Insufficient balance

  The next morning, the young lady and Mocheng went to Zui Feng Lou after breakfast. Zui Feng Lou is the best building in Qingzhou City, also the venue for the Five Houses Chamber of Commerce, with a wide space, adjacent to Mingyue Lake, beautiful scenery, and a quiet environment.

  When Mu Sheng and the young lady arrived, many people had already come. The young lady found a seat at the Huanyuan Chamber of Commerce and sat down, while Mu Sheng stood behind her, occasionally greeting acquaintances. Mu Sheng didn't know anyone, and was stared at like a monkey, which made him very uncomfortable.

  As she gazed into the pairs of eyes staring at her, Zhuo Sheng was about to speak when a familiar voice said: "Miss Zhao, I didn't expect to run into you here, what a coincidence!"

  Mu Sheng saw the newcomer clearly, and it turned out to be Song Gongming, who was wearing a white outfit with an elegant demeanor. He didn't quite understand why he would appear here, and seemed enthusiastic about it. However, the young lady calmly said: "We've met before, sir."

  Next, only Song Gongming was seen speaking alone, while the eldest sister remained silent, and the taciturn Mu Sheng stood by her side as his attendant. Song Gongming felt extremely displeased that his words were not being taken seriously, especially since Zhao Xinyan seemed to have ignored him completely. With a belly full of pent-up anger and nowhere to vent it, he maliciously thought to himself, "Since my master can't be moved for now, then I'll move her subordinate." Mu Sheng was still unaware that he had already been targeted.

  Song Gongming was just about to find trouble with Mu Sheng, when a young servant at the gate shouted: "The leader is here!" Then, a man in his sixties walked in, his sharp eyes scanning the room before sitting down on the chair above.

  Song Gongming knew that this was not the time to show off, so he shook his sleeves and walked towards the old chairman. The chairman looked at the people below, feeling that it was about right, and opened his mouth: "This year's Chamber of Commerce mainly has one thing to tell everyone." When he said this, the old man stopped and looked down, seeing that everyone was staring at him with eager eyes. "That's exactly what I want," thought the chairman. He continued: "The Chamber of Commerce has decided to merge the five prefectures' business numbers, expand the scale, and have each of you serve as the manager of the business number in your location. Moreover, each of you can take a high dividend from the general meeting every year. What do you think?"

  The old man then fell silent, narrowing his eyes as he gazed downwards.

  The old man's words were like a thunderbolt that struck the people below, except for a few who expressed agreement, most of them showed disagreement. Hearing those who opposed him more fiercely, a flash of ferocity flickered in the old man's eyes, and then he seemed to be looking down at the ground unintentionally.

  The old man's fierce light was captured by Muzi, and he felt that this matter was not as simple as imagined. He whispered to the eldest sister: "This matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface. We'd better not take a stand for now and just observe the changes." The eldest sister nodded in agreement.

  The old man saw that everyone had calmed down, so he said: "This matter will be given to you for one night's consideration. I suppose you are all tired from traveling far and wide. Tonight, rest at the Drunken Wind Building, and I will order people to take good care of you." After finishing speaking, the old man left, followed by Song Gongming. Then a group of servants came in, leading everyone to rest. Due to the limited number of guest rooms and fewer female guests, and as stipulated above that each business has one guest room, Mushi and the sisters were taken to a guest room together.

  The young lady felt a bit awkward, as she had never been alone in a room with a man before. Mu Sheng didn't have this feeling, and the two of them sat silently in the house, Mu Sheng thinking about what happened today, especially the fierce glint in the old man's eyes that made him feel a sense of danger. The young lady kept her head down, her small hands occasionally playing with the hem of her skirt.

  "Finally, Mo Sheng broke the silence and said: 'Big sister, what do you think about today's events.'"

  "Ah! What's wrong?" The young lady said anxiously, as if her concerns had been hit on the nail. Mu Sheng didn't understand what was going through the young lady's mind, so he could only ask: "What do you think about what Lao Zhang said today?"

  The young lady knew she had just lost her composure, and was filled with regret in her heart. It was all because of this guy in front of her. However, upon hearing Mu Sheng's question, she still said, "I will not agree to it."

  "Have you thought about the consequences?" asked Musheng.

  "What consequences?" The young lady asked in puzzlement.

  "If I'm not mistaken, I think we're under house arrest."

  Upon hearing this, the young lady hastily ran to the window and opened it, only to see that there were people patrolling outside, and they were quite numerous. The young lady's heart sank at the sight, and she turned to ask Mu Sheng: "Then what should we do?"

  Although the young lady had been in business for a long time, she was also flustered and at a loss for what to do. Mu Sheng looked around outside the door to make sure no one was there, then closed it. He beckoned to the young lady with his hand, and they sat down beside the table. Because they were very close together, Mu Sheng caught a whiff of fragrance. However, at this moment he didn't pay attention to these things, but rather said in a low voice: "Young lady, if we don't agree tomorrow, then our lives will be in danger. So for now, the best thing to do is leave here. As long as we get to Hunyuan City, we'll be safe."

  The big sister leaned her face over and asked, "Then how can we leave here?" Mu Sheng whispered a few words in the big sister's ear, and the big sister seemed hesitant. Mu Sheng added fuel to the fire, saying, "Big sister, only this method will not alarm those patrolling people, and the hope of success is also greater. Otherwise, we can only wait here to be slaughtered at will."

  Upon hearing Mu Sheng's words, the eldest sister frowned for a moment before reluctantly agreeing. Seeing that the eldest sister had agreed, Mu Sheng walked to the door and called out to a servant, saying: "Go tell Song Gongming, Song Gongzi that Zhao Xinyan has something to discuss with him." The servant hastily departed after receiving the order.

  After a while, Song Gongming came over with his sword in hand. Seeing the young lady, he smiled and asked: "I don't know what Miss Zhao wants to see me for." The young lady showed a rare smile and said: "I'm feeling a bit stuffy in the house, I'd like to ask Mr. Song to accompany me outside for some fresh air, would you be willing to grant my humble request?"

  Song Gongming saw the smile and soft voice of the eldest sister, and agreed without hesitation.

  The three of them walked out together and strolled along the lake. The eldest sister asked, "Young Master Song, this place has a beautiful scenery, what is the name of this lake?"

  Song Gongming saw the beauty and asked, so he started to show off and said: "This lake is called Mingjing Lake, in Qingzhou Prefecture it can be considered the largest, the great Confucian scholar of the previous dynasty..." Then only heard Song Gongming telling the story of Mingjing Lake's celebrities. Under the guidance of the eldest sister, the three people walked further and further, feeling almost there, the eldest sister looked at Mu Sheng, only to see Mu Sheng knock Song Gongming unconscious on the ground, then said to the eldest sister: "Let's hurry up and go"

  The old man was reading a book in the room when his eyelid twitched. "Could something have happened? It shouldn't be! Now everything is under my control." The old man thought to himself. Then he said to the person outside the door, "Go and call Song Gongming for me."

  After a while, the servant returned and replied: "Reporting to the host, Young Master Song has gone out for a stroll with Miss Zhao Xinyi."

  "The old man lost his voice and said, 'Go inform Hu Lao', then he quickly left. According to the patrol's answer, the old man found Song Gongming with a group of people. Seeing Song Gongming lying on the ground, the old man was furious and had someone wake him up."

  Song Gongming woke up to find a large crowd of people around him, with the pale-faced chairman standing in front of him, while Zhao Xinye and that Mo Sheng were nowhere to be found. Even if Song Gongming was foolish, he knew he had made trouble, just as he was about to explain, he heard the chairman say angrily: "Tell me what's going on!"

  Next, Song Gongming hesitantly explained the situation, "It seems they've been gone for a while." The old village chief thought to himself. His own men were definitely unable to catch up, it seemed he had no choice but to ask him to take action. He then said to his attendant beside him, "Hu Lao has arrived."

  "The old man is here", a black-robed figure walked towards the elder from not far away, his whole body was wrapped in black robes, including his head, only leaving two eyes exposed outside, it seemed he was afraid of people seeing his face.

  The old village chief saw the man in black and came forward to greet him, saying respectfully: "This matter has troubled Old Hu."

  "Hmm!" The man in black robes responded lightly and disappeared. The old master saw Hu Lao leave, then loudly said: "Everyone go back to their posts, anyone who leaves the Drunken Wind Building must get my approval." After finishing speaking, he glanced at Song Gongming kneeling on the ground, thinking to himself "If it weren't for his father Song being a trusted assistant of the master, I would have severely punished him."

  He coldly said: "Follow me"