Yun Chang sat with them for a while before leaving. He needed to go check on how things were going with Xu Changhuan. He suddenly remembered that he should have Huanhuan arrange for someone to search those people's homes.
He felt that if someone wanted to bribe them, they would have to use the most direct things like gold and silver to move these people who were most in need of money.
When Yun Chang arrived, Xu Changhuan had already finished discussing matters with the two deputy managers, and she was reviewing everyone's attendance records for the past six months.
When I saw who was absent from work on which day, I wrote it down on a separate piece of paper.
Yun Chang arrived and joined them. The four of them checked together, two checking and two taking notes. Half an hour later, they had finished checking all the records for the first half of the year.
Once listed separately, the problem becomes immediately apparent.
Xu Changhuan could remember those who were absent because of family matters, and she sent people to help those families.
However, Xu Datou and Xu Cang have been absent from work several times in the past three months, and the reason for their absences was that they went to Yongzhou City.
The notice said it was for purchasing things, but in reality, the people who made the purchasing for the Xu family were always the third senior brother, Xu Zhou, and the fourth senior brother, Xu Kun.
Moreover, the third and fourth senior brothers have been away from the clan for more than twenty days, and there has been no news of them or where they have appeared.
Xu Changhuan looked at their names and felt a little heavy-hearted. Had they encountered danger, or had they also betrayed the Xu family?
"Uncle He, Uncle Yu, thank you both for staying at the incense shop these past few days. Keep an eye on things and make a note of who is on duty. Their wages will still be paid. Also, make a separate note of those who have stopped working these past few days."
“Many people within the Xu family have been bribed. This matter is quite significant, as it involves the Xu family's affairs from thirty years ago. We are well aware that we were wronged back then, so we want to take this opportunity to investigate and clarify the matter.”
"Finally, we may have to clear out a group of traitors. Since the truth hasn't been found yet, everyone is a suspect. So, I hope you two can be careful. I will also send people to protect you in the shadows. You just need to do the work I assign you."
"I will not treat the Xu clan members who are loyal to the main Xu family unfairly in the end." Xu Changhuan told Uncle He and Uncle Yu his thoughts.
The two quickly stood up and assured the chief that they would do their utmost to protect the incense shop.
After the two of them left, Xu Changhuan and Yun Chang stared at the list in front of them in silence.
After a while, Yun Chang said, "Let's go, let's see how the interrogation is going. I think we still need to send people to search your two senior brothers' homes as soon as possible."
“But if we send people to investigate those two families, it will alert the other families,” Xu Changhuan said in a low voice.
“I know, so we need to investigate as soon as possible and get the list of all those who have betrayed the Xu family.” Yun Chang nodded.
“Okay, let’s go!” Upon hearing this, Xu Changhuan quickly stood up and followed him out.
...
Since they had encountered this situation, Li Mai and Zhou Quan could say nothing more and settled down to wait for Yun Chang and Xu Changhuan to finish dealing with things.
The housekeeper and others also delivered their lunches at noon and in the evening.
Aside from sitting in the courtyard, Li Mai and Zhou Quan would go back inside to cultivate in their spatial dimension.
They didn't see Yun Chang and Xu Changhuan come looking for them all afternoon and evening.
With Elder Yang and Yun Chang helping Xu Changhuan, Li Mai didn't need to worry about the Xu family's affairs. She didn't deliberately use her spiritual power to listen to the surrounding sounds; she just waited to know the result.
To avoid causing them trouble, the two of them didn't go for a walk after dinner. They just strolled around the yard before going back to rest.
My brother is right. Living in this small mountain village feels just like living back in Zhoujia Village. It's peaceful and comfortable, and we feel very relaxed and at ease.
This is indeed a good place to recuperate.
That night, Xu Changhuan and Yun Chang were also very busy. By dinner time, their men had interrogated all the traitors and obtained their names. They didn't even have dinner and went out to search those houses overnight.
A large amount of stolen silver was found in the cellars of several of their families, and they were all taken back to the west courtyard of the main house and locked up.
Unexpectedly, some families even dug new cellars to hide the silver. Unfortunately, they encountered the people of the Seven Star Tower and Yun Chang's secret guards, who were experienced and knowledgeable, and could find the silver no matter where it was hidden.
From the day this incident occurred, no one from the Xu family was allowed to leave the premises until Xu Changhuan had investigated the matter thoroughly.
Silver notes and ingots were found in the homes of Xu Datou and Xu Cang, as well as a house deed or shop deed from another town.
It's unbelievable how much they've received from others; once you investigate, you discover they've actually taken so many things from people.
Originally, the clansmen who relied on the income from the incense shop should have lived similar lives, and their families could never have saved more than a hundred taels of silver. However, unexpectedly, these families not only had more than a hundred taels of silver in their homes, but they also owned houses elsewhere, indicating that they had already prepared a way out.
The families who received the most bribes were Xu Datou and Xu Cangjia.
They couldn't withstand the torture themselves and confessed. The other party gave them a thousand taels of silver and deeds to several courtyards, instructing them to come back and find more people to cause trouble in the incense shop, the bigger and more numerous the better, and to make a ruckus for a long time. As for what happens next, they don't need to worry about it.
But Xu Datou and Xu Cang didn't know who was behind it all. They only knew that the person must be very rich. Even the person who contacted them didn't seem to care at all when giving them those things, as if they had a lot of money and houses at home.
Xu Changhuan was in a bad mood after hearing this, and the fact that she hadn't been able to find out who was behind it all made her feel even worse.
The person behind this is trying to break you down. They probably have more tricks up their sleeve. Their goal is to completely destroy the Xu family. They just didn't expect that Yun Chang would cause such a surprise when they first caused trouble.
It seems I've really failed as the chieftain, managing to let someone reach right under my nose without me even realizing it.
In the latter half of the night, the west courtyard of the house became an unbearable commotion. Xu Cang and Xu Datou's families did not know where they were being held. Now that so many things had been found in their house, their family members had also been brought back. They were all angrily cursing Xu Changhuan, shouting that Xu Changhuan would die a horrible death, and even cursing that Xu Changhuan would get sick and die the next day.
Yun Chang was worried that the noise would disturb her younger sister's rest, so she asked her master, Elder Yang, to use his spiritual power to control the noise in the west courtyard and prevent it from spreading out of the west courtyard.
Therefore, at this moment, the entire main house was quiet except for the noisy west courtyard. Li Mai and Zhou Quan were asleep and had no idea that Yun Chang and Xu Changhuan were dealing with those who had betrayed the Xu family in the west courtyard.
There are only about 20 households in this village, and seven of them were found to have been bribed this time.
Xu Datou and Xu Cang were bribed by the other party. The other five families were hired by the two of them to help them cause trouble and complete their mission. They promised those families that after the mission was accomplished, they would take them away from this godforsaken place.
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