Arresting Hong Fu

As Zhang Asan was led away, Dai Sheng's tightly knitted brows did not relax. Instead, they drew together even more tightly.

The news Zhang Asan had brought him was simply too shocking.

If Fortune Comes really was as he had described, then who knew how much wealth stolen by bandits had found its way back into Yan Prefecture City through such channels over the years?

Dai Sheng could not understand why those bandits would bring the treasures they had plundered back into public view.

He paced back and forth in the hall, thinking until his head ached, yet still failed to make sense of it.

But something else surfaced in his mind.

"This matter presents an opening, Lord Dai. You must seize the opportunity!"

That was the advice Yang Qing had given him that day.

Could this affair with Fortune Comes be a continuation of the opening Lord Yang had spoken of?

At that thought, Dai Sheng's eyes lit up.

Lord Yang had spoken truly. He really had to strike while the iron was hot!

He waved over a passing runner. "Quickly, assemble all the Prefectural Soldiers in the yamen! I am going to shut down Fortune Comes!"

Fortune Comes was the largest underground bank in Yan Prefecture City.

Because Yan Prefecture was remote and had suffered raids by vicious bandits for years, many of its people chose to leave home to earn a living.

They rarely kept their hard-earned money on their persons, instead depositing it all in banks for convenient withdrawal.

This had led to a proliferation of underground banks in Yan Prefecture, and Fortune Comes was the most renowned among them.

Every year, Fortune Comes donated a large sum of charitable silver to the Yan Prefecture yamen, so Dai Sheng had held the bank in considerable regard.

Now that Zhang Asan had ripped away the cloth concealing Fortune Comes, Dai Sheng had no choice but to look deeper.

Once he did, the implications were staggering. If Fortune Comes had maintained close ties with those vicious bandits all along, then its people might well have taken part in their sordid dealings.

If that truly was the case, shutting down Fortune Comes now might sever one of the bandits' sources of income!

The more Dai Sheng thought about it, the more sound his reasoning seemed.

Besides, Prince Duan would soon arrive. If he could substantiate the suspicion that Fortune Comes was colluding with bandits, then present the treasures locked in the storeroom, he might even earn himself a promotion.

At that thought, Dai Sheng's head suddenly grew hot with excitement.

Thus, when he turned to muster the Prefectural Soldiers, he moved with even greater haste.

The people of Yan Prefecture City watched curiously as their county magistrate rode in his sedan chair, followed by a solemn-faced contingent of Prefectural Soldiers, making an imposing procession toward the eastern part of the city.

They speculated endlessly about the purpose of his journey.

Eastern district, Fortune Comes Bank

Over the past few days, Hong Fu, the head manager of Fortune Comes Bank, had suffered an incessant twitch in his left eyelid.

A twitching left eyelid foretold disaster, while a twitching right eyelid foretold wealth—or so the saying passed down by their ancestors went.

This had left Hong Fu feeling rather unsettled for days.

He kept expecting something to happen, yet could not think what might go wrong.

That very morning, however, some employees had reported that Zhang Asan, the servant he had ordered locked in the woodshed for stealing the bank's property, had pried open the lock and escaped when no one was watching.

Whenever he recalled that boy's face, full of sinister calculation, the vein in Hong Fu's forehead throbbed fiercely.

He was just about to turn and order someone to fetch the boy back when a tea-serving servant responsible for attending customers at the front counter rushed in, panic-stricken.

Perhaps he had been running in too much of a panic, for when he reached Hong Fu, he could not stop himself. Had Hong Fu not dodged aside quickly, the two would have collided.

Even so, the servant gave Hong Fu quite a fright. He flailed for some time before barely managing to steady himself.

The moment he regained his footing, he turned and kicked the servant in the backside.

"You blind fool! What are you panicking about?"

"Head Manager, out front—something terrible has happened out front!"

"Something terrible? What do you mean, something terrible? Speak properly, or you can forget about getting this month's wages!"

The tea-serving servant looked as though he had grievances he could not voice, but he had no choice but to steel himself and answer Hong Fu's question.

"Head Manager, the county magistrate is here!"

The county magistrate? Dai Sheng, who couldn't budge an inch at the sight of money?

Upon hearing that Dai Sheng had arrived, Hong Fu's nerves, which had still been somewhat taut, relaxed completely.

"Lord Dai's arrival is a joyous occasion! Is that worth getting yourself into such a state? Useless!"

Hong Fu turned and headed outside. After only a few steps, he turned back to the servant. "Why aren't you hurrying to serve His Lordship tea?"

The servant very much wanted to tell Hong Fu that Lord Dai did not seem to have come intending to sit down and enjoy tea.

But one glare from Hong Fu forced him to swallow every question filling his belly.

Only after watching the servant hurry away did Hong Fu proceed to the bank's main hall, all smiles.

From a distance, he saw Dai Sheng sitting upright in the main hall, and quickened his steps to greet him.

"Ah, Lord Dai! What wind has blown you to this humble commoner's establishment today? Someone, quickly serve Lord Dai tea!"

Hong Fu contributed a considerable amount of silver to Dai Sheng every year, so their relationship was ordinarily quite good.

That gave Hong Fu the confidence to bow to Dai Sheng while greeting him with laughter and banter.

What he had not expected was for Dai Sheng merely to give him a cold snort. "Head Manager Hong, I fear I cannot afford this cup of tea."

Hong Fu's smile stiffened. "What do you mean by that, my lord?"

Dai Sheng waved to the two runners beside him. "Take him away!"

Seeing the two runners rush toward him, shaking out their iron chains, Hong Fu's expression changed completely.

"My lord, this humble commoner has always worked diligently and abided by the laws of our Western Chu. Every festival season, I voluntarily donate silver to aid the people of Yan Prefecture. Why would you treat me like this the moment you arrive?"

"You don't know why? Then allow me to explain."

Dai Sheng looked at Hong Fu. "Someone has accused you of withholding wages and forcibly taking commoners' daughters. I have come to arrest you. Will you submit?"

Dai Sheng's words left Hong Fu stunned. "My lord, this humble commoner truly does not understand what you mean! I have been wronged! Wronged!"

"Whether you have been wronged will be clear once we return and question you!"

Dai Sheng addressed the remaining Prefectural Soldiers. "Seal Fortune Comes! Check the accounts and inventory the storeroom!"