After being forced to leave the marriage, I became the wife of a top scholar.

Chapter 257 Destroyed in an Instant (Part 1)

If it's not the Du family's fabric, whose fabric could it be?
They bought this inferior fabric, so they need to find a place to seek redress.

Just as everyone was wavering and discussing, one of the men who had been stirring up trouble in the crowd stepped forward and said arrogantly, "Manager, what use is this fabric that you've shown us now?"

"The quality of this fabric is something your fabric shop can control."

“You sold us inferior fabric before, who knows if you’re using good fabric now? You can’t prove that the inferior fabric didn’t come from your Du Family Fabric Shop just because you produced a piece of good fabric.”

The man drew people's attention back, and they all nodded in agreement.

The young waiter looked nervously at Manager Du. He had been dealing with these customers for the past few days and knew all too well what it was like to stand here.

Hopefully, Manager Du really has a way to resolve this farce and clear the Du family's name.

Just as the young shop assistant was starting to worry, Manager Du remained calm and composed, still wearing a polite smile, and said, "Gentlemen, as this young master said, even if I were to present high-quality fabric now, it would not prove that this inferior fabric is not from our Du Family Fabric Shop."

The man's face lit up with a smug look when he heard Manager Du admit it himself.

But unexpectedly, Steward Du changed the subject, saying, "However, fellow villagers, I can take you to our warehouse."

“Our Du Family Cloth Shop does not have such inferior cloth, not even a single bolt.”

"If you can find such a piece of inferior cloth in our Du family warehouse, our Du family cloth shop is willing to provide your whole family with cloth free of charge for life, regardless of style."

As soon as Steward Du finished speaking, many people in the crowd began to get eager to try.

"Being able to get fabric from the Du family's cloth shop for free for a lifetime would be an incredible benefit."

"Yes! This way, our whole family can have more clothes made for the New Year in the future."

Manager Du looked at the crowd discussing animatedly, his gaze subtly falling on the man who had just started the commotion.

This time, the man didn't seem to intend to stop them. He simply turned his head and looked past the crowd at the carriage parked at the alley entrance.

The person inside the carriage lifted the curtain and nodded to the man. The man looked away and asked loudly, "Since Steward Du is so confident, then we won't stand on ceremony."

One sentence made the people who were already eager to try even more excited. They all rubbed their hands together and stared at Manager Du with bright eyes.

Manager Du bowed slightly, extended his right hand, and gestured to the crowd to invite them in.

"Then please follow me."

After saying that, Du Guan took a step ahead, and the young waiter, who had been stunned for a few seconds, immediately followed. The crowd followed closely behind, and this lively scene attracted more people from Yangzhou to watch.

The streets suddenly became incredibly lively.

At the alley entrance, the person inside the carriage couldn't suppress his laughter and burst out laughing.

Uncle Kui lifted the carriage curtain and looked inside at the cheerful Third Master Fang.

"Third Master! Should we go and take a look? The Du family is making such a big fuss all of a sudden; I'm afraid they might be up to something."

Master Fang flung his folding fan aside and sneered, "Uncle Kui, others may not know, but don't you know?"

"The Du family has now brought trouble upon themselves!"

"I never imagined that Bai Wanqing would be so stupid as to dig her own grave this time."

Uncle Kui frowned and insisted, "Third Master, why don't we go and take a look too?"

Third Master Fang glared at Uncle Kui, then, realizing he would see the Du family suffer, nodded in agreement.

"Okay! Let's go!"

So, Uncle Kui drove his carriage and followed the crowd to the Du family's warehouse.

The Du family's warehouse was not far from the Du family's cloth shop, and it was also a large mansion.

Butler Du gestured to the young shop assistant to open the storeroom, but the young shop assistant was so anxious that tears were about to fall. He could only lean close to Butler Du and whisper.

"Manager Du, we don't have any cloth in our warehouse!"

"Have you forgotten?"

Manager Du smiled and patted the young waiter on the shoulder, "It's alright! Just drive."

The young waiter gritted his teeth, thinking to himself, "Fine! Since the manager is making way, I'll open it!"
Since I'm going to die sooner or later anyway, I might as well die sooner and be reborn sooner!

Then, with a "click," the young shop assistant opened the door to the Du family's cloth shop warehouse.

Everyone followed Manager Du inside, where they saw stacks of wooden crates neatly arranged in the warehouse.

No one reacted; they had come here specifically to see the Du family's fabrics!

The young shop assistant was stunned. How could the warehouse, which was empty just a few days ago, suddenly be full?

The young waiter looked at Manager Du beside him in disbelief. Manager Du simply smiled and told the waiter to bring the boxes out.

Just as the young waiter was about to lift his foot, the man stepped out from the crowd again.

"The one in charge of the Du family!"

"If you send your men to move fabric now, they certainly won't move inferior fabric!"

"I wonder if you dare to let us move it ourselves and see for ourselves?"

After the man finished speaking, he gave a wicked smile. Master Fang had already told him that the Du family's warehouse now only had inferior cloth left.

In a moment, these inferior fabrics will be exposed to the public, and even if the Du family had hundreds of mouths, they would be unable to explain themselves clearly.

And then he would receive the hundred taels of gold that the Fang family had promised him.

A hundred taels of gold! Enough to ensure his descendants for generations to come live a life of comfort and security.

Thinking of this, the man became even more eager! His gaze toward Steward Du became even sharper.

When the young waiter heard the man's question, he hesitated and stopped, looking at Manager Du.

Manager Du remained calm and said with a smile, "Alright! Since everyone doesn't trust us, then come and see for yourselves."

"But before you look, please hand over any inferior fabrics you have."

"It would be bad if the two types of fabric were confused and caused unnecessary misunderstandings."

Upon hearing this, everyone agreed that it made sense, and they handed over all the inferior fabrics they had brought.

Manager Du then stepped aside from the warehouse door, allowing everyone to enter.

Everyone picked out the boxes that caught their eye, and soon more than thirty boxes were pointed out.

Steward Du instructed the servants of the Du family to move these boxes out of the storeroom and to open them on the spot.

The servants moved swiftly, opening all thirty-odd boxes in no time and filling the entire courtyard.

The cloth inside the box was now fully exposed to everyone's view.

People gathered around the box they had chosen to see what it contained. The man stood in front of his chosen box and then took out a piece of cloth from it.

The pattern on this fabric is unmistakably that of a low-quality fabric.

just
The man's heart sank as soon as he took out the cloth.

This texture, this feel! Something's not right!

Not only the men, but everyone else was also holding the cloth and discussing it animatedly.

"This fabric is indeed different from the fabric we bought a few days ago!"

"Yes! It's obviously much thicker than the ones we bought."

"If we were to say that we selected these boxes, could it be that the inferior fabric really wasn't from the Du Family Cloth Shop?"

People began to question the origin of the fabrics they bought.

The man was also a little flustered. Something was wrong! Didn't Third Master Fang tell him that the Du family's cloth shop only had this kind of inferior cloth left?
But these boxes in front of us are clearly filled with the finest fabrics!
What... what on earth is going on?!
The man was somewhat skeptical. He went through box after box, but without exception, they were all filled with the finest fabrics.

The man pursed his lips, his voice trembling slightly as he questioned Steward Du, "You...you Du family must have taken advantage of these past two days to replace all the inferior fabrics."

"That's why you dared to put on such a show today!"

"In the end, it's just that your Du Family Cloth Shop doesn't want to compensate us!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked up at Steward Du.

"Has it really been changed?"

"That's possible! Otherwise, why didn't the Du family's cloth shop let us come and see it a few days ago, but only now are they letting us come?"

Seeing that everyone was still on his side, the man felt a little more confident.

Manager Du extended his hand and said, "Everyone, I will answer all your questions."

"But before that, I have a question for everyone."

"Did you find any substandard fabric in these boxes?"

Upon hearing this, everyone shook their heads, and someone shouted from the crowd, "No!"

“The boxes we see are full of the finest fabrics! There are no inferior ones.”

The young waiter was quite excited after hearing this. He looked at Steward Du with great admiration. He truly deserved to be the boss's trusted man. He did things like magic. He was really amazing.

Manager Du nodded in satisfaction after receiving everyone's response.

"Very well! Since the Du family's cloth shop doesn't have any inferior cloth in its warehouse."

"Next, I'll tell you whose this inferior fabric is."

Someone asked first, "How did you know?"

Steward Du calmly said, "I didn't know, but this incident will have the biggest impact on the reputation of our Du family."

"We've been searching everywhere these past few days, and thankfully, our efforts have paid off, and we've finally found it."

"This also explains why our Du family is only now giving everyone an explanation."

The man's eyes widened as he listened. What was going on?
What exactly is the Du family up to now?

At this moment, Master Fang's carriage arrived at the gate of the Du family's courtyard. Contrary to expectations, the people inside the courtyard were unusually quiet.

Third Master Fang pursed his lips and asked, "What's going on?"

"Didn't you get things done this Saturday?"

Uncle Kui looked at the people in the courtyard with concern, feeling that things were not as they had imagined.

Soon, an elderly man who had bought a lot of inferior fabrics came out from the crowd.

"Manager Du, since you say you already know, then why don't you tell me whose this inferior fabric it is!"

"Yeah, yeah! I knew it! The Du family wouldn't produce such inferior fabric."

“We didn’t think much when we bought it; we just trusted the Du family.”

"Now it seems we've been fooled!"

"Wait! Did you buy this floral fabric from Du's Cloth Shop?"

It seemed that someone in the crowd had finally thought of this problem.

"No! No, I remember now, we bought this cheap floral fabric from the Fang family's fabric shop."

"There are also other fabric shops that the Fang family collaborates with."

"But didn't the Fang family also get their fabric from the Du family's cloth shop?"

"Could it be."

"Did the Fang family cloth shop sell inferior goods as superior ones?"

Gradually, all the discussions in the crowd turned against the Fang family.

As Fang Sanye and Kui Shu stood at the door, the more they listened, the more suspicious they became!

"Oh no! Third Master, this is probably a trap set by the Du family!" Uncle Kui was the first to react, and he hurriedly said to Third Master Fang.

Master Fang didn't believe it! This was clearly a trap set by the Fang family for the Du family, how could it have become a trap set by the Du family for the Fang family?

Seeing that Master Fang remained unmoved, Uncle Kui sighed inwardly and directly led the horse that was harnessed to the carriage out.

Upon seeing this, Third Master Fang quickly asked, "Uncle Kui, what are you doing!"

"Without the horse, the carriage is useless. How am I supposed to get home?"

Uncle Kui turned around and frowned, saying, "Please, Third Master, go back!"

After saying that, Uncle Kui rode away on his horse, leaving Third Master Fang standing by the carriage, jumping up and down in anger.

"You old scoundrel, you're a complete scoundrel! How dare you leave me here all alone!"

"Once I get back to the Fang family, I will make sure you don't get away with this!"

No longer caring about watching the Du family's commotion, Third Master Fang turned and walked towards the Fang family's direction.

Their actions were witnessed by Zhou Liu, who was utterly devastated.

It seems he won't get the money the Fang family promised him!

Staying here any longer might only implicate him; it's best to leave now.

So, taking advantage of the still-chaotic situation in the Du family courtyard, Saturday quietly slipped out of the Du family residence and quickly disappeared into the bustling streets.

Those who remained in the Du family mansion were now waiting for Steward Du to give them a conclusion.

When Steward Du talked about the Fang family, he showed no fear whatsoever.

"That's right! Everyone seems to have remembered now!"

"These inferior fabrics were not supplied by our Du family, but came from the Fang family's cloth shop!"

"Everyone should go to Fang's Cloth Shop to settle this matter!"

The expressions on the faces of the people in the courtyard began to turn indignant! Looking for the Fang family? Did they have a death wish?!

Are they destined to swallow this bitter pill in silence this time?

Seeing this, Steward Du waved his hand! Five or six carriages suddenly appeared at the gate of the Du family's residence.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Today, the reputation of our Du Family Cloth Shop has been damaged because of the Fang Family Cloth Shop."

"You were also deceived because you bought inferior fabric."

"We are both victims!"

"Do any of you dare to join me in demanding justice from the Fang family's cloth shop?"

People began to hesitate, not because they didn't want to, but because they dared not!

Just then, the woman who had stepped forward first raised her hand.

"I go!"

"This world is already in a state of chaos and confusion! If no one goes to dispel this fog, will justice still exist in the world?"

"Moreover, the current claim about the inferior fabric is only from your Du family's cloth shop."

"I want to know the truth! I'll go with you!"

(End of this chapter)