Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 85: Divorce
Wu Chengjian was silent for a while before he said, "It's a pity... you guessed this a little too late... Now... what else can we do?"
Zhou Yijin had already put away the list and said, "Things have escalated to a higher level than we previously suspected..." He whispered in Wu Chengjian's ear, "Although the emperor has abdicated, he would never be willing to be like Li Yuan or Li Longji. And not long after he abdicated, the new emperor's master has seized power in Guangdong. As the saying goes, when you see a leaf fall, you know autumn is coming..."
Wu Chengjian joined in, also in a very low voice: "The change in Guangdong's political situation is that leaf. When the emperor saw Zhu Gui grabbing so much power in Guangdong, he had to think about what the new emperor meant. And when he saw that the generals and prefects of Guangzhou were all giving way to Zhu Gui, he had to think about whether the whole world was like this."
"Not only that," Zhou Yijin said in a very low voice, "After the emperor abdicated, it was not good for him to personally handle all matters at court, so some things had to be done through Heshen. So at this juncture, Heshen was the emperor, and the emperor was Heshen. As a result, the new emperor wanted to overthrow Heshen after only being in power for a few days..."
He touched the sachet hidden in his chest and asked, "What would the emperor think if he knew about this?"
Wu Chengjian was silent.
In fact, after Liu Quan came, he had thought it through clearly, and it was precisely because he understood it clearly that he reacted so strongly at that time. When Liu Quan was there, he tried his best to suppress it, but as soon as Liu Quan left, his emotions from last night were like a dam breaking, and he was almost out of control.
Zhou Yijin said: "Since Liu Quan has come to see you and told you the truth, how will you respond to him?"
"What can I do?" Wu Chengjian said, "Under that situation, in front of him, I can only agree."
Zhou Yijin was surprised: "You...really want to be Heshen's gun? This is..." His mouth was almost close to Wu Chengjian's ear, and his words were barely audible: "The world is going to change!"
Wu Chengjian raised his eyelids and said, "If I had dared to refuse him under the circumstances, what you would see now would not be a person, but a corpse. Even if Liu Quan thought I might have a backup plan, he couldn't risk saving my life after I rejected him in person."
Zhou Yijin also knew that Heshen and Liu Quan's methods were incomparable to Zhu Gui and Cai Qinghua: "So what are you going to do now?"
Wu Chengjian pondered and said, "The people around the little emperor are too anxious, but they don't know that what they are doing is actually setting a trap for their master. But I thought about it all night and felt that..."
He also put his mouth close to Zhou Yijin's ear and lowered his voice very low: "I'm afraid that someone's idea is just wishful thinking."
Zhou Yijin said: "Hmm?"
" The old emperor is a very opinionated person. Once he has made up his mind, no one can easily shake it. As long as he is in power, the young emperor will not be able to touch the second emperor. But if the second emperor wants to touch the young emperor, I am afraid it is wishful thinking." Wu Chengjian whispered: "The young emperor's tactics are too naive, so the second emperor can see through the young emperor's tricks, then what about the old emperor? Do you think he can't see through the second emperor's tricks?"
Zhou Yijin's eyelids drooped suddenly.
Wu Chengjian said: "So, although this matter is a trap within a trap, in the end, it may not be what someone wants. As long as the old emperor can stay sober, the court will still maintain superficial harmony. However, the person who caused this incident..."
Zhou Yijin raised his hand and made a chopping gesture.
Wu Chengjian raised his hand and slashed seven or eight times: "As a Han merchant, you dare to interfere in the matter of the abolition of the Qing Dynasty, haha..."
He smiled bitterly and said, "The entire Wu family is doomed this time. Liu Quan said that he and the Lord could protect me, but... he can't! If this matter really gets brought to the emperor, he and the Lord will end up in disgrace. When the critical moment comes, he must think about protecting himself first. As for me... going forward is death, going backward is death, going left is death, and going right is death! Unless... unless we can really overturn the table."
"It's difficult!" Zhou Yijin said sadly, "Our capable men are almost all under surveillance. Although we arranged for Mr. Liu San to escape in advance, we have external cooperation but no internal support. We can't overturn this table by relying on Mr. Liu San to remotely control the Hongmen from the outside."
"Then there's nothing we can do..." Wu Chengjian sighed deeply, shook Zhou Yijin's hand, and then pushed him away.
"Yijin, go ahead." Wu Chengjian said, "Go as far as you can!"
Zhou Yijin said he would go in and take a look first. Everyone thought he would come out soon, but they didn't expect him to be inside for so long. When he came out, although he looked normal, there was a gray and sad look in his eyes, which could not be hidden from Ye Youyu's eyes.
"Officer Hao asked you to come in." Zhou Yijin said after coming out.
Ye Youyu responded, took the basket from Dongxue, and pushed the door open.
No matter how clean the cell was, the smell was not very good after all. However, Ye Youyu didn't care about that at the moment and slowly walked into the cell.
Wu Chengjian felt a little guilty when he saw her bulging belly.
Ye Youyu glanced at the messy cell, slowly squatted down, and put out the prepared morning tea and breakfast one by one, saying, "The food is cold, you... just eat something." He then took out a pot of still warm tea.
Wu Chengjian ate the cakes and drank tea in big mouthfuls. Before long, he had finished more than half of them. When his stomach was bloated, he said, "I'm done. You can go back now."
Ye Youyu asked: "You...don't have anything to tell me?"
Wu Chengjian said: "I have told Yi Jin, he will tell you after we get out."
Ye Youyu uttered an "oh" and lowered his head for a long time before saying, "Okay." He then began to put the remaining cold dishes into the basket and went to help clean up the messy bedding.
Wu Chengjian said in annoyance: "That's enough! Someone will come and take care of these!"
He spoke very loudly, as if he was yelling at Ye Youyu.
Ye Youyu uttered "oh" again, hesitated, and finally picked up the basket and went out.
No one expected her to come out so soon, and Dongxue hurried forward to take the basket.
Ye Youyu said, "Let's go."
At this time, it was not easy for everyone to ask, so they all followed him out of the prison. Zhou Yijin wanted to go back to Xiguan Street together, so he also got on the car. The car was very spacious, with four seats and even a table.
Although it was a horse-drawn carriage, it moved slower than walking because there was a pregnant woman on board.
This road requires going out of the west gate of Guangzhou city and returning to Xiguan, but it is not close.
Ye Youyu said, "Master Zhou, Hao Guan said he had something to tell me."
Seeing that there was only winter snow nearby, and the rumbling of the cars could cover up the voices, so that people outside could not hear clearly, Zhou Yijin pushed a piece of paper with scribbled handwriting over, and Ye Youyu asked, "What is this?"
Zhou Yijin said, "Divorce letter."
Dongxue felt as if a thunderclap had struck her head.
Ye Youyu was also a little surprised, but he seemed to be unable to react, and asked again: "What is this?"
"Divorce letter." Zhou Yijin said, "This is the divorce letter that Haoguan wrote to you. Keep it."
Dongxue shouted: "This, this... Master, this ..."
She wanted to speak up for her daughter, but Ye Youyu seemed to have just reacted and raised his hand to stop her.
"Master Zhou..." Ye Youyu asked, "What does this mean?"
Zhou Yijin said, "From now on, the Wu family's affairs have nothing to do with you. Don't ask too much, and don't worry too much." Then he said, "Wait a moment."
Seeing Zhou Yijin leaning out of the car, he asked Wu Xiaojiu what he wanted.
Dongxue called out: "Girl..."
Ye Youyu raised his hand to stop him.
After a while, Wu Xiaojiu took out a box from his attendant's bag. Zhou Yijin took the box, leaned back, handed it to Ye Youyu and said, "This is what Hao Guan prepared for you."
Ye Youyu opened it and saw that the box was divided into several compartments of different sizes, each containing different things. In one of the compartments, four pairs of jade bracelets were placed vertically, and in the narrow compartment next to it were twelve gold hairpins inlaid with beads. In the semicircular compartment next to it was a stack of red gold leaves, and next to it was a small bag. When the bag was opened, there were dozens of gold beans inside. Looking at the compartment cover, there were some papers with words and seals stuck on it - it seemed to be a document, and he didn't know whether it was a house deed or a land deed, so Ye Youyu didn't bother to look at it carefully.
"When was this prepared?" Her voice was a little cold and stiff.
Zhou Yijin said: "It's been a while. This is one of the preparations, and now is the time. You should keep it. No matter what the future situation is, it's always better to have money in hand."
Ye Youyu didn't even know when Zhou Yijin left.
Along the way, Dongxue tried to talk to her several times but was interrupted by her waving her hand.
The somewhat heavy box was placed in the car, next to her.
Changzai gave detailed instructions and the drivers drove the carts steadily, but as they drove, Ye Youyu suddenly felt like vomiting.
Seeing the Wu family mansion in front of them, Ye Youyu suddenly shouted, "Stop the car!"
Changzi shouted: "Stop! Stop!"
Ye Youyu rushed out, supported Dongxue, and vomited at the corner of the roadside wall, vomiting out sour water.
Dongxue was a little anxious and kept calling out, "Girl, girl."
Changzi also felt that Ye Youyu's vomiting was a little unusual, and he was so anxious that he was running around.
Ye Youyu vomited and vomited seven or eight times, but nothing came out except sour water. However, he cleared up the dizziness in his head.
Suddenly, her mind became clear. She stood up straight and looked at the sky over the Wu family mansion which was more than twenty steps away.
After entering that house, she would still be the third young lady of the Wu family, and the crumpled letter in her hand could keep her away from the vortex of disaster - yes, Ye Youyu had already guessed that the Wu family was bound to be in great trouble, and Wu Chengjian's divorce letter was not written with malice, but out of kindness. However, when she looked at the divorce letter, she did not feel relieved, but felt extremely uncomfortable!
"Girl? Girl?"
Dongxue's call brought her back to her senses. As she walked a few steps towards the carriage, Ye Youyu's mind was spinning rapidly. The moment she stepped into the door, she suddenly made up her mind.
Just as the wheels started to turn, Ye Youyu said, "Turn around, I want to go see Master Zhou again!"
