Chapter 90 - So Ridiculous!

Li Ming entered inside the shop and the first room that came into her view was a spacious and professionally decorated sitting area.

She wasn't expecting to see such a well-maintained shop and the workers who were busy in their works.

A woman in her late forties was sitting behind a desk, busy writing something in a very thick bounded notebook, which Li Ming guessed was probably an account book.

She was holding a brush in her right hand and was scribbling in the notebook, dipping the brush in the scraped ink every now and then.

If not for her pens, Li Ming had no idea if she could have the ability to even write in this world. Her calligraphy could be considered at the very bottom of the Pacific ocean. 

But since she had two cabinets full of new boxes of her favorite pens, she didn't need to worry about her poor calligraphy skills.

The sitting area was empty except an eleven or twelve-year-old girl who was playing chess all alone.

Chu Hua led Li Ming to the next room which was double the size of the sitting area. The entire room was filled with racks after racks of bundled clothes. 

Li Ming looked through the racks and indeed the quality of the clothes was really good. She didn't find anything suspicious.

Next, they went to the second floor which was divided into three parts. The first part was full of beautifully designed dresses. Each design was better than the other. 

There were wooden beams lined rows where the dresses were hanging. 

The second part held dresses which were made from the clothes of the highest quality. The designs were really beautiful and unique.

There were some dresses that were specially designed for the ladies of the Imperial family and the high profile noble families. And the last part of the floor was a small room which was probably a storeroom.

If she hadn't grasped the evil intent in Chu Hua's words, she would really have praised that Eldest Young Miss Lan for her business skills. Everything was perfect about the shop. It's size, decoration, staff, quantity and quality of the clothes, the beautiful and unique designs of the dresses, everything.

But that only made Li Ming frown because even though she was aware that something was wrong but she couldn't grasp exactly what it was.

It was not until she was exploring a dark blue dress with flowery patterns on it when she noticed the boy who had been following her around silently.

His eyes were fixed on the blue dress and his entire body was stiff, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Actually, you really have good quality clothes here in your shop but unfortunately nothing captures my interest here. Maybe I should visit some other shops to see if I can find something according to my taste." Li Ming said with a soft smile as she started walking out of the room with the little boy, but was stopped by Chu Hua.

"Young Miss, this is the best clothes shop in the Entire Wang Empire. You won't find clothes of better quality and design than ours, in any other shop." Chu Hua tried to persuade the young girl who was slowly getting on her nerves.

"Come on Miss Chu, don't be so arrogant. If this is really the best garment shop in the Wang Empire then you wouldn't need to stand outside and manipulate visitors to buy clothes from your shop." Li Ming said with a soft smile though her words were anything but soft.

Her words were like lava to Chu Hua who gritted her teeth while saying, "Miss, what are you trying to say? We are not the ones who manipulate people to buy from our shop. I just saw that you were about to get taken advantage of by this boy, that's why I tried to help you. If I have known that you will try to harm the image of this shop, I would have never helped you." 

They had grasped the attention of the other customers who were also shopping there. Everyone was now looking at them, some with interest or confusion, while others with bored expressions.

"Miss Chu, you are the personal maid of the Eldest Young Miss Lan but you were standing outside the shop so that you can help those visitors who were manipulated by some swindlers. I'm really impressed that you and your Master are kind enough to help strangers. But how can you say that this boy was trying to trick me?" Li Ming asked with a raised eyebrow.

Chu Hua smirked as she replied, "That's because the elder sister of this boy had once stolen our Eldest Young Miss' designs to sell the clothes as their own. But they got caught at the right time and our Miss brought their true faces in front of everyone. After that day no one buys from their shop anymore. That's why he and his family go around the market, telling lies about them being the one who was wronged so that people will buy clothes from their shop out of pity."

Li Ming frowned and her eyes landed on the boy beside her who was clutching her hand tightly. His head was bent down, therefore, she couldn't see his expressions.

Though she didn't know the entire story or the real truth behind it but her instincts were telling her that everything wasn't as what Chu Hua was telling her.

"Is this boy belongs to some high-class family?" Li Ming asked after a few seconds of silence.

Her words made Chu Hua chuckle slightly but she quickly got herself under control as she replied, "Miss, are you joking? How can someone from a reputable family stoop so low? Of course, his family is poor and greedy. Otherwise, why would they have stolen the designs?" 

This time it was Li Ming who chuckled, a sound that was full of mockery. Everyone was surprised to hear her chuckle but her next words were even more surprising.

"Are you serious Miss Chu? You are telling me that a girl from a poor family entered into the well guarded General Manor and stole the designs of the dresses that your Eldest Young Miss had worked hard on? Do you know how stupid that sounds? Is the security system of the General manor so poor that they could not guard their house against a little girl? If a person couldn't even guard his own house properly how could you trust such a person to guard your entire Empire? This is so ridiculous!" Li Ming said while shaking her head.

Her mocking words against General Lan provoked Chu Hua who finally let out her true side from behind her facade.

"Are you insulting the Great General Lan?" Her voice was loud and full of anger.

"No. I'm not insulting anyone here. I'm just letting you know exactly how stupid your story sounds. Anyone with a brain can tell that your story actually makes no sense. I'm surprised that there are people in this world who actually believed you." Li Ming replied in her calm tone.

Her words were a direct punch at the faces of all the ladies, from different cities or Empires, who were present in the room. After all, most of them were regular customers of this shop and had listened to the story about the girl, who stole the designs of the Eldest Young Miss Lan, at some point during their visits. But just like most of the others, they believed the story.

While there were some who were not as stupid to believe the story but they were really not interested in finding out about what was the truth behind the story. They only wanted to buy good quality clothes and that's exactly what they did, ignoring everything else.

The ladies weren't happy to be called idiots bluntly by a little girl but they stayed silent, not wanting to end up in the wrong books of the girl if by any chance she was from some reputed family.

"And before I leave, let me clear one of your misunderstandings Miss Chu. When it comes to stooping low, no one can beat those from the high-class families." She said in a steady but cold tone.

Before Chu Hua and the other ladies, who belonged to the said high-class families, could speak or more like shout at her in anger, Li Ming stopped them.

"No need to argue. We all know the truth behind the elegant and polished image of our families and we all know exactly how low our families can bend for their gain. So, there's no need in fighting with me over a topic that is not even debatable. I'll take my leave now." Li Ming gave a side glance to everyone present in the room before leaving the shop with the little boy.

Chu Hua gritted her teeth in anger as she looked at the girl as she left the shop with that boy. She didn't wait anymore and immediately left the shop as she hurried towards the General manor.

She would tell her Master about that arrogant bitch and then would see exactly who's the idiot when her Master would show that girl her true place.