Chapter 170 Something is going to happen
As they were leading the horse across the street, halfway through the road, there was suddenly a big group of people in the front, blocking the road.
Gu Xiran's brows twisted together.
This big group naturally didn’t specifically come to block him but they were gathered in front of a shop. Since it wouldn’t fit all of them, therefore they stood on the street and became a long stream of people.
"This is….," As Ranmo watched this, his face also darkened.
Gu Xiran casted him a glance and looked up at the sign of the shop. He just saw four powerful gold characters on the top—
Gu Family's Fragrance Shop.
It turned out to be Gu household's property. No wonder Ranmo's face also darkened. Since Gu Xiran stayed at Gu residence and almost never went out, he naturally hadn't been at this shop before.
He looked carefully and saw that the shop was different from the fragrance branch stores located elsewhere. The shop was very large. Just the doors, there were eight sliding doors. A few steps closer to the shop, one could smell the unique fragrance of the fragrance shop that floated along with the wind. It wasn’t strong but refreshing.
Ranmo said with a bitter face, "Second young master, this is our family's main store. Don’t know what happened. How come it's surrounded by so many people?"
Gu Xiran took over the reins from Ranmo and said, "Go and check it out. Come back quickly."
After Ranmo promised and immediately ran over to the shop. He disappeared into the crowd like a slippery loach. After a while, he rushed back in full sweat and reported anxiously, "Second young master, something has really happened. Many people inside are making a fuss about returning the goods. They are saying that our home-made fragrances are mixed with fake ingredients."
"Fake ingredients?"
Ranmo wiped his sweat and said, "Yes. It's said that it is mixed with ordinary wood powder. I didn’t listen carefully, so I don’t know if it's really the case. But the smell of the incense they lit is indeed not right. Even the burned ashes aren't quite the same as the authentic ashes of fragrances."
In ancient times, people paid attention to the credibility and the reputation of a business. There weren't many people who dared to make counterfeit goods for fear of getting a bad reputation and causing no one to dare to come to the shop. Therefore, if this matter was true, the consequences would be very grave.
Gu Xiran narrowed his eyes and said, "This isn't intentional coming to tear down our shop's reputation, right?"
Ranmo shook his head and said, "I secretly asked the shopkeeper and he said that a lot of these people are regular customers of the shop. They wouldn’t deliberately come cause trouble. He thinks that there's a problem with this new batch of fragrances. He has already sent people to the residence to tell master about it."
"Who is usually in charge of the production of the fragrances?"
As Ranmo thought about it, his face became darker. He said, "Originally, it was master. But master was sometimes very busy, so he would ask shopkeeper Tong to help. Now that shopkeeper Tong has left and master has fallen ill, this matter…this matter…."
Gu Xiran interrupted his (R) stuttering,"Who?"
"Madam's maid Wangqian…."
This was really a mess.
Gu Xiran looked at the people around him and shook his head. He said, "When this matter is reported to master, I'm afraid it's already late. Go pass on my words and say to the shopkeeper that the fragrances in question are no longer allowed to be sold again. Pay those who come to return ten times the price, speak well to them, and give some good-quality fragrance to them to send them away. After the people around the shop disperses, wait for master's orders on how to deal with the matter later on."
Ranmo was stunned and asked, "Then what about you, second young master?"
Getting to the bottom of this was a complicated matter. Gu Xiran didn’t have the intention of managing this mess at the moment and just asked, "Is there another way to go back?"
Ranmo was afraid that the matter would become bigger, so he naturally didn’t go back with him (GXR). He (R) pointed to a way that would take a bit longer than this one and then immediately went to the shopkeeper to pass on his (GXR) words.
Gu Xiran followed his (R) instructions and rushed all the way back to the residence.
When the doorkeeper saw him (GXR), he was stunned at first, and then immediately gave a fawning smile. He said eagerly, "Second young master, you have come back."
Gu Xiran ignored him. He only gave the horse's rein to him and strode to the door.
He didn’t go pay his respect to old madam but went to Plum Flower Pavilion first. All the way, the maids were surprised and flustered when they saw him. It made him feel more uneasy in his heart. He immediately began to run. After he ran up to the entrance of Plum Flower Pavilion, before he even entered, he could hear the laughter of the maids first. Even the yard was still the same as in the past. It was quiet and peaceful. It didn’t seem like something had happened.
He probably thought too much. Gu Xiran slightly calmed down.
However, when he crossed over the threshold, Qiaoyun who was laughing with Xiangqian saw him. She first exclaimed from surprise, afterwards she suddenly realized she had cried out involuntarily. She then nervously welcomed him and said with a forced smile, "Second young master, how come you have come back? Have you eaten yet? If not, I will go to the kitchen to let them bring dinner over…."
As she just said that, concubine Yun also came out after hearing the noise from the courtyard. When she saw him, she was also stunned. Afterwards, she accompanied him with her smile to pour him tea and water.
Their unusual expressions made Gu Xiran panic. As he walked to the main room, he asked, "Where is second young mistress? Is she still at old madam's and hasn’t come back yet?"
As soon as he asked this, the courtyard quieted down. No one dared to speak again.
Gu Xiran's feeling was so keen that he suddenly stopped. He turned, stared at concubine Yun and asked, "What has happened?"
"Second young mistress, she…." Concubine Yun knew Shu Huan's place in Gu Xiran's heart. She felt that her lips and teeth were glued together. She just couldn’t spit out the words "was divorced". Because if she said it, the peacefulness of the past two days at the residence would definitely change drastically.
Gu Xiran grasped her shoulder and said, "Speak. What happened to her?"
Concubine Yun's body swayed slightly. This was the first time he had taken the initiative to touch her but it was to inquire about Shu Huan.
She lowered her head to hide her emotions and said lightly, "Old madam handed her a letter of announcing divorce."
Letter of announcing divorce!
Gu Xiran's heart jumped fiercely. There was a moment of suffocation. After he calmed down, he quickly asked, "When was it?"
"It was…it was…." Concubine Yun was still stuttering and didn't dare say it.
Qiaoyun was an impetuous person. She was feeling impatient at watching her (Y) on the side. She boldly cut off her (Y) words and said, "It wasn’t long after second young master went out. It had already been ten days ago…."
Before she (Q) finished her sentence, Gu Xiran was engulfed with anger. He pushed concubine Yun away and ran out.
Qiaoyun was very stunned. That moment she glanced at him, she saw Gu Xiran's iron face with a look full of anger. She couldn’t help but be scared. After she came back to her senses, she saw concubine Yun and Xiangqian chase after him. Just at this moment she had realized that something was going to happen. She was shocked and chased in panic.
From afar, she saw Gu Xiran rush in the direction of Pine Crane Hall. Her heart jumped faster, secretly thinking whether second young master had gone crazy. She couldn’t believe that he actually wanted to find old madam and criticize her. Didn’t he know that he was the most promising person to take charge of the family business in the future? Was it worth falling out with old madam for someone who was no longer the daughter-in-law of Gu household?
Whether it was worth it or not, it was only up to Gu Xiran to decide this for himself.
When he heard that Shu Huan had been divorced and chased out of the residence, countless of thoughts passed through his mind and he speculated on countless problems she might have encountered after she had left Gu household. Thinking about that, there was suddenly a severe pain in his heart. In addition, there was also a sense of hostility spreading, which was a strong dissatisfaction and hatred for the despicable practices of old madam. His uneasiness that he had held back for the past few days had finally been confirmed.
After living for more than twenty years, he had never been so frightened and uneasy because of someone, nor had he ever hated someone so much.
Gu Xiran clenched his fist as he ran.
If something really had happened to Shu Huan, he would definitely bury the whole Gu household with her.