What in the neighboring mansion has been luring her brother-in-law?
Naturally, it's that cousin who knows how to feign pity.
Chu Yan paused for a moment but said nothing. He placed the casserole on the stone table and was about to go to the kitchen to get bowls.
Shang Yunruo stopped him and told Chuyao to fetch the tableware. Then she said to him, "I sent a message to my father this morning, asking him to send Lianran and Shengyi from my old courtyard over. I'll have them stay in your courtyard. You can ask them to do anything you need."
Chu Yan nodded. "Thank you, sister-in-law."
Shang Yunruo said, "Don't be so polite with me all the time. We're family. No need for thanks."
As long as he doesn't hurt her in the future, Shang Yunruo prayed humbly in her heart.
After having breakfast, the two of them started to check the accounts.
They worked until noon. Finally, Chu Yan found problems with several shops.
Shang Yunruo said, "So, there are problems with the tea house, the silk store, and the jewelry shop."
Chu Yan replied, "Yes. That's what we've found so far. The profits of these three shops are extremely low. They just manage to break even decently. But considering their reputation and location, these three shops should be the main sources of income."
Shang Yunruo understood immediately. "Then there's no need to look at the accounts anymore. The account books they submit must be in order."
Shang Yunruo stood up. Chu Yan also got up right away and asked, "Sister-in-law, are you going to deal with these cunning old foxes?"
Shang Yunruo said, "If I don't go and check in person, I won't be able to find out any substantial problems."
Chu Yan said, "I'll go with you. None of the people in those shops recognize me. I'll disguise myself as your pageboy and follow you."
Shang Yunruo thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. She specifically reminded him, "Then find some old and shabby clothes. Otherwise, you won't look like a pageboy."
Chu Yan said casually, "All my clothes are old."
Shang Yunruo was speechless.
To avoid revealing their whereabouts, Shang Yunruo hired a single-horse carriage and went to Lingyangfang Street, the busiest street in the city.
Less than a quarter of an hour later, the outside of the carriage became bustling. Shang Yunruo asked the coachman to stop the carriage at the street corner. They walked to the entrance of the silk store unobtrusively.
Shang Yunruo didn't even need Chuyao to tell her. Just by the sound, she knew that, as they had expected, the store was bustling with customers.
Customers came and went in an endless stream. Unless they were selling goods at a loss every day, it was impossible to have such low profits.
Supported by Chuyao, she stepped into the silk store. Soon, a clerk came forward to ask what kind of fabric she wanted to choose.
Shang Yunruo noticed that the clerk was well-organized. There was no sign of confusion caused by a sudden influx of customers, which meant that this level of customer traffic was normal for them.
Shang Yunruo said, "Show me your best fabrics."
The clerk enthusiastically led them forward. Along the way, Shang Yunruo walked slowly, taking advantage of her sharp eyesight. She heard a lot of introductions from the clerks to the customers, including price negotiations.
The prices of good silk fabrics were highly variable. Just by listening, it was hard to tell whether the profits were high or low. So she stopped in front of a familiar fabric and asked, "What's the price of the brocade satin?"
The clerk said, "I'll give you the price for a regular customer. It's ten taels of silver per foot."
It was the market price. Shang Yunruo was silent for a moment. Then Chu Yan said, "It's too expensive, madam. I told you before about that cloth store. Their brocade satin is only five taels per foot. This store isn't honest."
Shang Yunruo almost burst out laughing at Chu Yan's tone of a vulgar pageboy.
She held back and cooperated with him. "Oh? Really? Then let's go to that store. I was planning to buy brocade satin for all the servants in the mansion."
The clerk quickly stopped them. "Madam, please wait. Our store guarantees integrity. The price your pageboy mentioned must be for inferior goods."
Chu Yan said, "Don't make unfounded accusations. Your cloth store has high profits. Maybe you sell it at a low price to others and deliberately charge us a high price because we're first-time customers!"
The clerk said rudely to Chu Yan, "Sir, if you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. We treat everyone equally."
Chu Yan said, "What's the use of just talking? Are you brave enough to show us your account books and prove that you've always sold it at this price?"
Well done! Shang Yunruo wanted to secretly give Chu Yan a thumbs up.
She supported him and said, "Ayan, don't be rude. How can a merchant's account books be shown to others casually? If we don't trust them, we'll just go to another store."
After saying that, they turned around and were about to leave. The clerk was anxious. He didn't want to lose this big customer, so he quickly said, "You can see them. Please wait a moment. I'll go and ask the shopkeeper."
Not long after, they were invited to a private room, and the shopkeeper came in person.
The shopkeeper said, "I'm sorry I didn't greet you properly, noble guests. Madam, are you planning to buy brocade satin for all the servants in your mansion? May I ask how far your mansion is from here?"
He was trying to find out which wealthy family she came from, as even the servants wore brocade satin.
Shang Yunruo responded smoothly. "We haven't even agreed on the price yet. It's not convenient to disclose. I don't want to get a reputation for being stingy if the deal doesn't go through in the end."
The shopkeeper knew that the dignity of these wealthy families was more important than anything else. He carefully sized up the woman's demeanor and dressing style and was sure that she came from a wealthy family. So he voluntarily showed the account books.
"Madam, you can take a look at the previous prices of our brocade satin. We've never sold it at a lower price than the one we're offering you."
Chu Yan started to flip through the account books. Naturally, the shopkeeper wouldn't let him rummage through them casually. He only let him look at two or three pages and then closed the account books.
Chu Yan cleared his throat and said, "It's true, madam."
Shang Yunruo stood up and said, "Good. Since that's the case, I'll take a bolt of floating light brocade, a bolt of woven gold brocade, and a bolt of cloud brocade. I'll go back and check the patterns and then come back to place an order with you. Ayan, you go and choose."
Chu Yan was stunned for a moment but didn't ask any questions. He followed the clerk to choose the fabrics.
Under the eager gazes of the shopkeeper and the clerk, Chu Yan carried three bolts of cloth and followed Shang Yunruo to a teahouse a few steps away.
Chu Yan put down the cloth and asked the teahouse clerk for paper and a pen. He wrote down the selling prices and costs of the fabrics he remembered from memory.
Then he took out the copied account books and compared them. He said, "Most of them don't match."
Shang Yunruo sneered. "Sure enough, they have two sets of account books!"
The progress in checking the accounts made Shang Yunruo very happy. She ordered a pot of tea and a few non-sweet pastries and listened to a few men at the table diagonally opposite talking about the beauty of the courtesan.
Shang Yunruo sighed. "Men are really more carefree and happy than women. Women are always fighting in the courtyard all day long, while men can drink, listen to music, and visit brothels outside. How wonderful it would be if I could open a place for women to have fun in the future."
Chu Yan said in a slightly surprised tone, "Sister-in-law, do you want to open a brothel? Are you going to keep male courtesans?"
Shang Yunruo burst out laughing. "If I were to keep one, I'd keep a little courtesan as good-looking as you."
Chu Yan's hand paused as he was pouring tea. He lifted his eyes and looked at her. The sunlight shone through the railing and fell on her side face, so bright that he seemed to be able to see the pair of lively eyes under the veil.
His Adam's apple rolled. "Sister-in-law, you've only seen me once in the western suburbs. You probably don't even remember what I look like, do you?"
Shang Yunruo blurted out, "I'd like to forget, but I dream about you every night..."
Chu Yan was stunned. The tea overflowed. He stared at her with deep eyes, full of curiosity. "Every night, in your dreams?"