Why Would We Steal Things From Your Yu Family Estates?
The head of the Yu Family looked at Princess Jing'an and asked, "Then how can we find the Jianghu Alliance?"
Princess Jing'an took a sip of tea and said, "Of course there is a way. I will summon the prince consort right away."
The Prince Consort Jing'an quickly arrived and said, "The Jianghu Alliance? You want to go to the Jianghu Alliance to invite experts?"
He thought for a moment and said, "Have you guys offended someone recently? I have a feeling something's not right, it's weird."
Princess Jing'an snorted coldly and said, "We stay at home every day, who could we have offended? I'd like to see who's so bold as to dare to do that?"
The Prince Consort Jing'an nodded and said:
"To join the Jianghu Alliance, you need a token, and I happen to have one."
You can pretend to be my men and come with me today.
However, once you join the Jianghu Alliance, you must know the rules, don't speak carelessly, and don't cause trouble.
Sometimes those are people you can't afford to mess with.
Princess Jing'an nodded and said, "Is the Jianghu Alliance really that mysterious?"
The Prince Consort Jing'an said, "Even my family only dares to go to the outer perimeter. The inner area is forbidden; it's impossible to enter without a master."
In the dead of night, Prince Consort Jing'an led a group of people toward the Jianghu Alliance.
The carriage ride would take more than half an hour, Prince Consort Jing'an led them directly into a narrow alley.
Princess Jing'an scoffed coldly, "This alley stinks to high heaven, how could the Jianghu Alliance be in a place like this?"
The Prince Consort Jing'an explained, "The Jianghu Alliance in the capital has its headquarters right here. Don't make a sound."
The Prince Consort Jing'an led them into the alley, where they indeed saw several people come out and stop them, asking, "What brings you here?"
The Prince Consort Jing'an took out the token and said, "I've come to deliver goods."
Upon seeing the token, the men nodded and said, "Go in!"
They pressed the button on the side, and the stone door slowly opened.
They went inside and saw that the Jianghu Alliance's plaza was enormous.
The air was filled with Liuli palace lanterns, their lights stretching out in a continuous line, illuminating the entire area as bright as day.
The square was teeming with people, with martial arts figures from all walks of life coming and going, and the noise rising and falling.
The Prince Consort Jing'an led them directly into the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion, saying, "You can buy all kinds of information here, but the prices are quite high; the cheapest items cost tens of thousands of taels."
Princess Jing'an couldn't help but gasp, "Ten thousand taels? Isn't this robbery?"
The Prince Consort Jing'an sneered, "Robbery? Do you know how difficult it is to investigate this kind of case? Didn't the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review help you investigate? Did you get any results?"
Princess Jing'an looked at the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion and said, "Are you sure you can find the information here?"
The Prince Consort Jing'an nodded and said:
"Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion's rule is that if the problem cannot be found, you can get a refund."
Of course, they only tell you who did it; they don't care about anything else.
Soon, the manager of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion came out.
The head of the Yu Family explained the situation.
The manager of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion said, "50,000 taels."
Princess Jing'an said, "What? 50,000 taels?"
The manager of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion said calmly, "That's how it is here. If you don't want to, turn left as you exit."
"Yes, yes." The head of the Yu Family took out 50,000 silver notes.
The manager of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion nodded and said, "Go back and wait! Come back tomorrow at noon."
After they left, the manager of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion rolled his eyes and said, "They're really stupid and rich. They deserve to be ripped off. Go ask the master how this is settled."
Zhou Wanwan received the message quickly. There was nothing she could do; Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion was her business, and it didn't require any capital investment.
How could she possibly waste it?
Zhou Wanwan said:
"That's a bit difficult! Actually, it's quite simple. Why don't we frame the Xie Family?"
I think it would be quite a good thing if Noble Consort Ning and the Empress Dowager were to start a fight.
And what about the border situation? Is there still no news?
She received the news several days ago, but so far, the news of the defeat has not reached the palace.
The manager of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion shook his head and said, "Not yet!"
Zhou Wanwan sighed and said:
"How slow! Let's do this: first tell them that the Xie Family did this."
Then tomorrow I will go to the palace again to deliver the message, saying that Old General Xie has been defeated.
The manager of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion nodded and said, "Alright, let's do it that way!"
The next day, the head of the Yu Family went to the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion, only to receive a reply of just two words: Xie Family.
The head of the Yu Family looked at the words "Xie Family" and said, "This... how is this possible?"
The manager of the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion glanced at him indifferently and said:
"Anyway, this is the result of my investigation. Whether you believe it or not is your business."
"Of course, you can continue your investigation. If it turns out the Xie Family didn't do it, then our Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion is willing to refund your 50,000 taels of silver."
When the head of the Yu Family returned home, he summoned Princess Jing'an and Princess Ningyuan and said, "Let me tell you about this matter. Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion told me that it was the Xie Family who did it."
Princess Ningyuan was completely stunned. "How could the Xie Family have done this? The Xie Family is now our partner."
The head of the Yu Family looked at them and said, "Anyway, this is the result of their investigation. If you don't believe it, you can send someone to investigate."
Princess Ningyuan shook her head and said, "Impossible. Unless the Xie Family Xie Family has gone mad, why would they do such a thing?"
Princess Jing'an said, "How about I send my guards to investigate? I remember the Xie Family owns some estates not far from us."
The head of the Yu Family nodded, and soon dispatched dozens of guards to the Xie Family Yu Family.
The guards returned to report:
I did see many fruit trees on the Xie Family's estate.
Some of the houses look very similar to our village.
Not only that, I also saw several cows, all of which belong to our village.
The head of the Yu Family led a group of people directly to the Xie Family's estate.
The head of the Yu Family looked at his own estate and said, "Check if any of our belongings are in these estates."
The village foremen looked them over and said, "Yes, these are cows I raised from calves."
The head of the Yu Family looked at the head of the Xie Family's estate and said, "Summon your Xie Family head here."
The head of the Xie Family was sleeping at home when he was woken up. He grumbled, "What are you trying to do in the middle of the day?"
The steward said, "Master, something terrible has happened! The head of the Yu Family has come to our manor."
The Xie Family patriarch frowned and said, "What's he doing in our manor? Is he planning to steal something? Let's go check it out."
The head of the Xie Family rushed to the Xie Family Manor and shouted, "Old Yu, what are you doing here on my estate?"
The head of the Yu Family scoffed coldly:
"Old Xie, you're really shameless."
You stole all our things from our estate and brought them to yours, and you still have the nerve to ask me what I'm doing here?"
The Xie Family patriarch was dumbfounded. "Nonsense! The Xie Family's estates are no less than your Yu Family's, why would we steal from your Yu Family's estates?"
The head of the Yu Family scoffed coldly:
"You'll have to ask yourself that question! Ask your village head where these cattle came from!"
Where did these fruit trees come from? And where did these poultry come from?