Chapters One, Two, and Three: Brewing Wine

On the Qinhuai River, inside a small, dimly lit pleasure boat where some lanterns had been extinguished, Xi Junyu glanced around. Wu Qilong smiled and brought out a rice pot from the side. Xi went over to serve himself a bowl of rice, then sat at a nearby table and dumped a serving of vegetables into his bowl.

"It’s always like this after the festivities—tables covered in cluttered, half-eaten food, though one never knows who actually got their fill." In the flickering lamplight, Wu Qilong tossed a piece of green vegetable into his mouth, chewing with a crisp sound.

"At least we won't go hungry," Xi Junyu replied indifferently.

"I’m always hungry... Once, I envied that Ning Liyuan. Not long ago, when everyone was dining, they invited him, Manager Liao, Manager Luo..." Wu Qilong mused, "He was constantly eating; he was truly eating."

"Those who have no stake in the matter can naturally eat their fill."

"That’s true."

After this brief exchange, the two sat there eating. Though the food appeared to be leftovers, it had been meticulously prepared by master chefs, and it still tasted quite good. The sound of chewing echoed in the cabin, accompanied by the gentle rocking of the water. After a long while, Wu Qilong set down his chopsticks and tapped his fingers on the table.

"Tomorrow, the day after, and the night after that—everything is coming to a head. At this point, no news is good news. Brother Xi, there shouldn't be any changes now, should there?"

"None," Xi Junyu shook his head. "Chen Er has confessed that the assassination was instigated by others. The crisis before us has been resolved, and the obstacles to the Imperial Merchant status have been removed. Everyone is pleased; while they aren't losing their heads, they can all see clearly that by securing the Imperial Merchant status, all the troubles of the Su family's main branch will be resolved. There is no turning back now. At this moment... burning their bridges, they have no retreat; they can only follow the current momentum. It is impossible for anything to change."

"That is good news." Wu Qilong poured himself a drink and smiled, downing it in one gulp. "I have also made my preparations. To say nothing more, my father has simply asked Lord Dong to arrange the order of presentations for that evening. Heh, the weavers of the Wu family have always surpassed those of the Su family; if we can just gain the advantage of being seen first, we can leave the rest to the gentlemen at the Weaving Bureau..."

Having said this, he smiled. When he saw Xi Junyu finish his meal and set down his bowl and chopsticks, he shook his head. "Two days from now, Su Tan'er will effectively have no chance of taking over the Su family. With the internal strife in the Su family, that bunch of fools will only squander the entire family fortune. There is no future there. Are you really not coming to my Wu family?"

Xi Junyu looked at him. "You know what I intend to do."

"We have known each other for many years. A few years ago, when I invited you to my Wu family, you refused for Su Tan'er's sake; I understood that. But now, for a woman who is already another man's wife—tsk, you really are something..." Wu Qilong sighed, then looked at Xi Junyu’s expression and smiled again. "Fine, I know they haven't consummated the marriage yet. Once the Imperial Merchant status is decided, you can certainly manipulate some managers to deal with Ning Liyuan, ensuring they never have the chance to consummate it. Su Tan'er’s years of hard work will go up in smoke, and she will surely need someone to vent her frustrations on. But in the end, it’s truly difficult. Xi Junyu, once the Su family collapses, given Su Tan'er's temperament, she will surely grit her teeth and carry on. If you help her from behind, perhaps in ten or twenty years, she will appreciate your efforts and you might be together. But it is truly difficult..."

Wu Qilong paused, and Xi Junyu spoke calmly: "And by then, the Wu family will already be the Imperial Merchant. The time will be ripe, and you can move toward being the number one cloth merchant in the realm. As for the Su family, after decades of accumulation, they have reached this scale. Once the old master dies and it collapses, it won't be able to rise again for decades. We will no longer be rivals, and to you, I will naturally pose no threat."

"I have never cared about such threats; it’s just a pity," Wu Qilong frowned. "In Jiangning, neither I, my younger brother, Xue Yan, nor you can surpass Su Tan'er. In all honesty, for years she has focused on one thing, pushing it to this point. This is the proper path of business; she is truly formidable, and we are all inferior to her. If we speak of the business world, aside from Su Tan'er, only Puyang Yi of the Puyang family and Tang Xu of the Tang family in the younger generation make me feel inferior. But she is, after all, a woman. While I might not be able to do what she has done if I were in her position, she ultimately has her limitations and encounters many unnecessary troubles."

Wu Qilong took a breath. "Honestly, I have never had the intention of specifically targeting the Su family. If it weren't for this situation where I and the Xue family were eyeing the Imperial Merchant status, and since Su Tan'er had made her preparations, then whatever she earned, she earned; no one would fight her for it. When she wanted to make her move, it just so happened that everyone had their eyes on it. One can only say her fate was ill-timed. Since she entered the game, deception is the nature of it. But I never planned to target anyone; it is just business. My Wu family is already the top cloth merchant in Jiangning. Brother Xi, Jiangning is but a pond; you could have gone out to the ocean. Do you truly want to stay in this pond?"

Xi Junyu smiled. "It is merely about getting things done; there is no need for such grand principles."

"That is also true." Wu Qilong smiled and shook his head. "I know your thoughts. Life is just about doing things, and if you have something you want to do, you do it. But... she is just a woman. One day, when you have climbed higher, you might find these things very boring. Or perhaps in a few years, you will find this woman to be quite ordinary, and the feeling you once had will be gone. You will regret it. Do you know? I married at eighteen, and she passed away three years later. I swore never to touch another woman, but a year later, I suddenly realized I had forgotten what she looked like, and I took two concubines... Women are all the same."

"People are all like that," Wu Qilong continued. "As men, we should accomplish great things. Women can do nothing, and they are all the same. Let go of Su Tan'er, and you will find many more just like her. Do you know? Many women like to preen and act coy. Whether it’s feigned or real, if it happens once, I will never put my heart into it a second time. These are trifles, but regarding this, I leave you with a word: 'Straightforward longing is of no use; if you have no heart for me, then I shall let it be!'"

"You talk too much nonsense today."

"Heh, I know you may not listen, but as long as it is possible, I must say it, because in three days, this will be over. Will you really entangle yourself with her for ten or twenty years just because the marriage wasn't consummated? Take one step forward and you will see the ocean. Just one step, and the next ten or twenty years will be completely different. If the Su family affair succeeds, that's fine, but even if the Imperial Merchant status were gifted to the Su family, I wouldn't take it to heart; the Wu family would still be the Wu family. If you join hands with me, our prospects will not be limited to Jiangning alone."

Wu Qilong smiled. "How this turns out is something you must consider for yourself."

The more capable a person is, the firmer their will. Xi Junyu is not a man who doesn't think, and persuading him is certainly difficult, but it had to be said when the time came. After he finished speaking, Xi Junyu's expression remained calm, and it was only after a long while that he said:

"For the final two or three days, do not let anything go awry. Su Tan'er is not simple; it is possible she has a backup plan. For the sake of the tribute cloth, she has withdrawn funds from everywhere and has been preparing for over two years. At this moment, hundreds of thousands of silver taels have been poured in. Once the Imperial Merchant status is revealed and all her expectations fall through, no one can say what she might do."

"Heh, Brother Xi, are you talking about lowering prices to dump stock?" Wu Qilong laughed happily. "I would hope she does that; it would break the rules, and everyone would unite to strike her down, causing the Su family to collapse even faster. Your old master would not let her do such a thing, and neither would Su Zhongkan or Su Yunfang. If she were to do that, she would be dragging the entire Su family into her madness."

He shook his head, his voice raised with joy and confidence. "If there is anything I am guarding against now—Su Tan'er and Manager Liao have done their best to push the Su family to this stature. Su Yu is the most capable person; he was the one who single-handedly propped up the Su family and established its position as one of the three pillars of the Jiangning cloth trade. He might still be able to turn the tide, but he is old, and the Su family cannot hold on for long. Of course, that is for the future. He has already let go of the reins, and his influence is limited. As for the rest, who else is there? Could it be Brother Ning, who was thrust into the position in a time of crisis, attracting everyone's attention, and is now trying to turn the tide?"

Xi Junyu narrowed his eyes, his expression weary. Honestly, he did not like hearing that name. An incompetent man who somehow married Su Tan'er, and now the Su family had even pushed him out to manage the situation. An incompetent man who had taken what should have been his. "Don't be so arrogant. He is the top scholar in Jiangning, overflowing with poetic talent. You are engaging in underhanded deeds; be careful that he doesn't denounce you with his pen later."

"Haha, well said, well said." Wu Qilong slapped the table and laughed, then turned slightly solemn. "This man is not a fool. Observing his bearing, he is actually much more sensible than the rest of the Su family. Though his actions have been clumsy these past few days, they have not been reckless, which shows he has put effort into thinking and learning. It is just that the Su family's situation is dire, and he is inevitably anxious. If it were ordinary times, letting him manage things wouldn't lead to any major mistakes. But right now... a scholar facing this situation, with opponents on a completely different level—what could a slightly clever novice accomplish? This matter, from beginning to end, was never something he could participate in. It can only be said... he is ill-timed."

"After this, he will surely understand much more." Xi Junyu reflected on some of Ning Yi's actions over these days, shook his head indifferently, and turned to walk out. "As long as there are no other issues, thank you for the hospitality."

"Great favors need not be spoken of; you should repay them with a gushing spring," Wu Qilong joked, then waved his hand. "Think about what I said. The ocean is right ahead; it’s not worth it for a pond. The doors of the Wu family are always open to you. Oh, and that line... 'Straightforward longing is of no use...'"

"'If you have no heart for me, then I shall let it be,'" Xi Junyu repeated as he walked away, his back dissolving into the darkness of the ship's side. "It is best if we do not meet like this again."

"The matter is settled; there should be no more surprises," Wu Qilong replied. As the hazy figure drifted away on the small boat, he sighed, pushed aside the bowls and chopsticks, stood up, and turned to leave. "What a pity..."

He muttered to himself. Regardless of everything, Xi Junyu was a talent he had always wanted to recruit. If he were to lead the Wu family in the future, he needed his own team. Securing the Imperial Merchant status was indeed gratifying, as it would allow some plans to be advanced, but even if they didn't get it, the Wu family would still be the Wu family. He was still young, and there would be plenty of opportunities for expansion. Such talent was rare and hard to come by; he genuinely valued the future, not just these immediate gains.

However, since there were such gains to be had, he didn't mind picking them up along the way. Standing at the ship's side, he thought of the panic within the Su family over the past month, the anxiety hidden beneath their radicalism, the frantic rushing about of the old master who was said to have brought the Su family to its peak with his own strength, and the gloating, idiotic faces of the Xue family across the way. He couldn't help but smile and shake his head again.

How ridiculous.

The light on the river dimmed further, and the small pleasure boat sailed into the waves ahead.

Daylight broke, then faded again. This was the twenty-fourth day of the eighth month; when it dawned again, it would be the morning of the twenty-fifth. Ning Yi had slept in and missed the morning meeting. That evening, the annual general meeting of the cloth merchants, held by the Weaving Bureau, would take place. Because autumn was the harvest season, such general gatherings were held once every year for every trade.