Chapter 12: Infighting (Second Update)

  Maofengzhi watched as Huang Kui opened the red cloth, revealing five small yellow fish. The price was extremely high, and the apology was more than sufficient! Maofengzhi was shocked, thinking it might be silver, but he didn't expect it to be gold bars!

  In this era, gold is the hard currency, in the most popular things, foreigners also like to settle trades with it! Mao Feng couldn't help but admire Huang Kui's magnanimity as the head of the Huang family.

  Mao Feng looked at Huang Kui and said: "Aren't you afraid of inviting a wolf into your home?"

  Huang Kui's hand trembled slightly, but quickly regained its calmness. He also calmly said: "My eyes won't misjudge people, although this is our first meeting, I think you, Mao Lianchang, are a person with a bottom line! Not the kind who takes advantage of kindness and fears evil! Moreover, this time it was my Huang Fu's fault from the start!"

  He spoke with great momentum, not at all depressed because of the crowd surrounding Huang Fu's mansion. Mao Feng smiled faintly and picked up his teacup to slowly take a sip of tea.

  Huang Kui didn't get angry at all, he said to the butler: "Bring this over!"

  The butler immediately placed the tray with gold bars on the tea table beside Mao Feng, and he showed great respect, bowing and smiling at him constantly.

  Maofeng put the teacup on the tea table, he didn't even glance at the gold bar, he looked directly at Huang Kui and said: "I'll take these, I'm new to this place, unfamiliar with the local customs, if Mr. Huang is willing, I'd like us to get along!"

  Huang Kui saw Mao Feng's arrival as a stroke of good luck, and after some thought, he figured that it wouldn't be a big loss for himself. If he could get along with Mao Feng, then losing some money was no big deal! Who knows, maybe in the future Mao Feng and his men would even be able to help him out a bit. Besides, who knew how far Mao Feng would go in the future?

  Merchants are good at investing, no profit without early rise. The Huang family was originally a merchant family, which is fundamentally different from the Dings' official and scholarly families. This is also where the conflict between the Huangs and the Dings lies.

  Huang Kui Huan Xin said: "That's the best, I've said it before, our humble abode's gate is always wide open for you, General Mao! It's an honor for our humble abode to have General Mao pay a visit!"

  Mao Feng's expression didn't change much, he nodded and said: "Let's just forget this ever happened. But I still want to kindly remind you that some people need to be disciplined, otherwise disaster is looming! That's all I have to say, goodbye!"

  Huang Kui didn't respond, but still politely saw Mao Feng off to the gate, watching as he and his entourage left. Huang Kui muttered to himself: "This man is quite capable! In the end, he's not someone to be underestimated!"

  The steward, an old man and a confidant of Huang Kui, asked on the side: "Master, this young man is inexperienced. If it weren't for Master wanting to win him over, he wouldn't have left the Huang Manor so calmly! When has our Huang Manor ever been so lenient?"

  Huang Kui's face sank, and he said with great dissatisfaction: "You're also an old man, how can you not see this? Look at the people under his command, they are well-trained, and that sharpness is evident. What is this? This is clearly a attempt to take advantage of our Huang family. If it were in the past, I might not have been so cautious, but today, with old enemies still lurking outside, how can we afford to add another opponent? Moreover, Chaozhou has changed hands, and I don't even know what kind of person that new owner is. If I become a sacrifice, a stepping stone for him, how will my Huang family survive? This young man is already a battalion commander, and he has many people under his command, which means he must have caught Lin Hu's eye, or at the very least, he has someone backing him up. How can I not be wary of such a person? As the saying goes, don't underestimate a poor young man!

  The butler's face changed, but as Huang Kui spoke, he also gradually changed color, becoming pale, and the sweat beads on his forehead slowly increased. Huang Kui looked at him, let out a cold snort, and turned to walk into the mansion.

  The news of Huang Fu's misfortune quickly spread throughout Chaozhou, and the fact that the prestigious Huang family had fallen on such hard times was a major sensation.

  Lin Hu was overjoyed when he heard the news and clapped his hands, saying: "This kid is not bad, not bad at all!"

  Lu Jian didn't understand why the commander was so happy and gave such a high evaluation of Mao Feng. In his opinion, this was a big mistake, but listening to the commander's tone, it seemed that it wasn't the case after all. It seems there's more to this than meets the eye!

  Miss Ding was now clean and had changed into a new set of clothes, she was in the hall talking to her father when the servant reported on the matter of the Huang estate.

  Ding Hua, the head of the Ding family, furrowed his brow and fell silent after hearing the news, apparently analyzing the intricacies of the matter.

  Ding Xiaoya, this is the daughter of the Ding family who was saved by Mao Feng. Ding Xiaoya's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she thought for a moment before speaking: "Father, I think this matter is not simple! My impression of that person who saved me is that he is no ordinary person, his demeanor and words are not something that ordinary people possess, let alone those rough men! Perhaps there is someone behind him directing him!"

  Ding Hua nodded and shook his head, saying: "It seems there's no chance now! I didn't expect this person to act so quickly! Originally wanted to make some moves with this matter, but it looks like there's no need for that anymore!"

  Ding Xiangya said resolutely: "Not necessarily, if our Ding family can't take action on such things, who will put us in their eyes in the future? Our Ding family is loyal and filial, but we are not fools who don't fight back when beaten and still talk about reason with others! Father, you think too much and tie your hands and feet. This time, we must make the Huang family pay a price!"

  His eyes flashed with a hint of coldness, and his tone also became somewhat indignant. "Do you know what? It's definitely going to move, but it can't be too big of a movement. If this person doesn't make a move, then we can indeed take action immediately. However, now is not the time! This person is from a military background, and every word and action represents Lin Hu's will. Do you think he would dare do such a thing without Lin Hu's permission? Don't you realize that Huang Kui just came out of Lin Hu's place? The timing seems too coincidental, doesn't it?"

  Ding Xiaohua thought for a moment before speaking up, "Father, this is their business, we don't know and don't need to know. I only know that we are in the right now, even if we make a big fuss, we still have reason on our side. Can it be that Lin Hu will turn a blind eye?"

  Ding Hua snorted and said, "Is Lin Hu one of our Chaozhou people? How many of those who hold military power now are reasonable people? Reason must be spoken, but that is only possible among equals. If the gap between them is too great, will they speak reason? Now whoever has the bigger fist is the one with reason! If it weren't for my father's careful planning and hard work, our Ding family would have been swept out of Chaozhou long ago!"

  Ding Xiaohua was at a loss for what to do next, and she asked her father, "What should we do now?"

  Ding Hua's expression turned even colder as he said, "What to do? We can't let the Huang family off so easily. We must investigate the identity of the person who saved you and their relationship with Lin Hu. This point must be clarified. Of course, now we will go visit Lin Hu! You must play the role of the victim well, do you understand what I mean?"

  "Understood, Father!" Ting Xiaohua nodded and replied.

  "What?! Zheng Ping's face turned pale with rage as he stood up, his voice cold and menacing: "You're a good one, Mao Feng! You actually dared to lead troops to the Huang estate without my permission. This is a serious offense! Without my orders, you've caused such a disturbance in the area... I'd like to hear what you have to say for yourself!"

  Just then, Zhao Di's voice floated in: "Wait! Captain!"

  Zheng Ping immediately saw Zhao Difei walking in, and he still saluted Zheng Hua with a military salute, doing justice to the superior-subordinate relationship. Then Zhao Difei said: "Team leader, shouldn't we first go ask Mao Feng's deputy commander why he did this? Maybe there are other things involved here?"

  Zheng Ping had long been dissatisfied with Zhao Difei, and he was extremely resentful of this traitor. He said indignantly: "Do I need to ask? Does it still require me to ask personally? Not only did Mao Feng not take the initiative to report, but instead I have to go ask? Moreover, he mobilized troops to disturb the local area, why didn't I know about it beforehand? Is this my fault for wronging him? There's nothing to be asked, what is it? Does Chief of Staff Zhao want to cover up for this person?"

  Zhao Di Fei listened and calmly said: "Team leader, I'm not covering up for him, but reminding you. Don't you think there's something fishy going on here? If Mao Lian Chang didn't have sufficient confidence, would he do this? I'm doing this for your own good!"

  Zheng Ping heard this concerned remark, he immediately burst into thunder and shouted: "What do you mean? You're too much! Humph, even if you talk nonsense today, it's useless! You just stay here, don't go anywhere! Wait for me to come back, I'll see what this kid wants to do?! What does he want to do?! Dare to resist, I'll cut him alive! Come on! Assemble the troops!"

  Zhao Difei saw Zheng Ping hurry out, he sat down calmly, looking at the two guards still monitoring him here, apparently left by Zheng Hua.

  He smiled indifferently, thinking to himself: Now let's see how you, Zheng Hua, can still be the captain? Humph! I'm kindly reminding you, but you don't appreciate it?! When the time comes, taking over the troops will be a natural course of events!

  Zheng Ping gathered the guard platoon and ordered the first and second battalions to surround the engineering company, also ordering that if they encountered resistance, they would be executed on the spot! Zheng Hua thought that Mao Feng was a person who wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. Now that the opportunity had arisen, he couldn't wait for even a minute, his mind was filled with the idea of getting rid of Mao Feng.

  The movements of the three regiments naturally couldn't be hidden from people, especially Lin Hu, who received the report at the first time. His first reaction was that the opportunity had come! For the third division, especially the third regiment, he just wanted to find a way to get rid of them. He had been thinking of dealing with Chen Jiongming's arrangement for these people to come over, and now he finally had an excuse.

  Thank you Bragg Xiao Hai for the reward, I'm really grateful, it fills me with motivation to code! Readers who like this book can collect and provide valuable suggestions!