"Actually, while we were still on the road to Jiangning, I already heard people talking about how formidable you are. They said Tan'er had taken the He family in hand as easily as anything — with one flip of her hand she makes clouds, with the next, rain — powers so uncanny even ghosts and gods couldn't fathom them.
Father says the He family's supply was never the most important thing, but for the past two years He Jun has been set on following the Xue family, and it really was a situation no one could change. Now that you've got him, Tan'er, next spring's allocation of goods across several neighboring districts will be more than twice as flexible."
Walking along, her cousin kept discussing all this with Su Tan'er. She was a merchant's daughter herself, and the husband she had married was now a steward in the Su household too, so she knew such matters well; in an emergency she could probably do the work of half a steward. Hearing her bring it up, Su Tan'er laughed too.
"Sister Hong, don't even say it. To this day we still aren't very clear on why the He household changed its mind back then. And the He family business has only been under negotiation these past few days — I don't know whether it's even fully settled."
"It's settled. When I ran into Xi Junyu and Steward Luo just now, they were coming to bring the good news."
After a few more jokes, the two women entered the courtyard ahead. It was not the courtyard where Su Tan'er and Ning Yi usually lived, though it was only a wall away; it was used for receiving outside visitors connected with Su Tan'er, and when something more urgent came up, a few stewards would be gathered here to talk it over. As Su Tan'er and Su Danhong walked in, Chan'er was in the parlor holding a tray of tea and chatting and laughing with two stewards; seeing Su Tan'er arrive, she hurried out to meet her.
The two stewards who had come were one old and one young. The older, surnamed Luo, was practically a founding hand of the Su family — he had been an apprentice in the Su silk works back when Old Master Su was young, had later served under Su Boyong, and had then been assigned to assist Su Tan'er.
Seasoned and steady in his dealings, he was one of the most reliable people around her. The young man beside him looked only a few years older than Su Tan'er herself, with a refined, handsome face and a quiet confidence held in reserve.
His name was Xi Junyu, and he was formidable in business; since becoming a steward in the Su household he had helped Su Tan'er close several big deals. It was said the Wu family had once tried to recruit him and he had refused.
He was the most outstanding man in her service — almost no one doubted that once Su Tan'er had her footing, Xi Junyu would at once be a chief steward in his own right.
Her cousin knew the two men well and had already greeted them, so they were all at ease. They sat down in the parlor, and Xi Junyu drew a contract from his sleeve and, smiling, told Su Tan'er the main reason they had come.
"The deal with the He family is settled. Frankly, I never expected it to go so smoothly — the He family was agreeable too. On price we're mostly following this year's precedent, but raw silk will rise next spring, so counting that in, it amounts to us holding him down by half a tenth. The contract is signed; the matter is settled."
"That's good, then. Steward Xi, Steward Luo, thank you for your trouble."
Xi Junyu shook his head with a smile, looking entirely good-natured.
"I wouldn't dare take credit for this. The deal was the young miss's own doing... Though, come to think of it, if the young miss hadn't called on them that day, the He family might well have come looking for us anyway. It turns out they had already been suspecting that the Xue family was up to something these past days. It's probably something the young miss said that day which made them so agreeable this time."
The girl in the silver-white fox fur looked over the contract, then shook her head and smiled. "We'd already guessed that much by now. It's just why they suddenly made up their minds — that's what's really strange."
Xi Junyu laughed happily and waved a hand.
"Actually, we've been analyzing the Xue family's moves these past days as well, and we did reach a conclusion. The news that the Xue family means to abandon Luzhou and shift their focus to Shouzhou... heh, ten to one it's false. They have made some adjustments lately that look rather like it, but since it wasn't so, they never gave the He family any notice — and unluckily for them, He Jun has a reputation for being cautious and sensitive in business. I don't know much about these things, though; Old Luo should be very clear on them."
Steward Luo nodded.
"That's right.
In the early years the He family had a hard road of it. Once they turned down a deal worth nearly fifty thousand strings of cash because they feared the risk, and everyone cursed them for having no nerve.
Half a year later, every merchant who took that deal was dragged down in it — if the He family had accepted it, they would have been ruined long ago. That's the kind of man He Jun is: he'd rather earn less than keep risk to the absolute minimum.
Because of that, the He family may not be the richest now, but theirs is certainly the steadiest road."
The old man laughed as he said it. "But this time he really was too sensitive. If we had gone to talk to him a few days later, they might have gotten the matter straight, and this contract would have fallen through."
Xi Junyu took it up. "That's why, when we were negotiating terms, I pretended to know nothing and simply looked desperate to close it. I imagine He Jun thinks he got the better of us and is secretly gloating. Hah — in a few days the Xue family will be cursing our mothers."
The whole thing was funny in itself: one deal, and every side believed it had come out ahead. Thinking of the faces the Xue family might make once they learned how it had all come about, the people in the room laughed happily — though as to what had actually set the business off, they were still entirely in the dark.
After a few more pleasantries, Steward Luo seemed to be turning something over in his mind, and his smile was the first to fade. Su Tan'er sensed the change and asked, smiling. Luo looked at Xi Junyu, then at Su Tan'er, and seemed about to speak and then not; after a moment he smiled and spoke anyway. "About this deal — I heard something yesterday."
"Oh?"
"Yesterday I ran into Steward Liu of Jisu Workshop over at the wine house in the East Market, and we chatted a while. The subject of the He household came up."
At the mention of Steward Liu of Jisu Workshop, Su Tan'er nodded. "Yes, that's right — he was at the He residence that day too, only he left half a step ahead of the Xingqing Workshop steward. Does he know something about this?"
"This is a strange business, and this old man doesn't know whether it's really so. Steward Liu said yesterday that the young miss had gone there with the son-in-law that day, and that after the young miss went into the garden to admire the snow, He Tingguang was really rather disrespectful to the son-in-law — there was a great deal of provocation in his words..."
At that, Su Tan'er's brow furrowed. "I didn't notice anything of that..."
"Heh, He Tingguang wouldn't dare misbehave in front of the young miss, of course. But the son-in-law has a good temper — well-spoken, unhurried in his manner. It was only a few words, but He Tingguang couldn't find an opening; it was just that afterward he kept on jabbering. Then the son-in-law let slip a remark, asking whether the He family's business was in Shouzhou..."
"Ah..." Su Tan'er was briefly taken aback; she and her cousin exchanged a puzzled look. Xi Junyu, who had been sitting by with a smile, listening, narrowed his gaze, then shifted his seat without any change of expression.
"As for the exact words — the son-in-law is said to have mentioned the Xue family only in passing, asking about Shouzhou. He Tingguang mocked him then for knowing nothing at all about the silk or the cloth trade, saying their business was not in Shouzhou but in Luzhou.
Only after that did the son-in-law have a sudden realization, and admit that he hadn't understood any of it before and had simply spoken at random and gotten it wrong. According to Steward Liu, his words and manner truly didn't look feigned — it was likely just a casual mention.
But only after he had said Shouzhou and the Xue family did He Tingguang's expression turn very complicated, and then he said something to his steward... If this is true, this old man thinks the son-in-law's lucky hit is very likely the reason the deal could be done..."
A silence fell in the room; only little Chan'er, still holding her tray at the side, looked utterly unfazed. After a moment Xi Junyu spoke slowly. "Could it be... that the son-in-law saw all of this clearly... and did it on purpose?" As he spoke he watched the others' faces.
Su Tan'er's frown deepened, and she looked to Steward Luo — after all, she, her cousin and Xi Junyu were all young people around twenty, and however outstanding, they could not match Old Luo's decades of insight. But Luo shook his head.
"I think... that's not it. Junyu said just now that the tale of the Xue family putting Shouzhou in place of Luzhou is false to begin with, and that already rules out the possibility of getting word of it from anyone else.
And even if it were true, the whole affair was so well hidden that we never sensed anything amiss — it was only because the He family was in the middle of it, more sensitive to the situation, and because of He Jun's own caution, that they took it for something real.
I hear the son-in-law has never been interested in business; these days, when he accompanies the young miss out, he only picks up stray scraps of other people's talk.
If someone standing outside the whole affair could, from idle gossip alone, grasp this matter, read He Jun's mind inside the He household, and happen to say exactly that sentence — then that person would truly be..."
He thought about it and shook his head. "It's really hard to believe."
They all knew the business world well enough to see how wild such a possibility was. If it had all been intentional from the start, then whoever could do it would hardly be human. What they naturally could not imagine was that, in a setting like that one, Ning Yi had merely tossed off one irresponsible remark. Su Tan'er thought a while longer, then laughed. "If only we could have a few more coincidences like that."
The others laughed in agreement; on reflection, this was surely the most sensible reading. They talked on a while, taking up a few other details — the year-end closing of accounts, checking the ledgers and the like. Old Luo asked after Su Yunsong, and after some more idle talk they were preparing to take their leave. Just then Juan'er came running breathlessly into the courtyard, treading through the snow, and nearly took a fall as she came near.
Something urgent, clearly. Juan'er had run so fast that she leaned on the pillar by the door gasping for breath, with no time even to bow; her face was smiling, though, and after a look around at everyone inside she seemed faintly disappointed. "Y-young miss... Chan'er — where's the son-in-law? Where's the son-in-law?"
Su Tan'er, all in silver-white, had already come smiling out of the door; seeing how hard the girl had run, she even reached out to pat her back and steady her breathing. Only after hearing the question did she laugh. "What is it? The son-in-law... he's probably at the study up front by now, isn't he? Weren't Prefect Song and the others examining the students' essays? He ought to be there."
"No, no, it's not that..." Juan'er shook her head. "I just came from over there. The Eldest Master — the Eldest Master says to call the son-in-law over..."
"Er..." Su Tan'er's expression tightened. "What happened?"
"Don't tell me someone really is going to get scolded..."
Her cousin had followed them and now said softly, laughing, from behind. On the road she had already heard from Su Tan'er how Ning Yi taught — spending half the lesson chatting about everything under the sun and telling stories, plainly a way of winning those children's hearts. Since ancient times, strict teachers produce fine students, and the rod produces filial sons; teaching like that, what results could there possibly be?
Beside her Juan'er shook her head hard, her chest heaving under her lake-green padded jacket. "No, that's not it... that's not it... the Prefect, he said — he said Xiao Heizi and the others have real understanding! Young miss, young miss, that's not it..."
Some things she had already turned over in her mind many times; Su Tan'er had not yet taken in the girl's words, and was frowning as she wondered whether she ought to do something about it — or simply say he wasn't there. Only after quite a while did her words finally get through: the little maid was right in front of her, tugging at her and shaking her head frantically.
"Er... what?"