Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 549 Questioning
As night deepened and the surroundings gradually quieted down, Wu Qian crossed his arms and pondered his way out in a daze.

He had to admit that it would be difficult for him to rise to prominence within the Holy Church. He somewhat regretted returning to work for the Holy Church.

Even though he knew that the leader was using him to win people's hearts and make the old folks obey her orders, he still wanted to give it a shot because he was really unwilling to be an insignificant nobody in the Holy Church.

He had finally managed to infiltrate the third manager's caravan, thinking he could just help pass on some messages, but little did he know he would be asked to arrange for someone to assassinate Xie.

After his scheme was exposed, he became a useless pawn and was discarded by the Holy Church.

The Holy Church wasn't like this before. When the former leader was in power, he used money to help many people, which is why he gained support. But now... the leader is using believers to benefit herself.

From this perspective, the Holy Church has long since deviated from its original purpose.

"Hey."

As Wu Qian was thinking, someone suddenly called out to him. He opened his eyes and saw a piece of flatbread being handed to him: "Your stomach is rumbling non-stop, how are other people supposed to sleep? Here, take this flatbread. Give it back to me when you ask for food tomorrow."

Wu Qian subconsciously swallowed, then tremblingly took the dry biscuit and put it in his mouth.

"Are you going to Baode Temple tomorrow too?" Wu Qian asked the man in a low voice.

The man clearly didn't want to pay attention and just gave a perfunctory reply.

Wu Qian had a sudden thought: if he could blend into the crowd, he wouldn't attract attention.

"Could you take me with you?" Wu Qian was afraid of arousing suspicion, so he quickly explained, "I got separated from my father. Once I find him, I will definitely thank you properly." Although he had covered his face and looked different from the one on the wanted poster, he was afraid of being questioned, so he found a suitable reason to deal with most people.

The man finally turned his head and glanced at Wu Qian, clearly not caring about his words: "You have to give me 30% of the food you asked for."

Wu Qian immediately nodded: "Okay."

The man stopped talking and waved his hand, saying, "Eat well and get some sleep. We have to leave before dawn."

Wu Qian quickly responded.

……

The next day, just as dawn broke, Yu's mother pushed open the door and went into the inner room.

Xie Yuyan had not yet gotten up.

Madam Yu called softly, "Madam, it's time to get up. We're going to the porcelain shop today."

The person on the bed responded, then turned over and went back to sleep.

Mother Yu couldn't help but smile. Who would have thought that the most difficult time for the eldest daughter-in-law every day was getting up in the morning? She had to be called several times before she would reluctantly sit up.

Zhang Niangzi felt that it was because the eldest daughter-in-law had too much work to do and was too tired, so she couldn't get enough sleep.

Actually... this might just be one of Madam's little quirks.

Madam Yu felt that this was the best way to treat the eldest daughter-in-law. Before, when she was in Daming Prefecture, the eldest daughter-in-law rarely showed her emotions. She was too calm and seemed somewhat unreal.

After Xie Yuyan changed her clothes, washed up, and ate, she felt fully awake.

"Have someone prepare a car," Xie Yuyan said, "so we can get there as soon as possible and resolve the matter."

As she spoke, Xie Yuyan took the account book in her hand.

Last night, she looked through the accounts and noticed many beautiful and elegant small characters written by Wang Yan. She wondered if Wang Yan had noticed that her handwriting was somewhat similar to his, except that his handwriting was more fluid and natural, each character as if meticulously crafted, flowing and graceful—it was innate and could not be learned.

With Wang Yan helping with the accounting last night, she saved herself a lot of effort. If there's an opportunity in the future, she might as well give him some of her work.

When the carriage arrived outside the porcelain shop, Xie Yuyan saw the merchants gathered at the entrance. Most of them had not yet submitted their contracts; they were probably persuaded by Chen Yixiu to come and gather information.

Chen Yixiu had never gathered so many people before, so why is he doing this now? Does he have some other useful pawn in his hand? Xie Yuyan looked at the crowd, and some merchants immediately lowered their heads to avoid him.

"Since you're all here, come in," Xie Yuyan said. "You've all heard what I said today, so I won't repeat myself."

After Xie Yuyan finished speaking, he stepped into the porcelain shop.

Some merchants, not wanting to offend the elders, simply stood a little distance away to observe the situation. Unexpectedly, Madam Xie spoke frankly, leaving them at a loss for what to do.

They entered the porcelain business like this. Wouldn't Madam Xie think that they were in cahoots with Chen Yixiu?

Although... Chen Yixiu did indeed contact them privately.

Chen Yixiu advised, "Let's go. Elder Xing has already let us in. What are you doing here?"

"Since Elder Xing has seen you, it's impossible for you to explain yourselves clearly if you leave now. You might as well just state your demands to Elder Xing frankly."

Hearing this, everyone felt there was some truth to it, and so they went inside one after another.

Xie Yuyan picked up her tea and drank, her expression calm and natural. Chen Yixiu frowned slightly, as if Xie didn't care how many people came today.

Many of the people sitting in the room are there to buy goods, so Xie Shi won't feel uneasy.
Chen Yixiu subconsciously looked at the merchant beside him. It was Zhang Sanlang from the Yaozhou Kiln. He was able to persuade so many people to come because Zhang Sanlang was there.

The Zhang family were major kiln owners, unlike others like them; the Xie family wouldn't be able to easily get rid of them.

Thinking this way, Chen Yixiu felt much better.

Xie Yuyan looked at the crowd and asked, "Is there anyone else who hasn't arrived yet?"

The merchants shook their heads. The manager of the porcelain shop checked the contracts and then said, "Merchants who submitted their contracts ten days ago and did not sign new contracts have all arrived."

Xie Yuyan said, "Then let's begin!"

As soon as he said that, the room fell silent.

“As I said before, if you don’t sign a new contract within ten days, we’ll proceed with the contract you have,” Xie Yuyan said, glancing at the accountant beside him. “Give them a receipt!”

Issuing a note?

The merchants looked at each other, wondering what kind of rules this was.
Xie Yuyan said, "According to the contract, you pay the money and take away the porcelain. Now that the porcelain shop has given you a note, you must take all the porcelain out of Bianjing within three days."

This sounds reasonable; since the money has been paid, the goods should naturally be taken away.

but……

Many of them rushed to Bianjing to see what was happening after hearing about the change of heart. They hadn't planned to take all the goods with them, so... they didn't have enough manpower around them.

To take porcelain out of Bianjing, one either needs to have a caravan or hire people to transport it. If no preparations are made in advance, it's impossible to gather enough people in three days.

There were more than just one or two merchants who wanted to take the porcelain, and everyone needed to hire workers. Where would they find so many workers? Even if they had enough workers, there weren't enough carriages and boats.

"Madam...isn't the time you gave me too short?"

Li Shi asked first, and several merchants around him responded in unison.

“We are not prepared. If Master Xing thinks the goods are taking up space in the porcelain warehouse, we can take the goods out of the warehouse first and then slowly take them out of the capital.”

"Yes, that's better."

Xie Yuyan put down his teacup and looked at everyone: "When you came, you didn't arrange these things properly? Then why were you in such a hurry to have the porcelain shop deliver the goods?"

"Is this a deliberate attempt to cause me trouble, or did you never intend to take the porcelain out in the first place?"