Chapter 7: The Mind is Too Dark

  At noon, Xu Chang returned home and saw Xu Qian with a happy expression. He scolded in frustration: "You rascal, it's not like you've picked up a beautiful wife from heaven, what are you so happy about?"

  Deng Jian chimed in from the side, "Actually, it's no different from having a wife fall from the sky." He then enthusiastically told the story of Miss Zhao.

  Xu Chang Zheng said with a serious face, "As long as we can settle the matter of Wang Gong Gong, it's not impossible to release her father." After saying that, he patted Xu Qian's shoulder and encouraged him, "You're doing well, you've got some paternal qualities now. It seems like the child is teachable, finally enlightened, Ah-Mi-Tuo-Fo, our ancestors are smiling upon us, our family is blessed!"

  Xu Qian hastily said: "It's all thanks to Father's teachings."

  Xu Chang burst out laughing and immediately said: "I brought some pastries, let's fill our stomachs at noon."

  Xu's family has two bachelors, anyway no one cooks, usually just occasionally eating some pastries or noodles to barely fill their stomachs.

  The three of them went to the hall and had some pastries. Deng Jian's heart was full of doubts, thinking that this Xu father and son were really too strange. If it were him, he would definitely extort a large sum of money from Miss Zhao. What's the use of having a slave? Can a slave be eaten as food?

  He was at his wit's end, ate a pancake, and suddenly his eyes lit up, feeling that he had grasped something. He slapped the table and exclaimed: "I understand now, I finally understand, wonderful, it's beyond words."

  Xu Chang and Xu Qian looked at him like a madman, Xu Qian holding half a pancake bitten into a crescent shape in his hand, said: "What do you understand?"

  "I understand why you didn't extort money from that Zhao girl, but instead wanted her to sign a contract. That Miss Zhao is a national beauty, elegant and refined, and judging by her appearance, she must also be skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. I've heard that in Qinhuai, women like her can sell for at least 400-500 taels of silver if they're sold out. Compared to extorting a small amount of money from her, Xu brother is making a much bigger profit! It's truly clever, I didn't think of it before."

  Xu Qian was shocked.

  Xu Chang gazed at Deng Jian with a profound look, his expression unchanged as he said: "What do you understand? Let me tell you the truth, I didn't think that my family's Qian Er only cared about this money from selling herself. The fact is, having Zhao Miss sign the contract doesn't mean we have to rush to sell her off immediately. We can first take her in as a member of the Xu family. Doesn't she have a father? Later on, we'll use her to slowly extort money from her father. Once we've swindled him out of all his money, then we'll find a wealthy and noble family to sell her off to. In this process of buying and selling, it's not just a matter of four or five hundred taels of silver."

  Xu Qian was shocked again.

  He felt that his own mind was dark, but compared with these two guys who were forcing him to do evil, he was actually too pure.

  Deng Jian was severely humiliated by Xu Chang, but he didn't get angry at all. Instead, he revered Xu Chang as a god and admired him so much that he prostrated himself on the ground. He stood up and paid his respects to Xu Chang, saying: "Uncle Xu is truly an extraordinary person! I am willing to admit defeat and if I can often listen to your teachings at your feet in the future, hear your divine voice, then even if I die a thousand deaths, I will have no regrets."

  "Good, good." Xu Changru met someone who understood him, and his impression of Deng Jian finally improved a little bit.

  "Alright, Brother Deng, I'll need to trouble you to go out and spread a message later. Are you good at spreading rumors?" Xu Qian couldn't bear Deng Jian's corniness and changed the subject.

  Deng Jian hesitantly said: "Rumors? I'm such a honest person, it seems..."

  Xu Qian sneered coldly: "Anyway, I don't care. Later you'll go out on the streets and I will make sure that all of Hangzhou knows a piece of news. This concerns an important matter for Duke Wang. If you delay it, you won't be able to bear the consequences."

  Deng Jian heard the three words "Wang Gonggong" and immediately became solemn and respectful, saying: "Xu Dage, what are you talking about? To serve Wang Gonggong is not to spread rumors, even if it's to frame the imperial concubines, I can accept it with a bitter heart. Tell me, what rumor are we spreading?"

  Xu Qian smiled mysteriously and said, "You'll know later."

  ………………………

  Qiantang County is not big, but there are many idle people.

  From the Taizu to now, our dynasty has been in power for 120 years. The world has been at peace for so many years, but as land annexations have increased day by day, two kinds of people have begun to overflow: one is those who are hungry and idle, these people are collectively called vagrants, wherever they are driven, wherever they go.

  Another is that they have nothing to do after eating their fill, and they have some pursuits, not satisfied with the state of life where they sleep after eating and eat after sleeping. Therefore, it's inevitable that spreading rumors and gossip becomes their main purpose in life. Whenever there's a stir in Qiantang County, they're always the first to know.

  One day, a shocking rumor suddenly burst out in Qiantang County, saying that there was a calligraphy in the mansion of the eunuch Wang Gonggong, which actually mentioned a treasure. It said that Eunuch Wang had accumulated a lot of private money over the years, but this silver could not be taken back to the palace, so it was all secretly hidden away. The calligraphy cherished by Eunuch Wang was the key to unlocking the treasure. Whoever got this calligraphy would become rich beyond their wildest dreams.

  As soon as the news came out, everyone was shocked and amazed.

  Treasures, eunuchs, and treasure maps have always been popular terms in any era. In just a few hours, the calligraphy of Wang Gonggong's family became known to everyone.

  Some people even secretly investigated and found some clues. For example, Wang Gonggong indeed treasured a piece of running script, but the calligraphy level was not even average, let alone comparable to famous artists. These messages seem to confirm the authenticity of this rumor.

  Think about it, a calligraphy that is not eye-catching at all, how can Wang Gonggong treasure it as if it were a precious gem? It seems that this rumor may not be entirely unfounded, but rather quite credible.

  Rumors are like this, the more false they are, the more they spread with a life of their own, and those who spread them are enthusiastic about making these baseless rumors sound plausible, insisting that others believe them.

  As for this rumor, Wang Gonggong naturally sneered at it. On the second day, early in the morning, he got up as usual and went to the flower hall to sit idly and drink tea. As a eunuch in charge of guarding, managing some iron mines, and cracking down on salt smugglers, there wasn't much for him to do. However, when he entered the rear hall of the flower hall, Wang Gonggong's feet became immobile.

  That pampered and delicate face turned ferocious in an instant.

  A pair of profound eyes was like a ignited barrel of gunpowder, emitting a fierce and murderous aura.

  He sat in the hall, silent for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Come in."

  The old master gave a loud shout and immediately several servants stumbled in from outside, hastily making their bows and saying: "What are your orders, sir?"

  The king glanced back, scanning these servants with a cold gaze that made them feel uneasy, not daring to breathe, maintaining their kneeling posture without moving.

  The king slowly said: "Go and summon all the officials of the inner court and the attendants to come here."

  His tone was flat, but carried a sense of indifference.

  People found out that a calligraphy hanging in a prominent position in the flower hall had disappeared.

  Looking at the desolate wall, people's hearts were racing with fear, so they didn't dare to slack off and dispersed quickly, rushing away like flies.

  Before long, important figures from the mansion gathered here, including the managers of the inner and outer mansions, the accountants, the treasurers, and several attendants and guests. There were over a dozen people in total. They also noticed the empty walls, and some seemed to have sensed something.

  Wang Gong's eyes narrowed into a line, motionless.

  Led by Wang Qin, the head of the inner court, everyone bowed to Duke Wang in unison: "We have seen Duke Wang."

  Wang Gong got up, put his hands behind his back, and paced in the hall.

  Everyone lowered their heads and didn't dare move.

  He walked into a corner of the hall, and with a cold glint in his eye, he lifted his leg and kicked at a blue-and-white porcelain vase in the corner.

  Bang...

  The blue and white porcelain vase shattered loudly, shards of porcelain shooting out in all directions. The kneeling servants and guests were struck by the flying fragments, bright red blood flowing from their wounds like crimson earthworms.

  Zhang Qin, the chief of the inner court, was hit by a porcelain shard on his forehead. His forehead was a mess of blood and flesh, but he didn't dare move, cry out in pain, or even breathe loudly. He didn't even dare to get up and wipe away the wound, instead remaining still with a pale face, gritting his teeth, and silently enduring the pain.

  The king carelessly stopped in his tracks, his eyes gazing past them, facing the empty wall as he coldly sneered: "Beware of enemies from within, for they are the hardest to guard against."

  Just eight short words, like a death warrant, everyone's heart was in their throat. Zhang Qin, the head of the inner court, covered in blood, trembled with fear and said: "Your Honor, please calm down..."

  The king sneered coldly: "A perfectly good calligraphy, why did it disappear overnight?"

  The official Zhang Qin's face turned even more unsightly, and he hastily said: "Your Honor, I heard that there are rumors outside saying that the calligraphy of Lord Wang is related to some treasure map. Is it possible that someone has fabricated this rumor, making people believe that there really is a treasure map, which led to this unfortunate incident?"

  Zhang Qin said that it was possible, and Jiang Kun in the accounting room also hastily said: "Yes, I've heard rumors about this too. Someone must have listened to these rumors, eaten pig fat and blinded their heart, and done something so rebellious."

  Jiang Kun was a scholar who had failed the imperial examination, but he was deeply trusted by Wang Gonggong, otherwise he would not have been entrusted with managing the account room. At this time, he stood up to help, and Zhang Qin slightly relaxed her breath.

  "Is that so?" Wang Gong turned around and stared at Jiang Kun with a gloomy expression. Jiang Kun hastily lowered his head again.

  The old master slowly said: "Take our family's token, go to the county government office and ask someone to come, investigate thoroughly!" The two words "investigate thoroughly" were like a loud bell, shaking the tiles on the roof.

  "Yes, yes, thoroughly investigate!" Zhang Qin took the opportunity to wipe his own forehead, blood and cold sweat mixed together, staining his sleeve a deep red.

  The old man nodded slightly, his anger seeming to dissipate somewhat. He sat back in his chair, his eyelids drooping slightly, feigning sleep, and said no more.

  This calligraphy is too important for him, if the big shots in the capital find out that he doesn't even treasure his own masterpieces, let alone whether he can still act tyrannically here, once he loses favor, most likely he will spend the rest of his life in the Imperial Prison.

  Now all of this is arranged by that young Xu, but can that young Xu really find the true trace? Wang Gong didn't have much grasp on it, his eyes slightly narrowed, and a hint of murderous intent flashed across, thinking to himself: If it can't be found, our family will certainly have no future, and this kid must also bear the consequences.