The craftsman’s name was Tang. He was past fifty, with the lean, short frame typical of locals in these parts — looking still hale and sturdy. The moment they met and she read his expression, Zhù Ying knew this man had no wish to leave the prefectural capital.

The Office of Works Deputy Official of the Inspector’s office who delivered him to Zhù Ying was, however, very enthusiastic. He told her: “Master Tang is the finest craftsman in this entire prefecture! Inspector Leng certainly does not stinting in his generosity toward Zhù Daren!”

Zhù Ying said to the Deputy Official: “Indeed! Sir Leng has always been generous.”

The Deputy Official seemed to want to say something more but held back, settling on: “Sir Leng is a man of genuine feeling!”

Zhù Ying said: “That he is. Always a case of everyone looking after everyone — isn’t that so?”

The Deputy Official said: “That depends on who makes the first move.”

Zhù Ying said: “Even so, it beats having no beginning at all — things can’t be going badly forever.”

“Quite so, quite so. Here is the person, and here is the official document — please keep it safe, Zhù Daren.”

Zhù Ying thanked him, had Xiang Le take Master Tang to be settled in, and she herself wrote a brief note to have passed to Cold Yun, along with a separate note for Director Dong, to the effect that he should watch for signs of reconciliation among the local officials — if there were any indication of an olive branch, everyone could take the opportunity to smooth things over and get through this posting together, which was far easier than quarreling day in and day out.

Meanwhile, Xiang Le noticed that Master Tang moved sluggishly and, recalling the man’s age, looked over the three apprentices. All three were young men; the eldest was identical to Master Tang in physique and air. The second was, remarkably for a local, tall and powerfully built. The third was also solidly stocky. All four were dressed cleanly, with only a few patches here and there.

Xiang Le asked: “Do any of you have more baggage?”

Master Tang coughed: “A few things.” Being assigned to a government task was not something one could refuse, but since he was reluctant, he would create a small inconvenience. His own group could carry their own bedding; beyond that, he would also need to bring “some tools I’m used to, or I can’t work properly.”

Xiang Le said: “I’ll send men to go with you and collect everything!” He knew Zhù Ying wanted this matter handled well, and was fully committed to getting Master Tang home. He had brought four carts; whatever it was, once packed up it went into the carts. Master Tang lived behind the sugar workshop. Passing the workshop, Xiang Le pointed to the equipment inside one large room and asked: “Do you want to dismantle all this and take it?”

Zhù Ying had purchased similar equipment before, tested it herself at home, and it all worked well enough. He wasn’t sure what costly or irreplaceable items this old man needed that could not be left behind.

Master Tang did not want to bring that much. He left the frames and suchlike behind. Besides bedding and a roll of clothing, he also brought along a large pot, a funnel, and one large flat ladle, along with his small stool. Seeing this, the eldest apprentice brought only his own familiar knife; the second apprentice had no particular “favorite tools,” but threw in his one chipped cup; the youngest brought additionally his own flute and lute.

Master Tang also slipped away from the apprentices to pack his life savings in private. The apprentices each tucked away their few small coins just as quietly. For a transfer like this, orders had been given — who knew whether there would ever be another chance to come back?

All totaled, it barely filled two carts. Xiang Le waved his hand, bundled all four craftsmen into the third cart, and loaded the remaining tools into the fourth: “If there’s nothing else to bring, we’ll be off! Master Tang, rest assured — all the sugar-making equipment is ready and waiting!”

Master Tang said: “I have only to follow orders.”

Once the cart curtain fell, Master Tang exhaled a long, long sigh. At his stage in life, the last thing he had expected was a change like this. He had started as an apprentice and worked more than forty years to reach this level of skill, with something of a foothold established. One official order from the yamen, and he had to leave behind what he had built. Even if he were allowed to return someday, his home would probably be gone — occupied by someone else.

The prefectural capital had nothing fine about it, but it was still better than Nanfu by any measure. Even if someone offered him the capital city right now, he would not want to go. He had been here long enough; this was his place.

The three apprentices did not dare say much. Seeing the look on the master’s face, this outing did not seem like a good thing. The youngest touched his flute but dared not play it. In the past, when everyone was tired, someone would always call out: “Youngest, play us something.” And when he played the flute, the master would soften a little.

The apprentices sighed along with their master.

Zhù Ying, for her part, was sunk in the pleasure of finally having a skilled person to take charge of things. She said nothing for now, and simply watched the four of them interact, looking for anyone prone to causing trouble and taking note of their temperaments. Master Tang was clearly more self-contained — fewer words, more seasoned, surrounded by an aura of grievance much like an official demoted to a backwater posting. If he could write poetry, it would surely have produced some exceptional verses for posterity. The youngest apprentice was lively and had the least grievance of any of them. The eldest said little, frequently glancing at the master then lowering his head again — a listless, dispirited manner. The second apprentice was physically huge and ate a great deal.

Zhù Ying had them travel by post station. At mealtimes the four craftsmen ate at one table with the runners and yamen runners. Zhù Ying’s table was served first. She ate and then went to check on the others.

The master would not touch his chopsticks; the apprentices dared not eat. Master Tang picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of vegetable. The second apprentice immediately launched his own chopsticks like lightning, scooping half a bowl of rice before the sound had died! For the dishes in front of the master, none of them dared reach — they ate everything else at full speed. Seeing the second apprentice grabbing too much food, the master turned his chopsticks around and used the blunt end to tap the second apprentice on the head: “A starved ghost reincarnated?”

Zhù Ying strolled over. Master Tang immediately stood up, sending the table’s bowls and chopsticks rattling. All of them dared not stay seated. Zhù Ying said: “Please eat. There’s more if it isn’t enough — you have work to do and need to eat.”

The second apprentice produced a smile, glanced at the master, and suppressed it again. Master Tang sighed. He had taken the eldest apprentice on because he had no children, and felt the eldest resembled himself. He had taken the second one on because he and the eldest shared one weakness — insufficient physical strength — and the second was powerfully built. But this powerfully-built person also ate a great deal! If starved, he could not produce strength; if fed, he consumed too much.

Zhù Ying saw that with her there they could not eat comfortably, so she said: “Bring more food.” She pointed at the table where the runners sat and told them to top up food and rice there too, then strolled back to her own room. Zhù Ying returned to her quarters and said to Xiang Le: “I see something odd about these four. Look into it quietly — find out why they’re so reluctant. Is it too much conscripted labor, too great a distance, or some other concern?”

Xiang Le received the order and watched the four carefully.

Master Tang, though sighing and grieving, did not sigh in front of officials — he did not dare put on airs before one. The eldest apprentice, after one round of sighing, went back to advising him: “Master, this is not so bad — we didn’t have to walk ourselves, and the Prefect doesn’t seem a harsh sort. Last year when I was at the Fulu Guild buying oranges, the people there were decent enough.” Who else, doing government work, didn’t have to walk there on their own two legs? No one with a whip at your back pushing you was already not the worst.

Master Tang glanced at him and said: “You make sugar, not oranges! A fine prefectural city left behind, heading off to some prefecture — no ambition.”

The youngest apprentice said softly: “But over there, if no one else has this skill, wouldn’t we be the only ones? Better to be a chicken’s head than an ox’s tail.”

Master Tang said: “So you can quote proverbs now?”

The youngest did not dare speak further.

Then came the grumbling — the second apprentice said doing government work left you no freedom.

Xiang Le heard everything clearly and returned to report it all to Zhù Ying: Master Tang was unwilling to leave the prefectural capital, considered Nanfu beneath his skills, and had no desire to give a good-faith effort.

Zhù Ying thought it over. If she herself had reached the pinnacle of her field in one city and were suddenly moved to a smaller place… well, she would probably be quite curious to see what she could accomplish there. She said: “Noted. Just pretend you don’t know what he’s thinking, keep an eye on him, and make sure he doesn’t slip away.”

Xiang Le said: “Yes.”

The road from the prefectural capital to the prefecture city was somewhat shorter than the road to Fulu County, and Zhù Ying’s party arrived at the prefecture city quickly. She had Xiang Le take Master Tang and the others to be settled. The spare rooms in the yamen still had one available; they could stay there for now.

Then she reminded Magistrate Guan and the others to compile their statistics after the wheat harvest, come to the yamen to report before spring planting, and prepare for the spring planting arrangements for the coming year. If, before spring planting, Master Tang and his team could demonstrate their abilities, then during spring planting she would need to re-divide the land use across the entire prefecture — allocating enough land to grain to ensure sufficient food, while determining how much could be freed up for sugarcane production. That, she would not tell them yet.

She had thought it through: everything was vulnerable to getting too big and unwieldy — yet as long as scale was large and managed well, costs would drop significantly and efficiency would rise substantially. When natural or man-made disasters struck, it was the larger operations that could hold on longer. This logic had been borne out consistently — through selling oranges, building roads, digging channels, and everything else.

At the same time, she intended to squeeze out another batch of unreported fields and unregistered households from the wealthy landowners of Nanping and He’dong counties.

Magistrates Guan and Mo had always followed her lead. Magistrates Guo and Wang had previously been “arranged” by Inspector Lu, but had adapted well enough to her ways, and all four agreed without objection.

Then she dealt with the yamen affairs during her absence — nothing major had occurred. She had left in the second half of the twelfth month and was returning nearly at the New Year; Li the Legal Registrar had already rounded up a wave of petty thugs and criminals, while Director Wang had the annual performance reviews for all staff ready and waiting for her inspection.

Zhù Ying first looked over Li the Legal Registrar’s case dossiers. Those who deserved beating were beaten; those who deserved fining were fined; some who were being held in custody would actually allow their families to have a peaceful New Year with them off the streets. Director Wang’s performance notes were much as expected: in general, the outstanding and the truly poor were few; most people landed in the middle to lower-middle range. Xiao Wu, Qi Tai, Peng the Works Officer, and similar posts were all closing and sealing their accounts. Only Zhang Sibingling’s post could not relax even over the New Year — gates still had to be watched.

Zhù Ying cross-checked the accounts. The yamen’s income for the year was acceptable, with more surplus than previous years. “Not bad at all!” she said. She had already given the prefecture’s officials a pay increase; now for the New Year she added a supply of year-end goods for each of them, mainly smoked meats and the like. And a further sum was disburseted for the care of widowers, widows, orphans, the elderly, and the infirm — the costs of installing the sugar-making craftsmen were folded into this line.

Niu Jin saw this and thought: Daren truly treats her subordinates as well as the stories say.

……

Hu Shijie supervised the goods purchased from the prefectural capital and delivered them to the rear quarters, where Huajie and the others began taking inventory. Goods were always more expensive this close to the New Year; Zhù Ying had grown increasingly unconcerned about that, caring far more about going out to haggle herself. And some goods were simply better when fresh.

Zhù Ying helped Huajie take inventory and said: “With the girls going home for the New Year, can we manage on our own at home?”

Huajie said: “We can. They’ll cook everything ready before they leave — we only need to reheat it when we want to eat. In cold weather, it’ll keep for two days. We’ve had New Years like this before. With Sanlang and the others also going home for the holiday, there’ll be fewer mouths to feed for those few days. Clothing doesn’t need washing for that period — just sweeping the floor and heating water, which Sister Du and I can manage.”

Zhù Ying said: “Fair enough. I can cook too.”

Hu Shijie was standing nearby thinking: Officials really do have more money than merchants. What a generous person Daren is. I’ll stay here for the New Year too — nowhere else to go. I’ll have my junior sister send a thank-you gift to Xiang Family’s Niangzi. I could help with chopping firewood. Though — Daren’s household doesn’t need anyone to chop firewood.

Drifting through clouds of thought, she suddenly heard Zhù Ying say “I can cook too,” startling the otherwise unflappable Hu Shijie into a small jump.

Zhù Ying tensed alertly: “What is it? Is there a thief?”

Zhang Xiangu instantly scooped her valuables into a chest and slapped the lid shut!

Hu Shijie said nothing. She had been struck dumb.

Huajie, who hadn’t reacted in time, now looked perfectly composed. She heard Hu Shijie’s explanation: “Saw a bug.”

Zhang Xiangu relaxed: “Goodness, you frightened me! Oh, now I’ll have to start all over. Xiao Ya is going home and I’ll actually miss her a little!”

Su Zhe was to go back to the mountain village for the New Year, stay for a month or two, and then return — this was the arrangement Zhù Ying had made for her. Twice a year, no fixed dates, but she always had to go back and stay on the mountain for a month or two, so as not to grow too distant from the village people.

They had packed up many things for her to take to the mountain.

Hu Shijie thought: well, that means Daren will have fewer people to cook for. Oh, how did I start imagining Daren cooking? It’s Daren who talked nonsense just now — that’s why I had these strange thoughts.

From the prefectural capital Zhù Ying had brought back some gems and jewels, which she left with Huajie and Zhang Xiangu to keep. Over her years as an official, she could honestly be called clean, and although she had sent considerable sums to the capital as tribute, she had also accumulated a not-insubstantial personal fortune through careful household management. She also brought back two large jars of wine from the prefecture city — a flavor resembling the wine Zhù Da ordinarily liked, but considerably better.

Zhù Da said with his mouth: “I still prefer what I get from the street corner shop! Keep this for yourselves.” Then at dinner he sent Stone to fetch him a jug to drink.

Zhù Ying didn’t argue with him. She changed her clothes and went to look in on the four sugar-making craftsmen.

……

The four craftsmen had been settled in a house very close to the yamen — step out through the rear garden, walk a few steps, and there you were. The furniture was all in order, a tidier dwelling than any of the four had ever lived in.

After Xiang Le had settled them in, he fetched a set of keys from Xiao Wu and handed them to Master Tang: “Rice, fuel, oil, and salt will be delivered shortly. Take a look around first and see if anything is missing.”

Master Tang said: “It seems to be in order.” He did not ask what he was being asked to do, nor when work would start. The New Year was practically upon them — what else could it come to?

Xiang Le said: “Very good. Here are the keys. Don’t wander too far for now — someone will be bringing things shortly.”

Shortly afterward, deliveries began arriving — firewood and rice, followed by fresh vegetables and meat. When the second apprentice saw half a pig’s carcass, he said with delight: “Master, there’s meat!”

Master Tang said: “It’s nearly New Year — and we’re in a strange place among strange people…” The accommodation was fine, the food was good, and it was nothing like government conscript labor in the past — no one screaming and shouting, with clerks skimming their cut. The better things were, the more uneasy he felt, wondering what it was all leading to. What was this all about?

The eldest apprentice automatically began directing the junior apprentices to put away the luggage, tidy the kitchen, fetch water, start cooking…

Just as they were busy, Xiang Le came back, pushing the door open: “Daren is here.”

The four craftsmen hurried to the front to wait. Zhù Ying looked around and said: “Good. I’ve had the equipment brought as well.”

The four craftsmen looked at her in astonishment. Starting work the moment she arrived, even with the New Year imminent — well, that was… entirely normal. What government service ever let you slack off just because New Year was coming?

The equipment took up half the courtyard; then two carts of sugarcane arrived, followed by a cart of firewood and charcoal. Zhù Ying asked: “Is there anything else that’s needed?”

Master Tang had lived more than fifty years and had never encountered an official like this. If you said she was harsh — she had given them a cart to ride, fed them well, and provided a large house; everything was excellent. If you said she was lenient — the moment they arrived she was putting them to work. This was…

Master Tang said: “If Daren wishes to make sugar here, a workshop space would be more convenient.”

“All right, tomorrow we go to the convict labor camp.”

The convict labor camp — Master Tang knew perfectly well what that place was. Why was he being sent there?!

Xiang Le suppressed his laughter watching this pretentious old man and said: “The only abandoned sugar workshop is at the convict labor camp. The only working one in the city already has an owner — who’s going to steal it for you?”

Zhù Ying said: “The workshop can wait. Come, let’s set up the operation here first!” She brought some runners, and with help from the eldest apprentice and others, began assembling the equipment. She wanted to see Master Tang’s technique first.

Master Tang, having barely drunk a mouthful of hot water upon arrival, was being put to work. He felt even more aggrieved. Why was this official so different from on the road?

Zhù Ying was doing it deliberately. She already knew about Master Tang’s reluctance; if someone arrived at your house in an unhappy frame of mind, all the coaxing in the world wouldn’t help. Better to start work immediately, talk while doing, observe his real skills, and see what specific concerns he had. Ultimately, she intended to pay him. As long as he finished the work, wanting to go back to the prefectural capital was also fine. If the work was poorly done, she had other ways to handle that. She took out a notebook and began making notes.

Master Tang was even more astonished. He had never seen a prefect — a high official — come down to personally oversee something like this. Astonishment gave way to silence. He looked at the eldest apprentice setting up the equipment. Sugar-making equipment was not complex: first, extracting the cane juice, then processing it — the difficulty lay in the second step.

Master Tang said slowly: “What kind of sugar does Daren want?”

“Powdered sugar is best, if you can make it!”

She had tried herself and always failed. The small workshops in the prefecture and county towns produced only brown sugar and the like.

“I can make a few kinds.”

“Then let’s have a little of each.”

Master Tang set to work with a touch of defiance. Zhù Ying also began noting his steps rapidly. Pressing out the cane juice was standard. Then came filtration.

There was plenty of sugarcane; Master Tang had the apprentices divide the juice into several portions. He intended to produce samples of all the different sugars at once so Zhù Ying could see what was available. He set up a large pot first and began slow heating…

Master Tang said nothing more, only directed the apprentices now and then, telling them to tend the fire. He and the eldest apprentice stirred together. Zhù Ying wanted the runners to help; Master Tang said: “No need — they don’t know the heat and timing.”

As evening gradually fell, the sugar was not yet done, but was slowly thickening. The second apprentice carried over a flat wooden frame, somewhat like a tofu press, but divided into many small compartments.

Zhù Ying immediately decided: “Any dietary restrictions? If not, eat with the yamen kitchen. If there are restrictions, tell the kitchen — no need to waste time cooking for yourselves when you should be doing this work!”

Xiang Le said quietly: “Then I’m staying too, I won’t go home for the New Year. I’ll stay here and help.”

Zhù Ying said: “What are you butting in for? They’re anxious to go home. Finish this early, go home early — why should you delay your own homecoming?”

The second apprentice’s mouth got ahead of him: “Daren will let us go back? Master, that would be wonderful…”

The master desperately wished he had a pair of chopsticks to hand! He hurriedly said: “This subordinate has come to follow orders, and does not dare to run away. I will do my utmost to complete the work. Daren need only state the target — I will certainly meet it within the deadline.”

Zhù Ying said: “I don’t need much from you — just make the powdered sugar a little purer.”

Master Tang was taken aback.

Zhù Ying said: “I want clean white sugar. And come to think of it, I’ve also seen large blocks — can you do those?”

“I can manage a little of that too. Though it may not necessarily work.”

“Then experiment!”

Master Tang said carefully: “That may require a great deal of sugarcane and fuel, and may still fail. To produce what we can already do would certainly be possible.”

Zhù Ying said: “Never mind! You can stay as long as you make things. This room is yours for as long as you’re here. Once you produce results I’m satisfied with, I’ll also give you twenty strings of cash, have your name struck from the registers, and let you go back to the prefectural capital if you wish. How does that sound?”

Master Tang said: “Daren speaks in earnest?”

“Show me results first!”

Master Tang’s spirit ignited: “Done!” His mind turned over rapidly. For craftsmen like them, the hardest thing to deal with was the conscript labor and corvée. You’d be quietly living your life when they’d drag you off to work, disrupting everything; go through that a few times and nothing could ever be finished. His specialty was sugar-making; sugar was reasonably valuable and the margins were good, but very few days in the year were spent working for himself. Much of it was spending his own materials and equipment in his own workshop — doing work for the court.

Court regulations stated conscript labor could only be levied twenty or thirty days a year; further use required payment. In practice it was all nonsense — the harsh ones could conscript twenty out of thirty days in a month. Being fed was considered decent treatment; sometimes you had to bring your own food. To be struck from the register would make his life immeasurably better. And with extra cash, he could replace all his equipment!

Zhù Ying also knew that conscript labor was an account that had gone rotten, growing worse the longer it ran. Even ordinary commoners were conscripted well beyond the legal limit. Ordinary commoners did not understand the rules; they were busy all year long without rest, which was also why runaway households kept increasing. If the court and official yamen could ease up even a little, there would be fewer hidden households in the world.

Zhù Ying asked: “Can’t finish tonight?”

Master Tang said: “Working through the night, something can be done. Just burning the candles.”

As he spoke, he put some of the syrup into the “tofu frame” and let it set. Another portion he put into a large barrel.

“Then don’t strain yourselves tonight — tomorrow we’ll continue. Actually, tomorrow, before you do anything else, I’m coming back to watch you work.”

Master Tang agreed.

Zhù Ying took Xiang Le and walked back. On the way, Xiang Le said: “That old stubborn one, the nerve of him.”

“Capable people are often like that. Besides, he’s probably a bit aggrieved inside as well. With skills like his, he’s right to expect a better life. By the way — after tomorrow, they’ll be resting over the holiday, and you lot should be going home for New Year too. Make sure everything is packed; don’t leave things scattered behind.”

“I can stay behind — just have Sanlang go home; mother misses her.”

“Doesn’t she miss you too? Go together.”

With that said, Zhù Ying also gave each of them a New Year gift. With so many more people now in the household doing work for her, she did as she had in the Court of Judicial Review — each person received a portion according to rank at New Year.

The next day, Zhù Ying sealed the yamen after morning proceedings, first sent Su Zhe and Su Qingtian off with Gu Tong — they could travel together for half the road. Hearing she could go home to see her mother, Su Zhe gave a shout of joy!

Zhù Ying laughed: “Missing home so much?”

“I miss A’Ma!”

“Then when you get back, spend more time with A’Ma.”

“Yes!”

Su Qingtian said: “Is that how you talk?”

Zhù Ying said: “She’s speaking from the heart — don’t teach her to deceive people.”

Su Qingtian said: “Well, Laoshi is magnanimous. But if it were some pettier person seeing the child say she wants to leave right in front of them, they’d be offended, wouldn’t they?”

Zhù Ying said: “Nonsense. Of course a child misses her mother — how could she not? Anyone who takes offense at that is being unreasonable. Take care on the road.”

Gu Tong did not want to leave and wanted to stay another few days; Zhù Ying told him: “Go.”

Gu Tong had no choice but to go.

Having seen them off, Zhù Ying went to Master Tang’s dwelling. He and the apprentices had already reassembled everything. The brown sugar had come out — knocked from the tofu frame, small squares with a raised pattern imprinted on one face, since the frame’s base had been carved with designs.

Zhù Ying picked up a piece. “Is powdered sugar made with the same syrup and this same method?”

Master Tang said: “More or less.”

“Can it be cast into the same patterns and shapes?”

“It could, I suppose — though powdered sugar is not usually done that way.”

Zhù Ying nodded.

Then she watched him work on the other varieties.

Master Tang had several techniques and could not demonstrate them all in two days. He retrieved what had been placed in the barrel, poured off the top layer of liquid, and Zhù Ying saw it had turned a pale yellow. Master Tang offered no explanation, having made up his mind not to teach too much. This prefect was peculiar; let her write down whatever she wanted. He intended to keep one part of his skill to himself — the guarantee of his latter years.

Zhù Ying did not mind. She had already learned a great deal from watching Master Tang. She needed only to observe what he did; she would draw her own conclusions afterward. He was right here in her jurisdiction; she would have access to everything she needed to understand.

She asked Master Tang: “Can it be made even better?”

Master Tang said: “That would require experimentation. As long as Daren provides sufficient sugarcane and fuel, I can always refine things further.”

“How much have you experimented before?” Zhù Ying asked.

Master Tang shook his head honestly: “Not much — whatever master taught me, I learned. And some ideas I did not dare to try.”

“Master wouldn’t allow it?”

Master Tang said simply: “No money.”

Trial and error had costs. After paying his conscript labor obligations, he had little capital left to try unstable methods. This was the hardship for many craftsmen: try something a few times without success, and there was no more capital to keep trying — back to work to save up again. Invention often depended on luck. If you could keep going with a proven technique, why take risks? With enough craftsmen, each trying this and that, eventually some combination of happy accidents would be discovered, and then everyone would learn it.

Now, however, he had found someone willing to be the fool who footed the bill. He was actually beginning to feel like staying here for a good while to “try a few things.” Sugarcane here was not expensive; but the labor, the fuel, the charcoal — above all, not having to worry about a livelihood — was a true luxury.

The “willing fool” was also thoroughly pleased: “Then keep experimenting!”

The two of them had come to an understanding. Master Tang was no longer awkward about it.

Zhù Ying also went back to celebrate her New Year.

……——

That year’s New Year, because of the Crown Prince, could not be fully enjoyed by anyone. Zhù Ying could no longer take her parents up to the city wall to watch the lights spread across the whole city. Zhù Da lamented this greatly, but also said: “Next year we’ll see it — next year will be better!”

Zhù Ying brought out the brown sugar pieces Master Tang had made, divided them among Hammer and Stone, and gave portions to Sister Du, Ding Gui, and the others too. She told them: “By next year we’ll be eating fine powdered sugar.”

Zhang Xiangu said: “That stuff is expensive!” The family had bought glucose and similar sweets far more readily in the past; when the household had eventually been able to get more access to powdered sugar, Sister Du had not even known how to cook with it. Even now that they could afford it, Zhang Xiangu still thought of it as expensive.

Zhù Ying smiled and said nothing. She intended to bring the price of sugar down! Not dirt cheap — but at least tiered by quality. The cheapest grade should be producible in higher volumes, so that even those without much money could afford a little. Sugar and oranges, in her hands, were different things: oranges could sell for high prices; sugar — she wanted quantity and low cost.

Powdered sugar and large white sugar blocks were mainly about whiteness. Having watched Master Tang’s techniques over these past two days, she felt she could perfectly well make brown sugar blocks on her own when she had spare time. Large-scale sugar production required skilled craftsmen; she did not have the time to master that art herself. But she had other ideas — for pressing the juice, human labor alone was far too taxing. Add a winch mechanism and use animal power, and the speed would multiply. Better still, if conditions allowed, water-powered machinery on a river would be even more efficient. At that point there would probably not be enough skilled craftsmen and more would need to be recruited.

After the New Year, she intended to gather all the sugar craftsmen in the entire prefecture and have them learn from Master Tang. If Master Tang refused to teach, she would figure it out herself and pass on what she knew. The matter was like selling oranges — no single household could do it alone; it needed the yamen’s administrative authority to push it forward. Start with the yamen’s own capital running one large workshop to open up the market, and thereafter others would follow. But since this was a physical commodity, there was a concern about “competing against the common people for profit.” Something would need to be worked out — either pass it through an intermediary, or find some other name for it.

Passing through an intermediary meant setting up a managing agent, which essentially amounted to cultivating a merchant — that seemed not quite right. Or use the yamen’s power of “conscript assignment”?

This way, even if no improved sugar-making technique emerged, the scale alone would drive costs down. With the current techniques and sufficient volume, she could distribute Nanfu’s sugar broadly.

Zhù Ying half-listened to Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Da bicker, while working through her plans in her mind. She found them entirely feasible!

In a quiet moment during the New Year visits, Zhù Ying took a packet of the expensive powdered sugar Zhang Xiangu had mentioned, went to the kitchen, found a small pot, melted it down, poured it into a bamboo cup, waited for it to set, then turned it out. It had indeed taken the shape of the vessel perfectly, just as brown sugar did.

Zhù Ying was delighted! She was about to find a piece of wood to carve a mold — if it could be made round and square, it could be made into flowers — she had figured out how to make Nanfu’s sugar its own brand!

Sister Du came running in: “Daren, quick — Li the Legal Registrar has come to pay New Year’s respects. Old Mistress is looking everywhere for you. If she finds out you’re in the kitchen, there’ll be another lecture!”

Zhù Ying said: “Him? I was just looking for him!”

……

And so it was that Li the Legal Registrar, coming to pay New Year’s respects to his superior as was entirely proper, could not have been more ill-starred. The past year in Nanfu had seen many events; from Sima Zhang downward, the officials and staff had all committed small infractions of one kind or another. Yet none of the final performance reviews had come in as “poor” — the worst anyone received was “lower middle.” That was the superior letting everyone off! Li the Legal Registrar had tidied up his gift and come to call at his superior’s home for the New Year.

Host and guest having settled in their seats, Li the Legal Registrar saw that Zhù Ying seemed to be in good spirits, offered a string of auspicious New Year’s greetings, and pledged his loyalty: “This year, I will work myself to the bone and flinch from neither fire nor water!”

Zhù Ying said: “No need to go that far. But there is one matter that falls nicely to you.”

Li the Legal Registrar assumed this was some matter of great trust and said excitedly: “At Daren’s command!”

“Those two wanted circulars we sent out a few days ago —”

“Y-yes…”

“It’s the New Year now — fugitives are people too. Don’t they want to go home for the New Year, reunite with their families? Don’t they have wives and children, even aging parents, waiting at home? A man alone out there in the world — shops all closed, everyone gone home for the holiday, nowhere even to steal from. My guess is they might be going home for the New Year. Make the effort: arrange for men to stake out their homes and take them when they show up. Come back with results and I’ll note a merit for you.”

Li the Legal Registrar was struck dumb: “Uh… yes.”

Why did I come to pay New Year’s respects?! Li the Legal Registrar asked himself this silently. The New Year! He was nearly choked with grievance!

A superior’s orders were not to be disobeyed. He had no choice but to lead men personally to keep watch. Arriving at one village, he ran right into the very person he was looking for. Li the Legal Registrar laughed: “Remarkable! Seize him!”

Having caught one, Li the Legal Registrar’s momentum built, and the next day he headed off to the other fugitive’s home.

He summoned the village head first. The village head immediately pressed a red envelope into his palm and said: “He hasn’t come back! His old mother was crying just the day before yesterday.”

Li the Legal Registrar said: “Don’t try to fool me! He’s your distant nephew — are you sure you’re not covering for him?”

The village head swore up and down by heaven and earth, then proposed to slaughter chickens and sheep and feast Li the Legal Registrar. Li the Legal Registrar said: “No need — find me a room, we’ll stay.”

The village head put him up in his own home, giving him the best room. Li the Legal Registrar made no ceremony about it. He was tired, and slept very soundly that night — until in the depth of his sleep he suddenly heard a cry: “Watch out! Fire!”

Li the Legal Registrar sprang from his bed and saw flames reflected red across half the outer wall beneath his window! He bolted for the door — and found it had been latched from the outside! Li the Legal Registrar’s face went pale! Fortunately a runner shouldered the door open and pulled him out.

He scrambled out into the open, his face black as the bottom of a pot: “Where is the village head?”

The village head was nowhere to be seen. The village head’s wife was screaming curses in the street: “You miserable little beast! I cover for you and you set fire to my house!” The villagers were busy fighting the fire; the village head’s wife was busy with her curses, and began working herself up to charge down to the fugitive’s family and fight it out.

Li the Legal Registrar straightened his clothes — he had grabbed whatever garments were to hand and thrown them on — commanded the runners to save the horses, and bellowed at the village head’s wife: “Did you know the fugitive had come back? Where did he go?”

The village head’s wife said: “He went that way!” The village head also came running back with a group of people — he had gone to fetch water to fight the fire.

Li the Legal Registrar seized the village head: “You! Come with me!”

Li the Legal Registrar dragged the village head back, and in his state of utter dishevelment entered to report to Zhù Ying, displaying his toil and his near brush with death.

It was already the seventh day of the new year. Yamen affairs were about to resume. Zhù Ying said: “So they dared attempt the murder of a court official? What audacity that family has!”

The village head was frightened out of his wits and knelt begging for mercy: “I was not in on it — I truly did not know!”

Li the Legal Registrar was furious: “Do you think I’m deaf? What were you saying about how that man burned your house because you were ungrateful?”

The village head begged mercy again: “His old mother was too pitiable.”

Protecting one’s own kin — Zhù Ying would not pursue that particular offense. She said only: “Now things have changed. You need to tell us where he went.”

The village head said: “Into… the mountains.”

Well, then…

Zhù Ying smiled. Wasn’t this perfectly convenient? She had been wondering how to find a pretext to go and have a neighborly chat.