CHAPTER 229: CHAPTER 226 DUMBFOUNDED

Miss Lin stiffened involuntarily, as Third Master Du always spoke very gently in front of her, never with such urgency.

Miss Lin quickly stepped out of the room and indeed saw Third Master Du with a deeply furrowed brow.

"Third Master," Miss Lin said, "What’s the matter with you?"

Third Master Du’s gaze was grim as he stared closely at Miss Lin: "Chen Family Village has delivered goods to Daming Prefecture, are you aware?"

Miss Lin quickly replied: "I just heard the steward mention it as well, don’t worry Third Master, those are definitely not wool products. I have had people constantly watching Zhenzhou, they only recently bought wool, for those villagers to produce textile products, at least twenty days are still needed, by that time we would already have..."

Before Miss Lin could finish, Third Master Du said: "What if they don’t sell textile products?"

Miss Lin stood there stunned, unable to understand what Third Master Du meant. Chen Family Village bought wool, if not selling textile products, what else would they sell?

Seeing Miss Lin in such a state, Third Master Du felt the last glimmer of hope vanish entirely, Miss Lin knew even less than he did, there was no way she would have a countermeasure.

"Third Master," Miss Lin said, "Please go sit in the hall, we can talk slowly there."

Third Master Du frowned and turned to walk toward the hall, Miss Lin quickly instructed someone to make tea and hurriedly followed after him.

The two sat down in chairs, Third Master Du looked at his attendant, who quickly took the spun yarn out of his coat and placed it on the table.

Third Master Du looked at Miss Lin: "This is the spun yarn sold by Chen Family Village."

Miss Lin’s heart sank, she reached out and picked up the yarn from the table, carefully touched it, it was indeed spun from wool.

Miss Lin clutched the item in her hand for a moment before coming to her senses, continuously recalling the information gathered from Zhenzhou during this period.

"Impossible."

"Absolutely impossible."

Miss Lin murmured: "How could they sell yarn? They clearly bought spinning wheels and looms, even invited weavers back, women from nearby villages have gone to Chen Family Village to learn crafts, they also bought many patterns from embroidery shops, all meant for making textile products.

What was the purpose of preparing these if they were going to sell yarn?"

Third Master Du looked at the bewildered Miss Lin, he thought she was not only beautiful but also clever and resourceful, yet at crucial moments, she was of no use.

Miss Lin continued: "I found the best weaver, bought the loom... just waiting to make textile products, but when we finish making them, Chen Family Village... Chen Family Village..."

Chen Family Village’s spun yarn was already everywhere.

Unless no one bought Chen Family Village’s yarn.

Miss Lin looked at the steward beside her, who, upon hearing such news, was equally stunned, unsure of what to do.

Miss Lin said: "Quickly go to several shops and tell the Shopkeepers that our textile products will soon be ready, and ask them not to receive Chen Family Village’s spun yarn."

The steward responded promptly and hurried out.

Miss Lin stood up again only to sit back down in the chair, exhausted. How could she not have thought of selling yarn? Whether in Daming Prefecture or the Capital City, many households had looms. After the spring plowing, women were idle at home, just in time to weave cloth. If the yarn was priced right, buying it back to make one’s own textile products wouldn’t that be better?

Moreover, there were embroidery shops, clothes shops...

Miss Lin felt a buzzing in her ears, the people of Chen Family Village deliberately deceived her, making her think Chen Family Village would compete with her in textile products, who knew Chen Family Village had long made other plans.

What should she do?

Miss Lin thought of the wool sent from the Northwest, the Silver Coin paid to the weaver, as well as what she said in front of Princess Jiahui and Third Master Du.

In her anxiety, Miss Lin’s eyes reddened, she looked at Third Master Du, seeking protection: "Third Master, what should I do now? I can bear not earning Silver Coin, but I cannot let Third Master suffer a loss."

Du Yi narrowed his eyes, he certainly couldn’t bear a loss, after transporting wool all the way from the Northwest, going back not earning Silver Coin would never happen, Du Yi had never suffered such a loss.

Du Yi said: "Send someone to find out clearly, see where the merchant caravans in Zhenzhou have gone."

After saying this, Du Yi stood up intending to return to the Du Family’s courtyard, just stepped out a few paces, when Miss Lin came forward to apologize: "Third Master, forgive me, it’s all my fault for not discovering Chen Family Village’s intentions, it’s all my fault."

Walking and speaking in her haste, Miss Lin didn’t notice her footing, stumbled and exclaimed, her whole body fell into Du Yi’s embrace.

Du Yi instinctively reached out to support her, holding a warm and fragrant jade embrace.

The fragrance from Miss Lin’s body reached his nose, dissipating some of Du Yi’s anger, adding a touch of compassion for the person in his arms.

Miss Lin, both shy and startled, let a few tears fall from her eyes, sobbing aloud.

"Why are you crying?" Du Yi patted Miss Lin on the back, "I haven’t blamed you, the matter hasn’t been investigated yet, there will always be a way." Miss Lin, after all, was a woman from an official household, though her father was a criminal official, making her a mistress wasn’t impractical.

Miss Lin stopped crying after a while: "It’s my fault, I should have warned Third Master earlier, Chen Family Village is not simple, those villagers wouldn’t have such tactics."

Du Yi frowned: "You mean Song Xian?"

Miss Lin nodded: "Their selling of textile products must be long planned, knowing that Northwest’s wool is the best, intentionally doing so... I’m not saying the Du Family fears Song Xian, Third Master’s brother is a Military Governor, not someone Song Xian can covet, but Third Master cannot be careless."

As she spoke, Miss Lin raised her head, seeing Third Master Du’s expression becoming more stern than before, she softly said: "I don’t mind losing Silver Coin, as long as Third Master isn’t taken advantage of in the future..."

"How dare he," Du Yi said coldly, "If Song Xian dares to target the Du Family, I’ll show him Third Master’s tactics."

...

At the Bai Family’s shop in Daming Prefecture.

Manager Bai looked at the bundles of thread tassels Chen Yongyi brought out.

"This tassel is softer, using more velvet."

"This bundle is ordinary, one touch can differentiate it."

"And this bundle is slightly inferior, but good enough for weaving mattress pads, our village will leave this, each household must weave such a wool mattress."

Manager Bai listened to Chen Yongyi: "You sell thread tassels, why? Haven’t even left them for village use?"

Chen Yongyi laughed: "The village production is not enough for sales, how could we worry about ourselves?"

Manager Bai inquired: "Besides here, where else have you delivered?"

"There’s quite a lot," Chen Yongyi said, "Several states and counties have them, we have warehouses in Xingzhou, with upper, middle, lower grade goods. Sell more or less, all can be adjusted; as long as you send a message to the warehouses, they can be quickly sent over. If any thread tassel can’t be sold, as long as it’s intact, we can even take it back."

Manager Bai was astonished: "Really?"

"Really," Chen Yongyi said, "But it cannot be soiled or damaged."

Manager Bai naturally understood this point, such items couldn’t be put aside.

Manager Bai lowered his voice: "Someone from Daming Prefecture’s shops informed me not to receive Chen Family Village’s thread tassels."

Chen Yongyi felt a flash of tension, but as Miss Chen had mentioned before he came out, not to worry. Even if Daming Prefecture couldn’t sell, Chen Family Village had shipments sent to so many states and counties, those undermining from the shadows couldn’t possibly have such reach.

True good things can’t be suppressed, there’s bound to be a day they come through.

Chen Yongyi said: "Are you refusing to receive it then?"

Manager Bai meditated for a moment: "Receive, why not receive? We traders know the way, if I don’t sell it, others will, I happen to need to visit the embroidery shop, come along with me with your goods."