Chu Tianjiao turned away disdainfully, no longer paying attention to Ye Tinglan, and asked the junior waiter, "Is your manager here?"
The junior waiter, now aware of Chu Tianjiao's identity, became even more respectful.
Regardless of whether Chu Tianjiao had purchasing power or not, based solely on her status as the young lady of the Marquis of Liyang Mansion and the future fourth prince's consort, the junior waiter dared not slight her.
"Miss Chu, please wait a moment. The manager is upstairs. I'll go call him for you right away."
Zhou Tongyun, oblivious to the situation, stepped forward and continued to mock Chu Tianjiao:
"What's the matter? Unable to get a VIP card, so you're trying to use your status to pressure the manager?"
In her previous life, Chu Tianjiao disliked verbal confrontations the most. Why use words when actions could solve problems?
After living a second life, she understood that force couldn't solve all issues.
Chu Tianjiao clenched her fist and coldly asked Zhou Tongyun:
"I have the power to pressure people, and you don't. What, are you envious?"
Zhou Tongyun was left speechless by her retort.
Although her father was the Minister of Revenue, he couldn't compare to the Marquis of Liyang, who controlled half of Li Country's military power.
Moreover, Chu Tianjiao was the emperor's appointed consort for the fourth prince.
Ye Tinglan moved gracefully, once again stepping between the two, and with a serious expression, she advised:
"Sister Chu, although your status is noble, using power to pressure others is not befitting of a well-bred lady. I've already said I can take you upstairs, so why are you making unnecessary trouble?"
Chu Tianjiao glanced at her sideways, as if looking at a piece of stinky tofu, "It's none of your business!"
Ye Tinglan's face stiffened. Her act of reasoning and appealing to emotions usually worked everywhere, so why did it fail with this uncouth Chu Tianjiao?
At this moment, a middle-aged woman came down from the second floor. Her eyes first met with Ye Tinglan's, then she nodded arrogantly to Ye Tinglan and Zhou Tongyun before leisurely greeting Chu Tianjiao:
"Miss Chu, welcome to our humble shop. I apologize for not greeting you earlier. I heard from the junior waiter that you were looking for me. May I ask what this is about?"
Chu Tianjiao found the manager's attitude a bit strange.
Logically, shouldn't these managers be smooth talkers who curry favor with the powerful?
How could the manager of this Qizhen Pavilion be so arrogant and disrespectful?
Chu Tianjiao asked, "My second aunt once bought a warm jade pillow from this Qizhen Pavilion, which the elders in our family really liked. Today, I've come to find something to give to my father. Do you have any recommendations?"
A glint flashed in the manager's eyes, which Chu Tianjiao noticed.
"Since it's a gift for the Marquis, we can't be careless. If Miss Chu finds the items on the first floor unsatisfactory, please follow me upstairs to have a look."
As Chu Tianjiao was about to go upstairs, Zhou Tongyun rushed forward and questioned the manager: "She doesn't have a VIP card. How can she go to the second floor?"
The manager's face showed displeasure, and she explained impatiently:
"This VIP card is merely proof of status. For someone of Miss Chu's standing, what need is there for a card to prove it?"
These words seemed to praise Chu Tianjiao, but in reality, they were putting down Ye Tinglan and Zhou Tongyun.
Chu Tianjiao became more suspicious, thinking that these were not words a businessperson would typically say.
Chu Tianjiao went up to the second floor, but Ye Tinglan and Zhou Tongyun didn't follow.
The manager's attitude became noticeably warmer than before. She pointed to the premium display cases on the second floor and introduced:
"These are all new arrivals that have just come to our shop. Would Miss Chu like to see if any of them suit your taste?"
Chu Tianjiao pretended to look.
To be honest, Chu Tianjiao couldn't afford a single one of these precious jade items.
Her gaze fell on a completely green jade thumb ring.
The manager understood immediately, took out the jade thumb ring, and handed it to Chu Tianjiao, praising:
"Miss Chu has a good eye. This jade thumb ring was a beloved item of Emperor Ai of the Previous Dynasty. It has been circulating among the common people for two hundred years before our shop acquired it."
Lu Dingfeng, standing beside Chu Tianjiao, leaned in for a look and scoffed disdainfully: "Something used by a fallen emperor, what's so special about it?"
The manager glared at Lu Dingfeng, seeing that she was just a maid yet dared to speak out of turn before her mistress. She scolded with a stern face:
"You're just a little maid, what do you know?"
Chu Tianjiao rolled her eyes. The truth was, when it came to the Last Emperor of the Previous Dynasty, Lu Dingfeng probably knew more than anyone else in the world.
After all, it was he who had personally strangled the emperor to death.
Chu Tianjiao asked about the price of the jade thumb ring.
The manager quoted five thousand taels, causing Chu Tianjiao's lips to twitch.
Suddenly, she felt that the Marquis of Liyang Mansion was quite poor!
She, a noble young lady, only received a monthly allowance of twenty taels.
If her grandmother hadn't given her a thousand taels today, she probably couldn't even afford the cheapest item in this Qizhen Pavilion.
Seeing Chu Tianjiao's gaze shift away, the manager guessed that she found it expensive and quickly said:
"Since it's Miss Chu's first visit to our shop, we'll offer a 20% discount on this jade thumb ring, making it four thousand taels."
"Such a translucent and lustrous jade thumb ring would be a perfect gift for the Marquis."
Dropping the price by a thousand taels at once, it seemed this manager was really eager to make a sale with her!
Unfortunately, Chu Tianjiao didn't even have four thousand taels.
Seeing that Chu Tianjiao still remained silent, the manager gritted her teeth again, as if cutting her own flesh, and said:
"Three thousand taels. The Marquis has fought bloody battles on the frontier to bring peace and stability to our lives. Let's consider this as our shop paying respects to the Marquis."
Lu Dingfeng rolled her eyes and said disdainfully: "So your respect for our Marquis is only worth a thousand taels?"
The manager was instantly speechless, cursing inwardly: If I wasn't trying to get close to your family's supposedly simple-minded and foolish young lady, you'd be dreaming to buy this jade thumb ring for three thousand taels!
"Young lady, three thousand taels is already a loss for our shop."
In her previous life, Chu Tianjiao was very shy. If she encountered such a situation, she would have definitely bought it even if she had to buy on credit.
But after living another life, face was no longer the most important thing to her.
She knew that if she bought this jade thumb ring on credit, the two thousand taels deficit would surely need to be covered by the mansion.
Three thousand taels of silver was enough to feed a large army for half a month. Rather than buying this flashy thing, she might as well use the money to buy provisions and send them to her father.
Chu Tianjiao remained unmoved and walked towards other display cases.
Seeing that she couldn't be persuaded, the manager had to give up.
Chu Tianjiao stopped in a corner and pointed to an ancient coin in the display case, asking, "How much is this coin?"
The manager, afraid of quoting too high a price and Chu Tianjiao not buying again, simply said directly: "The selling price is five hundred taels, but since Miss Chu has taken a liking to it, let's consider it a gesture of goodwill. I'll give it to Miss Chu as a gift!"
Chu Tianjiao picked up the ancient coin and took out a bank note from her purse, "No need, I'll buy it for five hundred taels. But you need to tell me the origin of this coin."
The manager went to the counter to check and said:
"This ancient coin was acquired by our shop from the Dongyi Kingdom. The patterns on it are ancient and magnificent, so it must be from the previous dynasty. As for which specific era it's from, our shop doesn't have a definitive conclusion."
Lu Dingfeng leaned in for a look and laughed: "I didn't expect to find another one of these victory coins here. It looks like a pair with Yun Zheng's coin."
Chu Tianjiao paid and went downstairs, only to find that Ye Tinglan and Zhou Tongyun were no longer there.
After leaving Qizhen Pavilion, Chu Tianjiao took out the victory coin she had found on Red Sand Mountain from her purse and placed the two victory coins together.
Lu Dingfeng exclaimed in surprise: "They really are a pair?"
The two victory coins were like the yin and yang of a bagua diagram, fitting together to form a perfect circle.
The patterns on them also joined together.
"Sangzhen, do you remember where you've seen this pattern before?"
Lu Dingfeng thought carefully and exclaimed: "The Imperial Ancestral Temple?"
After his rebirth, Lu Dingfeng's greatest wish was to know why the souls of the Lu dynasty's emperor and empress were imprisoned in the Imperial Ancestral Temple after death.
That kind of existence, unable to enter reincarnation, hanging on the wall day after day, year after year, neither eating nor drinking, was more torturous to him than going to hell.
For two hundred years, he watched his dynasty decline from prosperity to ruin, and finally collapse.
He knew he must have been set up by someone.
But no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't figure out who among his contemporaries, who had a grudge against him, had such great ability.
Now, faced with these two victory coins, he thought of one person who might have had such capability.
But how could that person possibly harm him?
"No, it's impossible that it was Yun Zheng!"
Lu Dingfeng stubbornly insisted. He trusted Yun Zheng. Without Yun Zheng, he would never have been able to conquer the kingdom of Li.
He and Yun Zheng were as close as brothers. Yun Zheng would absolutely never harm him.
Chu Tianjiao didn't pay much attention to Lu Dingfeng's emotional fluctuations.
She bought this coin for good luck merely out of curiosity.
What she cared more about was the attitude of the Qizhen Pavilion's shopkeeper towards her, which changed from arrogant to respectful, seemingly starting when she mentioned wanting to buy a gift for the Marquis of Liyang.
Could it be that the person behind this wasn't just trying to harm her grandmother, but her father as well?
Moreover, the shopkeeper's attitude towards Ye Tinglan and Zhou Tongyun was so arrogant that it seemed unnatural.
It appeared more like a deliberate attempt to distance himself from them.
Could this Qizhen Pavilion be related to the Ye family?
