With lemons on hand, there was much room for creativity.
Seeing the meaningful smile on Bai Zheng's face, Song Yiqing suddenly had a thought. Pointing at her, he blurted out, "Tell me, are you planning to make a fortune without telling me?"
Hearing this, Bai Zheng lowered her head guiltily and took a sip of tea. Then she said with a beaming smile, "How can you say I'm keeping it from you... It's just that I feel bad for you. You're already so busy with those five shops downstairs. If I were to add more shops for you, wouldn't I be deliberately keeping you from sleeping?"
"So now you've finally realized how hard I've been working?" Song Yiqing gave her a fierce glare. "Anyway, when it comes to making money, you'd better not even think about leaving me behind!"
Bai Zheng let out a soft chuckle. "I've always known how hard you work. Besides, as important as making money is, can it be more important than your health? We can't ruin our health just for business. We still need to rest when it's time to..."
Before she could finish, a deafening argument suddenly erupted from the shop downstairs.
All the customers in the shop immediately fell silent and looked in the direction of the conflict.
Although Bai Zheng and the others couldn't see what was going on inside the shop, sitting on the second - floor of the teahouse across the street, they could still clearly hear the voices coming from inside.
"I saw this first. Why should I give it to you?" The clear and delicate voice was full of grievance. "There should always be a first - come, first - served rule!"
"Who told me I like it! Can't you just buy something else? There are so many perfumes in the shop. Why do you have to fight me for 'Ripple'?"
The woman who said this had a domineering and shrill voice, which made Bai Zheng narrow her eyes slightly and a sneer curl up on her lips.
The owner of the clear and delicate voice was obviously extremely dissatisfied with this answer. "What do you mean I'm fighting you for it? Who saw 'Ripple' first? I clearly told the waiter first that I wanted the last set! You just showed up out of nowhere..."
The domineering woman immediately interrupted her. "I was just afraid you couldn't afford it. 'Ripple' costs twenty taels of silver. Can someone as shabbily dressed as you afford it?"
"You!" The woman with the clear voice was obviously extremely angry. "Whether I can afford it or not is none of your business! Waiter, wrap it up for me!"
Hearing this, the domineering woman immediately shouted even louder, "Waiter, I'll pay thirty taels. Sell 'Ripple' to me!"
As soon as she said this, the whole place was in an uproar.
Twenty taels was already a large sum of money, and now this woman had added ten taels just like that?
How generous, how arrogant, and how... overbearing!
"You, you're just being unreasonable!" The delicate - voiced woman obviously lacked confidence in this price - war and was almost in tears.
"Reason?" Hearing this, the domineering woman burst into laughter, her voice full of sarcasm. "What's your father's status? What's your mother's status! Reason? Why don't you take a look at yourself in the mirror and see if you're qualified to talk to me about reason!"
"Snap!"
Song Yiqing finally couldn't stand it anymore. He closed his fan and hit his palm hard with the handle. "It seems that we've got a real big shot in our shop."
Bai Zheng frowned and replied, "Yes. Judging from her tone, she must have a high - ranking background. But this voice... Why do I feel like I've never heard it before?"
Bai Zheng's doubts were not unfounded.
After all, Yongding City was the capital of the Great Zhou. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that there was a noble every five steps and an official every ten steps.
This woman dared to speak so arrogantly here, which showed that her identity was extraordinary.
But for such a well - connected woman, neither the former Bai Zheng nor the current one could recall ever hearing her voice among all the rich young ladies they had met at various banquets in Yongding City.
So who on earth was she?
While Bai Zheng was still puzzled, she had already walked into the perfume shop through the back door of the teahouse.
She stood behind the curtain in the inner room of the shop and looked out.
The shop was still bustling with people. The previous incident had already been overshadowed by the customers' enthusiasm for the summer - limited products.
The shop's manager had obviously been well - trained. The delicate - voiced woman had been appeased and was now sitting in the elegant room in the back hall, enjoying the free upgraded customization service.
As for the domineering woman, after successfully buying the last bottle of "Ripple", she continued to stroll leisurely in the shop.
Bai Zheng stared intently at the thin back of the woman through the gauze curtain.
The woman was wearing a long red silk and gold - embroidered light - gauze dress. There was a beeswax hairpin slanting in her hair. Although she tried her best to maintain self - restraint in her every move, one could still tell that her behavior was a bit vulgar.
Most importantly, just like Bai Di before, she wore a layer of light gauze covering her face below her eyes, making it impossible to see her appearance clearly.
Bai Zheng frowned and carefully searched through her memories of all the ladies and young misses she had met at various banquets again, making sure she had never seen this woman before.
However, it wouldn't be difficult to find out her identity.
"Is she one of our premium members?" Bai Zheng asked the manager casually.
The manager had smartly promoted the premium - member system to the woman when she was checking out.
No one could resist the good deal of a 10% discount, so the woman had naturally left her information.
The manager replied respectfully, "She's the concubine of the Grand Tutor's Mansion."
"The Grand Tutor's Mansion?"
Hearing these three words, Bai Zheng suddenly had a strange feeling in her heart.
Song Yiqing was also staring blankly at the woman's figure.
When she turned around and he saw the small red tear - mole at the corner of her eye, a vague image suddenly flashed through his mind. He murmured involuntarily, "I've never heard of this concubine before, but I feel like I've seen her somewhere..."
"Was it... in a portrait?" Bai Zheng asked quietly.
Song Yiqing lowered his eyes for a moment. Then his eyes suddenly lit up. He suddenly raised his head and exclaimed in a low voice, "I remember. She... She's none other than He Dong's long - missing daughter, He Qing!"
"He Qing?" There was a faint, mysterious smile on Bai Zheng's lips. "It seems that we've finally lured her out."
Feng Linyuan didn't have conclusive evidence as to whether He Dong had betrayed Feng Zhen back then. But after He Dong's death, his daughter He Qing had quietly hooked up with the Grand Tutor's Mansion and become Zhao Yujin's concubine. The reasons behind this were worth pondering over.
On ordinary days, Zhao Yujin had hidden this concubine He Qing so well that it was almost impossible for the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion to get close to He Qing without alerting her.
But now, the things sold in Bai Zheng's newly - opened shops were so novel that no woman could resist them.
After hiding in the Grand Tutor's Mansion for six years without showing her face, He Qing finally couldn't resist and came to them on her own initiative.