365-368
Chapter 365: Raising A Finger
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Since we know it's just a rumor, then what is there to panic about?" The old Ming matriarch shrieked. Because of some strange feelings of humiliation, the old woman's voice became sharp and as scary as a knife being scraped across a piece of porcelain.
The great-aunt [JW1] sitting next to her shook in fright and quickly returned to her seat. She did not dare say another word.
The old matriarch was easily jealous and ruthless, which was why the old Ming master only had three concubines. Only these two women remained of that generation. Fortunately, the Ming family did not lack for boys. Discounting Xia Qifei, who was drinking at Jiangnan Restaurant, the two married sons had six boys. Ming Qingda was the eldest son of the matriarch and now the master of the Ming family. The Third and Fourth were both children of the great-aunt. Seeing their birth mother being yelled at by the old matriarch did not make them feel good, but the old matriarch had held power for a long time, so no one dared to defend her.
As the eldest son, Ming Qingda naturally had to come forward in this situation and make a small explanation. The old Ming matriarch did not even acknowledge the nominal master. Her face was frosty as she said, "Everyone remember this! The Seventh young master of the Ming family died a dozen years ago. Master Xia in Suzhou…wants to use the rumors of a dozen years ago to make trouble. The Ming family will not tolerate him."
Ming Qingda's authority had been contradicted, but he continued to keep a slight smile on his face. He warmly said, "Mother, naturally no one will believe such an absurd rumor, but…what is to be done if the court does believe it?"
These words were said straightforwardly. Xia Qifei was Fan Xian's pawn. If Fan Xian represented the power of the court and wanted to use this opportunity to bloodlessly take in the Ming family's enormous family property, this kind of situation was the most dangerous.
The old matriarch blinked her slightly murky eyes and said irritably, "If that Fan person says so, then it is so? Will the entire court not be reasonable?"
Ming Qingda thought, When was the court ever reasonable? The court had always stood on their side, so all the reason and hardest fists belonged to the Ming family. If the court had internal breaks, and their fist was enduring the pain and amputating itself, this reason would probably not be clear.
He gave a pained smile and said, "Please come to a decision, mother."
Xia Qifei had approached fiercely. Looking at his bidding today, the amount of silver he had brought was solid and strong. He also had the support of the imperial envoy. How the Ming family should respond required the old matriarch to draft a plan.
The old matriarch was not as just, forceful, and tyrannical on the inside as she seemed on the surface. She didn't directly answer Ming Qingda's question and only stared at the yard full of Ming Family descendants. She said in a cold voice, "Today, the situation is not the same anyway. A few days ago, I had Lanshi go to each house to visit all you uncles, to have you all behave…today, I will repeat myself. At this time, don't you dare bring any trouble for the Ming family. If you want to walk your bird, walk it at home. Throw out all those brutish men who only know how to wrestle from the garden!"
"And this matter, no one is to spread it! If I hear of anyone talking behind my back, watch out that I don't pull your tongue out!"
The old Ming matriarch had spoken quickly and angrily, and began to cough. The girl servant behind her quickly patted her back. Beside her, her eldest grandson, Ming Lanshi, respectfully handed over a bowl of tea.
The descendants gathered in the yard uniformly bowed down. They did not dare violate the matriarch's orders.
Ming Qingda glanced at his mother and hesitated to speak.
The old Ming matriarch laughed coldly in her heart. Her son lacked decisiveness in his actions. She always had to play the bad person. She had a taste of the tea and suddenly said, "Tomorrow is the second day of the bidding. You all know, the imperial envoy is targeting our family. The following eight bids are bound into two portions, and it looks like the price is going to be much higher than previous years. There is only one night. It is probably already too late to go to find a money house to issue more banknotes. At this time, you brothers, bring out your own personal stash of money and hand it to the account house."
After these words came out, the men were dumbstruck. Not allowing them to walk their birds and wrestle was only a momentary boredom and could be endured, but…how could they be asked to bring out the pitiful amounts of personal money to fill in the public purse? Every year at the palace treasury bidding, the family prepares enough silver. If the price of the eight bids were too outrageous, then don't compete for them. Why did they have to fight so hard? The court wasn't going to set an upper limit. Who knew how much money would be thrown in?
These masters were all born with a golden key in their mouth, yet had no power to inherit. They only knew to enjoy the pleasures of life. What did they know about the true meaning of the palace treasury bids for the Ming family and the court power struggles that hidden behind it? Hearing these words of the old matriarch, they unconsciously did not want to obey.
The Sixth young master, who liked to wrestle, usually was a bit braver. He gathered his courage and said, "Mother, ah, us brothers have never been involved in the family business. We go about our days according to our monthly allowance, and each have a big family to feed. Even if we did have a private stash…but to put that pitiful amount of silver in…it probably…won't do much good, why not…"
Before he finished speaking, a teacup had already smashed to pieces in front of him with a crisp sound.
The Sixth young master jumped in fright; his body was shaking. Looking at the expression of the old matriarch above, his legs softened, and he knelt down on the ground.
The old matriarch looked slowly and coldly at him and said, "Pitiful silver? Do you think I don't know how much you've taken from the business these years? Each of your uncles and aunts are all famous millionaires in Suzhou now…before I pretended not to see because, after all, you are blood of the Ming family, and according to precedent set by our ancestors you are not allowed to interfere with the family business. Seeing you were pitiful, I allowed you to take some silver…but, what is the situation now? All of you, kneel and listen!"
After these words were issued, everyone, including Ming Qingda, knelt in front of the two grand chairs.
The old matriarch's voice was like that of a venomous snakes, making them shiver without being cold. "When the big tree falls, do you think it will benefit you monkeys at all? I will speak plainly. If we don't win the bid tomorrow, even if the Ming family can last a few more years, eventually we will fall into dust. At this time, I will not allow us to retreat. We can only go forward…at this juncture, don't you think you can still hide!"
The great-aunt looked tenderly at her sons and leaned over to say comfortingly, "Sister, don't be angry. They know what to do."
The Ming masters had been scared. They bobbed their heads and repeatedly admitted their mistakes.
"As long as you recognize your mistakes." The old Ming matriarch slowly leaned back against her chair, her eyelids closed slightly. "In a moment, you will all go back. No matter through what method, before daylight tomorrow, hand the silver to the account house. Each house 200,000 liang; Sixth is 150,000 liang."
When these words were uttered, Second, Fourth, and Fifth all had no objections, even though they were greatly pained to do so. However, Third would not stand for it and straightened his neck to ask, "Mother, why does Sixth only pays 150,000 liang?"
The old matriarch glared at him and said, "Sixth is the youngest. These two years he's been meeting with the garrison and likes to wrestle, so he spends a bit more. As an older brother, why are comparing yourself to him?"
Third breathed out heavily through his nose and said, unsatisfied, "Do I not spend silver usually?"
In reality, everyone knew. This was the old matriarch being tender toward her youngest born child, but these words could be said by anyone except Third because was the great-aunt's own child. Seeing the situation was not good, the great-aunt quickly made eyes at Third, but Third was truly short on money and would not lower his head.
The old matriarch exploded in rage and said, "You only know how to spend money in a brothel and to buy those girls to bring home. Is there any reason to be spending money like this?"
Looking at the miserable plight of Xia Qifei and his mother, it was clear that this old matriarch had a strong hatred of some of men's hobbies."
"What about big brother?"
"I am the eldest." Ming Qingda knelt on the floor and smiled slightly at his brothers. "Naturally I will have to contribute more. I will give 500,000 liang."
Hearing the eldest brother say this, the brothers had nothing else to say. The Ming family immediately dispersed, and the brothers quickly left the garden to pull together the silver. Although they did hide a lot of personal money, to pull together this amount in just one night was indeed a bit difficult.
The Third young master bewailed his poverty as he headed out with his brothers, expecting his older brothers to give him a hand. This time, everyone barely had time to mind themselves. Furthermore, in the face of the old matriarch's strict orders, no one dared to slack off. Who had the time to bother with him?
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"Time is too tight."
Great-aunt had already returned to her own garden. In the old matriarch's garden there was only the eldest son. Ming Qingda furrowed his brow slightly and said, "This strike of the imperial envoy's came suddenly. It didn't leave us much time to react."
The old Ming matriarch glanced at her son and sighed. "Today at the palace treasury courtyard, your reaction was good. At least it earned us one night of time."
Ming Qingda smiled bitterly and shook his head. "One night is too short, furthermore, seeing Xia…Qifei's actions today, I'm afraid he's left plenty of strength for later. Tomorrow's battle will probably be very dangerous. Even if my brothers can pull together all the silver, it is only an extra 1 million liang. It might still not be enough."
Ming Lanshi listened at the side, speechless and wide-eyed. He said with self-doubt, "Father, in the bid for the eight lot in previous years, 40 percent for the deposit was only 5 million liang. This year we have already prepared an extra 20 percent. With the extra 1 million liang from the uncles, will that still not be enough?"
Ming Qingda smiled bitterly and said, "The biggest problem is that the imperial envoy is aware that we are sure to take down these eight lots, so Xia Qifei could randomly bid prices. Furthermore, the production and marketing are their internal matters, so they can run it at a loss."
Ming Lanshi sighed. He was a clever man and wouldn't ask why the Ming family had to win these bids. Putting aside the question of power and just taking the side of Dongyi, they would certainly beg them to take the eight bids. Otherwise, the price that Dongyi would have to pay for palace treasury products in one year would probably be more than a few million liang."
"Is there any news from Taiping money house?" The old Ming matriarch suddenly asked.
Ming Qingda replied calmly, "They also did not expect this situation and did not prepare enough. All of Xia Qifei's silver had come from Taiping money house. Now they can only give us promissory notes but not cash banknotes. But tomorrow, we must use cash banknotes…you know that, they also afraid of the consequences. Earlier their shopkeeper had sent word that at most they can withdraw 300,000 liang."
The old Ming matriarch understood why. When a money house issued a banknote contract, it had to be able to honor it. Xia Qifei had already taken out a banknote of an enormous amount. They only dared to issue much less following it. Because the money house had to ensure they had the silver present to support it, this concerned the matter most important to the money house: their reputation.
Given the relationship between the Ming family and Dongyi, if it was not such a tense situation, Taiping money house could certainly write them false banknotes. The risk was truly too big, and this method was too coarse. If they offended Fan Xian too much, after the bidding, the palace treasury transport company could use the banknotes the Xia family and the Ming family had handed in and play a completely shameless game of running the bank.
This much silver…even if Taiping money house was an immortal, it wouldn't be able to move so much in such a short time to Suzhou.
If this were to happen, Taiping money house could be considered destroyed.
Taiping money house had close ties with the economies of many countries. Usually, no officials of a country would do something so ruthless, but this time the host of the palace treasury opening bid was Fan Xian. His connections were the most difficult to guess, and he did things ruthlessly and tyrannically. Taiping money house would never dare take such a risk.
The yard was instantly plunged into a deathly silence. The three generations began to feel nervous. Tomorrow…will they really have to watch that Seventh young master steal away the Ming family's business? Without the palace treasury's right to sale, the Ming family was only a landlord with the most land and could be slaughtered at any moment.
This terrifying reality had the old matriarch furrowing her brows even tighter. She suddenly remembered a name and said coldly, "Has anyone come recently from that Zhaoshang money house?"
Ming Lanshi shook his head. "They know we are a big customer of Taiping money house. They tested the waters a few times, but knowing they probably won't be able to move us, they backed down in the face of the difficulties"
The old Ming matriarch unconsciously nodded her head and said, "It seems…it is not like what I had imagined."
Because the Taiping money house accounts had always been held in the old matriarch's hand, Ming Qingda was the one who had strongly advocated for a relationship with Zhaoshang money house. Hearing his mother's tone soften and relent, he felt joy in his heart. However, his expression remained peaceful as he said, "They should be trustworthy. If there really is some problem, they shouldn't be doing it like this."
The old matriarch furrowed her brows and seemed to be considering a difficult problem. It was a long time before she said, "Send someone to Zhaoshang money house. No, don't send someone. Lanshi, go personally. See how much in banknotes they can mobilize tonight."
"Yes, mother." Ming Qingda smiled slightly and then asked hesitantly, "How will we deal with Xia Qifei?"
The old matriarch's face instantly became frosty and she said, "I don't know that person. You don't know that person. The Ming family does not know that person. Since it is so, why do we need to deal with him? Don't interfere in this matter. Don't be used by the imperial envoy. Since the imperial envoy hopes the Ming family's reaction will be as intense as possible, then we should be as peaceful as possible."
Ming Qingda applauded and said with praise, "Mother is wise."
He had to deal with the matters concerning tomorrow's bidding and go to the accounts house to keep an eye on his brothers. Ming Lanshi had to go find the mysterious Zhaoshang money house rumored to also be backed by Dongyi. Thus, they could not stop for long in the garden. After giving their salutes they backed out.
The old matriarch watched as her son and grandson left the little garden. The severity in her eyes suddenly became tiredness. She raised her pinky weakly and tapped it on the arms of her chair.
The serving girl slipped close to stand beside the old woman.
The old woman closed her eyes with her pinky still raised. She did not put it down for a long time. She also didn't say anything. It seemed she was considering the importance of some matter.
Seventh?
At this time, a dark image seemed to float up behind the old woman's tightly closed eyes. In the picture was a sly looking woman wandering around a familiar looking man and making him laugh. She smiled boastfully and with pride in front of herself. The pictured turned. That woman had given birth to a child, and she held that infant and showed him off all over Ming Garden. Her laugh was like a silver bell…floating until it reached the heavens.
The old woman suddenly opened her eyes. Her eyes were filled with iciness, and her pinky finger trembled with emotion and bent slightly.
In a flash, she remembered many things. For example, the beautiful scene of blood flying out as the heavy blows landed on the woman's body. The day that woman was forced to the bottom of the well by her, the snowflakes had floated so prettily all the way to the sky. That woman's body had probably long turned into dry bones, with mice running across it. It could only make ugly sounds now and would never be able to laugh like silver bells again, right?
After that old bastard died, this family was under her control. That woman had died, but that woman's child was not so easy to kill. After all, he was, in name, flesh, and blood of the Ming family. Fortunately, Qingda's heart was ruthless. He beat him with a whip every day, until finally that child could no longer suffer this kind of humiliation and pain. One morning he ran out of Ming Garden.
Perhaps that child will never know that, at that time, she was standing just behind the door watching him coldly. Perhaps that child will never know that she had long decided to kill him and was waiting outside the garden to send him down the dry well to reunite with his mother.
But…why did that child not die?
Why didn't he die?
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A thread of anger and fire flashed through her icy eyes. Her always raised and slightly bent finger was finally gently placed on the back of the chair. Her slightly dry lips opened. She said in a quiet voice, to the serving girl hovering near her lips, "Invite in Sir Zhou."
When the old Ming matriarch finally made up her mind, her son and grandson were walking next to each other.
Ming Lanshi was looking at his father with admiration and said, "You are saying, that grandmother will definitely strike against that bastard?"
"What bastard?" Ming Qingda's face bored a kindly smile. "That is your Seventh uncle. Although he is right now our enemy, he is still your true Seventh uncle."
Ming Lanshi smiled self-deprecatingly. Suddenly his brows furrowed and he asked, "Killing Seventh uncle will certainly end this matter completely…but how will the imperial envoy respond? No matter how powerful the Junshang Conference is, they can't rebel."
"Your grandmother is old," Ming Qingda sighed and said. "The method she was using from the beginning was wrong."
Ming Lanshi shook his head.
Ming Qingda suddenly smiled and said, "But her mistake does not represent the Ming family's mistake…if your Seventh uncle isn't so lucky this time, it might not be completely a bad thing. Don't be overly worried. I know how far to go."
This apparent master of the Ming family smiled coldly in his heart. Let the Junshang Conference that he was never able to control clash with the Overwatch Council. Someone as astute and circumspect as him would naturally have a way to clean up this mess, the only unknown was the method he would use.
"Sixth uncle got what he wanted again," Ming Lanshi suddenly smiled mockingly and said.
Ming Qingda patted his son's shoulder lovingly and explained, "She always likes her youngest son best…of course, it must be her own child."
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While the Ming family descended into chaos, there were many little mice who watched covetously. They all had the thought to trample each other. The youngest son of the Ming family, Ming Qingcheng, today's leader of the Jiangnan water bandits Xia Qifei, secretly an official of the Inspector Division of the Fourth Bureau of the Overwatch Council stationed in Jiangnan, stood in the highest floor of Jiangnan Restaurant in Suzhou.
He stood on edge of the building, gently holding onto the wooden railing. He thoughtfully gazed toward an area outside the city. That was once his home, a home he had not returned to for many years—Ming Garden.
The merchant's gathering had already ended. Although no one had set down any specific strategies, seeing the greed in the eyes of the Jingnan Xiong family and the Quanzhou Sun family, Xia Qifei knew that the commissioner's plan had been effective. Tomorrow, the Ming family would not only have to face his own attacks but also attacks from the likes of the Xiong Sun families' alliance. Merchants always had to eat meat. Once they are too starved, what do they care whose meat it is?
Xia Qifei narrowed his eyes. Ming Garden was too far away. Even standing on the tall roof of the Jiangnan Restaurant, he was unable to clearly see its lights.
Today had been his most unrestrained and free day since his fortunate escape from death. He could finally proudly say his name in front of everyone, Ming Qingcheng. In comparison, the thrill of crushing people with money, leaving behind his jianghu identity, standing into the light of the Qing Kingdom, all counted for very little.
As long as he was able to say his true name, it was like a slap in the face of that poisonous old woman. This thrill from revenge submerged everything. It made Xia Qifei feel unbelievably grateful to Fan Xian. He didn't even feel any unhappiness at the seven swordsman he had sent tonight.
He was drunk on and grieved by everything that had happened today to the point that even this formidable character of the jianghu did not notice the strange people that had appeared on the opposite side of the street.
[JW1]"姨奶奶" As the concubine of the previous master, great-aunt is a close translation.
Chapter 366: Heavenly Woman Scattering Flowers
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Xia Qifei left the Jiangnan Restaurant and stopped outside in the street. He looked at the people passing by in the night and couldn't resist lowering his head slightly in thought.
"Boss." A dozen men came up and stood around him. They looked at him with a thread of reverence and unfamiliarity, and saluted him respectfully.
These were all capable men of the Jiangnan water bandits. Because of the palace treasury matter, they had entered Suzhou with Xia Qifei. However, the city had always been well guarded. Some of these water bandits were even featured on wanted posters, so usually they would not enter Suzhou.
They never thought that thieves and bandits like themselves would not only be able to walk in around Suzhou in broad daylight, but that their big boss could sit at the same table as the wealthiest merchant families in Jiangnan. Those merchants usually only knew to use silver to buy the lives of their brothers to use. When had they ever done as they did today and treat Xia with such politeness?
Thinking of this, a sense of vanity and pride rose in those men's hearts. This world was indeed not the same as before.
Seeing alarm, joy, and complicated emotions in his subordinates' expressions, Xia Qifei couldn't resist laughing self-deprecatingly and said, "Brothers, you should all learn a little. This time you've all seen those elders. When you have time, ask for instruction from them."
The elders he spoke of were the old officials from the Ministry of Revenue that Fan Xian had sent to help him steal the bids. The Jiangnan water bandits were going to gradually expand into trade, and Xia Qifei hoped that his trusted aides would be able to quickly grasp the tricks of doing business. At least, they had to know how to keep accounts and such things.
Among the joyous atmosphere, Xia Qifei suddenly felt a chill.
He raised his head and gazed out. The bright moon was hanging in the dome of the clear night. It was spring, and the night of a clear day was indeed still a bit colder than usual. He pulled back his gaze and saw three strange people standing across the street.
The three were strange because of their sudden appearance and cold and silent gaze on the other side of the street. They were not people passing by at night or unhappy customers looking for some fun after drinking. The clothing they wore was normal, but the one in the middle was wearing a bamboo hat. On a night like this, it appeared rather special.
Having spent many years surviving in the jianghu and living between life and death since a young age, Xia Qifei did not even have the time to react. The chill in his bones and instinct for danger had a cold light shine from his eyes. He uttered a strange cry. The tips of his feet tapped three times on the ground. His entire person floated back in the direction of the door to the Jiangnan Restaurant.
Across the street, the man in the middle reached with his hands over his shoulder and under his hat and grabbed hold of something. Light suddenly scattered off a knife like a flurry of snow. It followed Xia Qifei like the body of a water bird that left no traces on the water it chopped down.
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"Kill!"
When the light scattered from the knife, the Jiangnan water bandits reacted. Relying on the bravery in their bones, they wanted to come between the boss and that soul-searching knife light. However, their reactions could never compare to the knife light of the bamboo-hatted man. Only the trusted aide closest to Xia Qifei gave a wild roar and pulled out the straight knife hidden in his clothes and, with strength pouring into both his arms, did his best to block.
With a crisp crack, the straight knife in the Jiangnan water bandit's hand was snapped in two by the knife light like a tender Jiangnan lotus root. With a crash, the man's body was split in two by the extremely berserk strike. He became two terrifying pieces of flesh and blood. Fresh blood sprayed out, and his internal organs flowed to the ground—the pair of already separated hands were still holding the knife handle and knife tip in a powerless and tragic defense.
The power of the knife did not stop as it flew through the silent air and approached the front of the Jiangnan Restaurant, where the tips of Xia Qifei's feet had just touched the ground.
The knife qi was just like a straight line slicing through people and cutting through the ground. With a crash, it split open to stones in the street and revealed the fresh stone rubble within.
With a boom, the stones flew in all directions outside of the Jiangnan Restaurants and dust rose up. Xia Qifei gave a roar. He pressed his hands together and clashed against the forward pressing knife power.
The knife light suddenly withdrew, and the dust gradually settled.
The shaking had caused two spots of fresh blood to run from Xia Qifei's nose. His palms were shakily held up in defense in front of his body. With a face full of alarm, he looked at the man with the bamboo hat across the street.
This one mark of the knife had sliced toward him across a long street. Along the way it had split open a man's body and caused him internal damage. What kind of terrifying realm was this? He was probably already a ninth-level ace. How could Jiangnan still have such an unknown high-level ace? The knife had sliced with power and without reason through the night sky. In this moment of silence, only now did the people see clearly that man wearing the bamboo hat.
He was tall and exuded an air of solemnity. He held a long knife in his hand. The edge was white like snow, and the handle was very long. It was a long knife only seen on a theater stage or battlefield. The knife was two-and-a-half meters long. How did the other party hide it behind his body earlier?
All this happened in a flash. Only after Xia Qifei had fought for his life to block the strike of the knife did he blink. In one blink he found the situation was still scary. The two people beside the man with the bamboo hat had disappeared without a trace. He had no idea where they went.
Since the opposition was here to kill him, the other two were sure to strike.
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As the man with the bamboo hat pulled out the long knife from behind his body and sliced down tyrannically across the street, the two other aces beside him had already floated away. They avoided the Jiangnan water bandits in the center of the street. Their figures were like swallows as they drew two beautiful arcs through the air. Like two dark arrowheads, they pierced toward Xia Qifei.
With the long sword splitting open the way like lightning and the two swallows flying in secretly and striking together, if nothing went awry the shocked and unsteady Xia Qifei should have died already. But he didn't die. As Xia Qifei barely blocked the knife, there were new changes happening on the long street.
As the Jiangnan water bandits moved toward Xia Qifei to protect him, there were four people in this group that strangely moved to the side. When the two swallow-like aces wanted to flash through the sides at high speed, these four people flipped up their palms and removed iron rods from their long sleeves and sent them flying over.
It was a clean, simple strike, and it happened to land below the chests and abdomens of the two aces. It forced them to pull back and dodge.
These four were naturally the Sixth Bureau assassins that Fan Xian had hurriedly sent over.
Perhaps the Sixth Bureau assassins' skills were not as high as those of the three aces who had come to kill, but they had a sharp natural sense when judging the situation and possible routes the opposition would take to strike. Thus, they blocked the two swallows that had attempted to kill.
Ding, ding, ding, ding…countless crisp sounds began to ring out on the street in front of the restaurant. It rang densely as if it would never end. It was as if it had suddenly begun to hail in this picturesque spring scene.
The two swallow like aces held two short swords in their hands. The poison smeared across them blinked with a faint glow in the dark.
The four assassins of the Sixth Bureau held metal rods in their hands. There were also poison spread on them, and they became one with the night.
A moment later, several groans seemed to ring out simultaneously.
The two aces who had approached to kill Xia Qifei returned with disappointment to the other side of the street. The clothes on their bodies had been sliced through a dozen times by the metal rod. Some of the deep places seemed to have scratched the skin.
On the side of the Sixth Bureau, they had also paid a hefty price. One person's left hand had been completely sheared off, revealing the bone inside. Someone's shoulder had been pierced by a knife, and the fresh blood flowing from it was beginning to change into a strange color. Another perhaps had already fallen into a puddle of blood.
The two sides faced each other. Each had suffered irreparable losses. The ringing sound had never known this kind of danger.
Even though they had sustained such heavy wounds, the assassins of the Sixth Bureau only gave a few muffled grunts. They were resolute and persistent, indeed not comparable to normal martial artists of the jianghu. The three people who could still move, as they ate the anti-poison pills the Third Bureau created, planned to pull back and reduce the area to be defended. They had to protect Xia Qifei's life.
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….
The two swallows who had retreated to the other side of the street seemed to not have expected the existence of such professional assassins around Xia Qifei. They had also suffered some significant injuries.
The two met each other's gazes and knew that the opponents must be from the Overwatch Council. For the poison of the Overwatch Council, everyone knew their terrifying power regardless of their faction. The poisons made by Sir Fei Jie personally couldn't be stopped by just anyone.
Thus, they cleanly and efficiently turned their bodies and rose. Tapping the tips of their feet against the wall, they headed into the night sky before disappearing from view. They were the true martial aces and assassins of Jiangnan. Today, they had been entrusted with killing Xia Qifei, but they had no wish to throw in their own precious lives.
A gentle noise came from far away in a small alley.
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Of three aces across the street, two of them had left, however, Xia Qifei did not feel that his situation had taken any turn for the better. The pressure he felt had actually increased because that knife, that long knife that could only been seen on theater stages, had struck forward again as the battle raged fiercely beside him.
No complete enemy stood before the knife, and no soul of a complete body lay under the knife.
Like scattered snow, the knife light sliced through those courageous and venerable water bandits' limbs, parting their bodies from their heads, and creating a bloody path. Through the dismembered limbs flying in the air, it came closer and closer to Xia Qifei.
He saw his brothers dying miserably on the street, heard the soul shocking sound of the knife and tragic cries, and smelled the thick stench of the iron in the blood. Xia Qifei watched the man with the bamboo hat approach step by step through the blood. The man walked with such determination and dedication; it was like he was a demon.
Xia Qifei's heart grew cold, but his blood boiled. His eyes felt like they were going to split his sockets. He desired to rush forward to step in front of his brothers' bodies and meet this ace with the bamboo hat in a vigorous battle. Even if he died beneath the blade, what of it? But, he couldn't move. He instead retreated. He sorrowfully but determinedly escaped toward the restaurant.
He knew that the purpose of the other party was to kill him, but his name and his person was useful. If he wanted revenge…if he wanted his opponents to find it difficult to eat and sleep, he had to survive. Even if it was in such a humiliating way, he had to survive.
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…
The man with the bamboo hat was only five steps away from Xia Qifei.
The three injured swordsmen from the Sixth Bureau finally returned to their positions. Due to their injuries, they could not stand against the ace's shocking knife power. Their metal rods were broken in to a number of pieces, and the three were all sent flying back.
Jiangnan Restaurant was right in front of his eyes.
Xia Qifei escaped up the stairs.
The waiter and clients at the door screamed in panic but seemed to have been ensnared in a spell; their spirits shocked by this bloody and terrifying scene. Their legs turned soft, and it seemed like they couldn't move.
The ace with the bamboo hat was still five steps away from the stone steps when he sliced down with his knife. The direction of the strike was toward the back of the extremely tragic Xia Qifei.
A seemingly scared dumb customer was holding on to a beautiful column. For some reason, he shook a metal rod into his hands and ruthlessly stabbed it toward the upper thigh of the ace with the bamboo hat.
The man with the bamboo hat was tall and mighty. This hidden Sixth Bureau assassin didn't have the confidence that he would definitely succeed, so he took the opportunity just before the sword slashed through Xia Qifei's body to strike somewhere vital. Thus, he had chosen the juncture at the upper thigh.
Unexpectedly, it seemed like the ace with the bamboo hat did not see this strike and continued to slice down.
With a dink, the metal rod hit the man's thigh, but it was like piercing through a sheet of metal.
The assassin of the Sixth Bureau felt a chill in his heart. He knew that this was a stupid skill that no one still practiced on the jianghu—Iron Skin.
Since the other party had practiced it and had not dodged at all, that meant he had stupidly spent dozens of years practicing hard, giving up all the pleasures of men and women, and practiced this skill to the extreme.
This swordsman of the Sixth Bureau knew that he could not block this strike, but with the commissioner's orders before him, he had to protect Xia Qifei's life. Thus, he threw himself across. Without fearing death, he leapt toward the air above the ace. As he was in the air, he pulled a small dagger from his shoe and viciously stabbed toward the eyes the bamboo hat constantly covered.
…
…
The knife in the ace's hand was less than half a meter from Xia Qifei's back when two metal rods relentlessly appeared again.
Fan Xian had sent seven swordsmen from the Sixth Bureau to protect Xia Qifei. Five had already appeared. The two who had been silent until the end had originally planned to act as their leader had done earlier, to defeat and rescue, and protect Xia Qifei's life. However, after discovering the strange and abnormal skills the other party possessed, they knew this method would not work. Furthermore, the knife had already arrived, so they could only helplessly clash head on against the opponent's strike.
With an awful shrieking sound, the two metal rods did not break but were shocked from their hands.
Xia Qifei took advantage of this block and, like a pitiful little dog, leapt forward and narrowly avoided the strike. The light of the knife landed on the ground and gouged a huge chunk from the stone steps. He gave a cry and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. He had still been struck by the ace's qi activity. The power of the sword landed on his body, and he was the one with the heaviest internal damage.
After spraying out a mouthful of blood, he lay on the ground yet his expression remained ruthless. His right hand snaked out unbelievably quickly from under his left armpit, holding the small crossbow hidden in his sleeve. This was something the imperial envoy had given him for self-protection.
When the bolt fired, that Sixth Bureau swordsman had already landed before the ace.
The long knife in the ace's hand was not easily drawn back. His left hand curled into a fist, and he struck out. With a bang, he sent the swordsman flying with a punch. In doing so, he left an opening in front of his face.
The narrow bolt approached the front of the bamboo hat. The man finally showed a slightly normal response as he slightly tilted his head back. It seemed like despite his powerful training, his face was still a weak point. The bolt flew through the air. With a whistle, it pierced deeply in to the top of the bamboo hat.
The bamboo hat was tied under his chin, so it was not taken away by the bold. Thus, the true face of this mysterious ninth-level ace was still not shown to everyone.
…
…
There was a soft noise, but it was not clear——slight boom, like when children played with firecrackers and also a crackling like when wood is being burned.
The bolt stuck to the top of the bamboo hat…exploded.
A streak of light flashed by, and the ace's head immediately went up in smoke. It looked very strange.
Under the modification of the Third Bureau, although they were still unable to execute the full potential of gunpowder and it didn't burn strong enough when lit, but nonetheless, in a flash the bamboo hat had burned completely away.
The ace held the long knife in his hand with his feet steadily placed. He stood silently before Jiangnan Restaurant. His face was pitch black. There was a terrifying blister in the center, and his eyes were tightly closed. It was difficult to see whether he was alive or dead.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and a thread of rage flashed through them.
This mysterious ace was still alive.
But what surprised and confused everyone was not that this person could survive after such an injury, because given the other party's power he was not easy to kill anyway, what surprised Xia Qifei and the Overwatch Council was that…this hat covered ace was…bald.
As all under heaven followed filial piety, the body, hair, and skin all belonged to the parents, so no one would dare to cut their hair, much less shave it all off. The only people allowed to move around without hair were…the Ascetics.
The Ascetics worshipped the Temple.
Yet, everyone knew that the Ascetics always loved the people and sacrificed themselves. They never interfered with battles in the mortal world. Why did this extremely powerful Asectic come today to kill Xia Qifei?
There was no time to think about this shocking question because this Asectic had once again lifted that tarrying long knife. With a muffled growl, he raised the knife with both hands and chopped down toward Xia Qifei on the stone steps. With the power of a crazed tiger, a thousand armies could not block it.
…
…
A thousand armies couldn't block it, but one flower could.
The hopeless people on the stone steps only felt a light breeze skim past, an ocean-like flower opened before their eyes. In a moment, it had removed the stench of blood on the long street before the restaurant. Lightly scented flowers gladdened the heart.
A pair of steady and gentle hands held a basket with silk flowers bought from Wuzhou met the edge of the forward pressing long knife. The knife came quickly, but the hands moved even quicker. Somehow, in the next moment, the flower basket was already holding the long knife.
The power of the knife was very aggressive, and the flower basket was very light. When the flower basket was hung lightly at the tip of the sword that steady and fearful ling knife involuntarily began to shake and dip down. It was as if the flower basket was unbelievably heavy.
The knife paused. The Asectic wielding the knife roared and zhenqi surged from his arms. He lifted it as if he were lifting the Great Eastern Mountain.
…
…
With a sigh, the flower basket finally could not stand any longer against the two people's shocking zhenqi. Flicked by the tip of the knife, it entirely fell apart. The flower basket woven from vines seemed to, in that instant of frozen time, be torn apart thread by thread and dissolve into countless pieces that exploded out, landing on the ground with a slapping sound.
But the silver flowers in the basket were flown by the wind and gently floated up, decorating the Asura-like killing field of the long street. In the rain of petals, the girl wearing the floral, cotton robe was like a gust of wind, following the shaking long knife and gently attacking toward the Ascetic.
He struck out with a palm. The palm wind was like a knife, but it could not stop the other party's floating shadow. After a moment, gentle hands lightly tapped the hand of the sword and flicked out a finger piercing directly into the side of the Ascetic's large hand.
The Ascetic let out a strange cry. His burnt face revealed a strange red color formed by a strand of surging zhenqi. His entire person was like a large bird as he backed away. With just one move, this god-like killer Asectic was forced back.
The flower rain continued to fall. Contrasted with the clear night and bright moon above Suzhou, it appeared particularly beautiful. The flower petals rained down, and Haitang stood with a peaceful expression in the flower rain. She did not follow up with another attack. She only looked at the Asectic with a trace of worry.
Even village girls have their most beautiful moment.
…
…
"Second Priest of the Qing Temple, why are you here?" Haitang said with worry on her face.
That Asectic gazed at her and recognized her identity. In a sharp voice he cried, "Haitang Duoduo! Why are you here?"
Haitang lowered her head slightly and said quietly, "I am here with Fan Xian."
The Ascetic was startled. It seemed that he did not expect for Haitang, descendant of the Tianyi Dao, with the identity of the sage girl of Northern Qi, to speak of this reason so lightly.
"Today, I have to kill someone. Don't stop me," the Ascetic gazed at her and said coldly.
Haitang furrowed her brows slightly and looked up and down the stone steps of Jiangnan Restaurant at the people who had died in the middle of the long street. She saw the broken and dismembered limbs, and pungent puddles of blood, and gently said, "You have already killed enough people tonight. Don't kill anymore."
It was not a request or an urging. Since Fan Xian was not at ease with Xia Qifei over here and had, at the last minute, had Haitang come over to check, this represented his complete trust in her. With her here, other than the four old bastards of legend, if she said no more killing, then no one would kill.
Although the Ascetic had been burned badly, it was still possible to see a trace of determination on his face. He used a strange gaze to glance at Haitang before turning around and leaving.
Leaving did not require a road. He straightforwardly knocked down a wall beside the street. With a bang, a giant hole appeared in the wall, and his shadow vanished from within the hole.
The flower rain fell, and Haitang was silent. Then, she gently floated to behind the wall.
Chapter 367: Heaven Knows Not Because Of The Chime Of Drums
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Haitang skimmed into the yard beside the street and gently touched the strands of hair at her temple. She looked the Ascetic who indeed had not left.
The people who were able to live on the two sides of the street were naturally wealthy and noble. After the disturbances, the master of this home had long awoken and hid far away, not daring to light any lamps. The lights from the restaurant across the street followed the big hole in the wall and shone in, lighting up the yard. It also lit up the face that was particularly scary after the injury.
Haitang looked at him and asked with slight worry in her voice, "What is this for?"
The Ascetic gazed at her quietly and did not reply.
Haitang was not in a rush, even though the sounds of Suzhou officials moving together could be faintly heard in the distance.
There were not many Ascetics in the world. The Ascetics, with the Great Priest of the Temple of Qing, as their leader had always preached in various locations. These Ascetics quietly worshipped and praised through scriptures. Their actions were kind, and they were not widely known for their power of martial arts.
However, in these decades, the Qing Temple had produced a strange creature, Great Master San Shi. He was born with great power, and his external and internal skills had both been cultivated to the peak. His personality was ruthless, and he hated evil as an enemy. However, because of his identity as a priest, few people had seen him strike. There were also very few people who knew his true appearance and power. This was because in the past, the Great Priest of the Qing Temple used scripture to reign him in and watched him closely, otherwise Great Master San Shi would long have become the most famous figure under heaven.
Because the Qing Temple and Northern Qi's Tianyi Dao were both places of worship for the Temple, they could be considered connected in lineage. Thus, Haitang had seen him once in previous years. She knew the Ascetic in front of her, this Second Priest of the Qing Temple, this legendary Great Master San Shi. If one were purely talking about identity, he was a highly respected figure. If one were talking about the cultivation of personality, he was not a bloodthirsty person. Haitang was most confused as to why the priests who never interfered with the mortal world would today enter into the struggle of the palace treasury or court.
"Junshang Conference…just what kind of organization is it exactly?" asked Haitang frowning slightly. It seemed like she was talking to herself.
The Second Priest looked at her coldly and said, "Don't waste your time thinking about these questions. Correct, I am now a member of the Junshang Conference. Originally, the Junshang Conference was a loosely formed consortium. Perhaps this organization did not have any specific purpose. However, once everyone has found a goal, then we will all work toward that goal."
Haitang asked in a quiet voice, "What is your goal?"
"To kill Xia Qifei," he replied coldly.
Haitang smiled slightly and said, "It is only a dispute between some merchants. How could it draw you to attack?"
She calmly asked, "Xia Qifei was bidding today at the palace treasury, and you chose the kill him on the street. Are you not afraid the South Kingdom court will be angry?"
The Second Priest replied without any expression, "Killing Xia Qifei is so that the matter of the palace treasury can return to the path we want."
Haitang was startled and confused. "These words are not enough to satisfy me… I know you and the Great Priest, you are not a person who is greedy for fame and wealth."
The Second Priest became silent.
Haitang said in a quiet voice again, "The Ming family also does not have the authority to move you."
The Second Priest slowly raised his head. "As I said earlier, this is a kind of loose cooperation. It is only that my goal and the Ming family's goal happened to align."
"You want to defeat Fan Xian?" Haitang furrowed her brows.
The Second Priest coldly shook his head.
Haitang sighed in her heart and guessed the truth of the matter. The other party's identity was special. Since he could not be used by others and also wanted to interfere with the matter of the palace treasury bidding, then naturally it must be related to a problem in Jingdou. Since the Second priest's target was not Fan Xian, then the source of this matter was secretly about to come into the open.
Haitang shook her head and said, "It is difficult to believe that a priest of the Qing Temple would actually secretly oppose the Qing Emperor…"
Countless blisters had already been burned into the Second priest's face. In the black ash were streaks of blood, and he appeared incomparably horrifying. The eyes in his sockets showed white. He faintly said, "The sage girl is clever. The imperial envoy has received a royal edict to come govern the palace treasury. My thought was to never allow this so-called royal order to be carried out."
Haitang was silent. It seemed that an unknown current was beginning to appear in the internal departments of the South Kingdom court. The direction of this current was toward the man sitting on the dragon chair. Fan Xian, as the most favored official of that man would, without exception, stand at the forefront and face extreme danger.
The reason the Second Priest was willing to tell these secrets to Haitang's face was because of her identity as a person from Northern Qi, and the close relationship between the Qing Temple and Tianyi Dao.
The Second Priest knew that no matter how close Haitang was to Fan Xian, as a Northern Qi person knowing that there was someone in the internal department of the South Kingdom preparing to act against the Emperor, she would maintain a clever silence.
Haitang was silent for a while before suddenly speaking "Great Master, to ask a tiger for his skin is very unwise."
In the Junshang Conference, they had to be much closer knit because of a terrifying reason. With a matter as important as this, there had to be a leader. In Haitang's analysis, perhaps this leader was the Eldest Princess who hadn't shown any power, yet always had Fan Xian carefully defending against her.
The Second Priest said coldly, "In the eyes of the flower, the bug is the tiger. In the eyes of the bamboo, the fire is the tiger. In the eyes of the river, the day is the tiger…in my eyes, the Emperor is the tiger."
Haitang furrowed her brows and asked, "What exactly happened?"
What had happened for this Second Priest of the Qing Temple to resolutely throw himself into the mess and filth of the mortal world and make an always merciful and tender Ascetic become an Asura demon that decapitated people with a knife?
A thread of sadness and memory flashed through the terrifying eyes of the Second priest. A moment later he softly said, "Elder brother has gone on."
Haitang was startled. The news of the Qing Temple's Great Priest's death had spread everywhere under heaven a few months ago. At that time, the edict the Qing court had sent out said that the Great Priest had long preached in the South and stayed long among the evil miasma. The accumulation of it had led to illness and thus, not long after he returned to the capital, he had passed away. Yet, listening to the Second priest, Haitang naturally understood that the truth was certainly not this simple. It was possible that the death of the Great Priest of the Qing Temple was strongly connected to the Qing Emperor.
She placed her hands together and gave a salute. She knew that she could not continue to ask questions.The other party had already given enough hints and would not say any more.
"Earlier, why did you not stop me revealing your identity?" Haitang asked quietly. "Killing people in the street today, are you not afraid of inadvertently alerting your enemy and having the Qing Emperor find some traces and clues?"
The Second Priest of the Qing Temple raised three fingers without expression, "The mountain has three rocks: one is bright, one is right, and one is sacrifice[JW1] ."
"I have been different from normal people from a young age and was thrown into the wilds by the village people. If it were not for elder brother, I would have long ago been eaten by wild dogs." The Second Priest of the Qing Temple's voice was like a flood. His beard floated, and he was mighty without being angry. "The world has taken my brother, so I cause chaos for the people. I will kill with clear skill. I will crush others with justice and use my body as sacrifice to kill one bad ruler to bring peace to tens of thousands of people under heaven."
Haitang understood the first two meanings of these words, the last meaning was unclear. However, countless complicated feelings still welled up in her heart. Although there were signs of cracks in the internal department of the Qing court, looking at the strong control the Qing Emperor had over the governors of the seven Roads and military, it was clear that the core of the South Kingdom's rule did not have problems at the root.
Tonight, the Great Master San Shi killed people in the street for nothing but to publicly say, to announce to the world, that the priest of the Qing Temple was no longer a friend on the same path as the court. Although the Second Priest was not enough to represent the Qing Temple and all the Ascetics under heaven, this kind of expression still had powerful symbolic meaning.
As for the last word "sacrifice," Haitang finally understood what it meant. The Great Master San Shi knew very well that the person behind the Junshang Conference was not much better than the Qing Emperor. Today's mission was partly to kill Xia Qifei as to ruin the Emperor's large scale administration and partly to resolutely sacrifice himself.
Perhaps this Second Priest wasn't even sure of what he should do. Having lost the Great Priest's guidance and constraint, the Great Master San Shi had no way of killing the Emperor. Furthermore, priests of the Qing Temple did not want the people under heaven to suffer because of revenge.
For Great Master San Shi, the Jiangnan water bandits were all gangsters stained with blood. Killing them was fine, and he felt no trace of pity at all. But the strong desire of event in his heart, his judgement of the situation and worry for the people, caused im hto sink to a psychological conflict. Thus, he told all these things to Haitang. At the same, time it told her he was willing to be a sacrifice.
"I am returning to Jingdou to kill people. Please convey to Imperial Advisor Ku He my words today."
Great Master San Shi became silent. His melancholy was at odds with his powerful figure. He turned around and left the already broken hole in the yard.
Haitang stood quietly where she was and did not move. She was thinking that the Second Priest of the Qing Temple had so easily sacrificed himself, but the Junshang Conference was sure to make more moves later. She didn't know whether it would target Fan Xian in Jiangnan or directly target the Qing Emperor sitting in Jingdou.
It seemed like there were many people under heaven who did not wish for the Qing Emperor to live comfortably.
How should Northern Qi respond?
…
…
"San Shi? Sacrifice?" Fan Xian looked at Haitang and almost smiled, however dark fire leapt in his eyes. "I don't understand the strange conversation of your kind of people. I only know…if he really wanted to sacrifice himself, then at this moment he should go directly to the front gates of the Royal Palace and battle the Great Prince's imperial guards and Eunuch Hong from the Royal Palace rather than coming to Suzhou and ruining my business! Killing my people!"
His voice rose on the last two lines, and his tone was severe.
"As for the 'sacrifice' word," Haitang gazed at him and said calmly, "the Junshang Conference definitely did not want the Second Priest to reveal his identity so early. If I had not been there today, there probably wouldn't have been anyone who would have the opportunity to reveal it."
The meaning in these words were clear: the enemy's calculations had gone wrong. The Second Priest did not manage to kill successfully. He might as well follow through with the sacrifice and clearly resolve Haitang's questions, using himself to attract the attention of the Qing Emperor and hide the existence of the Junshang Conference.
Fan Xian smiled coldly and said, "This Second Priest may have overestimated his own importance…the Emperor may not have anything, but his sense of self-confidence, from who knows where, is much stronger than most. If I were you, how could I let that bald man go so easily? With just a few unimportant and light words, he convinced you to ignore it and not ask further. It seems like this Second Priest has the ability to be a lobbyist."
These words appeared common but had the intention to expose hidden motives. In his anger, Fan Xian directly expressed that there was something Haitang had not said about the conversation between her and the Second priest. After all, this was the internal politics of the Qing Kingdom. As a person of Northern Qi, who knew what Haitang would do for the benefit of her own country?
Haitang did not become angry. She explained in a quiet voice, "The Junshang Conference will definitely protect the Ming family. That old matriarch has fallen into your plan to antagonize her and has asked someone to come kill Xia Qifei…isn't all of this within your expectations? Why are you still so angry?"
Fan Xian stopped. He had not expected Haitang to so mercilessly reveal all of his sinister intentions. He furrowed his brows and said, "Correct, I did want to force the Ming family to act, but I didn't expect the Ming family was able to move such an ace…it seems that I still underestimated the so-called Junshang Conference."
Heavy casualties were sustained in front of the Jiangnan Restaurant. About 80 to 90 percent of the good men of the Jiangnan water bandits that Xia Qifei had brought into Suzhou had been killed by that powerful knife. The Overwatch Council, in order to protect Xia Qifei's life, had also paid a heavy price. One of the seven Sixth Bureau swordsman had died and another four were in deep comas. No one knew whether or not they would survive.
The loss the Overwatch Council suffered this time was the largest since Fan Xian had taken over. He couldn't help but be angry and blame himself. All of this had clearly been within his calculations. Since he had underestimated the other party's power, it had caused the situation.
What made Fan Xian the angriest was…in the plan, once he had forced the Ming family to strike, he would use the opportunity to attack powerfully. All of this had been ruined on the long street with Haitang's cry.
As for the Second Priest…he would have some dealings with the royal family. If Fan Xian wanted to use this opportunity to connect it to the Ming family, it was completely impossible. Even if the Overwatch Council used its dirtiest methods to frame them, they would never be able to convince the court or officials in Jingdou.
No one would believe that a wealthy Jiangnan family could order the Second Priest of the Qing Temple to act as an assassin.
This reality made Fan Xian develop absurd feelings of defeat. When facing an opponent, even if other party had not done it, Fan Xian would frame them to admit it. Now, it was clear that the other party did it. But, if he went forward and publicly investigated it, no one would believe him.
He shook his head helplessly and waved his hand. "Duoduo, go sleep first. Earlier I was not in a good mood and said some things rashly. Don't take it to heart."
Haitang glanced at him in surprise and furrowed her brows and asked, "Tonight?"
Fan Xian took a deep breath and forced down the burning feeling in his heart. A soft smile rose to his face and he said gently, "It's very late. If there's anything, we will talk about it tomorrow."
Fan Xian had been preparing for tonight for a long time. Now, to suddenly give up, no one knew what he was thinking.
Haitang left the study with some confusion.
Fan Xian sat quietly by himself in front of his table. He thought for a bit and then raised his brush to begin writing. He had to report tonight's events to the Emperor in Jingdou. Although he did not believe, in his heart, that the Second Priest's appearance was an extraordinary matter, as an official—even an official without good intentions—he had to, at the right moments, show some kind of fear and worry due to his concern.
Having finished writing the secret letter, he couldn't resist picking up the letter beside it.
The handwriting on the letter was very wizened and ugly. It was a personal letter from old man Chen Pingping.
In the letter, Chen Pingping did not give any warnings about the situation of the court or the officialdom, he only told a story. It was a story about a crow drinking water. He was telling Fan Xian, who was absent from his side, that regardless of the matter, it must not be done in a rush. Sometimes the more rushed one is, the less water there will be to drink.
Throwing rocks in the bottle?
This was a game where in order to take something, something first had to be given.
Fan Xian looked at the letter and furrowed his brows again. Today in the palace treasury courtyard, Ming Qingda had left a deep impression on him. The ability of the Ming family master to be rattled but not shocked was truly worth learning.
In comparison, the old matriarch, whose emotions Fan Xian had successfully shaken and who had secretly notified the Junshang Conference to kill people in the street, did not seem worth worrying about.
However, the Ming family's power was still held in that old matriarch's hand, and this reality allowed Fan Xian to relax a great deal.
As the person who acted was the Second Priest, this implicated many people. It was not appropriate to take action tonight. Fan Xian thought for a bit and decided wait a few days. Xia Qifei was fortunate and did not die. Tomorrow's palace treasury bidding would continue. Life would also continue, and the days would continue.
When everything was calm, and the rocks had been filled to the brim of the bottle, then he would began to drink.
…
…
"Going out," he said as he accepted a large cloak from Sisi's hands.
Sisi looked at him astonishment, thinking: It is already the hour of zi, where are you going to go? But she knew, for the young master to rush out at this time, it must be important. She did not ask further.
With his cloak over his shoulders, Fan Xian rushed toward the front door of Hua Garden[JW2] . As he walked, he said to the subordinate beside him, "Matters have escalated. Immediately send out a first-level order. Carefully search the southeast area for the whereabouts of the Second Priest."
His subordinate furrowed his brows and said, "Sir, the Qing Temple has always been managed by the Royal Palace. Is it suitable for us to interfere?"
Fan Xian was slightly angry and reprimanded, "He's already killed his way to us. Can I not kill him?"
The subordinate quickly closed his mouth and gave the order.
Fan Xian had other intentions in those words. Haitang said earlier that Second Priest seemed like he was preparing to head to Jingdou and imitate Jing Je in an assassination. Yet, Fan Xian had the Overwatch Council searching the southeast.
The Shadow was not in Suzhou, and the people in the Overwatch Council had no hope of holding down that Great Master San Shi. Fan Xian's action was nothing more than a show. It was to prevent his subordinates running into the ace again and suffering another heavy loss, and it could also allow the Second Priest to enter the capital.
Clearly the Second Priest was preparing to play the dragon when entering the capital, yet Fan Xian still had made such arrangements.
Having reached the main door, Tiger Guard Gao Da lifted the carriage's curtain for him. Fan Xian had one foot on the carriage when he stopped. It seemed like he was thinking of something. A moment later he turned and said, "Call back everyone who is stationed outside."
The Overwatch Council official was startled, wondering if the plan for tonight was canceled? Given his understanding of the commissioner, if his subordinates had suffered losses, he would definitely immediately seek revenge. Did the commissioner suddenly have a change of personality?
Ignoring his subordinate's astonishment, Fan Xian burrowed into the carriage.
The carriage wheels rolled over Suzhou's stone roads and made a rattling sound. It was already deep into the night, and no one was walking on the streets. Only the government bailiffs, who knew something had happened, were peering around with faces full of sleepiness and drowsy eyes. However, they were the lucky ones, at least they were more relaxed than the brothers in front of Jiangnan Restaurant. Rumors said those brothers were moving dead bodies and picking up dismembered limbs, and a few of them had already thrown up from the nausea.
Fan Xian half leaned against the back of his chair. His hands gently rubbed at the center of his forehead, forcefully expelling the tiredness from his mind as well as the strong urge preparing to leap out at any moment to come out and kill for a while. He allowed the carriage to take himself along the quiet Suzhou night streets.
Beside the carriage were a few Tiger Guards. Xia Qifei had been targeted for assassination, so Fan Xian's security for his outing had been strengthened.
After a short amount of time, the carriage approached the side door to the manor of the Jiangnan governor. Without time to hand in any name cards, Fan Xian directly used his face as a pass and burrowed his way toward the governor's manor. Under the escort of the governor's housekeeper and servants, whose faces were full of confusion, they came directly to the back garden where the governor's manor entertained secret guests.
Having barely taken a sip from the tea that was brought up, the Jiangnan governor, Xue Qing, who the housekeeper said had slept long ago, came rushing out.
Fan Xian raised his head and looked at Xue Qing's dress. After a moment of pause he began to laugh. This governor's clothing was neat and tidy. He looked nothing like he had been roused from bed. It appeared that tonight, not very many officials would be able to sleep well.
Xue Qing saw him laugh and couldn't resist smiling as well. He waved his hand to dismiss everyone and drank a bit of tea to wet his throat before asking straightforwardly, "What business does the imperial envoy have to have come in the night?"
Fan Xian's reply was even more straightforward. He raised one finger and said, "Tonight, someone tried to kill my people, so I am preparing to kill people."
The Jiangnan governor was startled and sank into silence. Of course he was aware of what had happened in tonight. He had also expected the always ruthless Fan Xian, who shielded his shortcomings, to strike against the Ming family. He hadn't expected the Fan Xian would come to notify him before doing so. This kind of attitude allowed Xue Qing to feel a thread of comfort.
After a moment of silence, Xue Qing said evenly, "I can understand your current emotions."
These words were the same as not saying anything, understand, of course, did not mean support. Fan Xian also understood this. After all, the Ming family was a prosperous family in Jiangnan. Their descendants numbered in the tens of thousands, and their supporters in the court were beyond counting. The hands and feet of the Ming family had long rooted themselves deeply into the lives of the Jiangnan people. If Fan Xian wanted to use the martial power of the Overwatch Council to carry out simple and cruel bullying, then that was sure to cause countless counterattacks. The situation in Jiangnan might be thrown into unrest because of this.
Jiangnan could not fall into chaos. Once it fell, Xue Qing, as the Jiangnan governor, would have to bear the brunt of the responsibility. There was no way he would be able to explain it to the court or to the Emperor. So, in front of Fan Xian, he could only say he understood and was not willing to say anything else.
As for Fan Xian, the Black Knights were still in Jiangbei. Not until the last step would he dare to brave the Emperor's suspicions and clamor of the officials to move soldiers into Suzhou. Thus, the power he could use at the moment was actually not much. To be able to defeat something like the Ming family, he very much needed the help of the Jiangnan governor, Xue Qing, or at least his implicit consent. This was why he had come to the governor's manor.
Knowing what Xue Qing was worried about, Fan Xian smiled slightly and said, "Please rest assured, although I am somewhat bold and unconstrained, when I handle matters, I will respect the rules."
Xue Qing was slightly reassured. He was not one of the Eldest Princess' people, so he was willing to keep himself out of the battle between the Overwatch Council and princes. But tonight, the Ming family actually dared to send someone to assassinate a bidding merchant outside the Jiangnan Restaurant…although everyone knew that the merchant was actually a water bandit…this reality still made this border guarding official angry.
Merchants had their duties and boundaries. Tonight, the Ming family had crossed a line. Furthermore, the Jiangnan Restaurant where the killing happened was the governor's property.
"Before the 16 bids are completely settled, I will not act," Fan Xian gazed at Xue Qing's eyes and evenly said. "The day after tomorrow, I will have the Ming family pay the proper price."
"It is enough to just each them a lesson." Xue Qing sighed like an Ascetic who bemoaned the state of the universe and pitied the fate of mankind.
Fan Xian smiled slightly. He understood the governor still did not want to blow this matter up, while he, himself, never had excessive hopes to begin with. He hadn't expected to be able to force the centuries old Ming family to suffer hardship in just a few days. He said, "Rest assured, I know the limits."
"Evidence. What's important is evidence." Xue Qing looked at the young imperial envoy in front of him and couldn't resist opening his mouth to remind him. This matter was not a simple battle between officials and merchants, it was a battle between the powers at court. If he couldn't get evidence and wanted to carve some flesh from the Ming family, it would be extremely easy for some people in Jingdou to grab information that could be used against Fan Xian.
"In life, there is never a lack of evidence," Fan Xian said quietly. "There is only a lack of eyes to discover the evidence. The eyes of the Overwatch Council are very bright."
The two most powerful officials in Jiangnan talked for a long time in secret. Only when it was difficult for both of them to hide their tiredness did Fan Xian say his goodbyes.
The situation in Jiangnan had become murky, like the darkness before the dawn. Gazing out, it was impossible to see bottom of the abyss.
Fan Xian leaned against the back of the chair in the carriage and slept deeply. He did not notice the sky becoming gradually brighter outside the carriage. The morning did not have bells and drums, but the spring daybreak had arrived.
[JW1]"山有三石,一名明,一名正,一名弃" the "three rocks" is a play on his name, as San Shi literally means three rocks. The listing he does corresponds in what he says next. However, because the author uses multiple meanings of one character, the connection doesn't hold well in English.
[JW2] The text says Ming Garden, but this is a possible error since Fan Xian is living at Hua Garden.
Chapter 368: Pride Was Not As Heavy As Gold
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Although many people did not get a good night's sleep, many people had been busy. Some had not gone to bed for the entire night. The palace treasury spring bidding still opened on time the next morning despite the major event that happened in Suzhou.
These were the past rules of the court.
Even though Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng had cited the lockdown on Suzhou and Xia Qifei's assassination attempt in their request to postpone the date of the transport company bidding for a few days, Fan Xian remained resolute and decisive. He valiantly requested that the bidding start on time, not a moment late.
The Ming family had already obtained one extra night of time. If they were given more reaction time, who knew what else could happen?
Fan Xian rubbed the sore point between his brows and forcefully hid the tiredness on his face as he watched the merchant filed in in a line. He found that although the expressions' on these Jiangnan giant merchants remained calm, there was a strange emotion hidden in their eyes. It seemed that the matter of Xia Qifei's attempted assassination last night had brought enormous complications for them. Fan Xian was temporarily unable to determine whether this change was good…or bad for his plan.
The father and son of the Ming family were the second last to enter the courtyard. Behind them followed the clan's close servant and accounts master. His face wore a warm smile, and he saluted all around. The officials and merchants skimmed their eyes across and then shifted their gaze. No one dared appear to be overly friendly in front of Fan Xian with the Ming family anymore.
When the father and son of the Ming family bowed in front of the main hall, Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng greeted them with warm words. It was clear they were showing their support of the other party. Fan Xian watched coldly. He smiled and nodded his head before waving his hand for the other party to take their seats. Ming Qingda's expression was very strange but appeared to be calm. It seemed that, for some reason, the other party was not afraid of him exacting revenge for the matter of Xia Qifei's attempted assassination.
Before the front doors closed, the Jiangnan water bandits also arrived.
Behind Xia Qifei, other than the few old officials of the Ministry of Revenue that Fan Xian had sent over, there were only three close guards left. The other brothers had died last night on the street.
Xia Qifei's face was deathly pale. It seemed that the heavy injury had not had a chance to heal at all. Today's matter was of great importance, so he had to come, even if he had to push himself.
Compared to the bandages on his body, the white cloth on his forehead appeared to be particularly piercing and bright. His subordinates behind him were also wearing white strips of cloth on their foreheads. In the spring weather, it emanated an ice-like cold.
This was the first time in decades that mourning had been worn through the palace treasury doors.
The gazes of everyone in the courtyard were aimed at the group bandits of room B4 who wore mourning and carried a murderous aura on their bodies. With the Lingnan Xiong family and Quanzhou Sun family in the lead, the merchants left their rooms and greeted Xia Qifei, quietly offering words of comfort.
With the support of his subordinates, Xia Qifei slowly approached the main hall. He didn't glance at the father and son in the first room and said in a quiet voice, "I still came."
Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng's faces were a strange color.
The corner of Fan Xian's eye twitched, but he immediately recovered his usual calm. He spread out his right hand and said firmly and determinedly, "As long as you come, there will be a seat for you here."
Everyone understood the meaning of Fan Xian's words, but Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng were completely unable to use these words to accuse Fan Xian of anything. The Jiangnan governor, Xue Qing, had excused himself due to illness, so in the courtyard, Fan Xian's title was the highest. It was clear that Xue Qing was giving Fan Xian free reign to do as he liked.
The Ming family's supporters would not just watch as the situation came under Fan Xian's control. After a quiet whisper, Eunuch Huang said, "Sir Xia, I heard that the fighting among the jianghu began again last night in Suzhou, and you suffered many losses…but, it does not conform to etiquette to wear mourning into the yard."
Xia Qifei's birth was, after all, dishonorable, thus the matriarch of the Ming family was able to have an ace of the Junshang Conference carry out the killing. After all, if they could kill Xia Qifei, it would solve many problems. Afterwards, the matter could be pushed onto the fighting on the jianghu.
Eunuch Huang's words were nothing more than to make this point real.
Fan Xian did not care to bicker about such nominal things, but upon hearing Eunuch Huang's "does not conform to etiquette to wear mourning into the yard," his rage grew. In a quiet voice, he said, "Eunuch Huang, do not make me angry."
Although these words were spoken quietly, his voice was like it had been scraped out of a crevasse in a glacier, like it had come out from an abyss under the ground. That icy chill caused all those who heard it to shiver without being cold.
Do not make me angry!
These words crawled into Eunuch Huang's ears and caused him to involuntarily shiver. He quickly shut his mouth. He would not get in a huff with the wretched youth; he would let him be. Besides, the Ming family had prepared the whole night. As long as he kept an eye out, nothing would go wrong. If, at this time, he let Fan Xian use this opportunity to flip out—who could stop him? It would not be good to ruin the bigger picture.
To the side, Guo Zheng, who had been about to open his mouth, also felt his heart chill. He quickly swallowed the words he had been about to say. Last night, they had all expected Fan Xian to act impetuously in his anger; they had all already written their memorials and were prepared to grasp this to use against Fan Xian. Unexpectedly, he had, on the contrary, maintained his calm. This greatly disappointed him and Eunuch Huang, and they were both aware that they didn't know when that nefarious flame Fan Xian kept bottled up in heart would explode out.
Thinking of the ministers that had fallen in Fan Xian's hands, Guo Zheng also retreated. The Eldest Princess only wanted to protect the Ming family's shares, not their reputation.
…
…
There was another cannon boom. The confetti flew wildly outside in the courtyard, and the smoke gradually thickened.
Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at the somewhat familiar scene. For some reason, he remembered last year, on the day he left Shangjing, Northern Qi, the moment he learned of the death of Zhuang Mohan. On that day, the firecrackers on Shangjing's city gates that were sending him off also seemed to be sending off Master Zhuang.
Were the firecrackers today sending off those who had died last night?
Xia Qifei led his subordinates silently into room B4 and removed the strip of white cloth from his head. He carefully spread it on the table, straight as a brush. His brothers behind him followed their boss and removed their white cloths and spread them out. Line by line, bold and powerful.
Fan Xian's brows furrowed his brows very slightly, as to be barely noticeable, as he thought about something.
The palace treasury official responsible for announcements once again stood at the top of the stone steps. The second day of the palace treasury bidding had officially begun.
Yesterday, there had been five lots; the palace treasury had 16 lots. Other than the last two portions that were bound eight lots, there were three lots left and placed at the start to be announced.
The Ming family continued to follow the agreement between the Jiangnan merchants and did not bid. On the contrary, it seemed that Xia Qifei had not been perturbed by last night's incident and made bids very steadily. He took one of the lots, and the other two were won by the Lingnan Xiong family and Hangzhou Chen family. This was probably something that had been agreed on last night at the Jiangnan Restaurant.
The lots that Xia Qifei had taken were still on the Northern route. When Fan Xian received the bid from Flower Hall and confirmed that Xia Qifei had won the bid, he couldn't resist secretly nodding his head. Xia Qifei had not let his emotions affect his decisions, and he greatly approved of this.
The bidding on these three lots progressed without excitement. The prices were about the same as previous years, and there was nothing shocking about them at all. None of the merchants and officials present had much of a reaction at all because everyone knew today's important show was still to come; it was in the eight lots that the Ming family had to win.
…
…
"The southeast route and the sea route, goods of the Second workshop. A total of four lots, bidding begins. The highest bidder…wins…"
The official of the palace treasury transport company stood on the stone steps and called out with expression. He had no idea how many years he had been calling these words. Every year after the words were called, only the Ming family would bid—no one would compete with them. Thus, this call felt lonely and boring, without interest and dull.
But, this year was not the same.
After the sound of the announcement landed, the first to push open their door and hand out the leather envelope was room B4.
The courtyard burst into noise as countless voices rose in discussion. Xia Qifei, this abandoned Seventh young master of the Ming family was finally beginning to strike against the Ming family.
The expression of Ming Qingda in room A1 did not change. It seemed he had long expected this situation. In previous years, because of the strength of his family in addition to the Eldest Princess watching from behind the scenes, there were no Jiangnan merchants who dared to bid against him. Thus the Ming family in the last eight lots was the same as the Cui family in the first six—they both played opposing roles.
After playing these roles for too long, it would eventually feel tiring. Today, there was finally someone to compete against the Ming family. Other than feeling a slight fear, Ming Qingda also felt a thread of excitement.
He smiled slightly and said to his son beside him, "20 percent more, push him down."
Ming Lanshi paled in shock. His father intended to raise last year's final price by 20 percent in the first round of bidding? If, in a moment, in the second round Xia Qifei had enough silver and continued on—how could they hold it?
Ming Qingda raised the tea cup beside him and drank a mouthful, and slowly said, "The extra 20 percent isn't to crush Xia Qifei; it's to crush others."
Ming Lanshi was confused. Today in the palace treasury courtyard, other than Xia Qifei, who had the support of the imperial envoy? Who else dared to compete with us for the two large lots? In the heart of this young master, he was still convinced that Xia Qifei's confidence came from Fan Xian privately transferring silver from the Ministry of Revenue, and the others did not have this power at all.
Ming Qingda didn't say anything, but his heart was as clear as a mirror. Fan Xian had Xia Qifei sweep away all the goods yesterday to turn the other Jiangnan merchants into starving wolves, and a starving wolf would take a bite of anyone's meat.
…
…
When two sealed leather envelopes had been handed into Flower Hall, all of the merchants and officials placed their buttocks back in their seats and let out a turbid breath. They knew the good show had officially begun.
It seemed many people did not guess the direction in which this show was going.
The door to room B1 was slowly pushed open and a sealed leather envelope was handed to the official outside of the door.
The Quanzhou Sun family!
The entire yard exploded into a clamor. No one had thought that the Quanzhou Sun family would come to steal this hot soup when the two tigers were fighting.
"The Sun family!" Ming Lanshi looked in shock at his father and said, "Where did his family get this much silver?"
Ming Qingda's expression did not change. "The Sun family themselves don't have enough. Can a few families not put together enough? Don't you think Xiong Baling, that old bastard, has become too quiet today? And those families that have been staring at our family? If they didn't have a secret motive, why would they look for so long? Flowers haven't grown on my face yet!"
In the main hall, each of the officials sitting in the three grand chairs all had their own thoughts. Fan Xian had long expected this development and was not very surprised. However, Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng were gnashing their teeth, thinking, that Quanzhou Sun family was too daring to come out at this moment and cause trouble.
Under the nervous gazes of everyone, the results of the first round of bidding came out. Fan Xian held the price contrast sheet from the Flower Hall and couldn't help sighing in his heart, thinking that the Ming family was able to expand for so many years in Jiangnan for good reason. In Fan Xian's plan, the last four lots were when he and the Ming family would fight vigorously to raise the price. Although the amount of silver moved from Northern Qi was enormous, the turnaround needed too long of a route, so there was still an upper limit. Furthermore, Xia Qifei had taken five lots in a row and paid out a huge amount in deposits.
If it was possible to falsely raise the price with no limits, Xia Qifei could simply bid empty prices and have the Ming family continuously vomit blood. The problem was, Fan Xian never understood Ming Qingda. He seemed to be not as simple as being only a master in name. Fan Xian was unable to determine if he actually falsely raised the price or whether or not Ming Qingda would disregard the Eldest Princess' orders and wisely cut his losses.
With the amount of silver Fan Xian had in hand, if he used it to raise the price, he was only certain of being able to heavy hurt the Ming family in the second of the four bound lots.
If the Ming family actually did play it ruthlessly in the third round and let go of the four bound lots…and Xia Qifei raised the price too high, there could only be two results: One, he would completely be unable to pay the 40 percent deposit. After successfully winning the first four bound lots, he would have nothing left and could only watch as the Ming family easy took the last four bound lots. The second result was not one that Fan Xian wanted. He had no way of controlling the route used for smuggling towards Dongyi. In the eyes of the Ming family, it was a bid they could not lose out on. As for him, it was something of little value. He did not want Xia Qifei to truly win that bid. But, if the Ming family easily took the last four bound lots, Fan Xian could not swallow that either.
As for the first possibility—if the price really did explode—under the covetous eyes of Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng and the gazes of all these people, all of the previous efforts for the palace treasury matter would have been wasted. Xia Qifei would probably have no way to survive.
…
…
In the plan Fan Xian made earlier for this first set of four bound lots, he wanted to have the Quanzhou Sun family fire the challenge, while Xia Qifei's bidding was just a ruse and was not intended to be serious. Seeing the price sheet the Flower Hall handed over, Fan Xian knew that that old man of the Ming family had already guessed his plans, so he bid such a terrifying number on just the first round.
The Sun family dared to make a move today because of the message he had sent last night through Shi Chanli.
Faced with such a powerful suppression by the Ming family, and to thinking of the brazen assassination the Ming family ordered on Xia Qifei last night—attacking through both civil and martial means—Fan Xian began to worry that perhaps the Sun family would be so scared by this round of bidding as to not increase their bid.
The situation indeed developed in the direction that Fan Xian did not wish to see. When the announcer called out the Ming family's bid of 3,080,000 liang of silver, the yard filled with noise.
From then on, the door to room B1 never opened again. The Sun family had indeed been scared.
Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at the two masters of the Ming family in room A1. He began to calculate whether or not these two masters had, as the Overwatch Council had investigated, participated very little in the assassination incident last night. The main instigator was purely the old Ming matriarch.
Assassinating Xia Qifei seemed impetuous, but combined with the aggressive bidding today, it was able to scare away many of the Ming family's enemies who thought to profit from the chaos. If Ming Qingda was truly a person who used opportunities like this, and even used his own mother, then Fan Xian felt there was a need to re-evaluate the other party.
After the bidding from the first round came out, Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng stroked their beards and smiled. Only, there was not much of a beard on Eunuch Huang's chin, so it appeared a little funny. But, it could be seen that these two were very pleased with the actions of the Ming family and reactions of the crowd.
Room B4 was calm. Through the window, Xia Qifei gave Fan Xian an inquiring look.
Fan Xian sighed helplessly and used the palm of his hands to smooth back the hair at his temples. This was a secret signal for Xia Qifei to go slowly. Since the Sun family had backed out, Xia Qifei had to continue bidding, but these bids must be made carefully.
It had to hurt the Ming family, but it could also not be too ruthless. It had to make the other party take over these first four bound lots in a satisfactory manner. Otherwise, they could go crazy and give up, throwing these four bound lots to him.
This was a difficult situation. Even though Xia Qifei had the old officials from the Ministry of Revenue to help, it was still difficult to handle the matter perfectly.
The announcing official once again stood on the stone steps. What they had twice expected, the fierce family battle between the Eldest of the Ming family and the Seventh, did not happen. The bandit in room B4 lost his aggression from yesterday and carefully placed his bids.
Although they were being cautious, the price of this first four bound lot was still slowly raised to a shocking price that left people bug-eyed and dumbfounded.
This was clearly because the Ming family had bid a price in the first round that was already 20 percent higher than that of last year's final price. The other reason was because room B4 wrapped around the other party like sticky candy.
In the end, the successful bid went, as expected, to the Ming family. This result was the same as all the other years, only the bidding price was very different.
5,120,000!
Everyone's mouth dropped open. Hearing this price, they thought that if the palace treasury's rule for bidding was five rounds, Xia Qifei in room B4 and Ming Qingda in room A1 would probably raise this price to twice that of last years.
This price was truly absurdly high.
Fan Xian knew this only showed that when the palace treasury was under the control of the Eldest Princess, the price for the right to sell palace treasury goods was absurdly low. At this price, the Ming family would not suffer any losses. They might even still be able to turn a large profit, Of course, this was under the condition that the Ming family still dared to do their pirating business and continue their smuggling to Dongyi right under Fan Xian's eyes.
Thus Fan Xian smiled. He was very pleased with this result. The Ming family could do nothing but throw money into this lot this year.
"Room A1, Ming family, 5,120,000 wins!"
As the usually listless official announced the highest bid in the dozens years of the palace treasury opening bid, he finally appeared spirited. The voice he used to announce the price was powerful and resonating. The "wins" word left his mouth and was immediately gone. Without any dragging, it appeared very clean.
No matter what attitude they had toward the Ming family, the merchants also felt a thread of excitement and cheered for this amount.
On the contrary, it was the father and son in room A1 whose faces did not wear any sign of joy. Particularly Ming Qingda, who had a thin line of worry between his brows.
He was thinking the same as Fan Xian, if there wasn't the aid of some shady methods, these four lots…were certain to be a loss.
Most importantly, it seemed that there were masters helping Xia Qifei make his bids. Their grasp of the proper amount to bid was good. In a moment, the deposit for this bid of 5,120,00 would be 2 million…furthermore, the other party's true battle for the bid would definitely be at the end.
Last night, the Ming Garden had pulled together silver through the night. The six houses only pulled together 600,000 liang, far removed from the 1,350,000 liang the old matriarch had set. This bid for the four bound lots had far exceeded Ming Qingda's estimate. What were they going to do later?
There was still half of Taiping money house's silver left, but no one knew what would happen next. Ming Qingda's hands gently pressed on the wooden box beside him, thinking deeply.
Ming Lanshi glanced his exhausted looking father and felt his heart wrench. He knew his father had not slept at all last night. He had gone to a few of the big money houses in Suzhou to transfer silver. Not until the early hours of the morning did he finally have enough to put his heart at ease. In this box was the cash banknotes that the Zhaoshang money house had written with urgency.
"Do you think that the imperial envoy will also want the last four bound lots?" Ming Qingda sighed tiredly.
Ming Lanshi did not know how to reply.
The sun had shifted to into the middle of the day, and the palace treasury bidding took a break with the bailiffs of the Suzhou government and the transport company bringing in food for the various merchants. Although the food provided by the officials was not as delicate and sophisticated as it usually was in the houses' of these giant merchants, they still ate with relish. They moved closer to the dispirited Quanzhou Sun family and asked about some matters.
Everyone was eagerly anticipating the afternoon; that was the final battle. In the morning, the giant sum of five million had already been bid, to what dazzling level would the afternoon reach?
No one noticed Ming Qingda silently walking up to the main hall and arriving at the side hall where the important figures were having lunch. Without trying to avoid suspicion, he smiled slightly and said, "Greetings Eunuch Huang and Imperial Censorate Guo, I have some things I want to report to the imperial envoy. Could we have some privacy?"
Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng were greatly shocked, thinking: What is he playing at? Was the Ming family going to lean to Fan Xian's side in front of everyone? But it wouldn't be so public…Ming Qingda had long maintained the Ming family and had not insignificant relations with the officials at court. He also had his own dignity. Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng met each other's eyes. They had deep trust in Ming Qingda, so they smiled and retreated, leaving him and Fan Xian space to talk.
…
…
There was no one else in the hall. Ming Qingda lifted the front of his robe with some difficulty and knelt in front of Fan Xian. He did not say anything.
Fan Xian had a bowl in hand and chopsticks in the other, and he was currently moving between the dishes looking for something delectably to eat. His gaze did not drift to that side at all, he only said, "The four bound lots at the end, I…will still bid for them."