When Pei Yan first began examining that nautical map, he still carried a bit of carelessness born from having seen many sea charts, but the more he looked, the more serious his expression became.
Could there be something wrong with this map?
Although Yu Tang was confident in her own judgment, she was facing Pei Yan—someone who had passed the imperial examinations at a young age, observed government operations in the Six Ministries in the capital, and was extremely experienced and knowledgeable. She couldn’t help but begin doubting herself a little.
Pei Yan, meanwhile, secretly drew in a sharp breath.
He carefully examined the map once more from the beginning.
Yu Tang ultimately couldn’t hold back and said somewhat apprehensively, “Third Master, this map…”
Pei Yan tossed the magnifying glass in his hand onto this reproduced map, furrowed his brows, and walked to the small round table beside the desk with a grave expression. He pointed to the round-backed chairs by the table and said, “Let’s sit down and talk.”
Yu Wen and Yu Tang couldn’t help but exchange a bewildered glance, then sat down carefully.
Pei Yan personally refilled tea for both father and daughter before saying to them in a low voice, “Can you tell me again in detail the entire process of how you discovered this map?”
Looking at Pei Yan’s solemn expression, Yu Wen knew this matter was very likely extremely important. Not daring to embellish, yet afraid that speaking unclearly would affect Pei Yan’s judgment, he pointed at Yu Tang and said, “You discovered this matter. You should explain it properly to Third Master.”
Yu Tang organized her thoughts and recounted the entire process in detail.
Throughout, Pei Yan listened very attentively.
The father and daughter’s accounts were largely consistent, showing that the Yu family’s discovery of this matter was purely accidental.
Which meant the Li family knew there was something special about this painting.
This also involved the Peng family of Fu’an.
After Yu Tang finished speaking, Pei Yan thought for a moment and said, “I had originally thought this was just an ordinary map. Since your family doesn’t want to be dragged into this dispute, I came up with an idea that could help your family escape the predicament—bring out this map, have the Pei family act as trustees, help you auction it off, and let the highest bidder win. Your family could get some silver and also legitimately extricate yourselves from this matter. This could be considered compensation for Old Master Yu’s good deed.”
Yu Tang’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Third Master Pei’s idea was truly excellent!
Rather than hiding things and making people suspect their family already knew the map’s contents, they might as well openly auction it and let those families with capability, influence, and the ability to protect themselves obtain it. If you have the ability, go trouble them instead of bullying the Yu family!
Their Yu family was just an ordinary, common merchant household.
But judging from Pei Yan’s tone, it seemed this couldn’t be done anymore.
Yu Tang grew anxious and couldn’t help interrupting Pei Yan, saying urgently, “Then why won’t it work now? Third Master, you’re truly amazing—you thought of such a good idea in an instant.”
She flattered him wholeheartedly and willingly.
If the Pei family was willing to act as intermediary and help their family auction this map, they could completely extricate themselves from this. Moreover, anyone capable of successfully bidding for this map couldn’t possibly be from a nameless, insignificant family. Even if they couldn’t be as distinguished as the Peng family of Fu’an, they probably wouldn’t be easy to provoke either.
Then the Li family would be in for it.
After painstakingly expending so much effort to obtain a map that was no longer unique, what would they have left to present to the Peng family?
She looked at Pei Yan eagerly.
Yu Wen also looked at Pei Yan eagerly, saying, “Is there a problem with this map? Although we hired someone to reproduce it, the person who did the reproduction was very skilled and even secretly added their private seal.”
If there was something wrong, he wondered if finding Master Qian would still be of any use.
Only then did Pei Yan realize he had unintentionally created suspense. He smiled and said, “It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the map, but rather that this map is too precious. Whether to auction it or use it to invest in some shop, you’ll need to make that decision yourselves.”
That smile was a bit too brilliant, wasn’t it?
In that instant, it was as if ice and snow were melting and spring was returning to the earth. His entire face seemed to be glowing, so handsome it was difficult to look directly at him.
Yu Tang stared at Pei Yan’s face, only coming back to her senses after quite a while.
This time he should also be smiling genuinely.
How fortunate she was to have seen Pei Yan’s sincere smile twice in one day!
Yu Tang marveled inwardly, not daring to think too much, and looked toward her father.
She saw her father looking dazed, as if he’d been hit on the head by this news.
She quickly called out, “Father.”
Yu Wen gave a start, and his mind began working again.
The Yu family’s foundation was thin. This map was too precious. Holding it in their hands was like a three-year-old child wielding a large sword—they simply couldn’t lift it. Either they’d hurt others or hurt themselves. From the current situation, the probability of them being hurt was far greater than the probability of hurting others.
Yu Wen immediately came to a decision. He said, “Third Master, what kind of map is this? How could it be as valuable as you say? If we wanted to do as you suggested and still have the Pei family act as intermediary, could we auction this map off?”
Pei Yan was rather surprised, but his gaze fell on Yu Tang.
He knew that this eldest young miss of the Yu family was very opinionated, and Yu Wen might not be able to control her.
Yu Tang agreed with her father’s decision.
One should eat according to the size of one’s bowl.
People who ate from their bowls while eyeing what was in the pot usually didn’t come to good ends.
Although she was also curious about how precious this map was, the most important thing was how to extricate the Yu family from this tornado-like incident and keep the entire family safe and sound.
Yu Tang quickly nodded at Pei Yan, expressing her opinion.
Pei Yan smiled self-mockingly.
He suddenly understood why he was willing to help the Yu family.
It wasn’t because Miss Yu was beautiful, nor because Yu Wen was open-minded, but because the Yu family had always seen things very clearly.
Even if wealth was overflowing like the heavens, one still had to be able to bear it.
He had seen too many people lose their way in the floating clouds of power and influence.
Including his younger self.
This was the Yu family’s most valuable quality.
Especially Miss Yu—Yu Wen having such a mindset was related to his age and life experience. One could see this from the fact that he no longer took the provincial examinations, so it wasn’t particularly rare. But for the young Miss Yu to also have such breadth of mind and bearing was truly impressive.
He looked deeply at Yu Tang once and decided to help the Yu family one more time in this matter.
“Although they’re all maritime businesses, do you know that maritime business is also divided into several types?” Pei Yan put away his teasing attitude and said seriously, “The current dynasty has three Maritime Trade Offices—one in Ningbo, one in Quanzhou, and one in Guangzhou. As for sea routes, they either go to Sulu, Siam, or Ceylon. But your map here goes to Dashi.”
Yu Wen and Yu Tang’s minds grew dizzy listening, and they looked at each other blankly.
Where was Sulu? Where was Ceylon? Was Dashi important?
Not wanting her father to lose face in front of Pei Yan, Yu Tang spoke up before her father could: “Third Master, what do you mean by that? Are ships going to Dashi very rare? So this map is very valuable?”
“No!” Seeing that neither father nor daughter understood these matters, Pei Yan patiently explained, “Our dynasty’s current fleets, whether they go to Sulu or Siam, ultimately all hope to sell their goods to Dashi. Because Dashi is an extremely wealthy kingdom. Previously, none of us knew how to go directly to Dashi, so we could only sell goods to places like Sulu and Siam, and then have their merchants take the goods to Dashi. Your map here is a new route, a route we’ve wanted to take but have never been able to reach. Moreover, this route goes through Guangzhou, which makes it even more precious.”
The Yu father and daughter still didn’t understand.
So Pei Yan told them, “Because of the wokou pirates, the court has several times wanted to close the seas. Especially the Maritime Trade Offices in Ningbo and Quanzhou—each has already been closed once. Recently, some court officials have proposed abolishing these two Maritime Trade Offices. If the courtè®® passes this, these two offices might be abolished again. Fleets would only be able to depart from Guangzhou. Tell me, is your map precious or not?”
Both Yu Wen and Yu Tang’s eyes widened.
Which meant their family was in even greater danger.
The father and daughter couldn’t help but say in unison, “Auction! Third Master Pei, this map should just be auctioned off.”
Yu Wen even felt that auctioning it wasn’t safe enough and changed his tune: “Third Master Pei, do you want to do maritime business? How about I give you this map? We don’t want money. Consider it thanks for helping my wife find a physician.”
Pei Yan’s face darkened.
His good deed had somehow turned into extortion and plunder!
Yu Tang felt her father’s words were too blunt, like he was passing the buck. Seeing Pei Yan’s blackened face, her mind worked faster than ever before, and words came flying out: “Father, that’s not right. If Third Master Pei wanted this map, he could just trade with us directly. Why would he say he’d act as guarantor for our family and auction this map?”
“Yes, yes!” Only then did Yu Wen realize he’d said the wrong thing and gave Pei Yan an embarrassed smile.
Yu Tang, meanwhile, was afraid Pei Yan would wash his hands of the matter.
Only families like the Pei family could possibly invite aristocratic clans with influence comparable to the Peng family to participate in the auction and ensure their family’s safety.
She sent out kind words as if giving them away for free: “Third Master isn’t that kind of person! You don’t know this, but when I went to the Pei family pawnshop before, I met Third Master…” She rattled off all their chance encounters to Yu Wen.
Yu Wen was mortified and apologized to Pei Yan: “It’s all because I spoke without thinking…”
Pei Yan watched Yu Tang’s rosy little mouth opening and closing, feeling as if hundreds of sparrows were chattering beside him, giving him a slight headache.
He interrupted Yu Tang: “Enough, enough. Let’s not bring up the past anymore.”
Yu Tang stopped bringing up the past and continued praising Pei Yan: “But I think what you said really makes a lot of sense. Auctioning it off is the best method. However, since this map is so precious, what do you think—could we have someone make several more reproductions and then auction them all off? I’ve heard my eldest uncle say since I was young that the biggest taboo in business is eating alone. If you eat alone, everyone becomes jealous and will band together against you. But if several families do business together, they can’t very well be jealous of every single one, right?”
Pei Yan simply didn’t know what to say.
This little girl was actually playing mind games with him.
If she was afraid the Yu family couldn’t stay out of this, she should just say so directly. Making such a huge detour—wasn’t she just trying to get the Pei family, get him, Pei Yan, to take the blame?