“Ha ha, Proprietor Xie! Long time no see…”
“Proprietor Chen, how have you been lately?”
“Shall we head to the Gathering Treasure gambling house together after tonight’s banquet?”
“My luck’s been poor lately, especially with everything going on today…”
“About that shipment matter in Qingzhou last time — I’m truly grateful for Brother Li’s generous help…”
“We’re all in the same trade — of course we should look out for one another…”
Amid the lantern light, the din of voices rose and mingled, the whole upper floor of Green Ripple Tower filled with chatter. There was still some time before tonight’s banquet properly began; the crowd gathered and mingled as carriages continued to arrive, figures connected to the textile trade stepping down one after another. Up on the second floor, Ning Yi and the rest of the Su family had already been there for a while, seated and settled, all the while fielding a steady stream of well-wishers coming over to greet them — those who favored the Su family, those who didn’t, those with business ties to them, those without — in short, no one was inclined to overlook the Su family entirely tonight.
Yet compared to Ning Yi, Su Zhongkan, and Su Yunfang — the nominal masters of the Su family present tonight — it was perhaps Shopkeeper Liao and his fellow stewards who received the most attention this evening. And little wonder: most people had guessed that tonight would see either Su Tan’er herself step forward, or perhaps even the old patriarch Su Yu come in person — if either of those two had appeared, they would naturally have been the ones making the final call for the Su family regarding the imperial merchant appointment. Who could have guessed that neither grandfather nor granddaughter showed up at all? So those genuinely invested in the outcome, the people who actually got things done, largely turned their attention instead to Shopkeeper Liao and the others now handling the practical affairs of the Eldest Branch.
As for Su Zhongkan and Su Yunfang, the two of them clearly couldn’t involve themselves in matters concerning the imperial merchant appointment directly. But if the Su family failed tonight, their standing would change entirely — and so plenty of people were still speculating about them, all the more so given their already substantial standing as major figures in Jiangning’s textile trade, ensuring they received no shortage of attention either. As for Ning Yi, standing nearby, though he now held nominal decision-making power for the Eldest Branch, it amounted to little more than a symbol — a symbol that the position of the Su family’s household head hadn’t been entirely sidelined by Shopkeeper Liao and the others, though when it came to actually deciding anything, that clearly wasn’t within his power.
And so, those who came over to chat and greet Shopkeeper Liao and the others tonight were, for the most part, real power players from various households — people genuinely invested in the outcome of the imperial merchant matter, or stewards handling affairs for other cloth merchants. There were also a few officials from the textile bureau who had already established connections beforehand, coming by with smiles and laughter to subtly hint that everything would go smoothly tonight.
As for those gathered around Su Zhongkan and Su Yunfang, they were largely major players from other merchant houses — men of roughly comparable standing, family heads of mid-sized cloth merchants, and even the guild head of the cloth trade himself. When Wu Chenghou, head of the Wu family, arrived, he too went first to greet them, chatting about matters of the cloth trade.
As for Ning Yi, he spent the whole time exchanging pleasantries with all manner of people. Once it became clear Su Tan’er wouldn’t be attending, everyone’s attitude toward Ning Yi turned notably warm — though, admittedly, the topics ranged far and wide, touching little on cloth-trade matters. Regardless, he was, after all, standing at the center of tonight’s stage, and those from households with less standing than the Su family generally weren’t so brash as to give Ning Yi no face at all. Among those roughly matched in standing, some had learned not to bother with such formalities. The Xue and Su families had both arrived relatively early, and the line between the two camps was fairly clear — Xue Sheng exchanged only a brief greeting with Su Zhongkan and paid no attention to Ning Yi at all, though Xue Yan came over smiling and chatted at length, bringing up his recent encounter with Li Pin, saying that once the gates reopened and Li Pin’s farewell banquet for his journey to the capital was held, Xue Yan absolutely had to be invited.
Xue Yan and Li Pin weren’t especially close — their acquaintance stemmed mostly from that earlier incident at Yancui Tower. But since Ning Yi had taken over managing the Eldest Branch, Xue Yan had invited him to dinner twice, and both times the mood had been quite pleasant. Xue Yan was the type who, when he chose to put on a show of warmth, could carry it off convincingly, and by now he’d come to treat Li Pin as something of a familiar acquaintance too. Not long after, the Wu family arrived — Wu Chenghou and his two sons each came over to speak with Ning Yi in turn, with Wu Qilong even teasing him a bit about being late that morning. “I heard about it from Shopkeeper Luo today — seems even our usually composed Liheng got a little nervous over tonight’s business, ha ha…”
As the guild head of the cloth trade, the Wu family had always maintained fairly good relations with every household, and given the tension between the Xue and Su families, they’d often stepped in to mediate and smooth things over. Over this stretch of time, Wu Qilong and Wu Qihao had crossed paths with Ning Yi quite often, and their manner toward him could pass for genuine friendliness by now. Ning Yi shook his head with a rueful laugh. “I’d meant to keep at it faithfully right up to the very last day, and then this morning of all mornings I overslept… uh, so you all already know about that… it hasn’t spread around too, has it?”
“Ha ha.” Wu Qilong lowered his voice, stifling a laugh. “I’m afraid it’s already common knowledge by now…”
“Tsk…” Ning Yi blinked, then rolled his eyes, and Wu Qihao burst out laughing beside him.
“No need to worry about people knowing, Brother Ning — by now all of Jiangning knows you’re careless about small things but sharp when it counts. As for tonight’s imperial merchant appointment… cough, honestly, we’re rivals here, so I won’t wish you well, ha ha…” Wu Qilong laughed good-naturedly. “But while your side is certainly formidable, Brother Ning, our Wu family’s got a trick or two up our sleeve as well. Whatever the outcome tonight, we’ll both have to accept it with good grace.”
The two brothers carried themselves with easy openness, and those nearby who overheard came away with a favorable impression. The three of them exchanged a few more pleasantries before the brothers turned and left. Ning Yi watched their retreating figures with a smile, then turned to attend to some other “familiar faces.”
As the hour drew near, people gradually took their seats. The second floor of Green Ripple Tower was spacious, and every merchant house invited tonight had its own designated seating. The Su family occupied one large round table, and the other merchant houses were each assigned their own round tables as well; even those who’d brought only a few people weren’t seated together with others, since tonight’s gathering would also settle the matter of the imperial merchant appointment, and every household needed its own distinct place. The Su, Xue, and Wu families sat at three separate points across the hall. The venue had grown somewhat quieter now, with some guests still trickling in, while textile bureau officials moved about greeting people and offering a few words of reassurance here and there.
The imperial merchant bid, in truth, wasn’t decided through an ordinary open competition. This was largely due to the peculiar nature of the appointment over the years. The matter of the annual tribute cloth was something everyone preferred to avoid — if it were put up for open bidding and no one came forward, that would be deeply embarrassing. Over the decades, the practice had evolved so that the imperial merchant task was effectively decided through a process of “offering tribute” — as though you had something fine to present to the imperial household, and the household would, in turn, grant certain privileges in response. Of course, on the surface, no one would ever put it quite so plainly.
Cloth genuinely delivered into the palace tended to be quite profitable, and when the imperial household wanted something, timing hardly mattered — deliveries went in regardless of the hour. But each year around this time, the textile bureau had to arrange and allocate the tribute cloth quota properly; if the few households that traditionally held the appointment complained too much about the burden, the bureau would often carve out a portion and assign it elsewhere — say, to the Su, Wu, or Xue families: here’s a batch of work, you all help share the load. No one dared refuse and lose face over it, since refusing would inevitably lead to trouble down the road — though the textile bureau, for its part, wouldn’t push things too far either; there were always limits observed.
And so, the pattern of the textile bureau’s meetings over the past several decades had generally gone like this: each household would take turns showing off whatever fine cloth they had, for everyone to admire and evaluate — partly a showcase of their own achievements, offered up to the imperial household. Behind the scenes, each household’s share of the annual tribute burden had already been decided long before, but on the surface it still looked quite polished, like a gathering to share accomplishments and appreciate fine craftsmanship. This year, on the surface, things still followed that same pattern — but underneath, matters were, in truth, entirely different.
Everyone present understood this perfectly well.
People whispered among themselves, keeping a close eye on the Su, Xue, and Wu families. Shopkeeper Liao and the others were, in fact, quietly gauging the prevailing mood from what others were saying. As they took their seats, he leaned toward Ning Yi and said with a low laugh, “Judging by the mood tonight, the imperial merchant appointment shouldn’t be a problem. All the effort of this past month or so hasn’t gone to waste in the end — most people are backing our Su family…”
He paused, then sighed. “In the end, it all comes down to the young mistress’s foresight — she’d already been laying the groundwork years ago. I had some vague sense of it in the past, but I never really understood how it was developing. When the master was attacked, I honestly thought the Su family was about to take a terrible fall… but small tricks, in the end, can never match true, long-accumulated strength. With that cloth in hand, we finally have real substance behind us — this past month’s efforts, that’s what you’d truly call an ‘open scheme.'”
Ning Yi pursed his lips slightly, glancing around the room. “Are things really going to be fine?”
“Nothing major to worry about.” Shopkeeper Liao glanced around as well. “The Lü family has a new cloth recently — good quality, but unfortunately not quite suited to the imperial household’s requirements, something called ‘smoked-tea silk.’ I’ve already seen it. The Xue family has their signature purple-wash cloth, long favored by wealthy households, priced rather high, but there doesn’t seem to be anything new from them lately. The Wu family, though the finest in weaving with abundant resources, their real strength lies in craftsmanship — they have Luo Shenzhen among their weavers, so their weaving technique always surpasses others’. But set against our Golden Dawn Brocade, even their fine weaving probably won’t count for much…”
Having done considerable homework in preparation for the Su family’s bid, Shopkeeper Liao spoke with confidence, then paused, frowning slightly. “Though, the true mastermind behind the master’s assassination still hasn’t been identified. If it really was orchestrated by the Xue family, I worry they might still have another move planned…”
Shopkeeper Liao glanced over toward the Xue family’s table, then shook his head with a smile, offering Ning Yi some reassurance. “Not very likely, though. And besides… we’ve done everything within our power. Since things have gotten this far, we might as well sit back and watch how it unfolds…”
Ning Yi nodded and said nothing further. He turned and gestured for Xiao Chan to place the brocade box she’d brought along on the table in front of them. A moment later, an official came over to speak with Shopkeeper Liao, who broke into a smile and turned toward Ning Yi. “Lord Dong and the others have arrived. Since our Su house has the strongest showing tonight, Lord Dong wants tonight’s banquet to make a real impression, so he’s arranged for our Su family to present last.”
“Is presenting last a good thing?”
“In years past, it’s always been the finest cloth that goes last — several of those pieces are still being supplied to the imperial household even now…”
There was a faint note of nervous excitement in Shopkeeper Liao’s voice as he relayed this to Ning Yi with a smile, before passing the news along to the other shopkeepers nearby.
“Presenting last…” Ning Yi murmured to himself, sitting there thinking it over for a good while, then shook his head slightly with a faint smile. “Tonight’s outcome is already decided…” Since his tone carried something of a question, Shopkeeper Liao beside him smiled. “Still can’t say for certain, young master — this sort of thing is genuinely hard to predict.”
At that same moment, elsewhere in the hall, someone glanced this way too, idly turning a jade thumb ring in his fingers, a murmur slipping from his lips: “Tonight’s outcome… already decided?” His voice was so low it sounded almost like a private murmur, or perhaps a quiet question directed at the ring itself, the corner of his mouth curved in a faint, easy smile.
The formal banquet was still some time off, since it wouldn’t do to begin the eating and drinking and revelry until enough had been shown off to properly impress everyone. Almost no one could have predicted that what truly belonged to tonight would, within a mere half hour, unfold completely and irrevocably — its turn so abrupt and dramatic, the reactions on all sides so sharp and unrestrained, the darkness lurking beneath it all so deep, laced with such tangled, hidden complications, that once it was gradually unraveled in the months and even years that followed, this very night would become a story retold again and again throughout Jiangning’s textile trade — and indeed, throughout the wider business world — for a long, long time to come.