The scholar nimbly climbed into the carriage and knelt to one side. He bowed his head and respectfully placed the basket within easy reach of the person seated across from him. “Your Majesty, this is what the Hua Family distributed.”

No one had expected the Emperor to come here in person. He lifted the window curtain and looked toward the Hua Family’s gates. “Nothing else was said?”

“Nothing, Your Majesty. Hua Bailin oversaw the proceedings, and beyond those opening remarks he said nothing further.”

The residence in the southern part of the city was not without its merits — though that of course depended on the comparison. The Emperor had visited the Hua Family’s home in Hualin Lane before; compared to that, this place seemed far more modest. Yet for a family that had been stripped of their estate and sent into exile, it was actually quite remarkable.

The Emperor suddenly smiled. He was growing ever more curious about that young woman. He had expected her to appear in person today; he had not anticipated that she would let a child shoulder the entire affair. Conducting oneself in such a fashion was truly one of a kind.

Laifu stood with his eyes cast down, unable to raise them. The palms of his hands were already damp. The Emperor had originally only instructed him to keep watch over this matter, but had abruptly changed his mind and said he wished to come and see for himself. Laifu did not know whether the Emperor had lost confidence in him, and this made him deeply uneasy.

If he lost the Emperor’s trust, there was only one road ahead of him — and it led nowhere good.

“Open it and have a look.”

Laifu composed himself instantly, steadied his hands, and lifted the oiled paper from the top of the basket to reveal three porcelain jars with white grounds and blue floral designs inside.

He cast a glance at the Emperor, then, beginning from the left, opened each of the three jars in turn and lifted the first one before the Emperor’s eyes.

The Emperor looked it over, fished out a piece of fried dough, turned it back and forth in his fingers, snapped it open with some force, gave it a sniff, and raised it to his lips.

“Your Majesty!” Both the scholar and Laifu cried out at the same moment. Laifu stretched out both hands. “Your Majesty, please allow this old servant to taste it first.”

The Emperor paid neither of them any mind, and simply put it in his mouth and took a small bite. Crisp. Fragrant. Mm — a fine flavor. He took another bite.

Laifu’s heart was pounding so hard it felt as though it might leap from his mouth.

The Emperor, by contrast, laughed. “Even if she wished to poison Us to death, she would hardly use that many scholars as cover.”

“Your Majesty is most sagacious.”

The Emperor gave a noncommittal response and put the fried dough back.

Laifu set down the first jar and lifted the second.

The Emperor drew out a piece of dried meat. “If We remember correctly, the Hua Family should still be in mourning.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the scholar replied. “This servant investigated the matter. Although the Hua Family prepared this dried meat, none of them broke their mourning restrictions — not even Hua Zhi herself. When she checked whether the items were satisfactory, she only chewed briefly before spitting it out.”

He paused, then added, “This servant made careful inquiries. The Hua Family has not touched any meat or fish in nearly a year.”

The Emperor gave no sign of having heard. He tore off a piece of the dried meat and placed it in his mouth, chewing slowly, piece by piece. Without quite realizing it, he had eaten the entire slice and still seemed somewhat reluctant to stop.

The Emperor’s self-discipline held, however. His gaze fell upon the third jar.

The scholar glanced at it and promptly explained, “This servant recognizes this one. It is a fruit preserve that Hua Zhi developed herself. It was once sold at the Yunlai Restaurant and was quite popular for a good while.”

As it was inconvenient to eat at the moment, the Emperor only gave it a few more glances before looking away. He lifted the window curtain once again and looked outside.

The queue was not as long as before, yet the number of people had not diminished. Many of the scholars, either carrying their baskets themselves or having a servant carry them, had not left. They were looking — some deliberately, some as if by chance — in the direction of the Hua Family’s gates. All of them guessed that Hua Zhi was just beyond that gate, yet not a single one dared to be presumptuous. Even as they hoped, there was a faint, creeping disappointment in their hearts — they had expected to see her today.

The queue gradually dwindled, until the very last person had received his basket and Hua Zhi had still not appeared. Only then did the crowd accept that she truly had no intention of showing herself today, and they dispersed in twos and threes.

Hua Bailin did not hurry back inside. He remained standing behind the table, waiting for anyone who might yet come, just as his elder sister had instructed — he was to wait for half the day.

When he noticed a carriage at some distance pull away, he paid it no mind. Turning to look at his brothers behind him, he said, “There is no need for everyone to stay and wait. Those eight years and older remain; the rest go inside and rest.”

No one put on a show of bravado. After standing for so long, everyone’s energy was in truth nearly spent — especially Zeng Han, who was the youngest and had the weakest constitution. His legs had long been trembling, yet he had kept his chin up and not let it show; it was only now, when he could barely walk steadily, that anyone noticed. Two of the older children, one on each side, took him by the hand and walked him inside.

In the courtyard, every person who had been there when they set out was still there now. Hua Zhi’s gentle gaze swept across them all, pausing on little Zeng Han a moment longer than the rest — yet she did not walk over to him. She only said in a warm voice, “You’ve all worked hard. Go eat something and rest.”

“Yes, Elder Sister.”

Zeng Han was still being helped along by the others. After the incident with the Wei Family, everyone had already come to accept Zeng Han as standing on their side; with today’s shared experience of facing things together, they had without realizing it come to regard him as one of the household, and because of his young age had naturally taken to looking after him a little more.

Hua Zhi was satisfied with how things had turned out. Affection grew through time spent together — it would only get better going forward.

“Go and tell Bailin that they may take turns coming inside to eat.”

Steward Xu trotted off in person to deliver the message, while Li De led others in tidying the remaining baskets to one side.

“Everyone may stand down — there won’t be many more people coming.”

Nanny Chen knew the young mistress was one who allowed those below her to speak their minds. She hesitated, then asked, “Miss, does that mean we won’t be making more of those items?”

“Not for the time being. If we were to treat it as a proper business, there wouldn’t be enough of you to manage it — we’d need an entire workshop. But right now I must attend to the seafood side of things first, and I haven’t yet decided whether to take this further.”

Nanny Chen felt a stab of disappointment. She and the other nannies were the Old Mistress’s people; the young mistress, out of great kindness, had taken them all into her service — yet the young mistress had her own trusted helpers close at hand, leaving the nannies with little to do from morning to night. They had been counting on this to give themselves something worthwhile.

Hua Zhi turned it over quickly in her mind and understood the woman’s feelings at once. The truth was, however, she genuinely had no plans to expand this venture at present. Being short of help was one reason; another was that the customers for these two items were rather specific — merchants, escort convoys, travelers, and others who spent long stretches on the road. The market was neither particularly large nor small, and there were too many alternatives for it to hold much appeal for her.

There was in fact one ideal destination for these goods, but that was not for her to decide, and she had no wish to enrich the wrong person. Besides, since the one making decisions there was not Yanxi, she saw no need to go out of her way seeking an opening.

Still, it would truly be a waste to have these nannies — who had attended her grandmother for decades — frittering away their days on small tasks. Giving it some thought, Hua Zhi said, “I wonder if Nanny would be willing to step forward and manage some affairs on my behalf.”

Nanny Chen’s eyes brightened at once. “Young Miss need only give the order.”

“The seafood venture is nearly ready to open. I need someone to oversee the management of those marine goods for me. The work is detailed and the variety of items is considerable, each requiring its own attention. I only worry that Nanny Chen might…”

“This servant will do it!” As soon as the words left her mouth, Nanny Chen realized she had cut off the young mistress and immediately bowed in apology.

Hua Zhi gently raised a hand to wave off the courtesy. “I will write out the key points to keep in mind. Nanny must take care to remember them.”

“Yes, this servant will be sure to look after everything properly for you.”