Although they now had an ample supply of charcoal, enough to last them at least the next two or three years without worry, Su Muyao was destined to spend her entire life in Qianxi Sisuo.
Moreover, that charcoal had been painstakingly gathered through their own efforts and could not be equated with the charcoal she was entitled to by her rank.
Furthermore, last month, Yingzaosi had delivered charcoal mixed with water. If they said and did nothing this month, others would increasingly perceive her as weak and easy to bully. It was even possible that everyone in the palace would eventually trample over her.
Just like Yingchun in Dream of the Red Chamber, who sought peace and harmony at all costs, only to have her wet nurse steal her Leisi Golden Phoenix to pawn it off. When discovered, the nurse even falsely accused Yingchun of using her servants' money.
Su Muyao understood clearly that she absolutely could not swallow this bitter pill in silence.
The question now was: how could she achieve the effect of "beating the grass to startle the snake" without making a scene?
Having Yun Mo inspect each piece of charcoal in the baskets was certainly an option, but it would be a terrible move, reeking of desperation.
Even if they discovered the water-mixed charcoal, the eunuchs from Yingzaosi could easily say, "We were in a hurry and accidentally grabbed the wrong batch. We'll replace it for your mistress right away."
In that case, could they really keep pressing the issue and holding onto their mistake?
Moreover, such an approach would not even scratch the enemy's surface while causing a thousand losses to themselves.
The original host, Guaerjia, came from a noble family. Although her rank was low, she was still a mistress in the palace. Having her personal maid rummage through the baskets of Heitan to check for dampness would be both undignified and improper.
One must never think that servants and mistresses are separate entities—having Yun Mo inspect the charcoal would be no different from Su Muyao doing it herself.
Within the palace, every mistress has her own sphere of influence, and the servants who attend to them all fall within that sphere.
It could be said that servants are the private property of their mistresses, and their words and actions represent their mistresses.
If her own maid were to inspect the charcoal baskets, Su Muyao, as the mistress, would become a laughingstock behind her back.
If they found something, it would be somewhat better—the Yingzaosi personnel would be caught in their mistake and at least wouldn't dare to gossip. But if they found nothing, it would be even worse.
If the Yingzaosi people spread the word, by the next day, she and her maid would likely become the laughingstock of the Forbidden City.
Therefore, she could neither pretend ignorance about receiving damp charcoal last month for the sake of dignity, nor could she disregard her own status and propriety over a mere batch of charcoal.
The balance between these two extremes had to be struck perfectly.
Despite facing such a thorny problem, Su Muyao appeared remarkably at ease. She leisurely stroked the feathers on the back of the Haidongqing, then beckoned Yun Mo with a hook of her finger, signaling her to lean in.
After giving her instructions in this manner, Yun Mo's eyes immediately lit up, her brows relaxed, and she nodded emphatically, saying, "Miss, I'll go right now."
Outside the gate of Qianxi Sisuo, the charcoal cart had been waiting for quite some time.
Beside the cart stood five or six eunuchs responsible for delivering the charcoal, all dressed in identical blue gowns and wearing Yingzaosi waist tokens.
Only the eunuch standing at the front, named Zhou De'an, was dressed a grade higher than the others. He wore a fifth-rank feathered cap and held a Zhuwei① in his hand. His face was lined with wrinkles, indicating considerable seniority and age in the palace—he was the supervising eunuch among them.
Seeing Yun Mo come out, Zhou De'an straightened his back and said with a forced smile, "Miss Yun Mo, I'm quite busy with duties. After delivering the charcoal, I still have to report to the Yingzaosi. Can't afford any delays."
The implication was that he was complaining about Yun Mo making them wait outside earlier.
"It's my fault, my fault for keeping Manager Zhou waiting so long."
Yun Mo kept Su Muyao's words firmly in mind. Though she was seething inside, she showed no trace of it on her face. Instead, she adopted the humble posture of a subordinate being overly cautious toward a superior, not daring to offend easily.
She glanced at the charcoal cart and saw only seven or eight baskets left. Shifting the topic, she asked with a conversational smile, "Have you finished delivering to the other palaces?"
When Yun Mo had excused herself earlier, Zhou De'an had felt somewhat uneasy.
Last month, he had embezzled most of Qianxi Sisuo's charcoal allotment, replacing it with damp charcoal. Such practices were not his first in the palace.
He had never run into trouble before.
Eunuchs like him, who managed to rise to managerial positions, were all shrewd individuals.
Not only did they have to read expressions, keep their eyes and ears open, and tailor their words to whomever they spoke to, but the most important skill was to have a thorough understanding of the affairs of each palace's masters.
Which consort was favored, which had a powerful family backing, which had connections within the palace and couldn't be offended… and so on.
They had to keep all these details in mind.
Flattering those above was a necessary survival tactic. Excluding those consorts, the remaining marginalized, low-ranking consorts became his targets for profiteering and extorting silver.
Some of these consorts cared about face; even if they discovered they were being cheated, they wouldn't speak up. Some were timid, afraid of conflict and trouble. Some had money and didn't care if their small charcoal allotment was embezzled…
In short, once he delivered damp charcoal once, he could accurately gauge and control them.
But regarding the remaining mistress of Qianxi Sisuo, he had only heard that she was in poor health, having fallen ill right after entering the palace. Fortunately, she had received the new emperor's grace, allowing her to recuperate in the palace and thus avoiding the fate of guarding the imperial mausoleum.
As for anything else, due to Su Muyao's reclusive lifestyle, he knew nothing at all.
But now, seeing Yun Mo's behavior, Zhou De'an completely set aside his worries. This mistress was likely another timid one, easy to manipulate.
As the saying goes, like master, like servant—and the reverse held true as well.
This maid named Yun Mo was fawning over him, surely on her mistress's orders. The purpose, he suspected, was to obtain good charcoal.
But this Guaerjia was too stingy. Wanting good charcoal but not offering any silver—why should he give it to them?
He would continue embezzling as he should.
After these calculations in his mind, Zhou De'an replied indifferently, "Yes, these seven and a half baskets of charcoal are all for Qianxi Sisuo. February this year had twenty-nine days. According to the daily allotment of twenty jin of Heitan for the young mistress, that's a total of five hundred and eighty jin of charcoal. Miss Yun Mo, please check it."
As he spoke, several eunuchs unloaded eight baskets of charcoal and leaned them against the palace wall. One eunuch brought out a scale and weighed them one by one for Yun Mo to see.
Yun Mo watched the scale intently, her face showing not the slightest carelessness or negligence. Zhou De'an, standing behind her, yawned and said nonchalantly, "Miss Yun Mo is still so meticulous!"
He deliberately drew out the last syllable, hinting at a deeper meaning.
Yun Mo pretended not to hear the sarcasm in Zhou De'an's words, her eyes still fixed intently on the scale.
Soon, the seven and a half baskets of charcoal were weighed, totaling five hundred eighty catties and six taels—no less than the required amount.
“No issues, Miss Yun Mo?”
Yun Mo nodded slightly and replied respectfully, “No issues. Thank you for your hard work, Manager Zhou. Since you have other matters to attend to, I won’t keep you any longer.”
“Miss Yun Mo should also return soon.”
Zhou De'an let out a soft snort through his nose, waved his zhuwei, and ordered in a shrill voice, “Move the carts!”
A group of eunuchs pushed the empty charcoal carts, slowly making their way westward along the palace path. Yun Mo smiled but did not stop them.
Just as the empty carts reached the gate of Ganxi Ersuo, Yun Mo’s voice suddenly called out, “Manager Zhou, please wait a moment!”
The empty carts creaked to a halt.
Zhou De'an turned to look. One of the eight charcoal baskets that had been leaning against the palace wall had somehow fallen to the ground, spilling its contents—full of heitan—across the square bricks of the palace path.
It looked as though Yun Mo had accidentally kicked one over.
But Zhou De'an knew better. His heart suddenly sank, and he began to regret his earlier hasty judgment.
Yun Mo knelt down, wrapped a piece of charcoal in a handkerchief, and slowly stood up, smiling as she said, “Manager Zhou, could you explain why half of the charcoal in this basket is damp?”
Though her face wore a smile, it did not reach her eyes. Her tone, once fawning and submissive, now carried a sharp, aggressive edge.
Zhou De'an clenched his sweaty hands, forcing himself to remain calm. He walked over, feigning ignorance, and said, “Damned fools! Which little bastard was so careless as to mix damp charcoal into the allotment for the masters? Just wait until I find out—I’ll beat him to death!”
He then bowed apologetically and added, “Miss Yun Mo, I’m truly sorry. It’s all because of my clumsy subordinates. Fortunately, you discovered it in time. I’ll have them replace it right away.”
Yun Mo sneered, “Manager Zhou, if I hadn’t accidentally knocked this basket over, I wouldn’t have known it was mixed with damp charcoal. Tell me, how would I explain this to my mistress if I took it back? My mistress is unwell, and it is only by His Majesty’s grace that she is allowed to recuperate in the palace. Now that she’s recovering, if she lacks enough charcoal to keep warm in this harsh winter, she might not die of illness but freeze to death instead. Wouldn’t that be a betrayal of His Majesty’s kindness?”
This was a charge he could not afford to accept.
Zhou De'an wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and forced a dry, apologetic smile. “How could that be? If there’s an issue with the charcoal, you can report it to Yingzaosi, and I’ll naturally have it replaced with good charcoal.”
Yun Mo snorted coldly. “Replace it? If it hadn’t been discovered in time, in a few days, Yingzaosi would likely claim the dampness was due to improper storage on my part. How could that be clarified then? As the manager of Yingzaosi, with such a major oversight in official duties, you’re quick to shift blame and absolve yourself of responsibility.”
Zhou De'an was completely outmatched in the argument and could only bow repeatedly, apologizing and insisting he had no ill intent.
Seeing that the timing was about right, Yun Mo finally changed her expression and said, "I also believe in Steward Zhou's character, so let's let it go this time. However, after such an incident, I'm still somewhat uneasy. From now on, I will randomly select one basket of charcoal from each monthly delivery from Yingzaosi for inspection. I hope Steward Zhou will not betray my trust again."
Randomly selecting one basket for inspection meant that if even one basket contained damp charcoal, there was a chance it would be discovered.
Unless all the charcoal supplied to Qianxi Sisuo was of good quality.
Zhou De'an finally understood just how difficult the people of Qianxi Sisuo were to deal with. This series of moves had left him with no room to fight back. In the end, he could only blame himself for being careless.
Fine, fine. Consider it a lesson learned.
Yun Mo emerged completely victorious, feeling immensely satisfied. The frustration she had felt last month over receiving damp charcoal was now completely dispelled.