Those in the medicinal herb business were most afraid of being accused of selling fake drugs. After all, this was a matter related to human lives.
"My sister-in-law said it's not, so it definitely isn't. Go and replace it for us," Jin Xiao said slowly.
"This is all new stock. You guys can't afford it and are just trying to slander our Luochenzhai. You should go and find out what kind of place our Luochenzhai is," the shopkeeper scrutinized Yi Qing.
"Mrs. Xiao," Mu Lixue came upstairs, looking at Yi Qing triumphantly.
Yi Qing was speechless. "What a coincidence."
"It's not a coincidence. I specifically had someone keep an eye on you. I waited until you went out to find you," Mu Lixue sat down beside Yi Qing. She was afraid of running into Xiao Jinghan if she went to the general's mansion.
Yi Qing took a deep breath. She had already made things very clear to Mu Lixue. Could this Mu Lixue really not understand human language?
"Then just say what you want directly," Yi Qing leaned back, looking business-like.
"I've thought it through. If you don't agree to me, I'll just keep following you until you do."
"You should be following Deng Xiao. Why are you following me? You're not going to marry me," Yi Qing couldn't understand Mu Lixue's logic.
"Deng Xiao isn't in the capital," Mu Lixue looked dejected. If Deng Xiao were in the capital, she wouldn't have the heart to follow Yi Qing.
"Then following me is even more useless," Yi Qing shrugged.
Jin Xiao lowered his head and laughed.
"What are you laughing at?" Mu Lixue said angrily.
"I'm laughing that this young lady is so straightforward. I wonder who will be lucky enough to win the young lady's heart," Jin Xiao said gently.
"Who do you think you are to care?" Mu Lixue looked disdainful.
Yi Qing looked at Mu Lixue and then at Jin Xiao. Wasn't Mu Lixue a beauty-obsessed girl? Why was she disdaining Jin Xiao? With his looks, he would surely make countless women scream on the street.
"What's wrong?" Mu Lixue looked at Yi Qing.
"I think there might be something wrong with your eyes," Yi Qing said suspiciously.
Mu Lixue raised her hand, and Dong Qing immediately handed her a small mirror. She carefully examined her eyes.
"This rouge isn't good," Mu Lixue shook her head.
Yi Qing thought it wasn't a problem with her eyes but with her brain.
"What do you like? I'll buy it for you," Mu Lixue gave the mirror back to Dong Qing.
"The snow lotus in your shop is old stock, but you insist it's new," Yi Qing didn't want Mu Lixue to buy anything for her.
Mu Lixue turned to look at the shopkeeper. "Is this really the case?"
The shopkeeper looked embarrassed. "Miss, it's really new stock. It just arrived. Look at the quality." He took out the box.
"I don't understand these things," Mu Lixue looked at Yi Qing.
"The quality does look like new stock, but it was processed in a special way. In fact, its medicinal effects are already very poor," Yi Qing analyzed.
"This... I..." The shopkeeper was encountering this for the first time. "The Ping family wouldn't dare to deceive our Luochenzhai like this."
Hearing it was the Ping family, Yi Qing lowered her eyes. The Ping family had suffered great losses recently. Did they want to get involved in the fake drug business?
"Why wouldn't the Ping family dare to deceive our Mu family?" Mu Lixue didn't know much about these things.
The shopkeeper was helpless. He turned to Yi Qing and bowed. "Then please take a look, madam. We have another batch of goods from the Ping family here."
"Okay," Yi Qing stood up. Then she remembered that she had brought Jin Xiao with her. "Young Master Jin, please do me a favor and stand at the entrance of the pharmacy."
"Why?" Jin Xiao didn't understand.
"There's a little matter. Just go and stand there first," Yi Qing said and then followed the shopkeeper.
Not knowing what Yi Qing was up to, Jin Xiao had no choice but to go downstairs and stand at the entrance of the pharmacy.
Mu Lixue followed Yi Qing to check the medicinal herbs. A batch of snow lotuses from the Ping family had problems. Without a comparison, it was hard to tell. There was also dragon tendon grass. These two things were only produced in Beidi.
"The Ping family is going too far. I'll tell my father to deal with them when I get back," Mu Lixue said angrily.
Yi Qing didn't care about these things. Hearing the commotion outside, she walked over to the window and saw that the pharmacy was surrounded by women. They were all waving their handkerchiefs and standing on tiptoes.
"What are you looking at?" Mu Lixue came over.
"Didn't you say you like Deng Xiao because he's good-looking? See the women down there? Now you know what it means to be good-looking," Yi Qing wanted to teach this beauty-obsessed Mu Lixue a lesson.
"What's so good-looking about that pretty boy?" Mu Lixue scoffed.
"What about Song Zhiyu, the most handsome man in the capital?"
"He's just an actor. So what if he's proficient in poetry, songs, and literature?"
"What about Master Lu?"
"He always has a straight face, keeping people at a distance. He acts so mysterious. It's all an act!"
"What about Yuan Hecong?"
"You'd think the Yuan family is a respectable family, but Yuan Hecong smiles at everyone. It's so beneath him!"
...
Yi Qing was speechless. It seemed that in Mu Lixue's eyes, only Deng Xiao was good, even though he wasn't a complete man. She even felt a little tempted to help Mu Lixue but finally held back.
"Let's go," Yi Qing was worried that Jin Xiao would be stared to death.
Jin Xiao was surrounded by a group of people. He stood there nervously in the middle, forcing a smile, looking even more pitiful. When he saw Yi Qing coming, he immediately rushed over and hugged her.
"Sister-in-law, I'm scared," Jin Xiao seemed really frightened.
Before Yi Qing could react, Ruo Hong directly pulled Jin Xiao away. If the general found out that another man had hugged their madam, he might kill someone.
"Send him back quickly," Yi Qing got goosebumps from Jin Xiao's hug.
Ruo Hong sent someone to escort Jin Xiao back to the Di family.
"Who is he?" Mu Lixue looked even more disdainful. How could a grown man act like this?
"He's the son of an old acquaintance of my grandfather," Yi Qing still felt a chill on her wrist where Jin Xiao had grabbed her.
Originally, she had taken Jin Xiao out for a stroll, but in the end, Mu Lixue had dragged her around for half a day. By the time they got back, she was exhausted. She really wasn't cut out for shopping.
"Madam is tired," Xiao Jinghan was looking at some documents. When he saw Yi Qing come back, he closed them.
"I ran into Mu Lixue when I was out. She almost walked me to death," Yi Qing slumped into a chair.
"Nothing else?" Xiao Jinghan leaned over and trapped Yi Qing in the chair.
Yi Qing immediately became alert. She always felt that something was about to happen.
"Aren't you going to explain about Jin Xiao?" Xiao Jinghan reminded.
"Uh—" Yi Qing looked around. There must have been secret guards following them today. "I wanted to tell you yesterday. It was my grandfather who asked me to accompany him out. It wasn't because..."
Even though Xiao Jinghan knew it was like this, he was still angry. "Where did he touch you?"
"Just..." Yi Qing didn't know how to explain. She had been hugged.
Xiao Jinghan directly picked Yi Qing up and put her on the bed. He kissed her inch by inch. He wouldn't even allow her to have ordinary contact with other men, especially that pretty boy who seemed up to no good at first sight.
"You—" Yi Qing felt Xiao Jinghan's dominance but couldn't say a word.
"Will you dare to do this again?" Xiao Jinghan looked at Yi Qing, who was lying limp in his arms.
She knew that Xiao Jinghan wasn't joking. He really would make it so that she couldn't get out of bed. "I won't dare anymore. I won't dare anymore."