Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Where Did You Find Him?

The second matter, and the one Du Yi Zhi most wanted to know, was this: “What price range does the Princess plan to set for the cotton?”

Du Yi Zhi rushed here personally from Mo Bei. The cold disaster had not even broken out yet, but cotton prices already began to rise.

Yesterday, in Ji Zhou, cotton rose from the old two hundred wen per jin to three hundred wen.

What about the Princess?

Was Sheng Zhi Wan buying all this cotton to earn silver, or for the Mo Bei commoner?

Sheng Zhi Wan was naturally not doing it for silver.

The silver Shang Xing Yu transported from Te Dan now lay in Qin family money houses across the land, and another part was shipped toward Xian Long Mountain.

But Sheng Zhi Wan also could not simply give the cotton away for free. That would shatter the market.

In the end, Sheng Zhi Wan set the price between two hundred fifty wen and three hundred wen. Poor people could still grit their teeth and afford it, and most importantly, it helped guard against big and small local powers using speculation to hoard wealth.

The whole world chased profit. Even before a disaster, that was hard to change.

Those with big capital, like Meng Yang and the Third Prince from her previous life, colluded between officials and merchants. They bribed and controlled the gentry, monopolized the market, and ensured only high-priced cotton circulated. They completely cut off the commoner’ path to survival.

Those with small capital, like petty merchants, also smelled money. They bought low and sold high to earn the difference. That was simply how people chose profit.

The first kind had to be stopped at all costs.

The second kind could exist, but it could not be allowed to grow too much.

Water that was too clear raised no fish.

The best approach was to cooperate with the powerful local gentry clans. Both sides gained benefits, but those benefits did not push any class of commoner into a dead end.

When life and death were on the line, profit rules could loosen a little.

Sheng Zhi Wan chose Du Yi Zhi for a reason, and his background as someone from the Ji Zhou Du Clan was part of it.

Shopkeeper Lin waited in the side hall for two full hours before Ting Lan finally led Du Yi Zhi out.

After the two left the Princess Residence, they parted ways.

Du Yi Zhi’s current identity was the Estate Steward of one of the manors under Sheng Zhi Wan’s name. Du Yi Zhi walked into a familiar courtyard.

A single lamp burned dimly.

From being the proper wife of a great household to being a widow driven out and forced to raise her children, Madam Du long ago grew used to doing everything herself. Even now that life was easier, she still did embroidery work to help with the household.

When Madam Du heard that her son would return to Ji Zhou tomorrow, the Du Clan sewing basket almost rolled off her lap.

Madam Du’s first reaction was to stop him. “No! If Old Madam and Eldest Master learn you’re still alive, they will never let you go!”

Du Yi Zhi’s father, Du Ming Hao, was a concubine-born son of the Du Family’s main branch.

Even as a concubine-born son, Du Ming Hao was brilliant. At twenty-seven, he passed the imperial exam in the First Class, was granted the title of Presented Scholar, and was appointed County Magistrate of Yu Wen County in Yuan Tai Commandery, Ji Zhou.

Du Ming Hao was young and had a bright future.

Yet after only two months in office, Du Ming Hao thoroughly investigated an old case and offended a noble lady.

Du Ming Hao left behind a “confession letter” and hanged himself from a roof beam.

Madam Du did not believe her husband would do what the confession letter claimed, that he raped a subordinate official’s wife and caused her death. Madam Du also did not believe he would abandon his wife and children and take his own life.

Madam Du took her child and knelt before the clan, begging them to overturn the case for her husband.

That very night, a group of “commoner,” furious and worked into a frenzy, broke into the home where mother and son lived.

If Du Yi Zhi had not been quick-witted, the family of three would have been burned to death that night.

Du Ming Hao was expelled from the Du Clan.

The wife and children he left behind suffered endless cold stares.

The main branch’s legitimate eldest son, Du Ming Yi, rose in one leap after the incident. Du Ming Yi became a Junior Fifth Rank Assistant Prefect, then later advanced to Fourth Rank Prefect.

After that, Madam Du never spoke of reopening the case again. Madam Du only struggled to live with her two children.

But that did not mean the Du Family truly let them go.

The Du Family simply did not want blood on its hands. They waited for the widow and orphans to break, to die from hardship on their own.

If Du Yi Zhi appeared on the Du Family’s territory again, and those old torments returned…

Madam Du’s eyes turned red at once.

“Mother,” Du Yi Zhi said steadily, “this time I’m going to Ji Zhou to escort cotton clothing and grain that the Princess is donating to the Mo Bei army. If the Du Family wants to touch me, they’ll have to consider the Princess Qing Ning’s face.”

The cotton he moved earlier by water and overland was all done in secret. The convoy he escorted tomorrow was the one that would be out in the open.

“But…” Madam Du could not bear it. “Can’t the Princess send someone else?”

Madam Du only wanted to live. Madam Du wanted nothing else.

Du Yi Zhi stared at her. “Mother doesn’t want to restore Father’s honor and let Father’s coffin enter the ancestral grave?”

Madam Du wanted it.

But Madam Du wanted even less to see her son risk his life.

“Mother,” Du Yi Zhi said, “if I can’t wash away Father’s injustice and bury him in the ancestral grave as an innocent man, then even if I live… I would still be an unfilial son.”

“Mother, let Elder Brother go,” Du Yue said.

Du Yue was only thirteen, yet she was already a sensible young wife. Mother only wanted to live, but Du Yue understood Elder Brother’s ambition.

Elder Brother wanted to live, and Elder Brother wanted to live with his head held high.

“Elder Brother doesn’t need to worry about home,” Du Yue said seriously. “I’ll take care of Mother. Elder Brother just needs to be careful.”

Du Yi Zhi touched her head. “Alright. Yue-jie can wait at home for Elder Brother to return.”

The next day, a convoy of dozens of wagons loaded with goods rolled out of the capital in a long line.

Du Yi Zhi carried not only large amounts of finished cotton clothing and quilts, but also one hundred fifty skilled training men Shang Xing Yu specially transferred from Shuozhou.

These men all wore the disguise of escorts.

Once they reached Ji Zhou, another group of escorts from Shun De Escort Bureau would meet them. At that point, the one hundred fifty men would split into groups and enter Xian Long Mountain to take over the responsibility of training troops.

“That Du Yi Zhi…” At Gathering Sages Teahouse on the third floor, Shang Xing Yu withdrew his gaze and sounded a bit sour. “He looks so frail. Where did the Princess find him? Can he be trusted?”

Even though Shang Xing Yu knew the Princess was not the sort to promote someone just because of a pretty face, the fact that she used Du Yi Zhi meant Du Yi Zhi had something she valued.

Valued by her, and good-looking.

Shang Xing Yu’s guard rose at once.

“He’s from the Ji Zhou Du Clan,” Sheng Zhi Wan said. “His father offended a noble lady and was killed. The family took the chance to drive the widow and orphans out. Now his Mother and Sister live on my manor. He’s trustworthy.”

After Sheng Zhi Wan spoke, she glanced at Shang Xing Yu.

Shang Xing Yu had nothing to say. Shang Xing Yu pursed his lips and decided that from now on, he had to prove himself even more useful, so those pretty faces did not steal the Princess’s attention.

“I heard Shang Residence is quite lively these days?” Sheng Zhi Wan asked.

Shang Xing Yu snorted. “It’s lively, but it has nothing to do with me.”

“How could it have nothing to do with you?” Sheng Zhi Wan found it amusing. “I heard those noble ladies all came for you.”

“Hm?” Shang Xing Yu’s eyes lit up as he stared at Sheng Zhi Wan’s face. “Why would the Princess care about that? Could it be…”

Sheng Zhi Wan gave a cold laugh.

Shang Xing Yu swallowed the rest of his words, but his eyes stayed fixed on Sheng Zhi Wan. Yesterday’s congratulatory banquet had too many people, and he never found a chance to speak with her.

Now that he finally had a chance, he could not help asking, “Do you still remember what I said before?”

“What did you say?” Sheng Zhi Wan froze.

Yet the moment the words left her mouth, Sheng Zhi Wan suddenly remembered that line about repaying a life-saving favor with marriage.