Chapter 22: Lü Mo’s Mental Breakdown
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News that the Salt Merchants had begun selling refined salt spread quickly, reaching throughout the entire Ying Tian Prefecture in less than a day. Villagers grabbed their salt jars and rushed towards the salt shops. At this moment, the salt shop was so crowded that not a single person could squeeze inside.
Standing at the grain store, Lu Mo looked at the small amount of grain left in the shop and discussed with his son whether they should keep some for themselves. After all, the new harvest wouldn't come until next year, and they still needed to eat in the meantime.
“Father! We should keep some. The Lu household has dozens of people; we consume a lot of grain daily,” Lu Man Cang suggested.
Lu Mo pondered for a moment and then nodded. “Yes. The grain in the warehouse has all been exchanged for refined salt. This is all that’s left. If grain prices rise later, we won’t have to buy at high prices.”
Just as he was about to tell the clerk to close the shop, he noticed the crowd outside rushing eastward, each person seeming more urgent than the last.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” came the reply.
The father and son stood at the door, suspiciously looking out. Unable to contain their curiosity, they tried to ask someone, but everyone was running as if chasing after money, moving too fast to be stopped.
Finally, they managed to stop a staggering old man.
“Excuse me, where is everyone rushing off to?”
The old man sized them up as if they were simpletons. “You don’t know?”
“No, we don’t. I’ve been at the shop since morning and haven’t left. What’s happening?”
“The Salt Merchants have started selling refined salt! Top-quality refined salt!”
“Refined salt?”
Lu Mo thought he must have misheard.
“That’s right! As fine as white snow! I heard it’s the same quality as what the Western merchants brought a few days ago.”
“The same as the Western salt?”
“Yes! Now our salt shops are selling it too. Look, everyone is rushing there, afraid they won’t get any if they’re late!”
“You’re going to buy refined salt too?”
Lu Mo looked the old man over—ragged hemp clothes patched repeatedly, barely fit to go outside. Could they really afford refined salt?
The old man bristled at the question. “I may be poor, but I still have a few dozen copper coins! Humph!”
With a cold snort, he brushed off his sleeve and walked away, ignoring them.
That last sentence hit Lu Mo like a thunderbolt to the forehead. He looked at his son in disbelief.
“What? Did he just say a few dozen copper coins can buy refined salt?”
Lu Man Cang was equally stunned. “No… that can’t be, right?”
In just two days, could refined salt really have dropped from twenty taels to mere dozens of copper coins?
They neither wanted to believe it nor dared to.
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“This won’t do! I have to see for myself!”
Lu Mo joined the crowd and ran toward the salt shop. It was already so packed that there was no way to get inside.
Several townsfolk who had just bought salt were grinning from ear to ear.
The jars in their hands contained indeed dazzlingly white refined salt, identical in quality to what the Lu family had purchased.
“Look at this refined salt—so pure, not a speck of impurity!”
“Yes! To have such fine salt in our lifetime, we must thank His Highness the Crown Prince’s grandson!”
“Indeed! I heard the Crown Prince’s grandson is only seven years old and can purify coarse salt himself—a true prodigy!”
“I heard he’s favored by the immortals, no wonder he’s so capable!”
“So that’s the story…”
As the buyers walked back, they chatted happily.
“Never thought such fine salt would be the same price as the coarse stuff before!”
“Right! Luckily, we were too poor to buy the twenty-tael-per-pound refined salt; otherwise, we would have lost a fortune!”
“Haha! Exactly! Thinking back, those who paid a high price for refined salt a few days ago were the biggest fools!”
“Especially that Lu family—they sold all their grain to buy refined salt! They’re probably crying in the bathroom by now…”
Lu Mo’s anger boiled as he listened to their talk.
Unable to restrain himself, he swung his fist at one of the men.
Since it was the first day of salt sales, the merchants had anticipated the crowds and arranged soldiers to maintain order. Instantly, two steel blades gleamed coldly against his neck.
The troops moved with lightning speed.
By the time the Lu family paid to get him out, it was already the next morning.
After spending a whole night in the cell, Lu Mo’s clothes were dust-covered and dull, his hair tousled, and his face pale.
The matron, clutching a handkerchief, burst in with a dozen concubines, all crying uncontrollably.
“Master! You’re finally out!”
“Master, we were so worried about you…”
However, Lu Mo pushed them aside and went straight to his son.
“Did you find out? What’s the deal with the refined salt? Is it really the same price as coarse salt?”
He had spent the whole night thinking, unable to understand how after so many years of eating coarse salt, it could suddenly be purified.
Lu Man Cang nodded helplessly. “It’s true! Refined salt now costs a hundred copper coins per pound, and there’s an unlimited supply!”
“What…?”
Lu Mo’s vision darkened, and he fainted on the spot.
When the Lu family tried to summon a doctor, they found none available.
All doctors and medical apprentices in the city had been hired by wealthy households for consultations.
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One family’s carriage would be waiting at the door as another’s left.
The news of the salt price collapse was too much for some to bear.
Some fainted from the shock; others did not survive, meeting the King of Hell.
…
Inside the Eastern Palace.
Since the last time the Lu family almost ruined the roasted sweet potatoes and was scolded, they hadn’t seen Zhu Biao.
Yet, they weren’t anxious or upset.
Because their patriarch had said that with the disaster in Henan Prefecture, grain prices would surely rise.
When the time came, the Crown Prince would surely speak gently and ask her to persuade her family to lower the grain prices.
At this moment, she was leisurely sitting in the courtyard, enjoying the scenery in great comfort.
“Your Highness the Crown Princess, Lord Lu has arrived!” a palace maid suddenly reported.
“Father is here?” The Crown Princess’s eyes lit up immediately.
She guessed it must be to deliver good news about the grain prices rising.
“Quick! Bring him in!”
“Yes!” The maid obeyed at once.
Moments later, Lu Ben hurried inside.
“Father! Why have you come?”
“Ah! Don’t mention it!”
But her father did not look as she had hoped; instead, his face was full of worry.
“What happened? Didn’t grain prices rise?”
“Sigh! Not only did they not rise, your second uncle has fallen ill from anger!”
“Second uncle is sick?”
“Yes…”
Lu Ben recounted the whole matter.
Upon hearing this, the Crown Princess’s heart sank, and she collapsed into her chair.
“No wonder the Crown Prince hasn’t visited me recently!”
“We really underestimated His Highness the Crown Prince’s grandson…”
Lu Ben frowned deeply, helpless. “Why didn’t we realize he had this ability before?”
“Mother…?”
Zhu Yunwen had quietly approached.
“Am I not going to become emperor?”
The Crown Princess quickly covered her son’s mouth. “Shh! Yunwen, don’t worry. Mother will find a way.”