Before Zhang Yingxue could say a word, Zhuo Shu said, "The middle - aged man who hosted the opening ceremony of Tianbaozhai just now looks quite familiar to me. I seem to have seen him somewhere before. Yingxue, you noticed it too, right?"
Zhang Yingxue's complexion changed slightly. She glanced at Su Yuanyuan, then at Zhuo Shu. After weighing her words in her mind, she finally said:
"He was the former shopkeeper of Hanyuzhai. I once saw him there. He was extremely kind - hearted and replaced a flawless hairpin for me, so I have a deep impression of him. It's just..."
"So it's him. No wonder he looked so familiar. Just what?" Zhuo Shu murmured, then looked at Zhang Yingxue. "Just what?"
"Just that he was imprisoned in the yamen prison on the charge of embezzling the shop's property." As the daughter of the Minister of Justice, Zhang Yingxue often heard her father talk about various cases in Shengjing City.
She happened to pay attention to the case of Hanyuzhai at that time, only because the informer was Su Qingyu, but Zhang Yingxue remembered that the shop clearly belonged to Su Yuanyuan. At that time, Su Yuanyuan had only been gone for a month, and Su Qingyu couldn't wait to take over Hanyuzhai. She even looked down on Su Qingyu in her heart.
She never expected that the man who should have been in the yamen prison would appear openly in Shengjing City and even become the shopkeeper of Tianbaozhai.
And why would Su Yuanyuan, the owner of Tianbaozhai, recruit someone from Hanyuzhai?
Zhuo Shu also raised this question. "Wasn't he locked up in prison? How could he become the shopkeeper of Tianbaozhai?"
It was Qin Wanrong who said, "Maybe that case was a wrongful one. After it was thoroughly investigated, he was naturally set free."
The Supreme Court was in charge of the trial of criminal cases. Although Qin Wanrong was in poor health, she had been familiar with several law codes since childhood. She knew that there were numerous wrongful cases in the world, so she wouldn't assume that Shopkeeper Liao was guilty without evidence.
Su Yuanyuan couldn't help but take a look at her. Her opinion of Qin Wanrong went up a few notches.
Calm, sensitive, and intelligent, this Miss Qin was indeed not to be underestimated. It was a pity that she was in poor health. Otherwise, she might have been an outstanding person.
After hearing Qin Wanrong's words, Zhuo Shu said, "It's indeed possible. So, after this shopkeeper was set free, did he go back to work in Hanyuzhai? The name of Tianbaozhai is so similar to Hanyuzhai. Could it be a branch of Hanyuzhai?"
Su Yuanyuan said, "He was indeed the former shopkeeper of Hanyuzhai. However, Tianbaozhai is not a branch of Hanyuzhai. Tianbaozhai is just Tianbaozhai, a unique one."
Both Qin Wanrong and Zhuo Shu were stunned. Qin Wanrong was the first to react. She coughed lightly and smiled. "So, the princess is the real owner behind Tianbaozhai."
Zhuo Shu asked the question that was also on Zhang Yingxue's mind. "Since the princess is the owner of Tianbaozhai, why did you recruit the former employees of Hanyuzhai?"
Su Yuanyuan said, "As Sister Wanrong said, that shopkeeper was indeed framed and imprisoned at that time. Because he refused to sell fake jewels and jade as genuine ones to customers, he was framed by Hanyuzhai. Coincidentally, it was I who exposed the fact that Hanyuzhai was selling fake goods. I thought he looked upright and chivalrous, and I felt a connection with him, so I recruited him."
I see. Zhang Yingxue let out a sigh of relief.
After a pause, Su Yuanyuan added, "Not only him, but also the former accountant, jade craftsmen, and several assistants of Hanyuzhai. They were all the former employees who were framed and removed by Hanyuzhai for refusing to sell fake goods."
Mentioning this, Zhuo Shu looked angry. "Two of the jewelry pieces I bought from Hanyuzhai before were dyed stones posing as rubies. When Hanyuzhai was in Su Yuanyuan's hands, such problems never occurred. But it became like this in just half a year after it fell into Su Qingyu's hands. It's really a waste!"
Zhang Yingxue snorted and folded her arms. "Don't you understand what kind of person she is after the Guqin Appreciation Banquet? She could be so cruel to Yuanbao, who had nothing to do with her. Let alone the shop assistants."
Zhuo Shu looked at Su Yuanyuan. "If that's the case, the characters of those assistants are trustworthy. With their help, the princess can surely make Tianbaozhai thrive and outshine Hanyuzhai!"
Zhang Yingxue, who was now completely at ease, chimed in. "Right! Sister Yuanbao's shop must become the number - one jewelry shop in Shengjing City!"
Qin Wanrong was not as indignant as the other two. She asked a question that Zhang Yingxue and Zhuo Shu had not noticed.
"Since the princess is the owner of Tianbaozhai, who was that woman who claimed to be the owner just now?"
"That's right! Who was that woman? She even wore a veil to cover her face. It was really mysterious." Zhang Yingxue clapped her hands.
When Su Yuanyuan sent out the invitation cards, she didn't explicitly say that this gathering was to celebrate the opening of Tianbaozhai. She only said that she invited them out for a small get - together.
She heard from her mother that when her father went to the palace to stand up for her, the heads of the Three Judicial Departments also went to the palace. They accused the Crown Prince in front of the emperor, so the emperor decreed to confer titles on the four of them.
She became a princess, and the other three became county ladies.
Invisibly, their Prince Qingjun's Mansion and the Three Judicial Departments were tied together.
This invitation was a test to see if Zhuo Shu and Qin Wanrong were worth making friends with.
Now it was proven that Qin Wanrong and Zhuo Shu were worthy of being befriended.
So, some things might as well be known to them.
Blinking her eyes, Su Yuanyuan touched her nose and said to Zhuo Shu and Qin Wanrong, "Sister Zhuo, Sister Qin, actually my name is not Su Yuanbao. Sister Yingxue also knows my name. My name is Su Yuanyuan. The 'yuan' here is the one from 'tian yuan di fang' (round sky and square earth)."
Hearing this name, Zhuo Shu was greatly startled. Qin Wanrong even coughed heavily twice because of the shock.
Seeing their reactions, Zhang Yingxue felt a strange sense of balance in her heart. She had the same expression when she first heard Yuanbao's real name. Finally, she was not the only one who knew this secret. To be honest, she had been holding it in for too long.
Su Yuanyuan glanced at Zhang Yingxue and said, "Sister Yingxue once told me that there was a sister in the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion whose name sounded exactly the same as mine, but her reputation in Shengjing City was not good. If others knew my name, it would only bring me trouble. So she told me not to easily reveal my name outside.
"And Shopkeeper Liao and the others were all former employees of Hanyuzhai. They once worked under that 'Su Yuanyuan'. If some ill - intentioned people knew about it, they might mistake me for that sister. So I came up with this idea and asked my adopted sister to represent me in running Tianbaozhai.
"Now, only you three sisters know that I'm the real owner of Tianbaozhai."
After saying that, she blinked her eyes and looked at Zhuo Shu and Qin Wanrong pitifully.