Chapter Twenty-Nine: All Part of a Scheme

When rumors concern oneself, they spread like a tsunami, and the news of Feng Jingzhe’s bankruptcy and inability to repay his principal was disseminated faster than a typhoon. Within less than an hour, the entire populace of Chang’an was in uproar.

Word passed from mouth to mouth, growing more fantastical with each retelling. Almost simultaneously, all creditors took their loan certificates and converged upon the Feng family mansion. Coupled with those merely coming for the spectacle, the entire street was blocked solid, with at least one or two thousand people by rough count. More were still arriving, creating an atmosphere like a powder keg—just a spark away from uncontrollable civil unrest.

The dozen or so bailiffs under the Chang’an magistrate were utterly inadequate against such numbers, and naturally, the commotion was immediately reported to the palace. As several eunuchs bearing imperial orders rushed out from the Yanxi Gate on swift horses, the city guards, the Jinwu Patrol, mobilized at once to maintain order.

Fortunately, their response was swift. By the time they arrived, only the newly renovated gate of the Feng residence had been splattered with rotten fruit and foul eggs, giving it a kaleidoscopic appearance. As for Feng Jingzhe, he had slipped inside the mansion at some unknown moment, while outside, the crowd surged and emotions ran high. Had the bailiffs not been diligently holding the line, the mob might have already broken through the doors.

Zheng Yongxiang, seeing his objective achieved, had retreated to watch the chaos from a distance. According to his plan, the head manager of the family pharmacy should have already sold off all stock, and he estimated that Feng Jingzhe had no more than a hundred taels of silver left at hand. This simple calculation of assets was entirely clear to Zheng Yongxiang. In fact, after the initial few days, every batch of coptis they purchased passed through his hands for profit. Thus, whatever little remained in the other’s pocket was transparent to him.

“Miss, Miss…I just heard the news…” Little Dou burst in from outside, too hurried even to catch her breath. “They say the third young master of the Feng family had his shipment to Longxi burned by thieves, so now all the people who lent money are at the door demanding repayment! There are thousands of them… If it weren’t for the bailiffs holding them back, someone might have been beaten to death. I heard even the city guards have been dispatched…”

“How could this happen? How could the third young master of the Feng family owe money to so many?” Meng Xiaodie wasted no time, fetching her own money box. “Dou, hurry and deliver this to the third young master of the Feng family. I, Meng Xiaodie, always repay kindness; send this money quickly to help him in his hour of need…”

“Miss, how much is this really? After adding last night’s performance fee, it’s only about twelve hundred taels at most.

Do you know how much the third young master owes? I heard from the staff outside—it’s at least eighty thousand taels…”

“No matter. The third young master’s song helped me gain fame and avoid disaster; I, Meng Xiaodie, will give all I have in gratitude…” She pressed her point, placing several valuable pieces of jewelry into the box as well.

Meanwhile, Sun Youcai hid behind the door of Food Heaven, watching the city guards rush past, his body drenched in cold sweat. Eighty thousand taels—if he put his entire fortune and the restaurant in, it still wouldn’t be enough to repay! Just now, seeing the furious, red-eyed crowd, Sun Youcai truly feared they would turn and come for Food Heaven. His family were mere merchants, not noble viscounts who could command city guards for protection. Those crazed men could beat him and his son to death in minutes.

At the same time, in a private room upstairs, the pharmacy’s head manager—a key player in Zheng Yongxiang’s plan—wore an extremely grim expression.

“Master Sun, what’s the meaning of this? You agreed to buy all our coptis powder at one tael per jin, and now you’re reneging…”

“Haha… Manager Liu, perhaps you’ve got things backwards. Wasn’t it you who broke the deal first? You raised the price to one tael and two coins per jin at the last minute, so who’s really reneging?”

Sun Fatty sneered, sipping his tea with not a hint of panic on his face.

“I was muddled just now; let me apologize here and now. Why don’t we return to the original price as agreed? Look, the whole city’s saying your goods were destroyed by thieves. If you take this batch around the streets, won’t the rumors collapse of their own accord?”

“Manager Liu, do you really think the run on the Feng family can be solved by just taking a stroll with the goods outside?”

Sun Fugui remained unmoved, as if the siege outside had nothing to do with him.

“Fine, the young truly are formidable. Today, I’m willing to risk being chastised by my masters; I’ll lower the price by another coin!”

“Young man, know when to stop! The price of coptis rises by the day. You should know this batch from Hongnong cost eight coins and nine cents per jin, and with transport, it’s nearly at cost already!” Manager Liu put on a pained face, hoping for sympathy, but instead provoked another round of ridicule from Sun Fugui.

“We all know the game, Manager Liu, so let’s drop the act. This batch is indeed from Hongnong, but the price wasn’t eight coins and nine cents—it was six and a half. I never expected your Zheng family to be so greedy: one tael per jin, and you even mixed dried yellow earth in every bag…”

Caught red-handed, Manager Liu froze on the spot. “How…how did you know…”

A terrible feeling washed over him, and his clothes were instantly soaked in cold sweat.

“Haha… Do you know why you were able to collect fifteen thousand jin of coptis powder this time?”

The old man before him was so shocked he couldn’t speak, for he had realized a possibility too dreadful to contemplate. The thought alone was enough to freeze his mind.

“I’ll tell you plainly: all the coptis in Chang’an, Liyang, Li County, and Hongnong together only amount to thirteen thousand jin. The reason it was powder is because I had five thousand jin of yellow earth mixed in. You were even more ruthless—you added another fifteen thousand jin on top of that. Fifteen thousand jin of coptis powder mixed with yellow earth—pitiful, wouldn’t even be fit for pigs…”

If Manager Liu didn’t grasp the situation now, he’d never understand. “You…you…so you planned this from the start…”

“Don’t say it like that, Manager Liu. We didn’t break the agreement. The problem is, your goods are now shoddy, and it’s only reasonable for us to refuse purchase!”

“The batches sold before were also mixed with yellow earth, and you still bought them…”

That question showed Manager Liu had lost all sense of logic; all he hoped for now was some imaginary stroke of luck.

“Manager Liu, it’s no fun to spell it all out. The third young master of Feng is still waiting for me! Please, enjoy your meal—my treat…”

Sun Fugui stood up, and as he stepped out, he casually rubbed his face, quickly restoring the simple, innocent expression he wore so well…