Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 236 Lord Huo's Wrath

Contrary to the emperor's expectations, Wang Maozhong was not slow to react. By the time the emperor sent an official to check the north gate, he had already discovered that the woman in the pavilion and her maid had disappeared.

"Don't make a sound! Quickly, search the entire mansion and the surrounding area, and bring this woman back to me. She is not to be allowed to leave the house again!"

At first, Wang Maozhong thought that the woman was being temperamental again and refused to show herself to see her new son-in-law, so she had hidden somewhere else.

After all, the woman had made a fuss about the marriage many times and refused to comply, but Wang Maozhong was too busy with other things to teach her a lesson and simply ignored it.

Now that the marriage has been arranged, and the benefits of the alliance are beginning to emerge, all the eunuchs, including Gao Lishi's adopted son Gao Chengxin, are afraid of the power of both families and are showing their deference.

This pleased Wang Maozhong greatly. He had initially considered it just a backup option, but now it seemed he had misjudged the situation.

He was too ambitious before and a bit out of touch with reality. He also offended Consort Hui for no reason. In fact, he should have chosen Ge Fushun, who was in charge of the 10,000 cavalry, as a marriage partner from the beginning, so that the North Gate could become one family!

However, it's not too late now. Although Ge Fushun's son is less impressive, he treats him with respect and admiration. Besides, a man's worth is judged by his ability and competence; a high position naturally exudes elegance.

So when he learned that the woman was still being difficult, Wang Maozhong became especially angry and decided to teach her a lesson today.

However, it was not appropriate to do such a thing in front of his new son-in-law, so he simply ordered his family to keep quiet and search the mansion carefully inside and out. He first sent away Ge Yanchang, who had been drunk and staying at home the night before, and then returned home to ask, "Have you found that lowly maid?"

"Not yet."

Upon hearing his family's words, Wang Maozhong felt a sense of foreboding and quickly asked sternly, "When was the last time you saw that woman?"

"Yes, it was last night when the Director of the Imperial Household Department, Gao Chengxin, sent me into the residence to arrange the curtains and furnishings. Madam temporarily went down to the attic, and then we helped tidy up..."

Upon hearing this, Wang Maozhong was immediately alarmed. He quickly ordered his servant Wang Shouzhen to come in and asked urgently, "Last night when you sent the eunuch Gao away from home, did you notice anything amiss?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Shouzhen pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I only saw Gao Chengxin and Zhang Dai coming out together, with quite a few followers..."

"Fool! You watched your sister being led away by the eunuch and didn't even notice!"

Wang Maozhong had already guessed what was going on, and his anger could no longer be contained. He kicked Wang Shouzhen to the ground, then grabbed a stick and began to beat him while shouting and cursing.

"Ah, Father, please forgive me! How could this be? How could Gao Chengxin dare to... how could he not want to live?"

Wang Shouzhen clutched her head and screamed in agony, begging for mercy in fear.

"That vile maidservant, she...she has long been unable to restrain her lust and desires to have an affair with Zhang Yue's grandson! How hateful, how hateful that I invited her into my house, I let a thief into my home!"

While whipping his son in anger, Wang Maozhong cursed, "It must be so, it must be so! Quickly, quickly send people to arrest him... No, no!"

He originally intended to order his servants to quickly lead the crowd to capture his runaway daughter, but he soon realized that it would be very inappropriate if the matter were to be publicized. Now that his family was already engaged to Ge Fushun's family, if such a scandal were to occur, Ge Fushun would surely be ashamed and angry. At that time, not only would the marriage not be able to proceed, but they might even become enemies.

Therefore, after pondering for a while, Wang Maozhong summoned his second son, Wang Shoulian, and said, "Quickly summon the yamen soldiers to Gao Chengxin's house and tell them that his family's treasures have been stolen. Arrest all his family members and servants! If they do not return my daughter immediately, I will make sure that his entire family is wiped out!"

"Gao Chengxin is just a eunuch, how could he possibly lure and hide my sister!"

Upon hearing this instruction, Wang Shoulian thought his father was being foolish in his haste, so he quickly reminded him, "Father, we should go to the Zhang family! It must be Zhang Liu. He's beautiful and talented and seduces respectable women. If we insist on demanding a eunuch, we'll only alert him!"

"Fool! That woman has been missing since midnight. Even if Zhang Dai is stupid, would he dare to hide her in his own home? Besides, last time... Go and arrest Gao Chengxin! Go quickly! If you can't find him at his house, surround the Lishi family's residence. No one needs to go in or out. I will personally go to his house to conduct a thorough search!"

Wang Maozhong said irritably, then pointed at Wang Shouzhen, who was lying on the ground groaning, and shouted angrily, "Tie this slave to the fence. If we can't get that lowly maid back, I won't let him off!"

He was still sitting alone in the hall, pondering how to remedy the situation, when an imperial messenger hurriedly entered and announced, "The Emperor has sent me to summon Lord Huo to an audience."

Not to mention that Dai Nei Jie Shi San Lang had launched a new business, Zhang Dai slept on the boatman's boat on the Xiecheng Canal until the morning bell rang. When he woke up, he asked if a large group of armored soldiers had entered the workshop. After receiving a negative answer, he guessed that Wang Mao Zhong might have some concerns and dared not make a big fuss about it.

To avoid revealing his whereabouts, he did not disembark but instead paid the boatman to take him along the canal to Xintan in the south. He then stayed on the boat and ate a simple breakfast.

As the boats lined up to pass through the water gate in the canal, a group of knights rode into the gate where the boats were gathered. One of them shouted, "Gao Chengxin, an Imperial Attendant, lives in Daoguang Ward. He has stolen valuable treasures and fled with his entire family. Anyone who sees his family and can bring them to justice will be rewarded with 100 strings of cash. Anyone who provides information about their whereabouts will be rewarded with 10 strings of cash!" Upon hearing this, the canal was immediately in an uproar. Many people, tempted by the generous reward, rushed forward to inquire about the appearance of Gao Chengxin and his family. Even the boat carrying Zhang Dai moved closer to the shore.

Even the boatman's gaze towards Zhang Dai was somewhat strange, after all, their secret boarding of the boat last night was highly suspicious.

Zhang Dai noticed that Wang Maozhong's second son, Wang Shoulian, was among the cavalry. Fearing that the boat owner might shout something that might attract attention, he quickly went to the stern of the boat, which was facing away from the canal bank, lifted his clothes, took out his weapon, and started releasing water into the canal.

Ugh!
After Zhang Dai finished releasing the water, he heard the boatman behind him let out a long, mournful sigh. He was furious and whispered to An Xiaochen, who was imitating him, "When the boat reaches Xintan, deduct half of his fare!"

"Alang, I..."

Yin Huan, standing to the side, was somewhat embarrassed. If he were to imitate her, he would surely be exposed.

Fortunately, the boatman was still thinking about the fare to take Zhang Dai to Xintan, and since the place was really crowded, he did not continue to join the crowd. Soon he poled his boat out of the water gate and entered the Qinghuafang area.

When it was fully light, the boat successfully entered Xintan and docked at Chengfufang Embankment on the south bank.

After Zhang Dai went ashore first, An Xiaochen glared angrily at the boat owner, who was still arguing that he had been shortchanged by 500 coins, with his fist as big as a sand bowl. "You money-grubbing bastard, you forced me and the master to prove on the canal that it's not worth 500 coins."

The boat owner glanced at An Xiaochen, who was as burly as a bear, and wisely poled away. After sailing a few dozen feet into the new pool, he pointed at Zhang Dai and his group and angrily cursed, "You stingy, lecherous bastard, you've been greedy for five hundred coins to support a prostitute!"

Even so, he was quite satisfied. After all, the normal fare for crossing two neighborhoods was only a few dozen coins. The three of them, master and servant, had given him nearly two strings of cash for the trip, including food and lodging. What good family would be so wasteful with money?

It was only because the master and servant had previously exposed their genitals and then went ashore to visit a brothel that the boat owner was willing to dock and report them to the authorities, hoping to receive a reward of ten strings of cash.

After entering Chengfu Lane, Zhang Dai went straight to Song San Niang's house. He had no time to say more. He took Jin Huan and Ying Nu, who had already packed their luggage, and then bid farewell to Song San Niang.

Theoretically speaking, Zhang Dai should have paid a ransom to the adopted daughter he took away. After all, Song San Niang had spent money to buy her and raised her for many years to cultivate her into a beautiful and talented woman. Taking her away before he could even generate income for her was a losing proposition.

However, since Song San Niang didn't mention it, Zhang Dai didn't say anything more. He planned to check if he had any spare money after returning from his journey east, and then give Song San Niang some gifts as appropriate.

If the money runs out, we can simply buy her an insurance policy for her retirement when Song San Niang gets old and the art gallery can no longer operate. I just don't know if my grandmother would agree.

After leaving Song San Niang's house, the group continued along the waterway, traveling eastward by boat along the canal out of the city and arriving at Luopu outside Luoyang. Only then did Zhang Dai finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Luopu was a bustling and prosperous area in the eastern part of Luoyang, where people gathered and people came together by land and water. Since Zhang Dai began his disaster relief work, he needed to handle the transportation of goods and supplies, so he purchased a large tract of idle land in Luopu and built a sizable logistics base.

"Ah Lang is here!"

When Zhang Dai arrived, Zhang Yi and another young man strode forward to greet him.

The young man's name was Liu Congyuan. He was the son of Liu Song, the postmaster who had arranged for Zhang Dai to stay at Duting Post Station. He was also a very capable young man. He had gone to the disaster area to gain experience and was very efficient in his work. Therefore, he was assigned to manage this Luopu post station.

"How is the medicinal herb trade with the Huo family going?"

Zhang Dai had barely finished asking his question when Li Yi, covered in haystacks, rushed out from the side. Seeing Yingnu following behind him, he grinned and complained, "Zhang Liu, you still have the nerve to ask about this! We, your disciples, have been investigating this matter from morning till night. We've handled the inspection, transaction, and transportation of thousands of bushels of medicinal herbs without the slightest carelessness, and they've barely been properly stored away. And you, spending the night at Song Sanniang's house, were having such a good time, forgetting all about the trouble..."

"Young Master Li, you've misunderstood. My lord didn't stay at home last night; he only arrived early this morning!"

Upon hearing Li Yi's complaint, Yingnu quickly spoke up to defend herself.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi looked embarrassed, raised his hand to slap himself in the face, and then bowed to Zhang Dai in apology.

Seeing his actions, Zhang Dai felt embarrassed and said, "You don't need to do this. Although I didn't stay overnight at a brothel last night, I didn't do anything good either. I abducted someone's daughter who was about to be married, which is why I'm worried it will affect the transaction."

However, upon hearing Li Yi say that the transaction was basically completed and the medicinal herbs had been transported out of the city, Zhang Dai breathed a sigh of relief, no longer worried that Wang Maozhong would turn against him again.

He then decided not to return to the city, but instead stayed at the warehouse to take stock of the money, goods, and supplies, and waited for Wang Changling and the others to finish their personal matters before meeting up and heading east together.

(End of this chapter)