Hua Zhi’s move was in effect a delegation of authority, which left each branch feeling equally surprised and gratified. Even though they all knew Hua Zhi had no selfish intentions, having a business managed by one’s own daughter was a different matter entirely. Even if there was no room to maneuver within it, it was still a business one’s daughter was watching over.
Hua Zhi acted as though she knew nothing of these small ripples in the inner household. She called Lin Shuang in and handed her a letter. “Deliver this to the hands of Matriarch Qin herself. If she asks you anything, answer what you are able to answer, and leave the rest.”
“Yes.”
Hua Zhi felt she had no other choice. In this matter, having Nanny Su speak on the family’s behalf would have been more appropriate, but she needed to rest in bed for a while longer. Lin Shuang would have to go instead. Since this situation had arisen in the First Branch, sending her mother’s most trusted personal maidservant was hardly an improper gesture.
Wu Shi had come over to discuss matters concerning Hua Ling and her sisters, and upon hearing these arrangements she could not help but tease, “I thought you would go in person.”
“There are any number of things I can go and see someone about personally — but not this. Whether the Qin family had a hand in it or not, if I were to go myself, it would amount to a direct accusation. Neither courtesy nor reason would permit it.” Hua Zhi had no fondness for these complicated interpersonal dealings, but that didn’t mean she didn’t understand them. Years in commerce had given her a thorough understanding; she simply found them tiresome. So having her Fourth Aunt manage all the inner household affairs wholesale was a source of genuine relief and happiness for her.
Wu Shi was in fact rather surprised. She understood the reasoning perfectly well herself, yet Hua Zhi had always been the sort who could not abide having grit in her eyes. She had thought her unaware of the nuances, and had come today partly intending to drop a gentle reminder. It seemed that effort had been entirely wasted.
“Are you truly going to hand the preserved fruit business over to those sisters?”
“Does Fourth Aunt disapprove?”
“It’s not that I disapprove — it’s that by my reading of the situation, you don’t plan to keep them at home forever. When they are eventually married off, how do you intend to handle it? Take the business back again? And there is another point.” Wu Shi smoothed her sleeve. “The water must be kept level — there are other members of this household beyond just those three sisters.”
“To be honest, I haven’t thought about any of that, nor do I have any interest in thinking about it.” Hua Zhi gave a smile that held no particular warmth. “A business I built with my own hands — whether I give it to this person or that person is entirely my affair. I could choose to give it to no one at all, and what could anyone do about it? They simply see that I am easy to approach and think they can come and take a piece for themselves.”
Wu Shi found herself at a loss for how to respond. She did have private interests of her own; when she spoke of keeping the water level, she had not been entirely without some thought of seeking an advantage for her own two sons. But she had not expected Hua Zhi to simply lift the lid and say it outright.
“I will not allow any of the male members of this household to become involved in these businesses. Not in the slightest.” Hua Zhi looked at her Fourth Aunt, her tone grave. “By the laws of the Great Qing, any man who holds an official rank or degree may not engage in commerce. The boys will grow up and will need to follow the path their forebears walked. I cannot put these businesses in their hands and ruin their prospects. As for the future — everything I have will in the end belong to the Hua Family, and the Hua Family will in the end belong to them.”
Wu Shi lowered her head to conceal the discomfiture in her eyes. She had been muddleheaded and had let that slip from her mind. True, every great family kept certain quiet, behind-the-scenes businesses, and the names of those businesses would never be registered under the heads of the family in any official capacity. As for the enterprises passed down through generations, those would never be turned into a weakness to be exploited. Which of the great families did not have such foundations running beneath the surface?
If she had truly used the excuse of keeping the water level to let her son benefit from this… the benefit itself would have been no benefit at all — it would have burned his hands.
Hua Zhi seemed not to have noticed her discomfort and continued addressing her earlier question. “The Hua Family businesses are not for anyone to take away. When these girls are married, I will draw out a separate portion of the profits from this business and set it aside for each of them. There is nothing wrong with a woman who has married out of the family having some money of her own to rely on.”
Wu Shi, ever the quick-witted one, followed the thread of these words and said, “The workshop is at its busiest right now. They will likely need to make several trips to the estate. As for their safety…”
“Assign more of the escort guards to accompany them. We cannot lock them all up at home simply because one incident has occurred.” After a pause, Hua Zhi added, “I’ll discuss it with Master Wang Rong and see if he might escort them on one occasion.”
“That would be ideal.” Wu Shi rose. “Second Sister-in-law and Third Sister-in-law are both waiting on word from me — I’ll go tell them now.”
“Thank you for the trouble, Fourth Aunt.”
Wu Shi shook her head, turned, and left. Out in the covered walkway she let out a long breath. She had acted impulsively today. She knew what kind of person Hua Zhi was, yet she had let her own interests cloud her judgment. She could only hope that Hua Zhi had not taken it to heart.
Back in the study, Hua Zhi let out an equally long sigh. “Have I been too accommodating lately? They seem to feel that I have softened and that they can come and strip a whole layer off me at will.”
Ying Chun exchanged a glance with Nian Qiu. Nian Qiu understood and went to stand watch by the door.
Handing a cup of warm tea to her young mistress, Ying Chun took on the role of a gentle confidante. “I don’t think it’s quite that. This servant actually thinks it’s because not everyone shares Miss’s confidence in the Hua Family’s restoration. If there is no prospect of future advancement to speak of, of course people will hold tightly to material things. Even living as a prosperous commoner requires money in hand.”
“I thought I had made myself quite clear by now.” Hua Zhi felt, for no clear reason, a trace of despondency. She had done so much — the clan school above all else had been restored to teaching in the shortest possible time — and all of it aimed at helping them hold fast to the bearing proper to sons of the Hua Family.
But even so. Wealth moved hearts.
She gave her cheeks a brisk pat. Knowing better than to keep asking a maidservant who had to mind her station with every word she spoke to go on comforting her, she turned back to practical matters. “Take the remaining dried meat and fried dough and send a portion to each of the households — let everyone have a taste of something new.”
“Yes.”
She hesitated a moment, then added, “Send a little more to Madam Sun’s household, but there is no need to say much.”
“Yes, this servant will go myself.”
On the other side of the city, Lin Shuang was shown into the main hall of the Qin family residence. A maidservant of equal standing kept her company in light conversation until a slender, gaunt Matriarch Qin at last appeared.
“My health has not been well — I have kept you waiting overlong.” Despite the difference in their stations, Matriarch Qin received her with a fair degree of courtesy. As for this unexpected visit from someone of the Hua household, she could not help but turn it over carefully in her mind. Even at the Hua Family’s most difficult times, they had never sought the Qin family’s help; this sudden visit could not bode well, she thought.
“This servant comes on behalf of the young mistress to inquire after Matriarch’s health.” Lin Shuang curtsied without a trace of self-deprecation or obsequiousness, and presented the letter with both hands. “The young mistress could not come in person, and has sent this letter. She respectfully asks that Matriarch read it.”
The letter was only a few lines, yet the reason for the visit was laid out plainly — so plainly that Matriarch Qin found its candor rather disorienting.
Understanding the visitor’s purpose, Matriarch Qin naturally could not allow the Qin family to shoulder this blame. “Please convey to the young mistress that, though some people bear the Qin surname, they do not represent the Qin family. Even if this old woman wished to do her utmost for her daughter-in-law’s kin, there is no conceivable reason for her to allow a Hua Family daughter to go and be someone’s replacement wife. The young mistress may proceed however she sees fit — there is no need to consider the Qin family.”
Lin Shuang curtsied. “This servant will relay every word without omission.”
Matriarch Qin raised her teacup and took a sip. Lin Shuang took her leave.
“Go and look into this.” The Old Matriarch’s eyes were lowered, expression subdued. “Ask who gave them the audacity to fly the Qin family’s banner without even notifying us first.”
“Yes, Matriarch.”