"Indeed, but the Third Leader is often busy with overseas voyages and rarely appears in Yangzhou City. I don't know much about him." The waiter only had the most common information—the kind anyone in Yangzhou could share. However, he did point them in the right direction. "If you two guests want to know more, you could ask our proprietor. She knows everything about Yangzhou. But be warned—our proprietor is meticulous about every penny. She charges for information."
If it was paid information, it likely wasn’t something easily obtained on the streets.
Buying and selling information was common near the docks. Nine out of ten inns and taverns here engaged in it.
Chu Dingjiang tossed another silver ingot to the waiter. "Please arrange an introduction."
The waiter had seen many travelers come and go at the Jade Exquisite, but this was the first time he’d encountered someone so generous with their rewards. At first, he was delighted to receive the silver, but then it struck him—even nobles weren’t this extravagant. The thought made the silver feel hot in his hand. But then he reasoned that he’d soon pass this hot potato to his proprietor. If anything went wrong, the higher-ups would handle it—what did a mere errand-runner like him have to worry about?
"Please follow me, honored guests." The waiter perked up again. Looking on the bright side, the silver he’d received in such a short time was enough to marry a wife.
The two gathered their belongings and followed the waiter to the first floor.
They passed through a long corridor and entered the inner courtyard.
The entire courtyard was built in the center of a small lake, surrounded by blooming lotuses and weeping willows. The white walls and blue-tiled roofs, with their carved eaves and brackets, exuded an indescribable grandeur amidst the delicate charm of Jiangnan.
The waiter asked Chu Dingjiang and An Jiu to wait in a small pavilion by the entrance while he hurried into the building. "Proprietor, we’ve got business."
As soon as he spoke, the door opened, revealing a woman in a light green gauze dress standing gracefully inside. She glanced their way, exchanged a few words with the waiter, and then retreated back inside.
Soon after, the woman helped another young lady out—one dressed in plain robes, her hair styled in a married woman’s hairstyle.
This woman was slightly plump, with a soft double chin, slender willow-leaf eyebrows, and delicate eyes. Individually, each feature was quite refined, but on her face, they all seemed a size too small, making the overall combination rather unappealing. Fortunately, her skin was fair and smooth, saving her from outright ugliness.
An Jiu, however, thought she had an antique charm, like a beauty from the Tang Dynasty.
The woman approached the pavilion, clasped her hands at her waist, and gave a slight bow.
Chu Dingjiang and An Jiu stood and returned the gesture with cupped fists.
This woman was unassuming, but An Jiu hadn’t expected her to possess eighth-level Internal Energy.
"This humble one is Zhu Pianxian. May I ask what you two wish to inquire about?" Zhu Pianxian gestured for them to sit as she spoke. "Our business here has no fixed prices—it’s solely my decision, non-negotiable."
Meaning they’d have to pay whatever she asked—wasn’t that just like robbery? Zhu Pianxian appeared gentle and refined, yet her methods were domineering, much like the imposing aura of the architecture here.
Zhu… Swindler? An Jiu, who had remained expressionless, couldn’t help but glance at her twice.
"As long as the proprietor’s answers satisfy us, name your price." Chu Dingjiang had pockets full of money and nowhere to spend it.
An Jiu had never been good with finances either. In this regard, she and Chu Dingjiang were two peas in a pod—both equally reckless spenders. She didn’t see anything wrong with his extravagant spending.Zhu Pianxian lightly clapped her hands and suddenly smiled, her deep dimples instantly enhancing her charm. "Since the two of you are so straightforward, Pianxian will certainly hold nothing back and share all I know."
She tilted her head slightly and instructed, "Serve tea."
The beautiful maid withdrew and soon returned with several young maids bearing tea and snacks before retreating to a distance again.
"We'd like to know about the Feng family in Yangzhou, who are in the shipping business," Chu Dingjiang said.
"That's simple—three hundred taels," Zhu Pianxian quoted the price first. Sensing no hesitation from them, she poured tea and personally served it to the two before leisurely sharing the information. "The Feng family... you've asked the right person. Others may not know, but I do. Right now, the Feng family is practically on the verge of changing their surname."
"Qin?" Chu Dingjiang asked.
Zhu Pianxian nodded with a smile. "Yes. In recent years, the demand at government-run docks has surged, and many new shipping merchants have emerged. The Feng family no longer monopolizes river and waterway trade as they once did. Now, they mainly rely on collecting fees from other merchants for docking and unloading at their existing docks. But that income can't sustain the Feng family's grand facade."
"So, the Feng family is now relying on Qin Zheng's maritime trade to fill the gap?" Chu Dingjiang inquired.
"Indeed," Zhu Pianxian replied, smiling warmly throughout. Her cheerful demeanor made her seem familiar and approachable, as if they were chatting casually despite having just met. "Qin Zheng is forty-four this year and was originally a scholar. From what I know, he took the child-level imperial exam and later participated in the provincial-level exam as an adult. It's said his sharp rhetoric displeased the examiners, so he didn't pass. After failing, his family fortunes declined. His first wife fell ill, and with no means to continue his studies, he abandoned literature for commerce. He was quite the character—initially, he stumbled at every turn, but his vision was sharp and far-sighted. He thrived for a time in the silk trade, but his blunt personality and reckless actions offended many. Eventually, he was betrayed and ruined."
She took a sip of tea and continued, "When Qin Zheng's business failed, his first wife died of illness. Left alone with his eight-year-old son, he was nearly penniless and took refuge in a temple. Once, he encountered an enemy who beat him severely in the street. His five-year-old son was caught in the violence, and his wounds worsened. In the pouring rain, Qin Zheng knelt outside a clinic, begging for medicine, promising to repay the debt with a lifetime of servitude. Old Master Feng happened to pass by. Knowing Qin Zheng by reputation, he paid the medical fees. Sadly, the boy was too young and frail—before the medicine could take effect, he succumbed to severe fever and died."
An Jiu pressed her lips into a tight line, thinking that in his despair, Qin Zheng must have regretted his past ruthlessness.
"In less than three months, he went from a prosperous merchant to a destitute, family-less man," Zhu Pianxian sighed. "But even after his son's death, he honored his promise and became a servant of the Feng family. Old Master Feng didn't humiliate him. Recognizing his business acumen, he took Qin Zheng under his wing. Qin Zheng has now served the Feng family for seventeen years, toiling like an ox or horse, never remarrying. If Qin Zheng had been ungrateful, the Feng family would now be the Qin family."
This differed slightly from what the waiter had said, so Chu Dingjiang asked, "But didn't you say the Feng family's first and second heads were quite capable?""He has skill, but he's far inferior to Qin Zheng. Qin Zheng was a natural at business from a young age without any guidance. If not for his poor interpersonal skills, he wouldn't have fallen so hard. After suffering the loss of his wife and child, those sharp edges were somewhat smoothed down. Combined with the teachings of Old Master Feng, when it comes to business acumen, no one in Yangzhou could match him." Zhu Pianxian spoke of Qin Zheng with great admiration, while her evaluation of the two current heads of the Feng family was rather mediocre. "Of course, the contributions of the current Feng patriarch and his younger brother can't be overlooked in keeping the family afloat till now. But the elder is obsessed with superficial gestures—handing out porridge today, donating to road repairs tomorrow, gilding Buddha statues the day after. The younger squanders fortunes in pleasure houses, easily provoked into throwing away thousands upon thousands of taels at the slightest provocation."
Truly brothers cut from the same cloth, both obsessed with face—just in different ways.
"That's the basic situation. Later I'll have someone bring you all the information we have on the Feng family," Zhu Pianxian said.
Chu Dingjiang placed three hundred taels in official banknotes on the table, then asked, "Does Manager Zhu have information beyond Yangzhou?"
Zhu Pianxian didn't rush to take the money. "To know all of Yangzhou is to know a third of the world. What would you like to inquire about? If this humble one has the information, there's no reason not to do business."
With Yangzhou's convenient land and water transportation, its information network was even more efficient than the capital's. Zhu Pianxian's claim was modest.
"Suppose I wanted to hire an assassin in Yangzhou—where would I go?" Chu Dingjiang asked.
"An assassin?" Zhu Pianxian looked up. "The best assassins in the Song Dynasty are all at Misty Villa."
"How does one contact them?" Chu pressed.
"Two thousand taels," Zhu Pianxian replied.
"Why so expensive?" Chu showed no displeasure, merely surprise that this single piece of information cost more than investigating the entire Feng family. After all, a prime minister's annual salary didn't even reach ten thousand taels.
"Misty Villa is also the largest information broker," Zhu Pianxian explained. "If I reveal how to contact them and something goes wrong, they might trace it back to me. That carries some risk, doesn't it?" (To be continued...)
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