Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2234 Much the same 24.0

"A feint to the east and attack in the west?" Yan Bo shook his head gently. "It's not that complicated. They just want to protect the inn. If Miss Xiao is discovered in her own inn, wouldn't she be exposed? There are secret passages in several guest rooms of the inn. As long as the Yao family enters the surveillance range of the inn, Miss Xiao will be arranged to enter the secret passage until the Yao family leaves. Therefore, the Yao family's stewards came to check again and again, but did not find any problems."

"No one was found in the entire Jiangning Prefecture. Did they give up?"

"They have no choice but to give up. Originally, the disturbance was caused by the Yao family's steward. They are in the wrong. If they make a bigger fuss, it is very likely that the main family will know about it. Therefore, it will only be a commotion for two or three days."

"Yes!" Shen Cha nodded. "Second Grandfather saved Miss Xiao. Even if this favor is owed, it is not easy to make the Xiao family owe a favor. However, there is a secret passage in an inn. Miss Xiao has no doubts at all?"

"Jiangning Mansion had experienced wars in the previous dynasty, and almost every household had secret passages to avoid the war. There is no need to be surprised about this." Yan Bo smiled, "Not only in Jiangning Mansion, but all the old houses in Jiangnan are like this."

"Oh!" Shen Cha nodded. "After this time, no, to be more precise, from the moment Second Grandpa and Senior decided to bring Miss Xiao back to the inn, they were like grasshoppers tied to the same rope, and they were like people in the same boat. From now on, they have to stick together. Otherwise, if this boat capsizes, no one will have a good life, right?"

"Yes, that's about what it means. Although it's not said explicitly, Miss Xiao is a smart person and naturally understands what it means. However, she doesn't know that the people in the inn are also involved. After all, the seniors have never been involved in this, and everything came from the second master's mouth." Yan Bo looked at Shen Haolin, "Your master and grandmaster are both smart people, and the people under them are also very smart."

"We didn't show up because we didn't want to expose the inn. Even though the clans in Jiangning Prefecture, or some clans in Jiangnan, were destroyed because of the illegal salt case, the stakes that Grandmaster and Master had arranged in Jiangnan would still have to stay there. If they were exposed because of this case, it would be more trouble than gain. I think the Eagle King's secret stakes were once the same as the Jing Palace, and they were both used by the court to monitor the Jiangnan clans. It's just that the Jing Palace is in the open, while the Eagle King's secret stakes are in the dark. The open stakes have been taken care of by them, so the secret stakes must still be firmly rooted. No matter what happens, even if the clans rebel, they must not expose themselves."

"Haolin is right." Qin Zheng nodded towards Shen Haolin, "This is the Eagle King's death order. If anyone disobeys, they will be executed immediately."

"The Eagle King has always been very strict in managing his army, even stricter than us." Shen Haolin nodded, "It's good this way. A strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake. The clans are deeply rooted in the south of the Yangtze River. Even if the foreign forces have developed for decades, they cannot match them. Therefore, we must be careful. Even if everyone knows that the salt administration of Jiangning Prefecture is not clean, we must be cautious and not alert the enemy. Otherwise."

"If the other party finds out, they will probably take the initiative to destroy the evidence or kill people to silence them. In this way, no one will be happy, right? Therefore, it is better to maintain the status quo. Besides, what Miss Xiao wants at this time is not to destroy this deal, but to find out the traitor in her family through the Yao family." Shen Cha thought for a while and looked at Yan Bo, "Did the people in the Yao family know who she was later?"

"Got it." Yan Bo nodded gently. "The steward couldn't find anyone for several days, so he thought of going to Hefeng Tower to inquire about the situation and the background of this young man. He found out that he was from the Xiao family, so he became scared and sent a message to Miss Xiao through the shopkeeper of Hefeng Tower, asking for a meeting and wanting to apologize."

"Meet? To apologize? He must be scared!" Jin Jing sneered, "That manager was so arrogant at that time, I didn't expect he would be scared! This is not easy, but what is he afraid of? Is he afraid of the Xiao family coming after him, or is he afraid of losing the Xiao family as a long-term customer?"

"It should be both. She is also afraid that her family will find out and she will be punished!" Shen Cha sneered, "And the punishment will not be light, otherwise, she would not be in such a hurry to meet and apologize." She thought for a while, "Jiangning Prefecture is not just the Yao family's invisible salt merchant. Did Miss Xiao contact other families?"

"Of course. If this kind of business was dominated by one family, it would have been taken over long ago. There would definitely be other families, but they wouldn't be as arrogant as the Yao family, and their prices might be more reasonable." Jin Miaomiao looked at Yan Bo, "Is that right?" "That's right." Yan Bo confirmed their statement, "Second Master told Miss Xiao that since the Yao family is so domineering, why not just buy from other families? Since the salt is all from the government, it doesn't matter which family you buy from. Who knows, other families might have certain advantages in price, unlike the Yao family who just sets a price without any friendship. But Miss Xiao said that the purpose of her trip was not to change the seller, but to investigate the traitor in the family. After all, the price difference is not a small amount."

"Yes, isn't her purpose to find the traitor? If she wants to contact others, then..." Jin Miaomiao thought for a moment, "is she pretending to create such trouble to put some pressure on the Yao family and make them think they have lost a big customer?"

"Yes, they did this, not only the Yao family's steward knew about it, but also the Yao family's head." Qin Zheng added, "Second Master is amazing."

"Yeah, it's really amazing." Shen Cha nodded. "If it wasn't like that, the manager of the Yao family wouldn't be in such a hurry to meet and apologize. If he really lost a big customer, you can imagine what would happen to him."

"So, he sent a letter to Miss Xiao through the people at Hefeng Tower, hoping to apologize in person. He also said that in order to show his sincerity, the price of their next business deal could still be negotiated."

"Miss Xiao agreed?"

"I agreed. We can discuss the price of the next transaction. This shows that there is something fishy going on. This is also her goal, so she will not let it go. However, the Second Master told her not to appear so impatient. Give it a couple more days to make the other party anxious."

"To be honest, this doesn't seem like an idea that Second Grandpa would come up with." Xue Ruitian couldn't help but smile, "This is more like the work of a senior."

"Indeed." Yan Bo nodded and smiled. "Your Second Grandfather was a rookie at that time and couldn't come up with so many ideas. The driving force behind it was naturally the senior. Miss Xiao didn't know much, but she trusted Second Grandfather more, so the two of them discussed it and delayed the Yao family for three to five days before giving a reply and agreeing to meet. During these three to five days, they still followed the original plan and contacted other salt merchants to put more pressure on the Yao family."

"The Yao family must have been living a miserable life these past few days, fearing that the Xiao family would choose someone else in a fit of rage. So, they were overjoyed to hear that they could meet. Even if the place of the meeting was chosen by the other party, they agreed."

"Uncle Yan, I have a question." Jin Miaomiao held up a finger, "With such a big commotion, the head of the Yao family doesn't know anything about it?"

"Of course I know. So, on the day of the meeting, Miss Xiao and the Second Master met the youngest son of the head of the Yao family."