Xia Mian came to the woman and tried to take the two pieces of clothing. However, the woman clung tightly to them. "What are you doing? Destroying the evidence?"
Xia Mian said helplessly, "I just want to tell you that these clothes don't actually belong to our shop."
The woman glared at her. "Impossible! They look exactly the same!"
The others nodded in succession. "Are you trying to deny it?"
Xia Mian sighed. "If I really wanted to deny it, why would I still show up here instead of just leaving while she was making a fuss?"
It seemed... she had a point.
Seeing that everyone had calmed down a bit, Xia Mian took the two pieces of clothing from the woman.
"Sisters, look. Although these two pieces of clothing look very similar, they're actually different."
With that, Xia Mian turned over the lower left corner inside the two pieces of clothing. One had a blue cloth strip in the lower left corner while the other didn't.
Xia Mian picked up the blue cloth strip. "Look, there's an embroidery of the name of our 'Sinan Pavilion' on this cloth strip."
"This is called an anti - counterfeiting mark. All the clothes from our shop have it. If you don't believe me, you can check for yourselves."
Hearing her, a girl let out an "Oh!"
"Yes! I once told my friend that this shop was so strange. Why did they sew their shop name inside the clothes? Although it didn't affect how the clothes looked when worn, it was really time - consuming."
Another girl also suddenly realized and responded, "Yes! I noticed this problem when I bought clothes here before. I didn't expect this small cloth strip to have this function."
The woman who came to pick a fight didn't believe it. She gritted her teeth and glared at Xia Mian. "I just thought it was ugly, so I cut off the cloth strip. Is that not okay?"
Playing this trick?
Xia Mian nodded. "Of course it's okay."
However, she shook out the two pieces of clothing and compared their colors. "Look, the light blue of this piece of clothing is obviously darker than that of ours. And look at this embroidery..."
Xia Mian compared the embroidery on the two pieces of clothing. "The embroidery on yours is obviously of lower quality. The color distribution is uneven, and the embroidery thread is frayed. May I ask how many times you've worn this piece of clothing, miss?"
The woman looked a bit flustered by what Xia Mian said. After a long while, she stammered, "It's so itchy! Once was enough! How could I dare to wear it more often?"
Xia Mian hooked her lips into a smile. "Since that's the case, it only means that the silk thread used for the embroidery on this piece of clothing is of poor quality. It frays so easily."
With that, Xia Mian politely handed the woman's clothing back to her. "After saying so much, I think, miss, and everyone here should have a judgment in mind. This piece of clothing is obviously not from our shop. So we won't compensate you a single cent for your loss."
The woman was obviously unwilling. She glared angrily at Xia Mian. "This is clearly something from your shop. You're just denying it with a few words?"
Xia Mian still had a good temper. "Miss, it's true that this style of clothing first came out from our Sinan Pavilion. But later, many almost identical clothes appeared on the market. I think you might have remembered the wrong shop."
Hearing Xia Mian say this, a little girl exclaimed, "Oh! Is it those cheap shops?"
"I saw a lot of the styles of your shop's clothes being sold outside some time ago. And the prices were not high. There were a lot of people buying them. It turns out that although they all look the same, the materials are different..."
The girl frowned in disgust. "It seems that those cheap things are really no good. Who knows what they use to dye the cloth. Look at how this girl is scratching herself. How can she get married in the future?"
Her words woke everyone up.
The girls began to discuss the importance of clothing quality one after another.
Xia Mian interrupted them in time. "Since such an unpleasant thing has happened, I'd like to make a statement here. I hope you can all inform each other."
"Whether it's in the past or in the future, if anyone who buys clothes from our Sinan Pavilion has any adverse reactions, we will not only refund all the silver you spent on buying the clothes but also pay for your doctor's fees."
As Xia Mian said this, she bowed deeply to everyone. "I'm sorry for the unpleasantness this farce has brought you. All the girls here today will get a silk scarf for free no matter what they buy. It's our apology to you."
As Xia Mian finished her speech, thunderous applause erupted in the Sinan Pavilion. And the woman who caused the commotion slipped away quietly when no one was paying attention.
Gu Ruobai watched this scene with great interest. "Breaking first and then building? Not bad."
Su Mingyu pursed her lips and smiled. "You flatter me."
Gu Ruobai slowly sipped his tea. "After this incident, I believe fewer people will buy pirated clothes from others."
"If no one buys the clothes, Wang Manwen won't be able to sell her cloth. And now, she has accidentally offended you, her biggest customer. It seems that Wang Manwen's cloth shop is going to go bankrupt."
Looking at Su Mingyu appreciatively, Gu Ruobai tilted up the corner of his mouth. "Hitting three birds with one stone. It's really a good move."
Su Mingyu picked up a peanut and threw it into her mouth. "Your Highness the Prince of Ruixian is overpraising me. My little tricks are nothing in front of you."
"The show is over. If Your Highness has nothing else to do, I'll take my leave."
After saying that, Su Mingyu curtsied and turned to leave.
But before she could take a step, her wrist was grabbed.
Su Mingyu turned back to look at Gu Ruobai. "Your Highness, what's this about?"
Gu Ruobai raised his eyebrows. "I've seen your business - running talent. Now I also want to see your talent in weapon - making."
Looking at Gu Ruobai's serious expression, Su Mingyu provocatively smiled. "You want to take me to your weapons factory? You'd better think it through."
Gu Ruobai seemed quite generous. "What's wrong with just taking a look?"
Well, since he said so, it would seem too ungrateful if Su Mingyu still declined.
So she nodded and pushed Gu Ruobai out of the inn.
She originally thought that a weapons factory should be located far away. But Su Mingyu never expected that Gu Ruobai's weapons factory was actually inside the Ministry of Works. It was really hiding in plain sight.
Seeing Su Mingyu's surprise, Gu Ruobai found it a bit funny. "What? I was a military general before. Is there anything wrong with asking Father Emperor to allocate a small part of the Ministry of Works for me to improve weapons?"
Su Mingyu shook her head. "No."
Not at all!
Not only did he not need to find a special place to hide it, but he could also use the royal resources openly. Most importantly, it would never arouse suspicions of rebellion.
I have to say that Gu Ruobai's ideas were really a bit different from others.