Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 60: The Amulet Becomes a Murder Curse
Lu Guanhuan had no choice but to write letters one by one after returning, sending invitations to all the major families in the Thirteen Hongs, inviting them to gather at the Lu family on the seventh day of the first lunar month.
When Ye Dalin heard the news, he decided to hold a "treasure appreciation party" at home on the seventh day of the first lunar month, saying that he had recently obtained several treasures and invited his colleagues in Xiguan to come and appreciate them. Lu Guanhuan invited those people, and he also invited those people. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was just trying to challenge Lu Guanhuan and ruin his business.
When Cai Qinghua heard the news, he got angry and asked coldly, "What is Ye Dalin doing?"
Lu Guanhuan said to him, "Recently, people in Xiguan Street have been secretly saying that Ye Dalin just got a piece of calligraphy from He Zhongtang. I don't know if it's true or not."
Cai Qinghua groaned and said, "So, I have finally gotten on Heshen's good side, hehe! Very good, very good!"
Panjiayuan.
Pan Haigen sent the invitations from the Lu and Ye families. After reading them, Pan Youjie smiled and said to the shopkeeper Liu beside him, "Send two shopkeepers from each family to attend the meeting."
Pan Haigen said: "This is really strange, why did Ye Dalin jump out? I thought it would be the Wu family."
Pan Youjie glanced at him, smiled and said nothing.
Manager Liu said, "Because the Ye family is a new family, we need to pay more attention to them than the Wu family. The Wu family doesn't need it anymore."
Pan Haigen let out an "oh" and immediately came to his senses - just like he was already Pan Youjie's confidant, so he could act more calmly in his daily life, but if it were a servant who had recently caught Pan Youjie's attention, he would definitely be more anxious than him, Pan Haigen, when something happened, because he wanted to try his best to perform well in front of his master.
Manager Liu said, "The situation in Beijing has changed. It's ridiculous that few people in Guangzhou know about it. But with the Wu family's information, they shouldn't be so closed. They dared not to join in the call issued by Lu Guanhuan this time."
Pan Youjie said calmly: "It's not that Haoguan doesn't want to give a gift, but he can't."
Manager Liu said, "Yes, I was distracted for a moment."
Just as the Wu family was able to remain relatively calm between Wu and Ye, between Pan and Wu, Pan Youjie stood in a more detached position and could avoid offending either side during this sensitive period, but Wu Chengjian could not - he was now too tightly tied to Heshen, and this was one of the sequelae of his breaking the "beasts sharing the food" situation that day.
Manager Liu said, "The situation in Beijing has become increasingly clear. Should we put in more effort in response to Lu Guanhuan's call this time?"
Pan Youjie said calmly, "No need, just do your share. Even if the throne is really passed, it's still unclear whether the situation will change. We will do what we should do, and we will follow any instructions from the Guangdong-Guangxi Governor's Office. But we won't put in any less or more effort."
Manager Liu said, "I understand."
Manqian Penglai.
On the stage, the young female actors were singing. In the pavilion for watching the opera, Wu Qi handed the invitation to Wu Chengjian, who took a look at it and handed it to Zhou Yijin.
Zhou Yijin took a look and said, "You have really screwed your father-in-law over ."
Wu Chengjian said calmly: "Based on the two kicks he gave the fish, these are just interest."
Zhou Yijin asked, "When did you become so concerned about this 'little girl' who plotted against you?"
Wu Chengjian said: "No matter what, she is my wife now."
Zhou Yijin said: "Those two kicks happened before your wife got married. At that time, she was still Ye Dalin's daughter."
Wu Chengjian said coldly, "If it happened after we got married, do you think I would let him off so easily? Besides, after knowing about the two kicks, I really don't think Old Ye treats Youyu as his daughter." He paused and asked, "How is the warehouse going?"
Zhou Yijin said: "On the third day of the junior high school, Lao Gu and Ye Zhong had already handed it over."
Wu Chengjian nodded: "The news will probably reach Guangzhou in the next two days, and then there will be another wave of unrest in Xiguan."
Zhou Yijin asked, "After Ye Dalin heard the news, will there be any problems at the warehouse?"
"He doesn't dare, and he can't do it anymore." Wu Chengjian said, "Even if he knows that I have tricked him, what can he do? Even if he wants to find someone else to lean on, will the Guangdong and Guangxi Governor's Office still let him lean on someone else?"
Zhou Yijin shook his head repeatedly: "You are a person... you really can't be provoked."
The Ye family's "Rare Treasure Appreciation Conference", both in terms of time and guest list, coincided with Lu Guanhuan's "Fundraising Shipbuilding Tea Party".
In fact, Lu Guanhuan was obviously wealthier and more famous than Ye Dalin. However, the guests who received the invitation looked at the two invitations left and right, and in the end, eight or nine out of ten of them went to show their support to Ye Dalin.
Before the appointed time, the outside of the Ye residence was crowded with carriages and sedan chairs. Ye Dalin and his sons greeted the guests at the door and welcomed them in one after another. The guests included not only the wealthy and merchants in Guangzhou, but also the clerks with real power and even some officials. Originally, they wanted to hold the wedding in the study, but later they found that there were too many people invited, so they had to change it to the hall. In the end, they found that even the hall could not accommodate them - his Ye family had held bigger weddings in the past, but there were not so many people coming to support them.
Ye Dalin was filled with joy as he watched his house filled with guests. He naturally knew why these people came.
On the contrary, Lu Guanhuan's house was deserted. Today, not only did the three families of Lu, Liang, and Ma come together, but even Master Cai came to Lu's house in person to show his support. Unexpectedly, the scene was still extremely deserted. The only guests present were Lu's direct descendants and some of his friends. Apart from them, there were only a handful of people. The huge living room was filled with people sitting in scattered places.
Cai Qinghua had a cold face, but just laughed.
Lu Guanhuan said: "Master Cai, is it possible..."
"Wait a minute!" Cai Qinghua said, "Have some tea!"
At the Ye family's side, the lively scene had reached its climax.
Ye Dalin and the other guests admired the golden screen and the seven Ru kilns, and all the guests praised them highly. Seeing that the climax was approaching, Ye Dalin smiled and said, "Everyone present here is well-informed. Although these items are precious, they are not worthy of your special trip. However, I just got a piece of calligraphy recently. Although it is not signed, the calligraphy is extremely good. I, Ye Dalin, am a rough man and do not understand the art of calligraphy. Why don't I take it out and ask everyone to help me appreciate it."
The guests who came to the Ye family knew what was going on, so they all said in unison: "No need to look, those are definitely top-notch calligraphy!" They also said: "But it is a blessing for us to be able to admire it."
Ye Dalin was very satisfied and said, "I will go and get the calligraphy myself."
He had put the calligraphy in an antique box and placed it on the top shelf of the antique display cabinet with great care. At this time, the servant brought a small ladder. Ye Dalin pretended to be polite, lifted half of his clothes, and stepped up step by step towards where the calligraphy was.
The guests' eyes followed Ye Dalin's steps, and their heads slowly moved upwards. Finally, their eyes followed Ye Dalin's hand and focused on the antique box.
Ye Dalin took the antique box and blew gently, as if blowing away the dust on it - in fact, it had only been put there for half a day, where did the dust come from?
Then he held it in both hands and walked down slowly - at this moment someone suddenly ran in and whispered a few words in the ear of a guest, who's face changed all of a sudden, then whispered a few words in the ear of another guest, who's face also changed.
This news was passed quietly, but Ye Dalin didn't notice anything at this time. He got down the ladder with a smile. The guests naturally gathered around and formed a small circle around the antique box. The ones closest to the innermost were naturally Mr. Pan from Zhongtonghang and Mr. Yi from Kangtaihang. The guests who heard the "whisper" hesitated and actually stepped back!
Ye Dalin smiled and said, "Come on, come on, everyone, help me appreciate this calligraphy."
Merchant Pan said with a smile: "That must be a rare good calligraphy in a century!"
Ye Dalin opened the box and took out the calligraphy. As expected, there was no signature. He had only opened half of it when Yi Shangzhu praised: "Good calligraphy! Good calligraphy!"
Pan Shangzhu beside him praised: "The spirit is like a dragon clinging to a dragon, and the brush is like a crane climbing a phoenix. What a beautiful calligraphy!"
There was a sudden whispering in the study, as if many people were discussing something. Taking this opportunity, the news that had just come in spread even faster, and everyone who heard it had a strange look on their face.
In the end, except for a few people in the innermost circle, all the other guests heard the news, and they all consciously kept a distance from the calligraphy.
Ye Dalin said, "Hey, why are you all standing so far away? Come, come and take a look. You can't see such beautiful calligraphy at any time."
The people outside looked at each other, and suddenly one of them said, "Sir, there's something urgent going on at home, I need to go back and take a look."
Ye Dalin frowned, and just when he thought this person was ruining the mood, the guests outside said one after another: "Ah, I just happened to have something urgent." "My wife suddenly fell ill, I have to go back quickly." "Ah, my daughter-in-law gave birth, I have to go back quickly to hug my grandson."
Amidst the noise, all the guests outside actually bowed and said goodbye - in the end, most of them didn't even give a reason and just followed the crowd.
Ye Dalin and several guests in the inner circle looked at each other, knowing that something must have happened, but they didn't know what it was.
At this moment, one of Pan Shangzhu's servants came forward anxiously and whispered something to Pan Shangzhu. Pan Shangzhu was still holding the calligraphy in one hand. After hearing the whisper, his hand trembled, as if he was holding a piece of red-hot iron instead of calligraphy! He was so frightened that he threw it away and said to Ye Dalin, "Sir, goodbye, goodbye!"
Master Yi Shang rolled his eyes and said, "Sir, I'll go see what's going on with them." He actually followed him away.
Seeing all the relatives and friends scattering in the blink of an eye, Ye Dalin was stunned and at a loss for a moment. He glanced at his sons and servants around him with a questioning look.
Ye Haojia said, "Father, I just heard them say that something happy happened outside."
Ye Dalin said angrily: "What kind of happy event is this!" He thought to himself, what kind of happy event could it be that disturbed my treasure appraisal meeting!
Ye Haojia said: "It seems that our Qing Dynasty is going to change the reign title. The fifteenth son of the emperor ascended the throne, and Beijing has a new emperor."
When Ye Dalin heard this, he jumped three feet high: "What!"
He was stunned for a moment, then shouted, "It's the Emperor... the fifteenth son... ah!!"
He remembered!
Originally, ordinary people in Guangzhou might not be familiar with the political situation in Beijing, but since Xiguan Street is supported by the Imperial Household Department, they still have to know something about the royal family. What's more, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi who is now under their control is the teacher of the fifteenth son of the emperor!
"Ah!" Ye Dalin's eyes fell on the words "Heshen's"!
A moment ago, he regarded this calligraphy as a ladder to heaven and a talisman!
In the blink of an eye, these words seemed to have turned into a rope from hell and a death curse!
