Chapter 044: Traitorous Minister 44
Xiao Yan was not fooled by the appearance before him and asked cautiously, "Is there a reason?"
Otherwise, how could a house on West Street, with two courtyards, be so cheap? It's not even worth one thousand taels of silver. There must be something fishy!
The trafficker was also very calm, "This family is the Feng family that was tragically wiped out three years ago."
Xiao Yan was unaware of this plot, while Xiao Chen had indeed heard of it in his previous life, but he was in the Black Feather Army at the time and had no exposure to this aspect. After all, the Black Feather Army was directly under the command of Emperor Xiaozhi, and could not act without the emperor's orders.
Furthermore, he wasn't supposed to know this at the moment, so Xiao Chen, like Xiao Yan, also looked at the human trafficker with a puzzled look.
Renbakuzigen Xiao Yan and others talked about what happened that year.
The Feng family was said to be a branch of a certain aristocratic clan, a collateral branch. Due to a conflict with members of the direct lineage, perhaps seeking to break away from the direct lineage, or perhaps to pursue official careers, the Feng family relocated to the capital, nearly twenty years before the incident.
It may be that the Feng family has bad feng shui, and all the descendants of the Feng family are illiterate.
In the capital, where every inch of land is valuable, expenses are considerable, not to mention the Feng family's large population and the numerous domestic servants they maintain. If the Feng family wants to establish itself in the capital, they must have income.
It has to be said that although the head of the Feng family himself did not succeed in becoming an official, and his children and grandchildren did not have the talent to take the imperial examinations, their Feng family was gifted in business.
They took advantage of the local people's love for watching dramas, spent a lot of money to invite the then famous Hechunyuan Opera Troupe, wrote the scripts themselves, and made them perform a big move. Everyone who watched the Feng family's drama applauded.
The reason is simple. The Feng family dared to incorporate real events into the drama, for example, implying that a young man from a certain aristocratic family was idle and had an empty head, but could actually become a local official.
For example, the protagonist of a play passes by a certain place and discovers that the local people, unlike those in other places, particularly enjoy eating stale noodles mixed with sand. Intrigued, the protagonist tries it, only to find the sand grating on his teeth and his stomach bloating unbearably. This play was first performed during a period of disaster in that area, and the metaphor within it is thought-provoking.
Although the Feng family was able to gain a foothold in the capital and win praise from people all over the world because of this, it also offended many powerful people.
However, he was lucky because Emperor Xiaozhi was not a foolish ruler. After hearing about this, he even summoned people into the palace and rewarded him with a plaque with the words "Speak Frankly" written by Emperor Xiaozhi himself.
The Feng family was prudent and didn't venture into Emperor Xiaozhi's restricted area. Instead, they dug up more secrets about the aristocratic families. Every incident pointed directly to the aristocratic families' power and their harm to the people. It was more like a knife in Emperor Xiaozhi's hand than a business model of the Feng family, only this knife was aimed at the aristocratic families, exposing their ugly faces to the people of the world.
"Overnight, dozens of people in the Feng family were poisoned. Even the people in Hechun Garden were killed." The human trafficker sighed.
"Has the murderer been found?" Xiao Yan asked.
"I found it. They say the Feng family's main branch has fallen on hard times. Seeing the side branch prospering in the capital, they wanted to get a piece of the action. But after being rejected by the head of the Feng family, they became malicious and bribed a servant of the Feng family to poison him, hoping to take the family for themselves."
Xiao Yan had a strange expression on his face. "If you wanted to take it for yourself, why did you kill everyone in Hechun Garden as well? Hechun Garden is the face of the Feng family. Isn't this a contradiction?"
The trafficker shook his head. "That's what the government said. They also found evidence that the Feng family's direct descendants bribed the Feng family's servants. Even the servant who poisoned them was arrested."
He lowered his voice and said, "Rather than the Feng family's direct lineage having evil intentions, everyone thinks the Feng family must have offended too many people and is being retaliated against!"
As for who will seek revenge, just look at who in the Feng family wrote the article and you will know. It is undoubtedly the aristocratic family!
Xiao Yan's eyes moved slightly, and he thought of more.
If it were true as the traffickers had said, then Emperor Xiaozhi had just ascended the throne twenty years earlier, and the Feng family, having also recently moved to the capital, had only just begun to rise to prominence. Emperor Xiaozhi must have been constrained in every way at the time, and upon discovering the Feng family, he would have used them as a weapon against the aristocratic families.
In the battle between the two sides, judging from the experience of the Feng family, Emperor Xiaozhi should have lost. No wonder Emperor Xiaozhi was always anxious to find the next knife, because the Feng family was wiped out.
"Ever since the Feng family's misfortune, their house has been taken over by their creditors. People consider it unlucky, so they've been suffering from it ever since. In my opinion, every wrong has its perpetrator, and even if the Feng family harbors resentment, it should be directed at their murderers. Besides, the Feng family spoke up for the people back then, so how could they target innocent people?"
Xiao Yan understood the reasoning, and he wouldn't feel unlucky, but...
"Can it be less? You know my brother and I are in a difficult situation, and now we have no income. Since you treat us like brothers and are so open with us, I might as well tell you the truth. I really want to buy it, but can it be sold for less? For example, 666 taels and 6 qian. Even if it's less, it can still be sold, right? And it's also auspicious, six sixes and auspicious!"
"Think about it carefully. The locals know everything about it and definitely won't buy it. Wealthier outsiders wouldn't buy a haunted house. Those who don't mind the bad luck can't afford it either. Look, I happen to have enough money, so I don't mind it either. It's destined to be ours!"
The trafficker was initially hesitant, as eight hundred silver coins was already a small sum. Any lower would be like giving it away for free. But Xiao Yan was right: those who could afford it would find it unlucky, while those who didn't mind couldn't. The Feng family's affairs could be known by anyone who asked, and there was no way to hide them. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been stuck with it for so many years.
After Xiao Yan's repeated persuasion, the trafficker finally gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll ask for you."
Xiao Yan nodded contentedly, "I'll leave this matter to you, brother. Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, we two brothers have pledged our friendship! What's your name, brother? Our surname is Xiao."
The trafficker made friends with the two successful candidates and was in high spirits. "My last name is He, and I'm older than you. If you don't mind, you can call me Brother He! Coincidentally, I heard there are two successful candidates with the same last name, Xiao, and they're brothers. Last year, during the provincial examination, they even wrote some flattering essays..."
Xiao Yan: “…”
He didn't expect that even people in the capital knew about this.
Isn’t it said that communication was difficult in ancient times? How could it still be transmitted so far?
As the human trafficker was speaking, he inadvertently noticed that Xiao Yan had a strange expression on his face. He suddenly paused and looked at Xiao Yan in surprise, then at Xiao Chen.
"No way? You're not the two people mentioned in the rumors!?"
Xiao Yan laughed awkwardly, "It's me. Brother He, you can call me Brother Yan, and this is my younger brother Xiao Chen."
He intentionally changed the subject, not wanting to be the center of the conversation. "Brother He, have you ever eaten? We're lucky enough to meet today, so why don't we find a restaurant to celebrate?"
The trafficker knew Xiao Yan didn't want to talk about this, and it was indeed quite awkward. It was like gossiping about someone else and then bringing it up in front of the person who actually did it—that awkward feeling, like you could go in and out of the Grand Courtyard three times right there.
"No, I plan to go and ask so that you two brothers can find a place to stay as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Xiao Yan did not force it, "Then I'll leave it to Brother He!"
The human trafficker waved his hand, and then Xiao Yan and Xiao Chen left the brokerage shop.
"Is the Feng family that person's old chess piece?" Xiao Chen asked in a low voice in the room.
Xiao Yan nodded. "It seems that he has already fought against the nobles before, and he still hasn't given up. It can be said that it's fate that plays tricks on him."
Isn't that just fate? The Feng family was Emperor Xiaozhi's old chess piece, and they were the future Emperor Xiaozhi's new chess piece. And by the same coincidence, they were about to live in the same place, creating a sense of dislocation, like two generations meeting in different generations.
This feeling made Xiao Chen feel a little regretful for no reason.
As long as they become pawns in the hands of Emperor Xiaozhi, they will be exposed to the world, subjected to attacks and calculations from all parties, and even tragic incidents such as the extermination of the Feng family. Whether it is him in his previous life or the Feng family in this life, they all end up in a miserable situation.
Could he really survive to the end? If it were just him, he wouldn't be afraid, since he'd be alone anyway. But now the situation was different; he still had his brother. He couldn't imagine what he would become if something happened to his brother, and he couldn't bear the pain of separation.
Xiao Chen fell into a rare state of confusion and fear, and felt like giving up.
"How about we not take the exam? It would be nice to find a secluded place in the mountains, away from the disputes of the court."
Xiao Yan was somewhat stunned. He hadn't expected that Xiao Chen, obsessed with power, would actually want to retreat. If there had been a chance earlier, now that they had caught that person's eye, how could they even think of retreating to the mountains?
He said to Xiao Chen seriously, "Under an overturned nest, how can the eggs remain intact? Under the power of the powerful, where can there be peace?"
Xiao Yan rubbed Xiao Chen's head and said, "Don't think too much. I'm your big brother!"
He looked at Xiao Chen suspiciously, his eyes narrowed dangerously, "Or do you not believe in big brother's ability?"
Xiao Chen: “…”
Xiao Chen turned his head and rescued his hair from Xiao Yan's hand, "I naturally believe that big brother is very capable, but, but..."
"Are you worried that I will be harmed by villains like the Feng family?"
Seeing that Xiao Chen didn't say anything, Xiao Yan took advantage of the fact that he was taller than Xiao Chen and that Xiao Chen didn't dare to resist. He was afraid of hurting him by mistake, so he rubbed Xiao Chen's hair hard and viciously, successfully messing up Xiao Chen's meticulously combed hair.
"How dare you look down on your elder brother? I'll punish you by making you fetch food tonight!"
Xiao Chen: “…”
He suddenly suspected that Xiao Yan did it on purpose, just to get food for him, because Xiao Yan was really lazy! He was so lazy that he was too lazy to even go out to eat!
He was still lost in thought, and Xiao Yan poured himself a cup of tea. "Don't just stand there, sit down first."
Xiao Chen didn't understand why, but he still sat down obediently.
Xiao Yan said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the yard on West Street should be able to be acquired for 666 taels and 6 qian. After deducting this amount, there will be more than 2,500 taels of silver left."
"We'll need to hire someone to clean and repair the place, right? Tables, chairs, ornaments, beds, pots, pans, and everything else will cost money. It's a hefty sum."
He paused, "And my hometown also needs money, and the favors we'll have to pay..."
As Xiao Yan calculated one by one, Xiao Chen had no time to think about anything else. He was in a panic about running out of money.
What to do if you have no money? Waiting online urgently!
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