After deliberating among several options for quite some time, Hua Zhi raised her voice to give an instruction: “Please ask Steward Xu to come.”
Whichever young maid was waiting outside replied in a bright, clear voice, and before long, Steward Xu knocked at the door of the study.
“Eldest Young Lady, you called for me.”
Hua Zhi looked up, and every word she had prepared went back down her throat. She rose and stepped out to ask, “Are you feeling unwell? Xu Jie, you come and tell me — what is going on? I saw the steward just yesterday and he seemed perfectly fine.”
Xu Jie was supporting his father, his own face etched with worry. “He was like this when he woke this morning. I asked the family, and none of them could say what had caused it.”
He then looked ashamed of himself. “It is my fault for being negligent toward Father.”
This was not the time for such words. Hua Zhi immediately made to send for Dr. Chu to come to the house, but Steward Xu waved her off frantically — that physician attended to the master of the household; he could not presume to such a thing.
Xu Jie was grateful from the heart, yet he did not take advantage of the situation. “I will go and fetch a physician shortly. I would not dare delay.”
“Very well, go quickly. Don’t put it off.”
Xu Jie moved to help his father leave, but Steward Xu patted his hand and asked in a hoarse voice, “Eldest Young Lady, did you call for me because there was something you wished to instruct?”
“It is nothing urgent. There is no need to rush — please go and rest. Have Xu Jie come by a little later.”
Steward Xu understood that this was the eldest young lady showing consideration for him. He performed a trembling bow and let his son lead him away.
It was not long before Xu Jie returned.
“That was fast. Has the physician seen him already?”
“When I settled Father back into his room, he sent me straight back here. He said I could not delay the eldest young lady’s business. The physician hasn’t arrived yet, but should be here soon.”
Hua Zhi could hardly send him away again, so she accepted the gesture and got down to the matter at hand.
“Arrange for someone to keep watch at the docks. The moment a ship arrives carrying an exceptionally strong fishy odor, come and report to me at once.”
Xu Jie hesitated slightly, then ventured his understanding. “May I be bold and ask — are you referring to ships coming from the southern regions?”
“Indeed, from the southern regions. Have you seen such a ship before?”
“Yes. The Fourth Master once had a ship docked at the wharf, and I was sent by my father to manage matters there for a time. I happened to see that ship.” Xu Jie’s expression became hard to read. “The reason it made such an impression on me was really because of the smell…”
Unprocessed seafood was indeed pungent, but once it had been cleaned and prepared and set on the table as a dish, it was something that could make a person swallow their tongue whole.
She recalled a time when she had bought back several varieties of seafood, and except for Fudong, the other maids had all wrinkled their noses at first — yet when the time came to eat, not one of them ate any less than the others.
“Since you already know what to look for, all the better. Describe it well to whomever you send, so they don’t miss it.”
“Yes.”
Hua Zhi calculated the days. “Once Steward Xu has recovered, you will need to start preparing to set out.”
“Yes, I have already made my preparations and can depart at any time once Father is well.”
Since they had come to this matter, Hua Zhi went ahead and addressed everything at once. “The tangerines in Yangzhou are still early in season — go to the southern regions first. Looking at the map, that area is already close to the borders of the Yan Kingdom, so you will need to bring two extra bodyguards with you this time. The climate there is hot, and the area is abundant in lychees, longans, starfruit, pineapples, and the like — all of these can be used to make canned goods. Set the others aside for now. The most important is lychee. The early-ripening variety should already be in season by now, so pay close attention. The profit that canned lychee can generate is something all the longans and the rest combined cannot match, and it will certainly be no worse than the tangerines that are selling so well right now.”
Even better than tangerines? Xu Jie felt a flame of excitement flare up in his chest. “Yes, I understand. I will arrange everything quickly and depart as soon as possible.”
“There is no need to be in such a rush. Over the next few months, different varieties will ripen one after another, with the greatest concentration around the seventh month. There is no need to worry about arriving too late and finding nothing to buy.” Thinking of the climate in that region, Hua Zhi’s brow furrowed. “The weather there is hot. You must find a way to keep the lychees fresh, and above all, you cannot let them spoil on the road.”
She had methods of preservation but could not easily bring them out for use. Hua Zhi was somewhat vexed. She could go to Yan Xi to borrow someone, and he would certainly lend them to her, but his people were all exceptionally capable — it would be a waste to send them on an errand like this.
Fortunately, just like last time with the tangerines, they would be traveling by waterway, and moving by water was far cooler than traveling over land.
“It will be the same arrangement as last year. I will provide you with a sum of money, though it certainly will not be enough to buy back sufficient lychees. I will not put a limit on how much you can bring back — however much you manage, I will take it all. Can you do that?”
A spark seemed to leap in Xu Jie’s eyes. He nodded firmly. “I will not fail what the eldest young lady has entrusted to me.”
Hua Zhi was reasonably satisfied with him. “I trust you. Work well — your efforts will not go unrewarded.”
Watching Xu Jie stride away with a spirited air, Hua Zhi checked off seafood in her mind and began to consider who she should bring into this venture.
This operation she intended to build into something substantial, so whoever she brought in would need to carry considerable weight.
She ran through the list of candidates in her mind, back and forth, and still could not reach a decision. Thinking that the seafood had not even arrived yet, Hua Zhi did not press herself. She disliked the saying about letting the boat find its way when it reached the bridge — that phrase carried a resignation she had no patience for. She preferred another common saying: sing the song that suits the mountain you are on.
With more time to consider the matter carefully, she was certain to find the one that suited her best.
“Elder Sister Hua.”
The sudden voice made Hua Zhi look up. Standing at the door was the Sixth Prince.
She waved him in, rising from behind the desk and leading him over to take a seat to one side. “Why are you here at this hour? Didn’t you go to the clan school?”
“I went. This is the break between lessons.”
Hua Zhi studied him for a moment. “Something is weighing on your mind?”
The Sixth Prince shook his head, then lightly nodded, dropped his gaze, and said, “Master Zheng said that those of us born into wealth and nobility, even in times of hardship, still think only of when we will regain our standing — but those born into poverty think from the very start about how to survive. Master Zheng said that in his younger years, there was an incident that has haunted him with regret to this day. When he was first making his way out in the world, he came across people who were trading their children for food. He tried to dissuade them but failed, and in his fury he bought the children of two families. But immediately, more and more people began bringing their children to him. If he did not take them, those children would be eaten. Master Zheng said he sold or pawned everything of value he had on him, yet the number of people not only failed to decrease — it kept growing. In the end, when he could do nothing more, those people ate their children right before his eyes. Master Zheng said this was the greatest mistake of his life — not that he tried to save them, but that he failed to save them effectively.”
A look of faint bewilderment passed through the Sixth Prince’s eyes. “But those were their own children. They were the ones who hardened their hearts against their own flesh and blood. They were the ones who turned dark inside. So why did the fault come to rest on Master Zheng?”
Hua Zhi had always held the clan school’s two teachers in high regard, and she had never placed any restrictions on what they could or could not teach. She had always believed that Zheng Zhi was a man of careful judgment — if he had said something like this, there must have been a reason behind it.
She could look into that reason later. For now, she first needed to help the young boy, whose values were still taking shape and whose position was a sensitive one, find his footing.
“A’jian, you must believe this one thing: people are born selfish.”
The Sixth Prince pressed his lips together. He agreed with this point wholeheartedly.
“Yet people also desperately wish to be seen as admirable. And so, from the moment they are born, they are fighting against their own nature. Those who win are called good people and kind people by others. Those who lose break the law and commit every manner of wrong. But the vast majority of people spend their entire lives struggling somewhere in between good and not good — because they can neither fully win, nor fully lose.”