Chapter 60 Guilds (Part 2) The truth comes out in different ways, and the guilty conscience has its own specializations…

As Sailinfu was slapping his thigh and sighing, he suddenly heard two "slap" sounds from the other side. He secretly looked up and saw Qingduo also slapping her thigh with a worried expression. She slapped twice, then sighed; she sighed again, then slapped twice more, forming a rhythm. But no matter what, the force of her slapping and the sound of her sighs were louder than his.

Those around them saw the two of them slapping their thighs and sighing, and the scene was so comical that many people secretly chuckled. Sailin stopped what he was doing, his face darkening as he looked at Qingduo, wondering what she was up to.

"Pianpian!" Qingduo sang mournfully, "You left us so tragically!"

elegant?

Who is this?

Everyone was puzzled, and some curious people couldn't help but whisper to those around them. Just then, Qingduo said, "Zipian!"

Oh! Everyone suddenly realized that "Pianpian" was actually Zipian, the one who copied the book. According to her, Zipian and Sailinfu were in cahoots, which meant they were on the opposite side of her. So why was she addressing her like this now? It sounded so warm and friendly.

Qingduo held up two index fingers, one from left to right and the other from right to left, converging them in front of her face. Her sorrow, though feigned, was undeniably genuine. She said, "It's clearly the fault of two people."

"But when Old Sai saw you brought to the yamen and couldn't defend yourself, he dumped all the blame on you!" She flung her left hand away, her right index finger trembling as she raised it higher and higher, "leaving you alone to bear all the blame!"

"It's too cold inside the government office!"

"Pianpian! You're such a sucker! Sigh!" She resumed her previous rhythm, slapped her thighs twice, and sighed.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Sailinfu said irritably. "What are you wailing about! What do you mean by smearing me? I'm telling the truth! If I had known she plagiarized someone else's book, I would never have sold it! I still have that much integrity!"

Qingduo completely ignored him, only wailing, "He's still splashing me! Pian'er, you're innocent!"

"You're such an unreasonable woman!" Sailinfu roared. "You're just spouting nonsense! Talking to yourself! Making a scene in front of all the elders, acting crazy and erratic, what kind of behavior is this?"

Qingduo immediately exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? So you also know that being unreasonable and arguing is shameful?" She blinked, "I overheard you talking to Sister Lu Nong before, rambling on and on, and I thought you didn't know! I thought, since you don't understand, then I'll reluctantly try to communicate with you in your savage way!"

Her expression turned to one of disgust: "Ugh! I didn't expect you to be faking it! You're such a strange person. We tried to reason with you earlier, but you just spouted nonsense. Now that I've used your methods, you want to reason with me again. You're so fickle at your age, and you call yourself Sister Lu Nong! You're just a shameless, unreliable old woman!"

She scratched her face with her fingers, saying, "Aren't you ashamed? Aren't you ashamed?"

Sailinfu's eyes widened as he glared at the person before him. His heavy breathing swept across his whiskers, causing them to rise and fall. Last time, he heard that someone had publicly slandered him in the street, so he sent men to cause trouble for them. When his men returned, they said that the girl was always throwing tantrums and causing trouble. At the time, he thought it was just an excuse from his subordinates and didn't believe it at all. But now that he had seen it with his own eyes, he knew that what his men said was true.

No!

This girl is even more difficult to deal with than the rumors suggest!

Hmm... What did she just say her name was? Qingduo?

Sailinfu silently repeated the name a few times, then suddenly remembered that Dong Wenyuan had mentioned the name "Duoxian," both of which contained the character "Duo." Could it be... that this girl was behind it all?

"Hmph! Hypocritical! How ridiculous!" someone mocked.

Sailinfu looked toward the source of the voice and saw that the speaker was none other than his rival, Chen Nian of Chen's Bookstore.

"You claim you were deceived by Zi Pian, but so many others were also deceived by you into giving away books with other people's names on them. Did they all conspire to deceive you? That's utter nonsense!" He became angrier as he spoke, and slammed his hand on the table, making the teacup and its lid clink together.

"Seeing their pitiful situation, I let them join my bookstore. Now it's time to seek justice for them! And let everyone know! Works like 'Qujinglu,' 'Qingchengji,' and 'Zhengchundu' never belonged to Shouzhentang. They were the works of authors under my shop whose hard work was stolen!"

“That’s right!” Qingduo also remembered someone and exclaimed, “And Sister Wu Yan’s husband! He was also tricked out of his manuscript by you!”

"He showed you the strange tales he had written, but you sold them to Dong Wenyuan. When he asked you for an explanation, you actually sent people to beat him! He suffered injustice and anger, and eventually died in despair!"

"Serenef! He died because of you!"

Qingduo pointed at Sailinfu and shouted, "You're not only a thief, you're a murderer!"

Everyone present was taken aback.

Instead of getting angry, Serinfu laughed: "Ha, this is getting more and more outrageous! You'll stop at nothing to frame me! When did I ever steal his manuscript? I paid him every penny I owed! He clearly sold the book to me voluntarily!"

"You're lying! You're clearly cheating both sides! You kept the money Dong Wenyuan gave you for yourself, and Wu Yan and her widowed children didn't get anything!" Qingduo shouted. "You tricked Dong Wenyuan by saying that if you sold the book to him, you could put his name on it, but Wu Yan said that there was no such thing!"

"Then take a look at this." Sailinfu took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"What is it?" This piqued Qingduo's curiosity. She reached out to take it, but Sailinfu wouldn't let go, unfolding the paper in front of her instead. Qingduo had no choice but to lean closer to take a look—oh, it was just a book sales contract. When her gaze fell on the last line of signatures, her eyes widened instantly, filled with astonishment.

Two words were written there in a crooked hand: Wu Yan

*

Qingduo was incredulous; all her thoughts were stuck together like a bowl of thick, icy cheese.

How could Sister Wu Yan have signed a book sales contract with Sailinfu? If she had already sold the books, then wasn't she just lying to me when she accused Sailinfu before?

Seeing Qingduo staring blankly at the book sale contract, Sailinfu sneered, "Just a few words and you haven't finished reading? Are you not finished, or are you feeling guilty?"

He ignored Qingduo, turned halfway around, and displayed the contract in his hand to everyone: "Everyone, look carefully! I have this contract as proof that I clearly bought this book! The talk of theft and plagiarism is nonsense!"

Something's not right! Something's not right!

Qingduo watched as Sailinfu's smile widened, wanting to say something in rebuttal, yet unsure what to say. She felt a faint clue emerging in her mind, but like a monkey trying to catch the moon's reflection, it was all just an illusion.

The sudden turn of events caught her completely off guard.

What to do? What to do? For a moment, Qingduo was flustered and confused, her clenched palms were sweaty.

Suddenly, Lu Nong slowly said from behind, "Manager Sai, this is just an ordinary book sale contract. In your shop, it's just one of many contracts. Why did you choose to carry it with you today?"

Sailin was taken aback: "Of course I had already received the news. You were going to use Zipian's matter to interrogate me, so of course I had to find some evidence beforehand to protect myself!"

"That's strange!" Lu Nong stared at him intently and sneered, "You know we want to talk about Zi Pian, but you brought Wu Yan's evidence. That's not the same thing as the topic we're going to discuss."

“Unless, in your mind, these two are the same thing,” Lu Nong’s voice clearly reached everyone present, “it’s because you know there’s a connection between them, isn’t it?”

"So, what is the connection?"

Sailinfu's face suddenly paled. Qingduo's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing Lu Nong's words: "That's right! Since you didn't know beforehand that you were going to talk about Sister Wu Yan, why did you prepare it and carry it with you in advance?"

"Because Zi Pian copied the book by stealing, you were afraid we would inadvertently bring up other people's affairs, so you brought this contract to shut us up! But it also exposed that it was stolen too!"

She clapped her hands and laughed, "Isn't this a classic case of 'protesting too much'? They wanted to clear themselves of all suspicion, but they've backfired and exposed their true colors!"

Like a puppy, Qingduo excitedly circled around Sailinfu, admiring the unpredictable expressions on his face: "Old Sai, I wronged you!"

"I was just saying that you were hiding your skills and refusing to teach Zi Pian, but looking at you now, the guilty looks you had when you were exposed are no different!"

“Hmm—” she drawled as she nodded, “‘Therefore, a disciple need not be inferior to his master, nor a master necessarily superior to his disciple.’ There is a sequence to revealing one’s flaws, and a specialization to feigning guilt. That’s all!”

Laughter erupted from inside. Serin, enraged and embarrassed, shouted, "You! You! The reason I carried this book-selling contract with me was because of you!"

Qingduo blinked: "Huh? How did you know I was coming? I didn't even expect to come myself."

"Hmph! As the saying goes, if you don't want people to know, don't do it in the first place! You went to Dong Wenyuan to play tricks and spread rumors, and you even sang clapper talk on the street to ruin my reputation. I know exactly what you're up to!"

Sailinfu pointed at Zeng Zhengqing and angrily said, "You two are a husband and wife working together, plotting to completely ruin me! You're sowing discord between me and my guests, and destroying my reputation. How could you possibly come up with such a vicious scheme!"

Qingduo ignored his words and blurted out, "That's right, I did tell Dong Wenyuan's fortune. Do you want yours told too?" She pinched her fingers, squinted her eyes, and muttered, "Lower Kun, Upper Gen, Mountain and Earth Stripping Hexagram, the foundation is shaken, and the trend is irreversible."

Qingduo opened her eyes, looking worried: "Old Sai, I advise you not to stubbornly insist on holding on, it will only hasten your exposure!"

Lu Nong stared at Sai Linfu's face, which flushed red and then paled, his already tense features now contorted in a grimace, exuding an indescribable dishevelment. She felt a surge of vindication; Sai Linfu had just downplayed his own faults and even framed her. An honest person like her, who only knew how to reason, was utterly speechless, leaving her furious and speechless. But the moment Qing Duo arrived, the situation completely changed.

She juggled the topic with effortless ease, sometimes staying close to it, sometimes veering off into the distance. When she brought the conversation back, her words, like pebbles launched from a slingshot, struck Serinfu squarely in the face, leaving him covered in bumps.

Lu Nong couldn't say for sure whether this was "fighting fire with fire" or simply a matter of fate, where "one thing subdues another." Qing Duo possessed this kind of magic, even the wicked were driven to despair by her.

“Zeng Zhengqing! Your wife is distorting the truth and throwing a tantrum here. Are you just going to turn a blind eye and let her continue to act recklessly?” Sailinfu was furious.

Hey! What's going on? This scene seems so familiar.

Qingduo immediately recalled her childhood, when she had gotten into trouble outside and was dragged back to her own home by other children's mothers to complain to her father: "Tang Li! Look at your Qingduo! This girl kicked my son again! Look at this huge footprint on my son's leg! If she had kicked him there, our family line would have ended!"

But she's all grown up now and can take responsibility for her own affairs. What's wrong with Serinpo? Does he still treat her like an immature child, even telling her to her husband?

Qingduo immediately became dissatisfied, put her hands on her hips and said angrily, "Hey! Old man, if you don't like me, come at me! What kind of skill is it to complain? Let me tell you, even if you call my father, he can't control me!"

“My wife is right,” Zeng Zhengqing replied, rising to his feet.

"You're just putting on a brave face now. Since Zi Pian has readily admitted that she is not the true author of 'Hua Tang Chun,' it won't be long before she reveals your deal with her father once she gets to the yamen. As for your shady business of printing books everywhere, it will be exposed today as well."

Of course, he was sure that what Qingduo said was true. Besides that reason, there was another reason: indeed, no matter how others tried to stop her from doing what she wanted to do, they couldn't.

He didn't give Sailinfu a chance to deny it. He stepped forward and faced Chairman Ge, saying clearly, "Chairman Ge, fellow colleagues, there's something I want to clarify with you all today. Recently, my shop has been planning to enter the storybook industry and did consider cooperating with Baoyuan Printing Workshop. However, when I talked to them a few days ago, I found that they were so busy that they simply couldn't print the books according to my schedule."

“At first, I thought they were making excuses to avoid cooperating with me. But after talking for a while, I realized that they were indeed in a difficult position. When I asked about the projects they were currently working on, they gave a few vague answers and refused to say more.”

"But as far as I know, Baoyuanfang's publicly available book list is actually not that many. A quick check will show that some of the projects they mentioned that are currently being rushed to print are old orders that have already been released. All in all, these publicly available jobs only account for a small portion of their printing capacity."

"With just this small amount of printing, how could Baoyuan Workshop support so many people in their workshop? It's unimaginable that they've managed to operate to this day, even if they've managed it well. I still have a question in my mind: where did they go with the rest of their production?"

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but start discussing it. Zeng Zhengqing raised his hand to quiet everyone down, and then he continued.

"The more I thought about it, the more I felt something was wrong. I was also very curious, so I sent my men to investigate. Unexpectedly, the investigation uncovered a strange matter."

"Li Shun, tell all the managers exactly what you have seen and found out."

"Yes!" Li Shun stepped forward respectfully, bowed to the shopkeepers, and then replied, "As instructed by the master, I inquired around Baoyuanfang for some time. At first, I didn't hear any useful information, until a few days ago, when I happened to meet an old man who had lived in the back alley of Baoyuanfang for many years. He complained that every month, there were several nights when he couldn't sleep peacefully because of the noise from the passing vehicles. After hearing this, I paid more attention and specifically asked about the times when those vehicles usually appeared."

"That night, I took two men and quietly waited in the back alley. Sure enough, around midnight, we saw the back gate of Baoyuanfang quietly open, and then several carriages came out. Each carriage was loaded to the brim, and they looked quite heavy."

Li Shun continued, "I had the two of them pretend to be drunk, pushing and shoving each other on the road, fighting and deliberately blocking the way so the carriage couldn't move. Some of the coachmen went to break up the fight, while others watched the spectacle. Taking advantage of the chaos, I quietly approached the carriage and cut open a paper package with a knife. I pulled out a book from inside."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out a booklet from his sleeve, held it with both hands, bowed, and handed it to Chairman Ge. Chairman Ge reached out and took it, looked down and examined it carefully. It was the book Chen Nian had just mentioned, "The Tale of a Fallen City". He asked, "Chen Nian, is this the book you just mentioned?"

Chen Nian stepped forward, took a look, and nodded, saying, "This is the book. The name on the book is someone else's."

Everyone had a definite answer in their hearts, and they all looked at Serinfu with contempt and disgust in their eyes.

Sailinfu stubbornly argued, "This book is readily available in the market. They just bought a copy at random and brought it here. They are clearly trying to frame me and the manager of Baoyuanfang!"

"Shut up!" Chairman Ge shouted, unable to bear it any longer. "Right and wrong will be judged by public opinion. How can you repeatedly distort the truth and turn black into white!"

Sailin shut his mouth in annoyance, and Chairman Ge looked at Zeng Zhengqing, signaling him to continue.

Zeng Zhengqing continued, "If Baoyuan Printing House is doing legitimate book printing business, then the number of books available on the open market is pitifully small. In the end, they spend most of their time printing these stolen manuscripts. But where did they get these illegitimate manuscripts from?"

"The original authors of these manuscripts only dealt with Shouzhentang and had never been in contact with Baoyuanfang. Yet Baoyuanfang printed these books. Upon closer examination, the reason behind this is crystal clear!"

"The manuscript was given to Baoyuanfang by Sailinfu! One of them stole the manuscript, and the other printed it illegally. This is a crime they committed together!"

"Moreover, Zi Pian's matter also proves that the two colluded. The manager of Baoyuanfang asked Sailinfu to find a book to change the name of his daughter and put Zi Pian's name on it. Sailinfu used the same trick again and gave him Lu Nong's book to print. He originally planned to use the old method to suppress Lu Nong and prevent her from making a fuss. Who knew that Miss Lu Nong was so tough and my wife stood up for her, so she investigated the matter to the end and the matter was completely exposed."

"Chairman," Zeng Zhengqing said, bowing, his tone filled with indignation, "books are meant to spread knowledge and educate people, but now they've been used as tools for profit by greedy scoundrels like Sailinfu and the manager of Baoyuanfang! It's truly hateful!"

"The two of them colluded and made a mess of our bookseller industry. If we don't punish them severely today, it will not only be unfair to our fellow merchants, but it will also affect the reputation of our guild. If we encounter such malpractices in the future, how will we restrain other booksellers and uphold the rules and ethics of our industry?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd was filled with righteous indignation and echoed in agreement.

Chairman Ge's gaze swept over the shopkeepers present, and he said in a deep voice, "Sailinfu and Baoyuanfang have stolen other people's manuscripts and pirated books. Every single one of these acts violates the cardinal sins of our guild! Now that the truth is clear, we can no longer tolerate them disrupting the guild. I believe that Baoyuanfang's printing license should be suspended, and Sailinfu should be ordered to apologize to the original authors and hand over the proceeds from the pirated books. After committing such a disgraceful act, neither of them should be allowed to participate in any future cooperation with the guild. What do you all think?"

Seeing that his scheme had been exposed and that there was no turning back, Sailinfu pleaded desperately, "President Ge, please don't send me away. Give me another chance. I promise I will always be honest in my business dealings from now on..."

"Pah! You regret it now? If it weren't for delaying your money-making, you probably wouldn't be regretting it!"

"Don't believe him, this is not his expedient measure."

"We refuse to associate with a despicable person like you! You'll only tarnish our reputation!"

The crowd could no longer contain themselves and began shouting insults at each other. Serinfu stood there with his head down and hands drooping, his face a dark red and black, like a rotten shrimp; he wished he could be washed away by water.

Suddenly, someone burst through the door, trembling as they cried, "Master, something terrible has happened! Zi Pian, Zi Pian has confessed everything! The authorities have searched Bao Yuan Fang and found the woodblocks for our manuscripts! The manager of Bao Yuan Fang has been taken away! They're on their way to our Shouzhen Hall... Master! Master! What's wrong? Master!"

Upon hearing that the authorities had found evidence of the stolen seal, Sailinfu swayed, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

*

Qingduo held an incense stick in her hand and lit the fuse of the firecracker. A small spark appeared, and she took off running. She hadn't gone far when the crackling sound of firecrackers caught up with her.

After leaving the guild, they went to Zeng's Bookstore. This was the day Qingyuan Bookstore officially started selling storybooks, and it was also the first time that "Huatangchun" was sold under Lu Nong's name. Every crisp sound was not only an auspicious sign of the opening, but also a song of victory.

Lu Nong stood on the stone steps with tears in her eyes, holding the newly published "Hua Tang Chun" in her hand, her gaze lingering on the signature "Lu Nong".

She had waited too long for this day.

"Good sister, why are you crying on such a beautiful day! Come and set off firecrackers with me! Let's drive away all the bad luck!" Qingduo rushed up and grabbed Lu Nong's hand.

Lu Nong smiled, tears streaming down her face. She wiped them away with her sleeve and said, "Okay, I won't cry anymore. I'll laugh, I'll laugh joyfully!"

Qingduo nodded in satisfaction: "That's more like it!"

Lu Nong held her soft hand, feeling warm inside, but also a little regretful. She wished Zhu Yi could see this moment.

The bright red firecrackers exploded and retreated, followed by a cloud of white smoke. The previously dense smoke gradually dissipated, revealing the boy's strong body.

Zhu Yi stood with his hands behind his back, a beaming smile on his face, looking at Lu Nong with bright, shining eyes. Lu Nong was surprised to see Zhu Yi there, and they smiled at each other as their eyes met.