Chapter 127: Hearts Entwined

Wu Wei folded the letter carefully and tucked it into her bosom. She gazed at the two silver notes clutched in her hand, their surfaces covered in intricate patterns and a multitude of elaborate seals. Excitement surged through her.

The grain these two thousand taels could buy would be enough to save the entire Zhang Family Village.

And this was assuming the village had not harvested a single kernel of grain. Moreover, the Cangshi County mentioned in Gao Ningxue’s letter had a dock and access to canal transport. Grain was always cheaper in places like that.

A commodity’s value was the undifferentiated human labor congealed within it. In this era of poor transportation, shipping costs alone accounted for a hefty share of the total expense.

Wu Wei drew out her personal scented sachet and slipped the neatly folded silver notes inside. She checked them several times to confirm everything was secure before tucking the sachet back into her clothes.

Earlier, the shopkeeper had offered to forward a reply to Gao Ningxue on her behalf. Wu Wei spread out the sheet of xuan paper before her, dipped her brush in ink, and began writing without a moment’s hesitation.

She began by lavishly praising Gao Ningxue’s noble and selfless deeds from every angle imaginable. Then she extolled her far-sighted wisdom for solving their greatest challenge.

Sticking to the principle that flattery will get you everywhere, Wu Wei filled two full pages with praise. She wrote so extravagantly that even she shivered with embarrassment at her own words.

Given what she knew of Gao Ningxue, such effusive compliments were sure to delight her.

With a shift in tone, Wu Wei then proceeded to introduce Zhang Cheng to her in detail.

She covered his native place, family background, hardships, and how they had met, finally touching on his current predicament.

In Wu Wei’s view, Zhang Cheng came from humble folk. He had endured life’s hardships and witnessed the true struggles of the common people. At least in terms of pure intentions, he outshone many lofty sons of noble houses.

Yet he languished in Clear River County as little more than a figurehead magistrate. To speak bluntly—verging on irreverent—it laid bare the deep flaws in local administration.

Wu Wei did not beg for favors on Zhang Cheng’s behalf. Instead, she used his story to illustrate the myriad hardships faced by low-born scholars striving for officialdom.

She recalled how Lord Chang, who had helped try Clear River County’s former magistrate Fang Shaotang, was a disciple of the Imperial Uncle according to Dongfang Rui. That Imperial Uncle was none other than the father of Minister Xiao of the Ministry of Justice—Gao Ningxue’s future father-in-law.

The nobility formed a tight circle, as did power itself, all links in an interlocking chain. Who could say who was related to whom?

Wu Wei dared not wade too deeply into court intrigues, so she left it at that.

At the letter’s close, she mentioned there was still no word on that person but that she had prepared a horse and some silver in hopes it might help.

As she wrote this part, Wu Wei felt a twinge of guilt. She hoped Dongfang Rui would not take offense at Chou Chou.

Wu Wei sealed the letter with wax, rose, and stepped out of the inner room.

“Shopkeeper, thank you for the trouble,” she said, handing him the letter.

“Rest easy, Miss Wu. I’m familiar with the route this time—it’ll be quicker. Come back in half a month.”

“So soon?” she asked. Hadn’t Prince Pingyan’s new fief been somewhere near the Capital Region? Even riding hard both ways should take more than half a month.

The shopkeeper gave a faint smile and leaned in to whisper, “Miss Wu, my master sent a batch of carrier pigeons with this letter. It’ll be this fast from now on.”

Sudden understanding dawned on Wu Wei. She pressed on without further doubt. “Shopkeeper, there is one more thing I’d like to trouble you with.”

“Please, miss, speak freely.”

“I want to buy a grain shop here in Taizhou City. The storefront’s size, location, or facing don’t matter. The only requirement is a large granary—and if it comes with surplus grain, all the better. How much would one like that cost?”

The shopkeeper pondered briefly before replying, “That… let me make some inquiries. I’m well-versed in pawnbroking, but grain shops… I’ll need to ask around. Do you intend to purchase the property outright or lease it?”

“Outright purchase, of course.”

“Given prices in Taizhou City… an empty shop runs eighty to a hundred taels at minimum, depending on the leftover grain. Buying the shop complete with stock would make the grain cheaper than market rates. Prince Pingyan—the former commandery prince—has relocated his fiefdom, leaving many of the old mansion’s shops vacant. We should have news soon.”

“My thanks, then. I’ll return in fifteen days.”

“Take care on your way, miss. I won’t see you out.”

“No need, shopkeeper.”

Delightedly, Wu Wei left the pawnshop. With such a fortune on her person, she dared not dawdle and hurried straight back to the inn. Embroider Maiden sat at the room’s table, immersed in her needlework. She had brought all her portable supplies especially for this.

Over these days, she had completed more than a dozen embroidery samples and brought them along too. She hoped fervently that her handiwork would command a fine price in Taizhou City. Once Wu Wei wrapped up her errands, they could approach the clothing shops to negotiate.

Knock knock knock.

“Embroider Maiden, it’s me—I’m back.”

Embroider Maiden set aside her needle and thread and hurried to open the door. Wu Wei’s expression told her everything. She laughed. “Good news?”

Wu Wei arched an eyebrow, drew Embroider Maiden inside, locked the door, and sat at the table. She gulped down three cups of plain water in quick succession before exclaiming excitedly, “Embroider Maiden, you truly are my lucky star. Second Boss has solved our biggest headache this time. At the very least, Zhang Family Village is saved!”

With that, Wu Wei pulled out her scented sachet, untied it, and extracted the silver notes. She handed them over. “Take a look at these!”

Embroider Maiden unfolded them with delight and curiosity. She had never seen silver notes before and took a moment to grasp what they were. When she saw the denomination, her breath caught.

“This is… how much?” There were two of them!

Wu Wei whispered, “A thousand taels apiece—a total of two thousand!” Try as she might, she could not suppress the thrill in her voice.

Embroider Maiden stared blankly at Wu Wei for a long moment before recovering. Her lovely eyes unblinking, she murmured, “How much does that even mean?”

Wu Wei did some quick math. “Two thousand taels… A single tael in ingots weighs about forty grams… that’s eighty kilos in total. The two of us couldn’t carry it—we’d need Big Yellow to haul it.”

“…Most folks never lay eyes on that much silver in a lifetime.”

“I hadn’t either! But it solves our pressing crisis. Second Boss even recommended a spot for bulk grain purchases—Cangshi County, five hundred li from here. It’s cheaper there. Here, see for yourself.” She passed Gao Ningxue’s letter to Embroider Maiden.

After reading it, Embroider Maiden could not help but praise her. “Lady Xue’er truly keeps the common folk in her heart. She’s covered everything we overlooked. Grain storage and manpower are sorted now. What of the shop? Shall we go scout some together?”

“I’ve asked the pawnshop shopkeeper to handle the negotiations. He carries more weight here in Taizhou than we do, knows the market rates, and won’t let us get fleeced. Plus, as a man of Prince Pingyan’s mansion, that connection will make him diligent.”

“That’s for the best. Second Sister told me over a hundred folks from our village alone couldn’t abide a single tael’s monthly wage and flocked here to Taizhou Prefecture for work. It’s already scorching this month—who knows what it’ll be like later. Eldest Sister Li has grown gaunt and sunburnt from the labor these past days. Our soil is so thin we’re losing seedlings daily. We can’t afford a single day’s rest.”

Wu Wei sighed softly. “When we get back, try reasoning with Eldest Sister Li again. Farming is at heaven’s mercy—if the skies withhold their favor, there’s nothing to be done. We have plenty of grain at home; even a poor harvest won’t cut her share. We see how hard she works. She mustn’t push herself like this—not with three daughters depending on her.”

“I’ve tried. You know her stubborn streak. She insists it’s still early enough to replant. She’s afraid that if we wait longer, even new seedlings won’t mature in time to head. So she’s sowing them densely with no regard for spacing. When some die, she transplants from the survivors. It just means hauling a dozen dan of water every day. Thank goodness for the river up the back hill; otherwise, fetching from downhill would kill her.”

Wu Wei and Embroider Maiden fell silent. At times, foresight was no blessing. It meant shouldering worries others could ignore—especially in an age when humanity stood powerless before the forces of nature.

In that quiet moment, their hands found each other naturally. Yet the thoughts weighing on their minds differed.

Embroider Maiden fretted whether her embroidery samples would sell.

Her skills had not dulled, but she had been away from the clothing trade for a full year, missing all the latest fashions. Would a prosperous place like Taizhou truly value her craft?

In the Embroider Maiden’s eyes, two thousand taels of silver was more than enough. Yet she could sense that Wu Wei truly needed far, far more money to accomplish the grand things she had in mind.

When Wu Wei had been teaching her, she had once said something like this: “When poor, attend solely to one’s own virtue; when rich, aid the world at large.”

The Embroider Maiden felt that Wu Wei was exactly the sort of person who lived by those words. She had never once heard Wu Wei complain about their hardscrabble life, even back when their home had been bare as a bone and they were scraping by without a coin to their name. Wu Wei had been much the same then as she was now—always smiling brightly, her eyes sparkling, mending things with her own hands, chopping firewood, fishing, selling hides to make ends meet, and trekking dozens of miles to find ways to earn a living.

Under Wu Wei’s guidance, the Embroider Maiden had rediscovered hope in their days together. Step by step, their lives had grown better and better, to the point where it felt like a dream.

Now that they were prosperous, Wu Wei showed no extravagance. Apart from the occasional indulgence in finer foods, she had never made demands about their daily needs. This was the first real project Wu Wei had ever wanted to pursue, so the Embroider Maiden was determined to earn as much silver as possible, hand it all over to Weiwei, and let her bring her heartfelt dreams to life.

And what was Wu Wei thinking about?

Preparations to weather natural disasters. Did they have enough varieties of medicine at home? If calamity truly struck, how could they ensure the family’s nutritional needs were met?

Fish, meat, and eggs were no worry for the time being, but vitamins… Should they stock up on more pickled and sauced vegetables, or take advantage of the current abundance to prepare dried vegetable packs?

A two-story rice shop would be best. The ground floor could serve as the storefront, while the upper level was tidied up for living quarters. They could act swiftly—if any trouble brewed in the village, Old Madam Liu, the Embroider Maiden, Second Lady Liu, and the child could all move straight to Taizhou City.

It wasn’t just Zhang Family Village; even folks in Little Locust Village knew that the Embroider Maiden’s household was overflowing with wealth. Taizhou City would be far safer!