Chapter 278 You're Really Crazy (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Where are the Asutai people?
Liu Hong also wanted to know.
For such a long time, he not only pressured the prefectural government and the city guards to search the entire city, but also ordered his personal bodyguards to secretly investigate.
But what was the result?
They are still nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead.
Asutai vanished without a trace, as if he had evaporated into thin air.
Even Zeng Zhifeng, the commander of the guards he sent, disappeared.
This made him increasingly suspicious that Zeng Zhifeng had embezzled the funds, hiding Asutai or selling him off for personal gain.
However, Liu Hong clearly couldn't bring himself to say these things.
He looked at the thin old man in front of him and said in a deep voice, "They've put pressure on your king over there?"
The thin old man snorted, "What do you think?"
"This was all an accident. Who would have thought that a simple act of begging would lead to the capture of the Black Bear tribe's prince?"
"But it has already happened."
“Even if my king and the other members of the bandit alliance don’t want to see this outcome, we have to accept it.”
He looked at Liu Hong with a sinister expression and continued, "You are His Majesty's only ally in the Great Wei."
"Furthermore, you have traded with the barbarians, which is why the king entrusted this matter to you."
"You agreed and received the benefits, so why haven't we seen Asutai yet?"
Liu Hong fell silent for a moment upon hearing this.
After a moment, he sighed and said, "Everything was going well; my men had already saved the prince."
"But an accident happened during that time; he was kidnapped."
He paused, then looked at the thin old man and said solemnly, "Du Cang, since I have already agreed to this matter, I will definitely take full responsibility for it."
"Give me some more time..."
Before he could finish speaking, the thin old man, Du Cang, raised his hand to interrupt him, saying, "There aren't any left."
"Your Majesty has only given me ten days."
"I'll only give you ten days."
"If you can't give me an explanation before I leave, then I'll have to apologize to you."
Liu Hong frowned, and asked with some displeasure, "Does your king really intend to go to such extremes?"
"Hmph, it's not that the King is going to be cruel to you, but the Left King's messenger has already arrived at the Tea Horse Road."
"If we cannot bring Asutai back this time, the entire Tea Horse Road will be slaughtered by those barbarians."
"A messenger? Who is it?"
"Yuan Jingxuan, the eldest disciple of Wenkel."
Du Cang chuckled coldly, looking at Liu Hong with a playful tone, and said:
"Lord Liu should be familiar with him, considering your role in that great battle back then..."
Liu Hong's expression changed drastically, and he slammed his hand on the table, yelling, "Shut up!"
Du Cang stopped speaking, but his face still held that unapproachable look as he stared straight at him.
The two stared at each other for a long time.
Liu Hong took a deep breath, slowly leaned back in his chair, and said with a slightly tired expression:
"Go back and wait for news."
“I promise you, Asutai will be delivered within ten days.”
Du Cang laughed upon hearing this, gave him a deep look, and said, "That's good then."
"I trust that Lord Liu values his promises most, so I will wait for you in the city for ten days."
Liu Hong glanced at him. "Where's Liu Wu?"
"You don't need to worry about him, I'll handle it."
Are you sure?
"Heh, what's so difficult about a gunslinger at the peak of the middle third rank?"
As Du Cang walked out, he continued, "Instead of worrying about other things, you should focus on finding Asutai."
"That outcome would be good for both you and my king."
As he approached the door, he paused, turned his head to look at Liu Hong, and smiled strangely.
"I have another piece of news for you—your old friend is now not far from Shuzhou."
As soon as he finished speaking, Du Cang disappeared from the study.
Liu Hong watched him leave quietly, sat there for a long time, and then got up and went to the window.
He looked up at the bright moon in the night sky, a cold glint appearing on his face.
"King Lando..."
...
[Chance +12.]
[Commentary: The scene depicts a confrontation between Du Cang, a bandit general under the Peacock King's banner of the Vajrasattva Kingdom, and Liu Hong, the Left Provincial Governor of the Provincial Administration Commission. The confrontation ends with the latter bowing his head.]
[To refuse an opportunity presented before one has arrived, heard, or witnessed is the mark of a naturally lazy person.]
When Chen Yi saw the light screen appear in front of him, he raised an eyebrow.
Standoff, or bow down?
The general Du Cang sent by King Lando this time seems to have a different attitude towards Liu Hong.
If King Lando himself came and forced Liu Hong to submit, that would be one thing.
It can also be interpreted as "King Lando and Liu Hong are on equal footing".
However, only one general came, and despite his unequal status with Liu Hong, he was still able to force Liu Hong to submit.
That made Chen Yi think deeply.
"Does King Lando have something on Liu Hong?"
Yes.
"If it weren't for fear, given Liu Hong's current status and hidden trump cards, he naturally wouldn't be afraid of King Lando."
"Those ironware transactions?"
Chen Yi shook his head inwardly. The ironware transactions were all handled by the Jizhou Merchant Guild, with Liu Hongyin behind the scenes. The bandits of Landu Wang should be unaware of this.
Besides that, the only other things he could think of were the deals that Lü Jiunan had mentioned earlier.
Or perhaps...
"Asutai?"
The name flashed through Chen Yi's mind, his expression shifting slightly as he quickly considered the possibility.
He had previously learned that Liu Hong had asked Lü Jiunan to rescue Asutai so that he could return him to the barbarians.
This is Liu Hong offering a favor to the barbarians.
For King Lando's band of horsemen, the reason for rescuing Asutai seemed simple as well.
"Afraid of incurring the wrath of the barbarians?"
"That makes sense."
"It seems the barbarians have already made their move... Good..."
Thinking of this, Chen Yi smiled, and his mood inexplicably improved.
He looked at Liu Lang, who was lying on the ground of the dilapidated temple, and said with a smile, "You're lucky."
"Otherwise, if it delays my important task of seizing the opportunity, I will definitely leave a needle inside you."
That being said.
Chen Yi wouldn't joke about Liu Lang's life.
After all, Liu Lang had done a lot for him these past few days, so even if he hadn't worked hard, he had still put in some effort.
Take a short rest.
Chen Yi took out silver needles to repair Liu Lang's broken meridians and restore his scattered true energy.
It took him nearly an hour to completely control Liu Lang's injuries.
"Fortunately, the rescue was timely and there were no lasting effects."
Chen Yi put away the silver needles and flicked his wrist, sending a blade of energy slapping Liu Lang across the face.
*Smack*
The air blade landed on the ground.
Liu Lang, who had been lying peacefully, suddenly darted to a corner of the dilapidated temple, looked at Chen Yi, and sneered:
"Thank you so much, boss, for saving my life."
Chen Yi glanced at him, then turned and walked outside. "Stop joking around, it's getting late. Let's talk as we walk."
"Dele".
"Try to avoid physical altercations these days, lest you damage your fragile meridians again."
"Isn't the boss here?"
"Heh, you'll die."
“…Then I’ll be more careful.”
Just a couple of casual remarks.
Chen Yi led Liu Lang back to Shuzhou Prefecture, and asked about the important matter at hand: "What did you gain today?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Lang's face fell. "Boss, you have no idea how shrewd those powerful families are."
"When they heard I was here to buy grain, some asked for exorbitant prices, some refused to see me, and some even cursed at me."
"It's as if I'm going to dig up their ancestral graves..."
Chen Yi knew perfectly well that although the powerful families in Shuzhou were not as powerful as the Xiao family and the Liu family in Jingzhou, they were not short-sighted.
However, most of the grain in the city is still in the hands of those few grain shops. If we don't find a way to get them to part with some of it, it will be detrimental to Chen Yi's plans.
After rambling on for a while, Liu Lang concluded by saying, "However, I also gained something."
Two companies sold me grain at a price of fifteen taels per shi (a unit of dry measure).
Chen Yi asked, "Which two?"
"One is the Wan family in the east of the city, and the other is the Sun family in the north of the city."
"Wan Family...Wan Family Pharmacy?"
"You know them?"
Before he could answer, Liu Lang said with a smile, "I wonder what happened to the Wan family. They must be short of money lately."
"Besides the grain they sold to us, they also sold off a lot of their property. I heard they even sold two of their pharmacies."
Chen Yi muttered "Oh, I see," and after a moment's thought, said, "Perhaps they've noticed something."
He didn't know much about the Wan family.
However, several previous incidents led him to speculate that the Wan family and the Xiao family must have a very close relationship.
In particular, the person who replaced him as the "murderer" who killed Liu Jing came from the Wan family.
Based on this alone, he had reason to suspect that the Wan family might have been instructed by Old Master Xiao.
Otherwise, he couldn't understand why the Wan family would take on this "unsolved case".
In addition, Miss Wan Rourou visited Xiao Wan'er several times, and she visited more frequently than other female relatives of the family.
Therefore, Chen Yi deduced that the Wan family was one of the backup plans that the Xiao family had placed outside.
Perhaps the Wan family's sale of their assets is also related to the Xiao family.
"To raise money for supplies?"
"If that's the case, then the Wan family is indeed loyal to the old master."
Chen Yi thought about it and then asked about the Sun family in the north of the city.
Unexpectedly, it was a family he had heard of before—the second young lady of the Sun family was the wife of Bai Yelin, the grain and fodder supervisor of the Shu Prefecture Commandery.
Long ago, this Madam Sun had visited Xiao Wan'er, hoping to ask her to intercede for her son Bai Yutang to become Chen Yi's student.
However, since Chen Yi didn't utter a word, the matter was dropped.
Is there anything unusual about the Sun family?
Liu Lang thought for a moment, "There shouldn't be anything unusual."
"However, the Sun family has a lot of grain. When I went there, I asked for thirteen taels of silver per shi of grain, and they wanted to sell it without even haggling over the price."
"a lot of?"
"Yes, a full ten thousand shi."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yi chuckled and shook his head, saying, "Indeed, when one attains enlightenment, even one's chickens and dogs ascend to heaven."
Seeing that Liu Lang was puzzled, he explained the relationship between the Sun family and the Bai family.
Given Bai Yelin's position as the Grain and Forage Supervisor, there must be something fishy about the grain in the Sun family's possession.
It should be noted that the Commandery was responsible for the allocation and supply of grain and fodder in the three towns of Shuzhou and even Mengshui Pass.
Even a tiny bit of it can bring countless people a lifetime of wealth and luxury.
After listening, Liu Lang said with disdain, "So they're just a bunch of parasites. No wonder they were able to produce so much grain."
He paused, then looked at Chen Yi and said, "Boss, we now have over 50,000 shi of grain on hand. What are your plans?"
"Let's keep it for now."
"It's far too early to make a move."
Chen Yi looked at the distant city of Shuzhou, a playful smile on his face.
"This time, we'll make them shoot themselves in the foot."
When Liu Lang saw his smile, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.
Silently lamenting: "I wonder who's so unlucky to have been targeted by the boss. Sigh."
Chen Yi had no idea what he was thinking.
After Qian returned to the prefectural city, he continued to instruct, "Once you have spent all the money Wang Ji gave you, just guard the grain with Xue Duanyun and the others."
"If there is any action, I will send someone to inform you."
"good……"
...
Four days have passed in the blink of an eye.
The people of Shuzhou were filled with resentment and anger.
The price of grain, which had originally dropped to nine taels per shi, rose again to twelve taels.
Even so, long queues still formed in front of several grain stores in the East and West markets.
The daily grain sales reached as high as 20,000 shi (a unit of dry measure).
Fortunately, it has only been half a month since the price of food rose, so even the poorest families can hold on for a while.
No tragedies of children being sold off occurred.
"Is that so-called barbarian prince even in Shu Prefecture?"
"The yamen officials have searched every house three times recently, but they still haven't found the person?"
"And those bandits from Vaishsa Kingdom, come if you want, or don't come if you don't, just give me a definite answer."
"If grain prices keep rising, whether there's a war or not is secondary; we're afraid we won't be able to afford to eat."
"Who says it isn't?"
Not to mention ordinary people, even some wealthy families with little land could not withstand such a huge expenditure.
It's important to know that when grain prices rise, other items like medicinal herbs and meat will also see price increases.
The more prosperous the population, the higher the daily expenses.
Just like the Xiao family.
Even if there is no shortage of food, each household still needs to spend tens of taels of silver to purchase food every day.
Who can handle that?
Having witnessed all of this, Chen Yi realized that the planning needed to be done earlier.
Otherwise, his sins would be even greater.
So that night, he disguised himself and went to Chunyu Tower alone.
Cui Qingwu and Lou Yuxue had been waiting for a long time, and when they saw him arrive, they both looked somewhat displeased.
"You, Liu Wu, after arranging everything, you just want to wash your hands of it?"
"Do you really think my White Tiger Guards are your subordinates?"
Chen Yi smiled and clasped his hands in a salute: "Please forgive me, gentlemen. My absence is purely out of trust in your abilities."
Cui Qingwu snorted, "I think you're just pushing your luck!"
Lou Yuxue wanted to say something in agreement, but having dealt with "Liu Wu" several times, she knew he must have come for a reason, so she changed her mind and said:
"According to the previous plan, Luanfeng has now cooperated with those grain stores, and she has also contributed a portion of the grain sold recently."
"And the price of grain has already reached the previous level of twelve taels. What's next?"
"Next, it's Miss Cui's turn to shine."
Chen Yi said matter-of-factly, "I have received news that the bandits and barbarians from Vaishsa Kingdom are approaching the capital."
Cui Qingwu and Lou Yuxue were shocked upon hearing this, "What?!"
Chen Yi smiled. "It's fake."
Cui Qingwu and Lou Yuxue exchanged a glance, then frowned and asked, "What do you mean by fake? Tell me the truth."
Chen Yi shook his head. "You'll find out soon enough."
Lou Yuxue couldn't help but remind her, "I know you are good at scheming, but the matter between Vaishsa Kingdom and the barbarians is of great importance, so we must not act rashly."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yi thought for a moment, then revealed a few words, concluding with:
"In short, Miss Cui can just wait for those grain stores to come to her."
"At that time, you can simply sell the grain you have to them at a high price."
Cui Qingwu roughly understood what he was going to do, and gave him a deep look before saying:
"If the Pavilion Master hadn't personally invited you to join the White Tiger Guard, we certainly wouldn't have gone to such lengths with you this time."
Lou Yuxue nodded in deep agreement: "You actually dared to hire people to impersonate bandits and barbarians from Vaishsa Kingdom to ambush passing merchants, you..."
She looked at Chen Yi and asked, "Aren't you afraid of being arrested by the imperial court?"
Chen Yi smiled mysteriously, "Who can really tell what's true and what's false?"
If those grain stores aren't made to suffer a huge loss, why would they resort to desperate measures?
The name of the Jizhou Merchant Guild would always inspire apprehension in Shuzhou.
"That's all for the small talk."
"I've come here on another matter, and I need your help with something..."
(End of this chapter)
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