Chapter 31: Qingzhou (Part 1)

On the first day of the first lunar month, government offices across the nation closed for three days to celebrate the New Year.

In the capital, from the Grand Court Assembly on New Year’s Day until the fifteenth day when lanterns were displayed for the Lantern Festival, the Emperor and Prince Ping made three outings. During these times, vehicles and pedestrians were restricted in the city. On the night of the Lantern Festival, wooden structures were erected in the imperial palace directly facing the Ruide Tower. The Imperial Street was opened to allow the capital’s citizens to gather and play. Spectacular performances, unusual talents, songs, dances, and various entertainments filled the eyes, while the cacophony of music extended for dozens of miles. The entire city was filled with extraordinary joy and excitement.

Although Qingzhou could not compare to the capital’s prosperity, the prefectural government offices were decorated with colorful ornaments during the first lunar month. The sounds of music and dance, and the atmosphere of jubilation were no less than those in the imperial palace.

South of Shangqiu Gate in the city was an area occupied by wealthy merchants and their shops and mansions, too numerous to count. Dozens of streets were decorated with colorful canopies, displaying rare and ingenious items that were seldom seen on ordinary days. Besides these, there were hair accessories, jewels, ornaments, clothes, and flowers that women loved, as well as collars, handkerchiefs, boots, shoes, and various playthings that men enjoyed. All can be found here. The city’s inhabitants knew that these large shops were preparing for the bilateral trade fair after the New Year, aiming to attract merchants from beyond the northern border.

The new shop opened by the Yan family in Qingzhou was deep in Hunan Street.

Everyone in the city’s merchant circles knew that the Yan family had an extensive business in Chongzhou Prefecture. They had opened a shop in Qingzhou specifically to capture the obvious profits from the upcoming trade with North Jian. Otherwise, the Yan family master would not have invested heavily in transporting those extremely valuable ornamental stones and curiosities from their Chongzhou shop to Qingzhou, nor would he have sent the Yan family’s eldest daughter personally to oversee the new shop.

On the morning of the fifteenth day, the Lantern Festival, the Yan residence was quite quiet inside and out. The sky displayed a rare winter warmth, and the thin ice on the steps of the back courtyard showed signs of melting.

In the warm inner chamber, light and shadows were dim. The woman on the couch was still in deep sleep, her black hair twined around her neck within the red gauze curtains, her exquisite figure beneath the thin silk.

From the front courtyard, there came faint sounds of argument and commotion. She slightly frowned but did not wake, only turning over to continue sleeping.

Shortly after, the door was suddenly knocked urgently, and a maid outside called loudly: “Young Miss, Young Miss! People from the prefectural office have come and insisted on taking away the three-volume colored boxwood carving from the shop!”

Yan Fuzhi finally woke up.

Opening her eyes, she looked at the gold-threaded colorful gauze curtain above her head, and frowned in thought for a moment, before comprehending what the maid outside had said.

She sat up abruptly and spat out: “Hurry and bring my clothes!”

The maid pushed open the door, stumbled in, and threw down her waistband, skirt, blouse, gauze, and woolen cape by her bedside, all while wringing out a hot towel and whispering: “That colored carving is the master’s treasured possession, specially brought to Qingzhou by the Young Miss this time to serve as our new shop’s prized item. Who would have thought the Qingzhou prefectural officials would be so despicable…”

Yan Fuzhi dressed herself efficiently, got out of bed, and rebuked: “Those are all officials of the government, how dare you criticize them behind their backs?” With that, she went to the dressing table, picked two jade-green peony flowers and placed them on her earlobes, glanced at the bronze mirror, and declined the hot towel the maid offered, striding out the door like the wind.

Because it was the day of the Lantern Festival, people in the city had risen late. There were very few browsing the shops around Shangqiu Gate at this hour. As she crossed the middle courtyard of the residence, she could hear the continuous clamor coming from the shop ahead, jarring among the neighboring establishments.

The servant guarding the back door of the shop saw her coming and hurriedly stood up to open the latch. “Young Miss, you’ve come just in time. Please go check on those yamen officials, they’re causing quite a disturbance!”

Yan Fuzhi entered the shop with a cold face and saw three or five people from the prefectural yamen sitting in the hall, each with a displeased expression. The Yan family’s clerk stood nearby, also with an angry look, while the three-volume colored boxwood carving was being held by an official.

“Young Miss!” The clerk exclaimed upon seeing her as if seeing a savior, almost with tears in his eyes.

Yan Fuzhi nodded to him, pulled her woolen cape closer, stepped forward, and smiled at the officials: “The Yan family has just arrived in Qingzhou. If we’ve unintentionally violated any local customs, I hope you officials will be understanding.”

The man holding the carving stood up, looked her over, and squeezed out a smile: “The Yan family’s business is famous throughout Chao’an. How could you not know the customs? We brothers just wanted to buy this boxwood carving from your shop today, but your clerk refused to sell it to us!”

The clerk anxiously tried to speak but was stopped by her, leaving him standing awkwardly to the side with his head lowered.

She smiled lightly: “This item is indeed my father’s treasure, which he reluctantly allowed me to bring to Qingzhou as our shop’s showcase. However, since you officials admire it, if you wish to buy it, then please take it.”

The man was immediately delighted upon hearing this, beckoned to those beside him, and turned to leave.

Yan Fuzhi frowned and called out: “Sir, you haven’t paid yet.”

The man turned around with an arrogant demeanor, “In Qingzhou when buying things for the yamen, I’ve never heard of having to pay!”

“Oh?” Yan Fuzhi raised an eyebrow, glanced at the clerk beside her, now understanding why there had been an argument earlier, and simply said: “I haven’t heard of this custom in Qingzhou city.”

The man said: “Do you know who this carving is for? It’s by order of Vice Magistrate Wang, bought to be given to the newly appointed Prefect Shen who arrived before the New Year! We’ve looked around, and only your Yan family’s three-volume boxwood carving seems worthy. If Prefect Shen likes this item, it would be a great honor for the Yan family!”

Yan Fuzhi’s eyebrows raised slightly. She stood thinking for a moment, her expression unchanged, still smiling: “That’s fine. If it can please the Prefect, I would gladly offer even ten such carvings. However, since the Yan family began doing business, we’ve never recorded unpaid accounts. If you officials haven’t brought silver with you, that’s alright, but would you mind writing a note to leave here, so I can report to my father that this carving was given to the officials of Qingzhou Prefecture?”

The man thought for a moment and nodded: “What’s so difficult about writing a note?” With that, he asked the clerk for paper and a brush to write.

She stood to the side with her arms folded, her expression inscrutable, but her voice was soft: “May I ask if this carving should be recorded under Vice Magistrate Wang’s name, or Prefect Shen’s name?”

The man’s wrist paused, turned his head to consult with those beside him, before replying: “If Prefect Shen takes a liking to this carving, he might soon present it to the Emperor and Crown Prince in the capital. That would bring a great face to your Yan family! Let’s record it under Prefect Shen’s name.”

Yan Fuzhi nodded. When the man finished writing, she took it and had the clerk put it away, then smiled and respectfully saw the men out of the shop’s main door.

After they had gone far enough, her smiling face suddenly collapsed. She turned back to look coldly at the servants and clerks, ordering harshly: “If anyone from the prefectural yamen comes to the shop in the next few days, block them in the front courtyard and have someone call me directly!”

The clerk responded with a pained face and followed quickly behind her.

She strode toward the back courtyard, walking and laughing coldly: “Nothing but a small Qingzhou prefect, probably hasn’t even grown a full beard yet, and thinks the Yan family is easy to bully?”