“I’ll have to think on it further,” the silver-haired cave-lord murmured. “Dismissed. Little sister, stay.”
Before her brother, Zhao Niangzi was entirely deferential. She personally supported her brother as he went to rest, saying to the nephews and nieces who had followed: “All right, plans aren’t decided in a single moment — why the rush? All of you, disperse.”
The nephews and nieces fell back, but a few of the more reluctant ones lingered outside the cave-lord’s quarters, unwilling to leave.
The cave-lord glanced out the window and said to his sister: “Close the shutters. It irritates me to look at them.”
Zhao Niangzi felt a pang of worry, but still smiled: “So many good children, and you’re still irritated?”
“Are they really all that good?” the cave-lord replied.
Though they held the title of “cave-lord,” it had merely been passed down through the generations — they did not actually live in caves. In the light of the moon outside the window, the cave-lord looked once more at his children and sighed repeatedly. At last he said to his sister: “You’ve had it hard.”
Zhao Niangzi said: “I don’t have it hard at all. I live quite well. And if things ever turned really bad, I’d just come home — you wouldn’t refuse me, would you?”
The cave-lord sighed again, then let the matter drop and asked Zhao Niangzi: “Of what the children just said — who do you think got it right?”
Zhao Niangzi suddenly sat up straight, like a student unexpectedly called upon in class: “Little sister, I think.”
“Explain.”
Zhao Niangzi said: “What’s in your hand is what’s real.”
The cave-lord said: “Exactly. I’m getting old, and a pity my sons are no good. And my daughter… is still a daughter, after all.”
“Hmph.”
The cave-lord laughed: “So that makes you unhappy, does it? As long as Little Sister has the ability, handing the family to her is better than having it scattered by someone else!”
Zhao Niangzi said: “And Little Sister wanting to go look at the county magistrate — you approve?”
The cave-lord said: “I’d like to see this person for myself too. I can’t feel easy without a good look. It is, after all, a serious matter.”
“Then… shall we call Little Sister in to discuss it?”
“Yes.”
Zhao Niangzi went to the door to call her. Nephews and nieces swarmed around her at once, pressing her on all sides: “Auntie, Auntie, what was decided?” Like a flock of pigeons.
Zhao Niangzi said: “Little Sister, come with me. The rest of you — why haven’t you gone to bed yet?”
The nephews still hesitated. The eldest still felt that attaching themselves to the prefect was the more promising course, while the fourth had already changed his thinking and wanted to go along and see for himself. Zhao Niangzi set her face: “Are you all asking for a beating?!”
The nephews scattered like startled birds. Zhao Niangzi felt not the slightest sense of satisfaction — only a deepening worry. Was this any way for future heads of the family to behave? With sons like these, no wonder her brother fretted.
The youngest niece followed Zhao Niangzi to see the cave-lord. He was sitting by the fire pit inside his room, warming himself. He glanced up at them as they entered: “You’re here? Sit down.”
The aunt and niece sat one on each side of the cave-lord, also warming themselves by the fire. The cave-lord said: “Little Sister, go down the mountain with your aunt. Come back as quickly as you can.”
“Yes!” This youngest daughter was somewhere in her twenties, with bold brows and bright eyes. Her whole manner was open and cheerful. Hearing her father’s approval, she broke into a wide smile.
The cave-lord cautioned: “Go quietly and observe. Don’t let people figure out who you are. Our people rarely cross over to that side — you stand out like sesame seeds on a flatbread.”
Zhao Niangzi said: “You needn’t worry about that. Little Sister will dress as my maidservant from the very start. I won’t say a word to anyone else. Su’er is also studying at the county school — I’ll go to visit my son, and no one can say anything against that. Little Sister comes along as my attendant.”
The cave-lord said: “Good.”
Aunt and niece were both pleased. The cave-lord’s face showed not a trace of happiness. He simply sent them off to rest. The youngest daughter said: “Auntie, your room hasn’t been slept in for a long time. Come sleep in my room.”
The two of them went to the youngest daughter’s quarters and talked half the night. Zhao Niangzi said: “Little Sister, your father has a hard time managing things. You must help him. Those brothers of yours — alas… if you take charge, I will absolutely back you.”
“Little Sister” laughed: “Auntie, you really think I can do it?”
Zhao Niangzi said: “I think your brothers cannot. Your father is over ten years older than me — I grew up alongside your brothers. They wear your father out too much. That won’t do. Your brothers — placed in that county down the mountain, you couldn’t say they’d be bad. Many a wealthy son from a prosperous family is no better than them, and those families hold their own just fine. For the whole family, the whole Qixia clan, when you look at it, enemies are everywhere. Your brothers are up to that much.”
“Mm.”
The two women sighed together for a moment.
Zhao Niangzi encouraged her niece: “Since they’re not up to it, you must take charge.”
“I will!”
Zhao Niangzi patted her niece’s hair: “Sleep now. I’ll stay a couple more days before I go, so we can talk more properly. I’ll tell you some things about life down there. If you manage to pull off this alliance with the authorities below — you’ll have half-won the right to lead this family.”
——
Zhao Niangzi’s plan was to spend the days before going down the mountain telling her niece more about the county town, so as not to attract attention by appearing too eager.
The next morning, she woke to find the blankets beside her already cold. Zhao Niangzi threw off her covers and sat up: “Where’s Little Sister?”
A maidservant replied respectfully: “She went to catch someone.”
“Who is she catching?”
“A trafficker.”
Zhao Niangzi hurried to get dressed: “Quick — comb my hair. I need to see my brother.”
The cave-lord had already heard what his daughter intended to do. Old men sleep little — he had been up since early morning, and before he had even taken a sip of water, his daughter arrived. The cave-lord said: “Your aunt still plans to stay two more days before leaving. Getting up early won’t help.”
His daughter laughed and threw her arms around his neck: “I’m not rushing to go down the mountain — there’s something I need to take care of here first. Father, please agree.”
“What are you going to do going down the mountain?”
“Not down the mountain — right here in the stockade.”
“Tell me.”
“Little Sister” said: “Yesterday Auntie came with a message from the county magistrate saying something about not capturing each other’s people anymore. Well, we already have people in our own stockade capturing slaves, don’t we? I don’t care what they do to outsiders — but I want to find out whether anyone has been trafficking people from within our own stockade. Before I go down the mountain with Auntie, I want to first execute any traitors who have colluded with outsiders to sell members of our own clan.
When it comes time to negotiate, if the authorities down below are holding a lot of our people, we’ll be at a disadvantage. We can’t let these traitors cause trouble from within.”
The cave-lord said approvingly: “Good. Go ahead.”
Zhao Niangzi finished washing and dressing to find her niece already moving through the stockade making arrests. Her niece’s methods were straightforward — she seized the slave traders and interrogated them thoroughly. Buying and selling people was legal outside; trafficking slaves was not against the law in the mountains either — it was all carried out openly. But just as “trafficking free persons into bondage” was a crime in the outside world, the stockade had no written legal code — if the cave-lord’s family deemed it a crime to sell fellow clanspeople to those below the mountain, then it was a crime.
Zhao Niangzi stood below the main flagpole looking down, watching her niece move with vigorous energy, and smiled with quiet pride. She called out from a distance: “Little Sister — come and eat breakfast.”
By the time the sun had risen, “Little Sister” had already apprehended the ringleader of the slave traders in the stockade. Like all the tribal peoples, her clan had no written script. People used marks they knew, or drawings, to record things. Those with frequent dealings with the mountain people below and with the presence of mind to do so also learned some of the characters used down the mountain, recording their accounts and transactions in the outside script.
Not everyone in the cave-lord’s household was literate. Zhao Niangzi had only gradually learned a few characters after she married into the family below and gave birth to her son. Of the cave-lord’s sons, only one could read several hundred characters. “Little Sister” could recognize over a thousand. The slave traders, out of practical necessity for drawing up contracts, also knew some characters. “Little Sister” turned the man’s house upside down and found an account ledger. The entries were scattered and incomplete, and she couldn’t read every character — but she could make out enough.
She brought the ledger to show the cave-lord: “These wretches! They’ve been trafficking people from the lower sub-stockades without letting us know!”
The cave-lord governed the main stockade, with dozens of larger and smaller sub-stockades under his command. On his own territory, trafficking his own people — this was intolerable. The cave-lord said: “Cut off his head. Take it around to every sub-stockade and show them all. No trafficking of clanspeople!”
“Little Sister” said: “Wait!”
The cave-lord said: “What are you going to do?”
“Little Sister” ordered: “Bring the silversmith!”
The attendants called for the silversmith. “Little Sister” then ordered the people of the stockade to assemble at the great ceremonial plaza in the center. In front of everyone, she ordered the silversmith to melt down the jars of silver found in the slave trader’s house. She had the man bound to a wooden post, then had an iron rod pried open his mouth, and poured a crucible of molten silver into it.
The man struggled with all his might but could not break free from the thick post or the coarse hempen ropes. He thrashed so violently that the ropes cut into his skin until blood soaked through his clothing. He writhed until the silver burned him to death, and never came off the post.
“Little Sister” said: “Father, it’s done.”
The cave-lord said approvingly: “Very good.”
And so it was settled that “Little Sister” would accompany her aunt down the mountain.
That same day, under the pretext of going to visit her aunt, she packed her luggage and set off with her servants. Shortly after descending the mountain and stopping to rest, she changed into the dress of a maidservant. They went first to Zhao Feng’s home, stayed there briefly, then traveled with Zhao Niangzi to the county seat.
Zhao Feng was at home, reading and rereading his son’s letter — as though reading into the family’s future glory. He was itching to go to the county seat to see his son himself. He was also thinking that his wife had gone back to her natal home, and who knew what might have come up — he would wait for his wife to return and they could compare notes, and if there was nothing major, he would set off in person.
“Little Sister” arrived just in time. Zhao Feng said without hesitation: “We’ll all go to the county seat together.”
Zhao Niangzi said: “A couple more days won’t hurt.”
Even so, they didn’t delay long. Within two days they were on the road again. Along the way, “Little Sister” reminded them repeatedly: “Treat me as a maidservant — don’t tell anyone who I am.”
Zhao Feng said: “Don’t worry.”
A few days later, the party arrived at the county seat. This time, no one fell from a building onto the road before them. They reached the Zhao residence without incident — but Zhao Su was not there, having gone to class.
Since Zhao Niangzi’s last visit, Zhao Su had moved to the western wing. This time, Zhao Feng and his wife took the main room. “Little Sister,” playing her role to the fullest, refused to stay in the guest room, and settled into the eastern wing with her maidservants. Once inside the eastern wing, the maidservants made up the bed and arranged the luggage with practiced ease, then spread a floor mat for themselves in the corner.
Zhao Feng went out to call on the local gentry. Zhao Niangzi and “Little Sister” stayed behind to talk. They spoke in their own clan’s language — utterly incomprehensible to any outsider.
“Little Sister” said: “This county seat is far more prosperous than our stockade! If we can form an alliance, we won’t have to worry about losing to the other clans anymore.”
“You think the county seat looks good? I’ve also been to the prefectural city — it’s quite a bit better than this.”
“Never mind them for now. Once we’ve beaten those wild ones and grown stronger, then we can deal with the prefect and the regional inspector. For now, all that matters is what this county magistrate is made of. The county itself looks well-governed to me — I’ll watch for a couple more days and see what other real abilities he has.”
“Good.”
——
Just how many “real abilities” the county magistrate had was genuinely hard to say — but one of them was having very good connections in the capital.
Zhù Ying was in the county yamen reading through letters that had arrived from the capital.
It was nearly the eleventh month. Hou Wu had finally returned from the capital, traveling together with several servants from the Zheng household who had accompanied the convoy of carts. The convoy pulled up in front of the county yamen and drew a crowd of onlookers.
People whispered and pointed among themselves.
Hou Wu, dusty from the road, jumped down from the cart and shouted at the gatekeeper: “Quick! People have come from the capital! The Hou household has sent things! Go report to the Magistrate at once!” He turned back and said quietly to the Zheng household’s servants: “Please wait — I’ll go in personally to report.”
Zhù Ying, inside the yamen, had already heard the commotion outside. She said to Cao Chang: “You and Xiao Wu go and have a look.”
She had long since given up expecting much from her own servants in the way of social finesse. Hou Wu was only marginally better at handling human relations than Qi Tai. Who knew how he had managed relations with the capital visitors on the road. Xiao Wu was sharp and could handle the formal greetings well. Cao Chang had a connection to Gan Ze, and the Gan family carried some standing among the Hou household servants. She had no choice but to send two people at once, leaving herself behind to hear Hou Wu’s account first, and then receive the visitors from the capital.
Hou Wu’s people skills left much to be desired, but he carried out assignments earnestly. He came in clutching a box and said: “Sanlang, all the letters from the capital are in here! There are ones from Chancellor Wang, Chancellor Chen, from Lord Zheng and Lord Pei, and Junior Censor Leng also sent one. Chancellor Wang had a booklet specially sent along — he says it was written by Master Liu, and Master Liu wrote a letter too. The people who came with me are from the Hou household. Lord Zheng sent you several large crates of fine things! There are also things for Little Cao’s family that they asked to be brought along. Xiao Wu’s family also sent things with me. And Steward Jin’s family…”
What he was holding were the letters, all well protected. The goods were still on the carts. None of those who had come with him were of any particular standing.
Zhù Ying waited until he had finished, then said: “Leave the letters with Big Sister to put away safely. I’ll look at them in a moment. Go and rest yourself.”
She then went to receive the visitors from the capital. The Hou household servants who had come from the capital were all familiar faces. They had already been exchanging pleasantries and jokes with Cao Chang. The head steward, spotting Zhù Ying, said at once: “Sanlang has gotten so thin! No wonder the Seventh Young Master keeps fretting.” He then presented the inventory list.
Zhù Ying took it without looking at it immediately and said: “You’ve had a long journey. Please rest first — there’s time to talk in a bit.”
The steward said: “Sanlang is always so considerate.” He also pointed to a small chest he’d brought personally, saying it was inside a gift from Lord Zheng’s mother, the Commandery Princess, for Zhang Xiangu. Having delivered this message, he followed Cao Chang inside to rest.
Zhù Ying noticed that the yamen officials and clerks had all come out to watch. She said: “Nothing to do, everyone?”
People scattered in all directions. Zhù Ying said with a wry smile: “Come back! Two of you — come help unload the carts!” She called over a few of the more careful constables and had the carts unloaded, the several large crates set down just inside the inner gate. The constables lifting the crates found some heavy and some light. All were sealed. They speculated on what they might contain. Several large carts, a total of ten-odd crates — the Magistrate’s own household goods at the time of her posting had not amounted to this much.
Deputy Director Guan and Chief Clerk Mo and the county police chief huddled together and talked in low voices. Chief Clerk Mo said: “When has the capital ever sent things here? It’s always the other direction — we send gifts up.”
The police chief said: “Exactly. What could Fuklu County possibly have that anyone up above would want enough to send things all the way down here?”
They turned to Deputy Director Guan for his thoughts.
Deputy Director Guan said: “What can I say? I can only say — our Magistrate has connections that reach all the way to the heavens.”
The others nodded vigorously: “Indeed, indeed — even the Regional Inspector hit a wall.”
For a moment, everyone stood a little straighter, feeling that since their magistrate was impressive, they by extension were impressive as well.
The magistrate was already looking at the inventory list. Lord Zheng had apparently had some whim, and sent a full crate of seasonal clothing — accessories included, nothing missing — with a jade flute tucked into the lining of the clothing chest. Beyond that, silks and dress materials, elegant decorative objects. The Commandery Princess had sent jewelry for Zhang Xiangu, with two pieces also included for Huajie. Two of the crates were filled entirely with books. There were also fragrant herbs, and half a shi of peppercorns.
Clothing, food, shelter, travel — everything covered.
Zhù Ying felt something was off. She called Hou Wu over: “Did Lord Zheng ask you anything? Did you complain of hardship to him?”
Hou Wu had been in the middle of entertaining Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Da with stories from the journey to the capital — and had barely gotten halfway through when he was summoned. Still wishing he could have continued, he heard this question and said blankly: “No! How could I do something like that? Aren’t we living perfectly well?”
Hou Wu had never known any kind of luxurious life. It was only after coming to the Zhù household that he had settled into something stable. If someone asked him, he could only say with a straight face: “Quite well.”
Zhù Ying said: “Did you say anything in passing?”
Hou Wu’s face went a peculiar shade: “No, nothing… I never said anything like ‘shabby’…”
Truly hadn’t. He’d just mentioned that the main household was four people, plus three servants — three and a half if you counted Xiao Wu, since Xiao Wu also had to serve as a yamen constable. He had even added, by way of clarification, that the yamen had gotten new furniture — all new bamboo pieces!
Zhù Ying said nothing for a moment: “Go and rest.”
She needed to read Lord Zheng’s letter and see what he had written.
——
Lord Zheng’s letter was very placid in tone. He told Zhù Ying that life away from home was not easy and that she should take care of herself. He said he knew she had her own plans, but that she tended to be careless about daily life, and to mind her health — even if she herself could take hardship at her young age, she was not alone; she had a whole family depending on her.
He also told her to focus on handling her own affairs well. Everything in the capital was fine. As long as Zhù Ying performed her official duties well and achieved results, she need not trouble herself about social obligations and the like. He — Zheng Xi — was not like those men who, when their students and disciples were posted to the regions, felt they weren’t being respected unless those students stripped the territory bare for them. He knew what Zhù Ying was.
Fuklu County was three thousand li from the capital. Whatever was sent would cost enormously in transit. Just a token gesture was enough. The road from Fuklu County to the capital was so long that the wear on the road and the expenses of the escort alone were a considerable sum — so best not to waste it.
He also said that Zhù Ying need not worry too much about navigating the capital’s social landscape. He would take care of it. If there was anything that needed to be smoothed over, she should write to him. The capital crowd was a difficult lot — how much could Zhù Ying scrape from Fuklu County to offer as gifts? He could manage them with ease.
Wait a moment.
Such reasonable words sent a cold feeling down one’s spine.
Zhù Ying sensed this was not a simple matter and immediately opened everyone else’s letters. Only after reading through all of them did she begin to piece together what had happened.
Wang Yunhe’s letter cautioned her not to exhaust herself just because she was young. The blind-grading examination system and such measures she was implementing — best not to be too radical, and for now not to submit memorials to the throne; just let the trial run continue quietly. He also said he had forwarded the local-customs miscellany Zhù Ying had written to Liu Songnian, who had quite liked it — though he was still scolding Zhù Ying, and Wang Yunhe wanted to know what on earth she had written in her letter to Liu Songnian to send him bouncing off the walls.
Liu Songnian’s letter was, as expected, entirely devoted to scolding Zhù Ying for being ignorant of good things, insisting that his own writings were all masterpieces, and announcing that he was sending a few samples for her to look at.
Chancellor Chen had also written to her — saying that some of Chen Meng’s experiences might offer her useful insights, and that he was very pleased. Chen Meng, that lad, was only now starting to come into his own, and the Chancellor found this gratifying. He hoped Zhù Ying and Chen Meng would keep in closer contact going forward, encouraging each other. Both of them were regional officials — they could discuss experiences and strategies together.
At the end, Chancellor Chen mentioned in passing that he had also spoken with Zheng Xi, who was now in a much more stable frame of mind and was no longer causing trouble at the Eastern Palace. So the Chancellor advised Zhù Ying to proceed steadily and not to rush. Young people’s greatest danger was impulsiveness — act rashly and you end up going the long way around, wasting years. Wasting years was the better outcome; the real fear was achieving the opposite of what you intended, and dragging your whole family down with you into ruin. He also told Zhù Ying not to focus too much on the Eastern Palace — plenty of people had their eyes on it already; one more wasn’t needed.
Zhù Ying laughed to herself.
In her last letter to Wang Yunhe, she had made a passing mention of Chen Meng — and Wang Yunhe had likely cited her words when publicly commending Chen Meng. In her letter to Chancellor Chen, she had touched briefly on Zheng Xi. Zheng Xi had probably been stirred up over precisely that.
She had guessed rather accurately.
Performing well as a county magistrate was genuinely difficult. Chen Meng had made considerable progress and, with the advantage of his father the Chancellor’s connections, had managed to accomplish certain things and received decent evaluations. But in the eyes of the Council of State, he was not outstanding. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of county magistrates across the realm — those who truly stood out in the Council’s view numbered no more than ten or twenty.
Wang Yunhe was a man who understood human nature well. When Zhù Ying’s letter arrived and he reflected on Chen Meng’s work, he concluded it was fair to call it “upper-middle.” So he praised Chen Meng as “practical” — a very good local official close to the people.
Chancellor Chen and Wang Yunhe had received Zhù Ying’s letters one after the other. Seeing that she had mentioned Zheng Xi, Chancellor Chen — in the manner of an elder mentor — intercepted Zheng Xi for a conversation.
By then, Zheng Xi had been at the Eastern Palace for some time. The Eastern Palace was like its master — prominent and awkward in equal measure. Do too well, and collapse was near. Do poorly, and one would be berated to death — which also risked collapse.
Zheng Xi — a seasoned hand — had nonetheless committed small missteps at the Eastern Palace and been reprimanded. When the Crown Prince “lacked ambition,” the Emperor berated his nephew. When the eunuchs of the Eastern Palace grew presumptuous, the Emperor berated his nephew. When an official of the Eastern Palace broke the law, the Emperor berated his nephew.
Zheng Xi could not simply replace all the Eastern Palace staff with his own people as he had done at the Court of Judicial Review. And he was lucky he hadn’t snapped back: “That official who broke the law — wasn’t he appointed personally by Your Majesty?” He managed not to say it. If he had, his imperial uncle might not have stopped at verbal reprimand.
When had Zheng Xi ever endured such treatment? He had been praised his entire life. Now he was like a Crown Prince who knows his brothers are fighting over the succession — though he understood he had to tread carefully at the Eastern Palace, he couldn’t do nothing either, so he occupied himself by tinkering with its internal affairs.
Chancellor Chen’s guidance came at exactly the right moment. He told Zheng Xi: “That sort of official document you drafted this morning — in future, have it reviewed by Shi and Wang first. Especially Shi.”
Zheng Xi naturally asked why.
Chancellor Chen said leisurely that he intended to gradually step back — in two or three years he would submit a memorial requesting retirement. Zheng Xi hurriedly asked why.
Chancellor Chen said with great meaning: “A person must read the situation and know what the moment calls for. At my age, it is time to retire. And people your age — you cannot push forward too aggressively. You’ve been praised all your life and you are ambitious. You’re not yet forty — how ambitious do you intend to be?”
Zheng Xi smiled bitterly: “Your student hardly dares speak of ‘ambition’ now. Just getting through without errors would be something.”
Chancellor Chen said: “The Crown Prince understands better than you.”
“Yes. The Crown Prince is of extraordinary brilliance—”
Chancellor Chen shook his head and pointed obliquely toward the great hall: “Push any further ‘upward,’ and you’ll end up in there.”
Zheng Xi felt a sudden chill down his back. Chancellor Chen said: “The Eastern Palace must remain stable — what is there to be ‘ambitious’ about? If the Eastern Palace doesn’t move, why are you thrashing around?”
“Teacher’s reprimand is correct.”
“Too impulsive — it exhausts you, and makes others worry. Three thousand li away and still someone is fretting.” Chancellor Chen said, with the cunning of a seasoned old fox. He also let Zheng Xi know that the two troublesome officials at the Eastern Palace would be removed by the Council of State.
Zheng Xi said: “Thank you, Teacher.”
Chancellor Chen shook his head: “Just don’t curse me when the time comes.”
The next day, the Council of State issued a document with severe measures, censuring an Eastern Palace official for breaking the law and stripping him of his post. The Crown Prince submitted a memorial of apology, and Zheng Xi submitted one as well. Zheng Xi wrote two separate apology memorials in one day, but he understood clearly in his own mind: it was best for relations between the Council of State and the Eastern Palace to be like this. If the two ever stood together in alignment, both would be finished.
Zheng Xi settled his heart once more, and spent his days in uneventful companionship with the Crown Prince.
——
Zhù Ying collected Zheng Xi’s gifts without any sense of guilt, thinking: not taking them would be a waste.
She picked up Chancellor Chen’s letter again and read carefully the passage concerning the “Eastern Palace.” The passage amounted to a single sentence and revealed nothing concrete. She gave up trying to read more into it.
She put the letters in order, set them away, locked them up, and only then had the leisure to look at what Zheng Xi had sent.
The New Year robes — no need to have new ones made. There were also bolts of fabric. Zhù Ying said to Zhang Xiangu: “You should all have new clothes made. I had been thinking to go to the prefectural city to meet the Regional Inspector in a few days and pick up some material on the way — but now that we have this, it saves the trouble.”
Zhang Xiangu, hearing “Regional Inspector,” lost all interest in the fabric and settings: “Do you still have to go and see the Regional Inspector?”
By now she knew that Inspector Lu couldn’t actually do anything to Zhù Ying, but having her daughter still needing to go see him left her feeling vaguely uneasy. Zhù Ying said: “Two visits a year — that’s not many. The ambitious ones who want to get ahead would jump at the chance to attend on him every single day.”
Zhang Xiangu said: “Whoever likes to go, let them go!”
Huajie said: “Lord Zheng has been so generous — how should we return the gesture?”
Zhù Ying said, with some genuine worry: “We can’t not return it…” She had been free-and-easy about such things when she was in the capital — but back then she had been supplementing what she gave Lord Zheng with the resources of the Court of Judicial Review. Now what was she to do?
Extort it from the territory?
Fuklu County could not bear that kind of treatment.
Zhang Xiangu worried too, and asked Zhù Ying: “How did you manage when you were at the Court of Judicial Review? Can’t you do the same now?”
Zhù Ying said: “The Court of Judicial Review is in the capital. The houses that generate rental income — the rent there is eight times higher than here in the county seat. The eastern and western markets — prices there are more than twenty times what they are here.”
“What about the wild pheasants?”
“Those are just wild pheasants — they happen to taste better than old hens.” Zhù Ying said. “And besides, in abundance they lose their value.”
In any case, you could not say Fuklu County was a place of terrible mountains and treacherous waters — but calling it prosperous was entirely out of the question. Back at the Court of Judicial Review, she’d only needed to keep herself and the handful of people there fed and satisfied. Now it was an entire county of residents — the whole county had to live a little better!
That was the truly vexing thing. Zhù Ying suddenly noticed that Zhang Xiangu’s brow had furrowed too — she was chewing on her thumb. Zhù Ying smiled: “Don’t worry — I have an idea. Just leave it to me. When I go to the prefectural city in a few days, I’ll see if I can find some good pearls. That’ll get us through.”
Zhang Xiangu hadn’t caught the vagueness in that reply and smiled: “That’s good! Well then — I’m going to go with Dà Jiě to grind some pepper. Lamb soup can’t do without it!”
Zhù Ying didn’t remind her that she’d been in the middle of looking at fabric. She moved the crate of her own clothes to her room herself. It was heavy, and Zhù Da said: “Look at you — wait!” He relished the rare chance to be useful, fetched a carrying pole and some rope, lashed up the crate, and together he and Zhù Ying hauled it to her room.
In the end Zhù Ying could not produce anything much of value to send back, and gathered some local products from the county. The Zheng household’s steward refused to accept even those: “The Seventh Young Master has made it very clear that Sanlang is not to put herself to any further trouble over such matters. As long as Sanlang serves as a good official, he will be satisfied.”
The two sides pushed the gift back and forth at length. The Zheng household’s steward left with nothing but a few oranges.
——
If even the gift to Lord Zheng amounted to so little, the year-end gift to the Regional Inspector was naturally even less distinguished. No gold or silver or pearls, no curios or calligraphy or paintings — merely local produce. Not only the Regional Inspector; the various officials in the prefectural city all received the same. Fuklu County’s local products consisted of nothing beyond some fresh fruit and dried vegetables. There was not a single thing worth singling out as precious.
Items like rice, firewood, and vegetables, if delivered monthly, might be counted as a decent perquisite. But offered twice a year, and in modest quantities, they neither pleased the recipient who accepted them nor left the giver feeling good about it.
Regional Inspector Lu accepted the two baskets of fruit Zhù Ying had sent, holding his nose, and still managed a word of praise: “The things from Fuklu County carry a touch of good fortune.”
It was not yet the end of the eleventh month, but the various counties and prefectures had already begun sending things to the prefectural city. The year-end assembly was not held at the tail end of the twelfth month but rather somewhat earlier, because the county magistrates needed to be back in their counties for the New Year — to preside over the county’s New Year observances and the opening ceremonies for spring.
Zhù Ying sat before Regional Inspector Lu, listening to this remark whose content was fine but whose tone had a distinctly backhanded quality, and felt not the least trace of irritation. She thought: Regional Inspector Lu is truly a marvelous person. And Fuklu County is truly a fine name.
It touches the character for “fortune” — and that “fortune” character could be used as a selling point! Fuklu County had no money, but anything that carried a lucky name could command a bit of a premium, especially around the New Year season. Wasn’t that right?
Oranges — call them Luck Oranges. The rice, with its not-particularly-high yield, was even better — it should be called Lucky Rice.
Zhù Ying smiled serenely at Regional Inspector Lu: “The Inspector is quite right.”
She stared at him long enough to make him inwardly uneasy, wondering what she was plotting now.
Yet Zhù Ying did nothing at all. She spent two days in the prefectural city, bought some dress materials, a few pearls, some novelties, and a few new books, and then went home. The whole visit was entirely calm and unremarkable.
Back in the county seat, she distributed the things she’d brought to her household and drew up a list of officials and clerks who had performed well that year. Officials received annual assessments, and beyond the formal assessments, Zhù Ying took some of the fabric she had bought and gave it to them as a bonus.
Those at the yamen who received something were pleased; those who didn’t felt a touch of envy. With the twelfth month upon them, the county magistrate had no appetite for causing trouble, and things across Fuklu County quieted considerably. Zhù Ying returned to the rear quarters, changed into plain clothes, and went out alone, without attendants, for a quiet walk through the county town. She was still in the habit of taking the pulse of things herself.
Before this, in the prefectural city, she had toured its markets and asked about the prices of oranges and other goods. Today she wanted to look at the prices of local goods in the county’s own market. Oranges were a product of the south only, but they kept far better than lychees and such, so they could be shipped north without commanding extortionate prices. Best of all, they could be produced at scale — not the kind of thing where two or three people could capture all the profit.
Growing the trees required labor; picking the fruit required labor; transporting it required labor. Even if merchants took the lion’s share of profits in transit, the ordinary people who grew and picked the trees could still earn a meal. If the same quantity of goods that previously earned one coin could now earn one and a half, the half-coin difference would go mostly to merchants and large landowners — but if ordinary Fuklu County people could take even a small share of that, it was something.
It was truly an ideal thing to sell.
Zhù Ying hadn’t been at the market long before she was recognized — her looks were slightly different from the local people’s. Her height, unremarkable in the capital, made her a “tall man” in Fuklu County. Her face wasn’t especially handsome, but in a county where ordinary people were “so gaunt you could count their tendons,” it was a point of distinction.
And her clothing had no patches.
Ever since she had come under Lord Zheng’s wing, Zhù Ying had never worn patched clothing again. It wasn’t just Fuklu County — from south to north, ordinary people could rarely afford clothes without patches.
Zhù Ying had only asked a few stalls about orange prices when people, both men and women, who had been carrying their loads started pressing oranges into her hands. Zhù Ying accepted them without refusing, feeling in her pocket for a few coins to give in return. They wouldn’t take the money. Zhù Ying said: “These aren’t given to you for nothing. I have something to ask — is it easy to grow oranges?”
No matter how many virtues a thing had, if it was difficult to cultivate, it wouldn’t do. Growing grain and trees, raising chickens and ducks — none of this was Zhù Ying’s area of expertise. She would have to learn on the spot.
She crouched in front of one family’s stall and chatted with a middle-aged couple whose hair was already streaked with white, asking how to grow oranges. She peeled and ate oranges as she asked — when to plant the trees, where, when they bore fruit, when to harvest.
The crowd around them grew larger and larger, drawing in people who normally never set foot in the market.
Zhao Niangzi and her niece had been in the county seat for some days now. The county town seemed small to Zhù Ying; to “Little Sister” it was already quite a lively place. She felt she had observed enough — this county magistrate was not the “soft” person her aunt had described. A magistrate who had pulled every wealthy person in the county within arm’s reach to keep an eye on them — could she really be a gentle soul?
That move was truly ruthless.
“Little Sister” pretended to be very curious and squeezed into the crowd, standing just behind Zhù Ying, wanting to see what she was up to. Without warning, the county magistrate who had been crouching down eating oranges stood up.
And not only stood up — she turned around and looked straight at her.
“Little Sister” startled backward, stepping on the foot of the person behind her. She said something she would not normally say: “I’m sorry.”