Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 53: Catching the Traitor
Wu Erliang watched Cai Qiaozhu come in, and he watched Wu Chengjian grow up. Although he and the two were nominally master and servant, he treated them as relatives and descendants in his heart. If there was a rift between them, Wu Erliang would not want to see.
Wu Guoying said, "There must be someone colluding with others in the case of the lost tea in Huizhou. I figured it out later, but now that I think about it, I'm afraid Hao Guan knew it all along. So from the beginning, he kept it to himself in front of the family. Did he suspect me? Did he suspect my sister-in-law? No, he suspected the people around us and was afraid that we would leak the news, so he would rather endure it, suspect it, and investigate it himself."
Wu Erliang thought for a moment and suddenly said, "Yes, Master, when you say that, I suddenly remembered that Xiao Qi has been asking around for things in the past half month. Although he is always talkative and likes to ask questions, he has been even more talkative in the past half month than usual. I guess he is asking around for the Third Young Master."
Wu Guoying nodded, "In addition to the family, there are also the bank. Although Chengjun personally followed the tea transport route in Huizhou, Manager Liu was in charge of everything. We did not hide these things from him. If he sold out the Wu family, he only needed to tell us what he knew. As for Manager Dai Er and Manager Hou San, although the tea transport route was not their main responsibility, the tea had to be transported to the warehouse in Guangzhou through Dai Er, and the tea had to be shipped through Hou San. They had many opportunities to contact people and things on the tea transport route. They knew who was the key to what matter, so they could get information, bribe them, and set up a trap. So these three people are the most suspected in the Huizhou matter."
Wu Erliang said, "I understand. That's why the Third Young Master set up this trap, divided into three lines to test the three chief managers. If there's a problem with any of the lines, that chief manager has a problem."
"To resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the country. San'er is right to do this." Wu Guoying's eyes suddenly flashed with a glimmer of hope: "But... the situation has come to this point, and Hao Guan still wants to catch the traitor... Could it be... could it be that he really has a way to turn the tide?"
Cai Qiaozhu returned to the right courtyard and sent someone to the bank to look for the shopkeeper Hou San. After a long time, he reported back: "The shopkeeper Hou San is not in the bank, and no one knows where he went."
The more Cai Qiaozhu thought about it, the more angry she became: " Could it really be him? Was it really him who betrayed the Wu family?! Has he already fled now that the truth has been revealed?"
When Shopkeeper Hou San heard that Garyu had intercepted Young Master Guang at Yihe Bank, he was very proud. Seeing Wu Chenggou rushing out and the shopkeepers and clerks in the bank not wanting to work, he also found an excuse to leave and wanted to go home. Before he left Yihe Bank, he suddenly thought, "No, Young Master Guang is in trouble, I should go and show some concern. Even if I don't go to see my old boss, I should at least go and comfort the eldest young lady."
He headed towards Wu's house, but halfway there, he was blocked by someone.
Shopkeeper Hou San was startled for a moment, then he recognized the man in front of him and said with a smile , "I was wondering who it was, it turned out to be Brother Gu."
Lao Gu smiled and said, "Xiao Hou, where are you going ?"
Shopkeeper Hou San said, "Oh, I heard that something happened to the Wu family. I thought there was nothing wrong in the business anyway, so I wanted to go to the Wu family to take a look."
"Nothing's wrong." Old Gu said with a smile, "Third Young Master has taken care of everything."
Hou Sandao was a little surprised, thinking that although the attack would not harm Guang'er, a severe beating was inevitable. However, looking at Old Gu's expression, it seemed that the Wu family was not affected at all.
"Let's go, let's go. We haven't seen each other for a long time. Go have a couple of drinks with me." As he said that, he took Hou San's hand and walked into an alley.
Shopkeeper Hou San felt as if an iron hoop was put on his wrist, and he was involuntarily pulled away by Lao Gu. Lao Gu was a strong fighter who had practiced Hong Quan for decades. Although he was not young, he was not someone Shopkeeper Hou San could resist. He was dragged to the alley staggeringly. Shopkeeper Hou San felt that something was wrong. There were no bars in this alley, so why did he come here to drink?
He hurriedly said, "Brother Gu, what are you doing?"
Suddenly a sack was put over him and hit on the head, and he passed out.
When he woke up again, he found himself in a small dark room, where he was tied up. Lao Gu was eating melon seeds, and there were two young men with hideous faces beside him.
Shopkeeper Hou San: "Brother Gu, Brother Gu, are you kidding me?"
Lao Gu laughed and said, "Who is kidding you? What a joke."
Shopkeeper Hou San said, "No kidding, why are you tying me up?"
Lao Gu laughed and said, "I'm not joking with you. You sold out Guang Shao, so this is probably a joke."
Shopkeeper Hou San was horrified, but he still shouted, "Oh, what are you talking about? What do you mean I sold out Young Master Guang? You... Brother Gu, you... how do I know that the people sitting in the carriage are not Young Master San, but Wu Liu and Young Master Guang."
Lao Gu laughed and said, "Did I say you sold out Guang Shao? What did you sell out? You're so anxious that you confessed it yourself."
Shopkeeper Hou San's face suddenly turned pale: "This... this... this is because everyone on the street was saying that Young Master Guang was going to escape, but he was intercepted by Guluo."
Old Gu said, "There are rumors out there that Young Master Guang wanted to sneak out to play, but he ran into Galau, who kindly sent him back. If you didn't know the whole story clearly, how could you have gotten to the point right away!"
“This…this…”
Old Gu sneered, "If you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself. Although the eldest young lady didn't tell you the truth about Guang Shao's matter, she came to you, which means she trusts you. Little monkey, you are also very capable. What is the idiom called? Give me one, give me one... give me one..."
Shopkeeper Hou San said: "Draw inferences from one example..."
"Right! Draw inferences about other cases!" Old Gu said, "The eldest young lady asked you to find an interpreter, and you were able to guess that she was going to send Young Master Guang away. Not only did you know that she was going to send Young Master Guang away, you even guessed the route she would take. This ability is incredible, incredible!"
"This, this, this..." Shopkeeper Hou San said, "Brother Gu, you are too... I... I... I don't have the ability to do this... No, no, no, how could I do anything to let the Wu family down?"
Old Gu said with a smile: "Don't make excuses here. If you do, I'm afraid you won't have anywhere to cry when the real boss comes. He's better at dealing with people than I am."
Shopkeeper Hou San's face suddenly turned pale. When Lao Gu was young, he was a gangster. Now he has been cleansed and turned to the right path. He has never turned back in the past few decades. But after all, he was a gangster. He has some tricks that people doing legitimate business dare not use, but he dares to use them. Therefore, Hou San has always been a little afraid of him.
Hearing that there was someone more powerful than him, Shopkeeper Hou San got a little scared and asked tentatively: "Old Gu, Brother Gu, Master Gu, who else is going to punish me? Don't scare me. You know, Hou San... I can't stand being scared."
Lao Gu laughed and said, "You are a coward. You are so cowardly that you dare to sell out your master for fame and not even let a child go."
"No, no..." Shopkeeper Hou San said, "I don't have any."
Lao Gu said, "How about this, I'll ask you something, and you solve it for me. When the real owner comes back, I'll plead for you so that you don't suffer as much."
"No, no, Brother Gu, feel free to ask me anything you want. As long as I, Hou San, know something, I will tell you everything I know!"
Old Gu said, "The eldest young lady asked you to find an interpreter, and she must have made some excuses. The situation of the Wu family is not right now. You have been in the Wu family for a long time. Based on the current situation, you can guess that the person the eldest young lady wants to send away is not a relative, but Young Master Guang. I can do this, but how did you guess the time and route of sending Young Master Guang away? And you guessed it so accurately? Brother, can you give me some advice?"
Hou San thought, "Do we need to guess? Since the Wu family has arranged for Hu Laoqi to wait at Shamian Wharf today, it is obvious that they are going to take the water route. So we just need to wait for them on the way to the wharf. If we see someone from the Wu family, we can stop them and search them under any excuse. We will probably get something."
But he said, "This, this, this... I don't know about this, Brother Gu, how can you tell me?"
Old Gu added, "Let's forget about Guang Shao's matter, but I don't understand the Huizhou tea ceremony matter. You are obviously not in charge of this line, so how did you guess so accurately?"
Hou San's face turned blue.
Old Gu smiled and said, "You are a smart man. You have thought of something, right? I'm telling you straight, whether you want to tell us about this matter of Young Master Guang or not, we are not interested. Because sending Young Master Guang away was completely fabricated, and the Wu family had no such plan. This time, in order to lure the snake out of its hole, the Third Young Master set up three traps in the bank and five traps at home. A total of eight people entered the trap, but only one person fell into it. That was you, Old Hou."
Shopkeeper Hou San was even more shocked, but he kept shaking his head: "No, this is a misunderstanding, this is a misunderstanding..." But when he spoke, his strength was not as strong as before.
Lao Gu asked, "You really don't know?"
"I don't know, I don't know!" Shopkeeper Hou San said repeatedly.
Lao Gu said, "Should I give you a mirror so you can see that your face is pale as hell? Can I believe what you say?"
"I, I, I, I'm just scared." Shopkeeper Hou San forced himself to hold his breath and spoke as steadily as possible.
"Actually, what are you afraid of?" Old Gu said, "The Wu family is a businessman, not a robber, not a rebel, not a bandit, not a pirate. Even if they know you have betrayed them, even if they catch you with real evidence, what can they do to you? At most, they can just expel you from Yihe Bank. Is that what you really think in your heart?"
Shopkeeper Hou San really thought so in his heart. Betraying the Wu family would bring huge benefits, and the consequence would be expulsion from Yihe Bank at most, which was one of the reasons why he rebelled.
Old Gu said, "But the Third Young Master has already said something a long time ago. I wonder if you, Shopkeeper Hou San, have heard about it."
Shopkeeper Hou San asked, "What...what did you say?"
Old Gu said, "The Third Young Master said that business is business, and winning or losing depends on one's own ability. But this incident in Huizhou cost the life of the head of Yihehang. Half of the eldest young master's life is due to Duan Longjiang..."
When he heard the three words "Duan Longjiang", Shopkeeper Hou San's face turned pale again.
Old Gu continued, "The other half should be attributed to the traitor." He kicked the sandbag at his feet and said, "Manager Hou San, do you want to be buried in Baietan or Shangchuan Island?"
Shopkeeper Hou San looked at the sandbag and suddenly understood what Lao Gu meant. He was so shocked that he leaned back and said, "You can't do this to me. You...you can't wrongly accuse a good person. You can't wrongly accuse a good person!"
