A luxurious and bright-colored carriage crossed the street slowly. Seeing the big blood-red manjusaka pattern on the extremely spacious carriage, everyone lowered their heads and moved aside, without making any noise. Even those little kids who had no sense of danger sensed the tension in the air. They snuggled up to their parents and looked at the carriage in fear, closing their little mouths tightly.
All the people in the capital knew that the carriage belonged to Prince Yi, so nobody dared to stand in his way.
Ao Chenyi leaned against the soft couch lazily, his long legs dangling aside casually. The robe he wore was in the same color as the carriage, making his handsome face a little enchanting. When he raised his head, people did not dare to look at him, because the look in his eyes was too icy. Two beautiful palace maids knelt on the two sides of the carriage, each holding a food box above their heads.
Obviously, Ao Chenyi had no interest in the food box in the two palace maid’s hands. He lifted the curtain, looked outside and happened to see the carriage of the Lord Protector’s Manor stopped in front of a shop.
“Go and check who is inside.”
Although he said briefly, Yu Jian understood his intention. He reached out and stopped the horses. Then he jumped out the carriage and walked into the shop. An elegant and cold girl was walking downstairs, with a trace of smile on her face. His master was so smart! As he had expected, it was Fifth Young Lady!
“Your Highness Prince Yi, it’s Fifth Young Lady,” Yu Jian walked to the carriage and reported in a low voice.
Ao Chenyi rubbed his beautiful and straight nose with his slender fingers and smiled idly. “I was right. It’s that little girl! It’s said she had stirred trouble at Ao Mingyu’s suburban courtyard. What’s she doing here?” He ordered in a lazy voice, “Stop the carriage. The Spring Festival is coming, and I’m going to buy some cloth for my servants.”
Yu Jian made a face and did not know what to say. “Why is Prince Yi suddenly caring about such things?”
Of course, as a smart guard, Yu Jian was clear what his master was thinking. He nodded and said seriously, “You’re right, Prince Yi! They should wear new clothes during the Spring Festival.”
“Yes. Help me get out!” Ao Chenyi blinked charmingly.
The two beautiful palace maids immediately put down the food boxes and jumped out from the carriage. They then knelt, propping themselves with their hands against the ground. They were of the same height now, so it was obvious that they had been well trained.
Ao Chenyi stepped on the back of the palace maids and got out the carriage before walking into the shop. His unrivaled handsome face looked both idle and charming and there was no usual bloodthirsty and coldness on it. Obviously, he was in a good mood.
“Give a box of the South Sea Pearl I have just gained to that little girl. Since she is my woman, I should give her something valuable before Spring Festival. Otherwise, others will think that she is too shabby and look down upon her.”
He knew this little girl was both cunning and ruthless, but he still liked her. He was satisfied with everything she had done. What was more, he was the master of this little wild cat. His pet must be aggressive and should never be weak. Before he could make a fuss about Ning Qingshan’s shoulder injury, Ning Xueyan had already taken advantage of it and aroused Third Prince’s suspicion about Ning Qingshan. This coincided with his idea.
He was getting even more satisfied with this little girl!
But when had Ning Xueyan, the Lord Protector’s Manor’s Young Lady, become his woman? Since the first time they met, Ao Chenyi had taken this little girl as his woman. He was satisfied with everything about her. Besides, he had traded for her on one condition. So of course she belonged to him.
It had never been on his mind whether Ning Xueyan was willingly to be his woman!
He could not stand his pet being bullied. The usual cold-blooded Prince Yi suddenly came up with such an idea.
He would not allow the others of the Lord Protector’s Manor to bully his woman all the time. It was rare that he happened to meet her here. Seeing people gathering in the shop, he knew that this little girl was in trouble again.
Thinking about this, he strode forward. A eunuch walked ahead of him and was about to drive away the people in his way, but he waved his hand, gesturing him not to disturb the others. Then he stopped behind the crowd. Several eunuchs and guards stood behind him respectfully, lowering their heads. They did not move at all.
Seeing his black robe embroidered with blood-red flower and the respectful manner of the eunuchs and guards, the experienced people near Ao Chenyi left quietly. Why did this ruthless prince show up here? Was he going to kill again?
Many people who were watching walked out the shop quietly.
It was not smart to look on what Prince Yi was doing, because people who did this might even lose their lives!
Ning Xueyan did not notice Prince Yi’s appearance. She leaned against the chair with a faint smile, watching the woman, who was in her thirties, shouting in front of her.
“Are you the owner of this shop? Look! This is the dress made from the cloth of your shop. It was suddenly shrunk by this much. Besides, its color faded. How can I wear such a dress?” With that, she threw a small and stained dress in front of Ning Xueyan. The dress was too small and it was about a kid’s size. Besides, the beautiful colors on it had blended together and formed blotches, like being stained with ink.
It really looked ugly. And it was too small for this strong middle-aged woman.
People who were in front of Ao Chenyi did not see him, and some of them began to feel sorry for the middle-aged woman.
“How can you prove that you bought the cloth from our shop? As far as I know, such common cloth can be found in many shops. There are several dozens of cloth shops in the capital. Why are you so certain that you got it from our shop?”
Ning Xueyan said slowly, smiling.
“I’m sure I bought it from your shop! I have bought ten bolts of cloth here ten days ago, and you should have recorded it. If you don’t trust me, you can check the record. What’s more, I have put a thumbprint on it,” the woman shouted confidently, placing her hands on her hips.
She raised her voice on purpose, trying to arouse more attention. However, since Ao Chenyi stood behind the crowd, nobody dared to walk in to stir trouble. Even if they would get money, they would not dare to come in to watch what was going on.
According to the custom of the capital, if the customer bought ten or more than ten bolts of cloth, the customer would be requested to leave a fingerprint on the record. Otherwise, the customer did not need to do this, and it would be enough after the accountant made the record.
“You mean you have bought ten bolts of cloth from us?” Ning Xueyan said coolly.
“Yes. Ten bolts of cloth! I’m quite sure about it. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the shopkeeper to check the account book. As a powerless woman, I won’t make trouble on purpose for no reason. You must give me a reasonable explanation. Otherwise, I won’t leave here,” the woman said aggressively. Obviously, she would make a scene here if she could not get what she wanted.
Looking at the dress on the floor and at the woman, some people were filled with indignation.
“This shop is sucks! And your cloth is sucks! Who will dare to buy anything from you?”
“Obviously, the color of this dress is exclusive to this shop. Are they still trying to deny it?”
“My son also bought cloth from this shop. I doubt if it can be used. I will bring it here and return it later. The cloth of this shop can’t be used to make clothes at all!”
Hearing these remarks, the middle-aged woman looked triumphantly. She had made such a right decision to come here today! Since there was her fingerprint on the record, nobody would dare to deny that she had brought the cloth from this shop.
“Has all the cloth been used to make clothes?” Ning Xueyan asked casually.
“Yes, of course! All the clothes look like this one. All the cloth you sold was fake!” the woman said firmly.
“Qingyu, go to her place with her and bring all the other clothes here. I want to know whether all of them are broken,” Ning Xueyan said calmly, a sarcasm crossing her bright eyes.
The triumphant smile froze on the woman’s face. Seeing Qingyu coming over, she stammered, “It’s un-unnecessary! My home is far from here and it will take a very long time to get there. You’d better solve the problem about this dress. Then I will bring all the others to you.”
“It doesn’t matter. I have time,” Ning Xueyan said indifferently, ignoring the woman’s request.
Obviously, she would definitely bring the other clothes here!
“The other clothes are in better condition than this one. This one’s condition is too poor! And the rest clothing was being made.” Seeing that Ning Xueyan insisted on dispatching people to bring the clothes, the woman became anxious and immediately changed her attitude.
“So this one shrank and being stained the most?” Ning Xueyan asked before that woman could think it over.
“Of course! This one was both shrank and being stained. So you can just check this one,” being afraid that Ning Xueyan would ask someone to fetch the other clothes, the woman immediately answered. She was lying, so of course she would not lead the others to her home.
“Only this one? Are you sure?” Ning Xueyan asked again.
“Yes. I’m sure that only this one has quality problems!” the woman confirmed.
Ao Chenyi stood behind people, a trace of smile on his charming face. “This little girl is so cunning! She let the woman fall into her trap so quickly!”
“Only this dress has such a big problem? Since the other clothes were made from the same cloth, how could they be much better?” Ning Xueyan asked with a darkened face. “The same piece of cloth can’t be so different. Or maybe the clothes were not made from the same cloth?”
Since she looked too young, that woman had not taken her seriously. When she became serious, she emanated a powerful aura. The woman was so scared that she stammered and could not answer her question.
How could the same piece of cloth be different?
The crowd calmed down and everyone realized that the woman was lying. this would have happened only when the clothes had not been made from the same piece of cloth.
“Mr. Yu, send her to the governmental office and ask the officers to judge. We’re law-abiding businessmen. If such things happen again in the future, just sue them. We can bring our cloth to the court and let the judge check it on spot.” Ning Xueyan smiled faintly, her lips pale, but she did not show mercy when she spoke.
Businessmen adhered to the principle of ‘Harmony brings wealth’, so this woman and the others knew that the owner of the shop would not dare to do anything to them. Besides, it was hard for the people of the shop to prove that the cloth had not been bought from them. That was why the troublemakers had come from time to time. They knew that the bigger the fuss they made, the more complicated the situation was, and the more it would affect the business of this shop.
But nobody had thought that a Young Lady would have been so courageous and calm. Those who had an ulterior object in view immediately stopped thinking about making trouble. They had planned to ruin this shop’s business by discrediting it when the Lord Protector’s Manor’s madam had no time to take care of it, so that their own business would be better.
But to their surprise, the Young Lady from the Lord Protector’s Manor was so capable at such a young age!.
