Insufficient balance

  Back at the county yamen, Wen Hao had the steward handle the consolation of the wounded and the families of the deceased, while the captured bandits were handed over to Ma Hu-tou for imprisonment in the main jail.

  After finishing these instructions, let Big Tiger call Shuoye over.

  In the study, Mu Sheng walked in and asked: "Wen Hao, what can I do for you?"

  "Brother Mu, take a look at this." Wen Hao said, taking out two secret letters from his bosom and handing them to Mu Sheng. Mu Sheng took them over and looked at them briefly, his face turning serious as he said: "I didn't expect the robbers of Wolf Mountain to be connected with the Wu Xiang Sect. It seems that things are more complicated than we thought." After finishing speaking, Mu Sheng put the letters into his own bosom and said to Wen Hao: "These two letters are useful to me, I'll keep them here."

  "Hmm! Mu Da Ge, what are you going to do next?" Wen Hao asked.

  Musheng looked at Wen Hao and said, "The bandits on Wolf Mountain have been eliminated, and there's nothing major happening in Tian Xiang County anymore. You've also stabilized things here, with the Cheng brothers as your guards, I can rest assured even more. Tomorrow, I'll return to Hunyuan City."

  When Mu Sheng said he was leaving, Wen Hao felt a twinge of disappointment in his heart. He still had some hope that Mu Sheng would stay, but now it seemed impossible. Seeing Wen Hao's disappointed expression, Mu Sheng said: "You don't have to be disappointed, when there is a need, send Ma Bo the head catcher to inform me and I will come over. From Tian Tang County to Hun Yuan City, with fast horses, it only takes a few hours."

  Mu Sheng's words gave Wen Hao some spirit, and he said: "With Mu Dage's words, I'm at ease. Then Mu Dage, you can go back and rest!"

  Musheng returned to his room, washed up and lay down on the bed. He would be leaving tomorrow. Although it had only been a dozen or so days since he parted with Ling'er, his heart was filled with longing for her. Tonight, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep.

  The next day, Musheng bid farewell to Wen Hao. He had originally planned to hire a horse-drawn carriage, but thinking that the journey was not too far and he was a martial artist himself, walking this distance didn't feel tiring at all. So he walked back on foot, taking in the scenery along the way. The official road was only a few people wide, with not many pedestrians on it. Occasionally, some merchant caravans would pass by, or several horse-drawn carriages would speed by quickly.

  Musheng walked calmly and unhurriedly on the official road, although his pace didn't seem particularly fast at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, his speed was actually astonishing - it's just that some people weren't paying attention. After passing through the mountain ridge, a vast open area unfolded before him, with fields lining both sides of the road and rows of thatched cottages in the distance, interspersed with several tile-roofed houses. As he gazed at the farmers working in the fields, Musheng felt a sense of returning to his past life. His eyes swept over the surrounding landscape, taking in every blade of grass and tree, yet his footsteps never ceased.

  The farmer in the field occasionally glanced at the scholar on the official road, and the vast official road was now only him walking. The hoe moved up and down, and the sweat kept coming down, the peasant wiped it with a long hemp cloth around his waist, looking far away, and the scholar who had just passed by not long ago was already out of sight. The peasant was slightly surprised, didn't expect the scholar to walk so fast, shook his head and didn't think much about it, and continued to hoe the grass.

  Suddenly, a burst of horseshoes came, and Mu Sheng unconsciously walked towards the side of the road. After a while, the smoke rolled, and Mu Sheng turned his head to look, six men in green robes rode horses from beside him. When Mu Sheng saw the crescent moon emblem on their sleeves, he was shocked in his heart. What were these six disciples of Wu Xiang Zong going to do? Looking at the direction they went, it should be Hunyuan City. Could it be that they are going to take action? Thinking of this, Mu Sheng involuntarily quickened his pace.

  In the evening, Mù Shēng finally arrived at home, walked into the house and saw that there was no one in the living room. So Mù Shēng went to the kitchen, saw Xiāng Líng cooking and said: "Ling'er, I'm back."

  Xiang Ling was cooking, heard the sound of her husband, turned around and saw it was her husband, quickly put down the spatula, rushed into Mu Sheng's arms and said: "Husband, you're finally back, I almost died thinking about you."

  Mo Sheng kissed Ling's forehead and said, "Ling'er, I miss you too." The two hugged each other like this for a while. After a moment, Mo Sheng's nose caught a burnt smell and he said, "Ling'er, it seems like something is burning."

  Hearing Mu Sheng's words, Xiang Ling exclaimed "Ah!" and struggled out of his arms, saying: "Master, the dishes are still in the pot, now I'm afraid they can't be eaten."

  "It's okay, Ling'er, I'll help you." Mu Sheng said gently. Then, Mu Sheng helped Xiang Ling in the kitchen. After the meal was ready, Mu Sheng stood up from the small stool by the stove and said: "Ling'er, you go put the dishes on the table first, I'll go call Grandpa and the others to come eat."

  "Alright, husband," Xiang Ling replied.

  Arriving at the backyard, he saw Grandfather and Mr. and Mrs. Sima sitting in the pavilion. Mu Sheng walked over and said: "Grandpa, Uncle Sima, Auntie, I'm back! Ling'er's meal is ready, let's go eat!"

  "Old Zhang heard what Mu Sheng said and said: "Brother Sima, since the rice is ready, let's go eat first!"

  "Alright, alright," Sima Chengfeng said with a smile.

  Dinner passed in a warm and lively atmosphere, and Mu Sheng told the three elderly people about his recent experiences. When he mentioned the secret letter, Sima Chengfeng was shocked, which made Mu Sheng realize that Sima must have been involved with the Wuxiang Sect in Hunyuan City. He would have to find time to talk to them later. After the busy evening, everyone returned to their respective rooms.

  Mo Sheng took a bath under Xiang Ling's service, then lay on the bed. The candles on the table were still lit. After serving Mo Sheng, Xiang Ling also took a bath. The two lay on the bed, and Mo Sheng looked at Xiang Ling's right face and saw that the black mole had disappeared without a trace. He said: "Ling'er, the black mole on your face is gone, you don't need to wear a veil when going out in the future."

  Xiang Ling leaned into Mu Sheng's arms, hearing his words, Xiang Ling softly said: "This still needs to thank the master, if not for the master, Ling'er is afraid that she would never have the face to see people in her lifetime."

  "Lin'er," Mu Sheng said, pulling Xiang Ling into a tighter hug.

  "Master, Ling'er's face is only for Master to see. From now on, when going out, Ling'er will still wear a veil." Xiang Ling said softly in Mu Sheng's arms.

  As soon as Xiang Ling finished speaking, Mu Sheng kissed her cherry lips, the tender and weak lips were like cherries, the sweet taste wandered between their lips, both of them passionately kissing. After being apart for over a dozen days, for the young couple, it was like an eternity, their youthful passion was thoroughly ignited and couldn't be restrained, until the second half of the night when the room finally quieted down, a short parting is better than a new marriage, let Mu Sheng and Xiang Ling both experience different tastes.

  The next day, after finishing breakfast, Mu Sheng came to the Zhao residence from the backyard and saw Xiaosan walking out. Mu Sheng called out: "Xiaosan, where is Eldest Miss?"

  Upon hearing Mu Sheng's shout, Xiao San turned around and replied: "It's Master Mu! The young mistress is having a meal in the elegant hall."

  "Oh! I see, you're busy!" He said and then walked towards the drawing room.

  Arriving at the Ya Hall, I found that only the eldest sister was eating pastries. Seeing someone coming in, the eldest sister turned around and saw that it was Mu Sheng, excitedly saying: "Mu Sheng, when did you come back?"

  "Last night, things on Wen Hao's side had basically stabilized, so I rushed back." Mu Sheng said with a smile, and then casually found a chair to sit down.

  "Oh, have you had breakfast?" asked the young lady.

  "Just had a meal and came over, Xinye, you eat first! Let's talk about the main thing after finishing." said Musheng.

  "It's okay" replied the young lady, but seeing Mu Sheng sitting across from her, she felt very uneasy and unknowingly blushed, lowering her head a lot, nibbling on the pastry, while also sneaking glances at Mu Sheng, her heart racing nonstop.

  Musheng now felt a bit strange, remembering that when he first came in, the big sister's face was not red at all! How did she become so red after just sitting for a while? "Big sister shouldn't be sick, should she?" Musheng thought to himself, and in order to confirm his own thoughts, he stared straight at the big sister.

  The big sister found that Mu Sheng was staring at her, and she thought to herself "Is there such a way of looking at people? What is this silly goose looking at?"

  Seeing the young lady with her head down, her face red all over, and the hand holding the chopsticks shaking from time to time. Seeing the young lady like this, Musheng couldn't help but ask: "Xin Ya, are you sick?"

  "I, I didn't!" The young lady looked at Mu Sheng with a puzzled expression, her eyes filled with doubt.

  "Why are you blushing and your hands shaking?" Mu Sheng asked in confusion.

  The young lady didn't answer him, but only gave Musheng a blaming look, thinking to herself: "This stupid goose, I'm doing this all because of you." Musheng saw that the young lady hadn't answered him, and had only given him a blaming look, so he thought to himself: "Could it be because of me? No way! I just got here, I shouldn't have offended her in any way!"

  The elder sister did not have the courage to finish eating the pastries under Mu Sheng's gaze. Because she really couldn't stand Mu Sheng, she hastily ate some and the two of them went to the flower hall.

  She took a light sip of tea and calmed down before saying: "Musheng, let's talk business!"

  "Uh-huh," said Mu Sheng: "Xin Ya, what businesses are the Zhao family operating now? I'd like to have a general understanding of the situation."

  "Our Zhao family mainly operates rice shops, wine houses and cloth stores, while also doing some other businesses that are not too important. I'll just mention the main ones. We have branches of these businesses in all five prefectures of Jiangnan, with the most being in Hunyuan Prefecture. Our business is mainly based in Hunyuan Prefecture, and it's difficult for us to develop in other places due to the presence of other family businesses. Currently, our annual pure income is around 100,000 taels. Overall, the business is not bad. However, recently, other families' businesses in the five prefectures of Jiangnan have been lowering their prices, causing our business to decline significantly. This situation may not be a problem in the short term, but if it continues for a long time, we will find it difficult to sustain ourselves."

  After listening to the eldest sister's words, Musheng thought for a moment and said: "Xin Ya, it seems that the Chamber of Commerce has already taken action. The family businesses they control have successively lowered their prices, which is nothing more than dragging down those uncontrolled businesses, so as to monopolize the commerce of the five prefectures."

  "What you said is right, but what should we do now?" The young lady asked with a frown.

  "As for this, Heart Jade, I can only offer some suggestions. As for how to operate it, I'm powerless." Mu Sheng said, in fact, Mu Sheng also wanted to help the young lady, but he himself was not familiar with business and had no experience in that area, having learned everything just to pass exams from a young age.

  "I don't blame you, go ahead and tell me your suggestion." The young lady said with apparent interest.