Qu Wuyang opened the door and saw the old housekeeper who had been with him for decades walking towards him with a letter. As he walked, he said: "When Xiao Liuzi got up to pee, he saw this letter.
Lying at the foot of the east courtyard wall, I don’t know who it was or when it came in. I asked the secret sentry outside last night, but I didn’t realize that these idle guys who are full of food and don’t know how to do anything are really worrying.
…”
Qu Wuyang was in high spirits. There had been no news from his only son for a whole month, not even a single clue. A letter came today. How could he not be excited?
Qu Wuyang was not afraid that someone would take the opportunity to blackmail the Qu family, so he eagerly took the letter from the housekeeper. There was a line of fine characters written on the envelope: "Items found outside Yang Shulin want to return to their original owners." Seeing this line of small characters, Qu Wuyang
Yang knew it was a passer-by, and outsiders would never know that the mystery happened outside the poplar forest. He did not rush to open the letter, but only asked the housekeeper to find a few capable men. The other party tolerated it for a month before delivering the letter.
Entering the courtyard, the Qu family's secret sentry posted outside Sanliu Garden was not aware of it. The other party was definitely not an ordinary force.
Since the other party did not report the matter to the Procuratorate after catching the person, it seems that they also wanted to secretly hinder the upstart of the Chu Party, Gu Wuchen, from coming to Jiangdong to stir up trouble. This also makes sense when the Qu family swordsman attacked the refugees.
But people were coveting it from the side; Qu Wuyang thought to himself that maybe there would be a chance for cooperation between the two parties.
The housekeeper called several stewards from Sanliu Garden and asked people to invite the second master, Qu Wuming.
Qu Wuming and several stewards of the Qu family rushed to the courtyard where Qu Wuyang lived. They saw Qu Wuyang's gloomy face and the letter spread out on the table. Qu Wuming walked over and picked up the letter. It was an ordinary letter.
On the white paper, a bright red mark was printed on the upper corner, and two lines of fine block letters were written in the middle: "I found a jade pendant outside the poplar forest. It is transparent in nature and exquisite in carving. It is of the highest quality. Jade Shop in Jiangning City.
The selling price is one hundred taels of fine silver. The Qu family is interested in burying five hundred taels of silver under the third old poplar tree in the southeast corner of the poplar forest within three days. After we get the silver, we will return it to its original location the next day.
host……"
Qu Wuming smelled the red mark on the upper corner of the letter, which smelled like blood. It was actually printed with blood.
"It's the jade Guanyin pendant that the young master is wearing..." The old steward reminded the second master Qu Wuming in a low voice. It was obvious that the young master fell into the hands of this group of people, but it was also obvious that this group of people was very difficult to deal with.
Qu Wuming took a breath and asked: "They went to the jade shop to inquire about the price. Can they check this aspect first?"
"They are deliberately disturbing us. There are thirty or forty jade shops in Jiangning City, and they are sure that we will not alert Jiangning Mansion. They go to thirty or forty jade shops from house to house to inquire without asking openly. It takes too much effort.
"It's far better to bury five hundred taels of silver directly," Qu Wuyang said, "You can only respond to the move first and then wait and see what the other party will do..."
Seeing that his cousin was getting more and more critical, Qu Wuming was able to calm down and analyze the problem, and he was not in a position to say anything. He thought to himself, who did this group of people belong to? The people of She Feihu in the Marquis of Jin'an Mansion? The people of Wang Xueshan? The people of Jia Pengyu
? A person from Duke Mu's Mansion? A person from the Admiral's Mansion? Or a person from the Xuanfu Envoy? It is almost a foregone conclusion that Li Zhuo will come to Jiangning to serve as Jiangning's Ministry of War Shangshu and garrison general. I think that the Jiangning garrison general will not get involved anymore.
The business is to disrupt the situation and make money quickly before leaving.
"The only advantage is that now at least you don't have to worry about the other party bringing the matter to the Inspector General's Office," Qu Wuyang added, "Maybe he will be greedy."
Qu Wuming sighed softly and looked carefully at the letter paper and the envelope. Although the words on the letter paper and envelope were fine and beautiful, they were not written with a brush. They looked like they were written with a sharpened and burned tip of a wooden stick. It costs five to redeem a jade pendant.
One hundred taels of silver, I don’t know how much money it would take to redeem someone. In addition, they have to keep quiet about the night raids on the refugees. I don’t know how much money would be enough to keep them quiet. To be honest, as long as they redeem someone, they won’t be afraid.
It was revealed that Gu Wuchen had no real evidence, and it would be even more difficult for him to take advantage of the Chu Party's status as a new member of the Chu Party.
They sat down to discuss all the details, and then arranged for people to carry out the execution. Qu Wuyang stayed up all night in the house and kept vigil all night. He was rewarded and did not dig out the silver they buried under the poplar tree for three days in a row.
This was the case. Even though he knew that the opponent was not an easy character to deal with, Qu Wuyang was still a little impatient, but in the opponent's hands, he could only hold his temper.
After nightfall on the third day, the steward who was sent out to take charge of this matter rushed back with a very bad expression. He was still holding the silver bag containing 500 taels of silver that had been buried outside the poplar forest three days ago. In addition, he also brought back a silver bag.
Letter. Qu Wuyang, Qu Wuming and other stewards were waiting in Sanliu Garden. Seeing that they could not get back the jade pendant, Qu Wuyang took the letter with a gloomy face and the same handwriting as the letter: "Qu Family Sect."
Twelve people are guarding the silver, how can we safely retrieve it? Please bury the silver under the second bridge pile on the north side of the east end of Jiuweng Bridge within three days..."
When Qu Wuming saw what was written in the letter, he said disdainfully: "Humph, the other party only has this ability. We clearly sent eighteen people, but they could only find twelve!"
"Where did this letter come from?" Qu Wuyang asked the manager.
"Just put it in the money bag." The steward in charge said frustratedly.
Qu Wuming's expression suddenly turned very bad, as if he had been slapped hard in public. Was he trying to express his anger on others? He sternly reprimanded the steward in charge this time: "Are you all eighteen pairs of eyes blind?"
Qu Wuyang's face also became ugly. In order to track down some clues and gain some initiative when the other party took the money, he selected the secret sentries he set up around Yang Shulin, and specially divided them into six groups to monitor everyone around the clock.
Whoever entered the poplar forest would have thought that under such circumstances, they would quietly put the letter into the silver bag. It was not that the other party was incapable of taking away the money, but this was to give them a warning.
"What should I do?" Qu Wuming asked.
"I'm afraid that the other party has already sent people to keep an eye on Sanliu Garden," Qu Wuyang said. "Tomorrow I will personally go to bury the money under the Jiuweng Bridge. Our people will withdraw and see how the other party reacts?"
Qu Wuming sighed lightly, knowing that his cousin wanted to save his only son's life, so he decided to give up the initiative.
Qu Wuyang took a carriage to Sanliuyuan before dawn the next day and buried the silver bag containing 500 taels of silver under the second bridge pile on the north side of the east end of Jiuweng Bridge. After he got back in the carriage, he was still on the bridge deck.
We waited for a while. It was the darkest moment before dawn. It was quiet everywhere. There was only the sound of water flowing under the bridge and the wind blowing grass and leaves. I thought that the other party might send a ship to take away the silver under the bridge, but there must be others.
People secretly monitored the Jiuweng Bridge, thinking to themselves: The opponent's power is really not weak, and there are many experienced experts. There are not many Jiangning Mansion who have such power secretly. In short, they are not new here. There are no such power in Jiangning.
What kind of foundation is Gu Wuchen? Qu Wuyang sighed softly and ordered the old housekeeper who drove him personally: "Let's go back..."
Qu Wuyang was still guessing when the other party would take away the money under the bridge. The carriage drove back to Sanliu Garden without stopping, but he saw his cousin Qu Wuming and others waiting in front of the gatehouse of the garden.
Qu Wuyang got out of the car and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Look..." Qu Wuming spread his hands and showed Qu Wuyang an emerald Guanyin pendant.
Qu Wuyang was very familiar with this jade pendant. When he had his son in middle age, he personally went to the city to ask Cuizhai to choose the materials and spent a lot of money to ask the master in Cuizhai to carve the Guanyin pendant. He only hoped to protect his only son's life.
Ping An, seeing this jade pendant like this was heartbreaking. He took the jade pendant and asked, "When was it sent?"
"It's been half a cup of tea!" Qu Wuming said.
"..." Qu Wuyang took a breath and counted the time. From monitoring him burying the silver to sending someone to collect the silver and then sending a message to deliver the jade pendant to Sanliu Garden, the other party took no time during the entire process.
There was no need to delay, and they had to work hard to catch up. They didn't hear the sound of horse hooves on the road. Come to think of it, Wu Ming and the others didn't notice anything strange at Sanliu Garden. Such an opponent really makes people feel uncomfortable.
I'm afraid, but I still haven't revealed anything.
Qu Wuyang was frustrated these days by his opponents who couldn't figure out Xingzang. Suddenly he thought of a question that scared him: if these people were not just trying to extort money, how terrifying would the enemies of the Qu family be?
"This is the letter that the other party sent in with the Guanyin Pendant..." Qu Wuming also realized that the Qu family might face a very terrible enemy, so he handed the letter to his cousin.
"..." Qu Wuyang opened the letter and took a breath of cold air. Not only did the other party demand twenty thousand taels of silver, he also asked for a light boat with the silver to be delivered within three days.
Go to Chaotian Dang to change people. Only two people from the Qu family are allowed to paddle into Chaotian Dang.
"They really dare to swallow the elephant and ask for 20,000 taels of silver." Qu Wuming looked at his cousin to see how he would decide.
"Bin'er and I joked before that if someone threatened his life, I would give him 20,000 taels of silver in exchange for his life. I thought Bin'er fell into the other person's hands, so I told him this joke," Qu Wu
Yang Cangsang said in a serious tone, "I can't make the decision on all matters of the Qu family alone. What do you think we should do?"
"...Here! As an uncle, I can't ignore the life of my nephew!" Qu Wuming was stared at by his cousin, and he had to express his stance, and said viciously, "Find out in the future who dares to blackmail us behind the scenes.
The Qu family must chop them into minced meat and make steamed buns to satisfy their hatred!"
"It takes three days to load the boats with silver and carry it to Chaotiandangli for trading. It takes time to prepare the silver. It is always inconvenient to trade at night, so we can only choose to do it during the day on the third day. There are not a thousand fishing boats in Chaotiandangli during the day.
There are also eight thousand ships. I'm afraid they want to use this as a cover--well, let's let the news out through the secret channel and say that I, Qu Wuyang, will take 20,000 taels of silver to redeem people in Chaotiandang within three days.
, let’s see if the other party, who has been playing tricks until today, is able to take out 20,000 taels of silver and swing it into the sky on the third day..." Qu Wuyang bit his teeth into his lips/flesh and said viciously.
"If the news reaches the other party's ears, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to the young master..." the old steward advised.
Once the news is released, I am afraid that all the Jiangning bandits around Jiangning Mansion who can catch up will be attracted to join in the fun. After all, twenty thousand taels of silver is one thousand two hundred and fifty kilograms, even if you take the largest silver.
For bags, five bags should also be filled.
"Can the Qu family just let the other party bully me?" Qu Wuyang said angrily, "Our Qu family only sent a boatload of two people with money to replace people according to the instructions in the letter. The letter was not broken, and the other party still wanted to rip off the vote.
I can only forgive Bin'er for not being able to escape this disaster." If he blindly leads the other party's nose without any ability to fight back, even if he rescues Bin'er, his prestige in the clan will be greatly reduced. Twenty thousand
Two pieces of silver would not hurt the Qu family's muscles and bones. If the other party took it away smoothly, it would do the greatest harm to the Qu family. Qu Wuyang also expected that the other party was just asking for money, and thought: if the news is released, the other party will
If you don't dare to withdraw money from Chaotian Dang on the third day, you will still contact him.
************
ps: Silver, silver...no, red ticket, red ticket, collection, collection!