Lady of Fortune, Jiao Niang

Chapter 145

Actually, even in the Capital, market disputes were common. Even among young ladies, there were countless cases of official daughters bullying commoners.

The surrounding people hadn't dared to speak up earlier because they saw Miss Shen's clothing and appearance marked her as wealthy, and she had also claimed connections to the Qi Family. Who didn't know about the Qi Family Wine Shop that occupied half a street? Who would dare provoke them?

Now, many people had seen this Manager Qin before. Since he said this person was a fraud, then she was a fraud.

It wasn't common to go straight to the authorities over a disagreement, but when it actually happened, it was quite satisfying.

Ye Jiao was fiddling with the jade pendant in her hands and hadn't paid much attention to Miss Shen, but she could hear Manager Qin's words.

When the women servants looked over, Ye Jiao nodded. Little Su understood immediately and deliberately put on a shrewish expression, stepping forward two paces and waving her hand dismissively, "Where do these troublesome people come from, full of lies? If the Second Young Mistress hadn't happened to encounter this, who knows what trouble would have come of it. Drag them away, drag them away."

Before Miss Shen could figure out what was happening, several women servants from the Qi residence had already grabbed the women on the ground who were clutching their arms and groaning, dragging Miss Shen and her maid toward the Prefecture Magistrate's office.

Manager Qin smiled and said a few words to Dong Wu, then patted his shoulder. Dong Wu immediately ran after those women servants.

The crowd that had been packed tight just moments ago now made way, watching her leave with some disdain in their eyes.

But after being dragged a few steps, Miss Shen finally understood, she had actually encountered real Qi Family members!

In the past when she was in her boudoir, the Shen Family couldn't even rank in front of the Qi Family. Miss Shen had never even seen what Qi Family members looked like. When she saw Ye Jiao earlier, she didn't know who she was. Now hearing this, that pretty-looking woman was Second Young Master Qi's wife?

But just for saying something wrong, was it necessary to involve the authorities?

No, that wasn't right. None of this mattered. What mattered was that if she went to see the magistrate, how could she still enter the palace!

Miss Shen finally knew fear. She wanted to turn back and find Ye Jiao to apologize, to explain things clearly to Manager Qin. She couldn't go to the magistrate's office, absolutely couldn't!

But the Qi residence's women servants were mostly brought from their hometown or had signed death contracts, and they handled affairs most efficiently.

Perhaps they wouldn't listen to Manager Qin's words, but since Ye Jiao had nodded, the women servants naturally followed orders.

Before Miss Shen could speak, they all exerted force together and dragged her away, giving her no opportunity at all.

The maid's pearl hairpin also fell to the ground, picked up by someone unknown.

The old man, having received a gold ingot, had enough and wasn't anxious to look for the hairpin. Instead, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Ye Jiao from afar, then walked into the crowd and left.

The crowd watching the excitement also scattered, but their eyes still glanced toward Ye Jiao from time to time.

They had long heard that the residence over there had been bought by the Qi Family, but no one had actually seen any Qi Family members. Now, though it was by accident, they had finally seen what the Second Young Mistress of the Qi Family looked like.

While few remembered Miss Shen, by comparison, Ye Jiao appeared quite pure and kind.

Several young servants from other residences were also craning their necks, and after learning the whole story, they turned back to report to their respective masters. Ye Jiao didn't know that this small matter she had handled casually was already quietly spreading.

Little Ginseng paid no attention to those things. After saying a few words to Manager Qin, she returned to the Qi residence, while Manager Qin turned toward the study.

Qi Yun, who was reviewing account books, didn't inquire much about what had happened outside. Seeing Manager Qin arrive, he simply discussed the shop business in the Capital with him.

Currently in the Capital, the Qi Family had only one wine shop, but it was run on a very large scale.

Just monopolizing over half of the Capital's wine business was enough to establish their position. Combined with the Qi Family receiving the Imperial Plaque, even if others were jealous, they didn't dare bully them casually. Manager Qin was increasingly like a fish in water.

Moreover, Manager Qin's approach to business was different from Steward Wei on the waterways. He didn't have so many smooth tactics, but he was gentle with people, charitable, and everything progressed step by step. He built an extremely solid foundation, and his account books were particularly clean.

However, Qi Yun still asked him, "You know martial arts?"

Manager Qin smiled and bowed slightly, still maintaining his gentle, jade-like appearance, "In response to Second Young Master, I practiced some in the past and know a little."

Qi Yun nodded, looked at him a couple more times, then asked, "Just now, do you know who you drove away?"

Manager Qin was stunned, then shook his head.

Qi Yun said lightly, "That was a beauty about to enter the palace for selection. Every woman sent up by each prefecture is registered and recorded. Except for the inner court, no other government office has the authority to detain or question them."

Upon hearing this, Manager Qin frowned slightly, and sweat appeared on his forehead.

He opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, but said nothing.

But Qi Yun had already learned the general situation from Tie Zi's account and looked up at him, "You actually didn't intend to really send her to the magistrate's office, but had Dong Wu follow to see which family's daughter she was. If she was someone we could afford to provoke, then all would be well. If she was someone we couldn't afford to provoke..." Qi Yun didn't continue, just looked at Manager Qin.

Manager Qin also said nothing, but lowered his eyes slightly.

If she was someone they couldn't afford to provoke, he had indeed told Dong Wu to act according to circumstances.

Whether to bind or frighten her was uncertain.

Seeing his reaction, Qi Yun knew his thoughts were correct. This person was indeed kind on the surface but resolute in his heart.

He couldn't help but examine Manager Qin again, truly not understanding where Song Manager, such a shrewd but timid person, had gotten such a bold and careful relative.

Seeing that Qi Yun had seen through his thoughts completely, Manager Qin put away his smile and bowed to Qi Yun, "I have caused trouble for my master and am willing to accept punishment. I just hope my master can decide how to resolve this matter."

Qi Yun looked at him without immediately speaking.

How to resolve it was easy to handle. From the beginning, Qi Yun had never taken Miss Shen seriously. This way was actually better, saving both entanglement and trouble.

What had just made him ponder was Manager Qin.

This person knew martial arts, had firm resolve, and didn't seem easy to control.

Like Manager Song, even if he occasionally came out with a few foolish words, Qi Yun could gradually correct him because he knew Manager Song was soft-eared and would listen to persuasion. When encountering someone slippery like Steward Wei, seeing mistakes could be directly scolded, and saying a few harsh words would make him afraid.

But this type who was capable yet resolute in will, if not intelligent, would cause big trouble in the future.

However, it now seemed Manager Qin was very intelligent and quite good at reading situations. Qi Yun slowly said, "It doesn't matter, I have my ways. But you," his voice paused slightly, "Manager Qin, it's excellent to handle affairs well, but for other matters, it's better to think one step ahead."

Manager Qin breathed a sigh of relief. Not bothering to wipe his sweat, he bowed even lower, "Second Young Master is right, I'll remember that."

Qi Yun continued, "Then what do you think should be done now?"

"In response to Second Young Master, I'll immediately have someone call Dong Wu back, but..." Manager Qin's usually gentle face showed struggle, "Second Young Master, I'm willing to accept any punishment, but could you please not dock my monthly wages? I still depend on them to eat."

Qi Yun, who had just been speculating about Manager Qin's thoughts, couldn't help but look up at him.

He had thought of many things, but never expected that what this person valued most was money.

Looking at it this way, he and Manager Song were truly relatives...

In the end, Qi Yun only had him go inventory the warehouse, with other matters to be noted for later discussion, then waved his hand to dismiss him.

Qi Yun flipped through the account books again, then closed them and set them aside. He took up his brush to write a letter for Tie Zi to have someone deliver to Manager Song, then got up and went to the back courtyard.

Before entering the courtyard, he heard Xu Bao's laughter.

Children changed daily. Xu Bao had grown taller than his peers, and though his voice was still soft, it was loud, especially when laughing, particularly crisp and easily recognizable.

When Qi Yun entered, he saw Xu Bao standing on the soft couch, laughing cheerfully as he teased Ning Bao with a ball of yarn.

Ning Bao was rarely awake, and Xu Bao was holding his favorite toy. The usually lazy little fellow was now working particularly hard to reach for it, pursing his lips, frowning, grunting as he exerted himself.

Ruyi sat to the side watching, completely still.

But just when Xu Bao wasn't paying attention, Ruyi suddenly crawled over and hugged Xu Bao's little short legs!

Xu Bao was stunned for a moment, his arms dropping. Then the round Ning Bao sat up by himself, grabbed the yarn ball with both hands and snatched it away. He curled his whole body around the ball, protecting it in his arms, looking at Xu Bao with alert eyes, rolling and rolling until he rolled away and shrank into Ye Jiao's arms as she sat beside the soft couch.

When Qi Yun entered, what he saw was Xu Bao standing there in a daze, Ruyi giggling, and Ning Bao burying his face in Ye Jiao's arms.

Little Su and Nanny Mo standing to the side were laughing together, deeply feeling that small children were a source of pure joy.

Qi Yun hadn't seen the cause and effect and didn't know what they were laughing about, so he just said, "Xu Bao looks like he's grown even taller than before."

Xu Bao, who had just had his yarn ball stolen, immediately looked up at Qi Yun and showed a smile, "Xu Bao tall tall!"

Ye Jiao patted Ning Bao's back in her arms, looking at her eldest son, thinking for a moment before saying, "It's probably because Xu Bao's head is bigger than other children's, so he looks taller."

Qi Yun: ......

Xu Bao also chimed in shouting, "Head big big!"

This made even Qi Yun curve his lips, but looking closely, Xu Bao's head was indeed a full circle larger than average children's. However, as a father, Qi Yun had always felt that such children were intelligent.

Every parent could only see the good points when looking at their children.

Seeing Qi Yun return, Ye Jiao placed Ning Bao on the soft couch, had Nanny Mo watch them more, then got up and pulled Qi Yun to the outer room.

Then Ye Jiao handed him a wooden box, "This is what I just bought, take a look."

Actually, Qi Yun had long known that Ye Jiao had spent a gold ingot to buy a piece of purple jade, but he pretended not to know. When he opened the box and saw the jade stone with excellent clarity inside, he smiled, "Excellent quality, Jiao Niang bought well."

Ye Jiao also smiled, sat beside Qi Yun, took the piece of purple jade hanging from his waist, and placed it together with this one, saying, "Later we'll find someone to carve them into a pair. One for each of us, how about that?"

Qi Yun nodded and smiled gently, kissing the corner of Ye Jiao's mouth.

Actually, this piece of purple jade wasn't expensive in price, but it wasn't cheap either. Buying it with a gold ingot could only be called reasonable.

But a thousand gold coins couldn't buy a smile. Jiao Niang's happiness was better than anything.

Besides, Qi Yun felt that what he lacked least now was gold and silver.

But just as he was thinking this, Second Young Master Qi caught a whiff of an unusual fragrance.

This fragrance was faint yet impossible to ignore, drifting elegantly with a slight sweetness. Qi Yun couldn't help but look at Ye Jiao and ask, "Jiao Niang, did you change to a new sachet?"

Ye Jiao blinked, instinctively squeezed the brocade pouch hanging at her waist, felt it was empty, then said, "No." The flower petals that had originally been inside had been fed to the old man to save his life.

Qi Yun looked around, then saw the wooden box on the table.

This box didn't look remarkable, with chaotic wood grain and sparse wood quality, not looking like good wood.

But when Qi Yun carefully picked it up and brought it close, he smelled that the fragrance was coming from this wooden box.

He examined it carefully, then said, "This is an agarwood box."

Ye Jiao didn't understand wood or incense, and curiously leaned over, "Agarwood? Wood with fragrance?"

"Yes, it has some scent, but unresinous agarwood is different from true agarwood. This one looks sparse in wood quality and ordinary in texture, so it shouldn't be anything rare. Yet strangely, it has fragrance."

Now talking about the box, Ye Jiao remembered to ask, "Husband, do you know what 'buying the box and returning the pearl' means?"

Qi Yun replied, "It means buying pearls but only wanting the box, not the pearls."

"...What does that mean?"

"It means the person is stupid."

Only then did Ye Jiao react, "She called me stupid!"

Hearing this, Qi Yun guessed that Miss Shen had been talking nonsense and quickly leaned over to kiss the corner of Ye Jiao's mouth, "Jiao Niang isn't stupid. Look, this jade you bought..."

Before he finished speaking, Qi Yun turned the box over.

Then he saw wood shavings falling out from inside.

Qi Yun looked inside the box and saw that perhaps because the old man had accidentally dropped it outside, the bottom of the box had cracked. There was a layer of cracks at the bottom of the wooden box.

But the cracks were there without penetrating through the wooden box, suggesting there was a hidden layer underneath.

Qi Yun took the knife usually used for cutting fruit from the table and gently inserted it, giving a light pry.

"Crack!"

The agarwood board, which was already sparse and cracked from the fall, was easily pried open.

Then, an even richer fragrance wafted out.

At the bottom of the box was a layer of something black as ink. Ye Jiao couldn't help but ask, "Husband, what is this?"

Qi Yun didn't touch it with his hands, but stared at it for a while, then carefully took a piece and weighed it in his hand. After a moment, he said softly, "This is agarwood, black as ink in color. Agarwood of this color and size... is worth more than gold."