Chapter 213
Qu Moying did not return to the mansion directly. Instead, she went to the tea house where she drank tea the last time.
Previously, when Yu Dong saw an old maid receiving the money, she went up to reprimand and threaten her, and the old maid told Qu Moying everything in detail, which saved her a lot of trouble.
There were still two shops across the street. One was a gold jewelry shop and the other was a clothing shop. The Crown Prince’s Mansion’s gold jewelry shop became bigger and bigger, and the clothing shop on the other side also looked very good. It could be said that they complemented each other. In the clothing shop, one could buy clothes or textiles, as well as accessories related to clothes. In the gold jewelry shop, one could buy some precious jewelry and similar things.
It was a rare opportunity for Qu Moying to come out, so she naturally wanted to do things as well as she could in one go.
Yu Qian was the shopkeeper of the clothing shop. Everyone in the shop called him Shopkeeper Yu. He had been in charge of such a clothing shop for so many years and could be considered an experienced businessman. Apart from some small hobbies, he was a very capable person. Over the years, he had made a lot of money for Yu.
He looked chubby and his appearance showed good fortune. Yu treated him well and gave him many benefits.
As a remote clan member of Yu, he was able to get Yu’s appreciation and had worked for her smoothly for many years, so he must have his unique abilities in addition to being extremely loyal to Yu.
Even though Yu was having a hard time in Qu Mansion, he still took Yu as his Master. The first thing he did after earning money was to send it to Yu. If it were in the past, he would do additional things to make Yu happy. But now, he could not see Yu. The money that was sent in actually fell in the hands of Third Lady.
He did not doubt Third Lady. He just felt that Third Lady was much less talkative than Madam. Recently, he really had something to ask Madam for help.
Madam’s life in Qu Mansion was not very good. Since the incident with Crown Prince’s Mansion last time, people all said that Madam was vicious and cruel to the legitimate daughter of the first wife, and then Madam was sick again, so Yu Qian had not seen Yu for a long time.
He came out of the shop listlessly and looked around. However, he did not see anyone he wanted to see. Yu Qian sighed again.
Previously, he had asked Qu Mansion’s servants to secretly send a message to Madam, saying that even if Madam did not appear, and Aunty Hai Lan, who was by Madam’s side, appeared, it would do.
However, the message had been sent for several days, but he had not seen anyone from Qu Mansion. Yu Qian grew more and more listless. Just as he was about to go back, he suddenly saw a familiar person coming from the opposite side of the street. He hurriedly turned his head and pretended not to see the person. He wanted to go back to the shop.
Unexpectedly, that person was sharp-eyed. When he saw Yu Qian hiding, he immediately ran a few steps and shouted, “Shopkeeper Yu, Shopkeeper Yu.”
Yu Qian wanted to pretend that he did not see the person, but that person’s voice was too loud. Even the shop assistants heard him and turned to look at him.
Yu Qian could only stop and try to squeeze out a smile. He turned his head and looked at the person. “Oh, it’s you, Shopkeeper Lu.”
Shopkeeper Lu’s shop was not far from him. The shop was smaller than his, but the two of them had a common characteristic—the shops both belonged to Qu Mansion.
Qu Moying sat in front of the window and saw the similarly plump Shopkeeper Lu holding Yu Qian’s hand affectionately. The corners of her lips curved up silently. She had asked Yu Dong to keep an eye on this side, but she did not expect that she would really find something extraordinary. Whether it was this Yu Qian or Shopkeeper Lu, they were both Yu’s confidants.
Moreover, their shops belonged to Mother. It was just that they were now under Yu’s name, so all the profits were openly handed to her.
Yu probably hadn’t intended to keep Qu Moying alive, so the handsome profits from these shops were not shared with Qu Moying at all. The shops fell into the hands of Yu as if it was a matter of course. Yu took over them in a flagrant manner.
To the public, Yu even declared that these shops were Qu Mansion’s, or even her own.
Naturally, the shopkeepers under her believed her without a doubt.
At the moment, the two shopkeepers thought that the richest person in Qu Mansion was Yu. As long as Yu dropped a little bit of money between her fingers, it would be enough for them to solve all the problems. Unfortunately, they could not meet Yu now, so the originally small matter was escalating into a big matter.
The old maid who had been bribed seemed to act very fast. Today, Qu Moying did not bring Yu Dong out so that he could handle this matter. This time, it was just right.
“What’s the matter, Shopkeeper Lu?” Outside the teahouse, Yu Qian had a smile on his face and looked like he was poking fun. He just wanted to get away as quickly as possible.
“Shopkeeper Yu, the money you mentioned before…” Shopkeeper Lu had been here a few times recently, but he did not see Yu Qian in person. This time, he finally saw him, so he immediately got straight to the point.
Talking about this kind of thing on the street was rather embarrassing. Yu Qian was anxious. He came up and grabbed Shopkeeper Lu’s hand. “Come on, let’s go. Let’s drink some tea first.”
As he spoke, he pulled Shopkeeper Lu over to the teahouse.
Upstairs, Qu Moying saw them enter the teahouse. She lowered her eyes slightly and ordered, “Go take a look.”
Yu Chun nodded and cleverly walked to the door. She slightly pulled open the door and looked outside. Sure enough, she heard sounds coming from the stairs. Then, she saw the two shopkeepers book a private room and enter. It seemed that they were going to talk inside.
“My lady, they went in. The door is closed.” Yu Chun turned around and reported. Coincidentally, the private room was on the opposite side of their room.
“Are there people in the two rooms on the side?” Qu Moying put down the teacup in her hand.
“There is one empty room, the one on the right, whose door is open. It looks like there is no one inside.” Yu Chun looked carefully just now. The room was next to the room where the two shopkeepers entered.
Qu Moying stood up and gently pushed the cup on the table. The teacup was flipped over and the tea immediately wet the table. Then, the teacup rolled to the table and fell heavily to the ground. It shattered.
“Change us to the empty room. This room is messy now. Please help clean it up.” When Yu Chun saw the situation, she understood. She walked outside, called a waiter over, and handed over a piece of silver.
Looking at the silver in his hand, the waiter smiled and nodded repeatedly. He brought them to the room they had talked about and served tea again before leaving.
This piece of silver was more than enough to pay for everything. Even if Qu Moying smashed all the snack plates inside, there was no need for this amount of silver.
Qu Moying sat down again and leaned against the wooden board.
These private rooms were separated by wooden boards. The effect of sound insulation was not good. If one talked a bit louder, the conversation would easily be overheard.
At this time, the two people in the room were talking in a low voice. It seemed that they were discussing something. Qu Moying could not hear them clearly. She lowered her eyes and took a sip of tea. Then she slowly put it down and closed her eyes to listen quietly.
With her eyes closed, her hearing also became a bit sharper. Slowly, some sentences fell into her ears.
“I really don’t have money.” It was Yu Qian’s voice.
“It’s been so long. If we don’t have money, both of us will be in trouble. Can you really not see Madam?” Shopkeeper Lu said anxiously. He reached for a peanut on the table and threw it into his mouth. Feeling that the food was tasteless, he spat it out again. He was extremely annoyed. “Why don’t you return the money to me first? Then think of a way for yourself.”
“I really don’t have money now.” Yu Qian spread out his hands.
“If you don’t have money, then look for Madam. To Mrs. Yu, all of this is nothing. You are a relative of Madam’s family. You are different from us. If this drags on, I really will be crushed. When the time comes, they will find out the deficit, and I am not Madam’s relative. And if I can’t give a reasonable explanation, I will be doomed if Madam misunderstands me.”
“Madam won’t misunderstand you. I will explain it to her when the time comes,” Yu Qian hurriedly said.
“You can’t even see Madam. Why are you talking about this? I heard that two young ladies are currently in charge of the mansion.” Shopkeeper Lu was not really ignorant. He reached out and pulled Yu Qian’s sleeve. “Return the money of my shop to me first. I am going to stock up now. In the beginning, you asked me to wait for a few days. Now, a few days have passed and it has not been returned. I can’t even stock up now.”
Shopkeeper Lu regretted it. Why did he lend this sum of money to Yu Qian at that time? Now he could not take it back. He was so anxious that he could not eat or sleep well. He was afraid that something big would happen. Recently, he had been feeling nervous. In fact, he had helped Yu Qian before, but every time, Yu Qian would return the money on time, so nothing had happened.
But this time, it had really been delayed for too long.
“Yes… Yes, these few days, in these few days… Soon… Brother, help me out again… In just a few days, I will see Madam again. If it really doesn’t work, I will see Third Lady… I will definitely return it to you.” The sweat on Yu Qian’s forehead popped up, and he hurriedly said. He reached out to wipe the sweat on his forehead and laughed to cover it up. “Recently, it has been very hot. It is going to be summer soon.”
“Will you really make it in a few days?” Shopkeeper Lu said with a serious face.
“Yes, in a few days. Very soon. Don’t worry, I will definitely not delay it any longer,” Yu Qian hurriedly said.
“Brother, I’ll give you another few days then. If this drags on, I really can’t help you anymore. When I went to report the accounts a few days ago, Third Lady asked me about the inventory. I said that I would stock up in a few days and that I haven’t chosen the goods yet. If there is any delay, I… I can only confess and sacrifice you.”
Shopkeeper Lu confirmed again.
“Don’t worry, there will definitely be no more delay this time. No more delay. Everything will be OK.” Yu Qian was trying his best to seize the last straw. He was almost swearing with his life. He couldn’t help but become excited.
Seeing that he was so sincere, Shopkeeper Lu could only believe him once more. After all, Yu Qian was from the same clan as Madam, wasn’t he?
After Shopkeeper Yu made such a solemn promise, Shopkeeper Lu did not stay any longer. He bid farewell and left, leaving Yu Qian alone inside to drink his tea. After drinking for a while, he felt boring, so he asked the waiter to buy a pot of wine for him. The more he drank, the more annoyed he became.
Speaking of this matter, it was really an accident. It dated back to a month ago. At that time, he really did not worry about this matter. No one would have thought that such a small matter would…