Chapter 268 Entanglement
Shen Yanhuai waved his hand, indicating that he would talk about it later.
After leaving the Xie family, the three of them went to Xiecuifang.
Shen Yuanzhu dismissed the shop assistants and invited Shen Yanhuai to her accounting office.
Xie Qi took the cushion and placed it behind Shen Yanhuai, who whispered a thank you.
After saying this, he remained silent for a long time.
After a long while, he smiled faintly and said, "There are a lot of things to do, and I don't know where to start. I can't find a clue."
Neither Xie Qi nor Shen Yuanzhu responded; they both knew that many things must have happened in the capital since they left.
Shen Yanhua pondered for a moment and said, "Let's start from after you left. After you left, there was a second round of selection. After Shen Jiabing was selected for tearing cloth, I felt a little uneasy, so I wanted to reveal the dyeing formula."
"Although we have to give up a prescription, it's good to be able to save our whole family."
"But the fact that Young Master Feng Rong was punished is right before my eyes. I don't want to offend the people behind the scenes again, so I don't dare to publicize it. I'm thinking of finding an excuse to make this dyeing powder useless."
"Once a prescription loses its value, it will naturally no longer be valued by others."
"It's just for a short time, and I don't know what excuse I can come up with."
"I thought I'd let your sister-in-law and Yuanqiong go first, but they didn't want to, so they stayed in the capital to keep me company."
"Later, your sister-in-law asked Yuanqiong if she would be willing to choose a family to marry into during this election."
"In this way, we can also spread the recipe under the pretext of wanting to find a husband for Yuanqiong."
"Then, Yuanqiong agreed."
Shen Yuanzhu nodded; this did indeed seem like something Shen Yuanqiong would agree to.
Shen Yuanqiong had always wanted to outdo her. She had previously thought Xie Qi was incompetent and had openly and secretly mocked her. Later, in the capital, after learning that Xie Qi was the manager of Jixia Manor, she had been eager to find a large shop owner or a young master.
Those who made it into the second round were no smaller shops; even if they weren't top-tier in the region, they were at least no worse than her Xiecuifang.
Shen Yuanzhu was still listening when she noticed that Shen Yanhuai seemed to be thinking of something and was pressing his temples in exasperation.
"Later, during the second round of screening, I approached a few families who had brought their children or nephews and chatted with them."
"The first one I found was the third young master of the Huanhuafang family in Tongjiang Prefecture."
“This man is good-looking, and Tongjiang Prefecture is not far from us. I think if this marriage can really happen, it would be a wonderful thing.”
"result……"
Shen Yanhuai lowered his eyes: "As soon as I told the other party the recipe for the ice-shredding cloth, that young master Zhao fell from the second floor of the same hall at noon."
"Hands and feet were severed."
"What?"
Shen Yuanzhu asked in surprise, "Is this a warning?"
Shen Yanhua nodded: "Yes, I was given thirty lashes by an excuse in the evening."
His wounds were slow to heal in the winter, and he spent a long time recuperating in Beijing before he finally recovered.
Xie Qi asked upon hearing this, "How are you now?"
"I'm much better now."
"Shen Family Dyehouse passed the second round of testing?"
"Um."
Shen Yanhuai's face was very ugly. After a while, he continued, "After passing the test, I stayed in the capital. At this time, there were not many shops left in the guild hall."
“Yuanqiong, she…”
Shen Yanhuai paused for a moment, then said, "Your sister-in-law has her eye on Hengchang Dyehouse in Jinan Prefecture. Hengchang Dyehouse is indeed very powerful. After the second round, before entering the third round, Eunuch Yuan demonstrated the craftsmanship of each shop to everyone."
“Normally, it’s good if a family has one person with this kind of skill, and if they can produce two or three, that’s considered extremely capable. But Hengchang Dyehouse brought out eleven pieces of cloth in one go…”
Eleven yuan?
Shen Yanhua nodded: "Yes, eleven yuan."
“Each dyeing method is different, with different styles and different schools of thought.”
Shen Yuanzhu frowned: "That's impossible."
It's already difficult for a family to have one good recipe. Most people figure out other things based on that recipe.
But they are basically from the same school of thought.
For example, the Shen family's dyeing formula, although capable of producing many colors, is largely derived from a single formula through improvements.
For example, the color, texture, and craftsmanship are all very similar.
If there are different schools of thought, such as the ice-tear cloth recipe obtained by Shen Yanhuai, it is already quite rare.
That was after he spent many years traveling around, reading ancient books, and traversing thousands of mountains to figure out the best one that could be used to participate in the dyeing competition.
And this Hengchang Dyehouse was able to produce eleven pieces in one go...
No one would reveal all their assets at once, so Hengchang Dyehouse must have something even better in its possession.
But that's it...
That's really illogical.
If Hengchang Dyehouse were truly that powerful, they wouldn't be unaware of it. The Xie family is known only for its Xie family brocade weaving, and even that is renowned far and wide.
She had never heard of the name Hengchang Dyehouse in Jinan Prefecture.
Shen Yanhuai sneered: "Yes, that's impossible."
He immediately sensed something was wrong with Hengchang Dyehouse, but Shen Yuanqiong didn't.
She believed that Hengchang was destined to become a royal merchant, so she became very close to the young master of Hengchang.
He racked his brains every day, trying to leave the capital.
His sister, however…
Shen Yanhuai tightened his grip, his thin lips pressed tightly together.
"The remaining shops are all seasoned veterans in this industry; how could they not see the intricacies of the business?"
"With the expertise of an old expert, it's clear that the items Hengchang produces have distinct regional characteristics and would never appear in the same dyehouse."
Shen Yuanzhu frowned deeply: "Did Hengchang steal the formula?"
"It would be better if it were stolen."
Xie Qi asked, "What do you mean?"
Shen Yanhuai snorted coldly: "Hengchang is blatantly robbing us."
His hands were shaking violently, so Shen Yanhuai put his hands behind his back.
"Hengchang Dyehouse was originally just a small dyehouse in Jinan Prefecture, but one of its daughters was brought into the Prince Jing's Mansion."
"From then on, Hengchang Dyehouse had a powerful backer, and thus many other shops adopted its signature craft..."
Shen Yuanzhu's face paled, and she said softly, "Just like Sister Ruan?"
Shen Yanhua nodded: "Just like Ruan Fulan."
Xie Qi looked at him and frowned: "That ice-shredded cloth..."
Shen Yanhuai said, "The recipe has also been taken away by Hengchang. Not only that, I will no longer be allowed to dye ice-tear cloth in the future..."
"Hengchang is so domineering. He's so audacious just because he has a prince's concubine. If he had a princess, wouldn't everyone in the world be forbidden from opening a dye shop?"
Shen Yuanzhu's eyes were wide open with anger. Xie Qi squeezed her palm and gently comforted her.
Shen Yanhuai also sighed: "It's already good enough that I came back alive, and I only lost a dye formula, my assets are still intact..."
"It's already a blessing to have survived; I don't want anything else..."
As for Yuanqiong, after doing and experiencing all those things, who knows what will become of her in the future?
There are no secrets that stay hidden forever. I only hope that everything in the capital can vanish with their return, leaving no trace...
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