Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 335 What I want is the wink
Li Yun, a member of Qianhu in the Imperial City, saw the look on his face was different and knew that he had something to report. He put down what he was doing and signaled the brothers in front to continue digging. He exited the room, looked at the person who came, and asked in a low voice;
"What's the hurry?"

A commander-in-chief of the Imperial City Department came over, saw that there were no outsiders around, and whispered;

"My lord, the people from the frontier army have started to carry those big boxes outside, and they seem to be sent to the dock for loading. I'm here to tell you."

"Yes, I understand. Don't spread this matter randomly. You can continue to lead people to search in the courtyard."

What is Li Yundang doing? The small box contains silver, and the big box contains some antique calligraphy and paintings. Although they are valuable, it is useless to ask for them. There are so many books. Besides, even if they are moved, they can only ignore them and pretend. Tsukuru didn't see it.

How did the general banner know that there was something fishy inside? He was used to following the majesty of the Grand Duke of Palm Print. Everyone outside gave him face. It was our Imperial City Division who had the final say. He thought Qianhu didn't understand and said anxiously;

"Master Qianhu, then our people won't take any."

Li Yun wanted to go back, but when he heard Zong Qi's words, he immediately stopped there, looked back coldly, and warned;

"You want to die, but you didn't see the border troops staring around you. Furthermore, if you think the Marquis' sword can't kill you, tell the people below not to take anything they shouldn't, even if it's a tael of silver. If you take it, your life will be at risk, and you will not be short of money."

Zongqi quietly went outside and looked around the yard. Except for his own people knocking inside and outside the house, he saw a large number of frontier soldiers staring around with torches. Shrinking his neck.

"Yes, sir, I will tell you now."

Immediately afterwards, Li Qianhu was worried and began to patrol the houses and yards with his soldiers, shouting at the brothers of the Imperial City Department;
"Please be careful. If there are any suspicious places on the ground or in the walls, break them open and look. Also, keep your hands and feet clean. This money is indispensable to everyone. Don't put this Qianhu in trouble. Do you hear me clearly?"

"Yes, Qianhu, listen clearly, brothers understand."

Seeing that the people around him were so knowledgeable, Li Yun Qianhu breathed a sigh of relief.

of course,

This scene was also seen by General Yongbian who was patrolling everywhere. Seeing that the people in the Imperial City Division were so knowledgeable, he said to the deputy general beside him;
"Brothers, please take good care of the things and keep your hands and feet clean. Don't let the people from the Imperial City Division take it. Our people will embarrass the Marquis. Don't make it difficult for me."

"Come back to General Ning. They are all from the old camp. There is nothing unconscious. General Ning, please don't worry."

"Um,"

Just finished,
Then I saw movement in the yard. There was a pond in the middle of the yard. The people from the Imperial City Division took off their clothes, jumped down and dived into the water. Then they suddenly emerged from the water and asked people to come over with ropes and long poles.

"Come on, come on, there are a lot of boxes in the underwater mud."

After a shout, many people gathered around, and Li Yun shouted from the shore;

"Block the gate over there, search for water outside, and then dig again."

"It's Qianhu."

Soon, many brothers took buckets and washbasins and started working.

The people from the Imperial City Division didn't sleep a wink all night, and searched the Wang family and every household in the clan up to the bottom. Even a large amount of casted horseshoe silver was found in the cracks of the courtyard wall, and they were found out one by one by the Imperial City Secretary and put in prepared boxes. Boxes of silver were placed in the open space in the center of the courtyard.

All around were elite soldiers from the border army, guarding the surroundings and never leaving even half a step.

On the street,

Two carriages hurried from the east to the north of the city. When they passed a street entrance, Cheng Zhiying opened the curtain and pointed to the alley on the right. The coachman immediately understood, took the reins, turned to the right, and entered. After walking down an alley for a while, I stopped at a small house.

"Hey, sir, we're here."

"Yeah. You guys wait here."

"Yes, sir."

Cheng Zhiying waited for the car to stop, then got out of the car, came to the car frame at the back, knocked on the car window with his hand, and said,
"Zhichun, we're here, get off the car."

"Hey, brother Cheng, why are you here and not going back to the house?"

Huang Zhichun lifted the curtain in front of the car and got out of the car. Seeing that the carriage didn't continue to move forward, but stopped in a remote house, he asked in puzzlement,
"Brother Cheng, where is this place?"

Cheng Ziying replied lightly,
"It's our ancestral property. Don't go further ahead. The border troops are escorting the things. It's better to stay away."

"Okay, please."

After hearing the explanation, Huang Zhichun stopped asking and followed Cheng Zhiying into the house. The house was not big, with only three rooms, surrounded by a pomegranate tree, and no other unnecessary items.

Entering the main room,

Cheng Zhiying lit the oil lamp, illuminating the dark room, and then the two sat down next to the table, and as soon as they sat down, Cheng Zhiying asked;
"Brother Huang, have you figured out what to do?" "What does Brother Cheng mean by sharing the profits with the Marquis?"

Huang Zhichun's reaction was a little slow. He didn't understand what Brother Cheng meant. He thought it was something the Marquis told him. Cheng Zhiying shook his head.

"You, brother Huang, what I'm talking about is Yanyin. What do you think? Jinling Su's Fatty has it all, and Suzhou's Bao family eats most of it. Although I don't know if he will follow in the footsteps of the Wang family, at least now he is Yangzhou accounts for nearly half of the world's salt industry. If the Wang family collapses, what will happen to the remaining share?"

Huang Zhichun saw the greed in Cheng Zhiying's eyes, but felt a little worried.
"Brother Cheng, it's attractive, but so what if the Wang family and even the Bao family occupy so much, they are still there now, we together only have [-]% of Yangzhou Yanyin, and we are living well now, what if we take too much? "

Huang Zhichun's words made Cheng Zhiying wake up. He looked up and saw that the person who was still dumbfounded seemed to suddenly have enlightenment. What he said was right.

"What Brother Huang said is from the bottom of his heart, but it is unreasonable not to eat the meat that reaches your mouth. What I mean is that our two families are eating [-]%, you and I are four, and the remaining [-]% ​​will be made up by a salt merchant from the next family. We only keep [-]% of our annual profits and give out the rest. If the Marquis wants us, we will give [-]%. I think this can save our lives."

Huang Zhichun was not reconciled either. Now a great opportunity is in front of him. If you don’t take it, someone else will take it. Besides, there is not much left after sharing the profits of your own. It is better to expand and distribute more, so he nodded in agreement.

"Okay, listen to Brother Cheng, let's work together to eat the biggest and best salt wells in the south. From now on, the two families will advance and retreat together."

"Okay, advance and retreat together, high-five as an oath."

Cheng Zhiying achieved his goal and nodded in agreement. The two high-fived each other and then laughed at each other.

it is more than words.

Rainy night in Jinling City,
Since the evening, it has been raining non-stop, with lightning and thunder from time to time, but White Deer Academy still stands firm in the wind and rain.

at this time,

A firewood shed in the academy has been tidied up, and several torches were inserted into the surrounding walls, illuminating the interior of the firewood shed.

In the room, in addition to Master Jiang Yan, there were several other masters. Even the mountain chief came here. Looking at Ning Bao lying on the bed, he frowned and asked;
"Jiang Yan, did you find any clues in the back mountain? Have you reported it to the official?"

Jiang Yan saluted all around and said;

"Back to the teacher, I have asked the steward to report to the official. People from the prefect's Yamen should arrive soon. As for the students in the back mountain, they did not find any traces of other people. Even Ning Bao showed no traces of fighting. It’s very strange. The weirdest thing is Ning Bao’s smile, which is not normal. The students were afraid that something might be missed, so they asked the academy guards to search around, but there were no suspicious items left. The students were really puzzled.”

After listening to his beloved disciple's narration, the mountain chief looked inexplicably ugly. Jiang Yan would never deceive me, but Ning Bao died before he was found out. This method was either a real accident or homicide. As for the theory of ghosts and gods, Shan Zhang Changlian Yuming was a great Confucian from the south of the Yangtze River, so he didn't believe it.

asked again;
"Then how did you get to Ningbao, and how did those students find that place?"

"Back to the teacher, it was Yu Ren from the academy and Ning Bao who conspired to block Song Ziwen halfway on the mountain road. They went to the back mountain to teach him a lesson. Unexpectedly, Yu Ren led two people to block Song Ziwen, but Ning didn't wait. When Bao arrived, Yu Ren had no choice but to take people to the back mountain first, and then saw the agreed place, where Ning Bao died."

Jiang Yan roughly told the story, which he had gathered from separate conversations with the four of them. Before he could press him too hard, the two followers behind Yu Ren sold Ning Bao directly. The rest of the masters looked unhappy after hearing this. Those children from rich families were uneducated and misbehaved in the academy, often bullying the children from poor families.

One of the masters just wanted to clasp his fists and speak, but was stopped by the mountain chief.

"I know what you are thinking, but the academy is getting bigger and bigger and its reputation is getting louder and louder. It is not the children from poor families who support it, but the gentry, aristocratic families, the court, literati, etc. This matter can be warned, even Expelled, but not refused. Without them, where would the money for those poor children come from to study?"

Lian Yuming had asked his mentor about this situation before. His mentor said that the academy is not only a holy place for reading, but also a place for all kinds of human beings. Why should it be banned? Only after taking over the position of mountain chief did he understand the profound meaning of his mentor's words.

The rest of the master seems to understand and understand the difficulty of the teacher, and at the same time worship,

"Yes, Master Shan, the disciple knows."

"Well, Jiang Yan, why did Ning Bao die? Can we find out the reason?"

The mountain chief looked at the disciple who was wearing gloves and checking Ningbao's body repeatedly and asked,

Jiang Yan was not in a hurry to answer. He took the silver needle and probed from the neck to the chest. Then he took out the silver needle and saw that there was nothing strange. There are no traces, even the private parts are not spared. The eyelids of the masters around him are twitching.

"Back to the teacher, the students haven't discovered how Ning Bao died yet. On the upper body, the students used silver needles to probe into the neck, chest and abdomen. There was no change in color, which proves that he did not die of poisoning. Strangely enough, there was no change in the neck. There are no traces of being hit, and it is denied that he died due to a fight, and he has this weird smile, which makes him very suspicious!"

Jiang Yan seemed to be talking to himself, and the masters around him became more and more frightened as they listened, and looked at Jiang Yan with more and more fear.

Jiang Yan not only said hello, but was also a good scribe. His grandfather was a family of scribes used by the Imperial Household Department. Later, because his grandfather had no heirs, he had no choice but to pass on the mantle to his grandson and surname. He also said not to do this again. This profession is detrimental to one's moral character and is absolutely unacceptable.

So Jiang Yan took the letter and came to White Deer Academy alone. The mountain leader Lian Yuming saw the letter. After knowing that he was an old friend, he accepted him as a closed disciple and trained him as the next academy mountain leader. Jiang Yan lived up to expectations. A talent that stands out.

"Chief, the people from the prefect's Yamen are here, led by Ma Hong himself."

At this moment, Jiang Yan, who had been groping for a while, suddenly stopped and looked outside the door. He saw many police officers and academy stewards in raincoats walking in.

It was still raining heavily and continuously outside. It was hard to see everyone's faces clearly in the rainy night, and the fog was so thick.

(End of this chapter)