Su Boyong was assassinated, and the Su family was slandered. Su Boyong, who was full of resentment and had nowhere to vent, was naturally extremely supportive of this plan to fish out the mastermind behind the scenes.
In order to act like him, he lied in bed and pretended to be sick, and didn't even tell his two concubines the truth.
After all, someone in the Su family must have been bribed. The maids, servants, and even the housekeeper and shopkeeper cannot expect everyone to be loyal and able to withstand the temptation of money.
Then, he must pretend to be a little more like him and let everyone know that he is really sick and really has no energy to take care of the big house.
On the other side, in the face of the uproar circulating in the city, the rumors that the Su family was ruthless about human life and forced families to die must be put to rest as soon as possible.
Chen Er has already confessed that the Su family has indeed been slandered, and there is no need to spend a lot of time going to Ezhou to investigate the truth. Otherwise, when the truth is found out, the rumors may become true, and any further clarification will be a waste.
For this reason, Mrs. Su personally suppressed Chen Er and his confession and went to the government office. After some efforts, the government office refused to lose face and stood up to clarify the truth.
But, as the saying goes, if you spread rumors, you will lose your legs if you refute them.
Rumors have spread and influence has been formed. Even though the government has clarified it, this impression cannot be eliminated in a short time.
The Su family was somewhat cast in a shadow.
…
Since Su Boyong was bedridden and unable to take charge, the power of Dafang naturally fell into the hands of Su Tan'er. However, in the past, although Su Tan'er was in charge of part of Dafang's property, Su Boyong was actually behind it.
Now that she has taken over all of Dafang's property and the core authority of the Su family, she is, after all, a little girl less than twenty years old. She is really in a hurry for a while, not caring about the head and the tail.
However, this is exactly what the plan requires, letting people know that Su Tan'er is unable to control the big house at the moment and is not caring about the other, so that the people behind the scenes can jump in with peace of mind.
For this reason, in the next few days, although Su Tan'er stabilized the big house, she still tried to maintain it and looked overwhelmed.
At this time, another rumor spread, saying that the current predicament of the Su family was caused by Su Tan'er's insistence on competing for the imperial merchants in order to take charge of the Su family.
The Su family was already in chaos during this period. Su Boyong was assassinated, the Su family's reputation was slandered, and even ridiculed outside. I just felt full of anger and nowhere to be found.
At this time, a message suddenly came out, saying that all this was caused by Su Tan'er's competition for the imperial merchants. If he had not gotten involved in the imperial merchants' affairs, no one would have targeted the Su family, leading to the current situation.
How can I bear it!
The next day, Li Mu accompanied Su Tan'er to visit Su Boyong and discuss plans. As soon as he walked to the door, he heard Su Tan'er's two aunts crying and talking inside.
The two of them were crying and complaining about Su Tan'er, complaining about how strong she was, and complaining about Huang Shang.
"I've told you before...Why are girls so strong..."
"I don't know if the assassination is related to the second and third houses. They knew that Tan'er wanted to compete for the imperial merchants, which may have frightened them... If it really happened, they would have failed in vain..."
"Maybe it's not two or three bedrooms, but it's said outside that the current situation of the Su family is all caused by Tan'er's desire to take charge of the Su family and her insistence on competing for the royal merchants. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many things happening."
…
Li Mu looked at Su Tan'er, who looked a little lonely next to him. In the past few days, many rumors against Su Tan'er suddenly appeared in the Su family.
Not only that, these rumors spread very quickly. Within a few days, the entire Su family and subordinate shops were talking about it, making Su Tan'er inevitably feel depressed.
Li Mu patted her hand and said with a smile: "Tan'er, you won't be sad because of these rumors. This proves that the mastermind behind the scenes has taken the bait... and even taken action. These rumors are released to deliberately mess up your mentality, so that you can't
How much energy do you need to take care of things in the big house?”
Su Tan'er was silent for a moment and smiled calmly: "My husband is right. The people behind the scenes are spreading these rumors, which shows that they have taken the bait. However, these rumors have spread so quickly in our Su family, and I am afraid there is a mole in the family."
Li Mu smiled softly and said: "Not only is there a mole, there is more than one, and the position is not low."
Su Tan'er said: "Ms. sir, what should we do next?"
Li Mu said: "That's what they want, pretending that they can't stand the rumors and are in chaos. Then they will operate the imperial merchants with great fanfare and make a desperate move to win over the imperial merchants to stabilize the Su family. The cloth must also be used.
Show it appropriately, especially within the Su family, let everyone know that with this bright yellow cloth, we can win the imperial business with certainty."
"The person behind it can't stand the temptation, and is also afraid that the Su family will get the imperial merchant, so they have to take action."
Su Tan'er nodded: "Yes, listen to your husband."
In the next few days, Su Tan'er changed her usual low profile and convened all the shopkeepers under Dafang to discuss matters. The matter of Huangshang was finally put on the table. For the first time, Su Tan'er expressed her wishes in front of everyone.
Go all out to operate Huangshang.
"Some things should be kept secret originally, but the current situation cannot be kept secret anymore. Everyone knows that the big houses are competing for the royal merchants, and they all feel that there is little hope and are just messing around. So today I will reveal to you that we have the most suitable royal merchant.
of cloth.”
After saying that, he winked at Juan'er, and the little maid standing beside her quickly turned around and moved a box and put it on the table.
Su Tan'er glanced at everyone: "What you see next, please keep it a secret and don't tell anyone. We are all old people in the store and should know this better than me."
As he said that, he slowly opened the long box, and a piece of bright yellow silk appeared in front of everyone's eyes. Everyone's eyes lit up. This was the first time for everyone to see such a bright and beautiful bright yellow.
Su Tan'er cut off a few small pieces from it and showed them to everyone one by one.
"It took three years and countless money to research the dye for this cloth."
"Resistant to fire... resistant to washing... resistant to sunlight... not fading... We just finished the finished product more than a month ago. We wanted to keep a low profile, but everyone didn't expect it. They thought the competing royal merchants were whimsical. That one
It can be taken out in advance."
"This kind of color is not used by the people, but the royal family likes it very much. It is used to compete with the imperial merchants. Not to mention winning nine, there is always a certain degree of certainty."
Seeing the new cloth, all the shopkeepers and managers started talking about it. However, everyone was really confident. With this kind of bright yellow cloth, they really had some confidence to compete with the imperial merchants.
In the next few days, some shopkeepers from Dafang frequently visited the officials of the Weaving Bureau, showing their determination to win the imperial business this time.
The complaints within the Su family about Su Tan'er's competition for the imperial merchant suddenly fell silent after she showed off the information once. There were only two bedrooms and three bedrooms. They were worried that after Su Tan'er won the imperial merchant, it would be a foregone conclusion that she would take charge of the Su family.
Some are reluctant, but they only dare to complain in private.
However, the shopkeepers under Dafang are indeed professional. With their participation in the campaign, in a short period of time, the Su family had prepared for the imperial merchants for several years and developed a new cloth. The weaving in Jiangning was already underway.
It spread suddenly in one line.
With the assassination of Su Boyong a few days ago and the various rumors about the Su family, most people in the various branches now know that the Su family, at least the woman Su Tan'er, is completely prepared to deal with the matter of Huangshang.
Show off your edge and give it a go with a desperate attitude.
If she wins, with several years of preparation, she can perfectly solve the imperial business affairs, and there is no doubt that she will be in charge of the Su family's big house. She will even officially establish her status as the next head of the family as a woman. If she loses, Su Boyong's only daughter can also
A life of wealth and honor.
Time passed gradually, the disaster situation eased, many victims outside the city had returned to their hometowns, and the closed Jiangning city gate was opened again.
The whole Jiangning seemed to be alive again, and the depressing atmosphere was swept away.
Finally, in late August, the Jiangning Weaving Conference, which was also a competition for imperial merchants, was held at Luyi Building on the Qinhuai River.
Li Mu, Su Tan'er, Su Zhongkan, Su Yunfang, plus several members of the first, second and third bedrooms, as well as the main stewards, went together in seven or eight carriages.
At the same time, each of the cloth merchants in Jiangning, the Xue family, the Wu family, the Chen family, the Lu family... and some officials from the Weaving Bureau rushed to Luyi Building.
Today's conference is definitely a big event for Jiangning's weaving industry.
The most important one is tonight's competition for royal merchants. The Wu family, the Xue family, the Su family, the largest cloth merchants in Jiangning, are all the focus.
Careful people can even smell the smell of gunpowder and wait for the show to begin.
Arriving at Luyi Tower, Li Mu smiled, looked at each other and Su Tan'er, and got off the carriage. It was such a nice weather.
Entering the building, everyone exchanged pleasantries and took their seats one after another.
The Luyi Building is spacious. The first floor is full of small merchants, and the second floor is allocated to large merchants. Everyone in the Su family sits in front of a large round table on the second floor, and the other major cloth shops are also allocated to their respective
He sat down at a round table.
As a result, the Su family, the Xue family, and the Wu family were located at three ends of the venue, with clear distinctions. Others whispered, paying attention to the situation of the Su, Xue, and Wu families.
On the Su family's side, a shopkeeper went around to pay a visit. When he came back, he stroked his beard and said with a smile on his face: "Looking at the atmosphere today, my Su family has no problem winning the imperial business title. With all the hard work over the past month,
, it was not in vain after all..."
"Miss Tan'er had the foresight and started working on it a few years ago. With that fabric, we will be in an invincible position."
Li Mu smiled slightly: "So confident?"
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "I have asked who makes the best cloth in our family. The Lu family also has a new cloth called smoked tea silk. It is good, but unfortunately it is not suitable for the royal family; the Xue family has a signature cloth.
Purple Huan cloth has always been favored by large households, and the asking price is relatively high, but there should be no new products recently. Although the Wu family is the first in weaving and has strong strength, their most outstanding thing is the weavers. With the Luo Shen Needle, their cloth
When it comes to weavers, I always have to be better than others, but in front of the golden sunshine of my Su family, even if the weavers are better, I'm afraid it doesn't mean much..."
"Tonight among the imperial merchants, my Su family has the most advantage."
Li Mu nodded slightly and said no more.
At this time, an official from the Weaving Bureau came over, and Shopkeeper Liao hurriedly greeted him. The two exchanged a few words politely. Shopkeeper Liao returned to the table and whispered: "The Weaving Bureau informed us that this
This time, our Su family has the strongest momentum, and Mr. Dong is also optimistic about us and arranged for our Su family to make the final appearance."
When the shopkeepers heard the finale, their faces lit up with joy.
"It's our Su family's turn to be the final one. It seems that the emperor's businessman has not escaped."
"That's right. In previous years, the best cloths were the finale, and some of them are still being supplied to the royal family... This year, the cloths from my Su family were the finale, and the results are self-evident."
Seeing everyone beaming with joy, Li Mu and Su Tan'er looked at each other and smiled softly. They were sure that the person behind the scenes had taken action, or had taken the bait.
Next, the conference officially began. This kind of thing is always boring. Mr. Dong came to the stage and said something. In fact, changing the soup does not change the medicine. These words must be said every year. Regarding the true situation of Jiangning's weaving industry, many people here today
, probably understand much better than Mr. Dong.
The speech soon ended and we got to the main topic, which was also the most important moment of this conference, running for the Royal Merchant.
The first person to appear was Qi Jia.
"Today, please appreciate the snow pattern yarn recently woven by our Qi family. This yarn is light, thin, flexible, and almost transparent. The natural lines on it are as white as snow lines. We use a special loom to control the number of silk threads and carefully weave them.
At once…"
After talking for a while, another shopkeeper from the Qi family took out a piece of gauze and unfolded it in the center of the place.
Many weavers and officials also came over to comment and discuss, to see the quality of the gauze up close, and those who were interested discussed cooperation on the spot.
Tonight's party is naturally not just about competing for royal merchants. Those who are confident in their own products will also show their faces and use words of intention to discuss cooperation.
After Qijia, another medium-sized cloth shop came on the scene. This one didn't come up with any new fabrics, it just promoted its own cloth, and then the next one...
We went up to a dozen or so small and medium-sized merchants who had something to display.
Then the Xue family came on the stage. Xue Yanchao smiled and came forward with a wooden box in his hands. When he displayed a new purple and noble cloth, the atmosphere in the scene was a little stagnant. Many people were watching the Su family's reaction. Even
The Xue family are all looking towards the Su family.
Li Mu and others smiled without any expression.
Everyone was whispering.
"The Su family didn't respond. It seems that the cloth they prepared is better than the Xue family."
"The Su family has been preparing for several years. With so much fanfare some time ago, they must have made complete preparations."
"According to past situations, the Wu family should have been the last one... This year it has been replaced by the Su family. It seems that the Su family will undoubtedly belong to the Imperial Business."
There was discussion for a while, and after the Xue family showed off, the next family came on stage as usual. Wu Chenghou stood up from his seat with a smile, brought a brocade box forward, and opened it to reveal a bright yellow brocade.
The bright yellow color instantly attracts everyone's attention.
When it comes to high-end silk, what could be more suitable for royalty than bright yellow.
Xue Yan looked at it for a long time and couldn't help but sigh: "The Wu family is really...a biting dog that doesn't bark...has come up with its trump card..."
Halfway through, he suddenly felt something was wrong and looked at the confidant shopkeeper next to him: "This...isn't right! I remember the news you bribed the stewards of Su Mansion to find out a few days ago. They spent three years researching it. Isn't it this kind of thing?
It’s a bright yellow dye! This is their greatest confidence in competing for the royal merchants. How did they become the Wu family..."
Before the shopkeeper could speak, Xue Yan sighed: "The Wu family is indeed quite poisonous and cruel!"