Chapter 35: Mind Your Surroundings

The young lady slammed her palm onto the table with such force that the tea in the cup splashed out in a great spray.

The steaming tea trickled down the edge of the table, dripping onto the floor and soaking the solid wood planks in the blink of an eye.

Manager Zhan’s legs, already weak, grew even more unstable, yet he remained stubborn, racking his brains to concoct a clumsy excuse. "T-this... this is just our shop's new clerk who doesn't know the rules. He didn't realize that rouge shouldn't be sold once it has been made for over a month..."

"Second Miss, please rest assured. As soon as I return today, I will certainly lecture the staff thoroughly on the shop's regulations!"

"A new clerk who doesn't know the rules and sold the wrong goods by mistake?" Cheng Yingxue responded with a look that was neither quite a smile nor a frown, her eyes narrowing slowly. "Fine, I will temporarily accept that this was indeed a blunder by a new hire—"

"But what about these two? Manager Zhan, open your eyes wide and look closely—were these two boxes of rouge also sold 'by mistake' by your 'ignorant' new clerk?"

The young lady gestured, and at once, a maid stepped forward with two more silk-covered boxes.

Of the two boxes of rouge contained within, one emitted only a faint, almost unrecognizable trace of medicinal scent, while the moment the other was opened, a pungent, overpowering odor assaulted the senses, forcing one to recoil.

"Passing off inferior goods as high-quality, deceiving superiors and subordinates, and manufacturing and selling fakes—Manager Zhan, is this the code of conduct upon which our Cheng family’s cosmetic shop is built?" Cheng Yingxue asked, striking the table with her palm. The remaining liquid in the teacup was instantly jolted onto the floor.

Manager Zhan stared at the three boxes tossed before him, a chilling dread creeping up his spine, which was already drenched in cold sweat. Heaven as his witness, he had never imagined that in this day and age, a noble lady would go to such lengths to investigate a small cosmetic shop like his!

Usually, the elders would just send a couple of trusted subordinates to perform a cursory inspection, and that would be the end of it.

"This... this..." Manager Zhan’s knees knocked together, his clothes soaked through with layer upon layer of sweat.

As he struggled, Cheng Yingxue glanced at him and let out a cold snort. "Enough, Manager Zhan, stop racking your brains for excuses—I haven't even finished my questions yet!"

"The sales of the medicinal cosmetic series have plummeted, so why didn't the shop reduce production according to the rules? And the new products that were promised three years ago—why is there still no trace of them?"

"Manager Zhan, don't tell me you’ve delayed the launch because the research takes time. The self-made Mistress Zhang next door manages to add a new style of rouge to her shop every three months!"

"And then there are the procurement costs you recorded in this ledger—" The young lady took out this year's account book and flipped to a page from a few days ago. "On the third day of the eighth month of the fourteenth year, one hundred and twenty stones of safflower were purchased for rouge production, totaling two thousand three hundred and four taels of silver."

"Manager Zhan, I know that rainfall has been scarce this year and that safflower from Shu is twenty percent more expensive per stone than in previous years. But I sent someone to ask the peddler who delivered goods to Mistress Zhang next door—you only bought sixty stones from him this month, and you chose the most mediocre, secondary-grade goods. Sixty stones of safflower should have cost no more than eight hundred and sixty-four taels."

"Eight hundred and sixty-four taels compared to the two thousand three hundred and four taels written in the ledger—a difference of one thousand four hundred and forty taels. So, Manager Zhan, where have you pocketed the remaining one thousand four hundred and forty taels of silver? Do I need to take you to the magistrate's office to settle this account?"

"T-that one thousand four hundred and forty taels... that one thousand four hundred and forty taels..." The man knelt on the floor, trembling uncontrollably, stammering without being able to offer a coherent explanation.

It was now undeniable that he had used the ledger to falsify costs and line his own pockets. In such a situation, the best he could hope for was expulsion from the Cheng family; at worst, he was looking at a prison sentence.

Should he expose the person behind him in exchange for leniency?

Manager Zhan remained on the floor, his already muddled mind growing more sluggish.

As he vacillated, he caught a glimpse of the clerks who had been standing behind him like timid quail; they had all collapsed to their knees. Even more unsettling, many of them wore expressions of eager anticipation. It was as if they were waiting for the young lady to speak so they could immediately blurt out everything he had tried to hide.

The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning, and he shivered in terror. He suddenly understood: his position as manager was surely lost, and after this, the entire staff would likely be purged and replaced.

In that case, the clerks who hadn't committed any major errors were likely waiting for this exact opportunity to perform before the young lady, hoping to secure the position of manager for themselves. They were more than willing to betray his secrets!

However, the person behind him had been entrenched in the Cheng family for years, and he was not someone a mere shop manager could afford to offend.

Perhaps... he should just throw his subordinate under the bus instead?

Manager Zhan shook as he knelt, about to name his "mastermind," when the young lady seated at the table spoke first. "Manager Zhan, I advise you to think very carefully before you speak."

"Do you really think that since I dared to confront you today with these three boxes of rouge and these obviously fraudulent ledgers... I don't know who the mastermind behind you is?"

"Do you think I don't know who he is?"

Manager Zhan froze. Having spent years in business, he had weathered many storms, but he was at a loss. "Then, Second Miss, what do you mean..."

"By lineage, a distant relative who has fallen from grace and thinks himself clever is not worth my concern," Cheng Yingxue said, fiddling with her fingers in a leisurely manner. "But Manager Zhan, one must always be mindful of the occasion when speaking."

"Tomorrow at the hour of the snake, I will report the final results of this audit to my uncle in the main hall of the Cheng estate."

"Manager Zhan, when that time comes, you may speak to the person who truly needs to hear it!"