Obviously, Zhuo Lingxiao was doubting what Feng Jingye had said about the compensation.
"Prince Zhuo must have been so focused on preparing for Princess Yunxi's betrothal that you missed the news. The shop opened by Miss Bai was smashed to pieces inside and out, top to bottom. Except for the kitchen, there was nothing left!" Bai Yinan replied loudly. Even now, just thinking about it still made him angry.
"Really?" Zhuo Lingxiao sneered and said indifferently, "Even if the whole shop was smashed, there's no need for a compensation of ten thousand taels of silver, right? Could it be that in Lady Hou's shop, all the pillars are inlaid with agate and jade?"
Zhuo Lingxiao's words clearly implied that their ten - thousand - tael compensation was ill - gotten. He wanted to prove that this was not compensation but a bribe.
Bai Zheng wasn't angry at all. She calmly straightened her sleeves, coughed gently, and smiled, "Your Highness the Prince really doesn't know how expensive it is to run a household. Since you've never opened a shop or done business, how do you know that reopening a shop doesn't cost ten thousand taels of silver?
Do you know that to reopen the shop, we need not only material and labor costs but also all the high - priced desserts that were originally in the shop and could have been sold, the customer business lost during this period, the penalty fees for failing to deliver to customers as promised, and the lost - work fees for all the shop assistants.
My business may be small and not on the grand stage, but I spent a great deal of effort to start it. Now that it has finally been recognized by the people of Yongding, the shop was smashed. The psychological blow I suffered hasn't even been counted.
Others may not know, but Lord Hou is well aware that these days, I've been unable to eat or sleep well. Just the medicinal materials for recuperating my body cost hundreds of taels.
I'll just say something offensive here. The mere ten thousand taels of silver is already a discounted amount out of consideration for His Highness the Crown Prince.
If Your Highness the Prince thinks even ten thousand taels is too much, then please go back and calculate the accounts carefully. Don't talk nonsense here without knowing anything and slander the Crown Prince of our Great Zhou!"
Bai Zheng's words were so justifiable that the strange compensation reasons left Zhuo Lingxiao speechless.
Everyone in the hall was stunned. Only Feng Jingye, who had gone through Bai Zheng's account - calculating once before, remained calm among those present.
Although he was listening to Bai Zheng calculate the accounts both times, the first time he was frightened, but this time, the more he listened, the more comfortable he felt.
He looked at Zhuo Lingxiao sympathetically and couldn't help sneering inside.
In this world, he had never seen anyone better at calculating accounts than Bai Zheng.
Once you were caught by her, you couldn't get away without losing a large chunk of your flesh!
He didn't know what was in her head. She could always come up with a bunch of out - of - this - world and diverse expenses on the spot and list them in a compensation plan.
Trying to embarrass her with just ten thousand taels of silver? It was simply wishful thinking!
Feng Jingye thought that even if he had given her a hundred thousand taels to please her at the beginning, she would be able to list a compensation plan for a hundred thousand taels without batting an eyelid.
Bai Zheng's justifiable appearance was in sharp contrast to Bai Sheng's gloomy face.
It wasn't the first time that Bai Zheng had escaped with her eloquence. Fortunately, Bai Sheng was well - prepared today.
She lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly, "Zheng'er, why do you have to do this..."
Hearing this, Bai Zheng frowned slightly and looked at Bai Sheng in confusion.
Bai Sheng knelt there. With her back to the sunlight, her whole face seemed to be buried in the shadow.
"Do you really have to wait until I bring out the witness before you admit it?" Her voice was hoarse, with a hint of indescribable anger.
"Witness?"
These two words caught Bai Zheng off guard. She subconsciously exchanged a look with Feng Linyuan.
Yes, the uneasiness that had been lingering in her heart since Bai Sheng mentioned the ten thousand taels of silver finally came out completely.
How did she know about the ten thousand taels of silver?
The Song family's commercial firm did business with all the wealthy families in Yongding City, so it was impossible that they didn't even take the most basic confidentiality measures.
How did Bai Sheng know about the ten - thousand - tael transaction between her and Feng Jingye?
Feng Jingye was also stunned. He stared blankly at Bai Sheng and blurted out, "Witness? Where is there any witness?"
From the beginning of the compensation negotiation, it was on the third floor of Bai Zheng's teahouse with excellent sound - insulation. At that time, there were only himself and Bai Zheng. Where was there any witness?
But Bai Sheng raised her head and stared at Bai Zheng with a piercing look. She curled her lips sinisterly and said, "Although Zheng'er refuses to admit it, one of your shop assistants is a good person. He knew that the master he served had gone astray and wanted to pull you back on the right track, so he told me everything about you."
After saying that, Bai Sheng rummaged in her sleeve, took out an account book, held it with both hands above her head, and said loudly,
"Your Majesty, this is the account book of the dessert shop opened by Lady Hou. It clearly records that the total cost of renovating the whole shop, all materials, labor, and delay penalties doesn't exceed one thousand taels. But His Highness the Crown Prince voluntarily gave ten thousand taels of silver. Isn't this strange?"
Hearing this, Bai Zheng tensed up immediately.
The account book of her shop should have been well - stored with the accountant. How could it end up in Bai Sheng's hands?
Before she could figure it out, Bai Sheng revealed the reason, "In addition, Li Xiaoming, the accountant of the shop, can also testify that on that day, he clearly heard His Highness the Crown Prince and Lady Dingyuan conspiring to kill His Highness the Third Prince in the teahouse next to the dessert shop."
Hearing this, Bai Zheng finally understood.
No matter how much they guarded against others, they still couldn't guard against the traitor within.
Although, for the sake of confidentiality, the staff in the shop were either from the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion or from the Song family, and most of them were the long - serving servants carefully selected by Song Yiqing.
But Li Xiaoming was different. He was selected by Bai Zheng from several outlying estates of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion. Because he was honest, quick to learn, and very sensitive to numbers, Bai Zheng promoted him to be the accountant of the shop, responsible for keeping accounts.
The other shop assistants might not know about the ten thousand taels of silver that the shop received after being smashed, but Li Xiaoming, as the accountant, must know.
Bai Zheng sighed silently.
She didn't know whether Li Xiaoming had been bribed or threatened with his life by Bai Sheng. But no matter what, now that he had betrayed her and even taken out the shop's account book.
This trouble was really big this time, and it involved Feng Jingye...