The person who attempted suicide was the proprietor of a small tavern. Recently, he had mortgaged his establishment to the Sifang Money House for a loan to buy land. Unexpectedly, land prices suddenly plummeted, and he lost everything. When Sifang Money House came to seize his tavern, he couldn’t accept it and jumped from the building. Fortunately, it was only from the second floor, so his life was spared. However, this only brought more trouble to his family—what was the point?

After the tavern owner was taken to the physician’s shop, the crowd dispersed in small groups, discussing the land price situation and inevitably mentioning the news about Official Hai Rui’s impending arrival.

Zhen Niang walked home with Xiao Ya and Hua Er, with Luo Wenqian seemingly taking the same path, strolling ahead. Thus, they ended up walking one behind the other.

As she walked, Zhen Niang pondered the suicide attempt and suddenly had a thought.

If the court intended to send Hai Rui to investigate land prices, why would there be such widespread commotion before his arrival? Of course, some well-connected individuals in the court might have leaked the information, but if so, wouldn’t those with insider knowledge keep it quiet and secretly sell their land first? It shouldn’t have reached this level of public knowledge.

Thinking about this, Zhen Niang recalled some manipulation tactics from her past life.

Perhaps Hai Rui wasn’t coming to Nanjing at all—this might just be someone’s smoke screen.

Maybe some people wanted to acquire land but thought the prices were too high, so they spread this rumor to drive prices down before buying up large quantities of land, achieving their goal of land consolidation.

Yes, the more Zhen Niang thought about it, the more likely this possibility seemed.

“Aren’t you going home?” Luo Wenqian’s amused voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.

“Oh.” Zhen Niang came back to her senses and looked around, her face slightly reddening as she realized they had already passed the alley leading to the Li residence. Lost in thought, she had unconsciously followed Luo Wenqian quite a distance.

She had been too absorbed in her thoughts. Zhen Niang pressed her lips together slightly, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

However, she wouldn’t show these emotions outwardly.

“I need to buy something up ahead. Please go ahead, Young Master Luo,” Zhen Niang said composedly. She then led Xiao Ya and Hua Er past Luo Wenqian and into a nearby cloth shop. Once her back was turned to him, her mouth twitched.

Luo Wenqian rubbed his nose, knowing full well she had simply been lost in thought but was too stubborn to admit it. Of course, being a gentleman, he wouldn’t expose a young lady’s pride. He simply laughed, gave a ceremonial bow, and took his leave.

“Miss, Miss, who was that?” Once Luo Wenqian left, Xiao Ya and Hua Er’s gossip instincts exploded. Both wore the same expression of curiosity and excitement.

Zhen Niang turned to glare at the two girls, then gave each an annoyed tap on the forehead: “He’s just a fellow townsman from Huizhou, don’t imagine things.”

“Oh.” Xiao Ya, being more obedient, nodded immediately.

But Hua Er, being equally clever, grinned mischievously: “Oh, is that so?”

“If not that, then what?” Zhen Niang asked irritably.

“How would I know?” Hua Er continued smiling but quickly hid behind Xiao Ya when Zhen Niang glared at her.

“Enough. Stop imagining things, let’s go home.” Zhen Niang wouldn’t bother arguing with these two girls, so she turned to leave. The two girls didn’t dare gossip further and obediently followed, setting aside their curiosity.

Soon they entered the Li residence’s main house.

“Miss Zhen, you’re back. Quickly go to your room, Second Madam seems worried. She’s asked about you several times already,” Madam Fang came out to greet them as soon as they entered.

“Oh, do you know what it’s about?” Zhen Niang asked curiously, thinking that Second Aunt had gone to Great Aunt’s house early in the morning for a ladies’ gathering—had something happened?

“I don’t know, you’d better hurry,” Madam Fang replied.

“Alright.” Zhen Niang nodded, giving Madam Fang another look. Perhaps due to Uncle Jingming’s warning the other day, Madam Fang hadn’t mentioned the tax matter to her these past few days. From this perspective, at least Madam Fang seemed to follow Uncle Jingming’s instructions.

Thinking this, Zhen Niang quickly walked to the small building in the second courtyard. Sure enough, she saw Second Aunt pacing back and forth from afar, her expression very anxious.

Seeing Zhen Niang return, Madam Huang immediately came forward: “Zhen Niang, come upstairs with me.”

Seeing Second Aunt’s serious expression, Zhen Niang had a feeling this was no small matter, so she followed without a word.

“Second Aunt, what’s happened?” Zhen Niang asked.

“Zhen Niang, didn’t you bring two thousand taels of silver when you came?” Madam Huang asked.

“Yes.” Zhen Niang nodded. The second Aunt knew about this, so she was just confirming.

“Could you lend it to your Great Aunt?” Madam Huang asked.

“What happened?” Zhen Niang asked instinctively, then suddenly remembered the tavern owner’s suicide attempt she had witnessed outside. She jumped up in shock: “Don’t tell me Great Aunt also bought a lot of land?”

With Great Aunt’s family’s resources, a small amount of land wouldn’t be a problem even if they lost money, but seeing Second Aunt’s expression, this seemed to be a major issue.

“Yes, she bought land, quite a lot of it. Your Great Aunt went to Huizhou to borrow money but couldn’t get any. She secretly mortgaged the family house to Sifang Money House. Now that land prices have plummeted, the money house has come calling. Your Great Uncle just found out about this and nearly coughed up blood from anger,” Madam Huang explained.

“How could Great Aunt be so foolish? I told her before not to touch land!” Zhen Niang was equally agitated hearing Second Aunt’s words.

“We can’t entirely blame your Great Aunt. For merchant families, sometimes there’s no choice. The status of merchant families is too low—even with money in their pockets, they feel insecure about their future. So your Great Aunt places great hope in your Second Cousin, wanting him to pass the imperial examinations and elevate the family’s status. Your Great Aunt is also close to Second Madam Xu’s family and desperately wants to form a marriage alliance with them, hoping to gain support and backing for your Second Cousin.”

Madam Huang paused briefly before continuing: “With such intentions, your Great Aunt fell into others’ hands. Many officials’ wives were involved in the land purchases. Given their status, they couldn’t appear directly, so your Great Aunt handled all the land transactions, advancing most of the money herself. Your Great Aunt thought that in a merchant family, money could always be earned back, and this would build good relationships. But unexpectedly, news came that Hai Rui was coming, causing everyone to sell their newly purchased land. Land prices plummeted, and now those ladies are avoiding your aunt. They probably don’t intend to honor their commitments, so all these losses will fall on your Great Aunt’s shoulders.”

Finishing her explanation, Madam Huang sighed. The waters in Nanjing ran deep indeed.

Hearing this, Zhen Niang frowned. She had thought Great Aunt was simply speculating on land, but now it seemed she had been dragged onto a boat she couldn’t leave.

“But Second Aunt, our two thousand taels—honestly, while it’s an enormous sum for ordinary families, in Great Aunt’s situation, even if we put in two thousand taels, it would hardly make a ripple,” Zhen Niang sighed.

“We have no choice. Whatever helps is worth it. Maybe I’ll write to your Seventh Grand-aunt and see if she can think of something. We can’t let your Great Aunt and Uncle’s life’s work be destroyed like this. The silk season is about to begin too,” Madam Huang said.

Listening to Second Aunt’s words, Zhen Niang paced back and forth in the room, then suddenly slammed her hand on the table: “Since we’re already in the water, we might as well go to the bottom—we might find gold there. The question is whether Great Aunt and Uncle have the courage for it.”

“What do you mean?” Madam Huang didn’t understand.

“Let me go see Great Aunt and Uncle first, I’ll explain when I return.” With that thought, Zhen Niang took Xiao Ya with her, called for Er Gou to prepare the carriage, and headed straight to her aunt’s house.

As soon as they entered her aunt’s house, they could feel the heavy atmosphere of gloom. Though the servants didn’t know exactly what had happened, they could sense something was wrong from their masters’ expressions and felt uneasy.

“Zhen Niang, you’re here. Quickly go see your aunt and uncle,” First Cousin’s wife, Madam Chen Han, greeted them with a troubled expression.

“What are you doing here? Come to laugh at me?” As soon as Zhen Niang entered, Great Aunt sprayed her with angry words.

“Aunt, we’re family. How could I come to laugh at you in such a situation? I’m here to solve the problem,” Zhen Niang replied.

“You’ll lend me money?” Han Li’s face lit up momentarily before dejection set in again. She shook her head: “Never mind, I know how much silver you have. That amount won’t make much difference. I’m already in this state anyway, there’s no need to drag you down too. Better use that silver to run your ink shop properly.” Han Li slumped into a chair, dispirited.

“Zhen Niang, your aunt and I appreciate your concern. It’s fine—if they take the house, they take it. Looking back, I built everything step by step to reach where we are today. Even if we have to start over, I believe I can still provide your aunt with a comfortable life,” Han Yigui said to Zhen Niang.

Hearing Han Yigui’s words and seeing his farmer-like appearance, Zhen Niang’s only thought was that Old Master Li had truly chosen a good husband for her aunt years ago.

“Uncle, I need to speak with you. Can we go to the study?” Zhen Niang said.

“Alright, follow me.” Han Yigui looked at Zhen Niang and led her to the study.

After they sat down and a servant brought tea and left, Zhen Niang spoke: “Uncle, don’t you find something strange about how the news of Hai Rui’s coming has spread?”

“What do you mean?” Han Yigui asked.

“I’ve been thinking—if the court intended to send Hai Rui, there wouldn’t be such a commotion before his arrival. Moreover, those who knew about Hai Rui’s coming would, for their benefit, keep it quiet and profit from it first. Why would they create such chaos and panic?” Zhen Niang looked at Han Yigui.

Han Yigui tapped the table lightly. Zhen Niang had a point—there was indeed something odd about the news of Hai Rui’s arrival. “What’s your view?”

“Could someone be manipulating things behind the scenes? Land prices have been ridiculously high lately. Perhaps someone deliberately spread this news as a way to reshuffle things, forcing large landholders to sell, and driving prices down. Then, when prices reach a certain level, they’ll quietly buy up land, achieving their goal of land consolidation,” Zhen Niang explained.

“You’re saying the news about Hai Rui is false—deliberately spread by someone?” Han Yigui was moved by this thought. It was a bold idea, but very logical.

“Exactly.” Zhen Niang nodded.

Han Yigui stood up and paced back and forth in the study.

“Uncle, since things have come to this point, my two thousand taels won’t make much difference, but we could take a big gamble,” Zhen Niang said. She believed that with her uncle’s experience, he would understand her meaning. In modern stock market terms, this was called doubling down. While land prices were low, they could buy more land, averaging out the cost of the land bought at high prices. Then, when news came that Hai Rui’s memorial had landed him in prison, it would be time for the Han family’s turnaround.

Now it just depended on whether her uncle dared to take such a gamble.