Qin Yufeng paused when he said that, with a leisurely smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as if he was speaking casually. He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip of tea slowly.
“What happened after that?” You Yuecheng could not help but ask.
“It was not settled after that, because it was very troublesome. The building of the teahouse has been perfected in all aspects. It was inconvenient to suddenly build a staircase downstairs. Not only will the original arrangement have to be broken down, but it will have to be redesigned. The customers of the jade shop usually left immediately after choosing goods, and few people will watch it for a long time or wait for tea while watching it. Therefore, it’s uneconomical to make such a staircase.”
Qin Yufeng gently put down the teacup in his hand and replied with a smile.
“It didn’t work out in the end?” You Yuecheng looked at Qin Yufeng appraisingly.
“Yes, we did not agree. That is why we do not get along well with them.” Qin Yufeng could not help but laugh.
While they were talking, a waiter led the shopkeeper over. The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man in his thirties, and looked gentle and refined. After he greeted the two men and heard You Yuecheng ask about the owner of the jade shop next door, the shopkeeper showed a little anger on his face. “Your Excellency, although I don’t know who their owner is, judging from the shopkeeper’s appearance, I can tell that the owner is not a man of good taste. The two shops’ business is irrelevant, but they wanted to make a staircase to connect the two shops. Wasn’t that looking for trouble?”
“What are you talking about? How did their owner offend you?” Qin Yufeng chided him gently.
“Young owner, I said those words because the shopkeeper of the jade shop is too stubborn. It has been so long. We didn’t say anything when we saw each other, but they were still thinking of ways to mention it to me. If their owner hasn’t agreed to it, why is he still so unreasonable?”
The shopkeeper was so angry that he kept on complaining. It could be seen that he was really annoyed. And the more he said, the more excited he became. It was obvious that he was very p.i.s.sed off.
Seeing that he could not find out anything, You Yuecheng asked the shopkeeper to go back. Did he really make a mistake?
The shopkeepers of the two shops had such a long dispute over this matter. When he came up, he also asked his manservant to check whether there was such a secret staircase. It seemed that there was really no connection between the jade shop and the teahouse.
You Yuecheng chatted with Qin Yufeng casually for a more while and then left with the excuse of being busy with official business. Qin Yufeng sent him to the door of the private room and watched him leave with a smile on his face. He did not return to the private room until he could not see him. Then, the waiter served him tea again, went out and closed the door.
Qin Yufeng did not sit down. He walked to the wooden wall that was connected to the private room next door, reached out and pressed lightly on the dark corner beside him. The wooden screen and the wooden wall slid open silently, revealing Mo Xuetong, who was sitting on the chair and staring at him with wide watery eyes. She was speechless and there were two maidservants standing beside her vigilantly.
Mo Xuetong was truly shocked. She had been sitting in that position earlier and had heard everything clearly. As You Yuecheng was tricked away by Qin Yufeng, she heaved a sigh of relief. She did not expect that the teahouse belonged to Qin Yufeng. Furthermore, he happened to be here today. What surprised her the most was that Qin Yufeng and the shopkeeper had claimed in unison that there was not a staircase that could be used to get up and down from the jade shop.
Mo Xuetong did not know that this teahouse belonged to the Qin family. In her previous life, even the jade shop was controlled by Sima Lingyun. She was locked in high walls. The only time she had seen this jade shop was when she was about to get married. Mo Huawen brought her to see those shops one by one, so that she could remember which shops belonged to her.
At that time, she also saw this magnificent teahouse, which was located in the downtown area. On the expensive land of the main commercial street of the capital, someone owned such a large teahouse. The owner must be very wealthy. The jade shop only occupied two rooms, and it was downstairs. It could not be compared with this teahouse at all.
At that time, she was just surprised and did not ask who the owner of the teahouse was. She only remembered that Mo Huawen did not look well and ordered the horse carriage to pa.s.s by in a hurry. It seemed that he did not want to see this teahouse. Mo Xuetong was about to get married, and her fiance was Sima Lingyun whom she thought was gentle and thoughtful to her, so she did not notice anything unusual about Mo Huawen.
Now when she thought about it, she realized that her father’s expression was completely different from usual.
Originally, she had accepted the reason her shopkeeper said—he had a good relationship with the shopkeeper of the teahouse upstairs, so there was such a secret staircase to climb up and down. When she thought about it carefully now, she had some doubts. This… was not quite logical. There seemed to be something strange, but she could not figure it out.
When she heard that You Yuecheng had left, she waited for a while. She had wanted to leave a moment later.
She did not expect the wooden wall behind her to slip open silently. She looked at Qin Yufeng’s handsome and scholarly smiling face in shock. When she overheard, she was caught on the spot. She did not know what to say at the moment, so she did not say anything. Instead, she stood up and curtsied to Qin Yufeng graciously.
It was her fault to overhear other’s conversation!
It was not magnanimous for him to pull back the wooden wall just like that.
This matter had nothing to do with him, didn’t it?
Having made up her mind, Mo Xuetong behaved as naturally as when they had met on the road. She saluted leisurely with a smile.
“In the end, neither of us will mention it, and we just skip it with a smile!”
“Cousin Tong, are you here because of Marquess Mingguo?” It was obvious that Mo Xuetong had guessed wrongly at Qin Yufeng’s intentions. He had pushed the wall away, of course, not in order to greet her or skip the matter with a smile.
Mo Xuetong sighed in her heart. It seemed that she had to deal with Qin Yufeng today. At the same time, Qin Yufeng had walked back slowly and sat on his chair comfortably. There were two cups of tea on the table, which had just been made. It faintly dispersed the fragrance of Biluochun that Mo Xuetong used to drink. It smelled light but leisurely.
It seemed that everything had been prepared. It was obviously not spontaneous.
Mo Xuetong pursed her lips as a hint of vigilance appeared in her eyes!
Since Qin Yufeng had prepared, it was not proper for her to refuse. Besides, she also wanted to know why there was a secret staircase between the teahouse and the jade store. This secret staircase seemed to be prepared for her today, a secret staircase that allowed her to go upstairs and downstairs secretly and to leave or enter conveniently.
Something seemed to flash through her mind, but she failed to catch it.
“Cousin Feng, You Yuecheng came here in order to look for me. I overheard his private conversation with a woman when I was in the accounting room downstairs.” Mo Xuetong did not intend to hide anything. Her dark eyes held a hint of innocence. Only when her eyes moved could there be a hint of charm. Coupled with the purity, it formed a beautiful scene.
As soon as she went upstairs from downstairs, You Yuecheng chased over. This matter could not be hidden from others. Furthermore, who was Qin Yufeng? He could figure it out after he thought about the cause and effect of the matter.
Qin Yufeng’s gaze fell on Mo Xuetong and became deep. He lowered his eyes to avoid her probing stare. Then his lips curled up slightly and he said with a faint smile, “When you came, I just arrived at the shop and happened to see you coming from that abandoned staircase. I asked the shopkeeper and learned that the shopkeeper of the jade shop asked him for help, so I asked him to bring you here.”
What a coincidence! No wonder people said that there was no story without coincidences!
“Cousin Feng, do you know why there is a secret staircase between your teahouse and my jade shop?” There was a hint of obvious confusion in Mo Xuetong’s eyes. She had discovered this secret staircase when she came the last time and did not care about it at that time. She had thought of it in an emergency and had just come up. However, Qin Yufeng did not seem to be surprised at all!
“The two shops originally belonged to the same owner. It’s normal for them to have a secret staircase to go up and down. It’s not strange.” Qin Yufeng smiled leisurely and looked up at Mo Xuetong’s face again. He did not avoid her this time.
“They originally belonged to the same owner. Could it be that this teahouse used to belong to Fu General Manor?” Mo Xuetong was stunned. She immediately reacted and asked as she rolled her eyes. Her own shop was left behind by her mother. Her mother was the first miss of Fu General Manor. If the Qin family had taken this shop from Fu General Manor, then the existence of such a secret door could be understood.
Since the two shops had the same owner, an easily accessible staircase was definitely needed.
As soon as she said that, Mo Xuetong saw the mocking smile in Qin Yufeng’s eyes. She blushed, knowing that she had said something wrong.
What was Fu General’s status? He was a duke of the country, and owned a top n.o.ble family. How could he sell off the shop that earned money for him? Even though the Qin family had an extraordinary family background, they were not as good as the n.o.ble Fu General Manor. As such, it was impossible for Fu General Manor’s shop to fall into someone else’s hands.
“Cousin Tong, did you see that painting clearly?” Qin Yufeng did not try to catch the obvious flaw in Mo Xuetong’s words. He smiled, tried to change the topic and asked with a smile.
“Cousin Feng, where did Grandaunt get that painting from?” Mo Xuetong’s heart skipped a beat and she immediately changed the topic as Qin Yufeng did. She was secretly wary but there was still a smile on her face as if she was just asking according to Qin Yufeng’s words.
The painting was a mystery in Mo Xuetong’s mind that she could not solve. She always felt that it had something to do with Fu General Manor. However, she could not find the key point at the moment. Even though Luo Mingzhu would investigate, the focus of the investigation was only on Fu General Manor. She could not find out anything because a part of the account book had been torn off.
It was as if they had come to a dead end!
“I really don’t know the origin of Grandmother’s painting. If you want to know, you can ask Grandmother directly next time. The teahouse is actually under Grandmother’s name. It was originally managed by Grandmother herself. Now that Grandmother is old and does not have the strength to do so, she entrusted it to me.” Qin Yufeng smiled lightly and tried to push the matter away easily.
“Cousin Feng, what do you mean…” Mo Xuetong asked carefully. She did not dare to be careless when facing Qin Yufeng. There was a hint of vigilance in her eyes. Even though she had hidden it very well, Qin Yufeng could still see it. There was a hint of bitterness in his carefree smile that he did not realize.
“I don’t mean anything. Grandmother hasn’t seen you for a long time and misses you very much. If you have time, go and visit her!” When he saw Mo Xuetong’s focused gaze, he immediately cleared up his worries. There was still an elegant smile on his face. Then, without saying anything else, he stood up and curtsied to Mo Xuetong before he flicked his sleeves and turned around to leave.
He did not say anything more to Mo Xuetong…
