Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 528 Helper
The table next to Xie Chengxin must have been occupied by several merchants; their voices were quite loud, reaching Xie Chengxin's ears.

"When the porcelain shop was making its selection, I was outside. It only took a little over an hour, and then Madam Xie became the head of the porcelain shop."

"It's clear that this Madam Xie is no ordinary woman."

"I don't understand what you're saying. I just want to know if this is a good thing or a bad thing for us?"

The merchants looked at each other, seeing the blank expressions in each other's eyes, mainly because they really didn't know anything about Madam Xie.

Previously, we only knew that the business at the South City Wharf was doing well, but as for letting her manage the entire porcelain industry, no one knew whether she could actually do it.

"Can't tell."

A middle-aged man in a long robe suddenly spoke.

Seeing this, several merchants quickly invited the man over, poured him a cup of tea, and asked, "Old sir, please tell us about yourself."

The middle-aged man in the long robe laughed and said, "Didn't I already say that?"

"It's hard to say; it depends on whether the porcelain trade in Bianjing will fall into chaos during this period."

"With so many people arrested recently, what about the deals we made before? Will the price of the porcelain change?"

The merchants were also worried about this: "We had already paid a deposit and were rushing to pick up the goods, but we heard this news as soon as we entered the city."

They wanted to buy less porcelain, and the deposit was only a few hundred strings of cash, which was considered good; some people were even more anxious than them.

"Who signed the contract with you?" the middle-aged man in the long robe asked.

The merchant sighed, "It's the same old Han Si from before."

Another merchant shook his head: "We can't take the porcelain, and we probably won't get our deposit back either." This is always the outcome when a pottery kiln has an accident.

Another merchant approached: "It's alright that you're buying porcelain, but you're short on deposit. We're transporting porcelain from Liangzhe Road. In the past, we would go to the Han family first, make a deal with the old merchants, and then unload the porcelain. Now we don't know what to do. If the people in Bianjing City refuse to accept it, I'll have to take these porcelains back, which will cost so much money... This business is going to lose a fortune."

"I heard that Madam Xie has many porcelain kilns in Daming Prefecture. Does that mean that in the future, Bianjing can only sell porcelain from Daming Prefecture, and all porcelain produced in other kilns must be taken back?"

“Or,” the merchant suggested, “you could give them more money? It would be a way to congratulate the new bank manager on taking office.”

"How much silver is appropriate?"

Soon everyone started discussing it.

As more and more people gathered, Xie Chengxin frowned. It was true that the Xie family had succeeded the old man, but he didn't know how many troubles lay ahead.

If a few troublemakers were to infiltrate this group, Xie would be caught red-handed if she made a single misstep.

Xie probably saw the benefits of being a middleman, but little did he know that behind every benefit there would be conflict.

As the discussions grew louder and louder, gradually becoming uncontrollable, Xie Chengxin felt a mix of emotions. He shouldn't have gotten involved in this matter; he might have ended up getting caught up in it.

He pretended to know nothing about his grandfather's suspicious death or the switch with his second sister. He even deliberately brought up past events in front of his current sister to avoid suspicion, all to avoid getting involved. Because the look in his father's eyes on the day his grandfather passed away had truly frightened him.

He vaguely guessed that his father had many secrets he didn't know, and those secrets... could destroy the bond between father and son, and even his status as the legitimate son couldn't protect him.

Even if his father didn't physically harm him, he would force him to obey. He was timid and cowardly and dared not resist, so he preferred to deceive himself into believing that he "knew nothing."

Now, the identity of the second younger sister is also suspicious. With just a little attention, one can discover that the father's attitude towards the second younger sister is different. His gaze is as if he were looking at his own flesh and blood.

He even suspected that his second sister was really his father's daughter. In short, the more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became. Although he pretended to be calm, he began to resent his father deep down and subconsciously rebelled against him, wanting to escape from that house.

If he were a despised legitimate son, he might have had the opportunity to leave Bianjing. That's why he didn't want to marry Xia Erniang.

Given the Xia family's status, if this marriage goes through, he will have to live under the watchful eyes of the Xie and Xia families for the rest of his life.

He used to love his family background and status as the eldest son, but now he lives in constant fear, a pain he can't confide in anyone.

When Baode Temple saw Xie Shi, he was really startled and couldn't help but exclaim. Fortunately, he lied to cover it up, thinking that he would forget about it. But Xie Shi always managed to make some noise, which made him more and more curious and wanted to know what Xie Shi was planning to do.
As Xie Chengxin was thinking, he heard someone in the teahouse shout, "A lot of people have come from Daming Prefecture."

"where is it?"

Immediately, the window was pushed open, and everyone crowded to the window to look down. Sure enough, they saw a group of people walking past the teahouse.

These people were carrying bundles, so it was clear they had come from afar.

"This means... Madam Xie's men have arrived?"

"Of course, otherwise, would we have come all the way from Daming Prefecture?"

Xie Chengxin frowned. Calculating the time, Xie's family... had only stayed in Daming Prefecture for a few months. Could they really have stabilized her husband's family and gathered so many helpers?

They were all willing to do things for her?
Seeing the group walk further and further away, some people couldn't contain themselves and rushed out to inquire about the situation.

Xie Chengxin was accidentally pushed aside, but fortunately someone caught his shoulder.

"Be careful."

The voice was very familiar. Xie Chengxin looked up and immediately met the gaze of the Prince of Huai.

Xie Chengxin had been thinking about his second sister's matter, and when he suddenly encountered Prince Huai, he subconsciously felt a little guilty and tried to cover it up by saying, "How did Your Highness end up here? I didn't even notice... I was really startled."

The Prince of Huai was no different from usual, except that he was dressed simply and did not attract much attention.

“I’m just here to join in the fun,” said the Prince of Huai, gesturing towards the ground floor. “Let’s talk outside.”

Xie Chengxin nodded.

The two walked out of the teahouse and followed the crowd until they reached Xie Yuyan's courtyard.

Yang Xiaoshan was busy there with his men: "If anyone wants to ask about the porcelain business, they can go to the porcelain business."

This has been said countless times, but in a situation like this, who dares to go in lightly? What if you step into a hole without understanding the intricacies of the situation?
As everyone hesitated, two people walked out of the courtyard.

The two men addressed the crowd, saying, "We are lawyers from the Dong family bookstore in the city. Merchants who have a contract can come with us to the porcelain shop now. The madam instructed that the contracts signed when Han Si was the shopkeeper will be handled properly by the porcelain shop as long as they are in accordance with the rules."

The premise is that the contract is genuine and there are no problems.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhi of Daming Prefecture handed his bundle to a member of the Yang family beside him and pulled Yang Xiaoshan aside, saying, "I'll go with them."

Liu Zhi was a lawyer in Daming Prefecture. Most of Xie Yuyan's lawsuits in Daming Prefecture were written by him. When the number of lawsuits suddenly increased, he was also flustered. As he dealt with more cases, he became more and more skilled. He even selected some people from his clan to teach them legal matters and to do odd jobs by his side. Now, no matter how many cases there are, he can handle them with ease.

However, that was in Daming Prefecture.

Now that he's in Bianjing, by Lady Xie's side, Liu Zhi feels the same sense of urgency he had back in Daming Prefecture.

However, he wasn't flustered; instead, he was somewhat excited.