The mother and son turned around to see a handsome man dressed in purple-red silver-threaded floral brocade robes walking in with a beaming smile.
“A’Jue!” Lin Shi called out happily and loudly, supporting herself on her maid’s hand to stand up. “When did you arrive? Why didn’t you send word ahead so I could have your cousin go fetch you?”
The visitor was none other than Lin Jue, the nephew from Lin Shi’s maternal family.
He was the eldest son of Lin Shi’s biological elder brother. Since childhood, he’d been handsome and eloquent, making him Lin Shi’s favorite nephew.
Before she could stand, Lin Jue quickly stepped forward and supported Lin Shi before the little maid could extend her hand.
“Auntie!” He called out to Lin Shi affectionately, laughing, “This isn’t just any place—I wanted to give you a surprise! Who knew the surprise would turn into a fright!” As he spoke, he thoughtfully glanced at Li Duan, then continued to Lin Shi: “I didn’t startle you, did I? Had I known, I should have sent a servant ahead to announce my arrival.”
His tone carried deep regret, making Lin Shi’s heart ache as she quickly said: “Does your auntie seem like such a timid person? Besides, I won’t boast about other things, but your auntie’s household management skills are second to none. Who else could slip into my room unnoticed except you few who come and go regularly?”
On this point, Lin Jue didn’t disagree.
After greeting Li Duan, the two cousins supported Lin Shi to sit at the round table in the outer room.
Maids served tea and refreshments.
Lin Shi asked Lin Jue: “Are you just passing through this time, or planning to stay a few days? How did things go in Huai’an? Is the family business doing well? How is your father’s health?”
Lin Jue smiled: “Father’s health is quite good, and thanks to Uncle’s help these years, the family business has been going smoothly. This time I came partly because the business in Huai’an has been settled, so I wanted to tell you, Auntie, to save you from worrying. Secondly, I also wanted to thank you—if Uncle hadn’t helped intervene, this time we’d probably have lost everything. Speaking of which, a family really does need someone who studies!”
Lin Shi nodded repeatedly, saying: “That’s why I urge your two cousins to study hard.”
Li Yi was only a fourth-rank prefect and had already elevated the Lin family business to a new level. If they could be like the Pei family, wouldn’t silver flow into the household like water?!
Lin Shi thought of Lin Jue’s newborn eldest son and said: “Though your wife’s family is wealthy, their foundation is somewhat lacking. Later, after your eldest cousin marries, bring the child here to be raised. Even if he doesn’t become a presented scholar or recommended man, he should at least become a scholar candidate. Look at those great households in Hangzhou—eight or nine out of ten who’ve built top-tier businesses are scholar candidates. Only this way can they connect with officials, and when trouble arises, someone will protect them.”
Lin Jue deeply agreed, nodding repeatedly and thanking Lin Shi and Li Duan in advance. Then he stated his purpose: “As it happens, I don’t have much going on right now, so I came to keep you company, Auntie, and chat with Cousin. If I could also meet Third Master Pei, that would be even better.”
That last sentence was the main point, wasn’t it?
Lin Shi thought so, but her nephew’s words were pleasant, so she was still quite happy: “Alright! Stay here a few more days. Lin’an City may not excel in other areas, but the scenery is quite elegant. Every time you come, you’re in such a rush—this time stay longer and let your cousin show you around. If you get bored, take a boat to Hangzhou City—you can make a round trip in one day.”
Lin Jue immediately stood to express thanks. After chatting idly with Lin Shi a while longer, seeing fatigue on her face, he and Li Duan took their leave together, with Li Duan accompanying him to the guest room.
However, as soon as Lin Jue entered the door, he drove out all the servants organizing trunks and those the Li family had sent to clean the room. Closing the door, he pulled out a painting scroll from one of his traveling trunks and handed it to Li Duan with a smile: “Well? Didn’t I say your method wouldn’t work? In the end, you still had to rely on me. Here—Lu Xin’s ‘relic.’ Take a look and see if this is the map your family’s been searching for.”
Li Duan smiled awkwardly: “You already got your hands on it?”
Ever since hearing news of Lu Xin’s remaining possessions, they’d been scheming to get them. He just hadn’t expected Lin Jue’s plan to progress so smoothly.
Li Duan couldn’t help defending himself: “The main thing was A’Jun took a liking to the Yu family’s young lady—it was killing two birds with one stone, so I went along with it.”
Though the Lu family matter had progressed smoothly, if someone wanted to investigate, they could easily discover whose hands this painting had fallen into. The profits from maritime trade were too lucrative—by comparison, massacring entire families was nothing. The Li family’s foundation was still too thin to withstand turmoil. Not to mention having the Pei family looming over them.
If they let the Pei family share the spoils, their family would forever have to watch the Pei family’s mood—what future would the Li family have then? What would be the point of his lifelong struggle?
Lin Jue felt smug inside, but didn’t want to offend this cousin who might bring infinite benefits to the Lin family in the future. He not only didn’t argue with Li Duan about who won, but even went along with Li Duan’s words: “If it were me, I’d be willing too. I just didn’t expect the Yu family to be so stubborn. Still, at least we got the painting. We need to move quickly—by the time the Pei family discovers it, the painting will already be in the Peng family’s hands. No matter how capable they are, can they be more powerful than the Peng family?”
The Fu’an Peng family was Fujian’s foremost family.
Not only had the family produced two Grand Secretaries, but the current Seventh Master Peng Yu was a close minister to the Emperor, serving as Right Chief Censor of the Censorate, responsible for investigating all officials. Even Pei Yan’s second senior brother, Jiang Hua, Minister of Works and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, didn’t dare act presumptuously before Peng Yu.
The ones who wanted this painting were the Peng family.
And Li Yi had been trying to transfer to the capital these past years. The Pei family was too conservative, their steps too slow. He’d finally connected with the Peng family, and the Peng family was willing to help him. Naturally their family also needed to reciprocate, helping the Peng family obtain this painting as a token of allegiance.
However, the Li family’s roots were in Lin’an. Before forming tightly bound mutual interests with the Peng family, the Li family wasn’t willing to offend the Pei family and couldn’t afford to offend them. Otherwise, with overwhelming force, the current Li family couldn’t withstand it—why create so much trouble?
Li Duan smiled without speaking.
The Peng family wanting this painting didn’t absolutely require the Li family, but the Li family absolutely needed the Peng family. Saying anything now was useless—the truth was that Lin Jue had obtained the painting.
No paper could wrap up fire forever. Li Duan also didn’t expect to hide it from the Pei family forever, but they at least needed to establish their footing with the Peng family before letting the Pei family find out.
He asked Lin Jue: “You didn’t show your face personally, did you?”
“How could I be that stupid?” Lin Jue felt his eldest cousin had become a bit foolish from too much studying. He glanced at Li Duan and said, “Of course I had someone else do it! And even that person was contacted by my trusted steward. We just said it was an antique painting, and I had connections to sell it to someone who liked such paintings. At a pawnshop it would fetch at most four or five hundred taels, but through my hands, it could sell for over a thousand taels. The person took the bait. Spent four hundred taels to buy the painting, then sold it to me for five hundred taels. Though it was a bit much, I treated it as paying for peace and didn’t haggle much.”
Knowing the painting could sell for over a thousand taels but buying it for four hundred and selling for five hundred—this was quite an honest person too.
Li Duan pretended to suck in a breath of cold air, laughing: “This person isn’t very greedy either.”
“That’s why I say, doing business depends on what kind of person you’re dealing with.” Lin Jue was rather proud of this point, saying, “Look at me—traveling north and south with my father, I’ve never had problems because of business partners. So I say, the Peng family can accomplish great things—following them is definitely the right choice.”
Li Duan remained noncommittal.
On this point, his view was opposite to Lin Jue’s.
He thought the Peng family was very greedy.
Of Fujian’s nine fleets, the Peng family’s was the largest and possessed most of Fujian’s ships. Yet when their family inadvertently learned that Minister Zuo had hidden a maritime map in this painting, fearing others might obtain it, weren’t they still trying every means to get it?
However, this was also human nature.
Who would want another tiger added beside their sleeping platform?
Li Duan discussed the painting with Lin Jue: “Should we just send it to the Peng family like this? Or should we first check if the painting is correct?”
He didn’t think the Yu family could discover the painting’s secret, but feared that, as Lu Xin had confessed, even he didn’t know the painting’s secret, and they might have gotten the wrong thing.
Lin Jue said shrewdly: “Of course we need to find a way to see the map inside this painting. What if the Peng family backs out?”
Besides verifying the goods, they’d better also get some leverage over the Peng family by making a copy of the map, guarding against the Peng family going back on their word.
After all, they and the Peng family weren’t on the same level. For the Peng family to deal with them would be as easy as turning a hand, but for them to resist the Peng family wouldn’t be easy. Especially with the Pei family caught in between—if not for this matter, they could still seek help from the Pei family, but once their transaction with the Peng family was exposed, it would be good if the Pei family didn’t punish them. They shouldn’t expect the Pei family to protect them.
The two cousins, having reached this point, exchanged a mutually understood glance.
Li Duan said: “Just leave this matter to me.”
The purpose of Lin Jue’s extended stay was precisely for this matter.
He needed to see that map with his own eyes before he’d feel at ease!
He would also personally take this map back to Fujian and deliver it to the Peng family.
This was what their families had agreed upon from the start.
When fighting tigers, rely on blood brothers; when going to battle, rely on father and son. Whether the Lin family or Li family, both were too weak now—only by banding tightly together could they possibly build up their family business.
The two discussed who to find to remount this painting.
The news Yu Tang had long awaited finally came.
The person behind the Lu family was indeed Lin Jue.
Regarding this painting, she’d thought a lot. She figured that if the Li family didn’t have the Lin family’s help, they couldn’t possibly conduct maritime trade, so the Lin family must know about this matter. And in her previous life, the person who associated most closely with the Li family was Lin Jue.
His visits far exceeded what one would expect from a relative separated by thousands of miles.
Yu Tang had found a way to draw a portrait of Lin Jue and showed it to A’Liu, who sold pears in Xiaomei Alley. She had him watch the Li family’s main gate and immediately tell A’Tiao when this person came calling. She also showed the portrait to the Qu family brothers, having them watch the person trading with the Lu family to see if the painting ultimately fell into Lin Jue’s hands.
Fortunately, with those events from her previous life, she’d worked backward to track people and obtained the result she wanted.