Chapter 364: Chapter 365: Paying a Visit

Seeing that Xiao Shi Yu had even prepared a formal calling card, Jin Qianqian knew they were desperate.

She had no intention of avoiding them, so the next day, she had the gatekeeper lead them to the side hall.

The moment they met, Xiao Shi Yu dared not act as arrogantly as before, when she would lean on Minister Huang’s prestige. Upon seeing Jin Qianqian enter, she immediately stood and bowed.

"Have a seat," Jin Qianqian said, taking the main seat for herself. "I wonder what is so urgent that Lady Huang wished to see me?"

"Mrs. Gu, I was deceived by my half-sister in our previous dealings, which caused me to offend you. I hope you can be merciful and stop targeting my mother and me."

Jin Qianqian lifted her teacup and took a couple of sips. "Lady Huang, that’s a rather unpleasant accusation. When have I ever targeted you?"

"Then why did you open those shops right next to ours?"

Jin Qianqian replied, "I am an Imperial Merchant. It’s only natural for me to be in business. After all the trouble I went through to acquire some properties in the Capital, how can you claim I’m targeting you?"

"Then why is it that every new shop you’ve opened happens to be selling the exact same things as my dowry shops?"

Xiao Shi Yu grew anxious when Jin Qianqian still refused to admit it. Forgetting the speech she had prepared, she shot to her feet and demanded sharply.

Jin Qianqian replied at a leisurely pace, "There’s no law in this world that says just because you’re in a certain business, no one else can be."

"If your business isn’t doing as well as others, you should reflect on your own shortcomings. Don’t come looking for trouble with others, all red in the face."

"You..." Xiao Shi Yu recalled her mother’s instructions and suppressed her rising anger. "I know some of my past actions made you very uncomfortable. I am here to offer my sincere apologies. I am sorry."

"I have learned my lesson. Please, Madam, I’m asking you to be merciful."

Jin Qianqian said, "Lady Huang, you are being quite unreasonable. Are you implying that no one else in the world is allowed to be in the same business as you? What are you trying to say?"

"Could you please close those shops?"

"Hah," Jin Qianqian laughed, looking at her as if she were a fool. "I poured real silver into those places. Business is excellent right now, and you’re actually telling me to shut down to make way for you?"

"What? Do you think you can do whatever you want just because your father-in-law is the Minister of the Ministry of Justice?"

"Stop dragging other things into this! Just tell me, yes or no?"

Jin Qianqian shook her head. "I am an Imperial Merchant. Do you think I would ever make a deal that loses money?"

"Are you determined to offend the Huang Mansion, then?" Realizing she couldn’t reason with Jin Qianqian, Xiao Shi Yu resorted to threats, invoking the name of the Minister’s Mansion.

"Can you speak for the entire Huang Mansion?" Jin Qianqian picked up the calling card from the table. "As I recall, Madam Huang is the one in charge of the Huang Mansion. A young daughter-in-law with no rank or title like yourself shouldn’t make such grand claims. Aren’t you afraid you’ll bite your tongue?"

A flicker of guilt crossed Xiao Shi Yu’s mind. She knew she had stamped these extra calling cards herself the last time she had access to the official seal.

The last time this happened, not only had her eldest aunt-in-law raised hell, but even the old master had spent half the day lecturing their second branch of the family.

Jin Qianqian lifted her teacup. "Out of respect for Madam Huang, I’ll give you a piece of advice. If you want to minimize your losses, you’d better sell off your shops as soon as possible."

Seeing Jin Qianqian lift her cup—a signal for the guest to leave—Li Qiu, who had been waiting nearby, immediately stepped forward. "Lady Huang, please."

Xiao Shi Yu glared at Jin Qianqian. "Mrs. Gu, must you really take things this far?"

Seeing that she was still lingering, Jin Qianqian slammed her cup on the table. "Back when you, your mother, and your sister were scheming against me, you should have thought about an exit strategy."

"These shops are just the first lesson. If you want to continue this fight, I will see it through to the very end."

"..."

Dazed and confused, Xiao Shi Yu was escorted out of the Gu Mansion. Filled with resentment, she could only begin the walk home.

The moment she stepped into the mansion, Tian Lanfen was there waiting. "Well? Is she going to back off?"

Xiao Shi Yu shook her head. "She told us to close the shops, saying it would reduce our losses."

"If I had known she was such a terror, we never would have provoked her. It looks like we’re going to take a huge loss this time." Coming from a merchant family, Tian Lanfen knew it was time to cut their losses.

Xiao Shi Yu retorted, "Why should we? How much will we lose by closing so many shops? If worst comes to worst, we’ll run our own promotions! We can do a ’buy so much, get so much free’ deal. We’ll see who drives who out of business!"

Tian Lanfen replied, "That won’t work. If she’s truly determined to take us on, she’ll find a counter for any plan you devise. Listen to me, let’s just close the shops. We can buy a few manors later; it’s just as good."

Xiao Shi Yu argued, "How is that the same? I can’t swallow this humiliation! She comes from nothing but a refugee background. What gives her the right to step all over me?"

"Sigh. Child, why won’t you listen? The wealth our Tian Family has accumulated over generations can’t compare to her achievements in the last two years."

"Besides, she’s an Imperial Merchant, and Ancient Wen Heng is now a fifth-rank physician. We were the arrogant ones."

’If we had just politely invited her over and spoken with kind words, perhaps things would be completely different now.’

’It’s too late to think about that now. All we can hope for is to save what we can.’

Xiao Shi Yu said, "Mother, why did you insist on my marrying into this family? The Minister’s Mansion sounds prestigious, but the first branch is the one in power. In a few years, when the family splits, my father-in-law’s lack of ability means we’ll be reduced to nothing more than idle, wealthy commoners."

"We’re all still living under one roof, and yet even the family of a mere Sixth-Grade Minister’s Mansion dares to look down on us."

"..." Tian Lanfen was filled with regret herself. Her son-in-law had shown no advancement in the past two years. "Why don’t you go and plead with the Old Madam? I’m sure if she intervenes, that Jin woman will have no choice but to obediently close her shops and withdraw."

"Yes, I’ll go to the Old Madam," Xiao Shi Yu said, immediately straightening her posture. ’My dowry is part of the family’s assets for her descendants. She has to help me.’

&

"I suspect that after dealing with the junior, the senior will come out to play," Jin Qianqian said, telling Ancient Wen Heng about the day’s events.

Ancient Wen Heng replied nonchalantly, "If this were back when I first entered the world of officialdom, we’d naturally have to back down. But now? You can stir up as much trouble as you want."

"Besides, they started this. If we don’t retaliate, it will just make us look like we’re afraid."

Jin Qianqian paused. "...Aren’t you worried the Huang family will try to sabotage your career?"

"They won’t," Ancient Wen Heng replied with conviction. "During the recent raid of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Holy Emperor bypassed the Ministry of Justice entirely. That in itself was a signal that His Majesty doesn’t fully trust these old court officials."

"Plus, with the discovery of issues in the ledgers of various departments, they’re all going to be busy for a long time with inquiries and damage control. They won’t risk making a new enemy over trivial household affairs at a time like this."

At this, Ancient Wen Heng gently poked her forehead. "And I don’t believe for a second you don’t have another move planned. You’re probably just waiting for them to act, aren’t you?"

Jin Qianqian smugly produced a ledger. "My people haven’t been sitting on their hands these last few days."

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