Chapter 201: Scheming (Part 2)

Luan Yuqiao, relying on this piece of intelligence, successfully stirred up the fighting spirit of his partner Zhang Kai.

But the other shopkeepers knew nothing of this.

Ever since "Tonglu Snow" had been sold beyond Tonglu, business at the shop had visibly declined. The "Jade Bridge" brand was stagnating, and year-end accounting was coming due.

Several shopkeepers had barely scraped through the New Year.

Seeing the opening banquet dragging on in such a lifeless manner, Luan Yuqiao raised his wine cup and declared loudly, "Everyone, eat and drink your fill, then go home and take inventory. Work resumes tomorrow!"

One shopkeeper, choosing his words carefully, hesitated and asked, "Boss, what do we do next?"

Luan Yuqiao was full of confidence but couldn't speak openly, fearing that if word got out, the plan would fail. He raised his cup to the heavens and delivered grand, rousing words: "The way of commerce is like the tide—it rises and falls. In days of old, the merchant sage Fan Li amassed fortunes three times, and none of it was done in a single day! That Qi woman is just a woman—what does she know about business? How could she succeed in the long run?"

The shopkeepers could tell these were empty platitudes. They exchanged glances, then rallied themselves and raised their cups in response, but their hearts were in their throats, restless and uneasy.

At that very moment, Qi Hongzhuang was also gathered with the ten managers of her dye workshops, listening to the results of their inventory counts.

The weather had not yet warmed, so they sat together eating noodles with sauce.

The atmosphere here was equally solemn. The managers, both men and women, wore worried expressions.

A female manager surnamed Shen reported one by one: "County Mistress, we currently have eighteen weaving rooms running day and night, producing three batches—that is, sixty bolts of cloth—per day. The moment cloth comes off the loom, I send it straight to dyeing. But Ningzhou alone requires a full hundred units. It's not that we aren't trying our best—it's just that..."

She slapped her thigh heavily, sighing with a mix of joy and worry: "When we signed the contract, we only thought about how wonderful it was—who knew it would sell this well!"

Qi Hongzhuang, dressed in practical work clothes and looking thoroughly capable, scooped hot sauce with a long ladle and poured it over her noodles. "Tell the weavers to take a break."

Manager Shen was taken aback: "County Mistress, this..."

"Weavers are people, not objects. Working them day and night like this won't do," she said calmly. "Money can be earned in any number of ways, but if people wear themselves sick, not even a fortune can buy back good health."

Hearing this, Manager Shen seemed about to speak but held back.

Qi Hongzhuang: "Say what's on your mind."

Manager Shen weighed her words: "County Mistress, has the Prefect given us any word?"

Qi Hongzhuang replied calmly, "He has. He said we have a way out."

At these words, the other managers and shopkeepers looked visibly relieved.

But Manager Shen showed no joy. She ladled sauce over her noodles with a heavy heart: "County Mistress, don't blame me, Shen Mei, for running my mouth."

Qi Hongzhuang took her bowl and mixed the sauce into the noodles for her: "Go on."

"Prefect Wenren supporting us has given us great face, to be sure. But I only believe in one saying: mountains may crumble, people may leave. Lord Wenren currently shares mutual benefit with you—it's all well and good between you, so all is well. But our operation has just gotten off the ground, and already we're scrambling. If the Prefect is promoted one day and leaves Tongzhou, won't we become the fattest piece of meat, ripe for anyone to carve up?"

Shen Mei was a widow. After her husband died, she had nearly been cast out of her in-laws' home. Fierce by nature, she had stormed the ancestral hall and fought through the courts to win herself a piece of property to stand on.

Thus, her hard-won wisdom was: the stronger one's own backing, the more firmly one stands. Advancing steadily and consolidating at every step—that was the superior strategy.

That was why, though she was perhaps the most diligent and meticulous of all the managers, she was also the most opposed to selling "Tonglu Snow" outside Tonglu.

Seeing Qi Hongzhuang silent, Shen Mei pressed on: "Consider me as boosting others' morale and deflating our own. You've shown us kindness, County Mistress, and we're willing to follow you without a second word. But Luan Yuqiao has the Zhang family behind him, and Zhang Kai has Grand Scholar Zhang behind him—they could crush us without breaking a sweat. The Prefect can help us once or twice, but would he truly oppose Grand Scholar Zhang for the sake of us merchants?"

Qi Hongzhuang pushed the bowl back to her: "As you say, cooperating with Zhang Kai or Luan Yuqiao would be most convenient for him—icing on the cake. So why would he insist on sending this fortune to our doorstep instead?"

Shen Mei was stumped for a moment, then speculated: "The Zhang and Luan families are closely intertwined. Even if the Prefect wanted a cut of that pie, he'd never get it."

"Is that how you see him?"

"Aren't all officials in every dynasty like that? Borrowing merchants' influence to make a fortune and buy themselves a road to promotion. County Mistress, we're afraid that after all our hustle and bustle, we'll end up as stepping stones for someone else."

Qi Hongzhuang looked around at the confused faces before her.

She set down her chopsticks, wiped her hands, and pointed at the wall: "On this trip to the prefectural office, Prefect Wenren not only gave us a way out—he also gave me a piece of calligraphy."

At this, everyone turned their gaze to the wall.

There, indeed, hung a newly framed scroll.

Someone chuckled: "Old Wu here can't read much more than a basketful of characters, but I can make these out."

He read aloud: "A single branch blooming alone... that's not spring?"

He asked Qi Hongzhuang: "County Mistress, what does that mean? Why don't you explain it to us?"

A rare smile tugged at the corner of Qi Hongzhuang's lips. She didn't play riddles with these shopkeepers of humble origins: "A hundred flowers blooming together—that is the true spring."

She gazed at the scroll: "What he means to protect is the entire business community of Tongzhou. We're merely the first flower to bloom. Tell me—would he let us wither on the vine?"

Even someone as worried as Shen Mei felt considerably calmer hearing these words.

She picked up her bowl, half-convinced: "There really are officials like that? And we got to meet one?"

Qi Hongzhuang stood up: "I helped him plant flowers in Nanting and cleared a road for him. When he first arrived in Tonglu, unfamiliar with the people and the place, I paved the way for him and backed him up. What's happening now is simply mutual courtesy."

After reassuring everyone at the table, she raised a cup of light wine and toasted the assembled managers: "Whatever Qi Hongzhuang has achieved today, I've done it shoulder to shoulder with all of you. Now, even if we have connections at the highest level, we still have to walk the path on our own two feet. I won't say pretty words—I only have three things to say to you all."

"First, we are all of commoner origin. What kind of cloth the common folk want—we know very well in our hearts."

"Second, the workers are also of commoner origin. What they're thinking, we don't need to play dumb about—it's simply more pay and less work. If the work is heavy, don't be stingy with extra wages and extra meals."

"Third, no one is allowed to eat special meals on the side. Only by eating and sleeping together can we advance and retreat together."

With that, she tipped her head back and drained the cup in one go.

"Finish this cup, finish your noodles. Give the workers two days off, and hand each one a qian of spring-welcome silver. Rest well, and then we get back to work!"

Below, the shopkeepers and managers, their emotions stirred, answered in unison: "Yes!"

Among them, Shen Mei's voice rang the loudest.

Qi Hongzhuang sat back down and once again turned her gaze to the wall.

Just now, she had spoken to her managers of advantages and disadvantages.

As for the mystical matter—she kept it in her heart and shared it with no one:

She was willing to trust that face.

A few days later, Luan Yuqiao was standing under the eaves, teasing a red-billed parrot, when a trusted young servant ran up with a delighted expression: "Master, there's news!"

"What does it say?"

The servant, accustomed to delivering messages, spoke with exceptional clarity and fluency: "Xiao Chun, who guards the prefectural treasury, said that last night should have been his shift, but the prefectural office suddenly ordered him and several other treasury guards to swap shifts for two days. Xiao Chun's a crafty one—he pretended to head home but didn't go far, hiding nearby to watch. Sure enough, come nightfall, a squad of prefectural troops carrying the prefect's written order entered the treasury. After two hours of work, several large carts drove out of the treasury!"

Luan Yuqiao held the birdseed and swayed it gently outside the gilded cage: "Where did they go?"

The servant beamed: "You called it, Master—they delivered everything to a warehouse! I checked, and that warehouse is the one Commandery Princess Qi recently acquired!"

"A silver tongue, huh?" Luan Yuqiao glanced at him sidelong. "So what was in it—cloth?"

The servant: "I asked Xiao Chun about that, and he couldn't say for sure either. The treasury gates have several keys, and he's never seen what the stored cloth looks like. He just said there were several carts loaded with big crates. I went to inspect the wheel ruts—and by heaven, the weight was considerable."

Luan Yuqiao sneered: "The Prefect, now—he's quite the ladies' man, isn't he? To think he'd invest so much just to knock on that widow's door."

The servant echoed with a laugh: "Master, so what do we do? Shall we file a complaint against him?"

"Not so fast." Luan Yuqiao said leisurely. "Let her print it and sell it."

The servant caught a hint of the scheme but feigned ignorance: "Master, just let her make money? That's letting her off easy!"

Luan Yuqiao flicked his forehead with a finger dusted in birdseed: "You're sharp, but then you play dumb with me. Once Qi Hongzhuang sells all that cloth, I'd like to see how our big-shot Prefect plans to make up that shortfall."

He affectionately twisted the servant's ear: "You're the clever one—take some men and keep an eye on her shipment volume. When it's about right, we'll enlist Young Master Zhang's help."

The servant bowed in acknowledgment and withdrew.

Luan Yuqiao cheerfully began to hum a tune: "...I accuse the Prefect of Tongzhou. Last night at the third watch, he came quietly to the door, stealing official goods—I beg Your Honor to look into the matter..."