The merchant's rebirth led to the complete downfall of the Marquis's mansion.

Before the bidding for the second piece of jewelry even started, everyone gathered around to watch the spectacle.

They all knew that Prince Jiang had broken off the engagement with the Qin family for the sake of the Xia family's daughter, and Jiang Xiaoxiao's remarks made them all smell the juicy gossip.

It's a huge bombshell.

Whether it was the Eighth Prince who split his body or the turtle that got split, they need to know.

Seeing this, Manager Wang wisely refrained from taking out a second piece of jewelry, waiting for the boss to resolve the matter.

Everyone was watching the three of them intently, which made the already embarrassed group of three freeze on the spot.

Even the slow-witted Jiang Xiaoxiao realized that something was wrong today, and hurriedly pulled her mother behind her.

Seeing that Liu Shi showed no sign of leaving, Xia Qiutang cursed inwardly, "Fool!"

"Sister Chen, I'm also very surprised. Although there is some friendship between the two families, they are the ones who broke off the engagement. Not only do they not compensate me, the victim, but they also want to take advantage of me..." Qin Yao shook her head, unable to say any more.

Upon hearing this, Liu ignored Xia Qiutang, who was tugging at her sleeve. How dare she accuse her of freeloading? Liu Jinfeng had never been subtly insulted in her life!

"You little slut, who are you accusing me of mooching off you! So what if you own a few shops? Do you really think my Marquis's mansion is a pushover? We'll take this hairpin!"

The old women following behind didn't have time to stop her; as soon as they heard what she said, they wanted to slap their thighs.

"Miss!" Granny Ning tried to pull Liu Shi away, but she shook her off.

"What are you doing?! Let's go back to the manor!" Liu walked ahead alone and went out of the shop.

"Come! Wrap it up for the Lady Hou!" Qin Yao waved her hand, and a servant went to get busy. Soon, he brought out an exquisite box.

As soon as Liu finished speaking, she regretted it, but now she couldn't take it back, because the servant of Diancui Pavilion followed her out of the store.

Upon arriving at the Marquis's residence, no one greeted them, and the servants did not enter. Instead, they stood at the gate and loudly proclaimed that the Marquis's wife had prepared a gift for her future daughter-in-law and had spent a fortune to buy the jewelry from Miss Chen.

Now the Marquis's mansion was in a bind, and had no choice but to have someone invite the person in, give them money, and send them away.

Diancui Pavilion

After they left, everyone discussed it for a while before getting back to the next round of bidding.

Qin Yao accompanied Chen Yiru to the second floor.

"Thank you so much for your help today, sister!" Qin Yao poured tea and gently placed it over.

Chen Yiru picked up the tea and began to savor it carefully.

Qin Yao knew that she couldn't reason with the two crazy women from the Marquis's mansion, and that they might even start arguing, so she sent someone to invite Chen Yiru as soon as she left.

Chen Yiru is a person who hates evil and will never tolerate things she doesn't like, so she is very suitable.

Moreover, having received the previous reminder, Qin Yao believed that Chen Yiru was willing to help her.

"You still have to stand up for yourself; otherwise, no one can help you!"

Chen Yiru put down her teacup and spoke slowly.

"Sister is right!"

"I still have to congratulate you on escaping your misery!" Chen Yiru tapped Qin Yao's teacup against hers.

Chen Yiru had witnessed Qin Yao's descent into this relationship over the past few years and had subtly offered her advice, but the two remained only casual acquaintances, and Qin Yao never responded.

When Qin Yao suddenly realized this, Chen Yiru was surprised but also relieved that she had finally come to her senses.

"I have to thank you for the reminder, sister." With that, Qin Yao took a box from Qingzhi's hand and handed it over.

"Sister, do you like it?"

Chen Yiru did not take it and put down her teacup somewhat unhappily.

"I'm helping you because I like you as a person, not for these worldly things. I'm not one of those people from the Jinglin Marquis's mansion!"

Qin Yao knew immediately that she had misunderstood, so she quickly opened the box and handed it over again.

"Sister, don't be angry! Take a look first?"

Chen Yiru looked down and saw a white jade hairpin lying in the box, with a white rabbit carved on it, which was extremely cute.

Chen Yiru was born in the Year of the Rabbit, and her clothes and jewelry all have special rabbit symbols on them.

But most people don't know this!

“This…” Chen Yiru did not understand Qin Yao’s meaning.

"Sister, this is your birthday gift! You've had jewelry made here before, and I know you like rabbits, so I had one made."

Qin Yao politely explained the reason, which was something she had known in her previous life.

Chen Yiru has always been a cheerful woman and has helped many people, but she has also offended others because of this.

She had a bright future ahead of her, and she was going to marry her ideal husband as she wished.

However, in the second year after Qin Yao's marriage, she was about to marry the second son of Rong Zhaobo.

Suddenly, someone came to Chen Yiru's door with her undergarments, saying that they had secretly pledged their lives to each other.

The undergarment had a special pattern made by Chen Yiru, a fact known only to her personal attendants, making it impossible to deny.

But that man wasn't some scoundrel; he was a respectable scholar, only 17 years old, who had already passed the imperial examination at the county level and was an honest and law-abiding person from the surrounding area.

Left with no other option, the Chen family had to swallow their anger and break off the engagement, hastily marrying Chen Yiru off to the scholar.

This incident became a topic of conversation in Kyoto for a long time. Everyone said that Miss Chen fell in love with the scholar, but could not give up the immense wealth of the Earl's family. So she tried to have her cake and eat it too, and accidentally capsized.

However, Qin Yao did not think so. She had met Yu Zhi, the second son of the Earl's family, and he was a brilliant and talented person.

I also inquired privately about the scholar Chen Yiru married. Although he was a scholar, he was lazy and ignorant of farming. He lived off his elderly mother and elder brother's family. How could he be compared to Yu Zhi?

Chen Yiru was not the kind of person who coveted what she had.

It could only be that the scholar accepted bribes and deliberately harmed Chen Yiru.

Qin Yao wanted to help Chen Yiru, but before she could do anything, Chen Yiru suddenly died.

Qin Yao, who was already timid and hesitant in the Marquis's mansion, had no choice but to abandon her investigation under Jiang Su's control.

However, the Miss Jiang who later became Yu Zhi's girlfriend was very suspicious.

This time, Qin Yao believed that Chen Yiru would not have such an ending.

Chen Yiru looked at the hairpin in front of her, unable to make a decision.

She shouldn't have accepted the gift, but... it really suited her taste...

Therefore, she could only express it dryly:

"My birthday is still a while away..."

"I gave it to my sister in advance," Qin Yao replied immediately. "I've never attended my sister's birthday celebration before, and I don't know if I'll be lucky enough to do so this time, so I'm offering it to her early..."

"What did you say! I'll send the invitation to you tomorrow!" Chen Yiru glanced at the hairpin and said reluctantly, "Then you can bring it over then!"

Anyway, it's all hers, so it doesn't matter if she's a little late, Chen Yiru comforted herself.

"Sister!" Qin Yao stood up, picked up the hairpin, and inserted it into Chen Yiru's hair.

Before Chen Yiru could object, Qin Yao leaned lightly on her shoulder and said, "Sister, this hairpin suits you very well. Your birthday gift is already being prepared. I'll bring the invitation and a gift when I visit you."

“But…” Chen Yiru didn’t understand. Wasn’t this a birthday gift?

"Of course, but this year's birthday is different for my sister, so we can't just be perfunctory."

Qin Yao said it as a matter of course.

This is Chen Yiru's coming-of-age ceremony, so naturally she can't just bring a small gift.

Speaking of which, Qin Yao's is still next month.

Originally, the marriage was to take place after the woman came of age, but the Marquis's family was in a hurry and wanted to move it forward.

Thankfully, it didn't work out.

"Alright then!" Chen Yiru said reluctantly. "You must come in a few days, and I'll introduce you to someone."

As Chen Yiru spoke, she stood up. She had been there for a long time, and it was time for her to go back.

Qin Yao smiled and nodded. The person being introduced was most likely Yu Zhi. Perfect, she wanted to see him in advance.

After seeing Chen Yiru off, Qin Yao returned to the Qin family home. Before she even got home, gossip had already spread back.

It turned out that the Marquis's mansion, which had just lost 1500 taels of silver, rushed to the shops to get more money and emptied out the two already struggling shops.

The two shopkeepers came to Qin Yao in tears, but were turned away at the door.

How can their shop operate without money?

Moreover, their previously stable suppliers have stopped providing them with cheap goods in recent days, and several previously agreed-upon collaborations have fallen through.

The two of them were already exhausted, and now the people from the Marquis's mansion had taken all the money from the shop.

Even if a skilled cook has no rice, they can't do anything about it!

They had come to Qin Yao for help, but to their surprise, they couldn't even get into the Qin family's house this time. They had to argue for a long time at the door until Granny Zhao came out, and then the two of them left in a sorry state.

"From now on, just send them out directly!" Qin Yao instructed the gatekeeper.

Her family's thugs are not to be underestimated.

Without her support, these two shops would go out of business in less than half a month.

Let's see what the Marquis's mansion will have left to save face!