Chapter 2: The First Snow (Part 3)

  Arrived at "Changle Fang" cockfighting arena, but again followed the Qin brothers in a hurry. The assistants said that the two young masters had waited for Wang Xun for a long time and didn't arrive, left a letter and then hurried to another place.

  "Bring it to me!" Wang Xun took the letter from his assistant, checked the seal on the envelope, and slowly pulled out the letter. The handwriting was sloppy and hasty, making it clear that it was written in a hurry. In the letter, Qin Guoquan tactfully reminded him that autumn chill was approaching. He suggested that he should not go out unless necessary and try to inspect the harvest at the Tianzhuang manor by the Wei River if possible. If he couldn't get away for the time being, he should wear more clothes when going out to avoid frostbite. The specific situation would be discussed in private among brothers after today's banquet. If Wang Xun couldn't attend the banquet today, then after reading the letter, he should go to Qin's house tonight to retrieve the sable coat that was left there last time, so as not to waste money buying a new one again.

  At the end of the letter, Qin Guozhen casually mentioned that Zida had encountered some trouble in his business and Old Master Qin already knew about it. He was thinking of ways to help him out with some money. However, the Qin family was also facing financial difficulties lately, so it might take a while to come up with the funds, or it might be just a drop in the bucket. He hoped that Wang Xun could understand.

  As expected, Yun's guess was correct. Old Master Qin didn't want to get involved in this muddy water! Putting down the letter paper, Wang Xun couldn't help but sigh again.

  Just now when he was reading the letter, Zhang Wei had been pulling Lei Wanchun to hide in a distant place drinking tea, not daring to get close to peek at the contents of the letter. At this moment, hearing him bring it up on his own initiative, he immediately understood and smiled, speaking in a low voice to comfort him: "This time, Qin's uncle is probably also powerless! Yang Guozhong, Li Linfu, and Wang Yao are competing with each other, and within the capital, all civil and military officials are avoiding them. Guo Mo and Guo Zhen are taking huge risks to find you everywhere, it's already very difficult!"

  "Alas!" Wang Jun let out another soft sigh. Although he knew that Zhang Zhou's words were reasonable, he still couldn't help feeling resentful.

  Lei Wanchun couldn't stand the sight of him complaining about his troubles, and laughed loudly, saying: "In my opinion, it's better to rely on oneself than others. Didn't Yuwen tell you that he hid an account book? Where is the chicken coop? I'll go find the ledger!"

  "Brother Lei, come with me!" Wang Xun nodded lightly and responded helplessly. At this moment, the three of them were already in the study room reserved for the Dong family behind the cockfighting arena. After leaving the house, they walked along the small path in the garden, passed a waterside pavilion, turned left, and arrived at the residence where the "great generals" were usually raised. Wang Xun shooed away the servants attending to the fighting cocks, referred to Yuwen's previous description, reached out to touch the specified position, and indeed pulled out a package wrapped in oilcloth from under the straw at the bottom of the chicken coop.

  The three of them put away the account book and quickly retreated back to the study. After closing the doors and windows, they carefully examined it and found that from more than half a year ago, all the financial transactions and "business" dealings between Yuwen Zhi and Zhu Fu, including the names of the parties involved and their original words, were recorded clearly. Among them, there were several instances where Wang Xun had thought were cases of drunken misconduct by the group towards government officials, but in reality were all orchestrated by Zhu Fu through Yuwen Zhi and other Yang family hangers-on to intentionally provoke trouble. They took advantage of the fact that those officials did not dare to simultaneously offend more than a dozen aristocratic families, thereby helping Yang Guozhong vent his anger.

  Seeing this, Zhang Xun couldn't help but sigh. He didn't expect that Yang Guozhong, as a high-ranking official and imperial relative, would still be unable to shake off the habits of a street thug. What could have been resolved openly in court was instead handled in secret with underhanded methods. He also didn't expect Yuwen Zhi to have such cunning at such a young age, seemingly anticipating that once something went wrong, the Yang family would definitely abandon their subordinates to save themselves. So he had left behind an account book in advance, hoping to secure a chance for himself to survive.

  "What's the big deal? With this account book, Yuwen kid has at least a 50% chance of getting away!" Lei Wanchun glared at him with his large, cowbell-like eyes and said gruffly.

  "The problem is, how can we get this ledger out in the open!" Zhang Zhou suppressed his disgust towards Yuwen Zidao and responded in a low voice. Since he had promised Ma Fang yesterday, he must think of a way to rescue Yuwen Zidao from danger. He had to fulfill his promise. Even thinking about Yuwen Zidao's actions and intentions at this moment made his chest feel suffocated.

  Although angry with Yuwen Zhi for secretly doing so many despicable things, Wang Xun still couldn't bear to watch his good friend die in the prison of Wan Nian County. He shook his head, threw off all the unpleasantness in his heart, and said in a low voice: "Yuwen Zhi has an older half-brother who seems to be very close to Yang Guozhong..."

  "Absolutely not!" Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Xun and Lei Wanchun simultaneously spoke out to stop him. They looked at each other, and Lei Wanchun voluntarily shut up. Zhang Xun continued to explain: "Yuwen De has clearly drawn a line with his brother, making it clear that he wants Zida to take the blame. If the account book falls into his hands, I guarantee that within three days, Zida will be silenced!"

  Wang Xun also understood that he had a bad idea, his face turned iron-green, and he nodded reluctantly. Seeing him in a listless state, Zhang Zhou smiled again and comforted him: "Actually, even if we don't do anything now, Zi Da won't necessarily be at risk. Didn't that Sun surname catcher say that the people who were taken to the Temple of Great Justice have already confessed? In my opinion, this kind of heavenly fight, stinky fish and rotten shrimp are first affected just to take it out as an excuse. Now that the excuse has been found, having one more Zi Da won't make a difference, and missing one won't make a difference either!"

  That can't let Yuwen Xiaozi continue to suffer in the big prison. Although he indeed deserves his punishment! Lei Wanchun shook his head, somewhat resentful that iron wasn't made into steel. If it weren't for having had dealings with Wang Xuan and others from an early time, encountering this kind of thing today, he might have applauded and cheered for the Prefect's actions. After all, the young masters of the capital had long been notorious, and almost everyone who had clashed with them would cover their noses at the mention of it.

  "I'm just saying he won't die for the time being!" Zhang Zhou waved his hand, signaling to Lei Wanchun and Wang Xun to calm down. "If we want to solve this matter from the root, the best strategy is for me to contact a few of my fellow jinshi from back then, and together we'll submit a memorial to the imperial court, exposing Yang Guozhong and Li Linfu's abuse of power and harm to innocent people, so that it reaches the emperor's ears..."

  He himself felt that this was impossible as he spoke halfway. He smiled first, and the other scholars who had passed the imperial examination with him so many years ago had gone through so much turmoil in their official careers, how much of their former spirit of pointing at the mountains and rivers remained? It was said that Yang Guozhong and Li Linfu were targeted, and they would probably hide far away. Even if they really wanted to help, relying on a few small officials as tiny as sesame seeds and green beans, how could they shake the current powerful minister who even the descendants of Hu Guogong respected from afar? It was likely that the joint petition would either sink like a stone in the ocean or invite trouble. By the time the emperor's eyes were opened to the truth, Yuwen Zidu's bones had already turned to ashes.

  "Your method only suits a gentleman!" After laughing, Lei Wanchun looked at Zhang Zhou and bluntly announced, "To deal with those petty city folks, I think it's best to use their own despicable methods. Tear open this account book, rip out a few irrelevant pages, and send them to that Zhu store owner. Not for anything else, just to let him know we have something like this in our hands. As for whether or not to save Yuwen Zidao, his backers can weigh the pros and cons!"

  "Ah, this..." Zhang Xun furrowed his brow. After reading so many years of Confucian classics, he found it difficult to agree with Lei Wanchun's methods in his heart. At the same time, he had to admit that Lei Wanchun's suggestion was much more effective and feasible than his own wishful thinking just now.

  "I'll arrange for someone to take care of it. You and Zhang Dage shouldn't show your faces, lest Yang Guozhong finds a clue later on and takes revenge on Zhang Dage!" Wang Xun felt relieved in his heart, thinking that Lei Wanchun's suggestion was good, and immediately nodded in agreement.

  "You can't go either!" Zhang Xun shook his head to stop him. After reluctantly accepting Lei Wanchun's proposal, he considered the specific details of the action much more deeply than the other two people. "Your relationship with Zida is on the surface. As long as the Yang family wants to find someone, the first person they suspect will be you. This kind of divine magic duel, it's likely that one or two rounds won't be enough to determine victory or defeat. As long as Yang Guozhong doesn't thoroughly fall, and your Wang family is in the capital, setting a trap to catch you off guard would be easy."

  After some thought, he shook his head again. "Similarly, we can't touch Ma Fang's people either. He was able to do this much for everyone, it's already not easy! Gu Mo and Gu Zhen are also unable to show their faces. Moreover, after going through this matter, the Yang family and Yu Wen Zi Da will be like a clap of thunder - scattered in all directions. In order to prevent them from seeking revenge against Zi Da in the future, we must make the remaining account books disappear without a trace!"

  "This won't work, that won't work, you'd better say something that will work!" Seeing Zhang Zhou's calm and composed appearance, Lei Wanchun was so anxious that he started rubbing his hands.

  Zhang Xun smiled wryly and let out a long sigh, "It's just to deal with Yang Guozhong that such despicable tricks are used. Forget it, forget it, let's just say it's using poison to attack poison. Old Lei, can you find someone from the jianghu who has no attachments, hasn't been in the capital for a long time, and have him go to Zhu Ji's place? After leaving Zhu Ji's, he should immediately leave Chang'an and make sure Yang's family can't find him again!"

  "What's this?" Lei Wanchun was indeed stumped by Zhang Zhou, he had washed his hands in the golden basin for many years. The friends he knew from the Taoist way were either dead or had also washed their hands and started their own businesses. It could be trusted without reservation that those who were alone and unencumbered would drift away after the event, so how could they possibly deliver themselves to his doorstep?!

  "It's not urgent at this moment! As long as you don't mind spending money to bribe the officials in Wanxian County, it won't be a problem to drag it on for ten days or half a month." Zhang Zhou was slightly disappointed and looked at Wang Xun who was gazing pitifully at Lei Wanchun, then comforted him in a low voice.

  "Got it!" Lei Wanchun suddenly slapped his forehead and burst out laughing. "How could I have forgotten him? This guy is absolutely reliable, as long as he agrees, nothing can't be done!"

  Note 1: Double pupils are a sign of divine eyesight. Ancient people believed that wise and enlightened emperors had two pupils in each eye.