Fifty-Five, Secret War

  Their words were spoken in a low voice that was almost suppressed, so although it was a refined seat, it also spread to the outside. A merchant-like person heard it and his eyes flashed.

  After Fan Zhen and others lost their hands, Fang Saniu received the news and immediately dispatched new scouts, but this time they were real scouts, who were also traveling merchants selling needles and threads.

  So he was in the tavern, also in the largest hall downstairs, drinking the worst wine mixed with water, ordering dishes without oil and salt, it was such a thing, he still savored slowly, as if eating a rare delicacy.

  So the majority of the conversation upstairs he had all heard in his ears, after hearing what he thought was most important, he swept away the remaining food, then picked up his own peddler's pole and slowly walked out the door.

  Several mischievous kids were chasing each other on the street, a young man was leaning against the wall sunbathing in the corner. The peddler glanced at them and knew that Yu Guozhen indirectly controlled these children, letting them act as informants.

  These mischievous children have apparently taken an interest in him, glancing over at him from time to time, but what they are looking at is not the man himself, but his carrying pole.

  The vendor's pole generally has pastries and candies for kids to eat, so these children looking at him is quite normal.

  The peddler smiled and shouted: "Maltose... Osmanthus cake, three coins for one piece... ten coins for four pieces! Young brother, want to try some?"

  Those children looked at each other, then each took out a coin to buy a piece of osmanthus cake from him. Soon they quarreled over how to divide the cake. The bigger kids snatched the whole cake and ran away, while the other two cried and chased after them.

  The peddler revealed a smile, then shouldered his pole and walked away slowly. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that the young man who was sunbathing had originally been staring at him, but after he sold the osmanthus cake, he shifted his gaze to other places.

  "This Xiang'an town has been run by that scoundrel like an iron barrel, with hundreds of households and thousands of people in the whole town, I'm afraid every single one of them is his informant. No wonder both Wan Huichang and Fan Huichang lost face in front of everyone."

  The peddler thought to himself and slowly left the town, heading in another direction.

  The next day, he arrived in Luzhou. Fang Sanye had changed his residence, but he hadn't left Luzhou. Upon receiving the news from Huolang, he was taken aback: "He really said that he would set out for Tongcheng on the 22nd of the first month?"

  "It's true, I heard it clearly. At first, he was somewhat unwilling, probably because he was intimidated by Director Fan and the others, but later reluctantly agreed."

  "On the twenty-second day of the first month...... Will this guy set a trap?"

  "This is something that ordinary people cannot understand."

  Fang Sanye thought for a moment, this matter was not something he could decide on his own, it had to be decided by the master.

  "I'll head back to Yangzhou right away... On the 22nd of next month, it's good that we still have over a month left, we have enough time." Fang Sanye said, but he immediately stopped: "What about Pang Jiazhi, how is his situation?"

  What he was most worried about was that Pang Zhuzi's loose tongue would be discovered by Yu Guozhen, and if so, Pang Zhuzi knew his hideout in Luzhou. However, it has been several days since the incident, and the Yu family has neither reported to the authorities nor found Luzhou, so Fang Saniu thought that Pang Zhuzi should not have leaked the secret.

  But it still needs to be confirmed by the vendor himself.

  "Pang Chuan's head has ascended to the heavens, and a lowly person saw his remains being sent to the government office." The peddler's face showed a look of unbearable pain: "The remains had suffered greatly, it was clear that the other side had used severe punishment."

  "Alright, alright, I know!"

  Upon hearing this, Fang San'er didn't show any sadness or anger, but instead revealed a look of great joy!

  If Pang Zhuzi leaked the secret, he would not die, after all, with him in hand, Yu Guozhen could testify that Wang Haoxian, the leader of the Huxiangjiao sect, was still alive!

  Moreover, Pang Zhuozi was a man of great courage and fortitude. Fang Sanye did not think that severe punishment could make him speak out. For someone who had already steeled himself for death, what would a little physical suffering amount to?

  Fang Sanye didn't know that Yu Guozhen had even more unbearable means than physical torture. Even if Pang Zhi's will was firm, after several days and nights of no sleep, no rest, no food, and no drink, his mind would still face collapse. At this time, many questions he answered were completely subconscious.

  However, out of caution, Fang San did not rush to Yangzhou and instead waited for further news in Luzhou. During this time, the peddler and two others took turns wandering around Xiang'an, their identities being either peddlers or bell doctors, and one was even a beggar. They didn't intentionally try to gather information about the Yu family, so they felt relatively hidden and hadn't been discovered by the Yu family's underlings.

  Yu's family is now the focus of Xiang'an Town. Originally, the Song family in Xiang'an Town was on par with the Yu family, but now the Yu family has subtly surpassed the Song family. The key lies in the Yu family's house guards. Therefore, every move of the Yu family's house guards is under the attention of the whole town, and news comes pouring in without needing to be sought out.

  On December 9th, after the seventh day of mourning, the Yu family held a grand funeral for several young men who died in the attack. The funeral was so grand that it was not inferior to those of ordinary wealthy families. Although there were not many burial objects, the entire ceremony was extremely solemn and respectful. In front of the tomb of the young men, Yu Guozhen publicly declared that he would definitely take revenge on the water bandits and eradicate them completely. Fang Saniu noticed that the object of Yu Guozhen's revenge was precisely the Taihu Water Bandit.

  On December 11, just two days after the funeral, Yu's family guard suddenly attacked in the name of Xiang'an Patrol Inspector, sweeping away a water bandit lair more than 40 miles away from Xiang'an, killing six river pirates on the spot and capturing eleven alive.

  On December 18th, Yu Jia's family guards launched another attack, this time entering Huoshan and fighting against the bandits of Huoshan, killing fifteen people and destroying a small stronghold before returning.

  Twice in battle, fighting inexplicably, it looks like Yu Guozhen is venting his anger on those small-time bandits.

  Then as the year-end approached, the Yu family finally calmed down, cooked pigs and sheep, and began to celebrate the New Year.

  The New Year's atmosphere in this countryside is naturally not as good as that of a big city like Suzhou, but it has its own unique charm. Liu had been bedridden with illness since the last incident and only now was she finally able to get out of bed. In Xiang'an Town, every household was decorated with lanterns and couplets, and her originally depressed mood also opened up.

  "Little official, the townspeople are all saying that this year is thanks to your blessing." She said with a smile when she returned, speaking to Yu Guozhen.

  "Oh?" Seeing her excitement, Yu Guozhen also became excited: "What did they say."

  "This year, our household asked them to do many things and gave them a generous wage. They said they had never met such a kind and generous master."

  What Liu Ruzi quoted from the town residents is not an empty word. This year, the expansion project of the Bieliang Institute has lasted for almost half a year, which has led to the recruitment of ten more workers in the town's brick kiln, and the transportation of bricks has also allowed five or six idle people to make a living every day.

  Then there is road repair, building and repairing roads are major projects that require a lot of manpower. The two of them hired more than 40 laborers and masons to help with the work, which benefited dozens of households as a result.

  As for the food and drink of nearly two hundred people in the backyard every day, it also needs to be consumed in large quantities, which also benefits the vegetable farmers in the town.

  Yu Guozhen smiled after hearing that: "It seems you have grasped the economics I told you about last time."

  These days, Liu Ruisi was ill, and Yu Guozhen would spend some time with her every day. However, the two of them just sitting there was boring, so Yu Guozhen told her about economics to lull her to sleep. Originally thinking that these things would make her dizzy, he didn't expect that Liu Ruisi was actually very interested in the three major links of production, circulation and consumption, asking this and that, and even grasped some principles of commodity economy.

  Liu Ruzuo also laughed: "Consumption drives production and circulation, but the wealthy landowners of our great Ming dynasty only know how to put their silver in jars and hide it in cellars. As a result, the amount of silver circulating on the market is always limited, so the court has no choice but to use paper money instead. However, the court does not have enough real silver as reserves, and coupled with the rampant printing of paper money, the result is that the paper money system collapses..."

  At this point, Liu Ruo's gaze at Yu Guozhen was filled with a strange kind of reverence. She had previously thought that being able to write good poetry, daring to speak out loud, and having a good reputation were the marks of a hero. But after following Yu Guozhen for half a year, she thoroughly understood that these were far from enough. Whether or not one could write good poetry was not an essential condition for being a hero; what mattered most was whether one could bring practical benefits to society - this was the key to being a true hero!

  "After the New Year, I will go out for a while. During that time, you and Xiaolian must be careful and not return to the town." Yu Guozhen said.

  "I know, I know, Young Master is going to congratulate the father of that young master. Liu Ruo looked at Yu Guozhen, blinked her eyes, and smiled coyly: "And also take care of an important matter on the way."

  Yu Guozhen was stunned for a moment. That day he had made plans with Fang Yizhi and Sun Lin, but no one had heard them. Where did Liu Ruosi get the news from?

  A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he smiled and said, "What important thing did you say I was going to do?"

  "It's only natural to go see Miss Fang, a talented and beautiful young lady from a prestigious family, with exceptional talent, elegant speech, and proficient in practical learning..." Liu Ruo said with a string of words, the more she spoke, the more the sour tone in her voice became unbearable, finally she let out a "humph" and turned her head to one side.

  However, her expression was mostly shy and coquettish. Because saying these words almost exposed her true intentions.

  Yu Guozhen was slightly stunned. He had thought that Liu Ruyi knew about his plan to deal with the leader of the Wenxiang Sect, but he hadn't expected her to be worried about this!

  "Heh heh...... Where did you get this from? Fang's family's young sister only borrowed my place to avoid the storm...... No, how did you know about this?"

  "It was Xiaolian who said that, Xiaolian said that the young lady of the Fang family had also given her name to the young official, this is not a trivial matter, how can the name of a respectable young lady be known to ordinary people?" Liu Ruyi smiled ambiguously.

  After Liu Ruzi arrived, she was clever and wise in taking care of people, indeed surpassing Xiaolian by a margin. Xiaolian couldn't help but feel a bit resentful, especially after noticing that Liu Ruzi had feelings for Xiao Guanren. It's worth noting that while there are women who don't get married, there aren't any who don't get jealous - it's just a matter of whether they can tolerate it or not. As a result, Xiaolian would occasionally bring up Miss Fang from time to time, and Liu Ruzi had almost gotten used to hearing about her by now.

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  Thanks for the reward from Muzi and Zhuzi