The Zhu Family residence. The study.
Zhu Bowen set down the few sheets of light, thin paper, pressed them flat beneath the tiger-head paperweight, and looked up at his second son. “She said she only wants three parts in ten?”
“Yes.”
Three parts. Zhu Bowen leaned back in his chair. “Zhizhi is handing money to the Zhu Family. This venture is enormously profitable to begin with, and if we sell it the way she describes, the margins will be beyond imagining.”
Zhu Haodong nodded. The profit from this single trade would exceed the combined returns of everything else he currently had going. He was tempted — but it also felt a little like holding something too hot to handle. He was not sure whether he ought to take it.
Zhu Bowen closed his eyes and considered for a moment. “First thing tomorrow, go to the Zhou Family. Find the eldest son directly. You may offer him three parts in ten of the profits. There is one condition only: that should the Hua Family ever find itself in difficulty, the Zhou Family must lend its aid.”
Zhu Haodong was surprised that his father had chosen the Zhou Family. The Zhous had a straightforward reputation, that much was true — but even so, it was a principle that civil officials and military officers did not associate with one another. If someone were to catch hold of that…
“Do you truly believe that every civil official and every military officer keeps rigidly apart, never to associate till death?” Zhu Bowen laughed and shook his head. “Men like Sun Qi are the ones who keep that taboo strictly. Living side by side in the same capital, everyone knows everyone else’s affairs well enough. Friendships between the two camps are far from rare — they simply take care not to let it show on the surface.”
“Your son is duly instructed. But your son also wonders whether he will agree to that condition.”
“Simple. If he refuses, there is no share in this for his family — there is no shortage of people who would leap at the chance. Tell him that outright.” Zhu Bowen gave a short, cool laugh. “The Zhou Family truly has gone from one generation to the next declining in ability. If I did not need old Zhou’s standing for my own purposes, this sort of money handed to them for nothing would not even reach the Zhou Family’s turn. Here is what you do: go directly to see old General Zhou. We concern ourselves only with whether he agrees — everything else is none of our affair.”
“Yes, your son will go first thing tomorrow.” Zhu Haodong understood his father’s thinking. General Zhou Jing held the rank of second-rank Majestic Martial General and commanded the Central Camp. If the Hua Family could secure a pledge from the Zhou Family, it would be tantamount to gaining an additional shield of protection — and that was a fair exchange for the mountain of gold Zhizhi had put forward.
“Whatever comes of it, Zhizhi’s three parts in ten must not be shorted by so much as a copper coin. Any other expenses required are to be divided equally between the Zhu and Zhou households.”
“Your son understands.”
Thinking of the rumors that had lately been circulating through the capital, Zhu Bowen smiled. “One could say this counts as making a name for herself overnight. When you saw Zhizhi, did she seem all right?”
Zhu Haodong’s mind had been entirely on the formula at the time, but he reflected on it now. “She seemed the same as always — composed in a way that hardly seems fitting for a girl still in her teens.”
Zhu Bowen was not surprised. She had likely already weighed all of this the moment she decided to go to the Song Family. That child — when she chose to conceal herself, she truly concealed herself well; but when the moment came that she needed to step forward, she did not flinch. Where that bravery came from, he could not say.
The Zhu Family had not been entirely without pressure of its own during this period. Some households had grown cooler in their dealings with them, and yet the Emperor seemed to know nothing of it — even when memorials arrived, obliquely pointing fingers in their direction, the Emperor simply ignored them, making it plain he had no intention of extending any punishment. After the head of the Seven Su Bureau assumed power as regent, such petty matters were even further beneath notice. It seemed the Hua Family affair could be considered over. He could breathe easier on his granddaughter’s behalf — though…
Zhu Bowen smiled. Zhizhi was probably not going to be left in peace for very long.
Hua Zhi dressed, as always, in simple, pale garments. Her only ornament was a small white flower pinned in her hair, and her lotus-petal face looked all the more fair and bright for the lack of decoration.
Hua Zhi had too many things weighing on her mind to remember that she had lately become a name on every tongue in the capital. Without giving it much thought, she stepped into the carriage. Nanny Su, however, had thought further ahead — she brought all four of the senior maids and four household guards besides.
The moment the carriage turned out of the Hua Family’s lane, it was spotted. The young gentlemen of the capital were proud, even haughty as a rule, and their interest in Hua Zhi held nothing so crude as lust — they simply wanted to see for themselves whether this young woman who was said to be cold and otherworldly as a celestial immortal one moment and fierce as a flame the next was truly as remarkable as the talk suggested. After all, precious few had witnessed it with their own eyes that day.
When word spread that the eldest daughter of the Hua Family had gone out, quite a number of them stirred into motion. None of them were brash enough to go lifting her carriage curtain — they kept their distance, neither too near nor too far, simply trailing along. They still had their pride to think of!
Hua Zhi knew none of this. The whole journey, she was explaining to Fudong the particular nature of this establishment.
“Fudong, you’ll need to be stationed here going forward. This venture — you’re the only one who can hold it together.”
Fudong twisted her handkerchief. “Miss, I can cook — I enjoy cooking — but… but I don’t want to be here alone. I want to be at miss’s side.”
Hua Zhi inwardly sighed. She had been turning this problem over for days, and no other solution had presented itself. This task — only Fudong could do it.
“It’s simply a different place to cook. There will be no need to meet with anyone, and every dish can be made entirely according to your own wishes.”
Fudong brightened with interest. “Entirely as I choose?”
“Yes.”
Fudong’s eyes lit up a little. If she could go home in the evenings…
“You’ll be escorted home after dinner each night.”
“But if I’m not there, who will cook for you, miss?”
That was a real problem. Had she known she would be setting up an enterprise of this scale, she would have trained more kitchen staff from the start. Hua Zhi rested her cheek on her hand, frowning slightly — if it was not Fudong’s cooking, she genuinely could not eat.
“Perhaps I should prepare things at home first and then come to the establishment.”
“There’s no need to go to such lengths. Let’s bring Liu Juan out — I’ve been watching her, and I think she’ll do.”
Fudong nodded in agreement. “Yes, I think so too. She picks things up very quickly — one hint and she has it.”
“She alone won’t be enough. I don’t know the outside staff well enough to trust them, so I’ve gone through the household and pulled out six or seven people. They all have some foundation. They’ll go under your charge — bring them along and get them up to standard quickly, and once you have, your burden will lighten considerably.”
Even so, Fudong was not particularly glad. She would rather be making food and drink for miss, hovering about her side — but this was miss’s venture, and it was one of the rare ways she could be of real use. She could not refuse to help.
The carriage came to a stop. Hua Zhi lifted the window curtain and looked out, then patted Fudong’s hand. “We’ll talk more on the way home.”
She took Yingchun’s hand and stepped down from the carriage. Looking at the freshly restored gateway, Hua Zhi felt a measure of satisfaction — she had always liked things with a certain weight and solidity to them. They did not need to be lavish, or eye-catching, but they had to be worth looking at. This gate was exactly to her taste.
“Eldest young lady.” Du Cheng was waiting at the entrance and stepped forward to greet her, his heart quietly taut with anxiety, afraid he had not done well enough to satisfy her.
“Is everything inside ready as well?”
“Yes, all finished.”
Hua Zhi nodded and was just about to step forward when a voice called out from behind her. “Eldest young lady.”
She turned instinctively — and saw, stretched out behind her, a long line of tall, fine horses, every man astride them young and magnificently turned out, like a row of peacocks in full display.
What a pity. She was no peahen.
She swept a light, unhurried glance across them, and the assembled young gentlemen straightened up as one — only to watch as the young woman turned back around and, without so much as a backward glance, walked straight inside.