Chapter 27: Dirty Dealings

  The second shopkeeper Xiong Erpao saw his men being stabbed outside the wine tower in a forest near Xiaoli Village. He knew that Leng Jiangbo might be in danger, but instead of going to rescue him, he was very happy and wished for Leng Jiangbo's death. He made up an excuse to tell his men: "The big shopkeeper is fine, we can withdraw." So he led his men back and went to drink with Boss Wan Houliang at the Ying Tian Tea House.

  Two people ordered a few small dishes, poured several jugs of wine, and chatted while drinking...

  Wan Houliang poured a full cup for Xiong Erpao and said, "Second Master, who knows, this time you might become the Big Master! Come on, let's have a toast in advance!" He raised his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.

  Xiong Erpao also raised his wine glass and drank it clean. With excitement, he said with some worry: "It all depends on this kid's luck today."

  "He's done so many bad things to the Zhou family, do you think Old Man Zhou Shi Ming will let him off? This big master is simply a stupid pig. What kind of person is Zhou Ren Tian? He's a grave-robbing expert, his tomb has more mechanisms than an emperor's tomb, but there may not be much valuable stuff inside. How can the secret possibly be hidden somewhere? It's not worth taking the risk to do this." Wan Hou Liang analyzed while drinking wine.

  "This guy is sometimes too bold, but often he's timid as a mouse and doesn't get things done." Xiong Erpao chimed in.

  "Second Master is indeed a man of courage and wisdom, a great master. " Wan Houliang praised Xiong Erpao, and tentatively asked, "If you were to become the master, I believe we would cooperate even better."

  "It's possible that we'll still need Boss Wan's help on this matter later."

  "That's natural, that's natural, for our common interest."

  ……

  Two men were talking, when one of Xiong Erpao's subordinates came in and whispered a few words in his ear. Xiong Erpao was shocked upon hearing this, gestured to his subordinate to withdraw, and the latter retreated. He stood up and said to Wan Houliang: "It seems we can't drink anymore, that dead guy is really lucky to have returned. I need to go back and take a look."

  "Wait, Second Master!" Wan Houliang called out to Xiong Erpao. "I still have a few words to say to the Second Master. Leng Jiangbo knows the most about the Zhou family's secrets, you must think of ways to get the secrets from him. For now, what we need to do is to retrieve the treasure from his hands, even if it means offering a high price. Otherwise, it will become an eternal mystery after he dies. I will help you replace him at the right time."

  "Then I'll thank Boss Wan first! I understand what Boss Wan said earlier. Goodbye!" Xiong Erpao bowed and left the Ying Tian Tea House.

  Returning to Jiangyue Manor, Xiong Erpao directly came to see Leng Jiangbo. He saw Leng Jiangbo sitting limply in a chair like a deflated balloon, and asked: "Big brother is back safely? I told you, he would definitely be fine."

  Leng Jiangbo saw Xiong Erpao coming, and immediately stood up from his chair, angrily asking: "Where did you go? At the critical moment, you actually slipped away, thanks for your attention..."

  Seeing Leng Jiangbo's furious questioning, Leng Jiangbo calmly walked forward and bowed, saying: "Didn't you return safely? I've been waiting with my brothers in the small woods outside. If Big Brother had something happen, I would have been the first to rush up. We were watching from the outside and felt that Big Brother was definitely safe. In case Zhou Shiming discovered us when he left, I told my brothers to withdraw. It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

  "Are you still okay? I almost lost my life there!" Leng Jiangbo said dejectedly.

  "Really? It looks peaceful outside." Xiong Erpao pretended to be puzzled.

  "Alright, alright, let's not talk about this depressing thing anymore. You can go now and let me be quiet for a while..." Leng Jiangbo waved his hand to signal Xiong Erpao to leave.

  Xiong Erpao had just taken a few steps back, and then stopped again, saying: "Big brother, we've been quite tight on hand recently, and the brothers are all complaining. I think if this goes on for long, it won't be good for our mountain village!"

  "Lately you don't know, we can't do anything smoothly, nothing is going well." Leng Jiangbo said listlessly.

  "Shouldn't you take out the goods you've accumulated and use them for emergency?" asked Xiong Erpao.

  "You little scamp is thinking of selling it, but I'm a bit reluctant to part with that thing. It's not something I can let go of unless absolutely necessary!" Leng Jiangbo said with a pang in his heart.

  "The old doesn't go, the new doesn't come. Who knows, maybe in a few days we'll have a new treasure again. As long as the green mountain is still there, don't worry about not having firewood to burn, what's important now is to keep our brothers tied up!"

  Leng Jiangbo thought for a moment and said: "Okay, I really like these treasures. Get in touch with Old Man Wan and find an opportunity to take action."

  Leng Jiangbo and Xiong Erpao arrived at the Ying Tian Tea House in the middle of the night to meet with the owner, Wan Houliang. After taking their seats, Leng Jiangbo took out two antique items he had been hiding and showed them to Wan Houliang. The first item was a red glaze Guanyin vase from the Song Dynasty's Lang kiln, measuring 1.5 feet tall with a mouth diameter and foot diameter of half a foot each. The entire body was a bright red color, like a ruby, earning it the nickname "Ruby Red". It also resembled congealed cow blood, hence its other name "Cow Blood Red". The glaze surface was translucent and flowed smoothly, except for the shallow and light-colored mouth rim. Due to the thin layer of glaze on the mouth rim, it appeared as a "lantern grass edge", thus earning it the nickname "Detached Mouth and Flowing Foot Lang Kiln". This vase had a regular shape and bright red transparent glaze, making it an extremely rare and precious "Lang Kiln Red" official kiln vessel. The second item was a Qinghua dragon and phoenix patterned ewer, measuring nearly one foot tall. The object's shape featured a flat mouth, long neck, large belly, flat bottom, short ring foot, curved handle, and arched spout. On the mouth rim was a flat lid with a chicken heart-shaped knob. The lid surface was decorated with coiled branch lotus patterns. The mouth rim area was adorned with two connected spiral patterns. The neck area featured pine, bamboo, plum blossom, and stone patterns. The handle and spout were decorated with flower leaf patterns. Where the curved spout met the belly, a beast head pattern was added. The belly area featured dragon and phoenix patterns, intertwined branches, lotus flowers, and cloud designs. On the bottom of the vessel was a Qinghua inscription in regular script: "Made during the Wanli period of the Great Ming Dynasty". The Qinghua color was gray-blue, typical of the Wanli period.

  Wan Houliang took a look at these two things, and they were indeed rare treasures. The more he looked, the more he liked them. He couldn't bear to put them down in his hands, and his mouth kept clicking with praise, "Treasures, truly good treasures!"

  After finishing his gaze at the treasure, Wan Houliang returned to reality and said to Leng Jiangbo: "Boss, name a price."

  Leng Jiangbo smiled slightly, "Twenty gold bars each."

  Wan Houliang remained expressionless and said calmly: "Isn't that a bit too much?"

  "Boss, you have a good eye for things. This is something I treasure dearly. Lately, I've been tight on cash and wouldn't want to part with it unless absolutely necessary. It's not easy to find such goods now, but in the future, we can discuss the price."

  Wan Houliang said: "Since the master has spoken, what can I say? For future cooperation to be pleasant. Everything will depend on the master." He instructed shopkeeper Song Zhihao to bring out gold bars. Leng Jiangbo accepted them.

  Wan Houliang asked Leng Jiangbo: "I heard that you are looking for a secret, how is the progress?"

  Leng Jiangbo was shocked and asked: "How did Old Man Wan know?"

  Wan Houliang smiled slightly, "We are friends, the affairs of the master of the house is also my affair. How could I not know about my own affairs? When the master of the house prospers, I will also follow and prosper."

  Leng Jiangbo thought to himself: What kind of person is this Wan boss? How did he know some of my things? Does he also know some other things about me? This guy isn't simple! Thinking of this, he let out a long sigh: "To be honest, I suspect that the Zhou family has a secret, if we get it, we'll be rich enough to rival a country."

  "Secret? Can the great master tell me?" Wan Houliang wanted to get more information out of Leng Jiangbo's mouth, and asked further.

  "This... I'm not very clear about it either..." Leng Jiangbo's words reached the tip of his tongue, then swallowed back, "I just suspect that the secret might be hidden in the ancestral hall of the Zhou residence."

  "Is there still a secret in the Zhou family? This is indeed a fresh matter! If the master of the house needs help, please feel free to say so, I will certainly not decline..." Wan Houliang put on an astonished look.

  "It's getting late, we should head back, see you later!" Leng Jiangbo made a fist.

  "See you again!" Wan Houliang also made a fist and sent off Leng Jiangbo and Xiong Erpao.