Chapter 28 The Prefect's Mother

Gu Xiyue stopped at the door and listened to every word the woman downstairs said.

Not only was she listening, but several guests staying upstairs came out and lay on the stairs to watch the fun.

The woman downstairs saw everyone coming out to watch the fun. She waved her hands and said, "Manager Zhou, do you know who my old lady is? If you let your brothers out, you'll be in big trouble!"

"Our old lady is the mother of the prefect of Ganzhou. Your brother is in cahoots with that lowly concubine. How dare you..."

Many people regarded this as a joke. The mother of the governor of Ganzhou was lost. This is a joke. Who has the courage to do such a thing?

Everyone thought that this woman must be crazy and was probably talking nonsense.

Gu Xiyue's heart moved, and she suddenly thought of Boss Sun's sister. She leaned over to Wei Lin and whispered some instructions. Wei Lin nodded and immediately went into his room.

Gu Xiyue and Meixiang also went into her room. After entering, she whispered to Meixiang, "Let's wait in the room for a while. You keep an eye on the woman downstairs."

Meixiang opened the window near the stairs a little and stood there listening to the noise below.

The woman was screaming at Shopkeeper Zhou's cousin to get out. Shopkeeper Zhou tried to persuade her again and again, saying that his cousin was not there and he didn't know when he would be back. Finally, the woman sat down in the lobby and began to wipe her tears.

Meixiang reported the following situation to Gu Xiyue while listening. About a cup of tea later, Wei Lin knocked on the door. Gu Xiyue immediately stood up. Meixiang had already opened the door to let him in.

"Miss, just as you expected, I quietly sneaked into the Sun residence and made some inquiries. Boss Sun's sister is called Sun Shui'er, and she is the concubine of the Ganzhou prefect. When I went downstairs, I happened to see Shopkeeper Zhou's cousin having a secret meeting with the prefect's concubine. As for the prefect's mother, I didn't find out, and I don't know if the woman downstairs is her mistress."

"I think it's pretty close. Try to find a way to get close to that woman and investigate. If you can find out something, it might be useful to us."

Wei Lin took the order and went forward.

The woman downstairs waited for almost an hour. As it was getting dark, and seeing that Manager Zhou's cousin had not returned yet, she left with a look of despair after saying something harsh, "I'll come again tomorrow."

Wei Lin followed without leaving a trace.

It was late at night and Wei Lin had not returned yet. There was no one walking on the streets, every house had closed its doors, and everyone in the inn had turned off the lights and gone to bed.

Gu Xiyue's eyelids were drooping as he waited. After washing up, he turned off the lights and lay down on the bed with Meixiang. Meixiang fell asleep as soon as she lay down. Gu Xiyue closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep when he heard the sound of horse hooves.

From the sound, there were quite a few horses, mixed with the deep voices of men talking.

She opened her eyes instantly and slowly sat up. Seeing Meixiang sleeping soundly next to her, she gently got up from the bed, put on her coat, walked to the back window, gently pushed it open a crack and looked out.

A lamp was lit in the backyard, followed by the dim candlelight. Gu Xiyue saw that there were seven or eight of them, all of them with strong builds, riding tall horses, and each of them had two bulging bags tied behind them.

After dismounting, they untied the bags on both sides of the horse and led the horse to the stable.

The bags were taken to a side room.

A total of sixteen bags were sent in.

Gu Xiyue was surprised. If she guessed correctly, that room was the one Wei Lin mentioned, and there was salt in their bags.

Gu Xiyue closed the window gently, trying not to make any noise.

Things are a bit tricky now. Xifeng Town is definitely not going to work. It's a mess here. We have to go somewhere else.

Wei Lin hasn't come back yet, and Gu Xiyue can't help but worry. If something happens to Wei Lin, how will she explain to Xiao Heng when she returns?

After waiting for a while, I heard the sound of a window opening next door, and then I heard three gentle knocks on the wall next door, and Gu Xiyue also responded with three knocks.

Wei Lin came back. This was a signal that it was inconvenient for him to come over and talk to her, as they had agreed in advance. She finally felt relieved.

Climb into bed, close your eyes and fall asleep.

Gu Xiyue was awakened by Meixiang.

"Miss, Wei Lin is waiting outside the door. He said he has something urgent to report."

Gu Xiyue tried hard to open his eyes, gritted his teeth to get up, quickly put on his clothes, and asked Meixiang to open the door.

"Miss, last night I followed that woman through four streets until I reached her lodgings. There was a maid there. The two of them discussed that if they couldn't find the old lady, they wouldn't be able to report to the Master, and would die if they returned. So I showed up, gained their trust, and agreed to help them find her. Finally, based on the information they provided, I found the unconscious old lady by a pond..."

"Did you find the person?" Gu Xiyue was happy and felt that Xiao Heng's people were indeed powerful.

Wei Lin nodded. "Yes, the old lady must have been thrown into the pond. The water there is not deep and there are a lot of aquatic plants. The old lady probably grabbed the grass by the edge of the pond and climbed out again. She eventually passed out on the edge. Luckily, it's summer now, so the old lady wasn't seriously injured. But she was frightened and will probably need some time to recuperate."

Gu Xiyue stood up immediately and said, "There is no time to lose. Let's set off now and pick up the old lady to go to Ganzhou."

Meixiang immediately packed up her things. Wei Lin hesitated and said, "But...we're not going to care about things here anymore?"

Gu Xiyue nodded and said, "We should take care of it, but we can't do anything about it now. Let's go find the governor of Ganzhou. This is his jurisdiction. If we find him, he will definitely take care of it."

"But this matter has nothing to do with our search for the salt merchant." Meixiang also looked puzzled.

Gu Xiyue smiled and said, "You guys! Use your brains and listen to me. There will definitely be a way when we get there."

The two of them said nothing more. Wei Lin went to his room to pack his things. After the three of them had packed everything, they met at the door and went downstairs together.

The waiter felt a little embarrassed when he saw the three people leaving early in the morning.

"My three guests, why are you leaving so early? I was planning to serve you breakfast."

Gu Xiyue smiled and said, "What's for breakfast?"

As soon as the waiter saw Gu Xiyue's smile, he felt uncomfortable, knowing that she would definitely not buy it after asking.

But still holding onto a small hope, he said, "Sauerkraut buns, no... no need to add salt separately."

When he said that there was no need to add salt separately, he was waving his hand.

"One ten cents..."

"Okay, pack me six."

As soon as he finished speaking, the waiter happily agreed and quickly turned around to make buns at the back.

After Gu Xiyue paid the bill at the counter, the waiter came over trotting with the buns and handed them to Gu Xiyue with both hands.

Knowing that they were leaving, he thoughtfully went to the backyard to help harness the carriage.

Gu Xiyue and Meixiang were waiting at the door. When the carriage came over, she asked casually, "Last night, I was half asleep and half awake when I heard a lot of horses neighing and people talking in the backyard of your inn. I don't know what they were doing."

The waiter looked normal and said, "Oh, our boss's cousin will be bringing a few people to stay at the inn tonight. They are all riding horses. The noise you heard must be from them."

Seeing that he spoke without reservation, I guess he didn't know what they were doing and just treated it as a normal stay in the hotel.

He thought so, and the customers in the store probably thought so too.

However, the waiter's words made Gu Xiyue certain of one thing: Boss Sun's act of raising the price of salt to make huge profits must be related to Manager Zhou's cousin.

Gu Xiyue and Meixiang got on the carriage. Wei Lin drove the carriage. Gu Xiyue asked him to take a detour to the salt shop.

When we got there, the line was just like yesterday, stretching for a long way. After asking around, we found out that the price of salt had indeed risen to two taels per catty. People were scrambling to line up, fearing that if they came a day later, they would have to spend extra money.

Gu Xiyue also heard someone say that Boss Sun was a kind-hearted man who risked his life to get them several hundred kilograms of salt. If they sold out in a few days, there would be no more salt left, and he would find a way to deal with it when the time comes.

Gu Xiyue's mouth twitched when she heard this. Yesterday she said that there were only 200 kilograms of salt left and it would be gone once they were sold. Today she told everyone that she would try to get a few hundred kilograms more. It was estimated that after these few hundred kilograms were sold, she would risk her life to get a few hundred more kilograms of salt.

In the end, countless ordinary people lost their fortunes while he reaped huge profits.

Gu Xiyue lowered the curtains and asked Wei Lin to drive to pick up the old lady.

When they arrived at the inn where the old lady was staying, Meixiang and Wei Lin went in together. When the woman from yesterday saw that it was her savior, she hurriedly invited him in.

Meixiang said from the side: "Aunt He, my young lady is going to Ganzhou on business. After hearing Wei Lin's story about you, she is very worried about the old lady's health. She thought it would be convenient for us to give you a ride. When we get to Ganzhou, it will be convenient to see a doctor. The old lady will get better soon. Our young lady also said that she will go to the mansion to testify for you and promise not to let the prefect wrongly accuse you."

When Aunt He heard this, her face was deeply moved. Wei Lin saw her last night and told her that their young lady couldn't bear it any longer, so he asked her to come and ask if he could help. In the end, he really helped her find the old lady and gave her life-saving medicine. Otherwise, if she couldn't find the old lady, she and the maid would not be able to survive even if they had several lives.

"I'm so sorry! I really trouble you, but I..."

Meixiang could tell at a glance that she was short of money and immediately replied, "I'll do it."

After saying that, he went to the counter to pay the bill and asked Wei Lin to go up and carry the old lady downstairs.

Gu Xiyue was waiting by the carriage. After Aunt He and the others came out, they expressed their gratitude profusely. Gu Xiyue supported them repeatedly and said that the prefect was a good official and that this small favor was his due, and asked them not to take it to heart.

After the old lady was put into the carriage and laid down, several people went in and sat on the side. Gu Xiyue and Meixiang were on the left, Aunt He and another maid were on the right, and Wei Lin was driving the carriage in front.

Gu Xiyue took out the paper package and slowly opened it. The aroma of the buns filled the carriage. Aunt He and her maid subconsciously swallowed their saliva and looked away.

Gu Xiyue handed over a paper bag with six pickled cabbage buns in it. "You guys eat this one. We have another one. I bought it specially because I knew we had to get up early to travel."

Aunt He hesitated and refused to take it. Gu Xiyue said, "The one lying there is the prefect's mother. You are her family. If you don't eat well, how can you take good care of the old lady? Stop being polite."

Aunt He then took it and asked the maid next to her to hold it. She helped the old lady up and leaned her against herself, took a bun, broke it into small bites, and slowly fed her.

Although the old lady had her eyes closed, she knew how to eat and drink. Aunt He fed her a sauerkraut bun. After she finished eating, Aunt He gave her a few sips of water. After drinking it, the old lady closed her mouth and continued to sleep.

Gu Xiyue opened her bag, took two for herself, gave two to Meixiang, and asked Meixiang to give the remaining two to Wei Lin.

Along the way, Gu Xiyue didn't ask any questions. He just learned a little about the situation and knew that the prefect was a filial son.

Wei Lin concentrated on driving the carriage. After more than an hour, they arrived outside Ganzhou City. They stopped to rest for a while and then went straight into the city. When entering the city, the city guards wanted to check the pass. Gu Xiyue gave it to him. The guard looked at the pass and lifted the curtain to look into the carriage. Aunt He gave the badge to the guard. When the guard saw that it was from the prefect's residence, he waved and let them pass.

After entering the city, the carriage went straight to the residence of the prefect, Lord Yan.

Along the way, Gu Xiyue looked at the equally deserted streets outside, with no intention of appreciating them.

When they reached the door, the gatekeeper stopped him because he was a stranger. Aunt He stuck her head out and said with a fierce face, "Old Li, it's me. The old lady is sick. They saved us and her. Please find someone to tell the master, and also ask someone to find Doctor Zhao."

The man called Lao Li turned pale with fear when he heard that the old lady was ill. He quickly called for someone to open the door, and sent someone to find the housekeeper and ask someone to call the doctor and the master.

After the carriage entered the mansion, it drove for a while before being stopped by the magistrate's wife and the housekeeper. Gu Xiyue, Meixiang and Wei Lin were arranged to rest in the guest room, and the old lady was carried in.

After entering the guest room, a maid served tea, water and snacks, and said, "Please call me if you need anything." Then she stood outside.

It can be seen that the rules in the mansion are very strict. The maids all have similar expressions, don't talk too much, and don't move around.

Meixiang asked Gu Xiyue in a low voice: "Miss, what should we do if the prefect refuses to see us?"

Gu Xiyue pondered for a moment, "Don't worry, he will definitely meet us. Even if he doesn't meet us, we have a way to make him meet us. We'll just wait."

Meixiang finally felt relieved.

As long as the lady says it's okay, there's generally no problem.

This wait lasted two days.

During these two days, the maid brought them water and food on time, and other than that, there was no extra talk. Gu Xiyue strolled in the courtyard and tried to go out for a walk, but was stopped by someone, who said that she could not walk around the mansion without the permission of the adults.

By the third day, the prefect still hadn't summoned them. Gu Xiyue was still able to keep her composure, but Meixiang couldn't sit still anymore. Wei Lin whispered that if it really didn't work out, he would secretly go find the prefect.

Gu Xiyue told him not to be anxious.

"Wait one more day. If the prefect doesn't see us tomorrow, I'll let you go find him even if you don't want to."

Just after noon, the housekeeper came over and said with a smile, "Madam Gu, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. My old lady has finally woken up. The master asked this old servant to come and take you there."

"Thank you, butler!"

Gu Xiyue smiled humbly, stood up and replied.

The three of them followed the butler, walked through the winding corridor and went straight to the back, passed through two hanging flower gates, turned left and right, and the scenery along the way was elegant, and finally they entered a quiet courtyard.

The butler asked them to wait for a moment while he went in to report. He soon came out and gestured for invitation, "Madam Gu, please come in."