Qin Shuying became alert. Xu Shi had been full of loopholes previously, but today she performed quite well—not only lowering herself to apologize, but the content of her apology was actually setting another trap.
Qin Shuying remained composed and said: “Niece dares not harbor resentment. I hope First Madam will clarify the rumors for niece outside.”
Xu Shi said with a smile: “Since the misunderstanding has been cleared up, even without you saying so, I would have people take care of this matter.”
She set it aside so lightly, then turned to Old Madam: “Old Madam, your daughter-in-law has thought carefully. Seventh Miss’s shop has only been open for forty days, yet has already completely overshadowed all the brown sugar in the capital. Daughter-in-law believes it must be those brown sugar merchants who are jealous of Seventh Miss’s daily profits, so they spread rumors outside to slander Seventh Miss. If we truly let them succeed and the Qin household, concerned about reputation, doesn’t allow Seventh Miss to operate the brown sugar business, then their shops would have business—that’s their purpose. Daughter-in-law almost fell into their trap and nearly became their accomplice. Yesterday daughter-in-law just received an invitation from the Liu family, saying they’ll come to the capital in a few days and will inevitably visit Old Madam. Daughter-in-law wonders if the Liu family has also heard rumors? The Liu family is a good match, and daughter-in-law fears Seventh Miss might displease them.”
These words were even more reasonable and emotional. Qin Shuying couldn’t help but look at Xu Shi again—it seemed she had misjudged earlier. Xu Shi was ultimately a formidable inner-quarter woman. It was only because she had been pressed into panic before that she made so many mistakes. Now that she had calmed down and thought carefully, her tactics were completely different.
Indeed, Old Madam’s expression changed.
Using the Liu family to threaten her?
Qin Shuying smiled slightly and said to Old Madam: “Old Ancestor, this is Shuying’s first time doing business and I understand nothing. Seeing how well Second Sister managed business affairs, the Lu household was able to leap from rural poor folk to become a prosperous family in the capital, allowing Third Sister to marry without worry about food or clothing. Otherwise, Third Sister would have to learn like those crude country wives to personally plow fields, personally raise silkworms and spin thread, and might even have to personally sell poultry and needlework on the streets—how could she have the leisurely life of a Qin household noble daughter? I may not understand other things, but copying examples is something even someone as dull as Shuying can do. So I modeled after the Lu household’s business. I’ve only just begun and don’t have the grand scale First Madam mentioned, nor could I possibly completely overshadow all the brown sugar in the capital. Father once said that Uncle Liu is upright and fair, wouldn’t listen to one side only, much less blindly believe rumors without distinguishing right from wrong. Shuying believes father’s words. First Madam, you needn’t worry.”
Qin Shuying spoke quite quickly, but with clear articulation and distinct layers. Xu Shi tried to interrupt several times but failed.
Especially when Qin Shuying mentioned Qin Yaoyao, Xu Shi was furious, but having been through several rounds of verbal sparring, she no longer naively thought Qin Shuying was easy to deal with. So she didn’t point out this matter that disgusted her immensely but would only make her fall into vulgarity if she argued about it.
Moreover, she discovered that Old Madam seemed to have some awareness of Qin Yaoyao’s situation, which was why she had become angry when she mentioned Qin Yaoyao earlier.
Remembering Qin Yongtao’s words, Xu Shi’s thoughts turned. Her expression remained normal as she said: “Seventh Miss, doing business requires honesty. You can’t use any means necessary to suppress competitors. If you do that, how can others conduct their business? Seventh Miss wouldn’t want to see Old Ancestor become a laughingstock when she goes out socializing, would you?”
Qin Shuying sneered inwardly. Bringing out Old Madam to suppress her, because Old Madam was the only person Qin Shuying truly cared about in the Qin household.
However, Qin Shuying completely ignored her words and instead asked: “First Madam, how exactly can others no longer conduct business? Niece doesn’t understand.”
Xu Shi was extremely disgusted, yet had to maintain a spring-like gentle expression on her face. Gritting her teeth inwardly, she said: “Now that you’ve introduced red granulated sugar, everyone wants to buy that instead, and no one cares about brown sugar business. Seventh Miss, you’re making enemies of all the brown sugar merchants in the capital!”
Qin Shuying pondered for a moment and said: “First Madam speaks reasonably. Then what should niece do?”
Xu Shi couldn’t help but curl the corners of her mouth, saying: “Since you ask me, I am your aunt after all, so I must give you some guidance. If you献出 the recipe for red granulated sugar and let everyone help make it together, those brown sugar merchants won’t focus all their attention on your single shop. Seventh Miss, the marketplace is like a battlefield—making enemies is inferior to making friends. With allies, you share risks together, and everyone earns money together. That’s the proper way.”
Qin Shuying pondered slightly, seeming to agree with Xu Shi’s words, slowly nodding: “First Madam, everything you say makes sense.”
Xu Shi was delighted.
Then Qin Shuying reflected thoughtfully: “But according to your reasoning, wouldn’t all these merchants come knocking at our door? Yet during this time, no one has come to the shop to cause trouble! First Madam, aren’t you overthinking this?”
Xu Shi was nearly infuriated to the point of falling backward, angry in her heart. She hadn’t expected this wretched girl’s tongue to become increasingly sharp.
However, she wasn’t in a hurry. Changing the subject, she said: “You child, you’re still young after all and don’t understand the dangers involved. In the past, I was busy with this and that, not taking proper care, not having you learn household management from your Sixth Sister, which is why you don’t know the complexities. Even if Seventh Miss doesn’t understand, surely the people around you understand? In my opinion, it’s the people around you who instigated this, or they deceived their superiors while concealing from below, misleading you. Old Madam, in daughter-in-law’s view, we should call them in for questioning. As servants of the Qin household, they should naturally abide by the Qin household’s rules. Instigating the young miss to conduct malicious business and suppress competitors—how would outsiders view the Qin household’s family customs? How would Master and the young masters conduct themselves at court?”
Qin Shuying’s expression remained unchanged. Just that composed and confident demeanor alone made Nanny Gu marvel inwardly, not to mention listening to her spar verbally with Xu Shi throughout. That adaptability and intelligence made Nanny Gu seem to see the Old Madam of years past.
Old Madam looked at Xu Shi with an expression that remained calm throughout, not knowing what she was thinking. She only said: “Seventh Miss, what are your thoughts?”
Qin Shuying said composedly: “Old Ancestor, when father was alive, because he managed affairs well and thus had considerable family wealth, he didn’t need to accept bribes or worry about being beholden to others. Only then could he display his ambitions in office and gain the current emperor’s favor. Everyone knows His Majesty most abhors corrupt officials. Over the years, quite a few corrupt officials have had their families destroyed and ancestors’ graves desecrated. To speak of recent examples, Provincial Administrator Xiong Lie was found guilty of this and ultimately had his nine generations exterminated! Shuying remembers father once saying: ‘Greed buys three yuan, honesty buys five yuan’—pursuing excessive profits yields little gain, while small profits with high volume yields great profit. Father also said that in early Han times, when Zhang Liang studied under Master Huangshi in his youth, he sold scissors to people during the day and returned home to study at night. Later, feeling he didn’t have enough time for study, he divided the scissors into upper, middle, and lower grades. The upper grade kept the same price, the middle grade was one coin less than the original price, and the lower grade was two coins less. As a result, in just half a day, he sold twice as many scissors as usual, earned twice as much money as before, and had more time for study than before. That’s why there’s a folk saying: ‘Zhang Liang selling scissors—same quality regardless of price.’ Old Ancestor, father was such a wise person. Shuying is merely learning father’s business methods. However much money is earned ultimately belongs to our Qin household. Moreover, this red granulated sugar recipe was recorded in one of father’s notebooks. If Shuying didn’t let it see the light of day again, I would be failing father’s painstaking efforts.”