However, upon seeing Chu Chuyan and her group arrive, Xie Yi's face immediately broke into a smile: "Niece, I just got back and heard you came to see me. I thought I had missed you and was feeling quite upset."
Zu An thought to himself that these guys were all incredibly cunning. They had been at home the whole time, deliberately avoiding each other before, but now they were acting like nothing had happened.
Chu Chuyan was clearly used to this kind of thing and showed no sign of it, smiling slightly as she said, "Chuyan greets Uncle Xie."
“Sigh, being an uncle is not easy,” Xie Yi sighed. The other party did not address him as the city lord, but as uncle, clearly trying to use the relationship between the two families as an excuse. “I can roughly guess why you came today, niece, but the Chu family has committed a serious offense this time.”
"I remember you've always been very calm. Why did you make the same mistake as Zhongtian this time?"
Chu Chuyan said with a sigh, "Many things are easier said than done. In recent years, the private salt trade has been rampant, and with other expenses, the Chu family has long been unable to make ends meet. In addition, the salt permits were stolen, and we had no choice. Moreover, this has been the way everyone has been doing things for so many years, and it has become an unwritten rule. Who knew that Prefect Sang would suddenly be so... so serious?"
Those who are in the salt business inevitably encounter situations where there is a shortage of salt permits. If the tax law stipulated by the imperial court is followed, firstly, the cost of salt merchants will increase many times over, and secondly, ordinary people will not be able to afford salt.
Therefore, a tacit understanding gradually formed among various parties: if such a situation arises, they would pay a small amount of advance payment as a formality, and in most cases, they would not actually pay the full amount.
Because the Salt Transport Commissioner's Office and the Chu family had always had a good relationship, with Chu Zhongtian in charge, everyone had been living in peace. Who would have thought that Sang Hong would pull this stunt?
"Although this is an unspoken rule, it does conflict with the laws of the imperial court, so there's nothing that can be done if people are fixated on this point," Xie Yi sighed.
Chu Chuyan said in a deep voice, "We also know that this matter is somewhat troublesome, which is why we came to ask Uncle Xie for help."
Xie Yi smiled wryly and said, "My niece should know that I am just a city lord. Prefect Sang is my superior, and he came with an imperial decree. I have no power to help him even if I wanted to."
Chu Chuyan's face was frosty, and she fell silent.
Xie Yi continued, "Although I don't have that ability, there should be someone who can help the Chu family."
Chu Chuyan remained silent, while Xie Yi wore a smile, creating a somewhat strange atmosphere in the room.
Zuan was completely confused. What were they talking about? "Who?"
Xie Yi did not explain: "My niece should know."
Chu Chuyan finally spoke: "Uncle, you should know the principles that our Chu family has always upheld."
Xie Yi gave her a meaningful look: "It's not so easy to remain neutral most of the time; it often comes at a huge price."
Chu Chuyan stood up and said, "I hope you won't take offense at my intrusion today, Uncle."
Xie Yi hurriedly stood up to stop him, saying, "You silly child, why are you leaving so abruptly?"
“Well then, since we’re all family here, I’ll be frank,” Xie Yi paused, seemingly considering how to phrase it, “I won’t advise you to completely side with that person, but if you’re willing to hand over something, someone will naturally help you sort out all of this.”
Chu Chuyan's expression shifted between light and dark, and after a long while she said, "I need to go back and think about this carefully."
“Of course we should. We can also discuss it with our family. After all, it’s not a small matter.” Xie Yi’s eyes lit up when he saw that she didn’t refuse on the spot.
After the two left the Xie family, Zu'an couldn't contain his curiosity: "What exactly did City Lord Xie say?"
From their conversation, he had already understood that Xie Yi had initially tried to persuade the Chu family to side with the King of Qi, but after Chu Chuyan refused, he proposed another condition.
He had absolutely no idea what it was.
Chu Chuyan hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Grandpa, you're not an outsider anymore. There are some things you should know. Lord Xie was talking about an account book..."
Then he briefly explained the origins and history of the ledger to him.
Zu An was furious: "Isn't Xie Yi taking advantage of the chaos?!"
He suddenly remembered the ledger Pei Mianman had asked him to find before. She had told him that it contained information about the Chu family's transactions with various forces in the arms, salt, and iron trade. Now he realized that she probably hadn't told him the truth.
Sigh, this world is truly terrifying. On the surface, she's still Chu Chuyan's best friend, but secretly she's plotting to kill her.
The thought made him feel uneasy, but then he thought again that although Pei Mianman was a bit hypocritical to the Chu family, she was really good to him.
For a moment, he didn't know what to do.
At this moment, Chu Chuyan sighed: "Now we are at their mercy, like fish on a chopping board. What can we do if they take advantage of our misfortune?"
Zuan snapped out of his daze: "You're not really planning to give him the ledger, are you?"
"Of course not, it's just to save face for everyone," Chu Chuyan replied.
Zuan couldn't help but say, "Actually, I don't quite understand why you don't make good use of such a powerful weapon."
"Use?" Chu Chuyan was taken aback. "How?"
Zuan said, "This thing is like a nuclear weapon... Uh, never mind what a nuclear weapon is, what I mean is that you have so much dirt on important officials, you can use it to blackmail them."
“But if we do that, we’ll completely break off all ties,” Chu Chuyan said, frowning.
“The Chu family is about to be destroyed, why are you still worried about these things?” Zu An said.
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