Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 488 The mystery concludes at one point.

Rushing to the Ministry of Personnel, Yue Ling indeed learned that there was no news of Lin Ruhai's transfer.

However, by chance, they encountered a eunuch who was on his way to deliver a message, and Yue Ling suggested that the Ministry of Personnel make the necessary preparations. He then advised that the message be sent as soon as possible to bring Lin Ruhai to the capital.

Just as Su Moyun said, if she missed the wedding, Lin Ruhai would probably keep bothering her for the rest of her life.

After dealing with this urgent matter, Yue Ling returned to his residence.

Upon entering the inner courtyard and the main hall, they found Lin Daiyu leaning against the window, lost in thought.

There was a package beneath him, sealed tightly, as if it were waiting for him to open it.

Seeing Lin Daiyu's preoccupied expression, Yue Ling found it amusing.

It was her delicate, cloud-like eyebrows that made her look rather melancholy, a deep expression that didn't suit her age.

Sitting across from him at the tea table, Yue Ling asked with a smile, "What are you thinking about?"

Hearing Yue Ling's voice, Lin Daiyu gradually came back to her senses, her eyes regaining a bit of clarity. She smoothed her sleeves, poured tea for Yue Ling, and said, "No, I wasn't thinking about anything."

After handing over the teacup, Lin Daiyu pushed the package on the table toward Yue Ling, saying, "This is what Sister Yun brought back for Brother Yue."

"Shi Xiangyun?"

Yue Ling sipped the tea gently. As expected of the fragrant tea poured by Lin Daiyu, it contained a fragrance that was not naturally present in tea leaves. Yue Ling liked it very much.

"She has come back?"

Lin Daiyu nodded, her expression becoming more serious. "She arrived at the mansion at noon today and encountered trouble at the Shi family's residence."

Yue Ling's expression also turned serious. "Tell me about it."

Lin Daiyu raised her head, pointed to the package, and as Yue Ling changed the subject, she explained, "This was brought by the Third Master of the Shi family, Marquis Zhongjing, Shi Ding, as a gift for Brother Yue."

"He said it was inconvenient for him to show up or to contact Brother Yue, so he asked Sister Yun to deliver it over."

"In particular, Shi Ding secretly sneaked into the Shi residence at night to deliver this item to Sister Yun, as if he was in some kind of trouble."

Lin Daiyu's words were so mysterious and profound that Yue Ling couldn't help but frown as he carefully unpacked the package.

The contents inside were quite fragmented, containing several odds and ends.

The larger piece was made of cow or sheep skin and had a strong fishy smell; it was only commonly used by people from the grasslands for correspondence.

Touching the texture, Yue Ling suddenly remembered what Emperor Longyou had told him before, about the secret letter intercepted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The previous secret letter was sent by someone from the capital to the border before the war.

Unfolding the letter, as expected, it contained intelligence about the border.

Previously, the Prince of Beijing reported that there were northern barbarian troops stationed along the nine borders and suggested that they intermarry to form a good relationship. Now things are progressing steadily. On the other hand, the situation is more urgent for the Jurchens, so they have transferred a fixed force of 20,000 troops to support Liaodong.

This letter is about this very matter.

It was further explained which passes were now open for trade, and that the guards at the passes had been taken care of and were all their own people.

With such an insider acting as an information source, it's no wonder that Datong Prefecture fell in just a few nights when the northern barbarians marched south.

Yue Ling pondered silently.

The letter also repeatedly mentioned the names of two tribes, "Haijut" and "Hajigut," asking them to oversee the trade.

Yue Ling didn't know much about the tribes of the Northern Barbarians, but he keenly sensed that these two tribes might be responsible for something unusual within him, perhaps trading or communicating with the Han people.

After silently making a note, Yue Ling looked at another item.

This was an account book that Yue Ling was very familiar with; he had dealt with it quite a bit over the years.

In particular, he had overseen the reform of the accounts of the Feng brand, which gave him a keen sensitivity to these matters.

After flipping through a few pages, Yue Ling realized the trickery involved, slowly put the book down, and let out a deep sigh.

Lin Daiyu looked worried and asked, "Brother Yue, is there something crucial hidden here? Otherwise, why would a dignified marquis, now a border general, still need to hide his whereabouts in the capital?"

Yue Ling made no attempt to hide anything and stated bluntly, "All of these accounts are fake. This so-called 'Tongji Bank' uses falsely reported bills as proof to exchange silver locally. In reality, this silver is nothing more than the proceeds from their smuggling operations, laundered through the bank."

"These accounts look quite old; it's really not easy to find such an old ledger."

"If the banks and the northern barbarians were of one mind, the days when the old Duke Rong was stationed on the border would probably not have been so easy."

With another sigh, Yue Ling looked at the last item in the bundle.

This is the passage record for Zijing Pass, and at first glance, it doesn't seem particularly remarkable.

When Yue Ling's gaze finally settled on the date, her eyes widened in surprise.

"These traitors are worse than pigs and dogs! I wish I could kill them all with my own hands!"

Lin Daiyu took it and looked at it, and was also surprised, whispering, "It's a grain transport cart, just four months before Brother Yue led the troops to resist the Northern Barbarians?"

"The northern barbarians migrated south between summer and autumn, so how could they have transported grain from Jin to the capital in early spring?"

Lin Daiyu blinked and added, "At that time, when Brother Yue was at his most critical moment fighting the Northern Barbarians, there was a group of grain merchants in the capital who were hoarding goods and speculating on prices. However, Brother Yue swiftly and decisively suppressed them..."

"Then this..."

Yue Ling's gaze sharpened further as he instructed the maid outside, "Go and summon Miss Bao."

Before she could arrive, Xue Baochai rushed over.

Hearing from the maid that Yue Ling had returned and was urgently calling for her in the main hall, Xue Baochai knew she couldn't afford to waste a single second.

She lifted her skirt and quickly stepped over the threshold.

But when she looked up, Xue Baochai stopped in her tracks and stared blankly at the two people in front of her.

Today, Lin Daiyu finally showed signs of having a wedding date set. Seeing that both Yue Ling and Lin Daiyu looked serious, Xue Baochai naturally began to speculate. Could it be that the two of them were about to formally establish a status for her?
After all, Yue Ling had previously said that after marrying Lin Daiyu, he would inevitably give her a formal title.

Moreover, it's rare to see the two of them so serious in the mansion. Could it be that they're going to set some rules for her first?
Thinking of this, Xue Baochai felt as if waves were surging in her chest, unable to calm down, and her palms were secretly sweating.

"Could it be that Lin Daiyu disagrees...?"

Xue Baochai steeled herself and stepped forward, bowing respectfully to both of them.

Instead, Yue Ling and Lin Daiyu turned their heads together, looking at her in astonishment at her coquettish behavior, completely bewildered.

Lin Daiyu asked in confusion, "Sister Bao, what are you doing? Sit to the side, don't just stand there awkwardly."

"what?"

Xue Baochai suddenly raised her head, her lips trembling slightly, but she couldn't say anything coherent. Feeling utterly helpless, she sat down to the side, filled with shame.

It seems things are going in the opposite direction from what she expected.

As expected, as soon as they sat down, Yue Ling asked, "Do you know anything about the grain merchants in the capital?"

When Yue Ling brought up the serious matter, Xue Baochai snapped out of her reverie, her earlier ulterior motives completely gone, and answered crisply, "Most grain merchants rely on grain transport, mainly from Anhui. However, in recent years, Cangzhou Prefecture has developed quite well, and the Feng brand among grain merchants is a rising force. Of course, outside of Jiangnan, wherever there are Anhui merchants, there will also be Shanxi merchants."

"Over the years, most of the territory we have acquired has been under the control of the old Shanxi merchants. This is mainly because the Shanxi merchants' well salt business has weakened, while our sea salt has a greater advantage, and our grain has also gained a good reputation."

Yue Ling narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "Shanxi merchants? Which Shanxi merchant family? Do you know their names?"

Xue Baochai lowered her head and pondered, "If I remember correctly, it should be Fu Ji Grain Shop, the owner's surname is Ji, given name is Ping, and courtesy name is Anzhi."

"Back when the Feng brand hadn't yet entered the capital, Shanxi merchants had a very large business. But later, for some unknown reason, they seemed to have suffered a major setback, which shook their foundations. This Fuji Grain Store has gone from having more than forty shops to now having only two shops, one in the east and one in the west of the city. It's completely lost its influence."

"Ji Ping?"

Yue Ling fell into deep thought once again, feeling that the name sounded very familiar.

"Surname Ji?" Lin Daiyu asked in surprise, "When we were in Cangzhou, wasn't the prefect's surname 'Ji'?"

"Moreover, at that time, Baochai's brother was arrested by the government in Cangzhou and was forced to hand over grain to the granaries. Could it be that the grain originally stored in Cangzhou was transferred to the capital and handed over to Shanxi merchants to manage? Hoarding goods and making several times the amount of silver?"

"However, because of Brother Yue's ruthless methods, most of the grain merchants who hoarded the grain were hit hard at the time. Those who sold at reduced prices were able to sell, while those who did not could only wait for the grain to be infested with insects and rot, and they were afraid of losing everything."

"At that time, Brother Yue did not have much prestige and his official position was not high. He only held the position of temporary governor. I'm afraid the grain merchants were betting that Brother Yue did not have the courage to open the Ever-Normal Granary and release grain to the emperor!"

Xue Baochai nodded in agreement, saying, "No wonder they didn't want cash and insisted on grain. I was quite confused at first. I never expected that my good-for-nothing brother would stumble upon this matter by accident. It seems that even a good-for-nothing like him has come in handy."

Lin Daiyu covered her mouth and laughed, "It's not an exaggeration to call it bait."

The two exchanged words back and forth, and Yue Ling pondered for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had completely figured it out and was even more impressed by Lin Daiyu's intelligence.

He suddenly stood up, cupped Lin Daiyu's cheeks in his hands, kissed her forehead hard, and exclaimed with a laugh, "That's right, that's right! It all connects, it all connects! No wonder these cases were so strange, I had overlooked something!"

Lin Daiyu was caught off guard by Yue Ling's sudden and impolite behavior. When she came to her senses, she could only feel the dampness on her forehead.

Seeing Xue Baochai looking at her, Lin Daiyu was filled with shame. She gently wiped herself with her handkerchief, saying with disgust, "Brother Yue, you're filthy! Don't you know shame?"

Xue Baochai couldn't help but lick her lips, feeling somewhat regretful that she hadn't thought of this earlier.

However, at that time, she and Yue Ling had only just started working together, and she didn't know many of the inside stories, so of course she couldn't keep up with Yue Ling's train of thought.

Yue Ling smiled and paced back and forth in the hall, saying, "I had previously considered these people as the opposite side, without thinking that they might not be a group of thieves after all."

“Miss Bao is right. Where there are Shanxi merchants, there will be Anhui merchants. The Anhui merchants’ sphere of influence extends to Huaibei, while further into Shandong and other places, it is all the domain of Shanxi merchants.”

“This Ji Qing is very likely a member of Ji Ping’s clan and a Shanxi merchant. The group that ambushed me in Cangzhou City was the Huang family of Cangzhou. They should be from the Huizhou merchant faction. They were not on good terms with each other, so when Ji Qing was in dire straits, the Huang family did not want to lend a helping hand.”

"Finally, under pressure from me, the Huang family had no choice but to step forward."

With a sigh of relief, Yue Ling leaned back and said with a sense of relief, "Everything makes sense now. Otherwise, Ji Qing wouldn't have mobilized troops to intercept and kill me again, and the Huang family wouldn't have contacted the Japanese pirates to set up an ambush outside the city, completely disregarding Ji Qing's life and death inside the city. The two of them have always been from different factions."

Lin Daiyu blinked and said, "These items seem to supplement Brother Yue's reasoning, but it doesn't seem easy to catch the big fish behind them. I can't think of anyone in the capital who would have a motive to do something to make things difficult for Brother Yue."

Yue Ling shook his head, took another sip of tea, and said, "No rush, no rush. The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. The best thing to do is to remain unchanged in the face of all changes."

He silently thought to himself, "It seems that these assassins are related to the Shanxi merchants. The prefect of Cangzhou is also bound by Ji Qing's interests, which is why he dares to participate in human trafficking so boldly and provide the Shanxi merchants with agents to raise assassins. Shi Ding was right to be cautious. Staying in Shanxi for so long must have made him sense some danger."

Nodding again, Yue Ling said, "Now that the New Year is approaching, the capital is crowded with people, so we must be more vigilant in our residence. Although we are close to the capital and it is unlikely that anyone will cause trouble here, we still cannot be careless."

Lin Daiyu nodded solemnly.

Looking at Xue Baochai again, Yue Ling instructed, "Secretly investigate some information about Shanxi merchants, especially verifying the background of the Ji family and whether they are a prominent family in Shanxi. As for whether any court officials have backgrounds in Shanxi, I will investigate that myself."

"There are also two barbarian tribes, the 'Haijut clan' and the 'Hajigut clan,' which are also a very important clue."

"As for the fireworks case in Yangzhou, perhaps we will make some progress after Lord Lin arrives in the capital."

……

Yangzhou Prefecture, Salt Commissioner's Office.

With the year-end approaching and salt prices stable, Lin Ruhai no longer needs to go out on official business to crack down on illegal salt dealers.

This Spring Festival was truly the most miserable one he had ever experienced. Not only was Lin Daiyu not by his side, but even his two concubines had gone to the capital.

The vast Lin mansion was deserted; only the steward, Han Da, accompanied Lin Ruhai for the New Year's Eve dinner. There was no festive atmosphere at all; it was far too quiet.

Now all his relatives are in the capital: Lin Daiyu and his two concubines. The two concubines are due to give birth soon, and Lin Ruhai is eager to know news of his relatives and is beginning to look forward to going to the capital.

It is foreseeable that officials like him, who have been stationed in other places for a long time, will be promoted rapidly after returning to the capital and being given important positions.

Lin Ruhai, having spent many years immersed in officialdom, was still confident in this regard.

He didn't want his colleagues to say that his successful career was due to that despicable Yue Ling.

"I just don't know when I'll receive the transfer order..."

(End of this chapter)