The attendant asked, "Master, shall we still go have a look at that bank across the way?"
"No need. That young fellow already told me what they do over there. I'm not about to go exchanging my silver for paper!"
"No matter how crafty and slippery that shop boy may be, he can't hope to fool my eagle eyes!"
Who was it that just paid a deposit? the attendant silently grumbled to himself.
"I've also found out who runs things in this village. Come on, get in the carriage—we're going to that village committee!"
The carriage rolled on and presently arrived at the village committee compound.
Word had already been brought that one of the township's three elders, Elder Wu, had come to call.
As for how they knew—naturally, he had said so himself back at the rental center.
Zhao Liu had done no more than give him a gentle nudge, and he had proceeded to spill everything he should and shouldn't have said. He had all but announced the color of his undergarments.
"Good sir, what brings you here?" Zhao Twelve emerged from the side room and asked, feigning total ignorance.
Elder Wu's attendant stepped forward, chin raised, and announced, "Our master is a township elder of Qingniu Town. Tell your village head to come out."
"A township elder? Of course, right away—I'll go fetch them immediately." Zhao Twelve made a show of scrambling inside in a panic, stumbling and nearly falling in the process.
Sun Dazhu, who had also remained in the side room without showing himself, watched in silence and thought: that Zhao Twelve is sharp as a tack—puts on a performance so convincing you'd think it was real.
I'm nowhere near his equal.
A moment later, Jinyi walked out, accompanied by two younger girls.
These two girls were ones she had selected from the household for their quick wits, and she was keeping them close to train them.
"Elder Wu, how do you do. I am Zhao Jinyi, village head of Taoyuan Village."
Although he had already been told the village head was a mere slip of a girl, when she actually appeared before him, it remained impossible to believe.
What's more, the girl was genuinely beautiful, with a fine, healthy complexion, and her bearing and manner were entirely those of a young lady from a distinguished household—so much so that Elder Wu found himself momentarily at a loss as to how to proceed.
One glance was enough for Jinyi to read something of his thoughts, and so she broke into a warm smile and said, "Elder Wu, shall we speak inside? Please, this way."
"Very well."
Jinyi walked ahead, Elder Wu followed behind, and they made their way to her office.
Jinyi's office was spacious—a dozen people could have sat comfortably around the reception table. The furniture and decorative pieces were all refined and elegant, and two bookshelves stood laden with volumes of every kind. The room was as much a study as an office, and nothing about it belonged to ordinary people.
Elder Wu had visited the study of the county magistrate himself, and even that had not been this imposing.
The books alone were worth a considerable sum—books were expensive in those days, their prices reckoned in silver.
And so Elder Wu felt all the more ill at ease.
The two parties took their seats. Jinyi gave a quiet instruction: "Chunlan, bring the elder some tea."
The little maid called Chunlan reached up to a shelf lined with various ornamental pieces, lifted down a small canister, and pinched out a measure of tea leaves into an exquisite teapot. The other maid, Qiuju, carried a kettle in from the adjoining room and poured the hot water.
"This roasted tea was a gift from my master. One generally only has the chance to drink it in the capital. I wonder, Elder, whether you have tried it before—please, help yourself."
Only to be had in the capital—could it be a tribute tea?
Jinyi poured a cup for her guest and one for herself.
"Please."
Elder Wu grew even more uneasy. He put on a fawning grin—a smile so labored it looked like a chrysanthemum in its death throes—and, cupping the teacup in both hands, carefully took a small sip. Before he had even tasted anything, he was already heaping on compliments.
"Village Head Zhao, may I ask where your master hails from?"
"The master is from the north. There are elders in his family who wear purple at court. I would ask you not to press further—the master dislikes trading on his family's power and influence, and so he has never disclosed his identity."
"Of course, of course, not another word."
Good heavens—purple robes. Only officials of the third rank or above were permitted to wear purple.
No wonder even one of the household's maids carried herself with such presence.
They say even the doormen of a prime minister's residence outrank a seventh-grade official—this must be what that means.
"Elder Wu, I imagine you have come today regarding the matter of taxes?"
"Ah, well…" Elder Wu was caught off guard. Should he collect taxes from a household like this, or should he not?
Jinyi put on an expression of mild indignation and said, "Elder Wu, my master refuses to rely on his family's influence, and he has always abided by the law in every matter. Whatever taxes are owed, they are owed in full. My master is hardly short of a few copper coins."
"You are familiar with Immortal's Bliss, I imagine—that was something my master himself developed. Do you really think we would begrudge a little land tax?"
"Yes, yes, of course, Village Head Zhao—you are entirely right. The master is most… most magnanimous!"
"We have opened roughly two hundred and ten mu of wasteland here this year. The tax rate on newly cleared land is sixty percent of that on prime fields, yes? Reckoning by ordinary crops, the tax due is forty percent of the yield—forty-eight jin of grain per mu."
"Two hundred and ten mu therefore amounts to ten thousand and eighty jin of grain."
"At current prices for coarse grain, that comes to forty-six thousand and three hundred wen."
"My master will round that up for you, Elder Wu—forty-seven taels of silver. Is there any error in my reckoning?"
"None whatsoever, none at all." Elder Wu's head was still swimming like porridge, and even if there had been an error, he would not have dared say so.
"Chunlan, go to Jinxiu and collect forty-seven taels of silver."
"Yes, miss." The little maid hitched up her skirts and darted out, returning moments later with a tray, which she set before Elder Wu.
Four large ingots, seven small ingots—except these ingots were shaped like dumplings, made entirely of silver.
So very beautiful.
"Elder Wu, the tax silver is yours. If there is nothing else, I won't see you out."
"No need to see me out, no need at all. I'll take my leave then."
Elder Wu tucked the silver into his breast, bowed himself out the door with his old back bent low, climbed into the carriage, and departed Taoyuan Village at remarkable speed.
He had wanted to request an audience with the master, but even this young maid's bearing had been more than he could quite manage—and in the end he had not had the nerve to ask.
With Elder Wu the tax collector sent on his way, Jinyi went back to her affairs without a second thought. A few dozen taels of silver—a single day's income from wine sales. She gave it no more mind than that.
Inventing an identity for the master spared one a great many headaches.
Without it, petty officials and minor functionaries would come scratching at the door every few days looking for handouts, and even if you had nothing to fear from them, they would wear you down to a frazzle.
Now, things were much simpler—the master came from a great and powerful family.
The enterprise here only lent credence to that story. How else could an ordinary person have built up such a considerable operation?
And even if someone suspected it was all false, there was no way to prove it. Would they go to the capital and interrogate every official of the third rank and above, one by one?
That would be the God of Longevity drinking arsenic—tired of living.
So for now, as long as they didn't provoke an actual third-rank official, there would be no serious trouble on the official front.
She had ample time to develop her position, and when that time came—even if the fiction were exposed—Jinyi was confident she could protect herself. She might even…