Before she finished speaking, crashing and banging sounds came from inside, along with the screams of female shopkeepers and assistants. Someone shouted loudly, “Are you crazy? Don’t you know this is Her Majesty the Queen’s property…”

“Even the founding empress won’t do!” came that shrill voice again. “This is Meng Kingdom, not Di Ge!”

Jing Hengbo grabbed those boxes and bottles, opened them to look, smiled, and walked inside.

The interior was in chaos. Counters were overturned, various bottles and boxes scattered all over the floor. Quite a few people stood confronting each other on both sides. Jing Hengbo saw women on both sides using their long skirts to conceal the bottles and jars that had rolled to their feet, probably planning to fish in troubled waters later, since everything from the counters was quite valuable.

Seeing her suddenly walk in, people on both sides glared angrily and said in unison, “Get out!”

Jing Hengbo just laughed – causing trouble but unwilling to let others intervene, this was getting interesting.

“Hey, hey, don’t be like that,” she smiled. “Why have such a fiery temper on such a beautiful day? Let me help mediate, alright?”

“Who do you think you are?” came the unanimous rejection again, along with equally contemptuous looks.

Jing Hengbo touched her nose – being simultaneously despised by both sides of an argument was truly rare.

“Who I am, you’ll find out soon enough.” Jing Hengbo lazily placed the items on an upright counter. “But regarding these cosmetics, I have something to say.”

“Is it your turn to speak?” The woman with the shrill voice turned around. Jing Hengbo saw a face with decent features, but made somewhat aged and vulgar by heavy makeup. The face itself was passable, but was ruined by the gorgeous yet poorly color-coordinated brocade dress and equally gorgeous yet cumbersome jewelry, destroying the overall aesthetic. Jing Hengbo’s first impression was that her eyes were tired – didn’t she know that a person’s entire outfit shouldn’t have more than three colors?

The woman was clearly from a wealthy family. The arrogance between her brows could only be cultivated by years of privileged living. Behind her stood a group of maids and servants, also well-dressed.

On the opposite side, the Beauty Hall manager was also a woman – a middle-aged lady with slightly high cheekbones and a pale complexion. Her eyebrows were drawn high and arched. Both her makeup and expression revealed a shrewd, capable air – this should be the manager temperament Beauty Hall needed. But Jing Hengbo felt somewhat uncomfortable looking at her. This woman’s eyes were too calculating. With one glance she scanned Jing Hengbo from head to toe, discovered her clothing wasn’t particularly luxurious and she wore what appeared to be a wooden necklace. Her attitude immediately did a 360-degree turn.

At this moment, the female manager stepped back and coolly watched the noble lady’s aggressive behavior, apparently having no intention of helping Jing Hengbo out.

Jing Hengbo was used to seeing such people. She couldn’t be bothered to look at her more than once, saying lazily, “Everyone has the right to speak.” She tapped the soap box. “Especially when seeing idiots face-to-face – making people hold back from speaking is really inhumane.”

“Who are you calling an idiot?” The woman’s eyebrows nearly reached her forehead.

“Generally only idiots would ask such questions.” Jing Hengbo giggled and opened the soap box. “What do you mean ‘black spots in the soap’? These black spots are clearly Deepwater Marsh black pearl powder – for exfoliating effect, to facilitate deeper skin cleansing. If you don’t understand, ask properly instead of rushing to make a fool of yourself.”

The woman was stunned and her expression changed. Before she could speak, Jing Hengbo opened the purple wooden box and picked up a bit of black flake, saying, “Blackwater Marsh Blackhead-Removing Deep Water Mud Mask – is this what you called snake skin? Sigh, I really don’t want to laugh at your ignorance. Snake skin? This is the unique black chi skin from Blackwater Marsh – a famous fierce creature worth a fortune. Ground black chi skin is rich in collagen, can refine skin and delay aging. The presence of these fine chi skin pieces precisely proves this mask’s authenticity. If the noble ladies of Di Ge saw these chi skin pieces, they’d be so happy. But given the limited vision of Meng Kingdom nobility, it’s understandable you can’t recognize it. Just remember not to make such jokes in front of Di Ge relatives and friends next time. I fear you might be blacklisted, and that would be our Beauty Hall’s fault.”

“You!” The woman’s face turned iron-blue.

The Beauty Hall manager on the side frowned slightly and gestured toward the back hall.

“There’s so much more I could teach you.” Jing Hengbo smiled sweetly as she was about to open another box. The woman’s face was iron-blue. Seeing more and more people crowding outside, she stepped back and angrily said, “It’s not your place to teach me!” She turned to order her maids and servants, “We’re leaving!”

Just as she turned, Jing Hengbo called out melodiously, “Wait a moment.”

The woman turned back in fury, glaring fiercely at Jing Hengbo. Jing Hengbo still smiled lazily and casually, pointing at the mess on the floor, “Please restore things to their original state.”

“As if you’re worthy of ordering us around!”

“Beauty Hall branches span the world. Today’s disturbance by madam is Beauty Hall’s biggest event this year. Beauty Hall will spread this news throughout the world for madam,” Jing Hengbo said with a smile, “to help broadcast your family’s reputation across all of Dahuang.”

The noble woman stared deadly at Jing Hengbo, probably wanting to make her opponent retreat with her dignity and murderous aura. Unfortunately, except for her flirtatious glances at Gong Yin, Jing Hengbo only found other people’s staring eyes at most not beautiful enough. Her charming smile remained unmoved by eight winds – no anger, no contempt, everything was like ants.

After a long while, the woman had to look away herself. She waved her hand harshly, and several maids and servants had to come forward to right the counter and tidy things up. After they finished, the woman was about to leave hurriedly when Jing Hengbo called again, “Wait a moment.”

“What other nonsense!”

“Please have your people return the Beauty Hall goods hidden under their skirts and quietly stuffed into their sleeves.” Jing Hengbo pointed at the maids. “Though your servants’ eyes are a bit shallow, as long as they return things promptly, I won’t tell everyone about it.”

The woman’s face immediately turned iron-blue. She angrily scolded, “Nonsense! Even one of my servants is three times more noble than you. How could they take your dirty things!”

The group of maids hurriedly covered their sleeves and quietly stepped back.

Jing Hengbo didn’t answer, just smiled and snapped her fingers. With crackling sounds, a pile of colorful boxes and bottles fell from the maids’ sleeves. Before those people could scramble to pick them up, Jing Hengbo quickly stepped forward, picked up one, and waved it toward the outside, smiling, “Beauty Hall marking. Look, the footprint from stepping on it earlier is still there.”

The crowd outside immediately burst into supportive laughter. Someone shouted loudly, “Truly a noble family’s upbringing – like master, like servant!”

The woman’s face turned from blue to purple, then from purple to blue. Suddenly she turned and slapped a nearby maid with a “smack,” scolding, “Shameful thing!”

Her hand was loaded with golden tassel bracelets and gemstone rings. The cut facets of the gems scraped the maid’s face, leaving deep bloody marks. The maid dared not cry out in pain or cover her face. She fell to her knees with a thud, repeatedly begging for mercy. The noble woman said coldly, “Drag her away! Your skin will pay for this when we get back!” Just as she was about to turn around, she heard again, “Wait a moment!”

The woman spun around furiously and roared, “Are you done or not!”

“You haven’t yet bestowed compensation for the damaged counter and goods, madam.” Jing Hengbo opened her palm. “Rosewood counter – one damaged corner requires complete reconstruction. The damaged goods…” She turned to look, revealing a satisfied smile, “Blue Sea Mystery Eternal Luxury Golden Face Mask, Sisley Bright Eyes Firming Diamond Starlight Eye Cream, Elizabeth Arden Enchanting Night Shadow No. 7 Perfume…” After rattling off dozens of items, she quickly calculated mentally, “The total comes to 13,214 taels of silver. Considering this is a first offense, we’ll waive the odd amount – 13,000 taels compensation will do.”

There was commotion outside with people exclaiming and snickering. The woman was so angry that all her pearl and jade ornaments jingled chaotically. She gritted her teeth, “This is extortion! I’ll file a complaint with the prefect!”

“Please do.” Jing Hengbo said indifferently. “Beauty Hall’s items are all clearly marked with prices that were posted before you caused the disturbance. Beauty Hall’s products are mostly sold to officials and nobles – all good stuff that tolerates no flaws. I believe the prefect’s wife also has Beauty Hall products and will know whether we’re really extorting. Not just her, but all of Meng Kingdom and all of Dahuang will know whether Beauty Hall is extorting, and whether you’re making trouble and trying to default on payment.”

The woman’s expression changed again. She understood Jing Hengbo’s meaning and realized that Beauty Hall took the high-end route, supplying goods specifically to major officials and nobles. The female staff moved in high society circles and always had good relationships with local government offices. If this really went to the prefectural office, though her family was wealthy and the prefect would give face so she might not lose, it would definitely spread to all officials and nobles’ residences in Puyang and even all of Meng Kingdom. When wives gathered and families visited each other, where would she have face to participate?

She hatefully pulled out several golden notes from her sleeve, threw them on the ground, and shrilly shouted, “Let’s go!” This time she walked quickly, afraid to hear that deadly “wait a moment” again.

The spectators filling the steps silently made way, then silently watched her leave. Though intimidated by power and saying nothing, this didn’t prevent them from expressing contempt with their eyes. The woman trembled with anger but was too ashamed to lash out. She could only walk quickly with lowered head, wanting to leave as soon as possible. Only when she climbed into her carriage did she suddenly turn back, pointing with her whole body trembling at Jing Hengbo, who was still smiling and seeing her off from the shop.

Jing Hengbo faced those trembling, glittering fingernails pointing straight at her and blew her a kiss with a smile.

The woman abruptly flicked her sleeve, twisted her head and dove into the carriage. Her voice was not only shrill but nearly terrifying, “Go!”

The carriage left the street at nearly fleeing speed. Jing Hengbo watched that particularly gorgeous golden carriage and frowned.

Then she turned back to see the female manager had already picked up those golden notes and tucked them into her sleeve, smiling and bowing to her, “Thank you, miss, for your righteous assistance. You seem quite familiar with our Beauty Hall products. Are you perhaps a manager at our Beauty Hall?”

Jing Hengbo smiled noncommittally. The female manager then invited her inside for tea, saying she wanted to thank her properly. Jing Hengbo beckoned to Gong Yin, who had been standing at the bottom of the steps watching her, “Come taste Beauty Hall’s tea together.”

Gong Yin came over carrying a pile of things. All the women in the hall stared at him in a daze. Gong Yin casually handed the pile to a female assistant, saying, “Please keep these safe.” The items were heavy, making the girl stagger, but she immediately stood firm. Not only did she not complain, her face bloomed like a flower as she said, “Don’t worry, sir. We’ll have them delivered to your residence later.”

Gong Yin just nodded lightly and walked over. He always only had eyes for Jing Hengbo – other people were just human coat racks to him.

Jing Hengbo looked at those chattering, blushing, twisting girls and curled her lips – since when did Beauty Hall start delivering non-Beauty Hall goods? A bunch of love-struck fools!

She glared hatefully at Gong Yin again – attracting bees and butterflies!

Gong Yin came over, glanced at her, then followed her gaze to look at those girls. Very sensibly, he raised his hand to smooth her hair, saying, “Messy.”

“What do you know? This is called fluffy cloud coiffure – a new hairstyle I just developed.” Jing Hengbo immediately turned from anger to joy, taking his arm to walk inside, lovingly resting her head on his shoulder.

The corner of Gong Yin’s mouth curved up – he actually knew she wasn’t jealous or playing childish games. How could the experienced Her Majesty the Queen still play such juvenile tricks? She was just using these seemingly coquettish, jealous actions to pull him down from the clouds to the mortal world, to experience more human warmth and worldly affection.

In her words, what was it called… being down-to-earth?

Not used to walking so closely with someone, he felt like he didn’t know how to step, very worried about tripping over each other. It was really hard on Jing Hengbo, who managed to walk without missing a step despite her long dress. He wanted to push her away a bit, but was more reluctant to do so. After going back and forth in his heart several times, he finally gently raised his hand to loosely support her waist, afraid she might stumble.

Jing Hengbo lowered her head slightly, the corner of her mouth gradually showing a trace of smile – Gong Yin was really slowly starting to become down-to-earth. This was truly a good beginning.

She hoped his physical condition was also improving. She wasn’t afraid of worldly hardships, only afraid that heaven wouldn’t give her more time to nurture happiness.

The female manager led the way in front, bringing them deep into the inner courtyard. She had good tea served and completely changed her previous rejecting attitude, smiling warmly while chatting with Jing Hengbo. Jing Hengbo was naturally sociable too. After talking for a long time, the female manager’s expression became increasingly bright. She smiled, “No wonder you’re so familiar with our Beauty Hall products – you’re actually a manager at Di Ge Beauty Hall.”

“That’s right.” Jing Hengbo said with a smile, “One must master whatever profession one practices. The manager is also very proficient with our products.”

The female manager’s expression changed slightly as she forced a smile, “This is the basic rule of our Beauty Hall. If we don’t understand our own products, how can we talk about doing business?”

“Yes, you must understand, understand so thoroughly.” Jing Hengbo nodded and opened a compact she had been holding, picking up a small white flake with her finger, smiling, “So I’d like to ask the manager – what exactly is this dried insect in the foundation?”

The manager’s expression changed as she covered her sleeve and coughed, “Well, this…”

Jing Hengbo magically pulled out another bottle from her sleeve, uncorked it and smelled it, saying, “Tender Beauty Moonlight Essence actually has a rancid smell – is this a new variety? How come I haven’t heard of rancid-smelling essence?”

The female manager stood up abruptly, staring at the bottle. After a long while she said coldly, “Are you here to cause trouble?”

“Sit down, sit down.” Jing Hengbo tapped the table. “If I were really here to cause trouble, I would have said this earlier. To tell the truth, though that troublemaking woman was talking nonsense about problems with the soap and mask, this foundation and this essence are indeed defective products, even… counterfeits.”

“How can that be!” The female manager said sternly, “Beauty Hall’s products are always genuine and authentic. How do you know this woman didn’t switch the products to extort money?”

“If Beauty Hall products were really counterfeited, it wouldn’t be something ordinary people could do – it would require special training and familiarity with these products’ properties to imitate them. Take this foundation, for example – the main processing is actually fine, but it wasn’t put through the routine three-stage sifting during drying, allowing debris to get mixed in. If someone wanted to extort with counterfeits, they could only produce completely different items.” Jing Hengbo leaned back in her chair, smiling confidently.

Gong Yin just drank tea and watched her – Jing Hengbo speaking knowledgeably about her area of expertise with such confidence and composure was more charming than at any other time.

The manager’s expression changed repeatedly. After a long while, she slowly pulled out a golden note from her sleeve and silently presented it with both hands.

Jing Hengbo raised her eyebrows with a half-smile, “What does the manager mean by this?”

“Miss has come all the way from Di Ge to Meng Kingdom, presumably on orders from headquarters for the semi-annual inspection tour. The journey must have been arduous and tiring. This small token is to comfort your hardships. Please use it to buy a bracelet – it’s my sincere gesture.”

Jing Hengbo glanced at the golden note – the amount wasn’t low, one-third of the previous compensation amount, enough to buy a hundred golden bracelets. What a generous gesture.

Merchants value profit above all, measuring everything by gains and losses. How much blood they’re willing to shed indicates how worthy that matter is of such investment.

But the mere flaws in one compact and one bottle of essence weren’t worth such investment.

Money given appropriately is gratitude; money given excessively is trouble.

Jing Hengbo’s smile didn’t change, even showing a bit more greed as she accepted the golden note, smiling, “You’re too kind.”

The female manager seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, stood up and smiled, “There are still some matters to attend to in front. Please allow me to handle them before returning to entertain our honored guest. Please rest here – I’ll have staff arrange accommodations for you shortly.”

“Manager, please go ahead.” Jing Hengbo was still examining the golden note’s hidden watermarks, completely absorbed, answering without looking up.

The manager hurriedly left, even carefully closing the door behind her. As soon as she left, Jing Hengbo threw down the golden note and chuckled.

Gong Yin simultaneously said, “She went outside to call people. Are we leaving now?”

“No, I want to know what she’s really trying to do.” Jing Hengbo smiled. “I also want to see exactly how many defective products this Beauty Hall has.”

She walked to a shelf displaying merchandise, opening bottles and jars one by one, smelling them, holding them up to the sunlight. After a while, she threw something down with a “smack.”

“Outrageous!”

Jing Hengbo’s expression was very ugly. Beauty Hall was her darling, something she had created single-handedly, wholeheartedly wanting to create a new fashion trend for women in Dahuang. She had put out what she loved most and was uniquely skilled at in her lifetime, spending much time and energy. Beauty Hall’s products, design, mechanisms, and operations all embodied her heart and soul. Compared to the queen’s position that fell from heaven, Beauty Hall was truly her realm of self-actualization, her spiritual sustenance. Now her life’s work, just getting on track and in its most crucial development period, not yet spread nationwide or achieving the influence she needed, had already produced such scum – how could she not be furious?

More than half the goods on this shelf had low purity or were outright fakes!

Such things, facing high-end customers – once bad rumors spread, Beauty Hall’s pioneering path could be cut short.

Building reputation might require many people working hand and foot for a long time, but collapse really only needed one reputation disaster.

Though that woman’s troublemaking was wrong, she might have first used Beauty Hall products, felt the goods didn’t match the version, but couldn’t find actual evidence. After all, Beauty Hall’s products were all new items without reference objects. Having spent money without getting expected results, coming to make trouble in indignation was understandable.

No wonder this manager kept the door closed during the disturbance, looking reluctant when she came to help, and even more guarded after discovering she was knowledgeable about Beauty Hall products.

“People are coming.” Gong Yin suddenly said.

Footsteps clattered outside as a large group poured into the courtyard. Several torches were suddenly thrown through the windows, then the windows were shut from outside, with someone moving heavy objects to block them firmly.

Footsteps also sounded at the door – “Bang!” something heavy was pressed against the door.

This room had only two windows and one door. Once blocked, people couldn’t get out.

Jing Hengbo pouted and shouted toward the door, “Hey! What are you planning to do?”

The female manager’s voice came from outside, giggling, “What do you think? Arson, of course.”

“Is there no law in broad daylight!” Jing Hengbo continued shaking the door.

“Heh, law? What is law?” The manager sneered. “Besides, who broke any law? It’s dry weather – accidental fire. It’s your fate. Who can you blame?”

“I just helped you out, why are you repaying kindness with enmity!”

“Right, precisely because you just helped me out, killing you won’t raise suspicions.” The female manager laughed. “Actually, it’s your own stupidity. If you had left right after helping me, or hadn’t mentioned the foundation problem, I would have let it go, maybe even been grateful and given you some loose silver. Who knew you insisted on staying? You’re from Beauty Hall and know about the problems here. How could I let you live to complain to headquarters’ Manager Chai or Her Majesty the Queen?”

“Just for this you’d kill people?”

“Isn’t this enough? Do you know how much silver I spent to get the position of Meng Kingdom Beauty Hall director? I won’t allow even the slightest possibility of it being destroyed!”

Jing Hengbo sighed and murmured, “It seems that everywhere, people are the real problem…”

The female manager sneered coldly for a while, then the windows were opened and several buckets of liquid were splashed in. A pungent smell hit them as flames whooshed up to the roof – what was splashed in was lamp oil.

At the same time, the female manager was already calling out in panic.

“Oh no! Fire! Everyone come help put out the fire!”

With her shouts, more lamp oil was splashed in. To outsiders, it looked like people here were diligently “fighting the fire.”

Neighbors had already been alerted, with sounds of doors opening, exclamations, and footsteps all around in the commotion. The female manager giggled, then suddenly lowered her voice, “Don’t blame me – I’m actually helping you too. Do you know who that lady you just offended was? That’s a daughter-in-law of the Meng family! The royal Meng family! The son’s wife of the Duke! You offended her – you’d die more miserably. Being burned to death quickly now, you should thank me!”

She walked away laughing loudly. Just past the house, she wiped her face and cried out, “Fire fighting! Quickly save our guests! Quick!”

Inside the house, Jing Hengbo’s mouth fell open as she stared dumbfounded at Gong Yin, who also looked surprised.

The Meng family?

…