Chapter 62: Greed
Word came from outside that the young Duke, the Second Master, and the Third Master had all returned to the estate.
Ning Yuanjun first went back to his study to change into casual clothes, and Jade Ink hurriedly went to attend to him.
Linlang, still unwilling to give up, called over a few young maids, but unfortunately, each of them was busy.
With such a cushy errand, how could Autumn Abundance not jump at the chance?
She hastily pushed Pear Moon aside, her face beaming with a smile as she rushed forward.
“Sister Linlang, I happen to be free and was just about to go out to buy baked cakes! If you have an errand, I can run it for you. Just reward me with some fruits or pastries!”
Linlang, a first-rank maid from Crane Longevity Hall, didn’t recognize Autumn Abundance, but could tell from her clothes that she was a third-rank maid.
“Which courtyard are you from?”
“Autumn Abundance from Phoenix Ripple Courtyard, tending to the tea stove. I’m free right now!”
For the matter of buying pepper, Linlang didn’t want to make a fuss and didn’t even want to use anyone too familiar.
Seeing Autumn Abundance’s quick tongue and eagerness to curry favor, she was somewhat satisfied.
“If you do well, I’ll reward you with two gold-embroidered handkerchiefs. But if you lose my silver, you’re dead!”
“Sister, how could you say that? I’ve never lost silver before. Just leave it to me!”
Seeing Autumn Abundance’s sly grin, Pear Moon knew she was up to no good.
Before she could stop her, Autumn Abundance had already scampered off like a dog, deliberately turning back to make a face, sticking out her tongue to provoke.
“That shameless little wench, she doesn’t know how she’ll die!” Pear Moon cursed her silently.
On the clear and sunny Dragon Boat Festival, several banquet tables were set up in the courtyard of Crane Longevity Hall.
A small stage was erected on the corridor, where the family’s young performers sang seasonal tunes.
Young maids like Pear Moon were busy brewing tea and delivering items in the garden.
Nearby, several flower-patterned rugs were spread out, with leftover snacks and pastries from the banquet laid out, allowing everyone to eat and drink freely while enjoying the opera.
At the banquet, there was drinking games, storytelling, and jokes, with the whole family enjoying themselves harmoniously until the late afternoon before dispersing.
Pear Moon observed coldly that only Shen Shi wore a sullen expression from start to finish.
When evening came and the lamps were lit, Ning Yuanjun stayed behind to chat with his grandmother, while Shen Shi returned to Phoenix Ripple Courtyard with her maids.
She refused food and tea, claiming a headache from drinking, and went straight to the Warm Pavilion to sleep.
This gave everyone a break, and Pear Moon returned directly to her small room.
The room was brightly lit, with scattered silver pieces piled on the kang table, along with several gold-embroidered handkerchiefs and embroidered pouches.
Pear Moon tossed the bracelet and ring she had received onto the pile—truly a bountiful harvest.
Autumn Abundance sat excitedly on the kang, counting her money. If not for her ears, her grin would have stretched to the back of her head.
“Sister Linlang wanted to buy ten catties of pepper at three taels and seven mace per catty. Ershun at the gate had ten catties to sell at three taels and two mace per catty! I just passed it from one hand to the other, hahaha, and made a clean profit of five taels!”
Could something like this really work? Pear Moon nearly burst out laughing.
She had been worried that Autumn Abundance would sell the pepper from the kang hole to Linlang.
“Ershun is also dealing in pepper?”
“He bought it at one tael per catty. He was in a hurry to deliver an invitation to the young Duke, so he gave me five mace of silver and ten catties of pepper, telling me to sell it at the sundries shop. Who has time for that? I just took it straight to Linlang!”
After counting the silver, Autumn Abundance happily handed the leftover hot baked cakes to Pear Moon.
Huan Huan wasn’t angry with her either, happily eating the pastries and praising Autumn Abundance for her cleverness.
“Both of you have sharp minds!”
No one had expected the pepper trade to become so heated.
Nowadays, everyone in the capital was talking about pepper.
Even during the family banquet at Crane Longevity Hall, the masters of the second and third branches regretted not hoarding more.
“Tomorrow, you two guard the tea room. I’ll go out and take another look,” Pear Moon instructed.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, the price of pepper went mad, soaring straight to four taels of silver per catty.
The Fortune Tea House was packed to the brim, so crowded that even tea and snacks were no longer being sold.
The entire street bustled with activity, filled with wealthy households dressed in silk and satin as well as commoners in plain cotton clothes. Everyone held silver or carried strings of copper coins, as if pepper were gold being given away for free—they wanted to buy as much as they could get.
Pear Moon searched for the old broker, Mr. Li, from last time.
Before she could even speak, he urgently asked, “Young miss, do you still have pepper to sell?”
His voice was a bit too loud, catching the attention of those nearby.
A crowd surged toward Pear Moon, clamoring around her in a chaotic uproar.
“Young miss has pepper? How much silver do you want for it? I’ll take it all!”
“I’ll offer four taels and one mace per catty, and I won’t even take your commission fee!”
“How many catties do you have, young miss? Bring it here quickly for me to see!”
Each one seemed ready to devour her, and Pear Moon, frightened, shrank back.
Seeing her fear, Old Broker Li quickly pushed through the crowd and pulled her to a quieter spot.
“Why are so many people buying? It’s truly terrifying!”
Pear Moon patted her chest to calm herself, while Old Broker Li stroked his beard.
“Pepper prices have risen so quickly, no wonder everyone’s gone mad buying it! If someone bought it the day before yesterday and sold it today, they’d earn a whole tael of silver per catty without lifting a finger—easier than picking up money!”
“Old broker, where does the pepper in the capital come from?”
It was said that pepper came from India, but Pear Moon had always been curious about how it was transported.
“Pepper is brought in by large ships from the South Seas, landing along the coasts of Fujian and Zhejiang. From there, it’s transported to Jiangnan and loaded onto canal boats before being shipped to the capital.”
So it came from Jiangnan?
A sudden tremor ran through Pear Moon’s heart.
“How much does pepper cost per catty in Jiangnan?”
Old Broker Li smiled bitterly. “Only about one tael and one mace per catty.”
Uncle Tan’s efforts to hoard pepper had driven prices in the capital up tenfold.
His family clearly had agents in Jiangnan—why didn’t they just buy it there?
Uncle Tan was an official merchant who could use government canal boats for transport, and the canal wasn’t blocked or restricted!
Pear Moon’s mind raced, and though she hadn’t fully pieced it together, she already sensed something was amiss.
“Old broker, I still have thirty catties here, of the same quality as last time. Find me a buyer and meet me at the tea stall on the main street intersection. I only want four taels and one mace per catty, with one mace as your commission.”
Old Broker Li agreed, and Pear Moon hurried back.
It was better to sell it off early. It was now the fifth month, and more canal boats from the south would only keep arriving.
Once large quantities of Jiangnan pepper flooded the market, prices were bound to plummet!
Pear Moon couldn’t recall exactly, but she seemed to have heard that canal boats arrived after the Dragon Boat Festival.
In any case, she didn’t want to wait any longer. There had to be a limit to how much profit one should chase.
Phoenix Ripple Courtyard was unusually quiet. It turned out Madam Shen had come to visit, and Shen Shi had accompanied her to Brocade Prosperity Hall.
Pear Moon called Huan Huan, and together they stealthily moved the pepper out through the side gate.
She made two more trips herself before finally dragging all of it to the tea stall at the main street intersection.
Old Broker Li had already brought the buyer and was growing impatient from waiting.
When Pear Moon arrived with the goods, there was no time for idle talk.
In a flurry, the pepper was weighed, and one hundred twenty taels of silver were handed over, along with an additional ten taels as commission.
With the pepper hoarding matter resolved so smoothly, Pear Moon finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This time, the payment consisted of two fifty-tael Taizhou ingots and two ten-tael smaller ingots.
Wrapping the silver in a handkerchief, she happily returned to the estate.
At the back street sundry shop, a long line still stretched out—all people waiting to buy pepper with their money.
Autumn Abundance was also squeezed in among them, idly chatting while cracking melon seeds.
Worried that she might be buying pepper herself, Pear Moon hurried over to pull her away.
“Shh, Sister Hongqi from Madam Ning’s courtyard sent me, gave me an old white silk jacket. Pretty, isn’t it?”
Autumn Abundance finally had the white silk jacket she had been longing for.
A red silk vest over a white silk jacket—it truly looked lovely worn in spring.
“Four taels and five mace per catty now, only fools would buy it! Those greedy lot!”
Autumn Abundance muttered scornfully, spitting out a melon seed shell.
The long queue had already stretched to the street corner, with at least eighty to a hundred people.
Pear Moon had sharp eyes and recognized a young servant among them—the very one who had sold her pepper before!
“Young man, why are you still buying pepper?”
The servant recognized her too and immediately stamped his feet and beat his chest, looking as if he were about to cry in distress.
“Little miss, ever since the price of pepper went up, my master has been filled with regret! He beats me two or three times for no reason! Now, he took two hundred taels from my mistress’s dowry and told me to buy another fifty catties to bring back!”