"Clang!" Li Zixiu harshly smashed the tea cup to the ground, "Damn it all!"
He cursed maliciously.
Song Jiyun was so ruthless!
He had stabbed him in the back with such stealth!
Not correct!
How did Song Jiyun know about his schemes?
He had always contacted Old Master Wang privately, even his most trusted Grand Steward only knew that he frequently sought Old Master Wang, and that there might be some matter, but did not know the specifics.
His gaze involuntarily fell on Old Master Wang.
Only Old Master Wang knew what he had said.
Although what Old Master Wang said when he visited Song Jiyun had spread throughout the streets and alleys, who could guarantee that he had only said those things?
Li Zixiu scoffed silently in his heart, yet he didn’t show it on his face, instead he cheerfully said to Old Master Wang, "Brother, wait here for me for a while, I’ll take care of this matter."
A flicker of strangeness passed through Old Master Wang’s mind.
At this time, Old Master Li could still manage to smile...
But this thought was fleeting, and he didn’t dwell on it, instead he stayed busy, "Just go ahead. Your family’s pastries are quite tasty, I’ll just stay here and have some tea and pastries."
Li Zixiu did not speak further with him, but bowed and left the hall with the Grand Steward.
As soon as he stepped out of the hall, he lowered his voice to the Grand Steward, "Hurry to the accountant, the silver will not be given for now. We’re heading to Prince Huai’s Mansion immediately."
The Grand Steward followed his orders and left.
Li Zixiu stood under the eaves for a while, then turned to go to the study, preparing to leave.
*
Old Master Wang waited in the hall for a long time, but Li Zixiu did not return.
He called to a servant boy passing by outside, "Where is your Old Master?"
The servant boy had just seen off Li Zixiu, and respectfully said, "Our Old Master has left the house. He’s gone to Shangrao."
Prince Huai’s Mansion was in Shangrao.
"Damn!" Old Master Wang stamped his foot.
He had not yet received the eighty thousand taels of silver!
He grabbed the servant boy, "When your Old Master left, did he leave any message? What about the Grand Steward, did he also go to Shangrao?"
The servant boy nodded and said, "Not only the Grand Steward, but the Steward of the Kiln Factory and several accountants have all gone to Shangrao with the Old Master."
Old Master Wang stood there stunned as he recalled Li Zixiu’s smile and realized then that Li Zixiu was suspecting him.
He cursed bitterly in his heart.
His eighty thousand taels of silver!
If he had known it would come to this, he wouldn’t have paid Song Jiyun out of his own pocket to save face!
He felt like banging his head against the wall.
But now that things had come to this, even if he waited here until the seas turned to stone, it would be useless.
Old Master Wang returned home in a fury.
His wife demanded the eighty thousand taels of silver from him.
Old Master Wang couldn’t produce it.
Madam Wang simply didn’t believe him and suspected, "You wouldn’t have taken those eighty thousand taels to your brother, would you? When your father was alive, we had already divided the family assets. Although you inherited the Yan Ji Glaze Shop, he took his share of the houses, land, and silver. You dare to use my family’s connections and even take the money to your brother!"
The couple fought again.
In the following days, Old Master Wang visited Li Zixiu’s family daily, but Li Zixiu was nowhere to be seen.
Once, the envoy he sent had already seen Li Zixiu return home, but when he rushed to Li’s residence, Li’s family feigned that Li Zixiu had not yet returned.
Old Master Wang faintly felt that he would not be able to retrieve the eighty thousand taels of silver.
He regretted deeply how he had foolishly believed Li Zixiu’s words. Li had said that Song Jiyun, despite her young age, was arrogant and needed to be taught a lesson. Their shop was the largest glaze supplier in Jingde Town. Even if Song Jiyun knew it was their doing, once the Shocked Glaze porcelain emerged, could they possibly inspect every batch of glaze, every piece of porcelain? Without evidence, could she really take them to the Yamen or complain to the guild? If so, they weren’t defenseless. By then, it would still be a question of who was in the wrong!
Who would have thought that Song Jiyun would take such an unusual course of action, preferring to halt production to check every batch of glaze, every piece of porcelain, and after discovering their sabotage, she said nothing and immediately took action against them.
What should he do now?
Song Jiyun was clearly not someone to be trifled with!
Old Master Wang was nearly pulling his hair out as the Song Family Kiln Factory chose this time to stop all business with Yan Ji Glaze Shop, and other kiln factories began returning goods to them.
"Our kiln factory does not trust the goods in your shop!" the Chief Steward of the kiln factory stood in the street shouting at their family, "After so many years of business, you’ve been scheming against the Song Family Kiln Factory behind the scenes, who knows when something might happen to us!"
It was the Store Manager who was there at the time; seeing this, he was so anxious he broke into a sweat and tried to pull the Chief Steward into the shop to talk.
However, the Chief Steward shoved the Store Manager’s hand away, continuing to shout loudly, "I dare not drink your family’s tea, who knows what you might have added to confuse me into signing some deed. Let’s talk here in the street, let everyone judge this. Our kiln factory is honest and unblemished, we have nothing that cannot be spoken in public."
With no alternatives, the Store Manager, trying to placate him, said with a smile, "We’ll compensate you with silver! There’s a virtue in forgiving, why must you paint such a bleak picture and leave no paths open!"
"Then why did you also compensate the Song Family Kiln Factory eighty thousand taels?" the Chief Steward was unyielding, each word louder than the last, "We who do proper business cannot compare to the large and established Song Family Kiln Factory, even if you can afford it, we can’t bear the loss!"
The onlookers immediately erupted, "Eighty thousand taels?! They compensated that much? The Song Family Kiln Factory really is rich!"
"With Yan Ji doing this, who would dare buy glaze from their shop! That blue and white porcelain material all looks dull; without them telling, who can discern which is Cobalt Blue? Which is Cobalt Blue Glazed?"
"Old Master Wang is lacking in virtue!"
"Yan Ji fell into the wrong hands with him in charge. If it had passed to his brother, it certainly would have been different."
The Store Manager could only offer a wry smile. He knew well that this was the Song Family using their family to assert authority, but without a single exaggerated word from them, how could he accuse others of spreading rumors?
Yet, that wasn’t the worst of his troubles.
The problem was that the Song Family Kiln Factory had handed over the glaze orders to their decades-long arch-rival, the Xing Family.
Not only that, but the Song Family Kiln Factory had also invested a significant amount of silver into the Xing Family’s glaze shop, supporting the Xing Family in making purchases in Suzhou and Hangzhou and endorsing their glaze.
Instantly, the Xing Family had snatched half of their business.
When Old Master Wang heard this news, he collapsed in the Taishi Chair, unable to stand up for a long while.
On Song Jiyun’s side, she was listening to Zheng Quan talking about visiting Prince Huai’s Mansion, "As per your instructions, most of the gifts I brought were in pairs. The noble people in the palace these days even make the Empress keep her distance, they definitely like such meaningful gifts.
"Once the Old Princess Consort heard it, she immediately showed them to the Prince. The Prince saw me right away. Not only did Prince Huai’s Mansion give us all the orders for the coming year, but they also want us to send another person over. He’s commissioned a batch of porcelain to be sent to the Capital."
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