In the early morning, as the autumn mist dispersed and sunlight broke through the clouds, the banks of the Qinhuai River appeared especially clear and bright. Despite the sharp chill of late autumn, the pure blue sky, pristine white clouds, and the brownish-yellow leaves on the riverside trees all spoke to the crisp autumn air.

At this moment, when Zhen Niang entered Yihousheng Bank carrying a money box, she noticed the deeply troubled expressions on everyone’s faces. All morning, people had been coming to withdraw money. Although Manager Yan had heeded Zhen Niang’s earlier warning and made preparations, they had still been a bit too late—the money was visibly running out.

“Manager Yan, what’s wrong? Is the situation bad?” Zhen Niang placed the money box on the counter, letting the clerk count and record the silver. This was some savings from the Li Family Ink Shop and the Li family’s eighth branch, temporarily deposited in the bank to provide some assistance.

“Ah, forgive me for saying this, Miss Zhen, but although I had made preparations after your warning about people withdrawing money, unexpectedly, two partners suddenly wanted to withdraw their shares. Now we’re tight on the money again, even though the Duwei has already done his best.” Yan Xilai angrily explained everything to Li Zhen Niang. When Luo Jiu had left for Shanxi, he had instructed that if anything came up that Yan Xilai couldn’t decide on, he could consult with Li Zhen Niang. In Yan’s view, Miss Li was practically a partner, so he told her everything.

Hearing his words, Zhen Niang fell into contemplation.

The Duwei Manager Yan mentioned was naturally the Prince Consort Li He. Zhen Niang, as an attendant of the Princess’s household, understood his situation well. The Ming Dynasty prince’s consort had the most awkward status compared to other dynasties. Some weak-willed princesses were even bullied by their household governesses without daring to speak up. Only Princess Ning’an, with her resilient character cultivated since childhood, had managed to maintain peace until now. But it was precisely this character that prevented her from getting too deeply involved in any matters. Previously providing money from the household to deposit in the bank was already her showing full commitment.

As for withdrawing shares, Zhen Niang knew that Yihousheng wasn’t just Luo Wenqian’s alone—it belonged to that group of brothers who had mined gold together. At this time, some wanting to withdraw their shares was understandable; they feared losing their initial investment. After all, Luo Wenqian had taken a large amount of silver with him to the northern territories. If anything went wrong, Yihousheng would likely be finished.

This was human nature, though it went against their original spirit of brotherhood—no wonder Manager Yan was particularly angry.

To Zhen Niang, this was just another instance of waves washing away sand, leaving only gold behind.

“Hmm, how about this—take your owner’s ‘Han Xizai’s Night Revels’ painting and pawn it to tide things over for now.” Zhen Niang thought for a moment, then pointed at the plaque hanging in Yihousheng’s main hall, which contained the mounted copies of the “Han Xizai’s Night Revels” paintings. When Luo Jiu first came to Nanjing, he had made his name with these paintings, so when he opened Yihousheng, he hung them in the main hall as the shop’s treasure.

“That won’t do, Miss Zhen! Everyone knows that painting is our shop’s treasure. If we pawn it, it’s as good as telling everyone that Yihousheng has run out of money.” Manager Yan shook his head repeatedly.

“Manager Yan, I may not be an expert in banking, but I am a merchant. In Yihousheng’s current situation, even if you don’t pawn the painting, do you think people will believe nothing’s wrong? If that were true, there wouldn’t be this rush to withdraw money now. So, my thought is this: pawn the painting and then be completely honest—tell everyone that any depositor who wants to withdraw can do so immediately. If the bank doesn’t have enough cash, we’ll pawn this treasure. If that’s not enough, we’ll mortgage the bank and warehouse. If mortgaging the bank and warehouse isn’t enough, we still have the gold mine in the north, don’t we? This way, we’ll show everyone Yihousheng’s righteousness, generosity, and endurance. When your owner returns, everything will naturally resolve itself. And during this time, people will see Yihousheng’s trustworthiness.” Zhen Niang spoke earnestly.

“Good, we’ll do as Miss Zhen says.” Her words stirred Yan Xilai to excitement.

Now he understood why the owner had told him to consult Miss Li if he encountered decisions he couldn’t make. Previously, he had been somewhat skeptical—Li Zhen Niang was, after all, a woman, and even though she had achieved success in the ink business, that was merely inherited technology from dozens of generations of the Li family. Being good at technology as a Li family member wasn’t considered a great achievement. Yet unexpectedly, her courage and insight today proved no less than a man’s.

The owner had truly found himself a worthy partner, enviable to others.

“I’ll call someone to take it down right away,” Yan Xilai said, about to call for a ladder to retrieve the painting.

Just then, someone entered—it was Wang Sifang. Seeing Wang Sifang, Manager Yan naturally went forward to greet him personally. Learning that Wang Sifang had come to make a deposit, Manager Yan was overjoyed and hurriedly directed the clerks to count the money, record it, and issue receipts, handling everything with particular efficiency.

Is Wang Sifang making a deposit? This was somewhat unexpected for Zhen Niang, though while unexpected, it made sense. Wang Sifang’s relationship with Luo Wenqian was well-known throughout the Hui Merchants’ Association, and Yihousheng was under the association’s umbrella. With these two connections, if Wang Sifang ignored the situation at this time, it would seem inappropriate.

After all, as chairman, he needed to set an example.

“Greetings, Chairman.” Zhen Niang naturally went forward to pay her respects. As for Wang Sifang’s status as her future uncle-in-law, since Zhen Niang was only Luo Wenqian’s fiancée and not yet properly married, and given that Wang Sifang hadn’t appeared at the engagement banquet, it wasn’t appropriate to address him as uncle yet.

“Mm.” Wang Sifang merely nodded slightly, then walked out with his hands behind his back. Though he was willing to leave himself some room, this didn’t mean they could return to their former closeness—the conflict remained. The Wang and Luo families were hereditary enemies.

Zhen Niang naturally didn’t mind.

With Wang Sifang’s deposit, the bank could catch its breath, but Manager Yan still decided to announce Zhen Niang’s earlier words, letting everyone see Yihousheng’s commitment.

Just then, another person entered with several others. The leader was about thirty years old, wearing a round-necked robe and a futou headpiece, carrying himself with a spirited bearing.

“Master Zhang…” Seeing him, Manager Yan hurried forward to greet him, even more enthusiastically than he had greeted Wang Sifang.

Seeing this person’s attire, Zhen Niang noted it was typical of a major household steward. Thinking about the surname Zhang, could it be…

Zhen Niang had a guess but couldn’t be certain. Fortunately, Wu Zi was nearby serving tea, so she called him over and asked, “Wu Zi, do you know who this master is?”

“That’s Master Zhang Zhong from the Zhang household.” Wu Zi replied, having seen Master Zhang Zhong during his previous visit to the bank.

So it was Zhang Zhong—Zhen Niang had guessed right. This was another unexpected but logical appearance. During the previous matter of opening sea trade restrictions, Luo Wenqian had contact with Zhang Zhong.

As for Zhang Zhong’s appearance at this time, it was Zhang Daren making his move. A person with ambition who wanted to accomplish things and was quite practical would naturally understand that nothing could be done without money. Since Zhang Daren had been willing to let Zhang Zhong work with Luo Wenqian before, he naturally wouldn’t stand idly by now.

Thus, Luo Wenqian had truly boarded Zhang Juzheng’s ship, which gave Zhen Niang some concern. Although Zhang Juzheng’s influence would be limitless for the next dozen years or so, his end would be tragic. However, since Luo Wenqian already had extremely close ties with General Qi, they were already in the same boat, so there was no need to worry too much.

No one stays fortunate forever, and no flower blooms for a hundred days—life’s tides ebb and flow, that’s all there is to it. Therefore, there was no need to be overly concerned about uncertain dangers more than a decade away. The most important thing was to live well today, repay kindness, and do what needs to be done.

Thinking of these things, Zhen Niang relaxed, seeing Manager Yan’s relieved expression.

Seeing this situation now, Zhen Niang naturally knew the bank would be fine. With Zhang Zhong’s appearance, the bank’s problems were no longer problems.

Seeing Manager Yan busy receiving people, Zhen Niang took her leave.

Leaving the bank, she remembered hearing from Er Gou that refugees from Shanxi had already fled here, most gathering near the vegetable market where it was easier to get food and find temporary work.

So she headed toward the vegetable market. As soon as she arrived, she saw a group of poorly dressed people of various ages gathered by the river embankment below. There weren’t any able-bodied men—presumably, on such a fine day, they had already gone to find work.

“This time it was that damned Zhao Quan, he was the one who guided the Tartars in.” An emaciated elder in his fifties said angrily.

“And those soldiers—what kind of people is the court maintaining? Not a single one came to save us?” Another white-haired elder spoke with trembling lips, grief-stricken at the loss of his family.

“The soldiers had to guard Xuanfu and Datong—how could they dare come to the rescue easily? The entire court combined couldn’t match up to a single righteous merchant from Shi Zhou.” A fallen scholar in his thirties spoke somewhat sarcastically.

“What righteous merchant from Shi Zhou?” Those nearby who were inquiring about the Shanxi situation all asked curiously upon hearing these words, and even Zhen Niang perked up her ears.

“When the Tartars were massacring Shi Zhou, there was this righteous merchant who offered a bounty to the bandits of Lüliang—ten taels of silver for every civilian saved, regardless of whether they were men, women, old, or young. Because of this, several groups of Lüliang Mountain bandits joined forces and finally captured a city gate, saving more than ten thousand civilians. We are all beneficiaries of those ten taels of silver—if not for that bounty, we would have died under the Tartars’ blades long ago. This merchant truly deserves to be called the most righteous of all.” The thin scholar was quite eloquent, describing the situation so vividly that those listening couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement, saying, “Such righteousness!”

Listening from the side, Zhen Niang’s heart leaped. She pushed into the crowd and asked the scholar, “Sir, do you know this merchant’s surname and given name? Did he make it to safety?”

“I heard his surname was Luo, but I don’t know his full name—everyone just called him the Righteous Merchant of Shi Zhou. As for whether he made it to safety, we don’t know either.” The scholar sighed.

Surname Luo? It must be Luo Wenqian. Zhen Niang felt both joy and worry—joy at finally having some news of Luo Wenqian, but worry about still not knowing if he was safe.