Chapter 29 Meeting with the Prefect
After Gu Xiyue nodded in thanks to the housekeeper, she walked in slowly.
The central hall was elegantly decorated. The old lady who had been unconscious before was now sitting in the first seat. Her complexion had become much rosier and her eyes had regained their spirit. Sitting on her right was a middle-aged man of about forty years old with a straight face and a respectful expression.
At the lower left, sits the prefect's wife, smiling.
After Gu Xiyue entered, he was the first to salute.
"Gu Xiyue, a humble girl, pays respects to the prefect. I greet the madam, the old lady!"
Wei Lin and Mei Xiang followed her in saluting.
The old lady's eyes lit up and she reached out and gently pushed her son.
The prefect quickly stood up, followed by his wife. Together they came to Gu Xiyue and bowed deeply to her.
"I sincerely thank Madam Gu for saving my life. If it weren't for her, I'm afraid my mother would have passed away. Please accept my greetings."
As Lord Yan spoke, he kowtowed to Gu Xiyue. Gu Xiyue was startled and quickly squatted down to hold his arm. Meixiang also stepped forward to support Mrs. Yan.
"Master Yan, you absolutely cannot bow. I cannot bear it. I was able to save the old lady, which shows that I am blessed with good fortune. With a filial son like you, I will naturally be able to turn misfortune into fortune!"
These words made Lord Yan and his wife and the old lady all laugh.
Madam Yan said, "I didn't expect that Madam Gu, who looks young, is actually very cautious in what she says and does."
After saying that, he quickly asked Gu Xiyue to take a seat.
Wei Lin and Mei Xiang stood behind her with solemn expressions.
The old lady waved to Aunt He, who understood and immediately asked the maid to move two stools behind Gu Xiyue for Wei Lin and Meixiang to sit down.
"Madam Gu, I've been busy treating the old lady these days, so I'm sorry for neglecting you three."
Mrs. Yan smiled and spoke in a friendly manner.
"No, no." Gu Xiyue said quickly: "I am also worried about the old lady. I have been praying in my heart every day these days. If the old lady's health gets worse, I will be embarrassed to see you and your wife."
"What a sensible young lady! Look at your concubine. If she were half as sensible as her, I wouldn't have to suffer so much!"
The old lady seemed to be in much better spirits, and she spoke with great strength.
After the old lady finished speaking, Lord Yan looked guilty and took the old lady's hand and rubbed it for a while.
Upon seeing this, Madam Yan waved her hand and asked all the maids and servants serving in the room to leave, leaving only Aunt He and the maid Xiaolian.
After the strangers left, Master Yan's face froze, and he said carefully, "Mother, I always feel that Shui'er is not that kind of person. Has mother been deceived?"
As soon as these words were spoken, not only did the old lady's face change color, but even Mrs. Yan's face turned pale.
Aunt He and Xiaolian were so frightened that they immediately knelt down, not daring to breathe.
When Lord Yan said this, he was obviously biased towards Sun Shuier. It seemed that he liked this concubine very much.
"Although I'm old, I'm not blind. She said she wanted to accompany me back to my hometown to relax, but I accidentally caught her having a secret meeting with a strange man. That's why they wanted to kill me. Aunt He and the others saw it."
"Now that I'm well again, are you thinking about your concubine?"
Aunt He nodded repeatedly, "Master, Sun Shui'er had a secret meeting with a wild man, and took the old lady away while I was away, intending to kill her. Please, Master, make sure to investigate this matter and don't let this bad guy get away with it."
"But Shui'er wrote to me saying that you two disliked her and kicked her off the carriage mid-journey. She was an orphan, and if it weren't for the help of a fellow villager, she would have been killed by bad guys... When Shui'er was in the mansion, you always disliked her. Could it be that you are harboring evil intentions, trying to put the blame on others for your own failure to take good care of the old lady?"
Lord Yan spoke with a stern look on his face, as if he would never let Aunt He off easily if she dared to tell a lie while kneeling.
"Master Yan." Gu Xiyue stood up and said apologetically for interrupting, "I have something to say, is it convenient for me to say it?"
"Just say it!" Although Lord Yan had a stern face, he was still polite.
"Your Excellency's concubine, Sun Shui'er, has a heart-shaped Tai Chi on her left shoulder." Gu Xiyue said while pointing to the lower side of her left shoulder.
Even though it's summer now, women still wear long-sleeved dresses. The most exposed part of their body is their neck, with the shoulders below exposed, unless they're half-dressed...
Master Yan's expression changed, and he asked hurriedly, "Madam Gu, how did you know? Could it be that you have seen it?"
Gu Xiyue nodded, confirming Lord Yan's guess.
These were all told to her by Wei Lin. As a man, he would lose face if he told her, so she said it herself.
After saying that, Gu Xiyue turned around and looked around, a little embarrassedly saying, "I hope Lord Yan won't be angry if I say something. I also discovered this when I was talking to the salt shop owner."
Madam Yan nodded and said, "The owner of the salt shop, Mr. Sun, is my sister's brother."
Lord Yan waved his hand and asked Gu Xiyue to continue.
"That day, we had dinner at the Tongfu Inn. Three dishes and a soup cost over a hundred coins. If we wanted salt, we had to pay an extra five hundred coins. I had never seen a store run this way before, so I asked about it. The waiter said salt was out of stock. A pound of salt cost one ounce and five cents, and the price was going up every day. I was curious about what was going on, so I went to find Mr. Sun, the owner of the salt shop."
"Boss Sun wasn't home, and his servants asked me to wait a while. I got bored waiting, so I went to look at the calligraphy and paintings on the wall. I happened to see a couple on a date in the next room. I knew the man. He was the tall cousin of Manager Zhou of Tongfu Inn. He called the woman in his arms Shui'er... That's when I saw the birthmark on Shui'er's shoulder. Because I was so abrupt and disturbed their good time, I quickly went to the yard to wait for Boss Sun."
"I didn't take it to heart at the time. It was only when I heard you talking about it just now that I remembered it. I hope Lord Yan will forgive me and not blame me for my quick words."
The room was quiet for a long time, so quiet that one could hear Lord Yan's angry breathing. He tried to restrain himself for a long time before saying, "It doesn't matter! That bitch! It really is her!"
However, he did not let Aunt He and Xiaolian get up.
After Master Yan finished speaking harshly, he seemed to have thought of something and turned his head to look at Gu Xiyue. "Mrs. Gu just said that the salt in Boss Sun's salt shop is one ounce and five cents per catty?"
He finally realized the problem.
After asking this question, Mrs. Yan's face became worried.
The old lady next to her suddenly said, "Hidden concubine! I told her that if that man tells her again about how much salt he has got and how he is going to be rich, I will take her away."
After hearing what his mother said, Lord Yan was stunned again and looked at Gu Xiyue.
Gu Xiyue nodded. "Yes, yesterday it was one ounce and five cents per catty. When I came here today, I specifically asked my attendants to drive around the salt shop and learned that today's salt is two ounces per catty, and only one hundred catties are sold every day. I also heard Boss Sun say that he risked his life to get hundreds of catties of salt for the people, and told everyone not to worry. But from what he said, the price of salt will increase every day, by about five cents. I don't know where he got these hundreds of catties of salt from. Yesterday, he told me that there were only two hundred catties left in the salt shop."
"Also, last night, while I was sleeping, I heard the sound of horses and men talking in the backyard. I looked out the back window and saw that the man who was close to Shui'er had come down from his horse with six or seven other men. The horses were carrying two bags of stuff. When they mentioned salt, I figured it must be salt."
Gu Xiyue told the story in detail. She had seen everything with her own eyes. Although she did not mention the connection directly, to others it sounded like a complete story.
Sun Shuier was dating the cousin of Shopkeeper Zhou, Boss Sun's salt shop raised the price and got a few hundred kilograms of salt, and Shopkeeper Zhou's cousin brought people to carry salt at night. Putting all these things together, one can't help but think too much.
Gu Xiyue did not mention the hut where salt was stored in the backyard of Tongfu Inn. If she had, it would have seemed too deliberate.
Lord Yan has seen all kinds of people. There are some things that he will definitely not be able to find out as long as he pays attention.
"Alas! Recently, several places have reported to me that the remaining salt has been stolen, and some have been robbed. The total amount lost has exceeded two thousand kilograms. Now there is no salt to eat anywhere. What should we do?"
Lord Yan looked worried about his country and its people. "The higher-ups don't care about the lives of people here. If rebellions break out across my jurisdiction, I'll be the one to take the blame."
After saying that, he called someone in, and immediately two capable guards came into the room.
"You two, take a few people with you to Xifeng Town and thoroughly investigate Mr. Sun, the owner of the salt shop, and Mr. Zhou, the cousin of the Tongfu Inn, to find out what they are up to. Also..."
He paused for a moment and said, "Investigate Sun Shui'er thoroughly and have someone bring her back to me."
The two men received the order and left.
Only then did Lord Yan let Aunt He and Xiaolian get up. The two thanked him profusely and stood up to serve the old lady.
Lord Yan had completely calmed down by this time. He thought carefully and finally his gaze fell on Gu Xiyue's face, his eyes full of interrogation.
"Madam Gu!"
The cry of Madam Gu was intriguing.
"Are you the daughter of Mr. Gu from Dongfeng Town?"
Gu Xiyue nodded, feeling a little uneasy. Before leaving, Xiao Heng told her about the simple situation of Mr. Gu's family, but she didn't expect that she would actually be interrogated.
This Lord Yan is indeed meticulous.
"My people found out that your father took you to a neighboring country for business a few years ago. Why did you end up in West Wind Town?"
"My father heard that our hometown had been hit by a flood, that the wheat fields had been completely destroyed, and that the people had almost no harvest. This had also angered the higher authorities, who had cut off the salt supply. My father felt for the suffering of the villagers, so he asked me to return and find a salt merchant to try to alleviate the villagers' salt crisis."
Her voice was pleasant and full of emotion. Lord Yan nodded frequently when he heard it from others, and his eyes lit up when he heard it later.
"Master Yan, after I came back, I found the situation more serious than I had imagined. I even went to Jingquan Village for a walk. When I was a child, my father often took me there to visit a friend of his. Jingquan Village was full of vitality at that time, but this time, I found that the people there were listless. They had completely run out of salt to eat. Farmers rely on physical strength to work, and they feel weak without salt. Some people have pickled radishes at home, so they can make do with it. Some people have pickled vegetables and sauerkraut from last winter, and they still have some left over, so they share half a bowl or a bowl with their beggar neighbors... The grain has not been harvested yet, and there is no salt. The price is sky-high. They can't afford salt even if they sell everything they have. I see it with my own eyes, and it hurts my heart."
When Gu Xiyue finished speaking, her voice became choked with sobs.
The old lady and Madam Yan had tears in their eyes as they listened, and even Lord Yan's eyes were red.
Meixiang, who was sitting behind Gu Xiyue, thought of Xiaohui at this time, and tears were already streaming down her face. She didn't know how Xiaohui was doing now, or whether her mother had woken up.
Lord Yan saw her tears and knew that what Gu Xiyue said was not a lie.
Seeing that she had no intention of stopping, he continued listening.
"Later, I went to Xifeng Town to seek partners. I asked someone to help buy a good carriage and parked it at the Tongfu Inn. We stayed at the Tongfu Inn and found that we had to pay extra for salt when we ate. When I asked, I found out that the price of salt was so high. Lord Yan, I also know that ordinary people with many laborers in their families can only save a few taels of salt if they work all year round and there are no natural disasters or man-made disasters. Most people can barely make enough to eat all year round and have no extra money. A pound of salt is so expensive, they really can't afford it."
"To verify this, I went to the salt shop and saw people queuing there day and night, with several families buying salt together. After seeing this, I thought about finding Boss Sun and cooperating with him to lower the price of salt. But after I went in..."
Gu Xiyue paused here and jumped
After discussing Sun Shui'er's date, she said directly, "But after meeting me, Boss Sun looked down on me as a woman and showed no sincerity at all. After I returned to the inn, I happened to meet Aunt He who went to Tongfu Inn to look for Manager Zhou's cousin. It was during her sobbing that I learned that the old lady had been taken away for no reason, so I asked my entourage to help. Later, I learned that the old lady was the prefect's granddaughter. I also thought that there was no suitable partner in Xifeng Town, so I thought of coming to Ganzhou to have a look."
Gu Xiyue finished speaking in one breath and bowed deeply to Lord Yan.
"I have finished speaking. I hope Master Yan will forgive me for any offense I have caused!"
Lord Yan immediately stood up and walked over quickly to give him a helping hand. "Madam Gu said you could alleviate the common people's salt shortage. Are you looking for a partner to sell salt to?"
Gu Xiyue nodded, "That's right! I just don't know if our Dayu laws allow me to do this."
Gu Xiyue said this intentionally. She had asked Xiao Heng about it before coming.
Although salt supply is the responsibility of the imperial court, in recent years, the government has not taken remote areas seriously at all. The salt supply is not standardized, and there is collusion between the upper and lower levels, allowing some unscrupulous businessmen to do whatever they want.
Boss Sun's behavior like this happens every one or two years.
"What a bullshit law!" Lord Yan was so angry that he almost cursed.
"A few days ago, the higher-ups sent me an imperial decree ordering me to manage my own salt permits starting this summer. If the higher-ups don't supply salt, what good are these permits for me?"
Gu Xiyue's heart moved.
If she could get a salt permit, she could send people to sell salt herself. Then, she could open a salt shop in every place. In the long run, it would be a big business.
I felt excited.
Lord Yan sighed again, "The magistrate of Xifeng Town was dismissed and investigated by the higher authorities because of this natural disaster. He is under my jurisdiction. If something happens to him, and the people start to make trouble over the salt issue, the higher authorities will definitely punish me."
Upon hearing this, Gu Xiyue quickly said, "I've heard that Lord Yan loves his people like his own children and is a rare and good official. If I can help you, please feel free to ask."
"Seriously!" Lord Yan looked directly at Gu Xiyue with his eyes sparkling.
"Madam Gu, if you were asked to become a salt merchant, would you arbitrarily raise prices and make exorbitant profits?"
Gu Xiyue shook her head firmly, "Remember, a pound of salt only sells for seven or eight cents. I only make money that is in good conscience, and I will never make money that goes against my conscience."
When salt was supplied from above, the price of salt per pound in Ganzhou and the dozen or so places under its jurisdiction was fifteen cents, but Gu Xiyue said that she only sold salt per pound for seven or eight cents.
Almost half the previous price.
Lord Yan had been feeling very upset about Sun Shuier's matter just now, but when he heard what Gu Xiyue said, he seemed to have seen a way to solve the salt crisis, and he felt relieved immediately.
Just as she was about to ask more questions, Madam Yan spoke first, "Master, Madam Gu must be a little tired after talking for so long. Why don't we let them go down and rest first? We can discuss anything tomorrow."
"By the way, Master, we agreed before that we should thank Madam Gu properly. Look at you, you forgot it when you got busy."
As Madam Yan spoke, she turned around and glanced at her personal maid. The maid immediately went to the next room and came out with a box in her hand.
He walked over and handed the box to Gu Xiyue with both hands.
Madam Yan smiled and said, "Madam Gu, this is a little gift from us, you must accept it!"
Gu Xiyue pushed forward with both hands, took two steps back, and said with a bow: "Madam, you are too polite. I, a commoner, cannot accept this gift. Please take it back."
Mrs. Yan just smiled without saying anything. She reached out and slowly opened the box. There were ten silver ingots inside, each weighing ten taels.
A total of one hundred taels.
When Mrs. Yan opened the box, she was observing Gu Xiyue's expression. Seeing that she just glanced at the silver ingots in the box, she looked away without hesitation without any pause.
Seeing that Gu Xiyue refused to accept it, Mrs. Yan did not force him.
Seeing that she no longer insisted, Gu Xiyue felt relieved and took a step forward. "Madam Yan, Lord Yan, since I have said that just now, I have something to show you."
After saying that, he turned around and glanced at Wei Lin.
Wei Lin understood and immediately left.
"Please wait a moment, Master Yan and Madam."
Madam Yan and Lord Yan looked at each other, not knowing what Madam Gu was up to.
The old lady leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes to rest.
After waking up, Aunt He told her the whole story of how Gu Xiyue saved her, and she began to like this girl more and more.
With her experience as a person, she could tell at a glance that Gu Xiyue had a purpose in entering the mansion, but she would not expose her.
Madam Gu saved her life, and she was willing to fulfill her wish this time.
Although Sun Shuier, that lowly concubine, had completely disgraced her son, after listening to Madam Gu's entire story, I felt that she was indeed an upright and kind person.
After waiting for a while, Wei Lin appeared at the door holding a bundle.
The bundle was placed on the table in the middle of the room. Gu Xiyue slowly opened it. Lord Yan and Madam Yan came over. When the bright white particles in the small cloth pocket of the bundle were revealed, Lord Yan and Madam Yan were surprised for a moment.
Lord Yan slowly stretched out his fingers, pinched a little bit and placed it in the palm of his hand, brought it to his mouth, licked it with his tongue, frowned for a moment, and then immediately relaxed.
“It’s salt!”
Suddenly, everyone in the room cheered.
Master Yan's eyes were shining, "Madam Gu, how much of this salt can you provide every month?"
Gu Xiyue pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "I can provide at least 80,000 kilograms a month, and there's no upper limit."
Gu Xiyue didn't dare to say too much.
Lord Yan's eyes widened, and he said excitedly, "How about this, Madam Gu, go back to your room and rest. I will make a decision after I have considered it."
"Okay! I'll take my leave first."
After returning to the room, the maid left and Meixiang said worriedly, "Miss, you didn't see Sun Shui'er dating Manager Zhou's cousin. Will you be suspected if you say this? What if Master Yan finds out?"
"It was clearly Wei Lin who saw it, why didn't you say it was him who saw it?"
Gu Xiyue shook her head. "Don't worry. This matter can only be seen through my eyes. Lord Yan is a man. Men are most afraid of their women having affairs with outsiders. This is a very shameful thing. If a man tells it out, he will be embarrassed."
"Besides, Master Yan is a filial son. Although he likes this concubine, after what she did this time, Master Yan will not keep her. Even if he wants to keep her, the old lady and Madam Yan will not show mercy."
"Then Sun Shui'er will definitely die this time?" Meixiang asked curiously.
"Yeah." Gu Xiyue raised her chin, "She betrayed Lord Yan and even murdered him for money. She deserves death!"
Gu Xiyue didn't sympathize with Sun Shuier at all.
**
At this time, Sun Shuier and Manager Zhou's cousin Zhou Yunxiang were lying in bed and being affectionate with each other.
Sun Shui'er's cheeks were wet with sweat, and her hair was messy and stuck to her face. She opened her confused eyes and said breathlessly, "Yunxiang, we agreed to leave tomorrow. You can't delay any longer. I don't know what's going on, but I always feel uncomfortable in my heart."
Zhou Yunxiang rested his head on one hand, holding her with the other, his hands moving restlessly. His eyes wandered as he said, "Wait one more day. I'm going to do something big tonight. There are thousands of kilograms of salt stored in Longxi Town. Let's go get it tonight and leave the day after tomorrow."
Sun Shui'er pouted unhappily, "You're dragging your feet again!"
After saying that, she turned over and lay down beside him, "Tell me, is that old immortal really dead?"
Zhou Yunxiang said impatiently, "Don't worry, I took a special look when I pushed the person down, and there is absolutely no problem."
"I guess by now, I've already crossed the Naihe Bridge and I don't know who you, Sun Shui'er, are anymore..."
As he was speaking, there was a sudden noise outside the door. Zhou Yunxiang sat up suddenly and asked Sun Shuier in a low voice, "Is there anyone outside?"
Sun Shuier listened carefully and said doubtfully: "No, I asked Cui'er to guard outside and not allow anyone to get close..."
Just as he finished speaking, the door was kicked open.
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