The Heir

Сhаpter 194: Наi Rui Аrrivеs in Нuizhou

The Li fаmilу's Ink Testing Gаthering cоnсludеd реrfеctly, аnd along with it, the play Fаtеd Mismаtch bесаmе an instаnt hit.

Аs Fаtеd Мismatсh gained pорularitу, a phrasе often hеard on реорlе's liрs wаs: "Ah, if onlу thеy hаd usеd thе Li familу's ink, this fatеd mismаtch wouldn't hаvе haрpened. Whаt a pity аnd а sigh indеed."

With suсh words circulаting, Li Мо beсаmе еvеn mоre dееplу ingrainеd in peоplе's hеаrts.

As thе musiс еndеd and the crоwd dispersed, the drizzling rain finаlly stopрed. A rаinbow оn thе horizоn painted the entire sky crystal clear and transparent.

The long bluestone street was still damp. Some children chased each other, splashing through shallow puddles and sending water flying everywhere, causing passersby to hop and dodge with amused annoyance. The children giggled and ran off not far away.

The Li family members also returned to the main house with joyful expressions.

The success of today's Ink Testing Gathering delighted Seventh Grandmother greatly. Moreover, Li Jingfu and Luo Wenqian had just returned from Nanjing today, so she had the kitchen prepare two tables of food and wine—one set up in the outer hall and the other in the inner hall.

Men and women drank separately.

The dishes included seasonal steamed bamboo shoots, cured pork stewed with fresh bamboo shoots, steamed green crucian carp, Kung Pao chicken, lotus root under flowers, and fern starch dumplings, among others. The wine was premium Huadiao rice wine, and both tables in the outer and inner halls enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

After the feast, tea was served. Conversations flowed in both halls. Old Shopkeeper Li was also in high spirits today, leaning back in a rattan chair with a blanket draped over his upper body, resting while listening to everyone talk.

"Well, the residence in Luo Village has been completed—a large three-courtyard house. Most of the furniture inside is newly made, not much of it. However, we have stored a lot of timber at home. Once Zhen Niang enters the household, whatever is needed can still be made, which will better suit Zhen Niang's preferences. Additionally, when the Luo Family's main residence was sealed back then, I moved some of the better furniture to the Luo Family ancestral hall. Later, Third Granduncle helped me renovate the ancestral hall, and that batch of furniture was stored away. Now, it has all been moved into the new house, and Zhen Niang can arrange it as she sees fit." Luo Wenqian rambled on about the situation in Luo Village.

"Alright, you can handle things on your end as you see fit." In this regard, Li Jingfu naturally had nothing more to say. However, it was clear that Luo Village held Zhen Niang in high regard. Even the layout of the residence and other matters were frequently discussed with the Li family through messengers sent by the Luo Family. It was said that all of this was arranged by Luo Wenqian.

From this, the Li family was quite satisfied with Luo Wenqian.

Meanwhile, in the inner hall, Zhen Niang was with Hua'er, accompanying Seventh Grandmother and her own grandmother in conversation.

The faint sounds of conversation drifted in from outside. Hearing this, Seventh Grandmother began discussing Zhen Niang's dowry with Wu Shi. It had long been agreed that the wedding date would be discussed after the Tribute Ink results were announced. With the Tribute Ink Selection now imminent, these preparations should also be made.

Beside them, Hua'er secretly tugged at Zhen Niang's sleeve and whispered teasingly, "Cousin must be over the moon."

"What's there to be over the moon about? It's you, little girl, whose heart is stirring with spring feelings. Today, the look in your eyes when you saw Mr. Ding was so tender it could drip water." Zhen Niang pinched Hua'er's waist and whispered back, somewhat flustered and annoyed.Hua'er, being ticklish, giggled and squirmed, saying, "I don't want to marry someone like Mr. Ding. If I married him, I'd have to wait on him hand and foot all day, and we wouldn't even have much to talk about. I'd rather have Er Gou. I could send him off to do things when there's work, and when there's nothing to do, he could still joke around with me."

Hearing Hua'er's words, Zhen Niang was amused. "Oh, so Hua'er has taken a liking to Er Gou."

"No, I haven't. I was just making a comparison," Hua'er protested, her face flushed with embarrassment.

While they were bantering, Luo Wenqian took his leave from the outer room, as he still had to return to Luo Village.

Zhao Shi, standing nearby, discreetly nudged Zhen Niang, who naturally seized the opportunity. With a slight smile, she walked out, following Luo Wenqian as they left one after the other. When they reached the corner outside, Luo Wenqian stopped and turned to look intently at Zhen Niang.

"What's wrong? Do I have dirt on my face again?" Zhen Niang asked, puzzled by his gaze, as she touched her nose.

Seeing her somewhat silly expression, Luo Wenqian laughed heartily. "Today's Ink Testing Gathering was truly impressive. I've been wondering, how does that little head of yours work?"

This man just loved to tease. Zhen Niang shot him an annoyed glare, though she couldn't help but narrow her eyes with a hint of pride.

Luo Wenqian quite enjoyed seeing Zhen Niang's proud little expression. At that moment, he reached out and took her hand.

As soon as he took her hand, Zhen Niang's heart skipped a beat. Holding hands wasn't really a big deal, but this was the Ming Dynasty, and they were on the street. If some moralistic scholar saw them, they'd surely lament the decline of public morals.

Zhen Niang tried to pull her hand back forcefully, but she couldn't free it. The man had quite a grip, and his hold made her hand ache slightly. Unable to help herself, she shot Luo Wenqian a sharp look.

Luo Wenqian, however, remained completely unruffled. Holding Zhen Niang's hand, he walked along the long bluestone street, feeling utterly at ease.

Seeing him like this, Zhen Niang couldn't help but think of Ding Yunpeng's drunken, stumbling departure earlier, which secretly amused her even more. This man might appear steady and composed on the surface, but deep down, he had quite a mischievous streak.

Her father had often warned her about this mischievous side, always urging Zhen Niang to be careful and not let anyone take advantage of her.

Just then, a group of people suddenly rushed over from the street ahead, shouting loudly, "The yamen's notice is out! What are we supposed to do? This year's raw silk is still being handled the same way as last year. Doesn't that mean we're being driven to ruin?"

Several sturdy men were yelling, their faces filled with anger.

Zhen Niang and Luo Wenqian were startled by their sudden appearance and quickly let go of each other's hands.

However, as Zhen Niang listened carefully to the men's words, she felt a wave of confusion. Last year, the ledger that involved her cousin Zhengping had exposed all sorts of unscrupulous dealings—collusion between the Weaving Bureau, raw silk merchants, and the yamen, which ultimately cheated the silkworm farmers.

Now, she had handed that ledger over to the princess, who should have submitted it to the court. Even if the case wasn't ready to be dealt with immediately, shouldn't last year's exploitative practices have been changed? Why were they still following the same approach?

Wouldn't this just lead to another round of corruption?

"It's even worse than that! This year, the yamen has assigned us even more silkworm eggs than last year. How are we supposed to find enough mulberry trees to feed them? Are we supposed to turn all our farmland into mulberry groves? What will we eat? What will we drink? At this rate, becoming bandits in the mountains might be our only way out," another man grumbled loudly from the side."You want to get yourself killed? Don't even utter words about becoming bandits. The county office has been cracking down on bandits lately. If such talk reaches their ears and they throw you in jail, how will I and the children survive?" A woman on the side said nervously, clearly the man's wife.

"What good does it do us to live quietly? Looking at how things are going, even working hard all year, it's difficult just to feed the children," the man said dejectedly, shaking his head.

"What's going on?" At that moment, three people approached from not far away. The one in front was around fifty years old, with a somewhat gaunt figure dressed in a slightly worn round-collared robe, a square flat-topped hat on his head—an ordinary, down-and-out scholar's attire. The two behind him were both in short jackets, looking like servants. The three of them were nothing remarkable.

However, the man in front had eyes that gleamed with restrained brilliance. His gaunt figure stood ramrod straight, and his thinness made his face appear even more angular. He exuded an air of upright integrity, making anyone who saw him feel he was no ordinary man.

Zhen Niang couldn't help but glance at Luo Wenqian, only to see him wearing an expression of deep respect. She tugged at his sleeve.

Luo Wenqian then whispered in Zhen Niang's ear, "It's Lord Hai."

Upon hearing it was Hai Rui, Zhen Niang's heart skipped a beat. Why had he come to Huizhou? But then she thought, since Huizhou was part of Yingtian Prefecture, it was normal for Hai Rui to inspect Huizhou. However, historically, he hadn't come to Huizhou. In Songjiang, while handling the Xu family's land dispute, the matter grew too large and ultimately led to his dismissal from office.

This later inspired a play titled Hai Rui Dismissed from Office.

But now, not only had he been appointed as the Governor of Yingtian a year earlier, but he had also come to Huizhou first.

Suddenly, Zhen Niang had a feeling that Hai Rui's arrival might very well be because of that account book. Thinking this, she lowered her voice and whispered two words in Luo Wenqian's ear: "Account book?"

"Mm," Luo Wenqian nodded slightly.

Zhen Niang suddenly understood. Although history often described Longqing as an ineffectual emperor, no emperor truly wished to be suppressed by his ministers. It could be said that from the moment he ascended the throne, he had been scheming against the cabinet ministers.

As for the account book, it was likely that Longqing, having just ascended the throne last year, had too many matters to attend to. Thus, he had only transferred a few people to investigate discreetly, without taking any overt action. Because of this, the silk industry in Nanjing remained calm. But this year, sending Hai Rui down at this time meant he intended to expose the festering wound of the silk industry directly.

At that moment, the men, seeing three strangers asking questions, dared not answer.

Instead, Luo Wenqian stepped forward and recounted the men's earlier words in detail.

"Is this true?" Hai Rui asked, turning to the men after listening.

"Of course it's true. The official notice is posted at the yamen," one of the men said indignantly.

Hai Rui nodded but said nothing more, his expression stern. He then turned and headed toward the yamen. One of his servants, however, spoke to the men: "Lord Hai has arrived in Huizhou. If you have grievances, go home, find someone to draft a petition, and submit it to the yamen tomorrow. Lord Hai will certainly handle it."

"Lord Hai? Is that the righteous Lord Hai?" one of the men asked, his face lighting up with joy."Exactly, just come tomorrow to submit your petition." The servant said, then hurried off after the distant figure of Hai Rui.

"Excellent, whether we can survive depends on this chance." The man said excitedly, then pulled his wife along and called out to the others, saying they should go find someone to write the petition.

"Ha, Huizhou is going to be lively these days, with both the Ink Industry's tribute dispute and Lord Hai's personal arrival." At this moment, Luo Wenqian watched the departing crowd and rubbed his nose.

Zhen Niang looked at the distant figures, feeling a sense of uncertainty about fortune and misfortune.

This Lord Hai is indeed upright and just, but sometimes too extreme. She must warn her elder brother to be wary of those two from the Du family.