Four Six, Turtle Treasure Pearl

  "You little scamp!"

  The scout huddled in the woodshed, secretly sneering to himself.

  Does he think his plan is unknown to himself? Only this time I will let him down!

  The night was already deep, the scout quietly got up, tied his rope, and had been ground off by him. He moved his limbs a bit, without hurrying to leave, but looked around in a circle.

  In secret, someone is definitely monitoring, wanting to follow this vine of mine to touch the Master's melon!

  The scout sneered again, this time determined to teach him a lesson!

  After the scout quietly left, a figure that was lying on the ground in the distance got up, quickly came to the gate, knocked on it, and said something in a low voice. The door then opened.

  The torch was lit, and Gao Erzhong's face looked uncertain in the flickering light of the torch. He walked into the door, nodded to his father Gao Buping who was guarding the door, and then quickly ran towards Yu Guozhen's room.

  "Has he left?" Yu Guozhen asked as he walked in, who was writing with a small brush under the candlelight.

  "Yes, I'm leaving."

  "I think this guy will worry that we'll follow him to find Wang Hao Xian... Haha, he must be suspicious of every little thing, thinking that the rustling of leaves and grass is us following him."

  Yu Guozhen smiled softly, he was actually a playful person, and when it came to interesting things, he never hesitated to show his smile.

  "Little official, if you want to chase, now is still catchable." Gao Buping said in a low voice: "The villain's ability to track down horse thieves at the pass has not been lost yet."

  "No need, I intentionally let him go." Yu Guozhen shook his head: "Even if we catch up, it won't be of any use. If I were him, I would definitely go to Jinling. In a big city like that, your tracking skills may not be useful. The Xiangxiang Sect is a big troublemaker, and if possible, we'd rather not provoke them, but if they really want to come and cause us trouble, we're not easy to mess with either."

  Yu Guozhen indeed did not prepare to confront the Xiangxiang Sect directly. Although the sect's power had greatly diminished after more than a decade of suppression, the key was that it was like a centipede - always dying but never stiffening. At this stage, Yu Guozhen still did not want to provoke such a big trouble.

  Eighteen days later, the scout who had confirmed that he was not being tracked finally rushed back to Yangzhou.

  At this time, Yangzhou City was also one of the most prosperous cities in the Ming Empire. The areas around Chao Guan, Nan Men, Gu Du Bridge, Tian Ning Men and Ping Shan Tang were densely populated with people coming and going like a weaving loom. In Yangzhou City, it was easy to hide one or two hundred people and objects, let alone a Wang Haoxian.

  However, in Yangzhou City, his name was not Wang Haoxian, but Song Baoyi. On the surface, he was the master of Longsheng Dye Workshop, and secretly, he was also an agent for salt smugglers. But neither identity would remind people of the former leader of the evil cult that had stirred up a storm.

  He is now over fifty years old, but due to good maintenance, he still looks like a man in his forties. When he walks through the streets with his hands behind his back, the vendors on both sides greet him and ask how he's doing, and he responds with a smile. Occasionally, when he runs into some old acquaintances, he stops to chat with them for a while.

  Among them, there were both his secretly dispatched scouts and neighbors who had no idea of his identity. After he stumbled into his own courtyard, the smile on his face still hadn't faded, but his eyes had already turned gloomy and icy cold.

  "Is Fang Sanye back?"

  He arrived at the inner courtyard's secret chamber and coldly interrogated in a voice filled with authority.

  "The Muslim master is just outside."

  "Let him come in and see me, I ordered him to carefully investigate the Xiang'an Yu family's affairs, what did he do after all!"

  Tanzi Fang Sanye quickly entered the secret chamber, immediately fell to the ground and worshipped, his expression extremely devout, as if he was not worshipping a person, but a god in heaven.

  "San Er, where have you been these past few days?" Wang Hao Xian asked with a hint of warmth on his face: "Has something happened?"

  "Reporting to the Master, I accidentally revealed my identity and was discovered by Yu Guozhen." Fang Sanye's face looked extremely ugly as he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket: "He also left this thing on me..."

  Fang Sanye didn't discover the paper until two days after leaving Xiang'an. It was actually a brief letter, with no beginning or end, and very simple content. Yu Guozhen only wanted to protect his hometown, and had no interest in capturing evil cults. Therefore, both sides did not communicate with each other. The entire Wuwei County prohibited people from the Xiangxiang Cult from entering. If another Xiangxiang Cult spy entered, they would be captured and killed one by one.

  As he looked at the letter, Wang Haoxian listened to Fang Sanye recounting the process of losing his hand in detail. After listening, he put down the letter paper and pondered for a while.

  "Third son, you are my right-hand man. Among the disciples, your eyesight is the best. I have always entrusted you with the task of gathering information." Wang Haoxian asked: "What do you think... what kind of person is Yu Guozhen?"

  "This person is young in years but has a mind as fine as silk, and is deeply thoughtful and far-sighted. He is truly a divine being sent to the world. If our master can obtain his assistance, great things will surely be accomplished!"

  Wang Hao Xian was taken aback, and his voice trembled with laughter: "I didn't expect San Er to evaluate that little kid so highly. As far as I know, he's only sixteen... Do you think he's Gan Luo or Kong Rong?"

  "Master, I think that comparing him to Gan Luo and Kong Rong is underestimating him." Fang Sanye hesitated for a moment before speaking his mind: "I have another comparison, he is like the Master's own son, Zhang Zifang, the Sleeping Dragon!"

  At this time, "The Investiture of the Gods" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" were already popular in the world. The storytelling books did not have fewer propaganda about Jiang Ziya and Zhuge Liang. Yangzhou was also a cultural hub, so Wang Houxian and Fang Sanye were both very familiar with these two figures. When Fang San compared Yu Guozhen to Jiang Ziya and Zhuge Liang, Wang Houxian felt that it was somewhat excessive.

  "Is it really this severe?"

  "The disciple thought he was being careful, but until now, the disciple still didn't know where he had been seen through. The disciple remained silent, originally thinking that he could keep the secret, but he actually managed to guess the disciple's identity from this. When the disciple escaped, he worried that he would send someone to follow, but never thought that he had already put a letter on the disciple's body... Master, the disciple thinks that only divine wisdom and clever calculation can be worthy of this person!"

  Wang Haoxian pursed his lips, hesitated for a long time, and his eyes gleamed with uncertainty. He believed in Fang Sanye's vision, and since Fang Sanye had spoken so highly of that Yu youngster, he must have some extraordinary qualities. But it was precisely this that made him even more apprehensive - he was already over 50 years old, and soon to be 60, and his children were not talented; if the Yu youngster was really that exceptional, could his own descendants control him in the future?

  Moreover, from Fang Sanye's words and the letter in his hand, it is not difficult to judge that Yu Guozhen has no respect for him at all and cannot be used by him!

  "Third son, I had this intention, but you've also read the letter, that Yu fellow doesn't have such a heart." Thinking of this, Wang Haoxian let out a long sigh: "If we can't recruit him, how do you think we should deal with him?"

  "If we can't recruit him, then in my opinion, let's just mind our own business and not interfere with each other. The Holy Teachings are about non-action, and originally there weren't many people involved anyway. If we withdraw, let's just withdraw and try not to make an enemy out of that person."

  Wang Haoxian remained silent for a moment before speaking: "Yu Xiazi has such abilities, it can almost be certain that Xiao Si Lang and our batch of salt were lost to him. That batch of salt is worth 8,000 taels of silver, now Wu Qu is fighting against the Deng Lai bandits and urgently needs money, in the future when the Holy Sect rises, even more silver will be needed!"

  "The Master of Teachings, the Holy Teachings are not lacking in these eight thousand taels of silver. To plant a great enemy for the sake of a mere eight thousand taels of silver is not a move made by a wise person."

  Fang Sanye was indeed loyal and sincere, but Wang Haoxian had already clearly shown that he wanted to continue causing trouble for Yu Guozhen. Fang Sanye continued to advise him earnestly. A hint of anger flashed in Wang Haoxian's eyes, but before Fang Sanye noticed it, his gaze had become benevolent again.

  "Third son, there's something you don't know yet. During the time you were missing, I sent someone to Lu Zhou and they brought back a person."

  "What?" Fang Sanye was startled, he thought Wang Haoxian brought one of the young guards from Yu Guozhen, his heart suddenly jumped: "Master, th...th..."

  Thinking of the agility and quickness of the young guards when they captured him, Fang Saner secretly sighed in his heart. The master had not seen the training of those young people with his own eyes. Yu Guozhen was a great talent for training soldiers, even the hidden Wugang Xing in the sect, his personal soldiers did not have the skills of those young people!

  Offending such a person thoroughly, if he gets angry, it will be absolutely detrimental to the great plan of Wenxiang Sect!

  "What's wrong, you have an opinion?" Wang Haoxian this time did not hide his face at all.

  "Master, the disciple just thinks that if Yu Guozhen reports to the government that you are still in Yangzhou, it will be detrimental to the great plan of our holy teachings. We don't need to offend this person at all."

  "You know what, without real evidence, how can he go to the officials? The Holy Teachings, whether it's prosperous or hidden, all require a lot of silver. Silver is needed to bribe the officials, silver is needed to support the livelihoods of the followers, and silver is needed to help Wu Qu maintain his military power. If I hadn't splashed out my silver like water, how could Wu Qu have reached his current high position?"

  At this point, Wang Haoxian suddenly felt a wave of annoyance in his heart. He had high hopes for that "Wu Qu", spending countless silver taels to pave the way for him, and finally promoting him to his current position as Deputy General and Vice Commander-in-Chief, with control over a portion of the military power. But that "Wu Qu" was all talk and no action, and had just made a huge mistake in Dengzhou. If he wasn't rescued in time, all their previous efforts would be wasted!

  How to save? Still not white and silver opening the way!

  Thinking of this, he didn't prepare to beat around the bush anymore. Fang Saner was a wise and strategic person, a trusted subordinate under his command. To deal with that Yu surname child, he still needed to borrow his strength, so it's better to clearly tell him about this matter.

  "San Er, who was also brought along and surnamed Yu, was originally the fourth uncle of Yu Guozhen's clan. Later, because he colluded with outsiders to seize the family property, he was expelled by the Yu clan meeting and left Xiangyang for Luzhou...". After telling Wang Haoxian about Yu Yijin's news, he said: "He revealed one thing, that little brat Yu Guozhen... knows the technique of cultivating turtle shell pearls!"

  "What's with the turtle treasure pearl?" Fang Sanye was stunned.

  "Yes, when he was young, he saved an old turtle, and the turtle repaid him by teaching him the art of pearl cultivation. So his family built a pool and dug ponds to raise countless mussels. After two or three years, these mussels could produce pearls." Wang Haoxian said this, his breathing suddenly becoming urgent: "That's not just a matter of 8,000 taels of silver, but 800,000 taels, 80 million taels!"

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  (The story of the turtle treasure, those who have read Liaozhai know it, haha. When I was young, I also thought that if I had such a treasure, how great it would be! Now, I think that if there were more clicks and recommendations, how great it would be! Thanks to Feilong Yuxi Tian and Yu Meng Siwang for the reward.)