At this moment, Song Jiyun was standing on Changjiang Wharf, watching the kiln workers carefully load baskets of newly fired porcelain onto a large ship about to set sail.
Behind her, Zhou Zheng said with some concern, "Just sending a plum vase to the Li Family’s steward like that, won’t there be any problems?"
Song Jiyun smiled and said, "What kind of problems could there be?"
Zhou Zheng was at a loss for words.
There could be so many problems!
For example, Eunuch Wan could become angrily embarrassed, storm the Kiln Factory, and find that they had sent the newly fired porcelains to Prince Huai’s Mansion, planning to send them on to the Capital through the Mansion’s hands.
Or perhaps Eunuch Wan could be enraged, and they wouldn’t let them fire a single piece of porcelain anymore; they would have no choice but to shut down.
It was also possible that he could abuse his authority, find some pretext to imprison the owner...
Succeeding in nothing and spoiling everything.
The things he could do were far too many!
But Song Jiyun had already made her decision, they were like an arrow nocked on the bowstring that must be let fly; Zhou Zheng could only hope that everything would go as Song Jiyun expected, without a hitch, smoothly and successfully!
He involuntarily murmured a prayer, "Amitabha Buddha," and said, "What if other people in the palace see that the porcelains we sent through Prince Huai’s Mansion are so good-looking that they hide them away?"
Then it would be impossible to get the newly fired blue and white porcelain into the hands of the nobles in the palace, impossible to win the favor of the nobles there, impossible to make sure the nobles specify they want only the new blue and white porcelain that only they can fire, and impossible to deter Eunuch Wan.
Song Jiyun laughed and said, "This is just a backup plan. To succeed, we still need to think of other ways!"
Zhou Zheng was puzzled.
Song Jiyun said leisurely, "To catch a thief, first catch the king. To deal with Eunuch Wan, of course we have to go to the Capital, to find people within The Twenty-Four Yamen."
"Ah!" Zhou Zheng was taken aback, stammering, "To find, find people in the Capital!"
As the Store Manager of the Song Family Kiln Factory in Jingde Town, he was considered worldly, but he had only been as far as Nanjing.
The Capital was tens of thousands of miles away from here; he dared not even think about it.
"Exactly!" Song Jiyun smiled, "We go to the Capital to find connections—only by eliminating a Supervising Pottery Officer can we deter those frivolous upstarts."
The owner’s heart was certainly too big!
Zhou Zheng’s scalp tingled, and it took him a while to ask, "So, do we have to go to the Capital?"
"No!" Song Jiyun laughed, "We go to Nanjing first!"
"To Nanjing?" Zhou Zheng was already dazed by her rapid changes in topic.
"To sell our new blue and white porcelain, of course!" Song Jiyun asked him, laughing, "You didn’t think I planned to just keep all these plum vases in Jingde Town for sale, did you? What if Eunuch Wan gets a crazy idea, comes to our Kiln Factory for a visit, picks up our newly fired porcelain to look at it, and accidentally breaks it? Can we ask him to pay for it? Of course, it’s safer to sell off the goods as soon as possible!"
Only then did Zhou Zheng feel like his brain was starting to work.
It’s true, if Eunuch Wan was so shameless, they really had no way to deal with him.
Instead of having a stack of porcelain that could break at any slight mishap, it was better to exchange them for silver sooner—silver was ten to a hundred times easier to safeguard than porcelain.
Song Jiyun said cheerfully, "Once we’ve turned all these porcelains into gold, I don’t believe we can’t get rid of a Wan Xiaoquan!"
It’s just a bit costly!
Zhou Zheng was thinking to himself.
"Whoever dares to smash my rice bowl," Song Jiyun said coldly, "I dare to take his life!"
Zhou Zheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
A tall man dressed in green military attire, accompanied by several Yamen officials, approached them.
Song Jiyun took a closer look and, to her surprise, it was Lord Deng, the same one she had met at The Eight Immortals Nunnery.
This was an encounter with someone from the Inspection Division.
Their ship leaving the wharf needed the Inspection Division’s stamp for passage.
She hesitated whether to go over and greet him, when Lord Deng turned his head and met her gaze squarely.
Now she had no choice but to exchange a few pleasantries.
Song Jiyun stepped forward and offered Lord Deng a bow.
Lord Deng was clearly surprised to see Song Jiyun, but he behaved even more politely than her. He not only returned the bow, but also modestly lowered his eyelids. Upon learning that Song Jiyun’s boat was about to leave the wharf, he instructed the people following him, "From now on, when Boss Song’s goods leave the shore, you all take special care."
The several men behind him respectfully agreed.
The Song Family Kiln Factory had always maintained good relations with the Inspection Division, but due to Prince Ning’s smuggling case, the personnel of the Inspection Division had been completely changed, and they needed to rebuild these relationships. Wong Dahai had made several trips, issued invitations, shared meals, and presented gifts, yet the progress was not significant.
Song Jiyun had been worrying about this issue, and to her surprise, it got sorted out so effortlessly.
She was delighted and sincerely thanked Lord Deng.
Lord Deng waved his hand and left with his entourage.
Song Jiyun quickly asked someone to call Wong Dahai, instructing him to visit Lord Deng and whispered to him, "The gift should be thirty percent more substantial than the one we used to give to the Inspection Division’s inspectors."
When people show her an inch of respect, she would show them a yard in return.
Wong Dahai jubilantly went to the Inspection Division.
*
When Yuan Yunzhong received the news, he was in the middle of arranging a game of chess.
He tossed the black piece he was holding into the rush-woven chess pot, unable to suppress an upward curl of his lips.
He hadn’t expected that she would actually come up with a solution.
He instructed Shao Qing, "Give my name card to Zhang Dengchen."
Shao Qing smiled and replied "Yes," but still worried about Song Jiyun’s plan, "By the time the New Year’s gift from Prince Huai’s Mansion arrives at the Capital and then reaches Noble Consort Wan’s hands, the situation might have already changed. Do you think we should give the palace a heads up?"
"No need!" Yuan Yunzhong was the one to object this time, saying, "Prince Huai has been contemplating changing his Princely Heir lately, and Princess Consort Huai is desperate to preserve her own son’s position. She will surely try every means to gain Noble Consort Wan’s support. Miss Song’s porcelain is like a pillow to a drowsy head; it’s the best timing."
It was just unclear whether she had stumbled upon this plan by accident or had heard some news.
If the former was the case, then her luck was indeed very good.
Yuan Yunzhong inquired about another matter, pondering, "She said, she wants to sell the porcelain to Nanjing?"
Shao Qing nodded affirmatively, smiling, "Should we mention this to the family steward?"
Nanjing is also known as Yingtian Prefecture.
The Yuan Family also has a residence in Nanjing.
After pondering for a moment, Yuan Yunzhong was about to speak when Song Jiyun arrived.
She brought Yuan Yunzhong a pair of flower holders, each a foot tall.
Pure white all over, they were swirled with clouds of blue, both light and dark, as if a drop of vibrant blue pigment had fallen into water, slowly diffusing in strands and wisps, exuding extreme elegance and clarity.
Yuan Yunzhong, who prided himself on being worldly and well-informed, was instantly captivated by such a pair of flower holders.
He caressed the smooth and fine vase, which was as cool as jade, and exclaimed in astonishment, "This, is this your new blue and white porcelain?"
Seeing and hearing were entirely different experiences.
Song Jiyun knew that nobody could resist liking it.
When she first saw a pair of flower holders like these at a private auction, she too was mesmerized and spent a significant sum to secure them.
"It’s a gift for you!" she said generously, smiling, "In a few days, it will be perfect for arranging plum blossoms."
Yuan Yunzhong gazed deeply at Song Jiyun.
Could this be considered the boldness of someone with exceptional skills?
Such a pair of flower holders, rare treasures of the world, and she casually presented them to him for arranging flowers?
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