Chapter 56 - Partners (Part One)

"You are..." 

The young man trailed off as he failed in recognizing the girl who was once again fixing her veil in place. He had never seen her before, not including the last time when they encountered each other for the very first time.

"You can call me Xiao Yue." The girl spoke after she had successfully put on the veil, once again hiding half of her face beneath the cover.

The expression on the First Young Master Gu's face made her chuckle. The man was probably trying to recall if he had ever heard her name before or not. Of course, he had never heard any kind of mention f her name before this.

"First Young Master Gu, neither can you recognize my face nor are you able to recognize my name. So let's not go too deep about my identity. You just need to know that I'm someone who can help you out of your current miserable state." She again spoke in a calm tone as she fixed her gaze on the young man.

"You..." The guard, who had been silently standing against the wall all this time, seemed to not like her choice of words as he moved to take out his sword but was stopped by his master. 

The First Young Master, Gu Chen Xi, observed the girl who was calmly looking around the room and its tattered state. He turned towards his guard and ordered, "Tell the manager to prepare another room for us." 

The guard immediately left to complete his task but not before throwing a quick warning look in her direction which only made her scoff inside her mind.

"What do you want?" Gu Chen asked as soon as the guard left. He returned his attention to the girl who was like a mystery box, he was having a hard time finding out her actual motive behind approaching someone like him.

Jiang Ying Yue was silent for a few seconds before she finally decided to answer his question. "I want to sign a partnership contract with you for your Garment Shop. I want to restart the business that you shut down two years ago." 

Ever since General Gu and Young Marquis left the Capital three years ago to assist the Princes on the borders, the Prime Minister and Grand Scholar Manors decided to take advantage of the situation to attack General Manor in silence which was left in the hands of an eighteen-year-old Gu Chen Xi. 

They wanted to weaken General Gu's standing in the Capital in his absence. After all, because of their command over the army, General Manor had successfully established a close connection with all three Princes and this alone was enough to make the General Manor rise in power. How could the other powerful noble families sit silently and let it happen?

Unfortunately, over time, Gu Chen Xi lost his connection with his father and elder brother who were too busy fighting at the borders to keep the citizens of their Empire safe and sound. The poor boy wasn't good either in martial arts or in business. He was a scholar who had never seen such harsh sides of life.

As time passed and more problems surfaced, Gu Chen Xi had no other option left. At the last moment, he decided to do exactly what his enemies wanted to do with him and his family. He let the prestige of General Manor sink so that he could save his mother's life and buy some time to think of a plan to get in contact with his father or brother.

At that time he had no idea that there was no more hope left for him. Not only his enemies had been stopping his letters from reaching his father, but they also made sure that all the businesses running under General Manor would come to a stop soon enough.

The Garment Shop was one of those businesses and back when it was in its full bloom, it was one of the most profitable businesses of the General manor. But it had been nearly two years since the shop was closed by Gu Chen and all of a sudden, this mysterious girl was talking about reopening it.

"What do you mean?" Gu Chen found himself asking as he kept his eyes fixed on the girl.

A sigh escaped Jiang Ying Yue's lips as she stopped her assessment of the poor condition of the room and focused her attention on the Young Master as she questioned, "Am I talking in a foreign language? How come you are having a hard time understanding such a simple thing? I'm saying that I want to become your business partner to reopen the Clothes Store owned by your family." 

Gu Chen was silent as he tried to put his thoughts into words. "I understood that part. But what I'm trying to ask is why... Why do you want to become my business partner? Aren't you aware of my condition? There are so many risks and uncertainties. Why are you still wasting your time and effort on my shop?" 

Jiang Ying Yue chuckled softly as she heard his words. How badly she wanted to tell him that he was absolutely wrong about her. She wasn't wasting her time and effort, instead, she was trying her best to find a way to save as much money as possible.

And if making an enemy with the Prime Minister manor would give her benefit in her business then she had no problems with that. It was not like she had any personal problems with the Prime Minister or his family but she needed to think about her profit first and foremost.

She would surely have gone to Prime Minister Manor with a partnership deal if she hadn't found out that their entire family was filled with traitors and corrupted people who could do anything for money and power. She would rather become an enemy with such people instead of becoming their partner. 

Clearing her throat, she opened her mouth to answer Gu Chen's question in a serious and calm tone. "When I met you last time, I knew almost nothing about you or your story. I'm new here and all I want to do is to successfully establish my business here. The best way to do that is to find a powerful backing in the Capital." 

She stopped for a second as she looked directly into his dark eyes before continuing, "After doing a lot of investigation, I found out about all that is currently going on in the Capital. Of course, my first choice was Prime Minister Manor but I don't want to work with such people who won't think twice before ending my life for their benefit if such a situation appeared in the future. Almost all the powerful families here are either partners or underlings of the Prime Minister. You are my last option left... and after a lot of thinking, I have decided to place my bet on you." 

To say that Gu Chen was surprised by her straightforwardness would be an understatement. He was not expecting her to come clean with him. Though there were still many questions swirling in his brain, he could tell that she was not lying to him.

"But our General Manor is no longer what it was supposed to be in the past..." That was all he could say before he trailed off.

"I know. No matter how much you want to hear otherwise, the truth is that the current condition of your General Manor is really in tatters. But it is also true that, unlike others, you won't betray your savior. Besides, I'm sure once General Gu and Young Marquis will return, things will only turn better. Once again, I'm only thinking about my benefits, and currently... you seemed like someone from whom I can benefit a lot." Jiang Ying Yue spoke truthfully, not finding any reason to hide her true motives.

"You..." Gu Chen stared at the girl but failed to find any words to speak. It suddenly seemed like she was ready to exploit him. 

"What's your plan? What do you want to do with the shop?" He asked after a few minutes of silence, right before his guard knocked on the door. 

"You can keep the ownership of the shop but I want you to sign a partnership contract with me. I'll be an equal partner, an equal boss of the store. Besides, we will divide the profit into 65 and 35. I'll take 65 and you will take 35. And before you speak... I'm the one who's going to put all the effort into the shop, I'm the one who's going to face all the hardships, I'm the one who will be working day and night... Naturally, I'm the one who deserves the bigger share of the profit." Jiang Ying Yue made sure to not leave any place for an argument. 

"But..." Gu Chen tried to speak but the girl stopped him.

"No need to worry about your enemies. Spread the rumor that because of financial problems, you have sold your Cloth Shop to someone. They won't target you after that."