Chapter 131: Nightfall

What on earth is going on? I thought only the first batch had problems...

"Answering the Second Young Master," everyone originally thought it was only the first batch. After the incident earlier, those fabrics had been locked up by Manager Qin in the warehouse beside the workshop. This was precisely to prevent any further issues before delivery. Every day, only Manager Qin would go in for a quick look, and at first, no one noticed anything amiss... Well, actually, that's not entirely true. I heard that over the past few days, some people already noticed that Manager Qin's state of mind seemed a bit off. Only when the discovery was made today did everyone realize that, very likely, ever since the first batch went wrong, Manager Qin had already noticed the daily fading. It's just that in the first few days, the fading wasn't obvious, and Manager Qin, going in to check every day, didn't dare to speak recklessly, fearing... perhaps still harboring some wishful thinking. But as the number of discoloring fabrics increased day by day, Manager Qin also knew a massive disaster had struck..."

"This—" Inside the carriage, Wu Qihao furrowed his brows, clenching his left hand into a fist as if he wanted to curse out loud, but ultimately held it back. "Why didn't you say so earlier..." Yet, the answer to this question was something he already understood in his heart.

"Has the news been contained?"

"It was sealed off immediately upon discovery. Not many people know. It's just that Manager Qin's condition doesn't look too good; a physician has already been called to examine him..."

"Uncle Qin... he was dutiful to the end after all..."

Wu Qihao knitted his brows and finally uttered these words, sitting there in silence without speaking further.

He had been summoned by a family servant from the home of a fellow cloth merchant. Right now, he could not yet fully grasp the entire situation. Combining it with the problem of the first batch of fabrics from a few days ago, he had a very bad feeling—vaguely, it felt as if someone had suddenly and unexpectedly stabbed them in the back. He still did not dare to assume the worst-case scenario; he only hoped it was an isolated incident caused by some mistake of their own making. After all, this was a new fabric, and running into a few issues was to be expected.

Pulling back the carriage curtain, he saw that they were no longer far from the workshop. The sign of a Su Family drapery caught his eye. Over these past few days, whenever he saw this sign in Jiangning City, he would feel a slight urge to laugh. If he saw it together with others, they would mostly discuss it, with the other party "objectively" analyzing the various problems the Su family might encounter in the future and how profits would drain away, while he would just shake his head with a smile, offering no further comments, and savoring a sense of achievement. As a member and even one of the heirs of the Wu family, he truly experienced the feeling of standing at the peak and looking down at all other mountains. Both the Su family and the people uttering those words nearby were completely negligible. At this moment, however, he dropped the curtain, brushing away the surge of irritation in his heart.

It couldn't possibly be related to them. It's already been over a month...

Without dwelling on it further, the carriage arrived at the small workshop. At the entrance, they crossed paths with Can Zhenthen's carriage. He exchanged greetings with Can Minzhi, but the worry was plainly visible in each other's eyes, so they did not converse much. The two went inside together. In the adjacent workshop, the production of the brilliant golden brocade was still in full swing. Bright yellow fabrics fluttered in the air, dazzlingly brilliant, showing no signs of any potential trouble. Over there, workers shouted as they dragged bolts of fabric out of huge dye vats, while a manager shouted a few instructions nearby: "Careful, careful! Not a single mistake can be made. The fabric we're making is for the reigning Emperor..." The scene of the workshop was cast in the glow of the setting sun.

Wu Qihao and Can Minzhi bypassed the workshop to reach the warehouse. This area had already been heavily guarded, and additional personnel had been deployed here now. Entering the small warehouse, lamps had already been lit. Alongside Wu Qilong, several other senior managers of the Wu family had arrived. These were veteran members who had been in charge of various production stages and possessed the Wu Family's deep trust. Laid out before them was a wall of brilliant golden brocade, and the fading of certain fabrics was glaringly obvious.

Can Minzhi merely glanced at it before he and two other shopkeepers began inspecting the specific markings on the fabrics.

"How... how is Uncle Qin?"

Wu Qihao raised his eyes to look at the fabric wall, then furrowed his brows and closed his eyes. Still, his first question was directed at his elder brother. Wu Qilong was sitting on a stool at the moment, shaking his head. After a long silence, he finally spoke in a low voice: "The physician says he's fine, just exhausted..."

"Why is it fading?"

"I don't know, but—" Saying this, Wu Qilong abruptly stood up, waved his hand at his younger brother, and strode toward the fabric wall. He then picked up a bolt of fabric leaning nearby and pressed it against the wall.

"Take a look. This bolt was made today; these bolts were produced over a month ago. Look at that—one month's time, identical, not the slightest sign of fading. We took them out to test them—the dyeing is extremely fast and solid. But these ones that faded, heh..."

Wu Qilong smiled wryly, pointing at the bolts Can Minzhi and the others were currently inspecting. "We just checked those as well. The timing—the timing almost sequentially traces back from over a month ago, spanning from a month and a half to a month and twenty days ago. They have all begun to fade almost in succession. We went to check the scrap fabrics just now, and the situation is virtually identical. Furthermore, right here—"

He picked up a slightly wrinkled piece of fabric nearby. The fabric was still a gleaming, bright yellow, but when tossed among the other brocades, it faintly revealed a slight color mismatch. "This is one of the bolts right on the borderline. Earlier, it looked just like the rest, with no sign of fading. We just soaked it in water and baked it over fire; I cut a piece off and brought it over—it has already begun to fade. The rest are still being tested."

"How could this happen..."

"Indeed." Wu Qilong smiled with a hint of sarcasm, sat down, and gazed around the warehouse. "Did the dyeing formula go wrong?"

With this simple question posed, everyone fell silent in an instant, exchanging glances in dismay. After a long while, Wu Qihao finally asked, "Is that possible?"

"How could it be possible?" Wu Qilong frowned and shook his head. "We didn't just plant that one person at the Su family. Under such circumstances, if we still managed to get the wrong formula, unless this person... unless this person had been able to foresee everything we were doing right from the very beginning, several years ago. How could someone like that possibly exist? Even Su Yu couldn't pull that off. Our bid for the Imperial Merchant status was a decision made just this year. Now someone is trying to tell me that a few years ago, somebody was already laying out a scheme...? The only one laying a scheme a few years ago was Su Dan'er. How could she have been targeting us back then...?"

"If she had truly been watching from behind the scenes all along, the benefits she could have gained by securing the Imperial Merchant status herself would have far outweighed this..."

"For now, it's likely that a problem arose on our end," Wu Qilong rubbed his temples, then looked toward the managers in the front. "Uncle Can, Uncle Nie, regarding the current situation, I must ask you all to seal off this news. Have the master dyers in the dye house check the formula and analyze where things might have gone wrong. This matter is too bizarre; we cannot jump to conclusions yet. Everyone, focus on your own tasks. Father and I will communicate more with Director Dong at the Imperial Manufactory to push back the delivery date. Since the Imperial Manufactory has entrusted the Imperial Merchant status to our Wu family this time, they won't sit idly by and watch our Wu family fall... Over the decades, our Wu family has walked this far and encountered countless trials, big and small. We have weathered storms together. In the drapery business of Jiangning City, if we claim to be second, no one dares to claim first. As long as everyone gives their utmost this time, we will be fine just the same... I leave the matters here in the hands of my uncles."

The people in this room were not only the Wu family's trusted confidants, but also seasoned veterans of the business world who had weathered all kinds of storms—roughly on the same level as Manager Liao of the Su family. Even without Wu Qilong spelling it out, they generally knew what they needed to do. At that moment, they gave a unanimous assent and began gathering to deliberate.

The two brothers, Wu Qilong and Wu Qihao, walked out together. The setting sun was shedding its last remnants of red along the horizon. Inside the workshop, torches and lanterns had already been lit. Workers were changing shifts and eating, with the next batch taking over. Work never stopped, but the brothers' hearts were filled with an indescribable feeling. These fabrics were being continuously produced, sent into the warehouse after completion, and then—if they were all going to fade away—what on earth were they doing right now?

Over the past month, every single thing for them had been moving forward, moving forward with extraordinary meaning. They had clearly understood what they were doing and what purpose it served. Yet after toiling for so long, looking back, they realized there seemed to be a flaw in the foundation. So, what on earth had they been busy doing for the past month and more? Suddenly, they felt entirely untethered.

"Brother, is someone really plotting against us in the dark?"

Wu Qihao had been pondering this for a long time. At this moment, looking at the busy scene—which had momentarily lost its meaning yet still had to be carried out—he finally voiced the question. Wu Qilong furrowed his brows deeply, shook his head, and looked back toward the entrance of the warehouse.

"How can we know right now? It shouldn't be like this. Right now... right now, we can only hope the problem stems from our own mistakes. If not—"

He frowned, unable to comprehend. Indeed, casting their gaze around, they could see no enemies. Before obtaining the Imperial Merchant status, they hadn't sensed any hostility; after obtaining it, even if some hostility existed, it could no longer be put into action. They had indeed made a move, but all their planning was done in the dark. Theoretically, no one should have noticed their preparations. They were like a tiger that had devoured a goat with lightning speed—the entire process had been flawless, with no bows, no hunters, no swords, and not even time for the goat to resist. Everything had been perfect and smooth. Yet in the end, he discovered a wound on his own body, having no idea when or where that wound had appeared, and the wound was so severe it could even be fatal.

Who on earth was it...?

The tiger suddenly awakened, starting to peer into the surrounding darkness. Yet, gazing about, it still saw nothing, and the forest began to fill with hostility...

"If not, perhaps someone has been right behind us all along, watching us for months..."

Wu Qilong murmured these words. Wu Qihao subconsciously glanced backward and spun around. "Then who on earth could it be? Su Yu? Su Dan'er? Who else? The elders of the Su family?"

"Doesn't look like it," Wu Qilong shook his head. "Doesn't look like it, highly unlikely. This doesn't look like a layout they would make. Xi Junyu isn't possible either; we didn't just get his stuff alone. This time... who the hell is stabbing us in the back?"

"Stop thinking about it, Brother. Maybe a problem just cropped up in some minor detail. Right now, we mustn't let ourselves panic. Let's investigate and find out first."

Wu Qihao comforted his brother. Wu Qilong subsequently nodded. "Mm, let's go back and start investigating. For now..." He looked ahead at the working workshop and the various lights coming alive in the distant Jiangning City, "...for now... let's just wait and see."

In the sky, the night fell, and darkness descended completely.

They passed through the dim corridor outside the small workshop, stepped out into the brilliantly lit entrance, boarded the carriage, and drove back home with an inexplicable sense of anxiety. The road was alternately bright and dark, and countless other people still remained completely unaware of the events that had transpired in a corner of Jiangning that afternoon.

Back at the Su Residence, Ning Yi had just finished taking a bath and was sitting in the small courtyard pavilion to catch the cool breeze. Xiaochan brought out a bowl of boiled peanuts, and the two of them childishly played a guessing game with the numbers on the table. As voices and footsteps drifted over from the courtyard gate, Su Dan'er returned with Juan'er and Xing'er. Today, she had probably spent another day running around busily, but upon seeing Ning Yi, she still pursed her lips and smiled a deeply satisfied smile.

In the past, such evenings would often see children coming over to play, or close cousins from the main branch dropping by to ask for money or chat. But over recent days, such people had grown much scarcer. Xiaochan went to prepare some simple food, and shortly after, Su Dan'er also finished her bath, leaving Juan'er next in turn. Sitting together in the pavilion, chatting, speaking, and eating snacks, Su Dan'er would now casually talk to Ning Yi about many business-related matters without any reservations. Of course, Ning Yi would usually just make casual jokes, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

Beneath the stars and moon, it was another leisurely day...!~!