The next day was Song Youliang’s 27th, but neither Song Daliang nor Song Sanliang showed up. Instead, the Ninth Master Song and several clan elders acted as if nothing had happened, bringing their children and nephews to pay respects to Song Youliang.
The so-called policy of not striking a smiling face.
When there were no conflicts of interest, Song Jiyun didn’t mind maintaining appearances for peace and invited them to drink tea in the east wing.
That’s when the Ninth Master Song asked her, "Has Wong Dahai not been found yet? I heard he recently picked up gambling."
It seemed everyone was quite concerned about the kiln factory!
Song Jiyun responded indifferently, "I have already reported to the authorities. The governmental authorities will take care of it."
Ninth Master Song furrowed his brow and said, "You child, how can you be so thoughtless. Doors of the Yamen open with the character for ’eight’, no entry without money even if you’re right. Reporting to the authorities means officers will inspect today, inspect tomorrow. It’s not just a hassle, but it also becomes public knowledge, making us a laughing stock!"
That phrase "public knowledge" must have been the crucial point!
If Wong Dahai’s disappearance did involve something fishy, not reporting to the authorities would only add to the lack of clear communication and explanation.
Song Jiyun, seemingly unconcerned, said, "My father told me when he was alive that matters solvable with silver are not really problems. By reporting to the authorities, we avoid having issues blamed on us."
This left the Ninth Master Song at a loss for words.
Seizing the opportunity, Song Jiyun called over Steward Wu to entertain the guests while she and the arriving Zheng Quan went to the small tea room beside the altar.
"How is it going?" she asked with a frown, "Did the shipment go out smoothly?"
Zheng Quan hadn’t slept all night. After drinking a cup of strong tea and eating two pastries, he finally caught his breath, "It went quite smoothly. However, there was a bit of trouble with Zhou Zheng."
Song Jiyun ordered the maids to serve him food and opened the doors of the small tea room to talk with him.
"Xiang Yang heard that Wong Dahai had disappeared, and that goods in the storage couldn’t be issued smoothly, so he brought a few apprentices to help out," Zheng Quan whispered. "The moment he saw Zhou Zheng holding the master’s letter of authorization, he exploded, arguing that Zhou Zheng, so young and only promoted to Store Manager last year, couldn’t possibly be entrusted with the kiln factory by the master before his death.
"Seven or eight people surrounded Zhou Zheng and argued for a long time.
"If I hadn’t intervened claiming it was time to ship out the goods, Zhou Zheng wouldn’t have been able to extricate himself."
He worriedly added, "At the kiln factory, I fear Zhou Zheng might not be able to command respect."
As Song Jiyun caressed the teacup in her hands, she said, "Zhou Zheng was originally just a fuse."
However, she hadn’t anticipated that the fuse would lead to Wong Dahai’s disappearance and affect the family’s business.
She asked, "What about others?"
"Song Li isn’t convinced either," Zheng Quan said. "He rushed over just before dawn, ostensibly advising Xiang Yang with good intentions, but on closer thought, everything he said was sowing discord."
Shaking his head, he continued, "Had I not seen and heard it myself, I wouldn’t believe that Song Li could say such things."
"And Luo Zixing?" asked Song Jiyun.
"He wasn’t there," Zheng Quan replied. "He said he was at Wong Dahai’s house, constantly accompanying the Yamen officers in their questioning, and then went with them to drink. He hadn’t left when I came back."
"Is that so?" Song Jiyun said, somewhat surprised.
"Don’t involve yourself in their matters," she instructed Zheng Quan. "Just have someone watch these people closely for me. It’s crucial to know who is behind them. And about what the Ninth Grand Master said, whether Wong Dahai gambles or not. If he really is gambling, the gambling house might also provide a clue. The fear is that someone might be framing him."
Zheng Quan nodded. As the maid brought him breakfast, he began to eat voraciously.
Before he could finish his meal, Zhou Zheng arrived in a haste, dripping with sweat.
"Miss, something bad happened!" he said urgently. "Several accounting books are missing from the storage."
Song Jiyun furrowed her brows, gesturing for him to sit down and speak, and also asked Zheng Quan to pour him a cup of tea, "Don’t panic, take your time to explain."
Zhou Zheng said, "After Steward Zheng left, I thought you might want to ask me about the shipments, so I went to the accountant of the storeroom to record what goods had been dispatched from the storeroom lately, where they were sent, and in what amounts so I could answer the young miss properly.
"Who would have thought that when I went to the storeroom’s accountant office, I discovered that several account books had been placed in the wrong order.
"I initially thought it was Shopkeeper Wong’s carelessness, so I decided to sort out these account books while I was there.
"But then... I discovered that the dispatch note from August last year was missing."
Song Jiyun knew that Zhou Zheng was astute and meticulous. If it were just a missing account book, he wouldn’t be so panicked.
She said gravely, "What else did you find?"
Zhou Zheng was sweating more profusely now. He couldn’t help but wipe his forehead with his sleeve, then said, "I checked the purchase account books and the general accountant’s books. Last August, we had sent three shipments to Prince Ning’s Mansion."
Song Jiyun and Zheng Quan were both baffled.
Zhou Zheng continued, "Then I checked the account books of last August, and at that time, we had sent three shipments to Prince Ning’s Mansion.
"The year before last in August, we also sent three shipments to Prince Ning’s Mansion.
"For four consecutive years, we have sent three shipments to Prince Ning’s Mansion."
"But today, I couldn’t find the dispatch note for this August."
The teahouse fell silent.
The orders from the Imperial Kiln Factory and the Song Family Kiln Factory are signed every five years. They inform the Song Family a year or two in advance about the porcelain needed, but what items are dispatched to which place is only determined after the porcelain has been fired.
There is usually one copy of the dispatch note for the storeroom, the general accountant, and the Imperial Kiln Factory.
However, Supervising Pottery Officer Wang Xiaquan from the Imperial Kiln Factory had deep influence, and sometimes even sending silver wasn’t effective. Song Youliang genuinely disdained Wang Xiaquan, who found Song Youliang’s mannerisms and speech to be very rigid and preferred to hang out with Wong Dahai.
As a result, mostly, the dispatch notes from the Imperial Kiln Factory were brought back by Wong Dahai, then delivered to the general accountant for recording.
Song Jiyun clenched her teeth and said, "Could it be that the general accountant hasn’t received this year’s dispatch note yet?"
"Yes," Zhou Zheng said with a wry smile. "Not only have we not received the dispatch notes for August from Prince Ning’s Mansion, but we also haven’t received them from Prince Huai’s Mansion.
That means, their family is about to deliver goods to Prince Ning’s Mansion and Prince Huai’s Mansion, but they don’t know what to deliver?"
Zheng Quan, unwilling to give up, added, "What were delivered last year and the year before?"
"It’s different every year." Zhou Zheng said helplessly, "This year, the kiln factory produced three large vases with blue dragon patterns. Two were made using Sumali green material, and one was made using Zhejiang green material. Without a dispatch note, there’s no way to deliver them."
The blue-and-white porcelain made from Sumali green glaze material has noticeable black spots. The blue-and-white made from Zhejiang green glaze material is very soft to the touch; they are clearly different materials, making them impossible to confuse.
Song Jiyun was very troubled, "Then, should we try to find a way with the Imperial Kiln Factory?"
At the mention of dealing with the Imperial Kiln Factory, both Zhou Zheng and Zheng Quan shrank back a bit.
Zhou Zheng even said, "Let’s first look for Head Shopkeeper Wong! If we can’t find it, then we can think of something with the Imperial Kiln Factory later on."
Song Jiyun pondered, "I’m worried that there might be issues with the fired porcelain as well!"
As long as they find the dispatch notes, the goods can be delivered. But what if the goods weren’t even prepared properly?
Especially with firing porcelain, it’s not something that can be just thrown into the kiln and expected to come out perfectly every time.
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