"I haven’t heard of the Li Family in town having any strong backing." Ye Zi’an shook his head, "Maybe they keep it hidden. I’ll ask Mu Shaoling for help in investigating."
"Alright, but I don’t know if he’ll be willing to do it." Yang Chuxia replied.
"It’s not a big deal, so it shouldn’t be a problem." Ye Zi’an said, "He’s eating and drinking at your expense right now, so shouldn’t he contribute something?"
"Hehe, you’re right."
Later in the afternoon, when Mu Shaoling was free, Yang Chuxia told him about the situation, and he didn’t seem to mind helping.
On the second day, Fugui returned from the county town, and in the afternoon, Qingyou also came back from several nearby towns.
However, the news they brought back was not good – there were no Sichuan peppers left.
Yang Chuxia thought for a moment and said, "Fugui, you can rest for a day, and then you and Qingyou will go to the prefecture city together. If there are no Sichuan peppers there, don’t bother coming back, just go straight to another prefecture. I don’t believe that Sichuan peppers are completely out of stock in the whole Great Zhou!"
"Hold on, don’t send them out yet!" Mu Shaoling came over and told Yang Chuxia, "Have your servant tell you what he found."
The servant handed the information he had gathered to Yang Chuxia.
Yang Chuxia opened it and her face turned green.
"Yang Aoshuang actually married Young Master Li? Is there something wrong with Young Master Li’s head? Marrying such a rotten person." Yang Chuxia slammed the information on the table, "I find it strange, Old Madam Li didn’t like Yang Aoshuang, right? How did she come to agree?"
"What can she do if she doesn’t agree? The Li Family is just a merchant, after all." Mu Shaoling snorted coldly, "Yang Aoshuang’s father was once a top scholar and held a position for a few years. He knows some people that the Li Family can’t compete with."
"Oh, I see." Yang Chuxia said, but then slapped the table, "Anyway, she’s married now, but she must be out of her mind to try and challenge me. It seems I haven’t taught her enough of a lesson. Is she still thinking about Brother An?"
Alright, the information Mu Shaoling found showed that the Li Family’s large-scale procurement of Sichuan peppers was orchestrated by Yang Aoshuang. Not only that, she had also used the Li Family’s connections to buy up Sichuan peppers in several nearby prefectures.
In other words, even if Yang Chuxia were to leave Funan, she wouldn’t be able to buy Sichuan peppers in other prefectures, unless they were shipped from farther away. But transporting them from other places would take one or two months round trip.
Now, it’s only a few days until October and just over a month until the end of the shipping season. Obviously, even if the Sichuan peppers were to arrive by then, Yang Chuxia wouldn’t have enough time to make the marinated crab. Not only that, but other items in her household would also be affected.
Additionally, Mu Shaoling mentioned that Yang Aoshuang was also trying to find someone to learn how to make the marinated crab, and it seemed like she was close to figuring it out.
Yang Chuxia snorted, "Fugui, Qingyou, don’t go to the prefecture city yet. Fugui, go buy star anise tomorrow, get as much as you can. For the other ingredients for the marinated crab, you two are to go to different towns to buy them for me. As for Qingyou, from now on, have people watch over the workers. Whether they are our workers or those hired from the village, if they cause trouble, beat them severely. If they’re from the village, send them to the government office, and don’t bother with anyone pleading on their behalf."
"Yes, Miss!" Qingyou said and left. Fugui asked a few more questions before leaving as well.