Chapter 59: The Quarrel

Everyone harbored the secret thought of dragging others down with them, and outwardly declared that the writing was wonderful and the plot terribly sweet. They claimed it made one feel joyful and in high spirits.
Clinging to this notion, no one who had been dragged into the trap sought to settle scores with those who recommended it. Instead, they all maintained a uniform chorus of high praise, desperately urging others to read it as well.
This created a vicious cycle, and the number of people coming to the Shanhai Bookstore to buy books grew at an exponential rate.
Because of this phenomenon, the latest volume of "Ultimately Entrusted to the Wrong Person" once again became a massive sensation throughout Luoyang City.
Consequently, people who recommended the book to one another looked upon each other with the intense, burning hostility of sworn enemies.
"How could you deceive me? Where is your sense of honor?!"
"Yell at him first! He was the one who tricked me first!"
"I don't care if he tricked you or not. How could *you* trick me?"
Seeing that the quarrel would stretch on endlessly, they eventually shook hands and made peace, sitting down to debate the contents of the book.
"Although General Su did the wrong thing, her fiancé died in a tragic accident right on the eve of their wedding. How many women could bear such agony? Her subsequent actions were entirely understandable."
"But did Young Master Jiang deserve such a fate? He was clearly the most innocent of all, dragged unwittingly into a dispute between two people, only to suffer endless hardships and humiliation. Why does no one pity him?"
"I'm not saying he deserved it, I'm merely defending General Su. After all, she has endured so much vile slander."
"No, no, that is not how we should look at it. Let us examine the facts objectively and break it down piece by piece. First, General Su's lover died tragically, which is indeed pitiable. However, that should never become an excuse for her to harm others. Moreover, she showed no remorse through repeated acts of cruelty. In this, she was unequivocally in the wrong."
"Yes, quite right, that makes sense. Yet General Su merely misunderstood, believing Young Master Jiang was exploiting her. She must have fallen deeply in love to have reacted with such fury. When all is said and done, it was entirely a misunderstanding."
"What misunderstanding? She was the one who inflicted the hurt first! Had she not treated him as a mere substitute from the very beginning, would Young Master Jiang have ever resorted to deceiving her by claiming he was using her?"
Everyone present erupted into argument once more, each side convinced of the righteousness of their own reasoning.
The opinions were sharply divided into two distinct factions.
One faction felt that General Su's actions were excusable, and that once the misunderstanding was cleared up, the two should be together—provided, of course, that she fully acknowledged her faults.
The another faction insisted that Young Master Jiang should flee as fast as he could and cease his affections for General Su, maintaining that falling in love with such a person could only lead to misery.
The debate between the two factions grew increasingly fierce, until someone suddenly uttered a single sentence that instantly silenced them all.
"Have you all forgotten that Qin the Fifth is still alive?"
"..."
"..."
"Ah, what a mess. How cruelly fate toys with people!"
"In my view, Qin the Fifth returning is for the best. That way, General Su will finally stop entangling herself with Young Master Jiang."
Those who had originally rooted for Su Qishan and Jiang Hexuan to be together fell silent, no longer certain of what ought to happen. After all, judging by the current state of affairs, Su Qishan seemed rather more fond of Qin the Fifth.

***

Hongtang stood beside the bed, anxiously trying to coax the lump huddled beneath the covers, from which came the continuous sound of a young woman sobbing.
Hongtang had no idea what had happened. She had simply purchased the book her young mistress liked to read, and after finishing it, her young mistress had dissolved into this wretched state.
No matter how she coaxed, she could not coax her out. The weeping had not stopped, and by now her voice was completely hoarse.
Excessive crying was harmful to one's health, and realizing that things could not continue this way, Hongtang stamped her foot. "Young mistress, if you do not come out right now, this servant is going to fetch the madam!"
The crying beneath the blanket paused for a fraction of a second, followed immediately by an even more vehement howl of anguish. "Even a stinking girl like you dares to threaten me! As the mistress of this house, I have lost all my dignity."
Hongtang looked wronged. "Young mistress, how would this servant dare? What on earth is written in that book to make you cry like this? If the madam finds out, she will surely punish me."
At the mention of this, Wu Jiong stopped crying, threw off the quilt, and sat up with a sudden lunge. With an expression of profound indignation, she declared, "You have no idea! No wonder that General Su insisted on bringing Young Master Jiang back to her estate upon their very first meeting—she had merely been treating him as a substitute all along!"

***

"What? A substitute for whom?" Hongtang had read the earlier installments, but had not yet read this latest volume. Hearing this, she was utterly astonished.
"For her fiancé, of course! She originally had a fiancé..." Wu Jiong let loose a rapid-fire torrent of words, recounting the entire story while injecting a heavy dose of her own subjective bias to vent her pent-up emotions.
True to her training, Hongtang proved herself a most loyal personal maid, immediately joining forces with her in righteous fury to denounce Su Qishan's outrageous behavior.
Having vented her spleen, Wu Jiong was still not satisfied, and turned her grievance upon the author of the book. "It is simply too infuriating! He clearly writes vastly better than I do, so why on earth did he insist on publishing my work in the newspaper? Was he deliberately making a fool of me and laughing at my expense?"
"How could that be, young mistress? Who would dare make a fool of you? Besides, didn't the author speak kindly of you in the newspaper? He surely meant no harm."
"Very well then." Wu Jiong reluctantly accepted this explanation.

***

Old Man Xue was in high spirits as he shouldered his carrying pole and carted his wares to Chang'an City to sell.
The goods he was selling today were unlike anything from his past trips; they were the refined white sugar he had recently learned to make.
Following numerous repeated experiments, the yield of sugar he could produce per batch was steadily increasing, and even the slightly yellowish sugar at the bottom was growing paler and paler in hue.
Having produced another batch, he had accumulated a little under half a dou, roughly five or six catties in weight. Feeling he had enough, he decided to bring it out to sell.
A couple of days ago, his grandson had raised a fuss demanding to eat white sugar, and he had portioned off a tiny scrap for him, not even daring to let the boy eat his fill, given how precious the commodity was.
Top-quality stone honey sold for sixteen wen per liang (one liang being fifty grams), and the white sugar he had refined was vastly superior to stone honey. Surely it could command at least twenty wen per liang.
Five or six catties of white sugar would fetch roughly over a thousand cash—a full string of coin. Not only would he recoup his capital, but he would make a fifty percent profit on top of it.
Old Man Xue thought to himself with a grin.
If he continued refining it in the future, he could earn even more silver, and the tuition fees for his grandson's schooling would no longer be a source of worry.
He set up a modest little stall within the designated vending area of the West Market, and then began to cry out his wares at the top of his lungs, "White sugar! Selling white sugar! Twenty wen per liang, do not miss out as you pass by!"
Passersby looked at him as though he had lost his mind. What on earth was white sugar, and why was it priced so exorbitantly when top-grade stone honey was only sixteen wen per liang?
Most people had never even heard the name white sugar.
Some of them might have read Xu Chengshu's books, but after all, the books were fictional tales filled with lengthy prose and an overwhelming amount of information. People tended not to retain it all, forgetting soon after reading, and quite a few probably could not even recall the name of the female protagonist by now.
Only those dishes that had been described in mouth-watering detail remained in people's memories, discussed with gusto.
As for Old Man Xue, he guarded his white sugar as if it were a precious treasure, stowing it away in pottery jars sealed tightly within the bamboo baskets of his carrying pole, wrapped in layer upon layer of cloth for fear that spilling a single grain would cost him his fortune.
When it came time to hawk his wares on the street, he did not even dare to unseal the jars, terrified that the bustling crowds might accidentally knock them over.
The vendor running the adjacent stall watched him shouting himself hoarse with no success, and out of the kindness of his heart, offered him a piece of advice. "Old man, you have set your price far too high. The people who come here are not wealthy folk; you will never sell it at that rate. You would do better to lower the price a bit."
Old Man Xue felt there was logic in the words, yet he was reluctant to lower his price. Driven by a dash of boastful pride, he peeled back the lid of an earthen jar just enough to give the man a peek. "Take a look—this is genuine white sugar. If I sell it too cheaply, I will take a loss."
The man stretched out his neck and peered inside.
Good heavens! It truly was white sugar, as pure and white as driven snow.
He was utterly astounded, and cried out in disbelief, "Old man, where did you acquire this sugar? I have never laid eyes on such a thing in my life."
Old Man Xue broke into a rustic, honest grin and patted his chest. "I made it myself, following the instructions written in that book, *Making a Fortune and Getting Rich*."
"You are a talented old fellow! I read that book as well, though I didn't take the method for making white sugar seriously. It seemed many people tried and failed to make it. You ought to take this to the East Market to sell; there are far more high-ranking officials and wealthy nobles over there." He offered the suggestion with genuine goodwill.
Finding this advice sound, Old Man Xue followed it and hurried off to the East Market to peddle his goods.
True to its reputation, the East Market was a gathering place for high officials and nobility. The shopfronts here were far more grandiose than those in the West Market, and one could spot numerous wealthy foreign merchants coming and going.
Feeling somewhat out of place and finding no suitable spot to set up a fixed stall, Old Man Xue simply trotted along with his carrying pole on his shoulder, crying out as he walked, "White sugar, come buy your white sugar!"
At first, no one paid him any mind, though a stray soul or two cast curious, novelty-seeking glances his way.
An older, plump middle-aged man with gold rings adorning every finger and a belt inlaid with red and green gemstones ambled over. "What sort of thing is this white sugar? Might I have a look?"
Seeing that someone was finally inquiring, Old Man Xue was overjoyed. He quickly halted, lowered his carrying pole, carefully lifted out the earthenware jar, and removed the lid for the man to inspect.
"Look here, this is white sugar."
The middle-aged man widened his eyes. "I have never seen sugar of such whiteness. Can it be eaten? Is it sweet?"
"Naturally it is sweet, the old man has tasted it himself." As he spoke, he pinched off a tiny speck of white sugar and popped it into his mouth to prove the goods were untainted. "If the young master does not believe me, you may taste a bit yourself."
Skeptical yet intrigued, the middle-aged man imitated his action, pinched a tiny granule of white sugar, and placed it upon his tongue.
It was sweet indeed!
The middle-aged man was profoundly surprised. Moreover, this sweetness differed from the stone honey, red sugar, and malt sugar they usually consumed; the flavor was far purer, carrying no taste whatsoever save for pure sweetness.
Things of rare value commanded high prices. The middle-aged man ground his teeth inwardly—even if this white sugar were to cost an ounce of gold per liang, he was determined to buy it and take it home today.
"Old man, how much for a liang of this white sugar?" the middle-aged man asked.
Seeing that someone was genuinely going to make a purchase, Old Man Xue was so happy he could scarcely speak, and held up two fingers to indicate the price.
"Two liangs of gold?" The middle-aged man's expression soured slightly, suspecting the old fellow of arbitrarily raising the price on the spot.
Startled by the exorbitant sum the man had casually tossed out, Old Man Xue stammered, "The young master misunderstands! It could never be that expensive. It is twenty wen per liang."
"Twenty wen? So cheap? Are you certain?" The middle-aged man was baffled.
Old Man Xue nodded with absolute certainty, privately thinking that twenty wen was anything but cheap.
Whereupon the middle-aged man drew a gleaming ingot of gold from his sleeve pocket, thrust it straight into the old man's hand, and said, "Keep the change. Take it."
He then instructed his attending pageboy to carry the two pottery jars and escort him home.
Never having expected the customer to be so wildly generous, Old Man Xue stared dazedly at the heavy gold ingot resting in his palm.
This was the very first time in his entire life he had ever laid eyes on gold, let alone touched it. And this solid gold ingot belonged entirely to him.
Fearing it would attract greedy eyes, he hastily shoved the ingot deep into his bosom and hurried away from the spot.
Over the next few days, Old Man Xue shouldered his carrying pole day after day to sell his white sugar. The wealthy dignitaries in the East Market were indeed affluent; they could easily afford the white sugar, and their pockets were bottomless.
They disdained the trifling sums Old Man Xue quoted, routinely paying for his wares with a solid ingot of gold.
Before long, this inevitably drew the covetous gaze of malicious actors.
Just as he stepped into the perimeter of the East Market that morning, a group of men stepped forward and boxed him in. "Are you the one who sells white sugar?"
The wealthy patrons he had encountered over the past few days had all been remarkably amiable, which had greatly diminished his fear of nobility.
He smiled and nodded honestly. "Indeed, this old man sells white sugar. Would the young masters care to purchase some?"
The men exchanged glances. "It's him. Take him away."
Without another word, they snatched Old Man Xue's carrying pole, grabbed him by the arms, and attempted to drag him off by force.
"What are you young masters doing? This old man has never broken the law or committed a wicked deed in his life!" Old Man Xue grew frantic with terror, having no inkling of where these thugs intended to haul him.
Noticing curious onlookers turning their heads to watch, the leader of the group shouted aloud, "You stole our family's recipe for making white sugar and used it to turn a profit—how do you explain yourself?"
"Heaven and earth are my witness, this old man never stole a thing! I made it purely by following what was written in a vernacular novel. If the young masters do not believe me, you are welcome to try making it yourselves! Why falsely accuse an innocent man for no reason?" Old Man Xue cried out in desperate grievance.