Chapter 42 Reversal
Looking at the person kneeling at her feet, Yu Jiaojiao really wanted to kick him away.
What an idiot!
However, with so many people watching, she couldn't reveal her true colors, so she could only feign heartbreak: "Zhou Xiuniang, I can't help you with this. Fortunately, my brother-in-law had the discerning eye to distinguish between wheat and corn today; otherwise, you would have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor! Even I, who bought the clothes, would have been implicated by you."
She shook her head, wiping away her tears: "I...I trusted the wrong person!"
Before she could say anything more to gain sympathy, a noblewoman suddenly said, "The problem with Zhou Xiuniang is secondary. The most important thing right now is how to deal with the money from the auction of the dress."
Immediately, someone chimed in: "Is that even a question? Of course, we'll refund your money!"
These two women had just taken pictures of Zhou Xiuniang's skirt. They were overjoyed at their success, but now they felt only bad luck.
Yu Jiaojiao was secretly delighted.
She had also thought about money, but given her innocent and delicate persona, she naturally couldn't bring it up. Now that someone had brought it up, she was happy to go along with it.
Before she could finish being happy, Yu Zhiyi leisurely sipped her tea: "Although this incident was caused by a major work error on the part of Jinxiu Pavilion, Hongluan had already warned you before the incident, but none of you cared about her. Only Honggu wanted to suspend the viewing banquet to investigate the matter, but you thought she was just a small silver-level embroiderer and not worthy of your trust."
"Now that the truth is out, Hongluan is not at fault, Jinxiu Pavilion is not at fault, so this money should not be returned."
Yu Jiaojiao's face instantly contorted: "How can this be?"
She realized her lapse in composure as soon as she finished speaking, and could only put on a gentle and kind demeanor again: "You said it yourself, it was just a mistake by Jinxiu Pavilion..."
Yu Zhiyi said calmly, "When Jinxiu Pavilion wanted to take responsibility for its mistakes, it was you who stopped Hong Gu, wasn't it? It was also you who strongly supported Zhou Xiuniang, saying that she was a veteran gold medal embroiderer and would never steal a young girl's embroidery."
"You can't expect someone else to take the blame for your own mistakes."
She sighed, "Sister, don't forget you're now the third young mistress of the Duke of Yong's mansion. Don't tarnish your husband's reputation..."
Yu Jiaojiao's breath hitched.
After the initial three months of sweet intimacy, Zhang Tianshun's interest in her waned, and he hasn't stepped into her room for half a month now.
If he hears any more bad things, he might really start to despise himself.
Moreover, her mother-in-law, who values face the most, wouldn't let her off the hook either.
Thinking of all this, she could only suppress the urge to vomit blood and grit her teeth to swallow the loss: "Sister is right..."
Among the noble ladies present, Yu Zhiyi and Yu Jiaojiao were of the highest status, and Yu Jiaojiao suffered the greatest loss. Since she didn't care, the other two had no way to continue to care.
And strictly speaking, neither of them suffered any loss.
Although Zhou Xiuniang had character flaws, her embroidery was still quite good.
Those two dresses, no matter who made them, are not a loss.
The only one who should be nailed to the pillar of shame for stealing other people's finished products is Zhou Xiuniang. What does that have to do with the victims like them?
On the contrary, Yu Jiaojiao's dress was basically ruined because the embroidery threads were removed.
Thinking it over, the two felt at ease and left with the dress.
Before long, only six people remained in the living room on the third floor.
Hongluan suddenly rushed in front of Honggu: "Honggu, are we just going to let my three lost dresses go like this?"
"As you can see, one 'Golden Autumn' dress sold for over ten thousand taels. Even if the other two don't sell for that much, they certainly won't be less than seven or eight thousand taels. But they were all stolen! According to the rules of the building, I can take half of the clothes sold at the viewing banquet. I've lost at least ten thousand taels!"
Hong Gu patted her on the shoulder, then looked coldly at Zhou Xiuniang and her daughter: "You should give this money to Hong Luan as compensation."
Zhou Xiuniang's expression changed drastically, and Bai Tian'er looked even more aggrieved: "Hong Gu, I took the clothes, I only took one Golden Autumn!"
Hongluan sneered: "Besides myself and a few apprentices, you're the only one who's ever been in my room. Those apprentices are all good people; they wouldn't betray me. Besides you, who else would have taken my other two embroidery pieces?"
"I really didn't..."
Before Bai Tian'er could say anything more, Hong Luan coldly said, "In short, either you pay compensation, or I report it to the authorities. In any case, I will recover this loss!"
"You!" Bai Tian'er was speechless with anger.
She was about to say something when Zhou Xiuniang said in a hoarse voice, "Tian'er, don't say anything more. I'll compensate you."
Hongluan snorted coldly, crossed her arms, glanced at Zhou Xiuniang, and said coldly, "I hope you can turn over a new leaf and do less of these selfish and underhanded things."
The farce has finally come to an end.
Inside the carriage, Hongluan's hand, which was holding Yu Zhiyi's arm, trembled slightly with excitement: "Sister, you are truly my lucky star! First, you sold that item for five thousand taels, which helped me gain recognition, and now you've swindled that old woman out of more than five thousand taels. It's so satisfying!"
Zhou Xiuniang is the top embroiderer in the building. She usually looks very honest and kind, but in reality she is cunning and wicked. She seems to encourage and praise promising embroiderers, but in fact she is secretly sabotaging them.
Because of the old woman's flattery and deliberate misleading, many promising embroiderers in the brothel unknowingly made serious mistakes and were subsequently dismissed.
Which embroidery shop in the capital would want a embroiderer who has been dismissed from Jinxiu Pavilion?
So these poor girls either had no choice but to obediently go home and wait to be married, wasting their lives, or they had no choice but to leave Shengjing and find a place where no one knew them to start over.
Even if there is a chance to start over, it is not so easy to establish oneself.
The world is not kind to women.
This time, she used a clever scheme to ruin the old woman's reputation and swindled more than 5,000 liang. Most importantly, her other two embroidery pieces are still there, and she can sell them tomorrow, which will bring in another large sum of money!
Hongluan took out a stack of silver notes from her sleeve: "Here, this is six thousand taels in total, including the commission and a fee for your hard work. Next time there's something like this, you'll have to come and support me!"
Yu Zhiyi didn't stand on ceremony and put the money back into her sleeve. Just as she was about to return the bag, she heard a voice clenching its teeth: "Split the profits?"
Both of them were taken aback.
Yu Zhiyi's eyes flickered, and she felt inexplicably guilty.
In any case, she not only took advantage of Du Ziheng last time, but also swindled him out of five thousand taels of silver.
Although in the end only two thousand five hundred taels ended up in her pocket, but...
He himself did indeed lose five thousand taels.
But then I thought about it again. That time, she had even helped his sweetheart solve a problem.
That's just a handling fee.
So she stopped panicking.
She lifted the curtain, her expression calm: "That's right, a split."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com