The Flourishing Era of Female Merchants

The women present all looked at Qinglan in unison. Doctor Qinglan would be furious now! Fifty taels of silver for an embroidered handkerchief—even a fool wouldn't be so foolish as to gamble away money like that.

Liu Zhan's face darkened, and he immediately became angry. Who would offer such an outrageous price? He wanted to see what kind of embroidery skills were involved to ask for such an exorbitant price.

However, his immediate priority was to dispel the strange atmosphere at the moment; he could not allow rumors to spread tomorrow that Liu's Embroidery Shop had robbed him!

"What kind of manager are you? Such an outrageous price, and you still let them put it here for consignment, you..." Liu Zhan's face was full of anger.

"Fifty taels of silver?" Qinglan interrupted Liu Zhan, stroking the embroidered handkerchief in her hand, her smile still as warm as a spring breeze. "Worth it!"

After saying that, amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, he took out a silver note from his pocket and handed it to the shopkeeper.

Even after a fifty-tael silver note inexplicably appeared in his hand, the shopkeeper's mouth remained agape in astonishment. Liu Zhan's gaze towards Qinglan became more inquisitive, not to mention the young ladies present.

Worth it? Did they hear me right? Fifty taels of silver is enough to buy a lot of things, and this Young Master Qinglan actually spent fifty taels on an embroidered handkerchief and said it was worth it!

Could it be that the person he is about to give this embroidered handkerchief to is very important to him, so much so that he is willing to spend a lot of money to do so?

The women looked at An Xinlian with even more envy in their eyes. This An Xinlian was truly blessed with good fortune, having won the favor of Doctor Qinglan!

An Xinlian felt an unprecedented surge of superiority. Almost everyone assumed that Qinglan would give her the embroidered handkerchief. An Xinlian was extremely excited, but she still maintained a noble and elegant smile on her face. She was waiting for Qinglan to personally deliver the embroidered handkerchief to her, preferably in front of these women who admired Doctor Qinglan.

Hmph, are these women jealous? The more jealous they are, the happier she is!

Liu Zhan's thoughts, however, were on the ridiculously expensive embroidered handkerchief. His dark eyes were unfathomable. After a moment of hesitation, he finally spoke to the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, do you have any more embroidered handkerchiefs like this? Bring one out so I can take a look!"

He had been thinking that he would wait until everyone left before checking out the embroidered handkerchief, which was priced at fifty taels of silver. But now, he couldn't wait any longer and was eager to see why Young Master Qinglan said it was "worth it"!

The shopkeeper then came to his senses, turned around, and took out about ten embroidered handkerchiefs from the cabinet behind him. "Young master, all of them are here."

Among the dozen or so embroidered handkerchiefs, each had a different pattern: flowers, birds, fish, insects, landscapes, plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums. Liu Zhan strode forward, took one out, and examined it carefully from both sides, as if trying to see through it.

Everyone was watching Liu Zhan's reaction. As time went on, the richest young master's expression became increasingly strange. Finally, the hand holding the embroidered handkerchief trembled slightly, and his excitement was palpable.

"Found him, found him!" Liu Zhan muttered, grabbing the shopkeeper by the collar and asking urgently, "Where is he? Tell me quickly, where is he?"

The shopkeeper was startled and subconsciously swallowed, completely baffled by his master's reaction. "Young...Young Master...who are you looking for?"

"The person who came to consign this embroidered handkerchief!" Liu Zhan almost shouted, his mind filled with only one thought: he had to find that person, and find them as soon as possible!

The shopkeeper flinched, stammering, "I...I don't know. That woman came wearing a black veil and a bamboo hat, so I couldn't see her face. She only came once, just to deliver these embroidered handkerchiefs, and then she never appeared again..."

Liu Zhan tossed aside the shopkeeper's collar, his brow furrowed. He couldn't see the man's face clearly. It seemed the man didn't want to be recognized.

Looking at the embroidered handkerchief in his hand, Liu Zhan's eyes hardened with determination. No matter what, he was determined to find that person!

"Since the other party has placed the embroidered handkerchief here for consignment, she will definitely come back to collect the money. Keep a close eye on her. If that woman comes again, be sure to notify me immediately!" Liu Zhan instructed grimly. Thinking of something, Liu Zhan clenched the embroidered handkerchief in his hand. Without even exchanging a few more pleasantries with Doctor Qinglan, he strode out of Liu's Embroidery Shop, as if he was in a hurry to do something.

After Liu Zhan left, an even more eerie silence filled the entire Liu's Embroidery Shop. Everyone present was curious as to why the richest young master had such a strong reaction. Was it all because of this embroidered handkerchief?

Everyone looked at the remaining embroidered handkerchief in front of the shopkeeper, seemingly lost in thought.

Qinglan raised an eyebrow with interest. Was Liu Zhan looking for the embroiderer of the handkerchief? An Mi? He was already surprised to learn that she charged fifty taels for a single handkerchief, but he didn't expect Liu Zhan to be so eager to find her. This was truly interesting, no, even more interesting!

Clutching the embroidered handkerchief in her bosom, Qinglan paid no further attention and strode out of Liu's Embroidery Shop, secretly looking forward to the day she would deliver medicine and food to Anmi.

An Xinlian frowned as she watched Qinglan leave. He hadn't even given her his embroidered handkerchief in front of these women yet, so why was he leaving like this? A sense of disappointment welled up in her heart, but she couldn't worry about it. An Xinlian could only lift her skirt and hurry after him.

The women who remained in the embroidery shop looked at each other for a while, as if trying to figure out what the other was thinking.

"Shopkeeper, I'd like one piece of this embroidered handkerchief. Here's fifty taels, please keep it safe."

Suddenly, a woman spoke up, quickly took an embroidered handkerchief from in front of the shopkeeper, and handed over a fifty-tael silver note. This action undoubtedly ignited the enthusiasm in the room. The remaining women immediately rushed forward and stood in front of the shopkeeper. You should know that there were only about ten embroidered handkerchiefs left, but there were more than just those few women in the embroidery shop. Almost everyone wanted to own one of those handkerchiefs.

Even Young Master Qinglan said it was worth it, as did Young Master Liu's reaction. Fifty taels for an embroidered handkerchief, although ridiculously expensive, was not a loss!

"I want one..."

"Give me one, hurry up..."

"Ah, this is mine! You bitch, why are you trying to steal my gun..."

"What's yours? I paid the money first, so it's mine!"

In the blink of an eye, the remaining dozen or so embroidered handkerchiefs were snatched up. Several women even started fighting over them. The shopkeeper, watching this scene unfold, was speechless, "This...this..."

When that person brought these embroidered handkerchiefs here to consign them for a high price of fifty taels, he was worried that he might not be able to sell even one of them. But now... was he seeing things?

The chaos at Liu's Embroidery Shop continued, and after Qinglan and her group boarded the carriage, they headed directly towards the An residence. In the carriage, Qinglan had a gentle smile on her face, as if she was thinking about something interesting. An Xinhe, who was usually very talkative, was now feeling dejected and had no mood to speak, thinking about how she had just lost face in front of the young master of the Liu family.