The Heir

Chaрtеr 86: Gе Хunlаn's Calculаtiоns

The nеxt morning, Zhеn Niаng wаs stаrtlеd аwake bу a commotion. When shе оpеned hеr еуеs, the skу wаs аlrеаdy bright.

Shе was usually аn еarlу riser, but she hadn’t еxpеcted tо brеаk hеr rоutinе оn her verу first dаy in Nаnjing. Тhе truth was, shе had slерt for a full hоur in thе aftеrnoon yеsterday, sо shе hаdn’t felt vеry sleeру bу evеning. Оn tор оf thаt, she wаs unаcсustomеd to the unfаmiliar bеd аnd tоssed аnd turnеd, unаblе to fall aslеep, her mind filled with thoughts. It wаsn’t until the late hоurs of the night thаt she finаllу drifted intо a deep slumber. As a result, she woke up late this morning. If it hadn’t been for the noise outside startling her awake, she probably would have slept even longer.

Patting her forehead to clear her mind, Zhen Niang draped her clothes over her shoulders and got out of bed.

In the outer room, Xiao Ya, hearing the movement, brought in a basin of hot water and lifted the curtain. “Miss, you’re awake. You slept so soundly today. I was going to wake you up early, but the Second Mistress said there was no rush and to let you sleep a little longer.”

“Mm,” Zhen Niang nodded in understanding. She then washed up with the hot water and sat down at the dressing table, letting Xiao Ya help her with her hair.

The window of the small building faced the backyard, and the commotion was coming from the area in front of the warehouse.

Zhen Niang instinctively straightened her back and leaned forward slightly to look outside. It turned out that Uncle Jingming was trying to persuade people to move their goods. From a distance, she couldn’t make out what was being said, but it was clear that the merchants storing the goods were very unhappy. Some of the more agitated ones were waving their hands, while Li Jingming kept bowing and offering polite smiles.

“The manager sent people early this morning to move the goods, but several merchants are unwilling. They said that when they rented the shop, it was agreed that they could use the large warehouse in the courtyard to store their goods, which was why they rented the shop in the first place. From what I heard, it seems our shop is a bit more expensive than others, and they only rented it because they could store their goods here.” Xiao Ya had been outside earlier listening to the commotion. Seeing Zhen Niang peering outside, she recounted everything she had heard.

“Mm,” Zhen Niang nodded again, indicating she understood.

Just then, the argument downstairs grew more heated, and someone even pushed Li Jingming, nearly causing him to fall to the ground.

“Oh! Should we go down and take a look? It seems like things might escalate,” Xiao Ya said with concern.

“No need. It won’t escalate,” Zhen Niang replied, losing interest and pulling her head back inside. Since Li Jingming had said he would handle this matter, she wouldn’t interfere casually.

Resolving this issue was simply a matter of money. If she stepped in, wouldn’t the responsibility of paying fall on her? She had no interest in cleaning up Li Jingming’s mess. Since they had set this trap themselves, they should deal with the consequences.

As for escalation, neither side wanted that. Even the merchants storing the goods wouldn’t dare let things get out of hand. Tax evasion was a serious offense, and the authorities would crack down on them first. It was said that anyone caught evading taxes would be flogged thirty times and have half their goods confiscated—a loss they couldn’t afford.

“Mm, Sister Ge has come out… Oh! Sister Ge is rushing out the door again,” Xiao Ya provided a live commentary from the side.

Rushing out was the right move. Yesterday, Aunt Jingming had mentioned that the goods were placed there by Ge Xunlan. Now that Li Jingming couldn’t handle the situation, it was only natural for Ge Xunlan to step in.

Otherwise, if things really escalated, Ge Xunlan would also be implicated.Suddenly, Zhen Niang couldn't help but wonder if she should escalate this matter. That way, she could justifiably reclaim Uncle Jingming's authority and also give Ge Xunlan a hard time. By any measure, it seemed like a good deal.

After some thought, Zhen Niang ultimately abandoned this tempting idea.

True, she could deliberately stir up trouble. But a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake, and besides, she wasn't even a powerful dragon. If this matter truly escalated, Uncle Jingming would suffer, and Ge Xunlan would inevitably take a loss, but the ones who would truly suffer would be those few merchants. If they fell into the hands of harsh tax officials, it could lead to their complete ruin.

Her family would also need to establish themselves in Nanjing's business circles in the future, and merchants are always intricately connected with one another. She really couldn't afford to be too ruthless.

With this in mind, Zhen Niang set aside the thought. Opportunities would come later; there was no need to rush now.

Afterward, she left the room. Ma Sao had already set out breakfast and invited Huang Shi out. Zhen Niang accompanied Huang Shi as they ate, discussing the people they planned to visit that day.

Before leaving home, Seventh Grandmother had mentioned some old family connections who had been on good terms with the Li family. Additionally, her own grandfather had maintained good relations with several families, and he had also asked Zhen Niang to pay them visits when the time came.

"Hmm, I think we shouldn't rush with the others for now. Let's go to your aunt's house first. Your uncle-in-law is a familiar face in Nanjing's raw silk trade. It would be better for him to introduce you than for you to show up unannounced," Huang Shi said. Although these were old connections, they hadn't been in touch for over a decade, so the current situation was hard to predict. It was better to be cautious.

"Mm," Zhen Niang nodded.

"By the way, after visiting your aunt's house, we can go pay a visit to the Huizhou Merchant Guild," Huang Shi added.

"Mm," Zhen Niang naturally understood. In this era, regional ties were highly valued, and people tended to stick together. Whether close or not, fellow townsfolk were still connected.

Sometimes, merchants who fought fiercely among themselves back home would band together when abroad to compete against merchants from other regions. Because of this, in this era, the Huizhou clique, Shanxi clique, Lingnan clique, and the local merchant groups all formed a grand stage within the various merchant guilds.

After discussing this, Zhen Niang and Huang Shi focused on their meal. Once breakfast was finished, Huang Shi rested while Zhen Niang went to prepare gifts.

Meanwhile, at the Ge residence.

Ge Dana had invited a few people over for drinks, with a singer performing tunes on the side.

"Huang Lang made a profit. He actually sold those two mu of land for fifty taels. Usually, the highest price per mu is only seven or eight taels. It's crazy these days," a man with a crooked mouth said, his words slightly slurred.

"Exactly, I regret it so much. If only I had sold my two mu of land a bit later. I sold mine for twenty-eight taels and thought I'd struck gold," another man in a blue coat chimed in.

"I actually wanted to sell mine a long time ago. I don't rely on that little bit of grain from the land to make a living anymore. But my old man absolutely refused. In his eyes, no amount of silver could compare to muddy land, and no amount of silver could match golden rice. I had no choice but to watch others make money. Then, after the New Year, the old man fell ill and didn't get better. He passed away before the end of the first lunar month, and only then could I sell the land," said the man called Huang Lang."You there, don't act all innocent after getting the advantage," said the man in blue, curling his lip.

"What's going on these days? Is switching from rice to mulberry really that profitable? Everyone's scrambling for land like they've gone mad," chimed in the man with the crooked mouth.

"Ah, we can't understand the affairs of those above us. Let's drink, drink!" Ge Dana waved his hand dismissively.

"Right. Drinking is the most enjoyable," several men agreed, and they started playing drinking games again.

Just then, Ge Qiu Jie rushed in energetically.

As soon as she entered, without a word, she tossed a handful of copper coins to the opera singer. "Go on, get out. No need to sing here anymore." Then she turned to the other men in the room and said, "Uncles, please go home for now. My father has some business to attend to. Once it's settled, he'll invite you all for drinks again."

The opera singer and his companion took the copper coins and hurriedly retreated from the room.

The men looked embarrassed. The one called Huang Lang said, "This niece of ours has become even more decisive since she got married. Fine, we'll stop drinking for today. We'll gather again next time." With that, Huang Lang and the others left together.

Ge Qiu Jie then called for the steward to see them off.

"What's the matter? As soon as you arrive, you ruin your father's gathering. You're becoming more and more unreasonable. I heard you even forced your in-laws to live in a shack. Do you want people to point fingers at you?" Only then did Ge Dana glare at Ge Qiu Jie, speaking with displeasure.

"What? Didn't San Er tell you, Father?" Ge Qiu Jie raised an eyebrow. Her brother Ge San Er had been present at the commotion at the Li family's doorstep yesterday. She had even asked him to come back and fetch their father. Who would have thought that useless coward San Er would be too scared to call for him after being shouted at by that Miss Zhen? She had assumed he would have told their father about yesterday's events, but it seemed he hadn't.

"It's not that San Er didn't say anything. It's that your father didn't come home at all last night. Who knows which vixen's bed he was rolling on?" At that moment, Cao Shi swayed her hips as she entered. Cao Shi was Ge Dana's second wife.

"Enough, enough. This isn't the time to dwell on such things. Second Mother, please leave. I have something to discuss with Father," Ge Qiu Jie said, waving at Ge Dana.

Only after Cao Shi reluctantly left did Ge Qiu Jie recount the events of Li Zhenniang and her companions' arrival the day before. She then added, "As soon as they arrived, they inspected the backyard warehouse. Later, they said they wanted to clear it out to open an Ink Workshop. Li Zheng Ping's father, afraid of being held accountable, is now having people move the goods. But the owner of the rice shop and the warehouse manager are refusing to budge, and they're making a scene. I don't think this is a good situation. If it escalates, it might be hard to handle. Li Zheng Ping's father wants you to go. He said if you don't deal with it and things really blow up, he won't take responsibility."

"Damn it, let's go..." Upon hearing this, Ge Dana glared angrily. They were all a bunch of incompetents who only knew how to mess things up.

With that, he hitched the carriage and hurriedly set off with Ge Qiu Jie toward the Li family.

Ge Dana had actually been scheming for a long time. He had a clear idea about the ownership of the Li family's properties. He was also well aware of Li Jingming and his wife's intentions, and he coveted those properties himself. For a time, he had been pondering how to seize this estate, but he was, after all, an outsider. Taking over the property without complications wouldn't be easy.

Moreover, the Huizhou Li family was no ordinary household.Coincidentally, during that period, Madam Fang had been seeking a wife for her son, which gave him the idea of marrying Qiu Jie into the Li family. However, the Li family was uncooperative, so he employed some tactics and easily succeeded.

Of course, merely marrying Qiu Jie to Li Zhengping would not make it easy to acquire the property. Thus, he set his sights on the large warehouse behind the Li family’s residence. In truth, it was not a warehouse but the original Ink Workshop. After the workshop was relocated, it was repurposed as a warehouse.

Ge Dana was well aware of Madam Fang’s character—she was someone bold enough to seek profit wherever possible. Therefore, Ge Dana devised a plan to lure her into action. He intentionally borrowed the Li family’s warehouse to store goods for merchants, exempting them from warehouse taxes, while pocketing some money for himself.

This was the bait he cast. Once Madam Fang saw this lucrative method, it was sure to stir her greed.

The next step was for Ge Dana to withdraw from this scheme.

Once he stepped back, Madam Fang would inevitably want to take over and would certainly do so. Thus, the trap would be set.

Once the trap was sprung, he could bring in officials to investigate tax evasion. At that point, the Li family would be unable to escape blame. Under the pretense of helping Ge Qiu Jie, he could play the good Samaritan, suggesting that the Li family temporarily transfer the property to the tax office for use as a warehouse. To avoid disaster, Li Jingming and his wife would likely agree, and he would only need to pay the warehouse tax afterward.

Once the property was under the tax office’s name, the Li family would have no chance of reclaiming it. By colluding with others, the property would merely pass through the tax office’s records before ending up in his pocket. At most, he would have to share some of the profits, but his goal would be achieved.

As for the Huizhou branch of the Li family, once the deed was done, they could only blame Li Jingming’s household, not him. Regarding the property, aiding others in tax evasion and profiting from it would justify its confiscation. The Li family would have no choice but to swallow their losses.

This plan was nearly flawless.

Unexpectedly, just as he had cast the bait and before he could withdraw or lure Madam Fang into action, representatives from the Huizhou Li family arrived and immediately targeted his scheme.

If the matter escalated, the Li family could simply sacrifice Li Jingming, but he would end up implicating himself. It would be like lifting a stone only to drop it on his own foot.

What should have been a perfect plan was abruptly thwarted, leaving him utterly frustrated.

Thus, with a grim expression, Ge Xunlan went to the Li family and persuaded the grain merchant and goods merchant to reluctantly agree to move their goods. He felt a suffocating anger he couldn’t release.

Meanwhile, Zhen Niang calmly reviewed the account books sent by Li Jingming. Originally, she had planned to visit her aunt’s house, but a light rain began to fall, making travel inconvenient. Huang Shi suggested waiting for the rain to stop.

Unbeknownst to Zhen Niang, her cautious move had shattered Ge Xunlan’s carefully laid plans.

In truth, the arrival of Li Zhenniang and her companions had already disrupted Ge Xunlan’s scheme.

In the original course of history, though the clan records made no mention of it, it was likely that once the Huizhou Li family declined, the Nanjing property would have fallen into Ge Xunlan’s hands.