Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 552 A Hole Wiped Out
When a merchant mentioned the storage yard, the house was immediately turned into a mess.

Although there was little sound, it was as dramatic as a play.

Some panicked, some were eager to try, and some looked around, their eyes darting around, trying to figure out how to protect themselves.

Xie Yuyan was clearly just watching the show. She picked up her tea and sipped it slowly. She had talked too much and had expended a lot of energy. From now on, she would just sit here and listen.

Sure enough, after the merchant spoke, someone stood up.

“Old Xing,” Lu Xu hurriedly began, “I did go to the storage yard yesterday, but I…”

Lu Xu wanted to clear himself of any wrongdoing, but found he had no excuse. Helpless, he could only point to the two people beside him: "Fan Fang and Dong Pan sent me."

"It was their idea last year too."

Before Fan Fang and Dong Pan could speak, Lü Xu pressed on, saying, "It was Han Si who conspired with these two from the beginning. Later, when we heard about it and came to him, Han Si had no choice but to sign the contract with us as well."

As Lü Xu spoke, several more merchants stood up.

"Master Xing, just as Lu Xu said... However, we didn't sign the contract to hoard goods. We originally intended to take the goods with us. By the end of October last year, my family's caravan was almost at Bianjing. Later, Han Si said that the price of porcelain in Bianjing would soar in the twelfth lunar month, so we might as well leave the porcelain at the storage yard and resell it later."

The merchant pointed at Fan Fang and Dong Pan: "Isn't that right?"

From October to December last year, it was Fan Fang, Dong Pan and Lü Xu who rented the shop at the storage yard. When they heard that Xie Yuyan had obtained the storage yard's accounts, they were naturally panicked. Were they going to have to wait for the market administration to summon them for questioning?

Not only would they be flogged, but all their goods would be confiscated, and even if they sold the goods, they would have to pay the money. After all this, even if they survived, they would only be barely clinging to life. Not to mention, with this charge, they would be expelled from the porcelain business and could no longer sell porcelain. How were they supposed to live then?
Moreover, they received the least amount of money, and they absolutely could not take the blame for others.

Fan Fang and Dong Pan's expressions changed, especially Dong Pan, whose lips trembled in panic and he couldn't speak for a moment.

Seeing this, Fan Fang gritted his teeth and said, "We were just following someone else's advice. Han Si was the senior official at the time. Since he thought it was feasible, we naturally didn't think anything was wrong. Anyway, no one will hold us accountable..."

He paused slightly at this point.

Chen Yixiu, standing nearby, felt the hairs on his body stand on end, because he knew that Fan Fang was about to confess about him.

“Besides Han Si,” Fan Fang said, “Guan Fenglin and Chen Yixiu know the most about this matter.”

Chen Yixiu's scalp tingled, and he wanted to say something to refute it.

Then another merchant said, "It was Chen Yixiu who advised us not to sign the contract. Chen Yixiu also said that Xie Xing always relies on... relies on..."

The merchant didn't dare to continue: "In short, those porcelain kilns in Daming Prefecture are nothing in the entire Daliang, and they are not qualified to be industry leaders at all."

“When we were choosing the next head of the trade, there weren’t many merchants to begin with. Then, the head of the trade brought in those peddlers and laborers to make up the numbers. It wasn’t fair. If we were to choose again, the result would definitely not be the same.”

Zhang Sanlang, who had wanted to leave before, now felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. Xie Xinglao kept him here so that he could hear these words.

Xie Yuyan didn't even look at Chen Yixiu, but said, "I don't care what you plot in private. This position of senior member belongs to the capable. If you have the ability, come and compete for it."

"However, don't try to use underhanded methods, or you'll have to think about whether I'll catch you red-handed."

Chen Yixiu took a deep breath. He hadn't had a chance to speak before, but now that he could, he didn't know what to say because he knew that Xie Yuyan would not let him go no matter what.

“You,” Chen Yixiu said, “have you never done anything shady? I don’t believe it…”

Xie Yuyan reached out and brushed his clothes aside, his eyes clear and bright: "Did you find out?"

Chen Yixiu was speechless. Xie Yuyan said, "If you could find out, why would you need to use such methods? A person covered in filth dares to stand in front of others. Are you stupid or do you think everyone in the world is blind?"

Zhang Sanlang couldn't help but pull his hand further into his sleeve.

After speaking, Xie Yuyan stood up and looked at Madam Yu: "Has half an hour passed?"

Mother Yu replied, "Just right."

Xie Yuyan left the crowd and walked out. All the merchants in the room stood there, but not one of them dared to stop him.

After Xie Yuyan left, the surroundings fell into a deathly silence.

The merchants who were attacking each other all had anger in their eyes.

Before the accident, everyone was on friendly terms, working together for profit. But once trouble breaks out, who can care about anyone else? When the ship is sinking, everyone naturally tries to escape.

This atmosphere didn't last long. Chen Yixiu stood up and walked outside, but as soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw the constables coming towards him.

Chen Yixiu's heart sank immediately. He suddenly understood why Xie Yuyan said half an hour... because the yamen officials would come to his door in half an hour.

By gathering everyone at the porcelain shop, the government was spared the trouble of making arrests everywhere.

Chen Yixiu felt a chill in his heart; they had truly walked right into a trap.

Zhang Sanlang witnessed the merchants being taken away and felt as if he had escaped death. Especially when the constables repeatedly looked him over, even though the matter had nothing to do with him, he still subconsciously felt guilty, and Xie Niangzi's words echoed in his ears: "How dare a person covered in filth stand in front of others?"

"Sanlang-kun."

Zhang Sanlang only came to his senses after the steward called out to him.

The manager said, "Shouldn't we be leaving too?"

Zhang Sanlang then realized that only he and his servant remained in the room.

Zhang Sanlang belatedly asked, "They've all left?"

The manager was also terrified; Xie Xinglao was indeed quite capable. Everyone in the room was taken to the yamen.

Zhang Sanlang stood up and walked towards the door. As he stepped over the threshold, he tripped and fell. Fortunately, the steward was there to help him, otherwise he would have fallen.

Zhang Sanlang steadied himself and turned to look at the main hall of the porcelain shop, where the words "The Way of Porcelain is Sincerity" on the plaque shone with brilliant gold.

……

Outside the Municipal Affairs Bureau, Wang Bingcheng sat in a private room of a teahouse, opposite the head of the Municipal Affairs Bureau.

Wang Tiju reached out and took the tea that Wang Bingcheng offered, looking flattered. Before Wang Bingcheng could speak, he recounted all the recent events that had occurred in the Market and Commerce Bureau.

When Wang Bingcheng heard the old manager of the porcelain shop hand over the petition, he immediately raised his eyes and asked, "Are you talking about the newly appointed old manager of the porcelain shop?"

Wang Tiju responded, "That's right, it's her. Xie Xinglao has only been in office for a short time, and he's already uncovered the hoarding and speculation from last year."

When he saw the petition, he was extremely surprised. He had heard that the porcelain merchants were restless and thought that this newcomer would seek help from the Market and Exchange Bureau, but who knew... that the man hadn't mentioned any of these things at all, but instead brought benefits to the Market and Exchange Bureau.

There's one more chapter. If there are any errors, I'll correct them later.