Chapter 44 Chapter 44 I have to say, Madam You is very good at...
It must be said that Madam You is very good at grasping people's hearts, and every word she said touched Jiang Wan's heart.
She'd been busy these days, longing to spend more time with her family and take them on trips. But saving money to redeem her was paramount; everything else naturally took a back seat. Now that she'd saved enough money, she couldn't help but wonder if there were any easier jobs that would still earn her money.
Moreover, Xiaofangpan City is located on the border, with lax laws and poor public security. Without a backer, there's no guarantee he won't run into another Huang the Conspirator or Li the Magistrate. With Zi Yan and Commander Shen's connections, Jiang Wan didn't have to worry too much. But they weren't from the small town after all, and sooner or later they would have to leave.
After hearing what Madam You said, Jiang Wan realized that it was time to make plans early.
But Wusun was a long way off, and she didn't know the local customs. Whether this business could be successful remained a question. Furthermore, judging by the Right Lady's intentions, it seemed she wasn't just looking for business, but also cultivating a trusted confidant who could later deliver goods directly to the harem and provide some support.
This would inevitably involve a power struggle, and Jiang Wan didn't want to get involved.
But there was no other way to think about it at the moment. Jiang Wan couldn't make a decision for the time being, so he said he needed to discuss it with his mother before giving him an answer.
Madam You didn't force it. After all, they were both stubborn people. It was already difficult to convince Jiang Wan to consider this matter. Further persuasion might backfire.
"Then, Boss Jiang, please consider this carefully. I'm pressed for time and have to return to Wusun early tomorrow morning, but my sister will stay here. Boss Jiang, please speak to her if you have anything to say." She wrote down her sister Yili's address and handed it to Jiang Wan. "I'll tell my sister when we get back. If you need any help, just let her know. She'll do her best to help."
After a few more pleasantries, Madam You rose to take her leave. She left the small town in the desolate night, her sleeves fluttering as she accidentally revealed a bracelet on her right wrist that had belonged only to Madam Wusun. It was gorgeous and elegant, emitting a cool white light, as cool as the moon over the border.
"The moon in this small Fangpan City is so beautiful. It looks much brighter than the one in Lin'an." Shen Jianqing was lying in Zi Yan's wooden house, grabbing a bunch of grapes and stuffing them into his mouth. As soon as he took a bite, he frowned.
"Pah, why are you so sour?"
Zi Yan was flipping through a stack of papers covered with words. He glanced at Shen Jianqing when he heard this and said, "It's good to have something to eat. The grapes you eat in your house are all the best grapes from all over the country, and some are purchased from Wusun. Naturally, they are delicious."
"Speaking of Wusun," Shen Jianqing threw down the grapes in disdain and asked, "Is the spy's base definitely in Wusun and not in Xiongnu?"
"Yes. Two months ago, I checked all the letters sent to the Xiongnu and found no information about the spy. It can be seen that the letters were not sent directly to the Xiongnu, but borrowed a route from other small countries in the Western Regions. Among the Western Regions countries bordering the Great Zhou, Loulan had very little contact with the Xiongnu, while Wusun was very close to the Xiongnu. Moreover, the Xiongnu Khan will meet with the Wusun King next month. The spy's base must be in Wusun." Zi Yan finished reading the intelligence book and threw the stack of papers into the stove.
The flames shot up, making short "sizzling" sounds.
Chen Jianqing: "Although Wusun is small, it is still a country after all. We can't just go in and search it openly. Besides, I'm here as an imperial envoy inspecting the prefectures, so I only need to go to Dunhuang County. Now I've been hiding here secretly for seven days. If I don't go back, I'm afraid I won't be able to report it."
He made a chopping motion and said, "In my opinion, we should just arrest that spy and torture him severely. If he falls into my hands, there's no one who won't confess."
"It's useless. He should just be an informant and doesn't know much. Arresting him rashly will only alert the enemy and the Huns will send more people to infiltrate in the future." Zi Yan shook his head.
"So what do we do?"
"That person should have sensed that he was being targeted. We pretended to arrest him, but actually let him go and sent someone to follow him to see if we could catch the contact person on the other side." Zi Yan said in a deep voice as he watched the paper in the stove burn to ashes.
Shen Jianqing's eyes lit up: "It has to be you, this trick is really vicious. Then I will go back and make arrangements immediately, and we will act at night."
He jumped up from the couch excitedly and was about to go out.
"Hey," Zi Yan called out to him, "When will Magistrate Li's case be resolved?"
Shen Jianqing was stunned for a moment, as if he just remembered this matter, and waved his hand: “Wait three more days, and when our business is done, I will slip back and follow the imperial envoy’s team, and I will do it as soon as I arrive at the county government.”
He blinked doubtfully, "The magistrate is definitely going to be dismissed. Why are you suddenly asking this? Is there something else wrong with this case?"
Zi Yan pursed his lips: "Nothing, just do it quickly."
News of Magistrate Li Weimin's dismissal didn't break until three days later. While selling porcelain, Jiang Wan overheard customers gossiping about the alleged collusion between Magistrate Li and Huang Shiren, accepting bribes and condoning Huang's illegal collection of protection rackets and oppression of the people. This led to his dismissal; the corrupt businessman, Huang Shiren, was subsequently imprisoned. Crucially, the case was personally overseen by the Dunhuang prefect, seemingly due to the imperial envoy's visit to the prefecture. This allowed the case to be handled with swift and decisive action, without delay.
Jiang Wan took a break at noon to check in with the government office. Seeing the notice in black and white, she finally smiled in relief. She explained the situation to the customers present and then posted a notice prominently at the entrance, explaining that she had something to do the next day, February 1st, and that her apprentice would be temporarily managing the shop. The window displays would be suspended for the day.
Since the new formula was released three days ago, Jiang Wan's reputation has soared, and many craftsmen from the prefecture and neighboring areas have come to visit. Fang Hong even came to carefully examine the new formula yesterday and asked if she needed to build a porcelain factory.
With the current sales volume of the Jiang family shop, a dozen employees were no longer enough. Her residence, including the warehouse inside the shop, was also full. Jiang Wan agreed with Fang Hong's proposal and planned to save some money to build a porcelain production base.
So she decided to go to the county government office early tomorrow morning to redeem her mother and brother, and then discuss the future business direction with them.
"Don't worry, Master," Wang Da patted his chest and vowed, "We will definitely take good care of the business. Master, you've worked hard these days. Tomorrow, after you redeem your family, we will call Aunt Jiang and Brother Jiang and go to the best restaurant in the city for a meal and relax."
"Yes, yes. Master used to treat us, but this time it's just the three of us. We're celebrating the freedom of Master's family and the successful opening of our store." Wang Er continued his brother's words and looked at Jiang Wan expectantly.
To save money quickly, Jiang Wan had been working from dawn to dusk, leaving her with less time to teach and spend time with her apprentices. To save money, she had temporarily stopped hiring servants, leaving all the shop work to the apprentices. Sometimes, seeing the exhausted figures of her three children, she felt a mixture of emotion and guilt as their teacher.
But not only did the apprentices not complain, they even offered to leave all their earnings to Jiang Wan. Jiang Wan had originally insisted on giving them half of the money, but the money she'd given them always found its way back to her in strange ways. For example, a few days ago, Chen Xi brought some local fruit to Jiang's mother, and found several taels of silver hidden under the basket. Also, when Wang Da came to the Jiang family's courtyard to move some porcelain, he found a lot of extra silver next to the water tank. Later, Jiang An saw it while fetching water and thought it had been left by a farmhand. After several inquiries, he finally understood the cause.
If it weren't for her disciples' understanding, she would not be able to redeem her family now.
Thinking of this, Jiang Wan's eyes welled up. He patted Wang Er's head and said jokingly, "Okay! But I haven't had a good meal in a long time. Do you have enough money?"
If it wasn't enough, she would pay for it. If it was enough, she would find an excuse to sneak out and pay it secretly.
"I've packed enough! I've also prepared gifts for my aunt and brother." Chen Xi raised his head proudly, his eyes shining with excitement.
Jiang Wan pinched her pigtails and said with a smile, "Our Xixi is really amazing!"
Early morning of February 1st.
Jiang Wan was waiting at the gate of the county government office, weighing the cloth bag in his hand.
The cloth bag contained a full four hundred taels of silver, nearly all of her savings since crossing over. Two hundred taels of silver for a convict slave would have been considered a gross mismatch in her past life. But now, she simply wanted her family to be around her. As for silver, having already reached the pinnacle of wealth in her past life, she wasn't so concerned about it now.
Jiang Wan gathered her clothes to block the chilly wind and looked at the plaque above the door that read "Fangpan County Yamen." The last time she had been to the Yamen was at the New Year's Eve banquet, where she had offered a glass of wine to Li Weimin to beg her to redeem her. Two months later, she was able to redeem her family herself, no longer having to beg for mercy.
It was a time of transition for the new magistrates, with the old ones leaving. Many officials who had been friendly with Li Weimin kept their heads down and remained silent, making the county office quite deserted, completely unlike the bustling New Year's Eve atmosphere. The accountant's expression was especially eerie, as if he was about to weep.
The new magistrate was an elderly man of about fifty years old with a long beard. He looked friendly and sat upright in the hall. Li Weimin stood in front of him with his back to Jiang Wan, probably handing over files.
Jiang Wan watched from outside the door as the new magistrate read the files with a slightly frown on his face. Li Weimin was bent over with a hunched back. Jiang Wan could almost imagine him nodding and groveling to admit his mistake.
Li Weimin really doesn't deserve the name as he ignores government affairs and only thinks about making money all day long.
After a moment, the new magistrate slammed the table. Li Weimin shuddered and timidly sat down in a chair farthest from him. Jiang Wan guessed that there was something wrong with the file that couldn't be sorted out immediately, so he opened the court and told Li Weimin to wait.
Sure enough, a yamen runner soon came trotting over and invited her into the hall.
Jiang Wan bowed to the new magistrate and explained her purpose. Perhaps because Xiaofangpan City's finances were tight, the new magistrate didn't make things difficult for her. He accepted the money and took her to retrieve her indenture.
Jiang Wan breathed a sigh of relief and was about to follow when she felt a vicious gaze. The malice that came towards her made her turn her head involuntarily.
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