The Tyrant's Beloved Empress

22.1

The clerk 'pei'd at An Chang Qing and chased the three of them out of the store rudely.

Seeing his bold and skillful behavior when hushing them out without any guilt, An Chang Qing could guess that this was not his first time doing so. An Chang Qing frowned and said to the clerk, "If you continue to do business this way, I'm afraid this store won't last."

The clerk sneered, "You're such a busybody. I don't have time to deal with you. Leave, leave, leave!"

Just as he had stopped talking, the store manager was coming down the stairs while laughing and chatting with a man dressed in expensive clothes. Seeing that the clerk was still at the door, he urged, "Zhang Si, what are you doing? There's still a batch of clothes in the warehouse, go and clear it up..."

The clerk lowered his head and complained, "I'm going now. These people here say that our clothes are too expensive."

He then ignored the three and scurried to the back room.

The store manager sized them up before coming close and cupped his hands, "So you think that our clothes are expensive?"

Seeing that the manager's attitude was a lot better than the clerk's, An Chang Qing was slightly relieved, thinking that it was probably just the clerk who was unruly. He nodded and said, "That's right. Two silver taels for a cotton-padded robe is too expensive."

"Then there's something that you don't know," the store manager stroked his beard and proudly continued, "Tian Yi Fang is not like other stores, our tailors made clothes for dignitaries all over Yejing, so naturally, our price should be higher."

"Even if it's sewn by the palace's tailors, isn't it still a cotton-padded robe?" Anfu couldn't hold back and said, "The price is too high compared to any other stores, how can you do business this way?"

The manager's face slightly twitched. He restrained himself and smiled reluctantly, "This is simply buying and selling. You're willing to buy, we're willing to sell. You can't blame us for our pricey products just because you can't afford them."

An Chang Qing initially thought that since the store manager was polite towards them, he must be different from the clerk but now it seemed that the management of this store had turned into a nest of snakes and mice.

Anfu was about to retort but An Chang Qing waved his hand, "Forget it, let's go have a look at another store."

He was only here to inspect the store and inadvertently bumped into this situation. However, he had no intention of rectifying this problem on the spot and therefore, did not disclose his identity. Rather, it was imminent he used this opportunity to survey the other stores.

Unexpectedly, even when he did not want to cause trouble, trouble came to him. The man who came down with the manager had been silent all this while but when he saw that An Chang Qing was about to leave, he smiled and said, "Wait a moment, young sir."

An Chang Qing turned and looked at him, "Is there something wrong?"

The man who spoke was roughly over twenty. He had a round build with big and fleshy arms. The large body was squeezed into a red brocade robe like a piece of white dough wrapped in regal fabric. The man had a folding fan with him even in the winter, trying to look scholarly. He opened his fan and said, "The clothes of Tian Yi Fang are really good. If you want, you can just pick any and I will pay for it."

"I don't accept rewards without merit," An Chang Qing could tell from his eyes that the man bore evil intentions. He gave him an unfriendly look before turning to leave.

Unfortunately, when the lump of dough saw that he was leaving, he went over and blocked his way, "Don't worry, you're very pleasing to my eyes and I only wanted to be friends. My store is also on this street, why don't you come back with me and pick whatever you like?"