Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 52 Manpower
Chen Ju was still somewhat bewildered when he looked at Sanhe Village in front of him.

He still doesn't understand how he got here in such a hurry from the government office.

The inspector ordered him to send men to keep an eye on the Yang family, firstly to see what other moves they might make, and secondly because he feared that if Madam Xie exposed the smuggling of foreign goods, someone might be hiding in the shadows waiting for a chance to retaliate. The soldiers guarding outside the Yang family followed Madam Xie's carriage all the way to Sanhe Village.

Then... just over an hour later, a soldier ran back with the news that the villagers of Sanhe Village were heading to the government office.

To Chen Ju's surprise, the villagers asked him to go to the village, saying they had important matters to report to the government.

"What exactly happened?" Chen Ju asked the soldier.

The soldier said, "We watched as Lady Xie's carriage entered Sanhe Village, and half an hour later the village was in an uproar."

When he was about to investigate the reason, the villagers came looking for Chen Junjiang.

Everything happened so fast that the soldiers all felt utterly useless.

Chen Ju realized that anything involving Lady Xie could not be judged by common sense, so when he left the yamen, he made a special report to the patrol inspector.

The inspector ordered him to remove his armor and leave the city with only two or three people to avoid attracting attention.

Just as Wang...the registrar said, he came specifically to find Chen Ju because he was afraid that the news would leak out.

Chen Ju led his men into Sanhe Village. Unlike usual, the villagers were unusually quiet today. Chen Ju frowned slightly; the strange atmosphere in the village suggested that something major had happened.

Shi Yong stepped forward and paid his respects to Chen.

"How is he?" Chen Ju asked immediately.

Shi Yong turned his head and said, "Inside the house."

Chen Ju had heard Yang Qin say that Madam Xie wanted to buy crushed coal in Sanhe Village. Could it be that someone died before the deal was even done?

Thinking of this, Chen Ju's gaze swept over Shi Yong again, trying to see some clues and make him see the current situation clearly, whether someone was deliberately framing him, or whether trouble was really caused at this time.
No wonder Lady Xie sent someone to look for him; she asked the patrol office to help suppress the news.

As Chen Ju entered the room after some thought, his gaze immediately fell on Xie Yuyan.

Lady Xie's eyes were clear and her expression was calm, which seemed to be somewhat different from what he had expected.

"General," after everyone had greeted him, Shi Yong pointed to the person on the ground, "this is Zhao Shan from our village. He's the one who almost got into trouble with coal."

Chen Ju lowered his eyes and saw a man cowering on the ground, his face pale and his whole body trembling.

"Lady Xie had previously instructed us that we should not use coal dust to suppress the open flame, and if thick smoke rose, we should not stay in the house. We should open the windows to let the smoke dissipate."

“I’ve spoken to the villagers about it several times, but Zhao Shan didn’t take it to heart… Luckily we found them early and were able to save them.”

After Shi Yong finished speaking, an older villager immediately chimed in, "That's how this kid is all the time; he won't listen to anything anyone says..."

The old man paused slightly, a hint of disgust on his face: "He also... sigh, never mind, I'd rather the officials investigate the truth."

Chen Ju stared at Zhao Shan. Zhao Shan didn't look like someone who had been rescued and escaped death. Why would someone who had been saved with great difficulty be kneeling in the house?
Zhao Shan's eyes were filled with fear. He nodded frantically as the villagers spoke, his face covered in sweat and tears. His lips moved, but he couldn't make a sound.

What exactly happened to Zhao Shan?

Chen Ju felt that the villagers wouldn't tell him the truth, and Zhao Shan would certainly not reveal the truth, at least not now.

Shi Yong said, "When we rescued Zhao Shan just now, Zhao Shan said in a daze that someone wanted to kill the whole village for the coal underground in Sanhe Village."

Chen Ju couldn't help but show surprise, and unconsciously looked at Xie Yuyan again. Was this for real?
"Zhao Shan is no good either. He helps those merchants and delivers messages for them."

"At the time, he also advised us not to fall out with those merchants and to leave the broken coal as payment."

“You must stand up for us, sir.”

At this point, the villagers in the house all knelt down.

"Get up quickly." Chen Ju didn't have time to think about anything else and rushed to help the elderly villagers.

“We dare not report to the authorities,” Shi Yong continued, “We are afraid that if those people get the news, they will use some other means, so we can only ask the military officers to come.”

Chen Ju's mind was buzzing, so the claim of being poisoned by burning charcoal was a lie; the real reason was that Sanhe Village was suing the merchants.

Whether they revealed the truth through private interrogation of Zhao Shan, or whether Zhao Shan, suffering from coal poisoning, blurted out the truth while delirious, is not important.

“I will bring the person back to the yamen for questioning,” Chen Ju said. “If there is any inside story, I will definitely have someone investigate.”

"Thank you, Lord Xie..." Chen Ju had barely finished speaking when the soldiers beside him went to pull Zhao Shan away.

To the soldiers' surprise, Zhao Shan not only did not resist, but his expression relaxed and tears streamed down his face.

Chen Ju couldn't help but look at Xie Niangzi again. What methods had they used to deal with Zhao Shan like this? She was now like an outsider, watching the villagers cry out for justice to the yamen from afar, as if she had just happened to enter the village and encountered a lively event.

Chen Ju couldn't understand these things. All he had to do was take the person back to the two officials, the inspector and the registrar. Just as he was about to leave with the person, he saw Xie Niangzi's skirt twitch, and then a tail appeared from behind the skirt.

Chen Ju felt a blur before his eyes, and various thoughts flashed through his mind until... the cat poked its big head out, and Chen Ju finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had just thought that Lady Xie was... she was a... he must have lost his mind. But this cat... wasn't it the one that Lord Wang lost?
……

After seeing Chen Ju and the others off, the atmosphere in the room shifted from anger to eager anticipation. They now clearly understood that only this Lady Xie could help their Sanhe Village.

Although the things Xie Niangzi mentioned had not yet happened, they felt that Xie Niangzi was already their savior.

Shi Yong said, "My wife wants crushed coal. I've been leading people to burn the ground these past two days to collect as much as possible."

The remaining men also responded.

Xie Yuyan said, "I want to buy all the broken coal, because I, like you, also need to be wary of those people."

Everyone in the village knew who Xie Niangzi was talking about.

“Making lotus root charcoal is not difficult, but once the method is leaked, someone will interfere and steal my business,” Xie Yuyan said. “I am new to Daming Prefecture. I can guard against them openly, but I am afraid that they will use such methods in secret.”

The villagers nodded in agreement. Zhao Shan recounted how the merchant had instructed him, and it was almost exactly as Xie Niangzi had guessed. They even found the silver money the merchant had given them in Zhao Shan's house.

With such conclusive evidence, who could possibly doubt it?

Xie Yuyan said, "Only by making a lot of lotus root charcoal in advance can we gain the upper hand. However, making lotus root charcoal requires a lot of manpower, and the method must not be revealed to outsiders."

"This is why I came to Sanhe Village. I want to buy all the broken coal and I also need your help to make lotus root charcoal. Are you willing?"

Shi Yong looked at everyone in the room, then focused his gaze on several older villagers. Receiving affirming looks from all of them, Shi Yong turned to look at Xie Yuyan.

“We are willing to obey your orders, Madam,” Shi Yong said, pausing for a moment. “If anyone in the village reveals the secret recipe for lotus root charcoal, we will not only forgo the money from selling the broken charcoal, but we will also compensate you with additional money…”

Xie Yuyan shook his head: "I sell lotus root charcoal only to establish myself in Daming Prefecture. If that fails, no amount of money will be of any use."

"The reason I chose Sanhe Village is not out of pity for you, but because our circumstances are roughly the same," Xie Yuyan stood up and walked towards the crowd. "We are weak, and even though we are no match for those people now... if we can unite, we will surely overcome this difficulty."

Upon hearing this, Shi Yong felt a surge of emotion.

……

Mother Yu helped Xie Yuyan into the carriage, followed by the villagers of Sanhe Village who lingered for a long time.

Mother Yu took a deep breath and cautiously looked at Xie Yuyan again. Recalling how the villagers had tormented Zhao Shan under the guidance of the old lady, she locked him in the house and put him in a charcoal brazier.

I did it back and forth many times.

Zhao Shan fainted, but was revived. His face was blackened by smoke and dust, and snot and tears streamed down his face. At first, he was still able to shout, but later he couldn't even utter a wail.

Even though Zhao Shan was trying to kill everyone in the village, no one would think it was wrong to do what he did; they would still hate him to the core.

But you can't actually kill someone.

In the old lady's words, Zhao Shan should do something for the village to make up for his mistakes. Using him to test the coal would also save the villagers from suffering because of it.

The old lady is really amazing; she managed to gather so many people on this one trip.

There are still some people in the Yang clan who want to see them make a fool of themselves, but in the end they will find that they are the ones who are truly ridiculous.

Xie Yuyan, holding the cat, lifted the curtain and looked outside.

If the weather is nice, she prefers to ride her horse around by herself.

"My wife, that is..."

With a quick glance, Madam Yu spotted several figures, and she recognized the one in the lead... he was clearly the registrar from the patrol office.

Wang Hechun and Xie Yuyan were also somewhat surprised. How could they have run into him outside the city?
As they drew closer, Wang Hechun reined in his horse in front of the carriage, his gaze fixed on Xie Yuyan's arms.

(End of this chapter)