Chapter 11

“Open your dog eyes wide and look clearly!”

Under Shi Qingshan’s momentum, Wen Cha promptly took out the deed to the Moya Pavilion out.

On the other hand, Yang Ze was not surprised at all and merely smiled like he was watching a good show.

When the manager saw this, he was shocked: “You stole this!”

“Blind old dog, this is the Prime Minister’s Fifth Daughter: the Chu City Jiu family’s blood-related daughter! You are exactly looking at the rightful owner!”

After spitting a mouthful of saliva at the manager, Wen Cha finally felt her anger appeased.

Sometimes things were simple: status could overwhelm all.

The manager swallowed hard and only then felt that things weren’t good. His face paled, “This… Fifth Young Miss, this lowly one… this lowly one…”

“From today on, you are relieved from manager position. None of the shops owned by the Jiu family will employ you and three months of your salary will be deducted to pay this young master. It can also be considered your punishment.”

Shi Qingshan didn’t leave any leeway for this manager.

The manager was stunned for a moment, but he immediately stood up. With a red face, he shouted, “I am an old servant of the Jiu family! Even if you are the Fifth Young Miss, you still don’t have the right to treat me this way!”

Shi Qingshan lightly raised a brow, “Oh?”

The manager seemed to recover some of his previous arrogance, his face tinted with smugness.

He only heard Shi Qingshan tell Wen Cha, “Go get the account books from Moya Pavilion. I’m going to carefully check them and see just how greedy this ‘old servant of the Jiu family’ is. Then, I’ll immediately report him to the officials.”

“Fifth Young Miss… I…” the manager instantly paled and kowtowed to Shi Qingshan. He cried, “Fifth Young Miss, this lowly one is wrong…”

Shi Qingshan didn’t even look at him and just threw a single word: “Scram.”

The manager trembled slightly and crawled up from the ground. However, when he looked at Shi Qingshan, his eyes were full of hatred.

“Wait a minute!”

Just when the manager was about to exit, Yang Ze’s voice made him pause.

Yang Ze got up and walked around before choosing a more valuable porcelain bowl.

He went in front of the manager and smiled warmly, “Here, take this.”

The manager was astonished. Could it be that this young master pitied him and was giving him a farewell gift?

Shi Qingshan frowned slightly, but in the next second, her mouth curled upwards.

Before the manager’s fingers could even touch the edge of that porcelain bowl, Yang Ze had let go.

Pa! The bowl shattered to pieces on the floor. The manager was shocked still.

Yang Ze took a step back, smiled helplessly, and spread his hands, “Look, the manager doesn’t want to pay when he sold fake jade and even wanted to use a porcelain bowl to commit violent acts! He can only be sent to jail!”

The manager jerked his head up and stared at Yang Ze with his whole body shaking. He fell into a trap!

“You! It’s obviously you! On what basis are you sending me to jail? Who can prove that it was m— ah!”

Before he could finish his words, the manager was kicked out of the door by Yang Ze. He was sent flying.

Shi Qingshan reacted quickly and her glare immediately silenced the frightened workers. Just when she was hoping they could testify, she saw Yang Ze turn around and look at her, his eyes filled with a gentle smile.

“With me as the single witness would be enough for him to stay in jail for the rest of his life.”

Crazy.

Arrogant.

Shi Qingshan stared at Yang Ze and couldn’t think of any other words to describe him.

Looking at those incompetent workers, Shi Qingshan dismissed them all and closed the store.

Even though the store was shut down, Yang Ze insisted on walking with Shi Qingshan like it was only normal.

“Fifth Young Miss, hehe, you sure have the ability to change from a crow to a phoenix in just a few short days!” Yang Ze praised.

Shi Qingshan gave Yang Ze an impatient gaze. What kind of praise was that?

Ignoring Yang Ze, Shi Qingshan told Wen Cha, “I will go through all the stores in the next few days. Write down the ones that need to be shut down and reorganized. After that, we’ll…”

“Truly a role model. How unexpected for such a flat, ugly duckling to do things with such flair!” Yang Ze clapped his hands to express his admiration.

Shi Qingshan took a deep breath. She was trying her best to ignore Yang Ze, but he just had to make his presence known!

“What do these matters have to do with whether I’m flat or not?” Shi Qingshan countered.

Yang Ze was just about to speak when Shi Qingshan pointed to a small alley, “There’s a store that sells dumplings there.”

She looked at Yang Ze, “Young Master, I want to invite you to a meal. Will you give me face?”

Yang Ze raised an eyebrow. How interesting, it was common to invite someone to a meal, but it was the first time he was invited to such a cheap meal.

In the store, three people were enjoying the soup dumplings.

Wen Cha didn’t dare to sit originally, but Shi Qingshan wasn’t willing to see her stand and starve.

Shi Qingshan chewed slowly and elegantly.

…While Yang Ze ate with large mouthfuls. Even though that was the case, it perfectly suited his frivolous manner.

“These soup dumplings are indeed good. Could it be that the Prime Minister allows Fifth Young Miss to frequently come out and play?”

Eating couldn’t hinder Yang Ze’s mouth.

After waiting for a long time, Shi Qingshan finally responded with one line, “Don’t eat and speak at the same time.”

Yang Ze stared at her, “…”

After Shi Qingshan ate her fill and set down her chopsticks, Yang Ze finished his bowl as well and shouted, “Waiter, give me another bowl!”

“No thanks. Check please!” Shi Qingshan also yelled.

“Hey, this young master hasn’t eaten his fill yet…” Yang Ze was obviously dissatisfied.

After settling the bill, Shi Qingshan turned her eyes towards Yang Ze and looked at him seriously.

“Young Master, I’m not interested in your name or surname, much less afraid of you knowing that I am the Prime Minister’s fifth daughter. For your help last time, I thank you greatly. That bowl of soup dumplings you just ate was worth 10 coppers. The same amount I had borrowed from you. Now, I have paid back every coin to you.”

She rose, “Young Master, our debt is hereby cleared.”

Saying that, she strolled out the store.

“Hey!”

No wonder why she only let me eat a single bowl! I’ve never met one as stingy as her!

Yang Ze was so mad he laughed.

Shi Qingshan suddenly looked back and Yang Ze’s eyes shone.

However, her voice was cool, “As for your previous question, I’ve never been to this store before. I just happened to see the words on the sign in front.”

Yang Ze swiveled his head around and read the large words on the sign.

One bowl for ten coppers!

He endured, but couldn’t resist in the end and laughed lowly.

When he turned back around, Shi Qingshan had already disappeared.

The first time he met Shi Qingshan, Liu Guang had already investigated her thoroughly.

Seeing how strange Shi Qingshan turned out to be, Yang Ze wanted to reach along the vines and see what Shi Mingyuan was like.

However, he realized that his interest in Shi Qingshan far surpassed his attention to Shi Mingyuan. The only put-off was that she was a little ugly.

For example, when he found out that the shops were returned to Shi Qingshan, he sent his people to buy everything in them. When he saw Shi Qingshan enter Moya Pavilion, he entered too.

Yang Ze rubbed his chin and couldn’t stop laughing, “Shi Qingshan… That ugly duckling’s name is quite good! Except… she’s too stingy!”

(TL: Qingshan can mean ‘goodness’ as a name)

“Imperial Uncle!”

A figure suddenly appeared behind Yang Ze, prompting a smack to his head, “You brat! What are you scaring people for?”

The man was unusually handsome and filled with vigor like the sun. When he smiled, he revealed a set of white teeth.

He was the son of the pampered Virtuous Concubine: Third Prince Yang Zhao.

Yang Zhao and Yang Ze’s age were about the same. Ever since Yang Ze returned to Bo Re City, Yang Zhao’s favorite pastime was sticking to his Imperial Uncle.

“I’ve been calling your name from a mile away…” Yang Zhao held his head and grumbled about how he didn’t dare return a smack to his ‘elder’.

Yang Ze raised an eyebrow, “Little Zhao (Xiao Zhao), during the Zhongshan Hunt, will the nobles be bringing their families along?”

Hearing that, Yang Zhao laughed, “Of course! Every year, the young ladies of the various noble families would dress up like peacocks! Their hidden fights in clear daylight are very interesting! Imperial Uncle, you’re never willing to go and always miss out on such a hilarious scene. What a pity…”

“All the young ladies? Then I must go and check it out.” Yang Ze’s lip curled up into a smile, his eyes playful.

Looking at Yang Ze’s back, Yang Zhao was slightly surprised, “Imperial Uncle, don’t you always say that you’re not interested in beauties?”

“Yeah, not interested.” Yang Ze sauntered away arrogantly.

What he wanted to see was… an ugly duckling.