You Win, I Win, Everybody Wins
Seeing Zhang Changshen suspicion, Wu Zong said, "You've investigated that case too, so you should know that the Lady Wei didn't want to bring Junior Sister back in the first place. They insisted on taking that Xu Family girl who looked somewhat similar to her home. Later, after they were forced to take her back, they beat and scolded her every few days, didn't give her any money, and didn't care whether she lived or died."
"If it weren't for the fact that Lady Wei treated my junior sister so badly, and they didn't seem like mother and daughter at all, the old lady and madam of the Earl of Suiping wouldn't have suspected anything and sent people to investigate. You know that Lady Wei has always been arrogant and domineering, and even the old lady of the Earl of Suiping can't control her. My junior sister's life was very difficult, and she had no choice but to go to the jewelry store in Beining to draw jewelry designs. If you don't believe me, you can ask around; it's the one called Gathered Treasures Studio."
"Now that your background has been clarified, your junior sister no longer needs to live such a life," Zhang Changshen comforted her.
"The Earl of Suiping's Residence was already poor, and now that it has divided its assets, it has even less property left," Wu Zong said. "Even now, my junior sister is still designing jewelry for jewelry stores."
"How many of you go to learn painting?" Zhang Changshen asked.
"There were twelve of us, including my master, my second senior brother, and me. My junior sister originally didn't want to accept money from the three of us, but my master insisted on giving it to her. We adults can't take advantage of children, can we? Especially since my junior sister is so poor."
Zhang Changshen did the math and clicked his tongue repeatedly. "Your junior sister is amazing! Just like that, she earned 36,000 taels of silver! Good heavens!"
"Isn't it worth it? Three thousand taels of silver, no need to perform the teacher's ceremony in front of others, no need to send gifts on festivals and holidays every year, and you can learn such a very practical painting skill. If it were you, would you be willing to learn it?" Wu Zong glanced at Zhang Changshen.
Zhang Changshen pursed his lips but remained silent.
"My lord, please don't be so modest. These nine people were handpicked by my master. He spread the word, and countless people in the capital wanted to learn. You know, if a scholar or a lower-ranking official learns this painting skill, getting a job at our Court of Judicial Review won't be a problem, right? Three thousand taels—what's that for such a promising future?"
After he said that, Zhang Changshen also felt that three thousand taels was not much, it was actually too cheap.
You should know that in the capital, even if you have ten thousand taels of silver, you might not be able to find a way to get an official position.
Even for prominent families in the capital, securing a decent official position for their sons or grandsons who had passed the imperial examinations (such as the Juren or Jinshi degrees) was extremely difficult, let alone for wealthy families.
Thinking about it this way, Zhang Changshen was in a dilemma.
In fact, if Zhao Ruxi hadn't become Kang Shilin's disciple, and Wu Zong wasn't her senior brother, and the others had been protecting her in every way, Zhang Changshen wouldn't have had to be troubled by this matter at all.
He only needed to wait for Wu Zong to return after completing his studies, and then let him teach the painters in the government office. He could teach as many as he wanted, no problem. At worst, the Court of Judicial Review could pay for Wu Zong's three thousand taels of silver for painting lessons.
At that time, would a young girl Zhao Ruxi dare to have any objections?
But now things are complicated.
He sighed and said, "Lord Wu, you see, our yamen desperately needs a painter like this. Although you've gone to learn, we can't expect you to paint portraits every time a case comes up, can we? You are the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Why don't you teach the painters in our yamen after you've learned? And let the painters from other yamens come and learn too?"
Wu Zong smiled and said, "Alright, I'll ask my master. If he agrees, I have no problem with it. After all, I'm an official of the Court of Judicial Review. How could I dare disobey your order, Your Excellency?"
"No, no, no." Zhang Changshen felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing the name of Mr. Kang Shilin.
He certainly didn't want to see Old Master Kang blocking his doorway and yelling at him tomorrow.
"Lord Wu, Brother Wu, what I said just now was just a joke. Please don't tell Mister Kumu. Just pretend I didn't say anything. Yes, I didn't say anything."
Wu Zong remained silent, simply watching his superior act shamelessly.
Zhang Changshen, thick-skinned as ever, casually moved on from what had just happened and asked, "So what do you think we should do? You're also an official of the Court of Judicial Review. You know how much we need this kind of painting skill to solve cases. Take this case for example, without Miss Zhao's painting skills, even with Sun Jiawang as a witness, we probably wouldn't have been able to catch the criminal. As the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, you've learned painting skills; you can't just make things difficult for everyone, can you?"
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Wu Zong countered.
He was well-versed in the art of bargaining: he couldn't lower the price himself; Zhang Changshen had to be the one to offer it. And he couldn't agree too readily, otherwise the other party would feel he'd taken advantage of them, and afterwards, they'd regret it deeply.
You have to keep putting it off, acting like you're in a lot of trouble. Finally, when you can't refuse out of politeness, you reluctantly agree. This way, the other person feels they've taken advantage of you, and thus feels comfortable and satisfied.
Therefore, although his master gave him a bottom line, he couldn't readily agree to the offer for the sake of Lord Zhang's physical and mental health.
Where can you find such a good subordinate?
"Our Court of Judicial Review is so poor..." Zhang Changshen first explained the Court of Judicial Review's difficulties in constantly asking for money, lamenting its poverty, before revealing his price, "How about one thousand taels of silver per person?"
Wu Zong listened patiently until the end, then said earnestly, "Actually, our Court of Judicial Review isn't short of money. A little of the money from selling the property of convicted officials would be enough for us to train a few more painters. As for those sent from the local areas to learn painting, let them pay for it themselves. Or..."
He glanced furtively at the door and lowered his voice, "Send one person from each region, four thousand taels of silver. As for whether they teach others after they go back, we won't care. My master and junior sister wouldn't know, right? As for our yamen, we don't need to contribute any silver at all. We can just borrow some from the local areas to make up the difference. If twelve people come from the local areas, our Court of Judicial Review can send four to learn painting. Three thousand taels of silver each, no problem at all. It's a win-win situation, right?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Changshen sized him up, his gaze wary. "You brat, you even dared to swindle your master and junior sister. Are you also trying to swindle me, your master, out of this three thousand taels of silver?"
Wu Zong immediately straightened his face and stood up. "If that's the case, then you should go and talk to my master." With that, he walked out.
"Come back, come back, okay, okay, I promise you."
Wu Zong turned around. "You have to reimburse me for my three thousand taels of silver?"
"Report, report." Zhang Changshen nodded.
"Finally, my junior sister is charging these people money to teach them to paint. You can't let her be vilified. She just finished teaching them, and then an imperial censor impeached her, confiscating her money and throwing her in jail. We can't do something so unethical!"