Miss Yang Er had already slipped away during the chaos. She headed for Jinghui Courtyard.
She heaved a sigh of relief only after entering Xue Ning'an's yard. After taking a sip of tea to moisten her throat, she said, "I saw your sister - in - law!"
Xue Ning'an's eyes fluttered gently as she said in a soft voice, "The eldest mistress of the Marquis Mansion? Why are you in such a hurry just because you saw her?"
Miss Yang Er said impatiently, "Why? She's already gone to the shop to assert her authority. And here you are, sitting like a fool without knowing anything."
Xue Ning'an knew in her heart that she wasn't going there to assert her authority. She was probably going to check the accounts. But she said nothing. Instead, she just asked, "So what do you think of her after seeing her today?"
Miss Yang Er sneered, "At first, I thought she was a tough cookie. But later, I found out she's a fool."
Xue Ning'an raised her eyebrows and asked, "What do you mean?"
Miss Yang Er said, "There was a young clerk speaking up for her. But she actually said righteously that since the clerk didn't notice the shopkeeper's problems in time, he was unworthy of being employed and she was going to fire him. Tell me, if she doesn't even know how to win people's hearts, isn't she stupid?"
Xue Ning'an frowned and asked, "Why did she want to fire him? What were the specific details at that time?"
Miss Yang Er said, "I don't remember the details so clearly. I just heard it from afar and left before she did. Oh, she and the second young master of the Marquis Mansion were wearing coarse cloth clothes."
Xue Ning'an murmured, "She couldn't be so stupid, could she? Is she really so overbearing and naive?"
Miss Yang Er snorted, "Those high - born ladies who are spoiled. Their parents handle everything for them. How can they have the courage and determination like you and me who rely on ourselves?"
These words really struck a chord with Xue Ning'an.
The reason she was close to Yang Yanzhen was that Yang was a distant cousin of the eldest mistress of the Earl's Mansion. Her family background was not prominent, which was somewhat similar to her own.
She thought that except for not being as lucky as those high - born ladies in terms of birth, she was in no way inferior to them. In fact, she was even much better.
Xue Ning'an couldn't help straightening her back, looking proud. But she still reminded, "Don't go to the shop to get jewelry on credit recently. That eldest mistress should be going to check the accounts."
Yang Yanzhen burst out laughing, "So she was going to check the accounts? What can a fool like her find out?"
---
After Shang Yunruo and Chu Yan left the jewelry shop, Chuyao stepped forward to help Shang Yunruo into the carriage.
Chu Yan drove the coachman away and took the reins himself, sitting in front as the coachman.
Chuyao had been listening outside. At first, she was afraid of exposing Shang Yunruo's identity, so she didn't say a word. Later, when the identity was exposed, there was no need for her to say anything.
Chuyao asked curiously, "Miss, that clerk is a nice guy. Why did you want to fire him?"
Shang Yunruo just smiled but didn't answer. Chu Yan, who was driving the carriage in front, said slowly, "Your miss is trying to test whether that clerk is worthy of being employed."
Chuyao was confused. She lifted the curtain of the carriage and asked, "What do you mean, second young master?"
Chu Yan said, "Anyway, he can't stay in that shop anymore. Aunt won't keep him. Your miss said that he didn't notice the problems of Shopkeeper Wu, which was also a hint to him. Before Shopkeeper Wu was dragged away, he shouted that there were two sets of accounts. If he is really smart, he will steal out the real set of account books."
Chuyao suddenly understood, "So when miss gave him the jade pendant and said that he could come to miss to get the compensation, in fact, it was an opportunity for him to report back."
Shang Yunruo nodded, "He is a clerk in the jewelry shop. Naturally, he can tell that the jade pendant I gave him is extremely valuable. If he is stupid or short - sighted, he will surely take the jade pendant and never show up again. Then all I'll lose is just a jade pendant."
Chuyao exclaimed in admiration, "Miss's method of judging people is really killing two birds with one stone. If he understands what miss means, we can not only get the real account books but also gain a good talent!"
Shang Yunruo said worriedly, "However, we've alerted the enemy this time. I'm afraid they will destroy the real account books. If Shan Junxin is useless or if he understands but can't deliver the account books, then we'll have absolutely no evidence."
Chu Yan thought for a while and said, "I can ask Yin Shan to keep an eye on the two shops. But no matter how good his skills are, he can't watch all the shops at the same time. We still lack manpower."
Shang Yunruo suddenly remembered, "Jingli has soldiers. He is a lieutenant in the patrol camp."
Chu Yan paused for a moment and asked, "Will elder brother lend us the soldiers? After all, we're going to surround our own shops."
Shang Yunruo said confidently, "He will. Jingli is a reasonable person. He's just been deceived by Aunt's family all this time. You saw how he protected me when I talked to him the other day."
Chu Yan lowered his eyes and said nothing.
---
Chu Jingli was going to host a banquet for his brothers today. Some fugitive criminals had been on the loose on the streets recently. After days and nights of pursuit and patrol, his men finally caught them and made meritorious deeds.
He was appreciated and praised by the admiral. In high spirits, he said he would invite the brothers to Yu Xiang Lou for a drink.
But recently, he had given all his silver to his cousin. Now he was short of money. So he had to go to Aunt to ask for some silver.
He waited in Jinghui Courtyard for quite a while before Aunt finally showed up.
When Aunt learned that he was asking for money again, she took the opportunity to say, "Jingli, your eldest mistress is really something. She's gone to the shop to check the accounts!"
Chu Jingli naturally knew that Shang Yunruo was checking the accounts. But he was also a bit surprised. Had she already managed to check the shop so soon?
Seeing the surprised look on his face, Xue Ning'an beside him took the opportunity to say, "The cousin of the eldest mistress of the Earl's Mansion came to see me. She was crying so pitifully. Fortunately, Aunt arrived in time."
Chu Jingli frowned, "That Miss Yang Er? What happened to her again?"
Xue Ning'an put on a look as if she didn't want to speak ill of others. He Shi understood and took over the conversation, "It's all because of your eldest mistress. She was so overbearing in the shop that she even dared to question me. I didn't argue with her. But Miss Yang Er is so thin - skinned that she couldn't stand being intimidated by her."
Chu Jingli slapped the table, "Outrageous! How could she act so wildly? I'll surely scold her when I get back. Aunt, please go and get the silver for me first."
Seeing that Chu Jingli was willing to stand up for her, He Shi said repeatedly, "Okay, okay, my little marquis. I'll go and get it for you right away."
Chu Jingli took a silver note worth a hundred taels and rushed to Yu Xiang Lou in a hurry. But when he reached the mansion gate, he suddenly remembered that he should invite some dancers to liven up the party. He was afraid that the hundred taels would not be enough, so he quickly went back to the accounting room.
The accountant said that Aunt had already left. He didn't have time to look for Aunt again, so he said directly to the accountant, "Just record it as a debt of a hundred taels for me. I'll pay you back when I come back."
The accountant said, "My lord, it's not that I don't want to give it to you. It's just that there's no money left in the account."
Chu Jingli was stunned, "I just took a hundred taels. How could there be no money left in the account?"
The accountant said, "Didn't you take two hundred taels?"
Chu Jingli said, "I clearly only took a hundred taels. Are you getting old and confused?"
The accountant handed the account book to him, "Look, the seal was personally stamped by the mistress of the main house. It's exactly two hundred taels. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask the mistress of the main house."