Chapter 82: A Deliberate Trap

Master Zhu also read the contents of the letter.

He was utterly bewildered.

It felt as though they were speaking in riddles, and he simply could not fit in.

Instead, he found himself aimlessly wandering around.

“So, you knew the secret recipe from the start and deliberately sold it to Old Master Zhao?”

“Yes. I could already guess as much from the moment he hurried off.”

In the end, it seemed he was the only fool, having thought that the inspector was just another money-grubbing fellow.

Master Zhu was filled with regret.

“When Lord Lin came to investigate the case, he already noticed Old Master Zhao’s ill intentions. To prevent him from colluding with the Bai family’s associates and committing misdeeds, he intentionally sold our secret mosquito coil recipe to someone else at a high price.”

In this way, not only did it plant in Old Master Zhao the desire to take over, but it also left him with hidden troubles.

A low price was certainly good, but who would cover the cost? Eventually, he would be forced to use inferior materials.

They had expected the other party could at least endure for half a year, but who would have thought he couldn’t suppress himself for even a month?

“Thank goodness I didn’t become your enemy.”

Master Zhu belatedly realized, patting his chest in relief.

“What about Miss Zhilan from Drunken Flower Pavilion?”

“The Bai family still had a few remnants. They took her away and provided her with a safe place. It wasn’t malicious commercial competition, just that Lord Lin had a longer view.”

He explained slowly.

It did make sense.

“Do you really trust Bai Jingming to handle things? All the elders in his family have already been imprisoned. At this point, he’s just enduring in silence.”

“I understand. What I truly fear is that he will do nothing at all.”

Letting him taste a bit of success was all it was.

As for what he truly wanted, he would likely have to pay a price for it.

At this time, the provincial exam was just over a month away.

Scholars everywhere were engrossed in their studies.

Even the clientele of the little storybook shop had dwindled.

Han Qing, too, had put aside concerns about other shops for now, and hurried to study the teachings of Confucius and Mencius.

Especially the Four Books and Five Classics, The Great Learning, and The Doctrine of the Mean.

All required rote memorization.

It was indeed exhausting.

Bai Jingming, meanwhile, was truly busy, running around inspecting fabric quality and meeting customer needs.

He had nearly set aside his studies altogether.

But in order to repay those debts in the future, he had no choice but to work even harder.

Because some of their rain boots sold particularly well, they had attracted merchants from other regions.

In just two or three days, they had already received numerous visitors.

All of them were seeking to cooperate.

Order after order came in, nearly scheduling them until the following year.

It was enough to make anyone envious.

Old Master Zhao was well aware of this, but it was not his place to speak.

He deliberately invited all the local merchants and encouraged them to speak freely.

After a few casual remarks, some people could not help but mock others.

“Say what you will, the Bai family really is lucky. Even after being in trouble for over a month, with hundreds of taels of debt and several shops still owing penalty fees, I heard they paid off the money just a few days ago.”

“You’re behind on your news. They settled everything last week. The past few days, they were just clearing out the remaining goods.”

Steward Zhang shook his head indifferently.

It was indeed unexpected.

No one could have predicted so many sudden changes.

“But besides that cloth shop, they don’t have any other profitable businesses, do they?”

“That’s what you don’t know. They’ve just signed several big contracts. The advance payments are already in their account. Trying to bring them down won’t be easy.”

After Steward Li spoke, Old Master Zhao’s expression changed slightly.

Listening to their idle chatter was truly vexing.

“Aren’t you all thinking of getting a share of the pie?”

“Old Master, we’ve already tried to negotiate, but Bai Jingming has no interest in dealing with us.”

Steward Zhang waved his hand dismissively.

“Maybe you weren’t sincere enough? As I recall, you have several textile mills. For them to produce so many shoes and garments, it must take ages.”

“You’re as sharp as ever, Old Master. That was exactly my thought. But as soon as I suggested deducting some factory rental fees from their end, these men lost interest.”

There was no need to discuss further; the topic was already unlucky.

“I do have an idea, though. Is anyone willing to join me?”

Old Master Zhao spoke nonchalantly, subtly guiding them to believe that working with the Zhao family would guarantee profits in the future.

But they all seemed to forget one fact:

Merchants pursue profit; they won’t talk about loyalty or favors.

“His only remaining support is that cloth shop. If all our cloth merchants join forces against him, how could he possibly survive?”

Oh?

That was indeed the truth,

Yet it sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

If they listened to the Zhao family today, one day they, too, would be destroyed by him.

Still, some were tempted by the prospect of benefit and the chance to sell their own silks—why not go along with it?

“Old Master Zhao, I think it’s feasible.”

“I have no objections either!”

Thus, it was decided.

They promptly made public statements and spread the word among local townsfolk and prominent families.

They deliberately slandered the Bai family’s fabrics, saying all the silks were unclean.

Anyone wearing them would certainly encounter misfortune.

And in these times, such superstitions were widely believed.

They sat back, waiting to see the Bai family’s downfall.

But to their surprise, the people of North County seemed entirely unbothered.

On the contrary, they immediately exposed these rumors.

“They’re just trying to trick us into buying those clothes at higher prices.”

“That’s right! Young Master Bai released all us servants without demanding any penalty fees.”

“I believe he would never do such a wicked thing!”

With the path already paved, no further troubles could shake them.

No one bothered to respond to the slander anymore.

The allied stewards had not expected such a turn of events.

They flew into a rage.

Some even slashed their prices, hoping for malicious competition.

But Bai Jingming paid them no heed.

Every shop used a different type of silk—there was no need to drag himself into their mess.

Two weeks passed, and their efforts proved futile.

All this back-and-forth only tarnished Old Master Zhao’s reputation even further.

Where once people saw him as a kindly old man, now they saw only cunning and deceit.

Using such underhanded means to harm his peers?

He had tried and failed at sabotage more than once.

A few days later, Bai Jingming made a special trip to Tinglan Pavilion

And expressed his gratitude.