuan remembered that a few days ago, while in bed, Lu Chen seemed to have mentioned acquiring a new crop called “sweet potato,” which, like potatoes, yielded an extremely large harvest.