Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 2: Revenge
In Guangzhou, the most comfortable season is not spring.
In the spring, when the monsoon returns from the southern sea, it brings abundant water vapor with it. The air is so hot that water can be squeezed out of it (this is not an expression but a statement). In addition, the climate is also warming up. At this time, people are like being imprisoned in a warm greenhouse. Water vapor attacks from the outside, and sweat seeps out of the skin. The two attacks make people become sticky and extremely uncomfortable.
It is in late autumn and early winter when the north wind blows south, making the whole city cool and dry. Guangzhou is the most comfortable at this time.
The Fairyland is the most pleasant at this time.
The autumn harvest is finally over, and this terrible storm that has not happened in ten years has finally passed.
Liu Quan left, taking with him silver worth millions of taels. No one knew when this gentleman left, but there was a magical power transmitted in secret. As soon as he left, the Guangdong Customs breathed a sigh of relief, and then the four major families breathed a sigh of relief together, followed by Pan Yiliang Ma, and then the tense nerves of the entire Guangzhou city relaxed.
Xiguan was like a giant beast that had been suppressed for two months. It suddenly woke up and roared with joy towards the sky.
One after another, wealthy merchants booked banquet after banquet in Shenxianzhou. Spending a fortune here is not an expression but a statement.
This is the most expensive time of the year in Shenxianzhou. However, this year, small banquets are held continuously, but there is no news about the most anticipated grand banquet. Everyone can't help but look up at Chun Yuanzhi on the third floor, wondering when the master inside will lift the pearl curtain.
Two regular customers of Shenxianzhou sat in the lobby, eating melon seeds and chatting.
"Fatty, do you think Sanniang will come back to lift the curtain?" said the thin merchant.
"How is that possible!" The fat merchant next to him shook his head: "I heard that the curtain-closing banquet has already been held, how can it be reversed. This Chun Yuanzhi must be replaced, but no matter which courtesan is replaced, I'm afraid it will depend on whether Huachahao is happy or not."
"It's not just Chun Yuanzhi who needs to be replaced. In my opinion, the positions of all the courtesans in the upper four rooms will probably have to be replaced!"
Before he could finish his words, a scream erupted from the third floor: "I'm not leaving! I'm not leaving! This chrysanthemum is mine, I'm not leaving, I'm not going anywhere!"
The sound was quite miserable and extremely harsh in this decadent atmosphere. As a corner of the agate curtain was opened, a woman showed her graceful figure, with half of her body hanging on the railing.
"Where's the Third Young Master? Where's the Third Young Master! I want to see the Third Young Master! I want to see the Third Young Master!"
Countless people looked up. Newcomers were inexplicably surprised, but old customers knew that it was Miss Ginkgo, who was ranked third among the four most beautiful courtesans in Shenxianzhou. In the autumn turmoil that just ended, it was said that she had no sense enough to stand on the wrong side and offended the third young master Yihe and Wu, who were looked down upon by the whole city of Guangzhou - oh, no, now he should be called Hao Guan - but Hao Guan turned the situation around in the end and reversed the whole situation.
How did the official Hao turn the tables? No one in the community could explain it clearly. All they knew was that overnight, the Wu family of Yihehang, which had been trampled into the mud, suddenly soared above the nine heavens. Not to mention the small merchants like Pan Yiliang and Ma, even the general merchant Cai of the Thirteenth Line was said to have taken a detour when he saw the lanterns of Yihehang during this period! Even Pan Youjie had given him some respect recently!
There are also rumors that a general named Duan in Huizhou also offended official Hao and was recently dismissed from his post and investigated, and his family was destroyed.
If the general and the chief merchant are like this, let alone a mere courtesan.
In the Qiubin Chrysanthemums, Ginkgo looked at the turtle slave who was approaching step by step, and her emotions suddenly lost control. She had no way to retreat. During this period of time, Wu Chengjian had no time to set foot in the Fairyland, and no words were passed to him. But naturally, there were people who curry favor with the powerful and would clear away all the stones that might make Haoguan unhappy.
Thinking that it was impossible to even see Wu Chengjian today, let alone admit his mistakes and ask for mercy, Ginkgo was so desperate that he actually laughed and sang upstairs: "I regretted hearing one word and hated it endlessly... Who knew... that I would cause such a horrible disaster..."
It was a tune from a northern opera. Cantonese people couldn't tell the difference between Shanxi and Qinqiang, and they just thought it was very sad. Then I heard Ginkgo yelling, "Master Qiao, Master Cao, Master Fan! You made such a good promise! I hate that I shouldn't have believed you, and it ended up in a bad way!"
As everyone exclaimed, Ginkgo and his body fell down from the building. The turtle slave was shocked and said, "It's good that he died!"!”
An acrobat on the stage suddenly leaped over and caught Ginkgo by the waist.
Dozens of tables cheered when they saw this skill. On the second floor, someone rolled up silver ingots, ring faces, hairpins and other items with a handkerchief and threw them down. The acrobat held the ginkgo in one hand and grabbed the rewards with the other, and he actually caught eight or nine out of ten. The guests cheered again when they saw his skill.
A tragic act of jumping off a building suddenly turned into another wonderful circus show.
The madam came down with a few eunuchs. The eunuchs dragged Gingko out. The madam praised him, "What a skill! You saved us from bad luck. All the rewards are yours."
The juggler was overjoyed , knowing that this meant he didn't have to take any commission. He flipped in the air and bowed to thank the wealthy guests upstairs.
The madam bowed to the surrounding tables and said, "I didn't take good care of the girl and she went crazy. I'm sorry for disturbing your mood."
When she went outside, Gingko had already been dragged to the Zhou Wharf. Seeing the madam, she shouted, "Mom, Mom! Let me see the Third Young Master... No, let me see Hao Guan."
The madam laughed coldly, "Seeing Hao Guan? You? Things are different now! What is Hao Guan's influence now, and what is your status! Not to mention Hao Guan, even Master Wu Qiqi is not something we can see whenever we want. Drag him away, don't stay here and bring bad luck."
A eunuch stuffed Ginkgo's mouth and dragged him away.
The madam changed her tone and shouted, "Hurry up and clean up Qiu Binju. A new girl will be moving in later."
Then a curious eunuch came forward and asked, "Mom, I wonder which family's courtesan this is?"
The madam chuckled twice: "Word has been passed on from the Flower Court. They will recruit a new courtesan from Shenxianzhou. As for who it will be... wait until the day when Haoguan comes to Shenxianzhou again, you will just have to keep your eyes open and watch."
All the turtle slaves were excited: "Hao Guan is coming? When? When!"
In Baietan and Xiguan Lane, some are happy while others are sad.
The impact of the turmoil at the turn of autumn was under control. There were not many families in Guangzhou who were worried, but there were still dozens of them, including the Ye family of Xingchenghang.
Ye Dalin sat on the armchair in the study in a daze. He had been in this state for many days. In recent days, he was like a madman. He had not eaten or drunk anything in the past two days.
He just kept muttering, "It's a comeback...it's a comeback...he really did come back...what will he do to me...what will he do to me..."
On that turbulent night, Yihe and Xing Haoguan turned the situation around in one fell swoop, leaving most of Xiguan dumbfounded.
Everyone in Guangzhou saw the ending, but few understood the process.
Even Ye Dalin, one of the top six families with many eyes and ears in Xiguan, couldn't figure out the key to the reversal. But the more confused he was, the more afraid he became.
After that night, the Xie family was completely finished. The charges were quickly determined, and the person who presided over the conviction was his staunch ally Cai Shiwen. Ye Dalin knew without thinking how much pressure Cai Shiwen must have been under to become such a villain.
After the Xie family's property was confiscated, Wu Chengjian invited Pan Youjie, Lu Guanhuan, and Cai Shiwen to a meeting to divide up the Xie family's property. The Wu and Pan families took the lion's share, while the Lu and Cai families took the smaller share. Even Ye Dalin couldn't understand the trick behind this profit-sharing.
He didn't dare to go to the Wu family, but secretly went to ask for a meeting with Cai Shiwen. Unexpectedly, as soon as they met, Hei Caitou's face turned as black as charcoal. He spat in his face on the spot and refused to say a word.
Ye Dalin guessed that he was cheated by someone, and the person who cheated him was most likely Wu Chengjian. But he had no idea how Wu Chengjian cheated him!
"Master." Ye Zhong came in and finally woke Ye Dalin up: "The people from Huizhou are back."
"Hmm?" Ye Dalin asked, "How's it going?"
Ye Zhong said: "Duan Longjiang has been dismissed from his post for corruption and abuse of power."
Ye Dalin felt as if he had fallen into an ice hole! He even had auditory hallucinations, and heard the sound of claws and claws all around him.
"Master, Master!"
Ye Zhong didn't know how many times he called out before he finally brought Ye Dalin back to his senses.
"Uh-huh."
Seeing that Ye Dalin had come back to his senses, Ye Zhong continued, "Hu Pulin, the second escort leader who was responsible for protecting the Ye family's tea, escaped from Xiguan overnight, but his boat capsized on the Beijiang River. He drowned, and his wife and children were rescued, but all the property was lost, and his body floated on the water for a long time without anyone paying attention. Later, Du Tieshou arrived and had the body fished out."
This time, the shock to Ye Dalin was not that great. He was just a escort leader, and daring to betray his master was a big taboo in the escort industry. Now that the Yihe Group was so powerful, it might not be the Wu family who did it. There were many heroes in the world who were eager to do the Wu family a favor.
Afterwards, Ye Zhong talked about several other things. For example, the minor constable in Nanhai County who stopped Wu Chengjian's carriage was dismissed, and the courtesan named Ginkgo was driven out of Shenxianzhou. Ye Dalin no longer had the heart to listen to these trivial matters of the yamen runners and pimps.
He kept muttering: "Second-rank general... Second-rank general..."
Ye Zhong stopped talking, he knew what Ye Dalin meant.
Duan Longjiang was a second-rank general of the imperial court, and he fell just like that. How long had it been since Wu Chengjian's comeback? Less than two months!
Is Wu Chengjian's power already so great? Even a dignified second-rank general can fall at will!
"Ah Zhong... " Ye Dalin murmured, "That kid is always vindictive... What do you think... is it our turn next?"
Ye Zhong didn't answer, but just sighed softly.
