Yang Wan changed into fresh clothes, arranged her hair in a bun, inserted a swaying ornament, applied powder to her face, and went out.

She went directly to East Public Street.

With the spring imperial examinations approaching, students from various regions were arriving in the capital. In Changhe Lane behind East Public Street, several inns were gradually becoming busier.

Yang Wan walked through Changhe Lane’s side entrance and went west for several dozen steps, arriving at Qingbo Hall’s back courtyard.

The shopkeeper was eating in the courtyard. Seeing Yang Wan arrive, he hurriedly gestured for his assistants to put down their bowls and chopsticks, rising to welcome her, “The proprietor has arrived.”

Several newly hired assistants were seeing Yang Wan for the first time. They hadn’t expected their proprietor to be such a young and beautiful woman, and they stared unconsciously. The shopkeeper, noticing this, quickly turned to knock their heads, “What are you staring at? Our proprietor is the Eastern Depot Superintendent’s wife.”

“Eastern Depot…”

The two assistants exchanged glances and hurriedly knelt.

“We’ve offended you, offended you…”

Yang Wan stepped aside, “Don’t do that, continue with your meal, I’m just here to look around.”

Seeing Yang Wan’s discomfort, the shopkeeper stepped forward, “Why don’t you sit upstairs? I’ll give them some instructions and then come up to report to you.”

“Alright.”

The front hall faced the street, and from the second-floor windows, one could see the entire East Public Street.

Yang Wan always liked to sit by the window whenever she came to Qingbo Hall.

This shopkeeper was newly hired after she took over, a Fujian native. His Mandarin wasn’t very good, but he was excellent at business, efficient in his work, and quick-witted. He had someone bring tea for Yang Wan while he stood beside her, reporting matters.

“Sit down and speak.”

“Ah, good.”

He sat down as instructed, handing the accounts and new book catalog to Yang Wan, rolling up his sleeves as he pointed, “This batch of printing ink came from Anhui, not much quantity. As you instructed, we’ve bought it all. Kuanqin Hall’s people came yesterday, offering a ten percent profit margin, wanting half our stock.”

Yang Wan took a sip of tea, “Tell them we want fifty percent profit.”

The shopkeeper frowned, “Proprietor, if I may speak frankly, thirty percent is already considerable. Fifty percent… they won’t agree. We still have plenty of ink in storage, and holding onto it isn’t very useful. After spring passes and the weather turns hot, it’ll just be a waste. There’s no need.”

Yang Wan held her tea and looked down at Kuanqin Hall across the street.

The front hall was crowded and lively. Yang Wan stood up, holding the railing as she asked, “What are they doing?”

“Ah.”

The shopkeeper also stood up, “That student from Chushan Academy… what’s his name, Zhou Muyi, wrote a satirical piece a few days ago called ‘Dog Feast.’ Has the proprietor read it?”

‘Dog Feast’ referred to killing dogs, its words clever and obscure, the entire piece alluding to Deng Ying and Bai Huan, using “dog” as a metaphor to utterly humiliate Deng Ying.

Deng Ying had read this piece earlier than others. After reading it, he remained silent for a long time before investigating Zhou Muyi’s background.

His subordinates reported that Zhou Muyi was a relative of Zhou Congshan, raised in the south, and well-educated.

The depot guards all thought Deng Ying would imprison him, but unexpectedly, Deng Ying never mentioned it again.

Afterward, Kuanqin Hall printed this piece, and it spread wildly among examination candidates. Eventually, even many students in official schools read it, adding annotations and jokes, becoming increasingly popular.

“I have read it.”

Seeing Yang Wan’s unchanged expression, the shopkeeper finally said, “I was afraid of angering you, so I hadn’t dared mention it to your household.”

Yang Wan leaned against the railing, “It’s fine. The Superintendent has read it too and said the writing style was quite good, the criticism forceful.”

The shopkeeper laughed, “That’s the Superintendent being merciful, but these people are too ungrateful.”

Yang Wan shook her head, “We know how precious peace at the scholar’s desk is, and don’t want to quarrel too much with students. By the way, is that Zhou Muyi in Kuanqin Hall today?”

“Yes. I had someone ask earlier. Today the Eastern Depot is going to arrest someone at Minister Bai’s house. Those people are gathered there discussing and criticizing this matter. Besides students, there are also several Donglin officials.”

Yang Wan smiled slightly, “That’s why I say Kuanqin Hall won’t last long.”

“What do you mean, Proprietor?”

Yang Wan said, “Both we and Kuanqin Hall are private publishing houses, without official backing. Getting involved in government affairs means certain death. There’s no money to be made there, only heads to be lost.”

The shopkeeper laughed, “Proprietor speaks interestingly, but how should we do business now? Having so much printing ink stored up isn’t a solution.”

Yang Wan looked toward Changhe Lane, “How many inns are there in Changhe Lane?”

“Oh, not exactly sure, probably around ten or more.”

Yang Wan nodded, “Let’s try doing business with these ten or so establishments.”

“Proprietor, please explain more clearly.”

Yang Wan turned around, “It’s nothing complex, just like when you previously set up exam markets for the autumn examinations. Gather all our stored ink and use it to print examination classics. Don’t worry about binding quality, use the cheapest thread binding, and keep prices low.”

The shopkeeper was somewhat confused, “Previously during examinations, when exam markets were set up, all major publishing houses would lower prices. In the end, nobody made much money.”

Yang Wan said, “We can make money.”

“How?”

Yang Wan pointed toward Changhe Lane, “We’ll move some classics to set up stalls in the inns.”

“What?”

Yang Wan continued, “Not too many, that would take up too much in space, just the right amount. Then share some profits with the inns. Once we set up stalls, they won’t let other publishers’ books in. Later, after the spring examinations end, we can also display current novels, picture books, and such there, but that’s for later. Let’s first profit from these spring examinations.”

The shopkeeper listened, somewhat entranced.

Yang Wan lowered her hand, “Start working on it first. If it goes well, everyone will make money.”

The shopkeeper finally came to his senses, looking at Yang Wan’s expression, he couldn’t help saying, “You have a mind for business.”

Yang Wan sat back down by the window, “I’m thinking, maybe next year we can buy Kuanqin Hall.”

Hearing this, the shopkeeper couldn’t help calling out, “Proprietor.”

“Yes?”

“May I ask you something boldly?”

“Go ahead.”

The shopkeeper raised his head, “You’re the Superintendent’s person. What don’t you have? Why bother with all this?”

Yang Wan lowered her head and smiled, “No matter what others think of the Eastern Depot, we won’t forcibly take things. But business naturally needs to develop slowly. I’ve never done business before, just have some ideas. The rest depends on all of you. I don’t want to do other business, I just want to do publishing business, do it for a long time, accumulate some money, so when we’re old, we can live well.”

The shopkeeper stood up, “I understand your words, Proprietor. I’ll go down and give instructions now.”

“Thank you.”

Yang Wan gave him a lady’s bow, then turned back to look downstairs.

The voices were clamorous, mixed with Deng Ying’s official title and Bai Huan’s honorific. In this place near the Prefecture, young people gathered for a satisfying denunciation. Through verbal and written attacks, Deng Ying was stripped bare.

Yang Wan remembered the person lying beside her last night, exposed below the waist, and suddenly shuddered.

She didn’t know when it started, but she no longer wanted to persuade Deng Ying to let things go.

Whatever Deng Ying wanted to do, Yang Wan decided to stop questioning whether it was “worth it” or not.

Instead, she couldn’t let go. A battle of pen and ink wasn’t impossible. The modern Yang Wan had been a lone warrior in academic circles. What difference did it make being six hundred years in the past? She was still Yang Wan, the one who wrote “The Biography of Deng Ying.” Compared to the academic circles of the past, this bustling capital was even more lively and complex. If Deng Ying couldn’t speak, could the Great Ming’s voice speak for him?

Yang Wan closed her eyes. The wind from upstairs caressed her cheeks. The rain had stopped, and the crowd’s voices were clear and unified.

Yang Wan removed her swaying ornament and threw it at Zhou Muyi, who was speaking grandly at the hall entrance. Hit on the shoulder, he stopped his speech and shouted, “Who’s there!”

Yang Wan stood by the window and called out, “It’s me.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear, “Mr. Zhou, public opinion is fearsome, and writing deserves respect. You fear neither the former nor respect the latter, truly a shame to scholars.”

Zhou Muyi walked out from the crowd, “Who are you?”

Yang Wan looked down at him, “The woman you speak of who serves a eunuch.”

The crowd stirred, and someone looked up and shouted, “Only prostitutes would serve eunuchs. You’re shameless, showing your face before us and speaking wildly, even daring to harm someone of scholarly merit. We must report you to officials and have you displayed in the streets in stocks.”

“Go ahead.”

Yang Wan calmly spoke these two words.

The person who had just spoken was stunned.

Yang Wan tilted her head, “Anyone with a mouth can speak, but can you take responsibility for your words? Dare you to fulfill them? Even if I am a prostitute, so what? Don’t you also consider visiting courtesans’ refined entertainment? How are you more noble than eunuchs?”

“You…”

That person was almost choking with anger.

Yang Wan interrupted, “I know that what I’m saying now has no meaning in your eyes, but I still want to say it again.”

She fixed her gaze on Zhou Muyi, “Mr. Zhou, public opinion is fearsome, and writing deserves respect. When speaking or writing, please consider your position thrice. Not everyone wearing scholar’s robes is truly a scholar. Some wear the skin of a literati, but from eating too much dog meat, their head has become that of a dog.”

After speaking, she laughed to herself and turned to go behind the window.

The crowd below began discussing, “This woman… who is she?”

“Can’t you tell? It’s that Yang Wan, who was previously betrothed to the Zhang family’s son, Zhang Luo of the Northern Command, but later became the Eastern Depot Superintendent’s companion.”

At these words, there was a wave of sighs.

Then someone shouted, “Shameless, truly shameless! The Zhang family should take her back and lock her up!”

The crowd echoed in agreement.

Yang Wan leaned against the wall listening to the voices outside, lowered her head, and smiled, hugging herself as she muttered, “Little Ying, you really can endure.”

At this moment, Deng Ying was standing before the Bai residence, when suddenly a needle-like pain shot through his head. He had to raise his hand to press against it.

Seeing his pale face, Qin Wende hurriedly said, “I don’t think we need to wait anymore. This Bai residence has no intention of opening its doors!”

“Don’t rush.”

Qin Wende looked back at Deng Ying’s ankles, “Superintendent, you were already unsteady earlier. We’ve waited so long, we’ve done more than enough.”