On the twentieth day of the second lunar month, the copper water clock in the Lu Mansion study ticked rhythmically. Jiang Wan’s hand, holding a calligraphy brush, paused over the account book, the ink bleeding into a small dark blotch over the entry for "Silk Shop Profits." Lu Jingyuan stood by the window, gazing at the rolling storm clouds on the horizon, a yellowed, secret letter pinched between his fingers—a dispatch sent by fast courier from his business partner in the south.
"Though Sun Fu has fallen, the merchant alliance backing him has already made their move," Lu Jingyuan said as he turned. His black brocade robe caught a breeze, fluttering the pages of the ledger. "They are mobilizing a boycott against the Marquis Mansion Silk Shop, and they claim..."
"They claim I used underhanded tactics to drive my competitors to ruin, calling me a poisonous woman hidden within these deep walls," Jiang Wan finished for him. She took the letter, her fingertips trembling slightly as she scanned the words "vicious heart, plotting for profit and lives."
Chapter 146