Even after the Crown Prince of Yu left, Master Qu was still in a daze.
Is this... being abandoned?
Yes, it has indeed been abandoned.
For some reason, Master Qu felt a sense of relief, but at the same time, he was extremely unwilling.
Compared to Manager Hu and Prefect Liu, Master Qu was much better off, because his problem was at most that his cloth shop would be shut down, and it would not escalate to the point of losing his life.
So if Prefect Liu and Manager Hu knew this in the afterlife, they would definitely be very envious of him, right?
However, Master Qu is different from Manager Hu. He is not just after money. If it were just about money, he could have retired long ago. Even now, if the Qu family's cloth shop is shut down, it will not have much impact on him.
But that's not what he's after!
When Master Qu was still a boy, he worked as an apprentice under Zhou Gui. You could say that Zhou Gui was his master.
However, because he was too young at the time and not very honest, he often secretly took things after work. Later, Zhou Gui found out and beat him severely, and then kicked him out of the Zhou family.
He still remembered that afternoon, under the gaze and ridicule of a group of teenagers, Zhou Gui pointed his finger at him and said, "With your current character, you'll only ever be an apprentice! You might as well not even bother with this industry; you're not even as good as my daughter!"
At that time, Zhou Ziqiong was only a few years old.
He lay low for so many years because of this sentence.
Even the heir of King Yu had never mentioned this matter, and he knew that Zhou Gui had long forgotten him—there were a dozen or so young men who came to the Zhou family as apprentices with him back then, and Zhou Gui had never even asked his name, so how could he remember him?
However, he remembered those words and secretly vowed that one day he would trample the Zhou family's cloth workshop under his feet!
So he was willing to be a dog of the Prince of Yu. He kept lowering his price and disregarding costs. In fact, it wasn't just for the Prince of Yu to bring down the Zhou family's cloth shop so that he could win over Zhou Ziqiong. He was just doing it for that afternoon many years ago, for that afternoon when Zhou Gui scolded him for being "not even as good as his daughter".
He even fantasized that after he brought down the Zhou family's cloth shop, he would go up to Zhou Gui and tell him about that afternoon.
Just when he was about to succeed, he was suddenly abandoned by the Crown Prince of Yu—or even if the Crown Prince of Yu hadn't abandoned him, he was doomed this time.
It seems Zhou Gui was right.
He's only fit to be an apprentice, and honestly, even now he's not as good as his daughter.
...
"Master, master! It's terrible! The soldiers are here!"
As Master Qu was still reminiscing about the past, a servant rushed in.
After glancing at the servant, Master Qu didn't bother to say anything more and simply walked out.
Yu Li was leading the team, naturally having received orders from Jing Zhe. Of course, as the matter of the Qu family's cloth shop escalated, even if Jing Zhe didn't say anything, Yu Li, as the current official in Ruzhou City, had to step in.
"Master Qu, I have received reports from the people that the sanitary napkins sold by your Qu family's cloth shop may be harmful to women's health. Is that true?"
"Governor Yu, it's not a possibility, it's a certainty!"
"Yes, Governor Yu, my wife used it and it's incredibly itchy!"
"That's right, there were no problems using Zhou Family Cloth Shop's sanitary napkins, but they all broke down when we started using Qu Family Cloth Shop's!"
"Sigh, you get what you pay for. I should have known better than to go for the cheapest option!"
"..."
Before Master Qu could speak, the surrounding villagers started talking all at once, their words filled with anger.
Although the women involved were the ones who had the problem—after all, only women need sanitary napkins—it was the men who came to seek redress, namely the husbands of these women. They were too ashamed to talk about their private parts problems, especially in front of so many people.
Yu Li felt a headache coming on when she heard a group of men discussing whether women experience vaginal itching in public.
He gestured for everyone to be quiet before turning to Master Qu and asking, "Master Qu, is what everyone is saying true?"
Master Qu sneered, "Governor Yu, these are just their side of the story! I didn't see with my own eyes whether they used our sanitary napkins or how they used them. How can I believe what they say?"
Yu Li glanced at him and asked, "So, you mean you have to see it with your own eyes to believe it?"
"Of course!"
Master Qu puffed out his chest and said.
"That old scoundrel, beat him up!"
"..."
Even if Li opened his mouth, the group of men behind him were furious and rushed up to beat Master Qu. After all, the sanitary napkins were used by their wives, and those things were used on a woman's most private parts. Master Qu said he wanted to witness it with his own eyes. What was the difference between that and being a hooligan?
So everyone got angry after hearing that.
Fortunately, Master Qu was inside the counter, and fortunately, Yu Li brought enough soldiers to stop them; otherwise, Master Qu could have been beaten to death by these people.
After calming everyone down, Yu Li continued, "Master Qu, what you're saying is incorrect. If only one or two people say your sanitary napkins are bad, then it could be said that someone is deliberately framing you. But if dozens or even hundreds of people say your sanitary napkins are bad, then there's something wrong with you! Moreover, I heard that Zhou Family Cloth Shop delivered sanitary napkins to six hundred people the day before yesterday and sold quite a few. Why didn't anyone complain about them, but instead complained about you?"
Master Qu sneered even more after hearing this.
"I'm also puzzled. My sanitary napkins were selling just fine, so why did so many people suddenly come out to complain about us? I'm starting to suspect that Zhou's Cloth Shop deliberately paid so many people to frame me!"
Although the Crown Prince of Yu has given up on Master Qu, Master Qu himself cannot give up on himself; he must try to save himself.
"Frame you? You? You think you're worthy?"
"You surnamed Qu, do you think everyone is as corrupt as you? How could the Zhou family's cloth workshop do such a despicable thing?"
"He can frame people so easily; he's probably done it a lot before!"
"Moreover, Miss Zhou had already made it clear to everyone that the sanitary napkins from Zhou's Fabric Shop use sterilization technology, which is why they won't cause itching after use. We were just greedy for cheap prices and ended up being fooled by Qu's Fabric Shop. It's our fault!"
"Hehe, even if it's partly our fault, Zhou Family Cloth Shop made a guarantee back then, and Qu Family Cloth Shop also made a guarantee that they would compensate us if any itching problems occurred!"
"It's not just compensation. The man surnamed Qu also said that if anything goes wrong, not only will the Qu Family Cloth Shop close down, but it will also be handed over to the Zhou Family Cloth Shop!"
"This kind of unscrupulous merchant should be sent to Zhou Family Cloth Shop immediately!"
"..."
————
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
