The Phoenix is Back - Chapter 23

Chapter 023 Madam Qi on the Face
Not only was the Qi Clan shocked, even Xiao Xiwei’s heart was filled with a trace of coldness.

The reason for that was because just before she came, the account book she flipped through clearly recorded the expenditure that Madam Li had spent on buying the silk in her shop at this time last year. There were fifty taels of Cloud Brocade each, and eight of them amounted to four hundred taels in total. Seventy taels of yarn in the mist, and six taels of yarn totaled four hundred and twenty taels. The brocade was thirty taels each, and the eight were two hundred and forty taels in total.

Even though he hadn’t even given a single copper coin, he had spent more than a thousand taels of silver from the public! He was truly adept at calculations!

Madam Qi quickly calmed down after her anger. She turned around and pulled Xiao Xiwei’s hand and smiled at her. “Wei-jie, look, I did buy it for ten taels of silver last year. Why don’t you sell it to me for ten taels of silver this year?”

Yesterday, she accompanied several madams to the house of madam Shaoqing of the Martial Temple as a guest. During the banquet, the madam mentioned that in the past two years, The ladies in the capital liked to use the brocade clothes in the clouds of the embroidery shop, However, this brocade in the clouds was extremely expensive, fifty taels each, No matter who comes, Only then did she recall that Qing Mei had told her, Every year, the brocade in the clouds that she took from the brocade shop was priced at 10 taels, Therefore, she changed her mind and told the madam that she could go to the embroidery shop to buy Cloud Brocade for her at the price of 30 taels. As soon as she said this, the madams at the banquet asked her to buy Cloud Brocade for them. Even the madam of the Young Qing Temple was impressed with her, and immediately ordered people to bring her money to buy Cloud Brocade.

She had originally thought that it would be very easy. This matter only required Qing Mei to come out and buy it for ten taels of silver. At that time, she would earn twenty taels of Cloud Brocade each! Unexpectedly, she had sent Yun Marquis Mansion to deliver a message to Qing Mei, but she never thought that Qing Mei would be grounded by the Matriarch and no one would be able to see her. Right now, she could not only run to the Silken Workshop by herself, but she did not expect that this clerk would refuse to sell her for ten taels.

Xiao Xiwei lowered his eyes and blushed as he said, “Aunt, to tell you the truth, although on the surface this shop is under my name, it has always been taken care of by my uncle. Uncle is afraid that I don’t know anything, so he said that he will not hand it over to me until I come out of the pavilion …”

“What! Could it be that you can’t decide this shop?” Madam Qi was so shocked that his eyes almost fell out.

Xiao Xiwei smiled embarrassedly. “Although I can’t handle these major matters, if aunt wants a brocade dress, then I can buy it for aunt with money. What do you think?”

Who does this girl think she is, and a brocade wants to send her away?

A trace of displeasure flashed through Madam Qi’s eyes, but she quickly concealed it. She smiled and pulled Xiao Xiwei’s hand and said, “Wei’er, no matter what, this shop was given to you by your uncle! Since it’s yours, you can do whatever you want, why don’t you sell aunt a thin noodle?”

Xiao Xiwei pursed his lips and smiled.

This Madam Qi really dared to say it! Fifty taels of Cloud Brocade, she actually wanted to buy it with ten taels! One had to know that even the most ordinary plain brocade in this embroidery shop cost ten taels of silver per piece.

“Then how many Cloud Brocades does Aunt want to buy?”

Madam Qi’s eyes lit up. “Not many, only fifty is enough!”

“What? Fifty!” Before Xiao Xiwei could speak, the waiter named A Liang shrieked, “Uncle and madam, are you kidding me? This brocade in the cloud is no more complicated than plain brocade. The cloth work is very complicated and takes a lot of time. Our embroidery cages only add up to a hundred. Your mouth costs fifty! Do we still need to do business?”

‘Puchi’ Hearing A Liang’s words, the girls in the room couldn’t help but laugh.

Madam Qi was both ashamed and angry. She raised her eyebrows and said, “You’re a clerk, how can you speak like this!” After saying that, he turned to look at Xiao Xiwei and said, “Wei’er, what do you say?”

Xiao Xiwei looked at Madam Qi and said, “Aunt, you said that if it were just a few, I would give it to you, but the moment you opened your mouth, it would be fifty …”

She didn’t expect that the Qi Clan would dare to say it!

However, the Li Clan only had a few masters. Why did the Qi Clan suddenly ask for so many brocades in the clouds? Could it be that there was something else in the middle?

Madam Qi blushed. She did not expect that things would turn out like this. However, she had promised those madams so resolutely back then and even accepted the money. Could it be that she could return it again? Besides, Madam Young Qing of the Martial Temple also asked about Lin Jie’er, as if she wanted to marry her. If this happened again at this time, wouldn’t this marriage be over?

Now, there was no way for her to retreat!

Thinking of this, Madam Qi had no choice but to shamelessly say, “Xiwei, please help aunt. Back then, it was because your mother said that Yun Zhongjin only needed ten taels that I boasted in front of all the ladies, so …”

“So that’s how it is. Then it’s good that aunt and the madams are clear about it!”

“But … but I’ve already collected the money.” Madam Qi said awkwardly as she looked at Xiao Xiwei with a dodging gaze.

This Qi clan really dared to do it! The matter had not been completed yet, but the silver had been collected first! No wonder he was licking his face and kowtowing to her! However, with Yi Qi’s mercenary nature, she definitely wanted to earn some money from showing off her relationship with the Marquis of Loyalty, so it was impossible for her to say in front of the madams that she only needed ten taels of silver to buy Cloud Brocade!

“Aunt, I also want to help you, but … but fifty brocades in the clouds isn’t a small number. I really can’t make this decision.” Xiao Xiwei said.

Madam Qi’s chest stifled. He hurriedly pointed at A Liang and said, “Didn’t he just say that the brocade sent to your Marquis Mansion doesn’t cost money! It’s not like I don’t give you money, you just earn less …”

Xiao Xiwei looked at Madam Qi and couldn’t help but smile mockingly.

She had always known that Madam Qi was a thick-skinned person, but she never thought that her skin would be so thick!

Of course, Xiao Xiwei could only say this in her heart. If she really said it out loud, the two of them would probably tear their skin apart. However, if she didn’t say it, there was someone who could!

“Uncle and madam, I didn’t hear wrongly! Ten taels of Cloud Brocade each, do you still think we can make money? Do you know how complicated the craftsmanship of Cloud Brocade is? Do you know how much manpower and material resources it takes to transport it from Yangcheng to the capital from thousands of miles away? These ten taels of silver are enough to buy a dime, right?” A Liang rolled his eyes and said impolitely.

Puchi, the girls in the room laughed again, and even Xiao Xiwei couldn’t help but raise the corner of her mouth.

Madam Qi’s face was green and white. His eyes glared at A Liang angrily. He almost wanted to spit out fire, but if he cursed at a clerk, he would lose his dignity. He could only forcefully push down the pressure of the fire to his throat and turn his face to Xiao Xiwei. “Xiwei, if aunt hadn’t been in a difficult situation, she wouldn’t have begged you. Actually, this little money isn’t much to you, so you should help aunt!”

‘”Auntie is really good at joking. These fifty pieces of Cloud Brocade are roughly 2,500 taels. My monthly silver is only 120 taels a year. I have to eat and drink this much money for a long time!” Xiao Xiwei’s lips curled up slightly. “Besides, I used to be the butler of my mother, so I don’t know about the brocade that comes into the mansion every year to collect and confiscate the silver. However, before I came out today, grandmother specifically told me that although the shop was under my name, it was one or two pieces of money. I can take as much money as I want. I can’t let anyone think that Marquis Mansion’s pettiness is taking advantage of this.”

After Xiao Xiwei said this, Madam Qi’s face turned green and red. She felt an old mouthful of blood stuck in her throat, but she did not spit it out in front of everyone and could not swallow it.

Xiao Xiwei acted as if she didn’t see the Qi Clan. She turned around and smiled at A Liang. “Although grandmother said something, she is still her own family. How about selling Yun Zhongjin to me for 40 taels?”

A Liang hurriedly bowed his head and saluted, “I don’t dare. Everything is up to Miss.”

Xiao Xi pursed her lips and smiled. She turned to look at the azure-red Qi Clan and said, “Aunt, do you still want to buy Cloud Silk?”

Looking at Xiao Xiwei’s smiling face, Madam Qi felt as if his chest had been ruthlessly scratched by a cat’s claw. He was drenched in blood, but he couldn’t even break out in the slightest. If she knew earlier, she shouldn’t have said so much. Now that she was in a difficult situation, even if she was willing to risk her face to go back on her word, what should she do with Madam Young Qing of the Dali Temple? If he offended her, wouldn’t the Lin sisters’ marriage also be ruined? Even now, he had to knock down his teeth and swallow his blood!

Thinking of this, Madam Qi glared at Xiao Xiwei, clenched her teeth, and spat out a word, “Buy!”

Xiao Xiwei smiled sweetly and raised his eyebrows to look at A Liang. “Since aunt wants to buy it, then you can give it to aunt at a price of 40 taels!”

“Yes.” A Liang answered again.

Xiao Xiwei smiled again and turned to look at Madam Qi. “Aunt, do you only want Cloud Brocade? Do you want any other brocade?”

Madam Qi staggered and almost spat out a mouthful of blood on Xiao Xiwei’s face!

The thought of all the money she had accumulated over the years was enough to make her heart bleed.

Seeing Madam Qi’s expression, Xiao Xiwei secretly laughed in her heart, “A Liang, go prepare the brocade in the cloud that Aunt wants first.”

“Yes.” A Liang smiled and replied. Then, he looked up at Xiao Xi and said, “Then the little one will go out first.”

Xiao Xi nodded slightly, then leisurely walked to the chair and sat down. Seeing this, Zi Yan quickly poured her a cup of tea. Xiao Xiwei picked up the teacup and was about to drink when she suddenly looked up at Madam Qi as if she remembered something and said, “Aunt, do you want some tea?”

Madam Qi forcefully swallowed the anger in her chest and turned her face away. She coldly spat out three words, “No need!” After saying that, he angrily tossed his sleeves and led the girl out of the box angrily.

Seeing the furious Qi Clan, Xiao Xi’s lips curled into a smile. It seemed that the Qi clan had suffered quite a setback this time. Even if the 50 Cloud Silk Stones were to lose one tael of silver, the 50 stones would still cost fifty taels of silver! However, just from the look on Madam Qi’s face, it was likely that this amount of silver was far more than fifty taels. This time, Madam Qi was truly bleeding profusely.

Thinking of this, Xiao Xiwei lowered his head and took a sip of tea with a faint smile.

The tea fragrance in his mouth was rich, mellow and refreshing, and his lips and teeth were fragrant. It was really good tea!