Xu Quan played dumb.
The messenger ignored him entirely, fixing a stern, accusing gaze on Xu Xie. Xu Quan could crack jokes and smooth over anything he said, no matter how presumptuous or disrespectful. But Xu Xie was the Xu Clan Leader, and his answer represented the family's final stance.
Xu Xie held Shen Tang's confidential letter.
Holding it was like clutching a pill that settled the heart; the suffocating sense of being driven to the edge of a cliff with no way forward or back had vanished.
He let out a long breath, then made sure to return some of the bitterness he'd swallowed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "If I'm honest with myself, Xu and the Xu Clan have been utterly loyal to Lord Wu all these years. You could say we've 'put the strength of the whole clan behind him.' Yet all these years, Lord Wu has been misled by petty men, listening to one side and believing every word, soft-eared and weak-willed! The Xu Clan's foundations nearly crumbled. Messenger, may I ask if Lord Wu ever inquired why the Xu Clan's granary caught fire?"
Even with all the Xu Clan's money, they weren't wealthy enough to turn stones into gold.
That fire in the granary had nearly left them short of funds.
Fortunately, the merchants under Lord Shen's rule had been willing to give the Xu Clan more time to pay, and Qi Yuanliang had even asked through the government offices whether Xu Xie needed help. Otherwise, the Xu Clan would truly have been in danger. And what of their proper lord, Wu Xian?
Wu Xian had been relentlessly hounding him from the front lines. Xu Xie was already heartbroken over the granary burned to ashes, and his business desperately needed cash to keep running. Where