Chapter 249 The Play
There was a lot of noise all night, and I don't know what happened.
Zhou Rui arrived late, his face pale and pale. When asked what had happened, he remained silent, simply sending everyone back to their rooms without saying another word.
Xie Qi and Shen Yuanzhu were both quite tired after their argument, so they went back to their rooms and slept soundly.
The next morning, when Eunuch Yuan announced the start of the first round of the election, they learned what had happened the day before.
The businesses participating in this selection all possess genuine expertise, demonstrating not only outstanding capabilities but also some family-inherited skills.
Before the election began, everyone kept their own sample fabrics. Normally, it wasn't until the first round of the election that businesses were asked to submit samples.
Yesterday, just one day before the sample was to be presented, the sample fabric from the Shangjing Baoling Shop was splashed with ink and cut into pieces...
What's more troublesome is that not only was the sample fabric destroyed yesterday, but a worker on the Baoling ship who was in charge of guarding the sample fabric also died.
When Yuan Xu came to announce this matter early in the morning, all the businesses were somewhat frightened.
"With something like this happening at the same guild hall, how are we supposed to stay here? This is just too unlucky."
"Exactly. Putting aside whether it's unlucky or not, who is so ruthless? They even risked human lives. It's truly inhuman."
There aren't many local businesses in the capital, but Baoling is quite famous in the capital. The sample fabric they brought to the competition was "seven-color dyed," and it's said to be the most likely to succeed.
Now that this has happened, I don't know if I'll still be able to run for election smoothly.
As Shen Yuanzhu was pondering this matter, she heard Yuan Xu say, "Don't worry, everyone. I have already arranged for the Five Cities Military Command to take over the case. You don't need to worry."
"Moving the first round to today is also to avoid any unforeseen complications and prevent such a tragedy from happening again..."
After Yuan Xu finished speaking, Zhou Rui announced that Bao Ling was withdrawing from the election.
As Shen Yuanzhu listened, she felt a vague unease in her heart.
She thought she had been ruthless enough in her business dealings in Suzhou, but she never expected that she would do something like this in order to compete for the title of Imperial Merchant in the capital.
If it really comes down to the last minute, it's one thing if the competition is fierce among a few companies, but their group couldn't even get into the courtyard, so their chances of being selected were already slim.
Moreover, there aren't many local merchants in the capital; the rest are from other provinces. They're not familiar with Baoling Company and people have already died while they're still confused. Wouldn't it be even more dangerous later on?
While she was lost in thought, Yuan Xu had already instructed Zhou Rui to step forward and collect the sample fabrics from each shop and present them to her.
This step was supposed to be a public display, but after what happened yesterday, apart from a few large, fearless businesses, everyone else kept quiet and handed the items over to Yuan Xu in a very low-key manner.
The scale-patterned dye of Shen Yuanzhu and the crown of heroes in Xie Qi's hand were not particularly eye-catching at first glance. However, when Shen Yanhuai took out the ice-tear cloth, it attracted everyone's attention.
However, Shen Yanhuai was a low-key person who had no intention of competing with others for attention, and he remained silent after making friends with them.
With all the sample fabrics collected, Yuan Xu said, "The sample fabrics will be presented to the Imperial Wardrobe and His Highness Prince Jing, who is in charge of managing this year's imperial merchant selection..."
Xie Qi frowned slightly upon hearing this.
Seeing that his expression was off, Shen Yuanzhu asked silently, but Xie Qi shook his head slightly and didn't say a word.
After the sample fabric was presented and everyone dispersed, Shen Yuanzhu and Xie Qi sat in the room to discuss the day's events.
Xie Qi looked grave: "Strange, Eunuch Yuan was originally Prince Cheng's man. When I came to the capital with you, I even heard him mention that Prince Cheng was in charge of this election. How come he has suddenly become Prince Jing today?"
Shen Yuanzhu shook her head, indicating that she did not know.
They were different from the textile and dyeing workshops in the capital, whose owners either had concubines in the palace or noble relatives. Unlike them, they were all ordinary people who knew nothing about court affairs.
Just yesterday, when Liang Sheng arrived at the same guild hall, he mentioned that Shen Yuanzhu had scale-patterned dyeing, but the two of them didn't even know what other outstanding crafts the other businesses had.
Shen Yuanzhu rested her chin on her hand and blinked. "I don't know, but something just feels off."
Xie Qi said, "I'll go ask my father-in-law."
As soon as he stepped out of Yuanzhu's house, he saw the Liang family steward, who had been about to kneel before him the day before, walking over with two servants.
"Young Master Xie, this old servant has come to thank you for saving my young master yesterday."
Steward Liang handed the food box to Xie Qi with a smile: "Yesterday I heard you mention that my young master said he wanted to send you delicacies from the capital, so this old servant came over today."
Xie Qi took the food box, lowered his eyes, and asked, "Is Young Master Liang awake?"
The butler nodded: "He's awake, but he still has a fever and his whole body aches terribly. But the doctor said it's nothing serious. My master has ordered the young master to abstain from alcohol, worried that he might slip up again while drunk and suffer the same fate as yesterday."
"If it weren't for Young Master Xie yesterday, our young master would have..."
Steward Liang wiped the sweat from his brow and gestured for the servant behind him to step forward.
"These are our Liang family's small token of gratitude to you, young master. We hope you will accept them."
Xie Qi looked up at the wooden boxes the two men were carrying. Inside were men's clothing, and on top of them was a wooden box wrapped in red silk.
Xie Qi didn't answer, but said, "I didn't see you and Young Master Liang this morning. Has the Liang family made up for the sample fabric?"
Butler Liang paused upon hearing this, and suddenly looked somewhat embarrassed: "Ah... well, I won't hide it from you, young master. My young master had such an incident yesterday, how could he possibly be in the mood for the selection?"
"Since we missed the chance, and it wouldn't be good to make things difficult for the officials in the weaving and dyeing department, my master said that we'll let it go this year and wait until next year to select someone."
Upon hearing this, Xie Qi looked up and glanced at Steward Liang.
Butler Liang smiled faintly, had the things delivered to Xie Qi's room, and then turned to leave. As soon as he left, Shen Yuanzhu pushed open the door and tilted her head to look out from the corridor.
Xie Qi pointed to his room, gesturing for her to come inside.
"That's not quite right."
Xie Qi nodded: "Something does seem off."
Shen Yuanzhu said, "I found it strange when the eunuch announced the withdrawal of Baoling this morning. There shouldn't be only one sample piece of cloth, and such important things shouldn't all be kept together and then destroyed."
"Besides, Baoling Shop is located in the capital. It shouldn't be difficult to get a piece from the shop to replace it."
Xie Qi continued, "What's even stranger is the Liang family. Liang Sheng said yesterday that his aunt is a concubine in the palace and will definitely become a royal merchant this year. If that's the case, why would the Liang family withdraw so readily just because a playboy in their family fell into the water?"
"This doesn't make sense."
Shen Yuanzhu raised her eyes and pursed her lips slightly: "The person in charge of the imperial merchant selection suddenly changed from Prince Cheng to Prince Jing, and two textile and dyeing workshops in the capital suddenly withdrew..."
After a moment's thought, Shen Yuanzhu's heart tightened: "I found it very strange yesterday. The election hasn't even started yet, so why did they suddenly destroy the sample fabric of Baoling Company? Isn't it a bit too early to start killing people and destroying fabric now?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Qi raised an eyebrow: "Do you think it's possible that Baoling wanted to withdraw from the election but didn't want to offend Prince Jing, who was in charge of the election, so they staged a murder and destruction of the cloth?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
