Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 57: Submission
Pan Zhenghuan had never been interested in family and business affairs before. Unless Pan Youjie forced him to learn and listen, he would avoid them if possible, so he only understood half of what he was saying at this moment.
Pan Youjie asked again: "What about the Hongmen?"
The visitor said, "Master Liu San has also spoken. If the British dare to attack, even if the Hongmen disciples fill the docks with corpses, they will prevent the enemy ships from approaching Huangpu Port!"
Pan Youjie tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair and snorted coldly: "If the British invade our territory, it will be the business of all Guangdong, the world, and even the overseas Chinese. It is not Wu Chengjian's business, nor is it just the business of the Hongmen. As long as my Pan family is here, there is no need for Wu Chengjian to spend all his family wealth."
The visitor hurriedly said, "Yes, yes."
Pan Youjie added: "That's exactly what I mean. Go tell the people outside."
After the visitor left, Pan Zhenghuan asked, "Father, do you want to fight?"
"Not necessarily." Pan Youjie said: "If we are strong enough, this war may not have to start. If we are weak, we will be beaten."
Pan Zhenghuan said: "Hao Guan has already gone to Beijing. Recently, I occasionally heard some winds blowing from the north. It seems... it is very unfavorable to Yihehang. Can he still take care of overseas affairs?"
Pan Youjie glanced at him, not with contempt, but with a hint of relief: "You are finally willing to care about these things?"
Pan Zhenghuan felt a little ashamed and lowered his head.
Pan Youjie said: "These may seem like two different things to outsiders, but they are actually one thing. You didn't pay enough attention to them before, so you didn't understand. Watch and listen more in the future, and you will understand."
Pan Zhenghuan said: "Yes."
Pan Youjie added, "The Wu family is indeed going to be in trouble, and I don't know if they can survive this. I just heard some news. Please go and pay a visit to the Wu family's grandmother on my behalf and pass on a message."
From beginning to end, Pan Youjie never mentioned Shenxianzhou at all. Pan Zhenghuan, who was originally a little nervous, finally put his mind at ease. After stepping out of the door, he looked up and felt that that day was no longer the same as before.
Now Wujiayuan has changed its name.
Cai Qiaozhu gave instructions: from now on, the family should call Hao Guan as Master instead. When mentioning the late Wu Chengjun, that is the eldest Master, Wu Guoying is the old grandfather, and she should call herself Grandma, Ye Youyu is the Third Grandma, and Guang'er and Yao'er are Guangshao and Yaoshao.
Pan Zhenghuan came to visit, but Cai Qiaozhu had someone lead him to Ritianju. Lianqiao asked why, and Cai Qiaozhu said, "Young Master Huan is already an adult. It's not a festival, and it's not anyone's birthday. The official sent him here, not just to visit. This matter needs to be heard by Aunt San. And she is now in a state of great health.Yes, let her come over here, why don’t I go over there.”
The two sisters-in-law met the guests at Ritianju.
Pan Zhenghuan looked up and saw the two matriarchs of the Wu family. Cai Qiaozhu was as elegant as a pear blossom, but unfortunately she looked a little dull, and Ye Youyu was as beautiful as a crabapple, but unfortunately she was pregnant. He called out "Hello, aunts" and bowed his head.
Cai Qiaozhu hurriedly shouted, "Hurry up, hurry up! We are all family, why are you doing this for no reason?"
Pan Zhenghuan stood up and said with a smile, "In the past, when I was outside, Haoguan took care of me the most when my father couldn't take care of me. Now my uncle has gone to Beijing, and my nephew has been busy recently and neglected to visit my two aunts. I apologize first."
Cai Qiaozhu laughed and scolded him, then asked him to sit down.
Pan Zhenghuan said, "My father has asked me to manage the medicine store recently. A batch of medicinal materials happened to arrive yesterday, including some purple basil and mistletoe, which are of excellent quality. I thought that Third Aunt is pregnant, so I kept them in mind and asked the store owner to pick them out. My nephew didn't bring any souvenirs with him today, so I brought two baskets of those things and put them outside. If Mr. He comes to take my pulse later, I'll see if they are useful."
Ye Youyu said, "That's thoughtful."
For a wealthy family like theirs, these gifts are just tokens of appreciation, not a big deal, and not worth being polite about.
Although Ye Youyu had been married for several years, she naturally did not have as much social interaction with the backyards of the wealthy families in Xiguan as Cai Qiaozhu, who had been married for many years. However, she had met Pan Zhenghuan, but in recent years, Ye Youyu's identity had undergone a huge change. Back then, she was still an underage illegitimate daughter of the Ye family, and Pan Zhenghuan was the high and mighty young master of the Pan family. Now, one is an aunt and the other a nephew, and their family backgrounds are in conflict. After the change of identity, the aunt and nephew have not talked to each other, so it is mainly Cai Qiaozhu and Pan Zhenghuan who talk.
The three chatted for a while before Pan Zhenghuan said, "Recently, there was some news from Beijing that had something to do with Hao Guan, and it wasn't a good thing. I wanted to go to Lirongyuan to tell the eldest aunt first, and then ask the eldest aunt to tell the third aunt. I won't mention this matter, and the two aunts should know about it in a day or two. Now that I know about it for two days, I may be able to prepare early."
Ye Youyu understood what he meant and said, "Don't worry, Hao Guan explained everything to me before he went to Beijing. No matter how big the problem is, I can handle it."
Cai Qiaozhu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Go ahead." He still held Cai Qiaozhu's hand.
Pan Zhenghuan then said, "The former governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Mr. Zhu Gui, has returned to the capital. Haoguan went to pay him a visit. Perhaps the people in Hefu found out, so Haoguan was kicked out of the Guangdong Guild Hall the next day. Wu Qi and the others were also kicked out of the capital and were not allowed to enter the city gates. Yihehang's store in the capital was also sealed."
Although Cai Qiaozhu was surprised, it was still within her tolerance - she had even prepared for the "worst case scenario" in her mind.
Ye Youyu was calmer than Cai Qiaozhu and asked, "Is Haoguan still in the city now?"
"Yes." Pan Zhenghuan said, "He was living on the streets, without clothes or food. Although our Pan family has connections in the capital, we dare not step forward to help because someone is watching... I hope you two aunts will forgive me for this."
Ye Youyu drooped his eyelids and said, "If we do something with Zhongtang, the Pan family will be dragged down if they approach rashly, and it will be useless."
Pan Zhenghuan seemed to be relieved—actually, he was relaxing for his two sisters-in-law to see, but his skills were not good enough, so people could not help but see that he was being deliberate: "Thank you for your understanding, Third Aunt."
Cai Qiaozhu thought of Wu Chengjian's suffering in the capital, and her eyes turned red: "What if Haoguan is left without clothes and food and ends up living on the streets..."
Ye Youyu said, "Don't worry too much, sister-in-law. Since the other party is not going to kill directly, it means that he is afraid of something or wants something. I think Hao Guan's life will not be in danger for the time being. He is young and strong, so he can suffer a little... No, it's nothing."
She was actually feeling distressed, so her tone became a little unstable when she spoke later.
Cai Qiaozhu shook her head: "Alas, he... He has been living a life of luxury since he was a child, but now he doesn't even have anyone to serve him. What should he do?" She is the eldest sister-in-law who is like a mother to him, and she dotes on Wu Chengjian even more than Ye Youyu.
"You two aunts don't have to worry too much," Pan Zhenghuan said, "Wu Qi and his men should not be able to enter the city now, but there is no Tietou Junba among those who were driven out of the city. I guess he is hiding somewhere and is secretly looking after uncle."
The two sisters-in-law felt relieved when they heard this. They all knew Tietou Junba's loyalty and ability, and thought that if he was in the city, Haoguan would not be completely without help.
Pan Zhenghuan added, "Uncle is a man of resourcefulness and determination. Although he is trapped in the capital, he will probably find a way to escape. As for Guangzhou, if news from the capital comes in a few days, I'm afraid someone will take the opportunity to steal and spread rumors. My father said that the Pan family will definitely protect the Wu family on the surface, but for some places that the Pan family can't take care of, the two aunts had better make some preparations early."
He said a few more words before leaving. Cai Qiaozhu and Ye Youyu stood up to see him off, and Wu Liu saw him out.
Watching Pan Zhenghuan's departing back, Cai Qiaozhu put away her sorrowful expression and said, "It's said that the young master of Qiguan is not doing his job properly. Today it seems that it's just a rumor."
Ye Youyu said, "After all, he is the eldest son of a general merchant family, and he has a profound family background. How bad can he be? Wasn't Hao Guan also notorious in the past?"
The gossips from outsiders stopped with these two sentences, and the two sisters-in-law turned their concerns back to Wu Chengjian. Cai Qiaozhu said, "There is fish, don't worry too much, Haoguan will definitely find a way."
"I'm not worried," Ye Youyu said, touching her big belly. "Now is definitely not the worst time, why worry? Don't worry, sister-in-law. Even if the news gets worse, I can hold on."
Cai Qiaozhu nodded and said, "From what Master Huan said, Qi Guan should still protect us. This is consistent with what Hao Guan predicted before he left. But the so-called places that the Pan family can't take care of..."
Ye Youyu added: "I'm thinking, one is my family, one is the industry, one is the Ye family, and one is those sworn brothers."
Cai Qiaozhu nodded.
Ye Youyu continued, "The family needs to be reorganized, and the big managers in the industry need to be informed. I'll trouble you with these two things, sister-in-law. As for the Ye family and sworn brothers, I'll think about it."
Cai Qiaozhu said: "Don't worry too much."
"Don't bother." Ye Youyu said, "It's just a message."
After Changzi left, Ye Dalin continued to sit in the study and took out the letter that Wu Chengjian had given him before he left.
Ma opened the door curtain and walked in, saying coldly, "Something happened to the Wu family?"
Ye Dalin looked at the words on the letter without saying anything. He didn't know many words, but the few words Wu Chengjian wrote to him were all in plain language, so he could understand them.
Ma said, "I'm asking you a question!"
Ye Dalin said coldly: "You already know it, why are you still asking!"
Ma asked, "What are you going to do?"
Ye Dalin said: "The situation is unclear, what can we do?"
"The situation is still unclear?" Ma said, "The Lord has already taken action! If we don't find a way to distance ourselves from the Wu family, we will be dragged into trouble when trouble comes!"
Ye Dalin said: "Cut off ties with the Wu family... the Wu family may not necessarily lose..."
Ma snorted and sneered, "Wu Chengjian is feared by everyone in the Thirteenth Lines, and he is indeed a big shot in the entire Guangdong Bay, but what is he in Beijing? The one who wants to deal with him now is the Lord Zhongtang, the current Second Emperor! Crushing the Wu family is like crushing an ant! Doesn't mean he will lose? He has no hope of winning at all!"
"That's enough!" Ye Dalin said coldly, "You woman, what do you know? Shut up!"
