Chapter 61: Suspicion Arises
The ferry terminal at dusk, the setting sun drunk into a deep red.
Everyone’s face was tinged with a few soft blushes.
The rosy clouds leaned against the evening breeze, stirring up a half-chamber of light sorrow.
The Grand Canal in the dry season flowed sluggishly. The winter wind, unfeeling, brushed across the water’s surface, causing the river to ripple reluctantly, hiding infinite vexation at the bottom and emitting whimpers.
Qin Mingxu held me like this, forgetting to let go. The scent from him, strand by strand, slowly entered my nostrils. It wasn’t a preconceived notion, but it was overwhelming.
The stage has its own myriad lines, with willows hanging amidst layered flowers and leaves. The northern forest’s morning sun mirrors bright light, the southern breeze carries styrax fragrance.
Styrax.
Similar to storax. Elegant like clouds.
Lord Maternal Uncle Zheng, at some unknown time, walked up to me. He coughed and announced loudly, “Boss Zhu has great skill, intoxicating people, and people are intoxicated by him. What? Young Master Qin is reluctant to let go?”
Upon hearing this, I quickly steadied myself and stood up.
Qin Mingxu also seemed a little embarrassed and said, “Lord Maternal Uncle is joking.”
Lord Maternal Uncle Zheng, taking advantage of the afterglow of the sunset, drank another large bowl of wine and let out a comfortable sigh.
He glanced at Qin Mingxu, then at me, as if he had, and said, “This Lord misunderstood last time; you and Boss Zhu are not husband and wife. This Lord has never drunk such wine, nor has he ever seen such a person. Sometimes I think, perhaps this Lord should create a beautiful story with this wine and this person.”
He left, laughing heartily.
I ignored him and, with Hua Lian and the other shop assistants, distributed the two full carts of wine before returning.
Qin Mingxu looked worried and said to me, “Sang Yu, this Lord Maternal Uncle wouldn’t…”
I replied, “Such a dissolute young man, just avoid him. Anyway, I have the imperial decree of ‘Lady Yidexiang’ personally conferred by the Empress Dowager, so I doubt he would dare to act rashly.”
After the incident of delivering wine at the ferry terminal, the Zhu Family Wine Shop’s reputation in Yangzhou completely soared.
Craftsmen everywhere spoke of the wine that day, how delicious it was, and how righteous Boss Zhu of the Zhu Family Wine Shop was.
The government yamen, due to the repair of the Grand Canal and the imposition of heavy labor, was already afraid of public resentment. Seeing the Zhu family send wine and receive widespread praise from the people, it diverted the public’s dissatisfaction with the government, and they were naturally pleased.
Prefect Geng of Yangzhou specially presented a plaque inscribed “Taibai’s Lingering Charm” and had people deliver it with gongs and drums. I ordered Hua Lian to hang the plaque in the most conspicuous place in the main hall.
The strategist who delivered the plaque got seven or eight parts drunk at the counter and, on the spot, wrote a couplet:
Liu Ling asks whose home is good, Li Bai still says this place is excellent.
This couplet, along with the Prefect’s plaque, echoed each other, creating a pleasing harmony.
Thus, the Zhu Family Wine Shop gained both popular acclaim and official recognition.
For a time, from noble families to common laborers, people flocked to the Zhu Family Wine Shop to buy wine.
The shop assistants busied themselves with collecting money and delivering goods, their faces beaming with smiles.
The wine stored in the backyard was quickly sold out. The winemakers worked overtime to produce new batches. For several consecutive nights, I stayed up until midnight before returning home to rest.
Hua Lian meticulously recorded all incoming and outgoing accounts, and after several days, not a single cent was out of place.
When opening a shop and doing business, the most difficult problem to solve is collecting debts. When I was in charge at the Cheng Family before, some old debts had accumulated for over ten years, becoming bad debts and unrecoverable debts. Wu Bi tried every method but could not recover them all.
Hua Lian was a meticulous person, always doing things by the book and according to rules.
If a date was set for repayment, she would go to collect on time. If they didn’t repay, she would sit stubbornly in their home. She would follow them when they ate, and when they slept, and they couldn’t drive her away. She would just stare at them blankly until they became flustered. She cared not for sentiment, nor did she show any. Rules were paramount.
Thanks to Hua Lian’s meticulousness, the Zhu Family Wine Shop had no outstanding debts.
At the end of the month, I calculated the profits, which were even more substantial than I had imagined.
The silver notes Feng Gao gave me before taking me to Five Spirits Mountain, plus the money from selling the Beijing residence, I used as capital for the business. This capital had already returned many times over.
I sorted out half of it and returned it to Qin Mingxu.
“This is the silver you spent for the Zhu family; I am returning it to you now.”
There was more than enough of this silver.
He did not refuse, accepted it, tucked it into his sleeve, and smiled, “Sang Yu, I knew you were capable.”
If he hadn’t accepted it, I would have felt a knot in my heart. With him accepting it, I felt much more at ease.
He understood me.
I smiled and said, “There are still ten thousand taels of gold; consider it a loan for now. I’ve noted it all down.”
He said, “Profit is earned through righteousness, great merchants have immeasurable plans. Sang Yu, don’t rush.”
I leaned against the counter, asked Hua Lian to bring two cups of new wine, handed one to Qin Mingxu, and drank the other myself, saying, “It’s always difficult to owe others. In my life so far, with its ups and downs, all I want is to owe no one.”
He held the wine cup, with a moment of disappointment: “Sang Yu, it would be good if you could stop being so calculative with me.”
I smiled and said nothing.
The New Year slipped through our fingers.
The shop assistants, the winemaking masters, and all the servants of the Zhu Residence each received triple their monthly silver.
There was joy everywhere, from top to bottom.
Even Zhu Xifeng was overjoyed and bought many Western curios from the Hu people at the Jiaofang to amuse my father. My father’s illness had improved. He did not pass away as he had predicted. He survived the New Year, and with the medicine he took, he could even walk.
I sat in the backyard of the Zhu Residence, looking up at the fireworks filling the sky in the first lunar month, and an inexplicable loneliness washed over me. After Cheng Huaishi left, loneliness was like a beast, occasionally waiting to bite me.
The pillow and quilt were a desolate expanse.
Huaishi, have I become what you hoped I would be?
I earned a lot of money, I have a new life, I am busy, I have supported a family, I stand at the counter smiling at everyone. I have forgotten your warmth, erased your surname. Soon, there may be no trace of you in my life at all.
Soon.
Is that so?
The news of Master Qin’s death arrived on an evening in early February.
The spring chill in Jiangnan was biting.
Cold plum blossoms climbed the window.
A shop assistant returned from delivering goods outside and said, “Something big has happened in the city! Boss Qin of Tiansheng Tower is dead!”
My hand, which was calculating on the abacus, stopped, and I looked up, saying, “Don’t talk nonsense.”
The shop assistant said, “It’s true. The news has spread all over the streets and alleys. Boss Qin died very disgracefully; it turns out to be a romantic entanglement—”
The shop assistant smiled ambiguously, and the others at the counter crowded around, “Quick, tell us, how did he die?”
“He died at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, reportedly while having intercourse with the top courtesan, Miss Zhu Hong. He was old and couldn’t handle so much passion. He died, scaring Miss Zhu Hong half to death. A bunch of concubines and mistresses at the Qin Manor went wild, wanting to settle the score at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion! Fortunately, the Qin family’s master, Young Master Qin, calmed the situation, brought back Boss Qin’s body, and held the funeral.”
I handed the account book to Hua Lian, ordered the coachman to prepare the horse, and headed to Qing Yue Pavilion.
After Cai Qingyao returned to Yangzhou, she divorced Qin Ke and naturally would not return to the Qin family. I wanted to keep her at the Zhu Residence, but she refused. Qin Mingxu then bought a small courtyard not far from the Zhu Residence for Cai Qingyao to live in alone. She named the courtyard “Qing Yue Pavilion.” Qing from Cai Qingyao’s name, Yue from Zhang Taiyue’s name. She lived in the courtyard, growing flowers, feeding birds, playing chess, and playing the zither, living quite peacefully.
It was quite close to me, making it convenient for me to check on her often.
I entered Qing Yue Pavilion and, from a distance, heard the sound of quiet contemplation music.
Walking in, I saw Cai Qingyao playing the zither, with Qin Mingxu standing beside her.
Suddenly, a string broke.
Cai Qingyao looked up and said, “He brought it upon himself; there’s no one else to blame.”
Qin Mingxu leaned down and said, “Father is gone, I’ve come to take Mother back to the manor. I plan to dismiss all those concubines so Mother doesn’t have to see them.”
Cai Qingyao waved her hand, “Forget it, forget it. Those women were with your father for a time; don’t treat them poorly. Even if you dismiss them, give them enough money. Those who wish to remain chaste, let them remain; those who wish to remarry, let them remarry. I am no longer a member of the Qin family; why should I go back?”
Qin Mingxu bent down, pressed his face against Cai Qingyao’s knees, and suddenly began to cry.
I had never seen him cry so sadly.
Master Qin was, after all, his father.
He had made every effort for Master Qin to live. In the end, Master Qin died in such a manner. He died with the city abuzz, with rumors flying. He lost all face and dignity.
For Qin Mingxu, this was an absurd and tragic joke.
“Mother…” he called softly.
Cai Qingyao gently stroked his face, “Xu’er, as a son, you have done your best.”
Qin Mingxu looked up, hesitated for a long while, and said, “Could it be… he arranged it?”
Cai Qingyao understood who “he” was. She shook her head desperately, “No. Impossible. Since he let us go, he’s not holding a grudge. How easy it is for the Eastern Depot to kill people; why would they go through such detours?”
Qin Mingxu lowered his head and said, “Yes, it’s easy for the Eastern Depot to kill people. But to kill someone and destroy their spirit, that’s what he would find most satisfying, wouldn’t he?”
Hearing this, I quickly said, “Young Master Qin, you misunderstand him! Eunuch Lord keeps his word!”
For some reason, my first reaction was to believe Feng Gao.
I didn’t want Qin Mingxu to suspect him.
Qin Mingxu looked at me, then at Cai Qingyao, and after a long pause, said, “Mother and Sang Yu are right. I was mistaken. The funeral is not yet over; I must go.”
After Qin Mingxu left, Cai Qingyao lost herself in thought in the courtyard for a long time.
I helped her to a couch in the inner room.
“Eunuch Lord sent back bird’s nest soup last month; I’ll go stew a bowl for you.”
She nodded and said, “Sang Yu, I miss him…”
Although Feng Gao had not come to Yangzhou, he often sent things back.
I wonder how he is doing now.
What is he entangled with.
Whether he is safe.
Like Cai Qingyao, I miss him dearly.
At midnight, after Cai Qingyao had fallen asleep, I finally left Qing Yue Pavilion.
Hua Lian silently waited for me outside the door.
“East owner, someone from the Cheng Residence delivered a message to the counter earlier.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“On the eighth day of the second lunar month, the Third Young Miss of the Cheng Residence is holding her wedding to take a husband. Old Madam Cheng has invited you to officiate.”
“Mm, I understand.”
I nodded.
I must attend the wedding of Qing Shi and Lu Gui.
I do not know that at this moment, someone is secretly brewing a conspiracy, spreading a large net, and waiting for me…
