The man held a wooden box in his hand, inside of which was a jade hairpin—a floral and bird design. The craftsmanship was exquisite, but in his eyes, it was too ordinary to be considered striking.

Sarah Sullivan's face was livid with anger. She stood at the doorway with her hands on her hips, shouting, “The Li family also does jewelry business. You’re from the Li family—how could you buy something from my shop?”

The jewelry trade in Bianjing wasn’t considered a major business; it couldn’t compare with textiles, porcelain, or tea. Still, the city’s prosperity had nurtured several great merchants, with the Li and Wang families at the top. Even the ladies in the palace favored their jewelry.

Anna Turner was the young master of the Li family from the outer city. Hearing Sarah Sullivan’s retort, he sneered, “Today I came to Minglou to meet friends and sent my servant to support your business. If you’re not grateful, so be it, but to treat me so coldly—let me ask you, is this hairpin from your shop or not?”

Each shop’s jewelry craftsmen were different, so naturally, each had its own style.

Sarah Sullivan didn’t need to look closely to know it was from Baibaozhai. She gritted her teeth. “Every hairpin in my shop is inspected. We would never sell you a defective product.”

“Hmph.”

Anna Turner’s own family was in the jewelry business, so he was an expert. If he hadn’t caught something, he wouldn’t have come. He handed over the hairpin. “See for yourself. If you won’t admit it, fine. I, Anna Turner, can’t be bothered to argue with a woman.”

Yanglou Street was already bustling, and many ladies and young misses gathered to watch. Many frowned, whispering among themselves, even taking out their own hairpins to examine them closely—clearly, they had also bought from Baibaozhai.

If she was exposed for passing off shoddy goods, business would drop by eighty percent tomorrow. After all, there was more than one jewelry shop on this street.

Sarah Sullivan took the wooden box and examined it carefully. Inside was the shop’s signature jade floral and bird hairpin, carved entirely from jade, with two new lines of tiny characters engraved overnight: “The light rain on Heavenly Street is as soft as oil; the grass looks green from afar, but up close, it’s not.”

These were the famous lines of Lord Yuchi, which had been widely circulated these past two days.

The jade hairpin was expensive, and with the popularity of the poem, it was very popular among young ladies. Eight had been sold just today, all bought by wealthy young men to please beauties.

There was nothing wrong with the hairpin itself, but there was a flaw in the two lines of tiny characters. The character for “润” had too many strokes, and the lowest dot was carved unsteadily, slightly ruining the neat and beautiful appearance.

This tiny flaw was impossible for ordinary people to spot, but in the hands of an expert, it was a different story. It was like a master painter making a single wrong stroke—the difference between something priceless and worthless.

“Well? Didn’t notice?”

Anna Turner smiled playfully. “A merchant’s foundation is honesty. You rushed to finish this overnight and dared to sell it for twenty taels of silver without careful inspection. I think your Shen family is blinded by money. Do you think my Li family couldn’t make this overnight? We just don’t want to ruin our reputation...”

Next, Anna Turner began telling the ladies and misses how careful his own craftsmen were, that they had the same hairpins but never with flaws. His intentions were obvious.

The petite woman trembled with anger, but since she was in the wrong, she couldn’t argue back.

William Carter leaned against the pillar of Baibaozhai, watching with great interest. Being in the jewelry business himself, how could he not see what was going on?

Clearly, Baibaozhai had a good idea, rushed to make these engraved hairpins overnight, and they became a hit. The competitor was a step behind, so they seized the chance to cause trouble and steal business.

But flies don’t bite seamless eggs. Engraving characters on a slender jade hairpin required each stroke to be perfect. The craftsman’s skill had to be top-notch. The difference between two strokes and one was huge, and it couldn’t be faked later. Baibaozhai was bound to take this loss.

See, this is what happens when you’re not professional.

When you run into a professional who knowingly buys fakes, paying ten times the price is light—ruining your reputation and going bankrupt is possible.

He shook his head and sighed, thinking it was none of his business and preparing to leave, when suddenly he felt a pain on his head.

“Watch out!”

“Ouch!”

A man’s and a woman’s voice rang out at the same time.

There was a dull thud, then something fell to the ground, bouncing several times with a clatter.

A wooden stick!

An assassination attempt?

He clutched his head and quickly stepped aside, looking up angrily, only to see at the second-floor window of Baibaozhai, a woman covering her mouth in shock. Apparently, she had been watching the commotion at the window and accidentally knocked down the stick propping it open.

“Sir, are you... are you alright?”

===Chapter 11: Only Skill Matters===

On Yanglou Street, beneath Baibaozhai.

Master Carter clutched his forehead and looked up at the window above. Since he’d arrived, there had been an accident almost every day—he was nearly used to it.

“Sir... are you alright?”

On the second floor of Baibaozhai, a woman leaned at the window, covering her mouth, her eyes full of panic.

Seeing she wasn’t an assassin, he breathed a little easier and waved his hand. “I’m fine. Just be more careful next time.”

Rubbing his aching head, he glanced at the woman and suddenly felt something was off.

This scene... why did it look exactly like Pan Jinlian’s first encounter with Ximen Qing!

He looked up and studied her carefully—she really was a rather attractive woman. Raising his eyebrows, he asked, “Miss, your name isn’t Jinlian, is it?”

The woman at the window was stunned, not understanding, and shook her head apologetically. “My surname is Su, given name Xiangning—not the person you mentioned, sir.”

William Carter let out a sigh of relief, picked up the wooden stick from the ground, and tossed it back up forcefully. “You nearly scared me to death. Falling objects from high up are dangerous. If you’d hit Ximen Qing, you’d be in real trouble...”

“小苏!”