Early the next morning, Zhen Niang was awakened by a commotion outside. When she opened her eyes, it was already bright daylight.

She had always been an early riser, but on her first day in Nanjing, her routine was disrupted. Having taken a full half-hour nap the previous afternoon, she hadn’t felt particularly sleepy at night. Combined with sleeping in an unfamiliar bed, she had tossed and turned, lost in thought, finally falling into deep sleep in the early hours. As a result, she woke up late, and if not for the noise outside, she might have slept even longer.

Patting her forehead to clear her mind, Zhen Niang put on her clothes and got up.

In the outer room, Ma Xiao Ya heard movement and entered with hot water, lifting the curtain: “Young Miss, you’re awake. You were sleeping so soundly today. I was going to wake you earlier, but Second Madam said to let you sleep in since there was nothing urgent.”

“Mm.” Zhen Niang nodded in understanding. She washed up with the hot water, then sat at her dressing table, letting the maid help her with her hair.

The window of the small building directly faced the back courtyard, and the commotion was coming from the warehouse area.

Zhen Niang straightened her back and craned her neck to look outside. Uncle Jingming was trying to persuade some people to move goods. Though she couldn’t hear clearly from the distance, it was obvious that the merchants storing goods were quite unhappy. Some were gesturing animatedly while Li Jingming kept bowing and smiling apologetically.

“The manager had people come early to move the goods, but several merchants refused. They said when they originally rented the shops, they were promised use of the large warehouse in the courtyard, and that’s why they agreed to pay higher rent than elsewhere,” Ma Xiao Ya, who had been listening to the commotion earlier, reported everything she had heard to Zhen Niang.

“Mm.” Zhen Niang nodded to show she understood.

At that moment, the argument below grew more heated, and someone pushed Li Jingming, nearly causing him to fall.

“Oh my, should we go down and check? It looks like it’s getting serious,” the maid said worriedly.

“No need. It won’t escalate,” Zhen Niang withdrew her head, having lost interest in watching. Since Li Jingming said he would handle it, she wouldn’t interfere unnecessarily.

Resolving this issue was merely a matter of money, and if she got involved, wouldn’t the financial burden fall on her? She had no interest in cleaning up after Li Jingming. Since they created this situation, they should resolve it themselves.

As for things getting out of hand, neither party wanted that. Even the merchants storing goods wouldn’t dare escalate things. Tax evasion was seriously punished by the authorities – she’d heard that getting caught once meant thirty lashes and confiscation of half the goods. That was too great a loss to risk.

“Mm, Madam Ge has come out… oh, and now she’s hurrying away,” the maid continued her live commentary.

Of course, she would hurry away. Hadn’t Aunt Jingming said yesterday that those goods were stored there with Ge Xunlan’s permission? Now that Li Jingming couldn’t handle it, naturally, Ge Xunlan needed to step in.

If this blew up, Ge Xunlan would be implicated too.

Suddenly, Zhen Niang wondered if she should let things escalate. Then she could legitimately take back Uncle Jingming’s authority and trap Ge Xunlan in the process – it seemed like a good deal any way you looked at it.

After some thought, Zhen Niang abandoned this tempting idea.

True, she could deliberately let things get out of hand. But even a strong dragon doesn’t crush the local snake, and she wasn’t even a strong dragon yet. If this escalated, Uncle Jingming would suffer, and Ge Xunlan would take some losses, but the ones who would truly suffer would be those merchant households. If they fell into the hands of a harsh tax official, losing everything was possible.

Her family would need to establish themselves in Nanjing’s business circles in the future, and merchants were all interconnected. She couldn’t afford to be too ruthless.

With that thought, Zhen Niang set aside the idea – there would be other opportunities later, no need to rush now.

She then left her room. Ma’s wife had already prepared breakfast and invited Madam Huang to join them. Zhen Niang accompanied Madam Huang while they discussed who they would visit that day.

Before leaving home, Seventh Grandmother had mentioned several families who had maintained good relations with the Li family, and there were also a few who had good connections with her grandfather. She wanted Zhen Niang to maintain those relationships.

“Well, I think we shouldn’t rush to visit the others. Let’s go to your aunt’s house first. Your uncle-in-law is quite well-known in Nanjing’s silk trade. It would be better to have him introduce you rather than making unannounced visits,” Madam Huang said. Although these were old connections, after more than ten years without contact, the current situation was unclear, so it was better to be cautious.

“Yes,” Zhen Niang nodded.

“Also, after visiting your aunt’s house, we can pay a visit to the Huizhou Merchants’ Association,” Madam Huang added.

“Mm.” Zhen Niang understood. In this era, regional ties were very strong, and people tended to stick together. Blood may be thicker than water, but hometown connections were invaluable.

Sometimes, merchant families who fought fiercely at home would band together when abroad to face merchants from other regions. Because of this, the various merchant groups – Huizhou, Jin, Lingnan, and local merchants’ associations – created quite a spectacle.

After finishing their discussion, Zhen Niang and Madam Huang focused on eating. When breakfast was done, Madam Huang went to rest while Zhen Niang prepared gifts.

Meanwhile, at the Ge residence…

Ge Dana was hosting several men for drinks, with a performer singing opera tunes.

“Huang Lang struck gold! He sold his two mu of land for fifty taels – normally it would fetch seven or eight taels per mu at most. People have gone crazy,” said a gap-toothed man.

“Indeed! I regret so much – if only I’d waited to sell my two mu. I sold for twenty-eight taels and thought I’d found a treasure,” added a man wearing blue fur.

“I wanted to sell earlier. I don’t rely on that bit of grain for food anymore, but my old man refused to budge. In his eyes, no amount of silver could compare to muddy soil, no amount of money could match golden rice. I had no choice but to watch others profit. Then after New Year’s, the old man fell ill and didn’t make it past the first month. Only then could I sell the land,” said Huang Lang.

“You’ve got your profit, stop gloating,” the man in blue fur sneered.

“What’s going on these days? Is converting rice paddies to mulberry fields profitable? Everyone’s gone mad buying land,” the gap-toothed man wondered.

“Ah, those matters above are beyond our understanding. Let’s drink!” Ge Dana waved his hand.

“Right, drinking is more straightforward!” The men agreed and started playing drinking games.

Just then, Qiu Jie burst in.

Without a word, she tossed some copper coins to the performer: “Go on, no need to sing anymore.” Then she turned to the other men: “Uncles, please head home first. My father has business to attend to. Once it’s done, he’ll treat you all again.”

The opera performers quickly took the money and left.

The men looked awkward, and Huang Lang said: “This niece has become quite efficient since getting married. Alright, we’ll drink until here today. We’ll gather again next time.” With that, Huang Lang and the others left together.

Qiu Jie called for the butler to see them out.

“What’s the matter? You come in and break up your father’s gathering – you’re becoming more inconsiderate. I heard you even forced your in-laws to live in a shack. Do you want people to point fingers at you?” Ge Dana finally glared at Qiu Jie, speaking unhappily.

“What? San’er didn’t tell you?” Qiu Jie raised an eyebrow. Her brother Ge San’er had been present during yesterday’s commotion at the Li residence. She had told him to come back and inform their father, but that useless coward had been scared silent by Miss Zhen. She had thought he would have at least told their father about yesterday’s events.

“It’s not that San’er didn’t say anything – your father simply didn’t come home yesterday. Who knows which fox spirit’s belly he was warming,” Madam Cao entered, swaying her hips. She was Ge Dana’s second wife.

“Enough, enough. This isn’t the time to discuss such things. Second Mother, please leave. I need to speak with Father,” Qiu Jie waved dismissively.

After Madam Cao reluctantly left, Qiu Jie explained about Zhen Niang’s arrival yesterday. She continued: “They immediately inspected the back warehouse and said they want to clear it for an ink workshop. Li Zhengping’s father fears being investigated, so he’s having people move the goods now. But the rice merchant and warehouse owner refuse to leave. They’re causing a scene, and I don’t think this will end well if it escalates. Li Zhengping’s father wants you to come – he says if you don’t handle this and it gets out of hand, he won’t take responsibility.”

“Damn them all!” Hearing this, Ge Dana glared. They were all good-for-nothing who could only create trouble.

He quickly got into his carriage with Qiu Jie and hurried to the Li residence.

Ge Dana had actually been calculating carefully all along. He knew well the ownership rights of the Li family properties. He also understood the intentions of Li Jingming and his wife, and he too coveted these properties. For a time, he had been pondering how to acquire this block of properties, but as an outsider, it wasn’t easy to take over these properties without complications.

Moreover, the Li family of Huizhou was no ordinary family.

Coincidentally, when Madam Fang was looking for a daughter-in-law for his son, he had the idea of marrying Qiu Jie to the Li family. When the Li family proved uncooperative, he employed some tactics, and things fell into place.

Of course, just having Qiu Jie marry Li Zhengping wouldn’t make it easy to acquire the properties. So he turned his attention to the large warehouse behind the Li residence. It wasn’t a warehouse but a former ink workshop that had been converted for storage.

Ge Dana understood Madam Fang well – she was someone who dared to profit boldly. So he devised a strategy of throwing a brick to attract jade. He first deliberately borrowed the Li family warehouse to store goods for merchants, helping them evade transit taxes while pocketing some money himself.

This was his “brick.” Once Madam Fang saw this money-making scheme, it would surely tempt her greed.

The next step in his plan was to stop this operation.

Once he stopped, Madam Fang would surely want to continue it, and definitely would. Thus, the “jade” would be drawn out.

Once the jade appeared, he could then catch them for tax evasion. At that point, the Li family couldn’t escape. He could play the good person for Qiu Jie’s sake, suggesting the properties be temporarily transferred to the tax office’s name for transit tax purposes. With some additional tax payments, Li Jingming and his wife would have to agree to avoid disaster.

Once the properties were in the tax office’s name, the Li family would never get them back. He had already arranged things with certain people so that the properties would merely pass through the tax office before ending up in his pocket. At most, he’d need to share some benefits with others, and his goal would be achieved.

If the Li family’s main branch in Huizhou came to investigate, it would already be too late. The Huizhou main branch could only blame Li Jingming’s household and couldn’t touch him. As for the properties, helping others evade taxes and seeking illegal profits warranted property confiscation – it was perfectly reasonable. The Li family would have to swallow this bitter pill.

This plan was practically perfect.

But unexpectedly, just as he had thrown out his brick, before he could withdraw and before the jade could be drawn out, the Li family’s main branch representatives arrived from Huizhou and struck his brick first.

If this matter escalated, the Li family could simply sacrifice Li Jingming, but he would implicate himself too. Wouldn’t that be like lifting a stone only to drop it on his foot?

What should have been an excellent scheme was completely blocked before it could begin – it was infuriating.

Thus, Ge Xunlan arrived at the Li residence with a dark face, and after much persuasion, the rice merchant and warehouse owner reluctantly agreed to move their goods. Ge Xunlan felt like he was choking on air he couldn’t expel.

At this time, Zhen Niang was calmly reviewing the account books Li Jingming had sent over. She had originally planned to visit her aunt’s house, but it had started drizzling, making travel inconvenient, so Madam Huang suggested waiting until the rain stopped.

Of course, Zhen Niang didn’t know that her single cautious move had shattered Ge Xunlan’s careful calculations.

The arrival of Zhen Niang’s group had already broken Ge Xunlan’s scheme.

In the original history, although the clan records didn’t mention these details, it seems that when the Huizhou Li family declined, these Nanjing properties must have fallen into Ge Xunlan’s pocket.