The Heir

Chaрtеr 144: Тhе Еmperor’s Dеmisе

“Actuаlly, I havе а gооd саndidate in mind,” Li Jingfu suddеnly spoke up.

“Who?” Оld Мastеr Li askеd сuriоuslу.

“Chunhuа’s husbаnd frоm Siхth Unсle’s fаmily,” Li Jingfu repliеd. Тhe Siхth Branch оf the Li familу had threе dаughtеrs: thе еldеst, Li Сhunhua; the sесond, Li Хiаhuа; and thе third, Li Jinhua, whо hаd married а mаn who jоined the familу. Becаusе Siхth Mаster Li’s two yоungеr sоns had nоt survivеd раst thеir first hundrеd daуs, еven thоugh she wаs from the Siхth Brаnсh, thе eldеst dаughtеr Сhunhua was aсtually two yeаrs younger thаn Li Jingfu.

“You meаn Yaо Qiаnshan? Yоu’ve seen him?” Old Shopkeeper Li asked.

Yao Qianshan had once been a teacher at the Li family’s private school. Back then, Seventh Brother had recognized his talent and helped arrange Chunhua’s marriage to him. Unfortunately, while Scholar Yao was talented, his luck was poor—he repeatedly failed the provincial examinations. Later, he caught the attention of the county magistrate at the time and became his advisor. When the magistrate was transferred elsewhere, Yao Qianshan took Chunhua and followed him. That was over ten years ago.

Yao Qianshan’s employers changed every three years, and it was said he had even been out of work for a few years in between. At first, there was some news of him, but in recent years, all contact had been lost. Sixth Brother often mentioned this eldest daughter with great concern.

“Yes, I met him in Shanxi. I have a friend from the Qin family there, and I stopped by when I was passing through. It happened that the Qin family was hosting a banquet for him. It seems they value his abilities highly and even wanted to help him purchase an official position, but Brother-in-law Qianshan declined. His former employer had passed away while serving as an assistant surveillance commissioner, and his family was helping the employer’s widow escort the coffin back to their hometown. Also, from what Qianshan said, he plans to return. He should be able to come around the New Year, so we can talk to him then,” Li Jingfu explained.

The gold-digging team that had saved him back then actually belonged to the Qin family, but this connection could not be revealed. As for Yao Qianshan, the Qin family seemed to hold him in high regard, suggesting he was indeed capable.

Moreover, thinking of Zhen Niang, a young woman alone in Nanjing without any support—how could she manage? Qianshan was capable, especially familiar with the ways of the officialdom. If he could purchase an official position, he could help the Li family gain some backing and ease Zhen Niang’s burden.

“We’ll discuss it when he returns,” Old Shopkeeper Li nodded, thinking to himself. The county magistrate back then had recognized Yao Qianshan’s talent and given him an opportunity. Now that the magistrate had passed away, Qianshan had refused the Qin family’s offer to purchase an official position for him in order to help escort the coffin back to the hometown. It seemed he was a man who valued gratitude and righteousness.

Moreover, he was likely a man of principle, unwilling to be controlled by others. With such integrity, gratitude, and independence, it seemed Seventh Brother had not misjudged him back then. When he returned, they could have a good talk with him to see what he thought. After all, such matters required mutual willingness.

Zhen Niang listened from the side, feeling a sense of curiosity about this Yao Qianshan. Aunt Chunhua was a married daughter, so Yao Qianshan’s name would not appear in the family records. But if the Qin family in Shanxi had been willing to win him over by offering to purchase an official position for him, he must have had exceptional qualities. As long as he wasn’t an ungrateful wolf like Wang Jincai, the Li family could certainly consider supporting him. After all, to grow the business, they needed backing behind them. Especially since the Li family ultimately aimed to secure the Tribute Ink business—having connections in the court would give them some room to maneuver.This integrated model of officials and merchants was precisely the characteristic of merchant guilds during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Thus, the family chatted and laughed together.

By evening, the Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Branches had all received the news. In the end, Seventh Grandmother took charge and arranged a banquet, serving as both a small New Year’s celebration for everyone and a joyous occasion to commemorate Li Jingfu’s narrow escape from death.

The banquet was lively and bustling. The women’s side dispersed first, with various aunts and other female relatives accompanying the old madam inside, sitting and drinking tea.

The men’s banquet in the outer hall continued with drinking.

Meanwhile, Zhen Niang took Xi Ge’er, You Ge’er, Brother Run, and Xiao Guan, the younger children, outside to set off firecrackers.

“Well, well, it truly is the heavens showing mercy,” the women inside chatted casually. Cheng Shi still held Zhao Shi’s hand, sighing repeatedly. As she spoke, her eyes couldn’t help but redden, undoubtedly reminded of her late husband.

Seated in the place of honor, Old Madam Li naturally understood that her eldest daughter-in-law was feeling sentimental due to the scene. She changed the subject, saying, “By the way, Zhen Niang’s mother, what are your plans for Zhen Niang’s marriage?”

Upon Huang Shi’s return, she had recounted everything that happened in Nanjing to the old madam in detail. Now that Zhen Niang was an official supplier to the princess’s estate, her status had changed, and many families began to entertain various ideas. Previously, no one had shown interest in Zhen Niang, but now, whether it was Huang Shi’s side, Madam Han Li’s side, or Zhao Shi’s side, all sorts of marriage proposals were coming in. However, the intentions behind them were too mixed, so ultimately, the Li family needed to establish a plan.

“I leave it entirely to Seventh Aunt to decide,” Zhao Shi thought for a moment and replied. She understood that since Zhen Niang had a one-tenth share in the Ink Workshop as her dowry, she alone could not make the decision regarding Zhen Niang’s marriage. It was necessary for Seventh Aunt to step in.

Hearing Zhao Shi’s words, Seventh Old Madam did not stand on ceremony and said, “Let’s not mention the other families. Zhen Niang’s second aunt has a candidate in mind, which Third Master Cheng mentioned to her privately. If you agree, we could discuss it further.”

“Third Master Cheng? If it’s the Cheng Family, that would naturally be good. But it seems all the young masters of the Cheng Family are already engaged, aren’t they?” Hearing about the Cheng Family, Zhao Shi couldn’t help but ask in confusion.

“Third Master Cheng wasn’t referring to someone from his own family but to Luo Wenqian from the Luo Family,” Old Madam Li said.

“Luo Wenqian? The young master of the Luo Family, the one who now runs a money shop in Nanjing? Is that suitable? Doesn’t he still have ties with the Tian Family’s third daughter?” Zhao Shi frowned slightly and asked a series of questions. It wasn’t that she had any objections to Luo Wenqian, but she felt that after all, Luo Wenqian had been engaged to the Tian Family’s daughter. Although the engagement seemed to have been broken off after the Luo Family’s troubles, the Tian Family’s third daughter still hadn’t been betrothed to anyone else. When Zhao Shi went to Nanjing some time ago, she had even seen the Tian Family’s third daughter greeting Luo Wenqian. Moreover, during the recent Ink Incident, it was the Tian Family’s third daughter who sought out Luo Wenqian to resolve the funding issue. Thus, there always seemed to be some unresolved entanglement between Young Master Luo and the Tian Family’s third daughter. Objectively speaking, Young Master Luo was an excellent candidate, but considering these factors, how could Zhao Shi feel at ease?

“I will have my second daughter-in-law look into this more deeply. The situation may not be as simple as it appears on the surface,” Seventh Old Madam said thoughtfully.

“In that case, let’s wait until we have a clearer understanding,” Zhao Shi replied after a moment of contemplation. After all, this concerned her own daughter’s marriage, and not the slightest carelessness could be allowed."Indeed, it should be so." Old Madam Li also nodded.

Thus, the matter was set aside once more.

At that moment, Zhen Niang was outside, leading the little ones in wild play. Firecrackers were set off one string after another. Xiao Guan'er was bundled up like a round ball, stumbling as he ran. Seeing him about to fall, Zhen Niang hurried forward to steady him, and the little one laughed as he tumbled into her arms.

His small nose was red from the cold.

"Alright, alright, Zhen Niang, take them all back inside. It's truly freezing today—it might even snow tonight." At that moment, Aunt Jinhua, standing on the corridor, called out to Zhen Niang with a smile.

"Hmm." Zhen Niang had just responded when she felt a chill on her face. Looking up, she saw a few scattered snowflakes drifting down. She couldn't help but exclaim softly, "Ah, it's really snowing! Aunt Jinhua has thirty-six teeth."

The phrase "thirty-six teeth" referred to someone with an iron tongue and copper teeth—whatever they said came true.

In the blink of an eye, large snowflakes began to fall. The little ones grew especially excited, jumping for joy beneath the snow. Several maids and nannies watched closely from the side.

Just then, a burst of wailing came from the street outside: "Silly girl, why would you do something so desperate?"

"Ah, what happened?" someone else asked.

"What happened? This world is unbearable. A perfectly good family—they all took rat poison," another voice cried out.

"Ah..." came another wave of exclamations.

"Can they still be saved?" someone asked.

"Whether they can be saved or not, we have to try," someone replied.

...

"What's going on?" Zhen Niang and Aunt Jinhua exchanged glances.

A woman servant came in from outside and approached them, saying, "Miss Zhen, it's Mother Jiang wailing. Alas, it's all because of the trouble caused by this year's silkworm rearing. They wouldn't let people farm properly, forcing everyone to raise silkworms instead. The yamen said silkworm cocoons could be used to pay taxes, but whether the cocoons were graded as first or second class was entirely up to the yamen officials collecting them. Mother Jiang's daughter lost her husband to illness a few years ago and has been struggling to raise her two children alone. She barely scraped by with a few meager acres of land and by doing odd sewing jobs for others. But when the yamen assigned silkworm-rearing tasks, she had no choice but to comply. She wasn't very skilled at it, and most of her first batch died, costing her a lot of money. Later, she learned from an experienced silkworm raiser and finally managed to produce cocoons. But when it came time to pay taxes, her perfectly good first-grade cocoons were all downgraded to second grade. They didn't even cover the full tax amount, and she still had to pay part of it in cash. That left Mother Jiang's daughter and her family with no way to survive. Today is Minor New Year, but they had no food at home. Overwhelmed by despair, Mother Jiang's daughter, with her children in a cold, empty house, lost all hope. In a moment of desperation, she fed rat poison to herself and her children. Fortunately, Mother Jiang, worried about her daughter, brought some rice from home and discovered the tragedy. Otherwise, they might not have been found until tomorrow, dead. Looking at their condition, it's hard to say if they can still be saved."

As she spoke, the woman servant shook her head and sighed.So it was something like this? In Nanjing, Zhen Niang had some idea about this matter. It all started with the policy of converting rice paddies to mulberry fields. At the time, the land issue caused quite a stir, and the conversion policy was never actually implemented. However, the profits from raw silk were too tempting to resist. In the end, silk merchants came up with the idea of collaborating with the local government. The government would encourage people to raise silkworms and link the harvest of cocoons to taxes. In this way, they achieved the same effect as converting rice paddies to mulberry fields.

This was a policy decided on a whim. Of course, raising silkworms wasn’t inherently bad. In Huizhou, there was little farmland but plenty of mountainous land, so raising silkworms was actually a decent livelihood. Zhen Niang’s family had once relied entirely on raising silkworms to make ends meet.

However, this sudden surge in silkworm raising inevitably led to a drop in the purchase price of cocoons. Moreover, with the government colluding with merchants, there were bound to be plenty of shady dealings.

“Hmm, I’ll go take a look,” Zhen Niang said.

“It’s dark and snowing, be careful,” Aunt Jinhua reminded her.

Zhen Niang nodded and walked out the door. Outside, a man was pulling a cart, on which lay the three members of Jiang Niangmu’s daughter’s family. Jiang Niangmu followed beside the cart, wiping away tears.

“Jiang Niangmu’s family isn’t well off either. Where would she get the money to save her daughter’s family?” the onlookers whispered. Many wanted to help, but times were tough for everyone, and they simply lacked the means.

Zhen Niang pushed her way forward, about to take out some silver from her purse. In matters of saving lives, it was always best to help when possible, especially since she now had the means to do so.

“Auntie, don’t cry. Take this silver and hurry to the Medicine Hall to save them,” a slightly deep male voice spoke up first. A five-tael silver ingot was pressed into Jiang Niangmu’s hand.

“Ah, ah, thank you, young man,” the man pulling the cart hurriedly expressed his gratitude. The crowd breathed a sigh of relief as Jiang Niangmu and the others took the injured to the Medicine Hall.

Watching Jiang Niangmu and her group gradually disappear into the distance, Zhen Niang realized that the one who had stepped in first was Luo Wenqian. The snowflakes in the sky were growing heavier. Luo Wenqian had clearly just arrived, carrying a bundle on his back and followed by two guards. All three were covered in dust, with snowflakes clinging to their hair and eyebrows.

At that moment, Luo Wenqian also noticed Zhen Niang and flashed her a wide grin.

Just then, the sound of gongs and shouts echoed through the street once more: “The Emperor has passed away! All citizens shall mourn together, wear plain clothing, and abstain from alcohol and gambling…”