Chapter 37: Quibbling and Making Trouble

"Rest assured, Madam. Everything is going well in the hall, and Miss Cheng currently has the upper hand." Su Changling, whose sharp eyes allowed her to discern the situation inside, spoke in a low voice to comfort Wang Manyin.

"Miss Cheng has already finished reporting her findings to the head of the Cheng family... He is now ordering someone to summon Manager Zhan to give his testimony."

"Manager Zhan... oh, the one who runs the cosmetics shop." Wang Manyin replied, pausing in thought. "However, that man has always been remarkably slippery... Will he be honest and follow Yunniang's instructions when he speaks?"

"This... I don't think that should be a problem, right?" Su Changling mused, reaching up to scratch her head. "After all, since Miss Cheng dared to have him serve as her 'witness,' she must have already laid out the stakes and made everything clear to him, right?"

"Otherwise, she wouldn't have let him step forward. She isn't foolish."

"That’s true, that’s true." Hearing this, Wang Manyin repeatedly pressed her handkerchief to her chest. Seeing this, the young girl hurriedly helped her sit on a small chair in the pavilion.

As the two sat in uneasy anticipation, Su Changling suddenly heard a faint, mocking laugh coming from the red osmanthus tree by the water. She followed the sound and looked up, only to see a certain fierce ghost draped bonelessly across a tree branch, looking as if she had no spine at all.

"I’ve never seen you this nervous before," the female ghost, dressed in vibrant crimson robes, said in a languid tone. "What, is watching a young girl face a trial harder than catching ghosts and subduing demons?"

"Tsk." Su Changling clicked her tongue in annoyance and gave the ghost a sharp eye-roll. Ever since she had reached an understanding with her two days ago, this spirit had become increasingly unrestrained. Not only did she frequently disturb Su Changling’s search for ghost pearls at night, but now she even dared to show up during the day to offer her sarcasm and taunts!

—She had no idea what the ghost’s origins were. How could her six souls, once separated from her body and turned into a ghost, be not only more troublesome than ordinary spirits but also completely unafraid of sunlight and the pile of talismans in her pockets?

"Oh, look at you, getting angry at the slightest thing." The ghost waved her hand lazily and stood up, drifting toward the front hall. "Fine, fine, I can't out-argue you... I’ll go to the front and take a look for you. Isn't that enough to see how your little friend is doing?"

*Hmph.*

That remark sounded even more infuriating.

Su Changling curled her lips in disgust, though her gaze honestly followed the spirit all the way to the front hall.

***

At that moment, Zhan Liangcai had just finished accusing the eldest son of the Seventh Uncle. The old man could no longer sit still; he slammed his hand on the table and stood up, shouting at the two people in the hall, "Zhan Liangcai, stop spouting such vile slander!"

"My son began doing business at seventeen and has worked diligently for the Cheng firm for years. How could he possibly do anything detrimental to the Cheng family?!"

"You must have been bribed by this wet-behind-the-ears girl, Yunniang, to dare to lie in the Cheng family hall—Mingye, you must not believe him!"

"My! Seventh Master, that is quite unreasonable." Manager Zhan, hearing this, became displeased as well. He reached out and produced a stack of letters along with a high-quality jade pendant, which landed with a "clatter" on the tray held by the maid.

"Although I am not a servant born into the Cheng family, the First Master once showed me great kindness. In a sense, he is my savior. Under such circumstances, if not for someone forcing my hand, how would I dare to manipulate the cosmetics shop's accounts so flagrantly?"

"Likewise, if I did not have ironclad evidence in my hands, how would I dare to baselessly slander a young master of the Cheng family?"

"First Master, the letters that Young Master Yinghong exchanged with me, along with the token I obtained from him, are right here. As for the truth of the matter, I ask that you judge for yourself!"

Manager Zhan’s words were high-sounding and righteous. Without realizing it, he had placed two heavy accusations on Cheng Mingye’s head while simultaneously distancing himself from the majority of the blame.

Everyone present could see the half-truths and the petty scheme to minimize his own guilt, but two things he said were undoubtedly true: if he didn't have someone backing him, he wouldn't have dared to embezzle thousands of taels of silver from the shop; and if he didn't have definitive proof that could nail a man to the wall, he wouldn't have dared to point his finger at Cheng Yinghong so openly.

So, this time... the Seventh Master and his son might truly be finished!

As the onlookers thought this, their eyes toward Cheng Mingda couldn't help but brim with gloating.

—After all, there were only so many core, profitable shops in the Cheng family. If the Seventh Master’s family stepped down and vacated their positions, the rest of them would have a new path to success, wouldn't they?

Striking out on their own could never compare to the wealth the Cheng family had accumulated over the past hundred years!

It was just a question of how the First Master would handle this today.

***

The eyes of the crowd drifted to the main seat in the hall. Cheng Mingye was looking down, flipping through the various letters submitted by Zhan Liangcai, and fell into a heavy silence.

Seeing this, Cheng Mingda made to speak again to defend his son, but before he could, Cheng Mingye slammed the letters and the jade pendant heavily onto the table. When he looked up, his voice was filled with a complex, indescribable emotion: "Stop with the sophistry, Mingda."

"Do you think I really don't know what kind of character Yinghong has... or do you want me to truly send this entire stack of scandalous evidence to the ancestral hall?"

Cheng Mingda was instantly deflated. He stared blankly at the letters in Cheng Mingye’s hand, stammering and unable to form a coherent sentence.

Seeing this, Cheng Mingye sighed and rubbed his palms. "Let it be like this—since Yinghong lacks the ability, he will no longer manage the shops he was previously assigned."

"Yunniang, please continue. You only mentioned the flaws existing in the cosmetics shop, but you have yet to suggest how they should be rectified in the future."

"Tell us, Yunniang, in your view—what path should the cosmetics shop take from here?"

"Yes, First Uncle. That is simple enough." Cheng Yingxue, who had been watching the Seventh Uncle and the manager bicker, nodded. She adjusted her expression in an instant and turned her attention to the future of the cosmetics shop.

"Our Cheng family has always stood on the principle of 'integrity.' Integrity is the foundation of business. Since the problem with this shop lies in 'integrity,' we must naturally find a way to repair our reputation and establish an image of 'honesty' to the public."

"First, we need to disclose the problems that have occurred in the cosmetics shop over these past few years, truthfully and without reservation," the young girl said, casting a deep glance at the manager beside her, who had broken out in a cold sweat once again. "It would be best to beat drums and gongs, making a grand show of 'announcing it to the world'."

"Beating drums and gongs... Yunniang, wouldn't that make too much of a scene?" Cheng Mingye rubbed his chin in thought. "The shop manager taking the lead in falsifying accounts, embezzling funds, and manufacturing counterfeit goods..."

"That is hardly a good reputation."