The Heir

Сhарter 70: Tung Оil Роisоning

Whilе Li Jincai was sеtting uр his schemеs, Li Zhenniang wаs digging hеr оwn рit.

Тhus, еverything wаs ready, awaiting onlу thе eаst wind.

Ovеr thе nехt few dауs, gооds wеre dеlivered smoоthlу. Evеryone рerformеd their duties, аnd еvеrуthing sееmеd unusually саlm.

Zhen Niаng’s dауs pаssed with еquаl tranquility. Shе rоse еarly eаch morning, had brеаkfаst, and wеnt to work. First, she wоuld visit Sеvеnth Grandmоthеr, thеn sреnd а while сhаtting with the аunts from thе seventh brаnch.

Аftеrwаrd, she wоuld stау in thе ink workshop. Whеn she had nothing to do, shе would rest in the smаll loft, enjоying а lеisurelу pace.

During even quieter moments, Zhen Niang simply stayed at home, chatting with her grandmother, mother, Aunt Jingkui, and her elder sister-in-law, or amusing Xiao Guan’er. Xiao Guan’er was now over two years old, nearly three, and at an adorable age.

Of course, more often than not, she discussed ink with her grandfather.

Just as Luo Wenqian had mentioned in his letter, to develop the ink industry, limiting oneself to Huizhou alone would not suffice.

“Grandfather, I heard from Uncle Jingdong that you were quite a prominent figure back in Nanjing. They say you even served as vice president of the Huizhou Merchants Guild?” It was exactly the hour of Shen, just before dinner. Zhen Niang supported her grandfather as they strolled in the courtyard, chatting as they walked. She asked with a cheerful smile.

“It wasn’t as impressive as your Uncle Jingdong made it sound. In Huizhou, our ink industry is still a respected name. But in Nanjing—that city of wealth and glamour—just among our Huizhou merchants, the salt, tea, silk, timber, and pawnbroking industries each have nationally renowned names. Compared to them, our ink industry doesn’t stand out much. Your grandfather was just a small merchant, an ordinary man—hardly a notable figure. I merely helped a few officials make ink, and with Li Mo obtaining the Tribute Ink Privilege at the time, I was honored to serve a term as vice president. Unfortunately, once the tribute ink incident occurred, the Li family faced pressure from several ink merchants in Nanjing and had to withdraw from the Nanjing market. Nowadays, the name Li Mo in Nanjing is nothing but a faded memory.”

At this point, Old Shopkeeper Li couldn’t help but sigh regretfully.

“Don’t worry, Grandfather. Li Mo won’t remain confined to Huizhou,” Zhen Niang said with a bright smile.

“You have big ambitions, girl,” Old Shopkeeper Li replied with a gentle smile. He was very pleased with this granddaughter, but she was still young after all. Moreover, their eighth branch had no say within the clan and couldn’t offer her much support. With her standing alone, it would be difficult for her to lead Li Mo far.

Of course, he wouldn’t discourage her now. Some things are about the effort, not just the outcome. To strive is to live without regret—that was the lesson Old Shopkeeper Li had learned over his lifetime.

As they were talking, a commotion of cries and shouts erupted from outside.

“What’s happening?” Zhen Niang murmured. She helped her grandfather sit down to the side, then opened the door to look outside.

She saw a crowd of men, women, old, and young coming from the direction of the city gate. They were pushing two handcarts, on which sat an elderly couple and two children around three or four years old.

The people on the carts had flushed faces and lay there groaning. One child’s leg was exposed, and Zhen Niang noticed it appeared somewhat swollen.

Two men were tending to them, while a woman nearby wiped away tears.

At that moment, the entire crowd was agitated, their expressions filled with indignation."Let's go find them. If the Du family doesn't give us an explanation today, we won't let this go," shouted the burly man leading the group.

"That's right, we won't let this go," the crowd echoed.

"What's going on here?" Across from the Li family, Huaide's Wife poked her head out to ask.

"Sister-in-law, have you ever bought oil from the Du family's oil mill? Let me tell you, you can't eat the oil from the Du family's mill. Those people on the cart were poisoned after eating their oil. We're going to demand an explanation from them," the burly man said to Huaide's Wife.

"What? Is that really true? I just bought oil from the Du family's mill not long ago. Since I hadn't finished the old oil, I haven't even opened the new jar yet," Huaide's Wife exclaimed, jumping up.

"Whether it's true or not, just take your oil to the Medicine Hall to have it tested and you'll know," the man said.

With a wave of his hand, he led the crowd toward the Du family's oil mill.

Meanwhile, Zhen Niang was startled and was about to turn back into the house when she nearly collided with her sister-in-law. Du Shi also looked shocked. "Sister-in-law, is this true?"

Since the oil mill was run by Du Shi's brothers, and the people in the city gate area were poor, they had taken advantage of Du Shi's connections to buy oil at a cheaper price. Not long ago, several households had asked Du Shi to buy oil for them.

"I don't know. It can't be, right? Our family has always eaten oil from the mill, and nothing's happened," Du Shi said, her face filled with doubt and alarm.

"Have we bought any oil recently?" Zhen Niang took a deep breath and asked Du Shi.

"Yes, yes, we bought some, but we haven't started using it yet," Du Shi replied hastily.

"Sister-in-law, bring a ladle of the oil we bought recently," Zhen Niang instructed. She had observed the symptoms of the people on the cart, which strongly resembled tung oil poisoning. Combined with the fact that the oil mill had recently been pressing tung oil, it was possible the two had been mixed together.

Now they needed to test whether the oil contained tung oil. If it did, they had to notify the others who had bought oil immediately—this oil couldn't be consumed.

Thinking this, Zhen Niang turned to Wu Shi and asked, "Grandmother, where is Cousin Zhengshen's alchemy equipment stored?"

"It's piled up in a corner of the small Ink Workshop. What do you need it for?" Wu Shi asked.

"I want to test whether the oil contains tung oil," Zhen Niang said.

Testing for tung oil in cooking oil was simple: put a few drops of the cooking oil on a stone, then add a bit of sulfuric acid. If the oil contained tung oil, it would quickly turn deep red and solidify.

In this era, sulfuric acid was called Green Vitriol Oil, an essential substance for alchemists. She had seen it among her cousin's equipment last time.

With that in mind, she dashed into the small Ink Workshop at home, found the pile of equipment in the corner, and quickly located the Green Vitriol Oil.

"Here's the oil, here's the oil!" Du Shi called from the courtyard, holding a ladle of oil.

Zhen Niang brought out the Green Vitriol Oil and first had Du Shi drip some oil onto a bluestone slab. Then she added a few drops of Green Vitriol Oil. Sure enough, before long, the oil turned deep red and solidified.

Zhen Niang gritted her teeth in anger.

"Zhen Niang, hurry and notify the neighbors. Tell everyone who bought oil through your sister-in-law to bring it to our house. We'll refund their money and settle our side of things first. The Du brothers are truly despicable," Old Shopkeeper Li cursed, his face dark with fury.Although it was others who approached Du Shi to help them purchase the oil, no matter what, Du Shi and the Du brothers are siblings, and the oil was obtained through Du Shi. Now that this incident has occurred, regardless of others, those who bought oil from Du Shi naturally blame the Li family.

"Alright, I'll go right away." Zhen Niang nodded and then hurried out the door.

"Zhen Niang, what exactly is going on?" Huaide's Wife from across the street called out, holding her oil jar.

"Aunt Huaide, the oil workshop mixed tung oil with cooking oil. Please take your oil to my house. My sister-in-law will refund your money," Zhen Niang explained.

"Oh, good, good, good." Upon hearing that Du Shi would refund the money and there was no loss, Huaide's Wife looked relieved, though still somewhat shaken. She decided she would never buy oil from the Du family's workshop again.

Zhen Niang then went to notify the other households. She carried Green Vitriol Oil with her, just in case someone had consumed the contaminated oil, so they could promptly seek treatment at the Medicine Hall.

Fortunately, not every household's oil contained tung oil. At the time, seven or eight families had asked her sister-in-law to buy oil for them, but only three of them had oil mixed with tung oil. Regardless, no one dared to consume the Du family's oil anymore, and they all brought their oil to the Li household.

Du Shi refunded the money and apologized repeatedly.

After handling the matter, Du Shi remained pale and stood there in a daze.

"What are you still standing there for? Go back inside. Don’t blame me for not warning you—don’t get involved in this mess with the Du family. Since your brothers did such a thing, they must bear the consequences themselves. Don’t let them drag our family into it later," Zhao Shi snapped angrily at Du Shi.

Thinking about how she had just forced herself to smile and apologize, she felt deeply displeased.

Du Shi remained frozen, then suddenly knelt down with a thud, trembling all over. "Mother-in-law, I’m afraid it will be difficult to avoid being implicated in this."

"What do you mean?" Zhao Shi raised her eyebrows sharply.

Zhen Niang’s heart sank.

"Back when you told me to lend money to my brothers, my mother said that since we’re family, I should invest in my own name. She said the oil workshop’s dividends would go to me, so I’d have some extra money for myself. I agreed, so I have a share in the workshop," Du Shi sobbed.

"It’s over." Upon hearing this, Zhao Shi slumped onto a stool, then grabbed a teacup from the table and threw it at Du Shi. "If you needed money, why didn’t you tell me or Dalang? I’m so angry—I’ll divorce you!"

Du Shi could only kneel on the ground and cry.

"What nonsense are you talking? Du Shi has come to our family, endured hardships with us, and worked hard. Xiaoguan is already so big, and she and Dalang have a harmonious marriage. How can you talk about divorce so casually?" Wu Shi scolded Zhao Shi, then sighed. This matter was very troublesome.

"Stop arguing, all of you. Be quiet. What’s the use of blaming anyone now? We need to figure out how to get through this." Old Shopkeeper Li spoke up.

The room finally fell silent.

"Zhen Niang, what do you think we should do next?" Old Shopkeeper Li turned to Zhen Niang.

Wu Shi, Zhao Shi, Zheng Shi, and Du Shi all looked at Zhen Niang. Li Dalang had not yet returned from Wuyuan, and it seemed Zhen Niang had become the family’s pillar."Although Sister-in-law holds a share in the oil mill, it's only a small portion. The majority still belongs to the two Du brothers. Ultimately, the responsibility falls on them. If we really calculate it, the losses will just be proportionally shared. No matter how you look at it, it's like this—the Du brothers can't shirk it. So I think, as long as no lives are lost, our family can bear the share of these losses. Anything that can be resolved with money isn't a major issue," Zhen Niang said.

Old Shopkeeper Li nodded, while Zhao Shi and the others also breathed a sigh of relief. Hearing Zhen Niang's analysis, although it was a bit troublesome, it didn’t seem like the sky was falling.

"However, the most urgent task now is to control the situation and make sure no lives are lost," Zhen Niang continued, then turned to Du Shi and said, "Sister-in-law, you must hurry home and speak with the two Du brothers. First, issue a notice to recall all the oil that has already been sold, and make sure no one continues to consume it by mistake. Second, have the two Du brothers coordinate with the Medicine Hall to cover all medical expenses for anyone who falls ill from consuming Du Family Oil Mill's oil. We can’t let poor families lose their lives because they can’t afford treatment. Otherwise, that would become a major disaster."

Hearing Zhen Niang's words, Old Shopkeeper Li was extremely satisfied. Her handling of the matter was very appropriate.

"Alright, alright, I’ll go right away." Zhen Niang's words felt like a lifeline to Du Shi. She knew that if this matter wasn’t handled properly, her days in this household would likely become difficult.