After drinking a cup together, Yu Qing raised his request again. “It is like this. The reason I urgently invited the four of you today is because payment is due this afternoon. If it is inconvenient for you, that is fine. There is no need to force it. I can try asking a few newly acquainted rich merchants.”
Su Yingtao immediately waved his hand at him and said, “Brother Shihuang, you have just entered officialdom. Those rich merchants who approach you have unclear motives. It is best to avoid them as much as possible.”
Fang Wenxian said, “That is correct. In future if you need any help, feel free to come to us. We will definitely not refuse what we can help with.”
Pan Wenqing said, “This matter is easy to handle. The three of us will send someone to call the accountant over right now?”
“Good.” The several people agreed.
Since they had decided to make friends and decided to lend the money, the four were straightforward. They immediately went out for a trip, instructed the coachman to go back and run an errand, and asked the accountant to come and meet.
There was no helping it. Although the four families had some money, the four did not carry that much on them. They had not yet reached the stage of managing family property. For large expenditures, procedures still had to be followed. Without reasonable grounds, they could not get hold of such a large sum of silver.
After that they came back to continue accompanying Yu Qing for food, drink and chat.
Yu Qing, who was here accompanying guests, did not know that the Zhong residence had already fallen into chaos.
The people sent by Ying Xiaotang and Pei Qingcheng had already rushed to the Zhong residence and asked whether Yu Qing had returned.
Upon learning that Yu Qing had not returned, apart from sending one person back to report, the rest all stayed at the Zhong residence to wait.
Zhong Su asked what had happened, but these people would not say. Given their identities, Squire Zhong also found it hard to drive away guests.
But Zhong Su had not spent these years in the winds and waves for nothing. From the visitors’ reactions, he realised something must have happened, so he arranged for people to inquire.
Cao residence.
Xu Fei, who had not yet fully recovered from the shock of the previous night, was this time personally called out by his uncle Cao Xinggong to meet guests.
The visitor was a person wearing a black cloak. The hat covered his face, making it impossible to see his features clearly. Cao Xinggong directly brought him to Xu Fei’s residence.
Xu Fei could see that his uncle was very respectful and fearful towards the visitor. He was extremely deferential and even kept his waist bent while answering.
The injury on Cao Xinggong’s face had not yet healed, but he seemed not to care. He only focused on the present and instructed Xu Fei not to hide anything. He must answer whatever the visitor asked.
The visitor asked nothing else, only about what exactly had happened between the Wolf Guards seizing him last night and then releasing him. The visitor wanted to grasp the detailed situation.
The Wolf Guards’ movements last night had really been too big. Whoever the Wolf Guards had sought out and what items they had reviewed, people were following the clues to verify one by one.
Seeing his uncle’s attitude like this, Xu Fei had no choice but to honestly make a full confession.
The duke’s carriage wandered aimlessly along the capital’s streets. A rider caught up and passed a piece of intelligence through the window.
Ying Xiaotang took the intelligence, read it, and gave a cold laugh. “The speed is truly fast. They do not want to give us a chance to build defences. The other side has already begun to make trouble. Rumours have started that His Majesty deliberately demoted A Shihuang from top scholar to third place because of old grudges. After learning the truth, A Shihuang resented the injustice, threw down his hat and left the capital in anger. He has been in office for less than three days and has already resigned in fury.”
Pei Qingcheng, accompanying inside the carriage, ignored any etiquette, grabbed the intelligence to check it himself, and after reading became extremely angry. “What throwing down the hat and leaving? I asked about the situation at the time. It was only that the hat accidentally rolled down the steps during the persuasion. A bunch of utterly shameless people.”
Ying Xiaotang said, “Whether the official hat rolled or was thrown, does it matter? They have already created momentum in advance and laid out plans ahead, just waiting for A Shihuang to make the slightest slip. This rumour from the other side is meant for His Majesty to hear. Just wait. It will not be long before this rumour reaches His Majesty’s ears.
Once this matter spreads, it will certainly cause a sensation in the capital and will be sung across the world. The consequences of His Majesty hearing this rumour can be imagined. If the resignation letter were not in the other side’s hands, we could still call it rumour and have a chance to salvage it. Now they have the resignation letter in hand. The black and white words written by A Shihuang are ironclad evidence as solid as a mountain.”
Thud. Pei Qingcheng smashed a fist onto the seat. The Duke of Xuan’s reaction at the time had not been slow. He had immediately focused on the key issue and wanted to suppress the resignation letter, but it was still too late. This punch was because he hated Censor Qi for messing things up.
He said in pain, “Since there are people deliberately causing trouble, it is probably impossible to stop this rumour from reaching His Majesty’s ears.”
Ying Xiaotang said, “It will not be long before His Majesty, upon hearing the rumour, issues an order for arrest. The plan now is not to let the person fall into the other side’s hands for interrogation. We must seize A Shihuang first, get him under our control and protect him, then wrangle with the other side and look for an opportunity to overturn the outcome.”
Pei Qingcheng said in a deep voice, “Did the duke not send people to protect him? We should immediately contact the protectors. Once contacted, we will naturally find him.”
Ying Xiaotang said, “The people protecting him will not report his whereabouts every moment. The situation before had not reached this level. If nothing happens, the people protecting him in secret will not send warning messages. It is hard for us to know their exact location for now. I have already asked the military to deploy spies distributed in the capital. I hope we can find him as soon as possible.”
Pei Qingcheng pondered and said, “If so, then presumably we should be able to control the person first?”
Ying Xiaotang shook his head slightly. “Not necessarily. What I am worried about now is whether someone has already been watching A Shihuang. If people have long been waiting for an opportunity to target him, the frequency of reports on A Shihuang’s every move will definitely be higher than ours.”
Pei Qingcheng was shocked. “That is to say, the other side very likely already has grasp of A Shihuang’s whereabouts after he left the Censorate?”
Ying Xiaotang exhaled deeply. “Let us hope not. Otherwise it will be very passive.”
Long Garden Hill. The accountants from the capital residences of Su, Fang, Pan and Zhang had all arrived.
After confirming it was a loan to the top graduate, the accountants from each family showed no hesitation and immediately handed over the silver notes they had brought to the four.
The four then transferred the silver notes to Yu Qing. As agreed, each gave eight thousand taels.
Yu Qing thanked them profusely. He did not mention writing an IOU, nor did he plan to write one for them.
On the way to the capital, Yu Qing, who had been humiliated by the four all along the journey, although he did not retort when scolded and endured the spit on his face, had in fact long harboured murderous intent.
He had long wanted to kill these four bastards. When he arrived in the capital and was about to leave, he had planned to act. It was just that the great leader Yu had not expected he would pass the metropolitan examination as the top scholar and then become the top graduate.
With that, A Shihuang could no longer appear, and he no longer had a reason to kill the four.
But that did not mean Yu Qing could forget this debt. After travelling together for several months and enduring several months of ugly faces, did they really think the dignified leader of Linglong Temple was made of clay and anyone could humiliate him?
Of course the account had to be settled, to regain the dignity of the Linglong Temple leader.
Later he thought, was there anything more undignified than having no money?
So the four’s lives could be spared, but the money could be taken.
He decided to get a sum of money from the four before leaving.
The result was as he expected. These four sly foxes were just like what he had seen along the way. They knew how to behave. Indeed no one took the initiative to mention an IOU.
The four also did not think Yu Qing would default. In their view, was the man’s reputation not worth more than this bit of silver? They had heard one poem could fetch quite a lot of money.
Yu Qing temporarily set aside the dignity of the Linglong Temple leader and did not stint on saying nice things to the four.
He said things like he had no family in the capital and hoped the four could act as groomsmen on the groom’s side for his wedding day, and hoped the four could help him deal with the guests.
Su Yingtao and the four immediately became excited as if injected with chicken blood. All patted their chests and agreed fully, just waiting for Yu Qing to notify the date. No one mentioned the IOU anymore.
With the money obtained, Yu Qing naturally wanted to part ways with them. He said he was going to purchase items for the wedding.
The four said they could accompany him, but Yu Qing found reasons to politely decline.
Yu Qing personally saw the four onto their carriage and watched them leave. Afterwards he went to board his own carriage. The shopkeeper who came to see him off reminded him, “Top graduate, earlier a female relative said she was your friend and was inquiring about your situation.”
Yu Qing, about to board the carriage, was stunned. He seemed to have no female friends in the capital. He turned and asked, “What kind of person?”
The shopkeeper said, “A rather beautiful woman dressed all in white. Oh, right, the handkerchief in her hand was embroidered with the character ‘Bai’. Perhaps her surname is Bai.”
Upon hearing this description, Yu Qing knew he did not recognise such a woman, but he subconsciously associated it with one person, Bai Lan.
His back immediately felt a bit cold. He quickly glanced around and said to the shopkeeper, “It should be my friend. What did she inquire about me for? What exactly did she ask?”
The shopkeeper said, “She just asked whether you were dining here, in which private room, and how many people were with you. Oh, she especially asked which carriage was yours. She left after asking and instructed not to tell you. I felt something was not quite right, so I informed you. Since she is your friend, then it is fine.”
The two guards immediately became somewhat alert and all looked at Yu Qing’s reaction, wanting to confirm whether it was really a friend.
Yu Qing turned back to stare at the Zhong residence carriage and pondered for a while. Suddenly he turned again and asked the shopkeeper, “Do you have a carriage here?”
The shopkeeper nodded. “There are two, normally kept for picking up and sending off guests.”
Yu Qing said, “Then I trouble you to lend one for us to use.”
He did not explain the reason, but the two guards had already sensed something. They all secretly raised their vigilance and quietly observed the surroundings.
The shopkeeper did not refuse at all. Whatever Yu Qing said, it was done. Even a coachman was provided.
Yu Qing instructed the Zhong residence coachman to wait here and bring the carriage and horses back after one hour.
He himself got into the shopkeeper’s carriage with the two guards and left.
Regardless of whether it was Bai Lan, being cautious was always right.
After seeing them off, the shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief, sighed, turned and went up the earthen mound in the courtyard. He made his way to the high ground in the bamboo forest and saw three people dressed as constables. He cupped his hands towards the man in the middle and said, “Head Zhao, I said everything as you instructed. He indeed asked for another carriage and left. Head Zhao, what exactly are you…”
A constable on the left suddenly drew his knife, stabbed it into his chest, and covered his mouth at the same time.
The three constables parted to reveal a freshly dug pit behind.
The killer pulled out the knife, pushed the man, and the shopkeeper fell into the pit twitching.
The three constables quickly gathered to bury the soil and clean the scene, covering it with bamboo leaves.