Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 322 Adventure
Tang Xing walked to his lodgings in a daze. Since they were guarding Madam Xie, they naturally wouldn't leave. Fortunately, there was a row of back rooms in the courtyard, so they had a place to rest.

Seeing Tang Xing's unpleasant expression, his subordinates dared not ask any questions and simply went about their tasks.

It took Tang Xing a while to calm himself down.

Such a huge secret, and they couldn't even keep it from him for a day. Where exactly did he go wrong that allowed Madam Xie to see through him? Was it a habit he picked up in the army, or his Northwestern accent, or... both?
In Madam Xie's view, people like them, hiding in this river, must have something they can't tell outsiders.

Thinking about it this way, Tang Xing felt that he was full of flaws, but they had clearly been traveling smoothly on the Bian River without attracting the attention of others.

Perhaps from the very beginning, when the young master arranged for them to meet Lady Xie, he was already revealing their identities.

Madam Xie instructed them to inquire about the news, and then took out the young master's jade pendant to disturb his mind; everything she did was intentionally arranged.

Then they easily tricked him into telling them the truth.

Should he go and tell his husband?
Tang Xing stood up and wanted to leave, but then stopped. The young master had repeatedly instructed him not to look for her without her permission after he met with Madam Xie.

Tang Xing had no choice but to stop. After a long while, he stared blankly at the jade pendant in his hand. What could be more important than his lover's jade pendant? Thinking about it this way, the secret being known... didn't seem like such a big deal.

……

After a bumpy journey of several days, Xie Yuyan was finally able to sleep soundly and fell asleep quickly after lying down.

I slept soundly through the night and felt refreshed when I woke up.

However, even if Xie Yuyan woke up, he wouldn't get up immediately.

In short, Empress Dowager Xie had a habit of staying in bed too long.

Zhang and Yu's mother had clearly figured out her temperament and didn't bother her.

After a while, the sound of Yang Qin reading came from the courtyard, and Xie Yuyan couldn't help but smile.

In this way, the neighbors will believe that Yang Xiaoshan is telling the truth.

When Xie Yuyan finished washing up and came out, Zhang was instructing the cook to send out some of the food she had prepared. Now that they had officially moved, they should interact with their neighbors openly and honestly.

Yang Qin put down his book and went out with the cook; his appearance actually made him more convincing.

When Yang Qin returned, Zhang asked, "What did the neighbors say?"

Yang Qin shook his head: "Before they can speak, I'll say it first. I get up early every day to memorize my lessons. If there's any disturbance, just let me know."

Zhang smiled and asked, "What did they say?"

Yang Qin said with pride, "Let me recite it directly so that my children at home can hear it."

People of Yang Qin's age are not often given early education; usually, only families with generations of scholars would teach their children in this way. This confirms what Yang Xiaoshan said.

After the meal, Xie Yuyan naturally went to the riverbank. Yang Xiaoshan was efficient and had already negotiated the price with the seller. Xie Yuyan then had Zhang go and get the paperwork done.

The reason for having Zhang appear was to prevent Xie Yuyan's whereabouts from being revealed.

With the contract in hand, Tang Xing also sought out the boatman.

When Guo Xiong heard that they had bought both shops, he couldn't help but look surprised: "Are they planning to do business here?"

Yang Xiaoshan said, "Our boss plans to grow flowers here, so both courtyards need to be renovated."

Guo Xiong now understood that if the space was to be used as a greenhouse, the previous shop would indeed be unusable.

“What a pity,” Guo Xiong said, “two perfectly good shops.” “There’s nothing we can do,” Yang Xiaoshan laughed, “keeping them… we don’t even know what to sell.”

This is true.

Guo Xiong nodded. Business in Bianjing was different from other places; not just anyone could do it. No matter what you sold, you had to first establish connections with the higher-ups, otherwise, someone would cause trouble.

No matter what you sell, you have to join a guild. Then the government will come and demand your goods. The government will only give you 20% of the money when they buy things.

How could a new shop withstand such turmoil? It had no choice but to close down.

Guo Xiong was well aware of these methods; otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up on the Bian River.

“There are guilds for selling flowers,” Guo Xiong reminded Yang Xiaoshan. “You should know about these, right? I advise you to make some arrangements as soon as possible, so that no one comes knocking on your door.”

Yang Xiaoshan looked grateful.

Guo Xiong then asked, "Why not go to the brick-picking shop and find a mule cart to haul bricks?"

“Our master needs it urgently, so he went out to inquire and found that it would be faster to travel by water,” Yang Xiaoshan said. “Besides, I heard that you don’t charge much money.”

Guo Xiong was very satisfied with these words and patted Yang Xiaoshan on the shoulder: "When we weren't around, if you wanted to use boats on the Bian River to transport goods, you would have to pay at least twice as much money."

Yang Xiaoshan repeatedly said that he was lucky.

"Please keep our transportation of bricks a secret," Yang Xiaoshan said. "The owner doesn't want to attract so much trouble before even opening for business."

Guo Xiong readily agreed. He took the deposit from Yang Xiaoshan and left with his men.

Upon boarding his small boat, Guo Xiong saw Guo Chuan's haggard face in the cabin and couldn't help but kick him, saying, "How can you save Second Mother looking like this?"

Feng Erniang was engaged to Guo Chuan, but the marriage was temporarily put on hold because of a misfortune that befell the Feng family. Later, the Feng siblings went to the capital to file a complaint, and then they were never heard from again.

Guo Chuan went to Bianjing, but couldn't find the person.

The Feng siblings seemed to have vanished in an instant.

Undeterred, Guo Chuan decided to stay in Bianjing to search for her. After many twists and turns, he actually found Feng Erniang in a brothel.

Guo Chuan wanted to buy the person, but the owner refused to sell. They sent several young men to the house, but the owner demanded two hundred strings of cash before releasing the person.

"Those people know we are determined to buy them back, which is why they offered such a high price."

How are they supposed to come up with two hundred strings of cash?
Even if I made some money on the Bian River, it wouldn't be this much.

They had no choice but to risk transporting some spices to sell.

Yesterday, Guo Chuan saw Feng Erniang again. Erniang obviously saw him too, and in her excitement, she jumped down from the high platform, which really startled Guo Chuan. Fortunately, she was unharmed.

“If this drags on any longer, I’m afraid I won’t see Second Mother again,” Guo Chuan said, looking at his elder brother. “She’s lost so much weight; she’ll probably be beaten every day. I don’t know when she’ll be thrown onto the stage like those prostitutes…”

Guo Xiong advised, "Another business opportunity has come your way; you can earn several hundred yuan a day."

Upon hearing that it would cost several hundred coins, Guo Chuan shook his head repeatedly, realizing that earning money this way was far too slow. After much deliberation, he finally made up his mind: "I'll go find that spice merchant again, make a big deal, and gather all the remaining money to rescue Second Sister first."

Guo Xiong frowned: "How could it be so easy? Those merchants also smuggled in without going through checkpoints. If they are caught by the authorities, not only will Second Sister be arrested, but we will also be arrested."

Guo Chuan couldn't stand hearing this: "We'll just do it once. After Second Aunt comes back, we'll never take the risk again."