Chapter 154: The Unexpected Foe

On the lacquered desk sat a Ru kiln white porcelain brush rest, with a small brush lightly resting on its left side. The brush handle was marked with the mottled tears of Xiangfei bamboo, and the ink had dried on the fine goat hair bristles, indicating it hadn’t been used for a long time. The ink in the inkstone beside it had also dried up.

The person delivering the report from the Ren family’s salt field stood outside the curtain.

Jiang Xuening sat at the desk, her deep gaze falling on the two thin sheets of letter paper in front of her, mingling with the gradually dimming twilight outside the window. She listened to the voice outside, somewhat lost in thought.

“Everything was fine half a month ago, just waiting for the first batch of salt to come out, and buyers had already been found. But unexpectedly, at the smoothest moment, such a thing happened, and the entire salt field caught fire. Most of the Sichuan well salt is produced using fire wells, where gas is burned to boil the salt. This time, the gas in the salt well was accidentally ignited, causing a ground fire. By the time I left Sichuan, the Zhuotong wells built in the salt field had all burned down…

“The master knew the seriousness of the matter and sent someone to the capital to report.”

“The letter was written by the master himself, who specifically asked me to tell you that the lady’s fingers were slightly burned. Although not serious, she couldn’t write the letter herself, so the master wrote it on her behalf. Please don’t worry too much.”

The handwriting on the letter was indeed smooth and beautiful, a typical official script, clearly written by Ren Weizhi himself, unlike the previous letters from You Fangyin.

The letter roughly explained the current situation of the salt field.

However, the extent of the fire and the damage exceeded Jiang Xuening’s expectations. In her previous life, she had heard that the initial construction of the Zhuotong well had caused a fire due to inadequate precautions, igniting the gas and causing a ground fire. 

In this life, even though You Fangyin had married over, and regardless of her feelings towards Ren Weizhi and the salt field, she had reminded You Fangyin to be extra careful and take precautions. She thought that even if a fire couldn’t be completely avoided, the damage could be minimized. But unexpectedly, not only was it not avoided, it was even more severe than in her previous life!

Tang’er and Lian’er were waiting outside.

The evening courtyard was bathed in the last rays of the setting sun.

Jiang Xuening glanced out the window, raised her hand to gently press her brow, and asked, “In Sichuan, preventing ground fires when boiling salt with gas is always of utmost importance. Even if Master Ren didn’t take it seriously, the long-term workers boiling the salt shouldn’t have either. How did the fire start, and how did it get to this extent?”

The person standing outside the curtain hesitated.

Jiang Xuening realized that things might not be so simple and asked, “Was it man-made?”

The person immediately raised his head, his voice filled with indignation and anger, “It was indeed man-made! Miss Jiang, far away in the capital, the master and the lady didn’t want you to worry too much about the salt field, so they specifically instructed me not to mention it, saying they had their own ways to handle it. But I couldn’t keep it to myself. You don’t know, the Qingyuan Earl Mansion sent someone from the capital, claiming to look after the lady, but he acted arrogantly at the salt field.”

It turned out that more than half a month ago, an uninvited guest arrived at the Ren family’s salt field.

This person carried the waist token of the Qingyuan Earl Mansion, claiming that the Earl was worried about You Fangyin’s well-being and came to check on the situation. If there were any issues at the salt field, he could help, as a steward from a large household had seen much of the world and could handle any official matters.

But these were just pretty words.

On his first day of arrival, this person demanded fine food, drinks, and a comfortable room. Naturally, Sichuan was not as prosperous as the capital, and the Ren family’s salt field was still in its early stages, so it couldn’t meet his satisfaction.

Within three days, he flew into a rage, even pointing at You Fangyin and calling her names.

You Fangyin was known for her good temperament.

After marrying into the Ren family in Sichuan, she and Ren Weizhi treated each other with respect and harmony; she ensured the workers were paid fairly, and she treated everyone, regardless of status, with a warm smile.

With such a kind young mistress, who wouldn’t praise her?

Everyone liked her.

However, this steward from the capital, relying on his connection to You Fangyin’s family and the backing of the Qingyuan Earl Mansion, acted arrogantly, even trying to lord over the owners.

He frequently abused the servants and workers at the salt field.

He also meddled in the salt field operations, criticizing things he didn’t understand, and even scolded workers for taking a break to drink water, accusing them of being lazy.

Within a few days, everyone at the salt field despised him.

The person reporting from Sichuan spoke with extreme hatred: “One day, an old worker was boiling salt and accidentally blocked his way. He was drunk and wouldn’t listen to explanations, insisting on beating the old worker. Others, already unhappy with him, tried to intervene. Unexpectedly, he became more violent, grabbed a bamboo pole, and started hitting everyone. This caused the bamboo pipe used for gas to break. The Zhuotong well, made of bamboo, caught fire due to the gas. Many brothers were injured trying to save people, while this scoundrel ran away in fear, dragging others down with him!”

The Qingyuan Earl Mansion actually sent someone to Sichuan?

Jiang Xuening was genuinely surprised, her brows furrowing.

In a moment of thought, she quickly understood the reason, and her expression darkened.

Initially, the Bo Mansion didn’t care about You Fangyin after she married into the Ren family.

But as the price of the Ren family’s salt field shares rose, and with You Yue holding a significant portion of the shares, the Bo Mansion, being an empty shell, naturally set their sights on the salt field. They sent someone under the guise of looking after You Fangyin, but in reality, they intended to monitor, interfere, and exploit the situation for their gain.

With such malicious intentions, it was inevitable that trouble would follow.

Even if this incident hadn’t happened, future problems were likely unavoidable.

Greed knows no bounds.

Seeing You Yue’s panicked and devastated expression at the palace gate today, she probably never imagined that she had brought this upon herself.

Jiang Xuening’s disdain for this family deepened.

She lightly tapped the desk and asked, “How are the others?”

The person replied, “Miss Jiang, because the salt field is spacious and everyone acted quickly, no lives were lost. However, some workers, who have been boiling salt their whole lives, couldn’t bear to see the snowflake salt destroyed by the fire and risked their lives to save some. Some were injured by falling debris, but none of the injuries are severe. Doctors have been called to treat them, and the young mistress even used her own savings to buy medicine. Apart from the loss of the salt field, everything else is fine.”

Jiang Xuening nodded, “That’s good to hear.”

Before You Fangyin “married” Ren Weizhi and went to Sichuan, Jiang Xuening had already instructed her on how to handle unexpected situations. She believed that You Fangyin and Ren Weizhi would follow these instructions.

The next steps were straightforward for her.

Jiang Xuening looked towards the curtain and said, “Master Ren sent you at the right time. I need someone to handle some tasks.”

*

The news of the incident at the Ren family’s salt field spread like wildfire, quickly breaking through the initial cover.

The Shuxiang Inn was in an uproar.

The number of guests increased instead of decreasing, with everyone eager to know how the Ren family’s salt field, which had been so expansive, would handle the situation.

At the Qingyuan Earl Mansion, You Yue was so anxious that she had a blister on her lip, frequently glancing towards the door.

The Earl, sitting behind his desk in the study, was furious at the sight of her. A few days ago, he had been kind to You Yue, but now his face had changed, and his voice was sharp and severe: “I told you these merchants are unreliable, but you insisted on showing off and spent money on those worthless silver shares! Now the salt field has burned down! No matter how much money you have, it’s all gone! Sell the shares quickly while the news is still fresh and the price hasn’t dropped too much. Recover as much of the original money as possible!”

You Yue, already frustrated, felt her face twist with anger at his words.

For once, she didn’t adhere to the usual respect.

She turned to her father with a cold sneer, “Father, it’s easy for you to talk now! Weren’t you eagerly asking me how much the shares had increased just a few days ago? Now that something has happened, you act like you foresaw it and blame me!”

The Earl, despite his usual cowardice, was the most authoritative in his own home and couldn’t tolerate such sharp sarcasm.

Anger surged within him.

He slammed the table and pointed at her, shouting, “Rebellious girl! The family raised and supported you! You talk about your private savings, but isn’t that money from the family?!”

The Bo Lady, not understanding business matters, only knew that the salt field incident would cause the share prices to drop, meaning her daughter’s investment was a loss. Although worried, You Yue was still her daughter.

Seeing the Earl about to explode, she wiped her tears and rushed forward to hold him back.

Crying, she said, “Lord, Yue’er is about to be selected as a princess; you can’t hit her! No matter what, she’s your own daughter. The share prices haven’t dropped completely yet. We can persuade her to sell the shares early.”

Turning to You Yue, she pleaded, “Don’t cause any trouble at this critical moment. If people in the capital laugh at us, where will our family’s dignity go? If you like Prince Linzi, it’s not good for him to know about this either. Daughter, take a step back and let it go. Selling now will still be profitable.”

But You Yue wouldn’t listen.

She thought her parents were utterly foolish: “Sell and make a profit? The news has already spread, do you think the people in the capital are all kind-hearted? Who would buy these silver shares now that the salt field has had an incident and the money is unlikely to be recovered? Even if you want to sell, no one would buy! So why not take a gamble? The salt field had an incident, but that Ren fellow and the little wench aren’t dead, are they? With some money, they might be able to make a comeback!”

She glared stubbornly, even showing a hint of frightening hostility.

Everyone was stunned.

The Lady, after a moment of shock, cried even more bitterly, while the Earl, consumed by anger, lost all reason. He grabbed a nearby cane and charged at You Yue, shouting, “Rebellious girl, rebellious girl!”

Seeing the Earl’s furious outburst, You Yue felt a bit scared.

However, she refused to accept that her actions had failed so miserably. She stubbornly held her ground, raised her head, straightened her back, and resolutely said, “If I profit, it’s mine; if I lose, it’s mine too. What does it have to do with you? I’ll sell when it’s the right time!”

She stormed out of the room.

Soon, the sound of breaking pottery came from the study behind her, but she didn’t stop and went straight back to her room. Once inside, she closed the door and, with no one else around, she began to tremble, shivering uncontrollably, her face turning pale.

“How could this happen, how could this happen…”

You Yue covered her face, her body slowly sliding down, finally revealing her panic and helplessness in private.

The following days were a painful ordeal.

Even though the selection for Prince Linzi’s consort was approaching, she couldn’t eat or sleep, tormented by the situation with the Ren family’s salt field shares. The face she had painstakingly maintained over the past few days visibly withered, dark circles forming under her eyes that even the best makeup couldn’t hide. She became restless, jumping at every little noise, asking if there was news from the salt field.

But the news from the Shuxiang Inn remained unchanged.

The salt field had been severely damaged by the fire, almost completely burned down, but Ren Weizhi and You Fangyin were safe and would start rebuilding the salt field.

How could such news be reassuring?

Many people in business fail to recover after a setback.

Most people were not optimistic.

On the day the news of the fire spread, some people hurriedly tried to sell their silver shares. However, the news had spread so widely that everyone knew about the incident, and few were willing to buy shares and take a loss.

As a result, the shares were listed for sale, but no one was willing to buy.

The price continued to drop day by day.

Initially, the price was still at sixteen hundred wen, then it dropped to fifteen hundred wen, and then to fourteen hundred wen.

On the fourth day, it plummeted by five hundred wen!

This was because, on that day, the owner of Youhuang Pavilion, who held the most silver shares in the capital, couldn’t withstand the shock of the salt field incident. After careful consideration, probably to minimize his losses, he sold ten thousand shares.

*

When the news reached Jiang Xuening, she was sitting in front of a Go board, half of it already covered with black and white stones. Hearing the news, she raised her head with a peculiar look in her eyes.

After a long moment, she laughed.

A sly glint flashed in her dark eyes as she tapped her chin with a Go stone and said, “He took advantage of the situation to buy my silver shares at a low price, thinking he was so patient. I didn’t expect him to sell too…”

Standing outside was Liu Yang, the person who had brought news from the salt field a while ago. He had been in the capital for several days but still couldn’t fully understand Jiang Xuening’s thoughts.

He hesitated and asked, “Should we take this opportunity to buy in?”

Jiang Xuening placed the Go stone back on the board, raised an eyebrow at him, and said, “What’s the rush? It’s still at a high price of nine hundred wen. Let’s wait for it to drop a bit more.”

Moreover…

She looked at the Go board, pondering: In this situation, even Lü Xian couldn’t stay calm, so why was You Yue, such a fool, not panicking at all?

Could she really be a gambler willing to risk everything?

Recently, Xiao Dingfei had been spending money like water.

Seeing that the critical moment was approaching, Jiang Xuening considered the situation at the Qingyuan Earl Mansion and suddenly had an idea. She asked Liu Yang outside, “The people at the Qingyuan Earl Mansion haven’t seen you, right?”

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