Chapter 11 Who has ever seen my partiality and pure heart?

Cong Ying parted ways with her mother on bad terms. After much thought, she felt that she should go to the eldest house and have things clear with her uncle and aunt, so that they wouldn't be coveting the second house's property every other day.

It was dusk, and because the third young lady was clamoring for fresh carp, Cai's maidservant personally supervised the kitchen and prepared it, leaving the house for a while. The maidservant also ran to the side room to be lazy, and walked all the way from Ying into the courtyard without anyone noticing or reporting.

As she passed by the window along the corridor, she heard Cai and the third lady and her daughter chatting.

Cai was smug at first. "...The wife of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, when she heard I was trying to buy an official position, was dismissive at first. But when I told her I was from the Jiang family, the one that wanted to marry into the Xie family and have the third son of the Xie family as their son-in-law, her attitude immediately changed. She even stood up to pour me tea. It was really funny."

Upon hearing this, Cong Ying stopped and quietly leaned against the window.

I heard my third cousin Jiang Tangyu say, "Mom, don't be too happy too soon. This marriage was arranged by our grandfather for Jiang Congying. If she knew that Mom was using her name to socialize, who knows what this ungrateful bastard would do!"

Cai snorted coldly, "Who said this marriage was arranged for her? I've seen the marriage certificate in Princess Xiaocheng's hand. It only lists the daughter of the Jiang family and the son of the Xie family, but not her name, Jiang Congying."

Jiang Tangyu said, "But I met Lady Xie Liu at the flower viewing banquet. She said that it was my grandfather and Prime Minister Xie who specifically recommended Jiang Congying, and Prime Minister Xie has already agreed."

Thinking of the flower viewing banquet a few days ago, Jiang Tangyu still felt upset and her face was hot.

At the flower-viewing banquet, someone heard the news that the Jiang and Xie families were going to get married, and came to try to get close to Jiang Tangyu.

At the time, the other girls were evaluating the talents and looks of the Xie family's sons. Upon hearing this, they were filled with envy for Jiang Tangyu. Jiang Tangyu, overwhelmed by the flattery, naturally didn't want to clear up the misunderstanding, and began to speak in the manner of a Xie family woman. Unfortunately, Sixth Miss Xie overheard this.

Sixth Miss Xie sneered, "My guess was right. You Jiang family members were disrespectful to the Xie family in front of Princess Xuande. You really want to raise your status. You're trying so hard to get close to them behind the scenes. If you don't know, you might think that the Jiang family's girls can't get married and are competing to send them to the Xie family."

Jiang Tangyu was ridiculed a lot and still felt very embarrassed.

Her mother, Cai, said, "Your grandfather has always favored the second wife. Otherwise, based on seniority and respect, this marriage should have been yours. My daughter hasn't even married yet, how could she, the daughter of a prostitute, be chosen?"

Jiang Tangyu asked tentatively, "Could it be that Mother has a way to snatch this marriage away from her?"

Cai calculated proudly, "The wife of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue has already promised to find your brother an official position that will inherit your grandfather's favor. She wants to do a favor for Xie's future brother-in-law and has said she won't accept any money or gifts from us."

Jiang Tangyu asked hurriedly: "What about me, what about me?"

Cai said, "Your father and brother are both officials of the imperial court, and you have a generous dowry. The second wife has already promised to give us all the proceeds from the sale of the cloth shop. I will add all the 150,000 taels to your dowry. You have such favorable conditions, why would Xie choose Jiang Congying over you? Moreover, with her background..."

Jiang Tangyu was overjoyed when she heard this, clapping her hands in applause. "Besides, her mother is a bastard, and she has the blood of a prostitute in her bones. How could a noble family like the Xie family possibly be interested in her?"

Standing outside the window listening, Cong Ying felt her blood run cold, as if ice chips were piercing into her flesh and bones.

My mother tried so hard to please the eldest wife, but they still said behind her back that she was a bastard and a prostitute.

They plundered with great pride like bandits, and then—

"Then kick out all the prostitutes from the second house, and have them all go back to Xuzhou with their younger prostitutes!"

Cong Ying turned around and walked away with a cold face, and almost bumped into a maid carrying a casserole at the moon-shaped door.

"Oh, Fourth Lady!"

The maid exclaimed in annoyance, "You should be more careful. This is a fresh carp that was caught from the lake by breaking the ice. My daughter ordered it herself—"

Before he finished speaking, Cong Ying raised his hand and knocked over the wooden plate in the maid's hand. The casserole was overturned to the ground and the boiling fish soup splashed everywhere.

Cong Ying's face was cold, and her black and white pupils were as dark as ink, revealing an anger that the maid had never seen before.

Such an intimidating look was very similar to that of the late Censor Jiang, and it made the maid shudder.

Cong Ying stared at her, then turned to look at the Cai mother and daughter who came out after hearing the sound. After a while, a smile suddenly broke out on his face.

She said word by word, "You're already eating meat before you're even out of mourning, Third Sister. Be careful not to get all the fishy smell on you, and then get your tongue pricked by a thorn."

*

For several days in a row, Cong Ying went to the cloth shop in the east of the city every day to check on the business.

In order to force Cong Ying to sell the cloth shop and pay the money, Cai made promises in front of Zhao all day long, saying that as long as she arranged to buy an official position for her son, she would immediately hire a great scholar to be a teacher for Zhao's youngest son.

At the same time, Cai teamed up with several nearby cloth shops to exploit his family, stealing his own new cloth samples and selling them at a lower price. Cai promised them that after his cloth shop was sold, he would compensate them for the difference in price.

After Ying found out about this, he took the cloth shop's workers to see his mother, Zhao. Zhao only sighed after hearing about it:

"If we continue to waste time like this, it will not benefit her, and it will be even less beneficial to us. How can we defeat her?"

Cong Ying said, "Please ask the elder to come forward and separate the two families. The cloth shop is the family property left to us by our grandfather. After the division, she can no longer interfere."

"What did you say? Divide the family?" Zhao's expression changed slightly. "Your grandfather's body is still warm. How will your brother cope with the accusation of unfilial piety? Besides, your uncle is the only one in the Jiang family who holds an official position. If the family is divided, we, an orphan and a widow, won't even be able to be officials' wives!"

Zhao scolded Cong Ying for a long time, and Cong Ying just listened quietly.

Zhao said sadly, "I know your grandfather has a place planned for you. You were just waiting to marry into the Xie family after the mourning period was over, and you were planning to give these two cloth workshops as a dowry. But have you ever thought about me and Ah Qian? It was your aunt who told me such a big thing."

Cong Ying explained: "Marriage with Xie is a non-starter, not to mention—"

"You always have your own ideas. You don't need to explain to me."

——Besides, she never thought of taking the cloth shop for herself.

Zhao interrupted Congying. It was time for her to make bird's nest porridge for her youngest son, and she was impatient to listen any further.

He watched her leave with his own eyes, and his hand that was stroking the corner of his sleeve slowly dropped down. Although his face remained calm, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

But she had to understand, because her mother was so partial because she was afraid of losing her support. If she had the same background as her aunt, she might have planned for her daughter as much as her aunt did.

Maybe...it will be so.

After failing to find Zhao from Ying, he went to another friend for help and arranged a banquet at Yanxi Tower.

The one who came to the banquet was a young lady, a few years older than Congying. Her surname was Ji and her name was Caibing. She was the steward of Ji's Trading Company.

Over the years since Ying settled in Xuzhou with her grandfather, the two cloth shops in the east of the city were entrusted to Ji Shi Trading Company for management. Ji Shi Trading Company looked down on these small businesses and gave them to the young girl at home to practice, hoping that she would not lose the shops. Unexpectedly, after seven or eight years, she managed them very successfully.

Cong Ying poured tea for Ji Cai Bing and said, "Sister Cai Bing has taken care of the two cloth mills over the years. She has worked so hard but never took a single cent more. I will always be grateful for this kindness."

Ji Caibing took the teacup and said with a smile, "Back then, I was just a little girl who knew nothing. In less than two months, I nearly lost everything in the shop. If it weren't for Sister Congying's intercession in front of Old Jiang, and if he hadn't condoned my mistakes, I wouldn't have had the chance to continue taking over the family business, let alone reach where I am today. If I'm going to thank someone, I should thank you."

This wasn't entirely self-deprecating.

Ji Caibing was in charge of running these two cloth shops. Due to his lack of experience and help, he made many mistakes. When it came to distributing dividends at the end of the year, there were only outgoings on the books, but little income.

Although she and the Jiang family had agreed on a 70% profit split, she was too embarrassed to ask for money and only regretted not being able to make up for the losses out of her own pocket. Unexpectedly, when the account book was sent to Xuzhou, Xiao Congying not only did not blame her, but instead wrote a long letter of comfort and encouragement, and enclosed a silver note worth fifty taels, which was her share of the interest this year.

Recalling the past, Ji Caibing smiled and said with emotion: "Little Ah Ying, you are truly my mentor. If you ever want to go into business, be the first to tell me. I will help you make a fortune!"

Cong Ying shook her head gently: "Sister, you are so kind, but unfortunately, I am not interested in this."

Ji Caibing asked, "So where are your ambitions?"

Cong Ying did not answer, but looked over the window railing at the bustling street scenes in the distance and near, lost in thought for a long time.

She said to Ji Caibing, "I came here today to sell these two cloth shops in the east of the city to my sister."

Ji Caibing was stunned when he heard this: "Sell it to me?"

Cong Ying nodded, took out a few paper deeds and presented them to Ji Caibing.

"Half a year ago, when you first returned to Beijing, you said you wanted to run your own business. This is the family property that your second branch relies on for survival. Why are you suddenly selling it now? If you're short of money, I can lend it to you—"

"Sister Cai Bing, please take a look at the contract first."

Ji Caibing flipped through a few pages doubtfully, his confusion growing even greater. "You want to sell the cloth shop, but you don't want me to pay you all at once. You're giving your mother two thousand taels every year until she passes away... Little Aying, are you short of money or not? You know, the net profit of these two cloth shops is more than two thousand taels a year."

Cong Ying said, "I'm not short of money, but I don't want to be targeted by thieves either."

Ji Caibing seemed to understand something and sighed sympathetically, "It's just that you're really at a disadvantage by doing this."

Cong Ying said, "Someone has offered me a lump sum of 150,000 taels. My mother can't keep the money, so it would be better to sell it to Sister Cai Bing. It would benefit both you and me."

These two cloth workshops were also Ji Caibing's hard work. She certainly wanted to buy them, but she didn't want to take advantage of the situation. So she said, "How about this, I will increase your annual silver payment to 3,000 taels, otherwise I will feel uneasy."

Cong Ying shook her head and said, "Business has been tough these past two years, and the cloth shop can't make that much money. I came to ask for help from my sister, so how could I let her suffer any loss? Besides..."

After some thought, Cong Ying decided to tell Ji Caibing everything about how the Cai family had colluded with outsiders to squeeze out her own shop. She was worried that this would make Ji Caibing hesitate, but unexpectedly, Ji Caibing was eager to take action, his eyes shining.

"Ji Clan's family motto: All businessmen fight together, and the one with the best strategy wins."

Ji Caibing said, "I've been busy counting money lately. I haven't fought anyone in a while. I'm looking forward to it just thinking about it."

Seeing this, Congying felt relieved and couldn't help laughing. He raised his glass to her with tea instead of wine and said, "Sister, you are a general of great strategy and courage. Congying wishes you a successful start and a speedy victory over the enemy."

The two of them refilled their tea, ordered some pastries, and began to discuss the contract details on the spot. At Ji Caibing's insistence, the annual payment was increased from 2,000 taels to 2,500 taels, 2,000 of which went to Zhao, and the remaining 500 taels was deposited in the name of her younger sister, Ah He, in the Ji family's bank, free for her to use whenever she needed it.

When it comes to my younger sister, it’s hard for Cong Ying to refuse.

Ji Caibing asked the waiter for pen, ink, paper and inkstone to re-copy the agreed contract. Cong Ying was grinding ink for her opposite. When she finished writing the last sentence, her pen was still hanging in the air. Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she added another line of words.

"On the day of the seller's wedding, the buyer shall, as agreed, give the seller a dowry of five thousand taels."

"Sister!"

Ji Caibing grabbed Cong Ying's hand, passed the cinnabar ink over it, and pressed his fingerprint on the deed paper.

"Okay, the contract is done!" Ji Caibing raised the paper contract proudly.

Congying, neither angry nor amused, thanked her repeatedly. They both put the paper contract away. Ji Caibing affectionately took Congying's arm and said, "Let's go to the cloth shop! I want to see who dares to squeeze out my Ji family's shop!"

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