Jian Zhaoxing

Chapter 182 Eggs in Two Baskets
Liu Mang, slightly displeased, lifted the curtain again: "Why has it taken so long? Are you sure there's no problem?"

As he spoke, he stared intently into the guard's eyes.

"No." The guard's eyes and movements were perfectly normal. "That woman refused me for a while, which is why it took so long."

After confirming that the guards were alright, Liu Mang lowered the carriage curtain: "Hmph, it's just a woman's trick of playing hard to get. Give her a hundred or eighty taels of silver and see if she still refuses."

“You’re right, sir,” the guard replied.

Liu Mang didn't speak again, but after the carriage had gone a little further, he narrowed his eyes, feeling somewhat uneasy.

"Someone come here." His voice was very deep: "Go after them and see what's going on. If you find anything amiss, report back immediately."

He wasn't speaking to the guards who were with him, but to another guard who hadn't had any contact with the woman in white.

Even after the guards left to carry out their orders, the guards' faces remained expressionless and indifferent.

After about half a cup of tea's time, the guard returned.

"Reporting to you, sir, I followed her and saw her walk into a shop on the front street. She must have gone to buy rouge and face powder."

"Rouge and face powder?" Liu Mang frowned.

At first glance, this doesn't seem like a problem.

But if you're going to buy rouge and face powder, why would you come to this secluded path?
There are plenty of cosmetic shops on the street, so why did that woman choose to walk on this road and bump into their carriage?
After being invited by Vice Minister Bai, Liu Mang always suspected that it was a trap.

He called out to a guard, "What does that woman look like?"

"Willow-leaf eyebrows, a high nose, and cherry-like lips," the guard replied in a measured tone.

Liu Mang asked this question because he wanted to see if he knew the woman.

He was very familiar with the Lin family.

But the guard's eyes were firm and calm when he answered, and he did not appear to be lying.

There are too many women with these characteristics, so it's impossible to determine their identity.

Unable to come up with a solution, Liu Mang felt somewhat frustrated.

The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Since Lin Zhiqing had used personal connections and played the card of Vice Minister Bai, they certainly wouldn't let it go easily.

Eggs should always be placed in two baskets to ensure a safe investment.

The Lin family actually had this idea, so they wouldn't just appoint one Bai Shilang.

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became of the woman in white, so he immediately stopped the carriage.

"Change course and go through the West Market."

The driver was taken aback, but quickly turned the carriage around; he dared not disobey Liu Mang's orders.

The carriage soon entered the main street of the West Market.

It was called a main road, but it was really just a dirt road that could only accommodate one horse-drawn carriage.

On both sides of the street, there were many vendors hawking their wares.

Upon hearing this sound, Liu Mang frowned, finding it irritating.

The people outside the carriage also disliked the noise from the West Market, which was making them feel unsettled.

After finally leaving the bustling city center and turning into a small alley, the noise finally subsided, and everyone relaxed their brows.

But before they could relax for long, a series of incoherent chanting rang out.

Liu Mang frowned, pulled back the carriage curtain, and saw a house by the roadside with its doors wide open, white banners hanging all around, and some paper money lying outside the door.

Several monks were sitting around chanting scriptures.

Under the large willow tree not far from the entrance, several women were burning paper money while weeping.

unlucky!

This was Liu Mang's first reaction.

If you see white light when you go out, it foretells bloodshed and disaster.

"Hurry up." He suppressed his dissatisfaction and urged the driver. "Yes, sir!" The driver glanced at the coffin parked inside the door, felt a chill run down his spine, and hurriedly looked away.

Perhaps because of fear, he felt a dull pain in his lower back.

A guard in front of the carriage, seeing this scene, couldn't help but think of his father who had passed away a few years ago.

Overwhelmed with sorrow, he abruptly turned his head away, quickened his pace, and didn't want to immerse himself in his grief.

Soon, the group passed the house where the funeral was being held.

But the sound of chanting sutras wouldn't go away.

"Pah!" A guard in the back was so annoyed that he couldn't help but spit. "What bad luck! Why did it have to be done today of all days!"

Liu Mang frowned upon hearing this.

It would be fine if he said this to himself, but he was doing it in front of outsiders, and his voice was a bit loud. If word got out, it might damage the reputation he had worked so hard to build.

He lifted the sedan curtain, about to warn the guard, when a sharp voice rang out.

"You heartless bastard, don't think I didn't hear you! Did you think you could just quietly dig a hole and bury your parents when they died?" A middle-aged woman under the big willow tree put her hands on her hips and started cursing in the direction of the carriage.

The guard who had spoken recklessly earlier was initially somewhat guilty and ashamed, but upon hearing the woman curse her parents to die young, his anger flared instantly.
"You old hag, my parents are alive and well. It was your family members who died. You must have been framed by your mouth!"

"You heartless bastard, say that again and I'll tear your mouth apart!" The woman threw down the paper money in her hand, rolled up her sleeves, and rushed towards them.

The guard, feeling resentful, went to meet them from behind.

Liu Mang frowned, not wanting to waste time here: "Insolence! No fighting allowed! Step back!"

But for some reason, the guard's mind was filled with the woman's noisy voice, and he didn't even listen to Liu Mang's words, instead quickening his pace.

Seeing that something was wrong, Liu Mang frowned: "Why aren't you stopping him!"

"Yes!" The guard stepped forward, trying to stop the guard.

But the group of women had already rushed up and quickly started fighting with the guards.

The guards tried to break up the fight, but they too were caught in the crossfire.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

"I'll beat you to death, you son of a bitch, and see if you dare to disrespect the dead again!"

"You bunch of heartless bastards! So what if you ride in a carriage? Do you think having a few stinking coins will protect you from losing your parents?"

"Damn it, it's clearly you people who think you can stop others from holding funerals just because you have money?"

The various foul words were truly infuriating, and even Liu Mang in the carriage was losing his temper.

But he still retained his rationality, only feeling that this group of people were heading towards him, possibly arranged by the Lin family.

I just don't want to go to the execution ground.

The moment this thought crossed my mind, a sudden pain shot through my left armpit.

The pain came so suddenly that Liu Mang was caught off guard and instantly bent over in pain.

He opened his mouth, but before he could utter anything, a cry of "ouch" that didn't belong to him came over.

Liu Mang lifted the carriage curtain and saw the driver clutching his lower back, looking extremely pained.

The guard at the front was clutching his chest, writhing on the ground in pain.

Just then, the noise from the fight abruptly stopped.

What followed were the painful groans of the guards and the terrified cries of the women.

"This...this is an attempt to extort money from us? It's none of our business, none of our business!"

The women scattered instantly and ran inside. With a "snap," the door slammed shut.

Liu Mang's men were clutching their armpits, their waists, and their chests, their cries of agony filling the air.

(End of this chapter)