The Safe Was Forced Open

Qingfeng said with some regret, "Then during the academy examination, won't you be taking the exam all by yourself?"

Four grown men, plus a few old women, watching the girl take the exam alone—just imagining that scene made Qingfeng feel quite frightened.

"There's nothing we can do about it," Zhao Ruxi said helplessly.

The two girls from the Capital Women's Academy ranked last in the county examination, so it's normal that they didn't pass the prefectural examination. From now on, Zhao Ruxi will have to walk the road alone, without any female companions.

However, the scene Qingfeng imagined, which might be terrifying to other women, was nothing in Zhao Ruxi's eyes.

Hadn't she experienced enough grand events in her past life? This is nothing at all.

After the provincial examination, the painting training classes in various provinces also ended. Zhao Ruxi suddenly had a lot more free time.

That day, she summoned Zhou Chun and asked, "Are the workshops and shops doing well lately?"

Zhou Chun said, "There are two things I need to tell you, young lady. One is that ten days ago, a family's safe was broken into, and all the jewelry inside was stolen. The family originally wanted to cause trouble at the shop, but they were probably afraid that this shop belonged to the Emperor, so they didn't dare to cause trouble. They just came to the shop and cried to Manager Shi."

"The young lady was taking the imperial examination at the time, and I didn't dare disturb her. I asked Manager Shi to report the man to the authorities, and then I said a few words of reassurance and intimidation to him, and he went home. Later, we never found out who stole it."

"There's another matter. The head of the Little Peach Manor, which was given to him by the Princess, inadvertently learned that the servants of the Egret Manor run a rice noodle shop. He approached me and subtly mentioned that he also wanted to start a business to increase the servants' income. I said I had to ask the young lady before I could give him an answer."

Zhao Ruxi nodded. "I'll keep the matter of the Little Peach Manor in mind. If I come up with any good ideas, I'll let you know."

She didn't interfere with the Little Peach Manor initially because it was a gift from Grand Princess Shangde, and she couldn't just start interfering and making changes as soon as she took over. The servants of the Little Peach Manor were also getting by.

Now she runs a textile factory with Grand Princess Shangde, and their relationship is quite close. So much time has passed, and the servants of the Little Peach Manor have remained well-behaved, without causing any trouble despite having a lower-status master. In that case, she should think of a way for the servants of the Little Peach Manor to make a living.

Recalling the thief, she laughed and said, "I thought thieves would break into the safe in two or three months, but I never imagined they were so incompetent that it took them half a year to open the lock."

Zhou Chun: "..." Is this girl hoping a thief will pick her lock?

"Call Shi Chao, and have him bring the register with him," Zhao Ruxi instructed.

"Yes."

At this time, Zhao Ruxi was not in Beining but at home. Baoning Pavilion was not far from the Earl of Suiping's Residence, and Shi Chao arrived in no time.

Zhao Ruxi didn't take the register from his hand, and asked, "When we sold the safes, I asked you to verify the customer information. Did you do it diligently?"

"Yes, young lady, for every safe sold, I had someone register the address. Upon delivery, I had it checked to ensure the buyer's identity and address were correct before stopping."

Zhou Chun, standing nearby, also testified, "Manager Shi diligently carried out all of the young lady's instructions. I even checked them at the time and found that they were indeed done very well."

Zhao Ruxi then asked, "Did you do the registration and verification yourself, or did you have someone else do it?"

"I was afraid of making a mistake, so I put a colleague named Cheng Hongyun in charge of this matter. I also kept a close eye on things, and the two of us supervised each other to prevent any errors or omissions," Shi Chao said.

"Did you notice anything strange during the registration process?" Zhao Ruxi asked again.

Shi Chao thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes."

"Around the time of the Lunar New Year, someone wanted to buy a safe and insisted on picking it up himself, refusing to have it delivered. The shop assistant told him that this was a rule set by the owner. They wouldn't dare sell it to a customer if it wasn't delivered to their door. The man was initially very angry, saying he wouldn't buy it and stormed off. But a few days later, he still went and bought a safe."

"The errand boy who delivered the safe returned and reported to me that the family was very strange. They lived in a dilapidated alley in the north of the city, in a small and run-down house; the family was dressed in plain clothes, and there wasn't even a servant in the house. It was their two sons who came out to help carry the safe up. How could such a family be willing to spend eight hundred taels of silver on a safe? What valuable things did they have to store there?"

"Because we sell safes, the guys have seen quite a few customers. Some don't want to flaunt their wealth; they may look ordinary on the surface, but they're actually quite rich, or they have things they consider very important that they need to store, so they're willing to spend money on a safe. But these kinds of customers at least wear silk, have a few servants, and live in houses that, while not necessarily the best, are at least in a decent location and well-maintained. We've never seen anyone as poor as this family."

Zhao Ruxi nodded. "Is that all? Is there anything else strange?"

Shi Chao said, "Yes. What's even stranger is that less than a month later, another family came to buy a safe. This family lived not far from the first one, and they seemed to be in even worse financial condition."

"Because this matter is rather strange, I personally investigated twice and found that both families were extremely ordinary. The first family ran a small business, earning hard-earned money and living frugally; the second family, who bought the safe, lived alone and didn't have a proper business, seemingly just a street thug."

"Because they left a deep impression, the little man remembered them very well."

When Zhao Ruxi first instructed them to register and verify the information of the safe purchaser, Shi Chao and the shop assistants didn't understand her intentions. They felt that Zhao Ruxi was doing something unnecessary, making them do a lot more work for no reason, and they even had some complaints.

You see, people who can afford safes already have servants and carriages at home. They can just buy the safe and take it home; why would they need a shop to deliver it?

The young woman set a rule that, under the pretext of insufficient supply, she would not ship the goods on the spot, but would ask the customers to leave their addresses, and then have her errand boy deliver the goods to their door the next day. She would also verify whether the address registered by the customer matched the delivery address, and incidentally, check the family's financial situation.

He didn't understand at the time, but when Zhao Ruxi asked just now, Shi Chao had already vaguely realized her intention. He immediately admired his daughter's foresight.

"Go to the yamen now and tell the head constable about the situation of these two households. Tell him that you felt their situation was a bit strange and ask them to investigate these two households," Zhao Ruxi said.

"Yes, young lady." Shi Chao bowed respectfully and withdrew.