Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 73: Betting
Since Ye Youyu became the third wife of the Wu family, her lifestyle has been very different from before. Not only that, her ears and eyes have also become smarter than before - Wu Chengjian no longer cares about the affairs of the house, and Cai Qiaozhu has delegated the affairs of Henan to her, so she has a lot of people running around under her, and she is the legitimate head of the family. This is completely different from the situation when she was in the Ye residence, where she was restricted in every way.
So even though she was pregnant, she still knew a lot about what was happening outside. Wu Chengjian told her to rest assured and take care of herself, and she did so for the sake of her child, but after all, she was a person with a sharp mind, and even if she told herself not to focus on this, she would occasionally think of many things, and suddenly an idea flashed through her mind, so she asked Dongxue: "Go and ask Haoguan to come in."
Wu Chengjian had just met with Lord Ellot's envoy and was about to meet the American businessman named John. When he heard that Ye Youyu was here to invite him, he put aside the matter of meeting John and came into the room to ask, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Ye Youyu sent Dongxue out, then asked, "You should tell me in detail about what happened at the warehouse. Otherwise, I won't be able to rest easy."
Duohui was tired. Wu Chengjian also knew that Ye Youyu was the same type as himself, and that he could not sit still. He was silent for a while before speaking, "Well, let me tell you the truth about this matter: Heshen's butler Liu Quan handed over a batch of red goods a few months ago. The red goods were sealed and handed over to me by Hutabu in person, asking me to keep them. Originally, we were going to ship them out today. Yijin and I had made various plans and thought that everything would be foolproof. Unexpectedly, Cai Qinghua brought people to the door yesterday. All our first-level preparations were in vain."
"But they didn't find anything in the warehouse of Yihe Bank." Ye Youyu said, "So you actually put this batch of 'hot goods' in the warehouse of the Ye family?"
Wu Chengjian said, "Yes. This is the second level of preparation. Yi Jin had previously guessed through clues that Cai Shiwen might have already sided with the Governor's Office, and further guessed that Cai Qinghua might use this matter to threaten our Wu family. But the Governor's Office has been slow to act, and we don't know what means Cai Qinghua will use in the end, so Yi Jin made an extra preparation - even hiding it from Hutabu, and quietly transferring the red goods - if this matter is known by the Guangdong Customs, our Wu family will also be punished, but for the sake of insurance, we can only take the risk. But Yi Jin did not expect Cai Qinghua to make such a big move, and was willing to take risks and mobilized a large army to surround and search the entire Thirteen Hongs."
Ye Youyu said: "Now the search of the Pan, Lu, and Cai families has almost been completed."
Wu Chengjian said: "The Pan family has been searched, and Lu and Cai will be searched soon."
Ye Youyu said: "Then my father should be on his way to see Master Cai."
Wu Chengjian said: "Hmm?"
Ye Youyu asked, "Do you think my father will wait until Mr. Cai finds Xingchenghang's warehouse before taking any action?"
Wu Chengjian suddenly realized and said with a smile: "That's right, he is not that kind of person."
Ye Youyu looked at Wu Chengjian with a hint of surprise on her face: "You can still laugh?"
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "If I don't smile now, what else can I do?" In fact, his smile also carried a hint of self-mockery and bitterness: "From the moment Cai Qinghua mobilized the troops and surrounded the entire Thirteenth Line, there was not much I could do here."
Ye Youyu said: "Then...then what are you going to do?"
Wu Chengjian pondered and said, "This matter was instructed by Heshen. I not only followed his instructions, but also did it with all my heart. Now that the truth has been revealed, I am taking the blame for him. After what happened last time, Liu Quan should know what kind of person I am, so as long as I keep my mouth shut in front of Zhu Gui , Heshen will most likely distance himself from the matter and protect me secretly - this is my strategy to deal with it. This method is a bit stupid, but for the current situation, there is no better way."
Ye Youyu said: "Can he still protect you? The one in charge now is not Emperor Qianlong, but Emperor Jiaqing."
"The emperor has changed." Wu Chengjian said calmly, "But the head of the family may not have changed."
"You mean..."
"The chess game is uncertain now, but who is in charge, the old emperor or the new emperor, is the key to life and death in this game." Wu Chengjian said, "I know you are a person who is unwilling to sit back and wait for death. I am afraid that I will go in today or in two days. If something unexpected happens after I go in, if you want to take any action... I want you to remember this point, don't panic and bet on the wrong thing. If you bet on the right thing, there is still a chance that a dead chess piece can become a living one. If you bet on the wrong thing, a living chess piece can also become a dead chess piece!"
Ye Youyu said: "The one you bet on is He Shen."
"I'm not betting on Heshen." Wu Chengjian said, "I'm betting on the emperor."
Cai Qinghua stopped the search and looked at Ye Dalin who was kneeling on the ground in the Lu family's warehouse.
Ye Dalin's face was covered with snot and tears. He just came forward to confess and told Cai Qinghua that his son-in-law Wu Chengjian had sent a batch of things to his warehouse. He didn't know what they were, but from various clues, he was afraid that they were related to the things that Master Cai wanted to search for, so he hurried over to confess.
Cai Qinghua looked at Ye Dalin coldly. He had no good feelings towards this old fox, and he did not believe that he was sincere in coming to testify. If he really wanted to make a contribution, why would he have done it earlier? Why would he wait until the soldiers surrounded the Thirteenth Lines and there was no way out before coming to testify?
However, there are some benefits to Ye Dalin coming forward to testify. Firstly, it will save him some trouble. Secondly, the thing is in Ye Dalin's hands, and he is still needed to implicate Wu Chengjian - Ye Dalin on his own cannot implicate Heshen - and if only Ye Dalin is implicated, this matter will be meaningless.
"Let's go." Cai Qinghua left a few people behind to continue searching the Lu family's warehouse, while he led his men straight to Xingchengxing's warehouse. Under the leadership of Ye Dalin, they directly found Xingchengxing's secret warehouse.
The inner door of the secret warehouse was indeed sealed with Yihehang’s seal.
Cai Qinghua smiled and said, "Good, very good." He turned to Zhou Yijin and asked, "Is this seal forged?"
Zhou Yijin sighed softly, and Cai Qinghua shouted, "Go, call Wu Chengjian to me!"
Wujiayuan, where the sun rises.
I had just met with the American businessman named John when I heard that someone from the Governor's Office came to summon me.
Wu Chengjian said: "It's finally here." He was well prepared, so he was not panicked.
Ye Youyu knew that he couldn't refuse, so he asked, "Do you need me to do anything outside this time?"
Wu Chengjian pondered and said, "Find someone to tell Ye Dalin that even though he turned me in, I'm not angry with him, because if he doesn't turn me in, he will find Xingchenghang sooner or later. Once he finds something, it will be impossible for him to escape. I'll go over there later and find him. It's enough for one family to suffer, there's no need for both families to suffer together."
Ye Youyu was a little surprised: "You... aren't mad at him?"
Wu Chengjian said: "Being angry with him will not help the situation, what's the point of being angry with him?"
After saying this, he went out. Soldiers from the Guangdong and Guangxi Governor's Office were already waiting there.
They took Wu Chengjian across the Pearl River and directly into Xingchenghang's warehouse. The secret warehouse had not been opened yet and the seal was intact.
Cai Qinghua was sitting on a bench outside the warehouse, smiling, looking very relaxed and comfortable.
Zhou Yijin stood aside, silent, Ye Dalin knelt aside, turned his head away, and Cai Shiwen also stood aside, with a look of gloating on his face.
Wu Chengjian entered the warehouse, fanned his nose with his hand, and said with a smile: "This place is too cramped, Master Cai, don't you feel uncomfortable?"
Seeing that he could still smile, Cai Qinghua gave him a thumbs up and said, "Officer Hao, you are very graceful."
Wu Chengjian smiled, turned to Ye Dalin and said, "Father-in-law, please change this place when you have the chance. It's too cramped and smells bad. It's not good to put things here and let them get contaminated by the bad smell."
Ye Dalin was originally embarrassed to look at Wu Chengjian, but from his tone, it seemed that he was not angry with him at all, which was a bit strange, and he couldn't help but turn around and look at him.
Wu Chengjian then bowed to Cai Qinghua and said, "Master Cai, let's not talk about business first. Could you please allow me to handle a private matter?"
Cai Qinghua snorted and did not comment.
Wu Chengjian pointed at Zhou Yijin and said, "Brother Zhou, you are fired. From now on, you have nothing to do with my Wu family or me, Wu Chengjian. Go away."
Zhou Yijin looked up at him and said nothing.
Wu Chengjian then said to Cai Qinghua, "Master Cai, is this possible?"
Cai Qinghua smiled and said, "You are a man of integrity. No wonder Yijin is helping you so much." He said to Zhou Yijin, "Don't let him down. After you get out, don't get involved again , or I, your master, can't protect you."
Zhou Yijin lowered his head and left the secret warehouse.
Cai Qinghua then said, "Ye Dalin confessed that you lent him this secret warehouse and he didn't know what was inside. Everything was yours."
Both he and Ye Dalin were prepared for Wu Chengjian's denial, and they had also prepared backup plans that would make it impossible for Wu Chengjian to deny.
Unexpectedly, Wu Chengjian admitted it right away: "That's right. It's the practice of our Thirteen Hongs that we sometimes borrow warehouses from relatives and friends. The warehouse that is borrowed is temporarily the other party's. Once the seal is affixed, the original owner cannot interfere. This is the credit of us Guangzhou people."
Ye Dalin was stunned.
Cai Qinghua had not expected him to be so frank, and he was actually more impressed. He pointed at the seal on the secret cellar door and said, "Officer Hao, you sealed this, right?"
Wu Chengjian nodded and admitted: "Yes."
Cai Qinghua asked again: "You put the things in the door, didn't you?"
Wu Chengjian nodded again and admitted: "Yes."
Seeing that he agreed so readily, Cai Qinghua became a little uneasy, worried that there was an empty warehouse inside, so he quickly said, "Okay, then open the seal."
He personally removed the seal and opened the last warehouse door. Fortunately, the warehouse was not empty.
Inside the warehouse, there were several large boxes neatly arranged, all sealed with seals from Guangdong Customs.
Cai Shiwen was overjoyed and was about to remove the seal, but Cai Qinghua stopped him, "Wait!"
He turned to Wu Chengjian and said, "Officer Hao, do you have anything else to say?"
"I have nothing to say." Wu Chengjian said, "From now on, I will say nothing. The Governor-General can punish me for whatever crime he wants to punish me for."
After saying this, he closed his eyes. Seeing that he was so single, everyone present admired him.
Cai Qinghua chuckled twice, and just when everyone thought he was going to open the box to check the "private stolen goods", Cai Qinghua actually had the door of the secret warehouse closed and affixed a seal with the Governor-General's seal, and then said: "Okay, then let's see who can outlast the other!"
