"

"That's right! I heard that all the jade that the Xie family shipped to Nanxun was burned not long ago. Could it be that their vitality was severely damaged and they started to make money against their conscience? We originally trusted the Xie family, so we agreed to let you pick up the goods tonight, but we didn't expect something like this to happen! If your Xie clan leader doesn't come out, we will go to the Youzhou Chamber of Commerce and report you! Besides, the one in charge of Youzhou now is Lord Han, the Minister of War. I believe Lord Han will not let us suffer any injustice!"

"Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me! Even our Xie family doesn't know why such a mistake occurred in this batch of goods! We have been seeing each other for so long, and the reputation of the Xie family is obvious to all! Besides, such a thing has never happened before, so please give us a little more time to find out the truth!" A young voice tried to calm the overly excited atmosphere at the scene after everyone had vented. If you look closely, you can find that this person is the man who was imprisoned in the Youzhou government office by Han Shaomian that day!

"Hmph! That's not right! The jade mines in Youzhou are all controlled by the Xie family. If we don't buy from the Xie family, who else can we buy from? Besides, haven't we suffered enough from you? Do you need me to list them one by one?" The middle-aged man's high-pitched voice suddenly drowned out the young man's volume. Perhaps he was too angry, and his face turned red. Especially when his eyes fell on the pile of worthless and low-grade jade in front of him, he became even more furious. He ordered the servants in his house to keep an eye on the goods to prevent them from being dragged away by the Xie family and destroying the evidence!

"If you don't obey the Xie family, you don't have to do the jade business! No one is forcing you to buy the Xie family's goods!" An extremely cold voice came from behind the crowd!

All eyes immediately turned to the source of the sound. The Xie family members showed a relaxed smile, while the other party instantly became alert, especially when they recognized that the carriage Xie Yingping was riding in was actually the Chu Mansion's carriage, which made the buyer's face look even uglier!

Xie Yingping appeared in front of everyone as the head of the Xie family. He got off the carriage easily and walked towards the crowd with a calm look. He glanced at the other party's slightly nervous expression calmly but with a hint of contempt. Then he stood in front of the batch of jade wares with problems, and personally took out an ornament from a wooden box and looked at it carefully!

"Clan leader, I have checked and there is indeed a problem! What was shipped out of the warehouse today was the Xie family's top-grade jade, but I didn't expect that what was handed over to them was the lowest quality jade!" When the young man saw the family leader coming, he took the torch from the servant and moved closer to Xie Yingping, letting him take a closer look. He took the opportunity to explain in a low voice in Xie Yingping's ear!

"Have you checked the warehouse in the back mountain? Are the jade artifacts that were originally handed over still stored in the warehouse? But how were these jade artifacts transported here?" This place is remote, but it is the best jade mine controlled by the Xie family, and the jade artifacts in the warehouse in the back mountain are also of the highest quality. There will definitely be no inferior jade artifacts!

Moreover, jade has always been fragile. In order to ensure the quality of jade, the Xie family chooses to deliver the jade near the jade mine. If there is a problem, it is the buyer's fault and has nothing to do with the Xie family!

However, she didn't expect that this was a warehouse that clearly stored high-quality jade wares, but what was handed over were inferior jade wares produced by other small jade mines. Xie Yingping's half-closed eyes flashed with murderous intent, and the hand holding the jade wares exerted a little force, and her knuckles became increasingly white under the candlelight!

When the young man heard Xie Yingping mention the warehouse issue, his already slightly furrowed brows became even more pronounced. Seeing the merchant staring intently at him, he could only speak in a low voice, "I've already had someone check. This is the only batch of goods in the warehouse in the back mountain! Otherwise, I wouldn't have delivered the goods without checking. Who knew something like this would happen?"

Hearing this, Xie Yingping's face became even uglier. The warehouse behind each jade mine only stores jade products produced by this mine. No wonder they made a mistake!

What happened today was really weird. The Xie family had never made any mistakes in the delivery process, but they didn't expect that not making any mistakes did not mean that there would be no mistakes. Or maybe someone took advantage of their confidence and started from this aspect!

Suddenly I remembered that a small jade mine also delivered goods to a merchant yesterday. Could it be that the jade wares of these two merchants were swapped?

Thinking of this detail, Xie Yingping felt that this matter was becoming more and more feasible. As for the small merchant who had gotten a huge bargain, he would naturally not publicize it at this time!

"Could it be that Patriarch Xie doesn't even recognize the jade produced by his own family?" The middle-aged man saw Xie Yingping communicating with the Xie family's steward for a while but did not give him a clear answer, so he asked while suppressing his anger!

"Our two families have been cooperating for many years, and such a situation has never occurred. I hope you can give us some time to find out the truth of the matter!" Xie Yingping handed the jade in her hand to the young man beside her and spoke in a steady voice. Her calm expression immediately stabilized the situation that was on the verge of a riot. The prestige of the head of the Xie family also instantly suppressed the businessmen who wanted to take the opportunity to suppress the Xie family!

"Clan leader Xie, it's not just the Xie family that needs to survive. Small merchants like us also need to support our families! When you say you want to investigate the truth of the matter, do you want to tell us why we were handed this batch of inferior jade wares? Or will you compensate us for our losses? Even if we give you time to investigate, who will give us time? How are we going to explain to our people? Besides, even if you tell us the truth, who will know whether it is true or not?" The middle-aged man was relentless, but it was no wonder he was not to blame. He spent a huge amount of money to buy jade wares, but in the end all he got were worthless and inferior goods. How could he swallow this?

"Don't go too far!" Seeing that the middle-aged man was still holding on to this matter, the steward of the Xie family became furious and growled at the middle-aged man!

"You are the ones who are going too far! This jade mine originally belonged to Youzhou, but now it has become the exclusive property of your Xie family. Who are you bullying or us? We are just begging for a living under your nose, but we didn't expect that we don't even get justice!" The middle-aged man was roared at by a lackey of the Xie family. He immediately became angry and embarrassed, pointing at everyone in the Xie family and cursing!

At this time, Xie Yingping raised her eyes slightly and looked at the middle-aged man. She felt that his attitude today was very abnormal. Since she knew that he depended on the Xie family for survival, why was he so arrogant?

What's more, since this matter has already happened, both parties only need to discuss countermeasures, but judging from his attitude, he is determined to make a big deal out of it!

At this time, Chu Pei, who was sitting in the carriage, heard the entire conversation between the two sides. In addition, the steward who had just gone to report the situation also explained the whole cause and effect in detail. Chu Pei knew that this matter must be aimed at the Xie family!

However, if I go out now, I am afraid that it will confirm the rumors of collusion between officials and businessmen. Besides, with Xie Yingping's ability, there is no need for me to show up so quickly!

Just as they were thinking, the sound of hurried horse hooves came from afar. Everyone stopped arguing and looked towards the depths of the woods. They saw the dim light where the government office of the Western Chu court was looming. As the sound of horse hooves became more and more obvious, Han Shaomian, wearing the uniform of a third-rank minister, ran over with his subordinates...

"I never thought Lord Han would visit this jade mine so late at night. Is he on patrol?" Xie Yingping sneered as he watched Han Shaomian tighten the reins and slow down his horse's pace! He didn't think Han Shaomian would just patrol the deep mountains for nothing. He was afraid someone was unwilling to be suppressed by the Xie family all the time, so they immediately reported the incident to the police and brought Han Shaomian here!

"Please, sir, make a decision for me!" The middle-aged man had already recognized Han Shaomian's official uniform, and immediately led his servants to kneel on the ground, begging Han Shaomian to make a decision for him!

Han Shaomian swept his glare over everyone present, not forgetting the carriage parked nearby. He had already learned from Nie Huaiyuan that Chu Pei and Xie Yingping had both left for the jade mine, and assumed Chu Pei must be inside the carriage. He spoke calmly, "I've received a complaint from a merchant that the Xie family sold them inferior jade, passing it off as good quality. Is this true?"

"Sir, look, this is the jade artifact I received today! This jade artifact is only worth one or two taels of silver at most, but I paid three hundred taels of silver. Please take a look, sir!" The middle-aged man couldn't wait to take out a jade pendant from a wooden box, trotted to Han Shaomian's horse, and held the muddy jade pendant high in front of Han Shaomian!

Han Shaonian took the jade pendant and examined it carefully. The jade was indeed of poor quality. It lacked moisture and luster. His eyes became more serious. He returned the jade pendant to the merchant. Han Shaonian looked at the silent Xie Yingping and said coldly, "I wonder if Patriarch Xie has any excuse?"

Xie Yingping hadn't expected Han Shaomian to give her a chance to explain herself. A hint of doubt crossed her brows, and then she spoke calmly, "This is just a means of competition between merchants! Someone is framing the Xie family, but the Xie family will not surrender!"

Seeing Xie Yingping's calmness in the face of danger, Han Shaomian nodded slightly. Xie Yingping was naturally not easy to deal with since he could confront the King of Chu calmly. Such a thing was probably not a big deal for him. He was probably already thinking everything through at this time, but he could not point fingers at the murderer because he had no evidence!

However, I am also a participant in this matter. Rong Yunhe and Xiahou Qin have already cast their fishing nets, so as a fisherman, I naturally have to put in some effort to pull in the nets!

"No matter whether the Xie family was framed or not, I will handle it impartially! All the goods must be put into the Youzhou government office. I will not exchange them with you until I find out the truth of the matter!" As he said that, Han Shaomian raised his right hand and waved it lightly, and all the guards behind him stepped forward to seize the goods!

"Then according to what Lord Han just said, will he also give an explanation to the Xie family?" But Xie Yingping was shrewd and did not miss any details, and was also very careful in calculations and did not let any opportunity slip through her fingertips!

However, Han Shaomian had come prepared and would not tolerate Xie Yingping's impertinence again. He said sternly, "Before this, I was curious. This jade mine originally belonged to the imperial court, but today, after looking through various records, I found that it is the Xie family that is mining the jade mine, and the Xie family has never paid any money to the imperial court! After this matter is settled, I would like to consult with the Xie clan leader!"

After he finished speaking, Han Shaomian glanced at the Chu Mansion's carriage indifferently. Although the carriage was parked quietly on the side, Han Shaomian believed that the people inside must have heard what he had just said!

Hearing this, Xie Yingping frowned slightly. He had already thought of this!

It was just that Chu Pei was seriously injured at that time, allowing Lu Xin to control the power of Youzhou. He wanted to make up for this omission but there was never a suitable opportunity!

After finally getting Lu Xinpan to leave, Xie Yingping unexpectedly got another more diligent Han Shaomian to come, which made her very regretful!

That's why he went to Chu Mansion as soon as Chu Pei woke up. However, he didn't expect that the other party was so fast that such a problem arose before he could take any action!

His eyes couldn't help but look at the carriage not far away, and he saw the people in the carriage sitting steadily in it. He wondered if they had come up with a solution!

"Sir, the goods have been counted!" At this time, a guard stepped forward and reported to Han Shaomian in a loud voice!

"In that case, then transport it to the government office! Keep an eye on it carefully this time, and don't let what happened last time happen again!" This time, they have to prevent the Xie family from burning the evidence themselves!

"Yes!" The guard took the order and left, leading everyone, carefully escorting the batch of jade artifacts away for the time being!

Xie Yingping watched coldly as the batch of jades were taken away, and when she heard Han Shaomian's instructions, she knew that this had cut off the Xie family's way to restore its reputation. She suddenly realized that everything Han Shaomian did today was similar to what Xiahou Qin did. She was afraid that Han Shaomian had already stood in the camp of the King of Chu. In this way, even if the King of Chu was in Nanxun, he knew the situation in Youzhou very well!

Xie Yingping wasn't the only one who thought this. Chu Pei in the carriage also reacted immediately. An unknown light flashed in his eyes, dim but sinister, making people shudder...

－－－－－－Digression－－－－－－

There are a few hundred words missing. I will fill it in tomorrow, no charge!