Chapter 12

The days were slowly improving, and Wen Cha and Duan Xian were happy for that. However, Shi Qingshan was carefully planning for the future.

Only a small part of the stores returned to her hands, and most of them went bankrupt. She was having a headache considering how to manage the stores when trouble walked up to her door again.

“Fifth Young Miss, the old master is truly angry this time. The madam requested you to come with me quickly.”

The person who came was the confidante of the madam: Liu Momo.

Seeing Liu Momo’s neither servile nor overbearing attitude paired with a worried expression that was exactly the same as the madam’s, Shi Qingshan sneered in her heart but pretended to panic.

“Liu Momo, why is Father angry? Did I do something wrong…?”

Liu Momo’s eyes flashed for a moment before sighing, “The workers in your shops have all barged up to the door. How is Master going to live on if this gets out…? You should hurry and go!”

Shi Qingshan bowed her head and with a terrified look, followed Liu Momo out.

The whole way, Shi Qingshan found the matter ridiculous. Wasn’t it obvious enough?

This was how the madam wanted to fix her— this concubine-born daughter. However, how could she be so easy to bully?

They could hear screams and shouts before they even reached the door.

From far away, there was a mass of people in front of the Prime Minister’s residence. Shi Mingyuan was standing there with a green face, unsure what was the best course of action.

The madam stood next to Shi Mingyuan, looking on helplessly at the troublemakers.

Shi Qingshan’s heart was cold. The madam’s move was quite brilliant. When the matter blew up, all the crimes would land on her head.

Once she saw Shi Qingshan arrive, Shi Mingyuan’s face turned fiercer. He yelled, “Look at the good things you’ve done!”

“Master, Qingshan is only a child. It’s inevitable that she’ll make mistakes…” the madam quickly persuaded. However, she revealed a cold expression somewhere in her heart.

Shi Qingshan acted scared and cried in tears, “Father, what’s happening…?”

The madam hid the coldness in her eyes and gave a helpless look, “Qingshan, you are the owner of those shops. You can dismiss these workers if you want, but you still have to give them their salary! They are all poor commoners…”

Hearing the madam’s words, the workers felt indignant and raised up another ruckus. Someone within the crowd shouted, “Fifth Young Miss is here! It’s her! She has no compassion, not even paying us our wages! Today, we must have a good talk with her!”

“Yes! Have a good talk with her!”

Shi Qingshan’s arrival was like adding firewood to a fire. They became angrier and angrier.

There were three rings of commoners surrounding the Prime Minister’s residence, forming a water-proof barrier. However, there were probably only a few onlookers here for fun.

Shi Mingyuan’s face was flaming hot. He felt as if he were thrown to the floor and trampled on.

“Evil spawn, you even dare to do such cruel and unjust things! If you can’t solve this today, I can also no longer protect you!” Shi Mingyuan suppressed his voice in a towering rage.

Hoh? Since when did this father ever protect her?

Shi Qingshan slowly squeezed her hands beneath her sleeves. Her eyebrows creased, but her teary eyes were stubborn, “Father, if I did anything wrong, I will take responsibility!”

Following, she turned and faced the pack of ravenous wolves.

Duan Xian and Wen Cha stood in front of Shi Qingshan and guarded her. Even though they were also very afraid, they still unhesitantly shielded her.

With Shi Qingshan’s soft voice, how could she compete with this pack of howling wolves?

Shi Qingshan whispered something to Wen Cha, and she hurriedly ran to the door holding a pot and stick, banging it.

The noise was deafening and the workers all grabbed their ears, quietening down the crowd.

Yet, the madam decided to speak at this time, “Qingshan, these are all old workers. Even if there wasn’t any good work, there was still their hard work. Why don’t you give them twice their salary and send them on their way…?”

A strong man in the middle of the crowd continued, “The madam is kind and we humble laborers thank you greatly, but we all rely on this money to support our families. Now that Fifth Young Miss suddenly dismissed us, she should at least pay us five times the amount!”

“Yes! Five times the amount!”

On the topic of money, the crowd became more agitated and passionate than before.

Shi Qingshan’s clear eyes had a trace of coldness. She looked at the crowd one by one before questioning, “This matter today, who was the one who came up with the idea of barging up to the door?”

Their expressions all turned strange.

The strong man’s eyes drifted to the right of Shi Qingshan for a brief moment before stating, “Fifth Young Miss is an esteemed noble daughter and doesn’t take the suffering of us common laborers to heart! We are just here to ask for what we deserve!”

With that, the crowd’s anger was aroused once again. They screamed like they wanted to swallow Shi Qingshan whole.

Wen Cha had to anxiously bang on the iron pot a couple times before they finally quieted down.

When the few that were rioting earlier looked towards the madam, Shi Qingshan knew that she wanted to condemn her to death!

“I am a humble young lady and still young of age. If you want to discuss, I am unable to stop you.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but through the calm carried a strong deterrent, “Duan Xian.”

Duan Xian walked forward, “Young Miss.”

“Go invite Jing Zhao Yin over. This matter needs to be settled properly, after all, I don’t have that much money to pay them.”

The workers immediately panicked, “Invite what Jing Zhao Yin over? Aren’t you using others to cover up for yourself?”

“I don’t need my, Shi Qingshan’s, reputation, but how could you push me to destroy my father’s?!” Shi Qingshan angrily said with a posture like she would rush up and fight them if they challenged her.

At that moment, Shi Mingyuan’s heart was moved. If he didn’t do anything more, others would call him a cold-hearted father.

Shi Mingyuan sighed, “How could I allow you to dishonor a young lady of my Prime Minister’s residence? Everything will soon be made clear, and I promise that I will not interfere in this matter!”

“Someone come! Go invite Jing Zhao Yin over.”

Shi Mingyuan’s words were much more useful than Shi Qingshan’s. Someone immediately went over.

The workers panicked and the madam squeezed out a smile, “Master, if this matter is blown up, Qingshan’s reputation would be destroyed…”

“With the matter already like this, does Mother want this daughter to suffer such injustice?” Shi Qingshan’s eyes blurred with tears as she looked at them.

Shi Mingyuan glared at the madam for a moment and didn’t speak.

The madam started and coldly stared at Shi Qingshan weeping with her head down. She couldn’t help but feel enraged.

This brat really wasn’t a wallflower! Today was to teach a lesson to her and force her head down, but she didn’t know how this matter blew up so much that it spread to Jing Zhao Yin!

These workers were all bought over. What if…?

“Prime Minister Shi, I heard that someone was making trouble at your doorstep! This official has come late!”

Before the servant sent to invite Jing Zhao Yin could take two steps, he had already arrived on horseback.

Shi Mingyuan was slightly surprised. After exchanging a few courtesies, he coldly stated, “Someone wants to harm my daughter’s reputation. Pray for Esteemed Jing Zhao Yin to investigate this matter!”