Shen Xiu took off her cloak and handed it to the maid aside. Mrs. Gu came forward with a smile.
"Why is Madam Shen here in person? It doesn't matter who brings this embroidery." Mrs. Gu said with a smile, "But since you are here, why don't you go in and have a cup of hot tea."
Shen Xiu nodded: "That's fine, I just happen to have something to say to Madam."
The maid brought hot tea and snacks.
Shen Xiu picked up the tea cup and took a sip, then put it down and said, "I don't know if she is satisfied with the gift I gave her."
She did not mention the problematic silk embroidery thread, but only mentioned the gift, which was a tactful way of asking Mrs. Gu what her relationship was with the Nishang Embroidery Workshop.
Mrs. Gu felt a little uneasy, wondering how much Shen Xiu knew, but she appeared calm on the outside.
"I've already seen the things. Actually, Mrs. Shen, you don't need to be so polite. My lord often mentions your husband in front of me. I have long regarded you as a family member."
Mrs. Gu wanted to dispel Shen Xiu's doubts as soon as possible, so she moved Magistrate Qin out.
Shen Xiu said softly: "I also know that Madam values me. But there is something I don't know. I heard that the owner of Nishang Embroidery Shop seems to be related to Madam. I don't know if I heard it wrong or if it is true. thing."
Mrs. Gu's heart skipped a beat. Even though her face was calm and showed no signs of any abnormality, a trace of uneasiness quickly flashed through her eyes.
It seems that Shen Xiu discovered her relationship with Nishang Embroidery Workshop, so she became suspicious.
Mrs. Gu forced a smile and said: "I won't hide it from you. The owner of the Nishang Embroidery Shop is a distant cousin of mine. But our two families don't have much contact. In the past two years, in order to take care of this cousin's business, I I did invite people from the Nichang Embroidery Shop to my door, but we haven’t seen each other very often for a while." At this point, he showed a little embarrassment.
"Ms. Shen is not an outsider, and I don't need to hide some things from you. I look good on the outside, but on the inside I am just a stepmother. Not to mention other people, even my wife here doesn't respect me very much. My cousin is also a merchant. , I was afraid that my daughter-in-law would look down on them, so I stopped interacting with them much."
Her explanation was reasonable and reasonable, and it was an appropriate explanation, so no one could believe it.
If Shen Xiu didn't know the inside story, she might have been fooled by her. But according to the information that Liu Hao found out, Mrs. Gu had met her cousin some time ago. So this is completely unbelievable.
She could have just cleared up the relationship without lying. But she lied about this matter. What does it mean? It means that Mrs. Gu did know about the plan of Nishang Embroidery Workshop and had made suggestions.
Shen Xiu sighed inwardly that Mrs. Gu was very thoughtful, but she looked like she suddenly understood, "So that's the case. I thought that Mrs. Gu had a close relationship with Nishang Embroidery Workshop, but I didn't know that I was mistaken."
She had no intention of exposing Mrs. Gu's lies. Even if she didn't want to win over her, she couldn't offend her. Besides, she had another purpose for coming this time.
Regardless of whether Shen Xiu really believed it or not, Mrs. Gu still said: "It is true that you thought wrong. If the truth is about the distance between people, I will naturally be on your side."
This is what you said.
Shen Xiu smiled and said: "Madam, if you say this, I really have something to ask you."
"Whatever it is, just say it." Mrs. Gu said, pretending to be affectionate.
Shen Xiudao: "Madam also knows that shopkeeper Zhang of Nishang Embroidery Shop signed the deed yesterday and lost five thousand taels of silver to our Jinxin Embroidery Shop. I'm worried that Nishang Embroidery Shop will not acknowledge the debt, so I want Madam to help me As a favor, could you please ask two government servants to go to the Nishang Embroidery Workshop to scare them?"
Shen Xiu looked at Mrs. Gu's face and said: "Of course it's just a scare. My purpose is to get money, not to go to court with them. I also know that Mrs. Gu is related to them, so I don't care about them framing us for embroidery."
But this debt must be collected. Since Madam just said that you are on my side, please help me with this! Our Jinxin Embroidery Shop will definitely be grateful.
"
When Mrs. Gu heard this, she suddenly regretted what she had said before. If she had known that Shen Xiu would ask her for help, she should not have said such words.
But the words had been said and the other party could not offend. Mrs. Gu could only swallow the soft knife handed over by Shen Xiu and reluctantly said: "Of course I want to help with this. I will tell the people below later,
At that time, two government officials will naturally be sent there."
Looking at her face, Shen Xiu knew that this was about to hit the other party's bottom line, so she stopped pressing her and stood up and said: "It's getting late. Madam, please rest. It's time for me to leave."
Mrs. Gu no longer had the strength to see off Shen Xiu herself, so she asked the maid next to her to see off Shen Xiu for her.
Shen Xiu was satisfied when she left.
When she came, she had guessed that Mrs. Gu would sever her relationship with Nishang Embroidery Workshop, so she could take the opportunity to make this request.
As long as Mrs. Gu is willing to send yamen to collect debts, her relationship with Nishang Embroidery Workshop will never change again.
This is the real purpose of Shen Xiulai's trip.
She was sure that Mrs. Gu would act cautiously and not dare to offend her, so she successfully plotted against her and avenged her previous revenge.
She left easily, but Mrs. Gu took a long time to regain her strength.
She herself was an expert in intrigues, and as soon as Shen Xiu left, she realized that she had been plotted by the other party.
But she knew it was a conspiracy, because Shen Xiu was playing a dirty trick, so she had no choice but to admit her defeat, harden her heart, and instruct the people below to send a message to the government office and send two officials to the Nishang Embroidery Workshop to collect debts.
Master Gu didn't expect that Shen Xiu would come to do this. He had already gone to the bank to stake all his property, and finally collected three thousand taels of silver. Master Gu was planning to withdraw some of the remaining silver from his account, and then sell some more money.
Collection of antique calligraphy and paintings.
He was at home, reluctantly touching the antiques, calligraphy and paintings. Every one of them was his heart and soul, and he didn't want to sell any of them.
Just when he was having a hard time making a choice, Madam Zhang pushed the door open and walked in, "Sir, it's not good, two government servants came from the embroidery workshop, saying that they came to collect debts for Jinxin Embroidery Workshop on the order of Mrs. Gu.
.”
"What, whose order did you say you were given?" Master Gu asked in disbelief.
Mrs. Zhang said: "Who else could it be but your niece? She actually doesn't care about relatives at all and even sent the government servants here."
Two yamen servants stood in the embroidery workshop and only said that they had followed Mrs. Gu's instructions and asked Nishang Embroidery Workshop to pay off the debt as soon as possible.
Shopkeeper Zhang saw that the guests didn't buy anything and were just watching the excitement. For fear of affecting the business of the embroidery shop, he hurriedly invited the two government servants to the room, served tea and stuffed them with money, and finally appeased the two government servants.
But before Shopkeeper Zhang could breathe a sigh of relief, a waiter's voice suddenly came from outside, "Shopkeeper, please come out and take a look. Madam Shen is here."
"What?" Shopkeeper Zhang only felt that one was bigger than the other. At this moment, he regretted deeply. If he had known that Mrs. Shen was so difficult to deal with, he should not have designed and framed Jinxin Xiufang in the first place.
Unfortunately, it was too late to say anything at this time. He could only bite the bullet and go see Shen Xiu who came uninvited.