She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

Chapter 359 Falling into a Trap

The tea shop was packed with people, all crowding the entrance and arguing angrily with the shop assistant.

When Madam Lin saw this scene, she felt the winter chill seep into her whole body, and her hands and feet became cold.

Before coming to the tea shop, she had imagined that four or five regular customers would come to cancel their orders.

To everyone's surprise, nearly 30% of the people showed up.

The shopkeeper got off the carriage at the back and turned pale when he saw the bustling scene in the shop.

Because they were regular customers, the shopkeeper recognized that these people were all servants of high-ranking officials and nobles.

If this isn't handled properly today, the tea shop might suffer a major disaster.

"Madam, please don't get involved, I'll handle it..." Before the shopkeeper could finish speaking, he saw Granny Sun helping Madam Lin down from the carriage. He said anxiously, "The shop is crowded and chaotic, these uncouth servants don't know their place and might offend you..."

Old Madam Lin interrupted him, "Any official could crush you, do you think you can handle that?"

The shopkeeper was speechless.

As Madam Lin walked toward the tea shop with her cane, she heard a commotion coming from afar.

“You said that all the tea leaves for this year were sold out, and there was no extra tea to sell elsewhere, so you took the opportunity to raise the price of tea several times over. Our master thought that tea was in high demand and a scarce commodity, so he paid you whatever price you asked for, without missing a single penny.”

"And what happened? A newly opened tea shop in the capital sells the same tea as you, and at a price that's even cheaper than your original price. Not only is the quality outstanding, but the supply is also plentiful."

The head servant, his expression turning indignant, said, "Is this how you treat your old customers?"

"That's right. Their manager told our master that next year's new tea production might not be enough to meet demand, and the price of the new tea would have to double. Our master trusted their manager and paid the full amount without saying a word."

"It's not just that. Your master bought some a few days ago for only one hundred taels of silver per pound of top-grade Maojian tea. Our master bought some a few days later and now it costs several hundred taels per pound. The shopkeeper said that the supply couldn't meet the demand, so he had no choice but to raise the price. That's understandable, since things are valued for their scarcity. But who knew that the tea our master bought at such an exorbitant price wouldn't even cost one hundred taels of silver per pound at other shops, and the quality was even better than at this tea shop?"

The crowd grew increasingly angry as they listened: "Give us our money back! We're not buying it!"

The shop assistant was overwhelmed and sweating profusely: "You guys need to talk this out. Arguing won't solve anything."

The crowd wouldn't listen to a word, shouting louder and louder, "Give us our money back! Give us our money back!"

Hearing this, Madam Lin understood the reasons why her regular customer wanted to cancel the order.

A new tea shop has opened in the capital, selling high-quality tea with ample supply and reasonable prices.

In contrast, regular customers who bought tea from her not only paid high prices but also couldn't get the tea in stock.

That was bad enough, but within half a month, the price of tea had dropped significantly.

Nobody wants to be a sucker, and be laughed at behind their back for being a loser.

The old customer couldn't swallow this insult, so he sent his servant to return the money.

"Please be quiet, everyone." Madam Lin stood before the crowd, leaning on her cane, and said calmly, "We are in business and would never cheat you. You are all regular customers of our tea shop, and you should know that we are the most trustworthy."

When the crowd saw Madam Lin appear, some of them looked surprised, seemingly not expecting that this tea shop belonged to the Lin family.

The other group remained calm, because they had come with their master to buy tea and had met the Lin family in private, so they knew very well who owned the tea shop.

Even so, they were not afraid of the Lin family.

Because the Lin family has lost power and is no longer as prosperous as before.

Their master held a higher position in the court than the Lin family, making him someone the Lin family wanted to win over. Therefore, they were not intimidated when facing Old Madam Lin and were quite confident.

The crowd sneered: "If you valued integrity, why would you lie to us that you had no tea? And why would you take advantage of the situation to raise prices?"

“We in Northern Qi really don’t have any tea to sell anymore. Nowadays, several countries are trading with each other, and the tea shop that has just opened in the capital might be getting its tea from other countries.”

After explaining, Madam Lin said sincerely, "This was our mistake, and we are willing to lower the price. We will supply tea to your master according to the market price, based on how much silver your master paid."

“Our master couldn’t buy any tea in stock, so he ordered next year’s new tea. Now that we have a supply of tea, why do we have to wait until next year?” The crowd’s attitude was firm, showing no mercy whatsoever: “Either give us the tea or refund our money.”

Seeing their determined look, Madam Lin gripped her cane tighter.

She was born into wealth and lived a smooth life. When did she get forced to this point?

He was still being forced by a group of inferior people.

Madam Lin looked very upset, yet she was helpless.

Because she wanted to make money from money, she put all her spare money into lending at high interest rates, so where would she get the money to pay them back?

To quell the situation without offending their master, the only option is to offer them tea.

Old Madam Lin gritted her teeth and relented: "I'll find a way to transfer the tea to you."

The moment she agreed, someone quietly slipped out of the crowd to inform Shen Qingtan.