Chapter 22: Making a Big Deal (Part 1)

  The eldest son was caught?!

  Shen Mo was stunned into silence for a long time before he came back to himself and asked, "When?"

  "Last night." Shen Jing clenched his fists: "Shaoxing City is so big, how can they find someone so easily?"

  "Alas, it's all my fault..." Shen Mo clenched his fist and pounded it on the stone gate, letting out a long sigh: "We were too careless, we shouldn't have let the eldest son go back."

  "Are you saying...?" Shen Jing's expression turned stern as he asked, "Was the eldest son being watched from the moment he stepped out of the back door?"

  "It should have been earlier." Shen Mo said in a low voice: "Didn't two of them run away at that time? Eight out of ten, one went back to report the news, and the other followed us secretly." The two of them lived in a deep mansion, those people didn't dare to act rashly, but they wouldn't let go of Yao Changzi who lived in a grass hut by the river. "What did the government say?"

  "That bunch of bastards, now it's better to have one less thing to deal with." Shen Jing cursed angrily: "They said the person was caught by the black gang in Shanyin, we need to go to Shanyin County to report to the authorities."

  "Didn't you get angry yesterday?" Shen Mo angrily said: "What's the point of saying that the mountain yin gang has crossed the boundary, can't they be let off lightly?"

  "It must be Wang Lao Hu's doing." Shen Jing said coldly, "Money can move gods and make ghosts push mills!" Wang Lao Hu was the boss of the Tiger Head Society, and in Shaoxing City, he was also a well-known figure, belonging to the category of good medicine for treating children's night crying.

  "What should we do now?" Shen Jing furrowed his brow and said, "This matter is connected to the government on one end and the Taoist sect on the other, neither of which we can handle." Although he was a young master, he had no official title and wasn't the head of the household. Except for having more financial resources and a more impressive entourage, he was no different from Shen Mo, that poor kid.

  "Let me think." Shen closed his eyes, slowly leaned against the door frame, and his brain quickly started to turn. Before long, he had made up his mind.

  Shen Jing hurriedly circled around him, and as soon as Shen Mo opened his eyes, he anxiously asked: "Have you figured it out?"

  "Ah, I've thought of it." Shen Mo nodded and said: "We are weak, they are strong. To win with weakness over strength, we must borrow momentum."

  "Borrowing momentum?" Shen Jing didn't know what this meant.

  "Just like a spark that sets off a prairie fire, it's because it borrowed the wind. Seeing Shen Jing nodding, Shen He continued: 'Do you remember something that happened yesterday?'"

  "What's wrong?"

  "At first, we were just fighting like that, and the onlookers weren't very excited. But as soon as the leader shouted out the other side's identity, saying they were from Shanyin, the crowd suddenly became agitated." Shen Mo recalled with narrowed eyes.

  "That's for sure." Shen Jing nodded and said: "Since Taizu divided our city into two counties, Donggui and Xishan have been competing with each other everywhere. They don't want to fall behind in anything. How can this not lead to friction? Over time, the resentment has grown deeper and deeper, until later they became like fire and water, incompatible. As soon as something involves the other side, it can stir up a huge commotion."

  "What a huge wave!" Shen Mo applauded and said: "Well said! We're going to stir up a huge wave, make a big deal out of this, and let everyone in the city know about it!"

  Shen Jing was not a fool, and after Shen Mo's words, he suddenly realized: "Right! As long as the whole city is in an uproar, Tiger Head won't dare to harm Yao Changzi easily, and the government won't dare to let those two people off easily." He said, rubbing his fists and palms: "Just thinking about it makes my blood boil, how can we do it?"

  "Wrong!" Shen Mo shook his head and said, "Not us, it's me."

  "Why?" Shen Jing's eyes widened: "You look down on me?"

  "Of course not." Shen Mo said solemnly, "This kind of thing is like picking sesame seeds from a burning fire, if you're not careful, you'll get burned yourself. My father was saved by the eldest son, so my grandfather and I naturally have to take responsibility. But you're different, you can't implicate the Shen family."

  "Nonsense!" Shen Jing was anxious, jumping up and saying: "My second uncle said that whoever is not righteous is not a member of the Shen family!" He then whispered: "Besides, you don't have to worry about the Shen family. With those two jinshi flags in front of our gate, no one in Shaoxing City dares to cause us trouble!"

  "Oh, our Shen family has produced two scholars?" Shen Mo asked in surprise.

  "No, it's not that I've been out, but rather that I'm currently available." Shen Jing said proudly: "If you had asked earlier, there would have been a chance to be the Zhongtian Flower too."

  "Can't you ask them?" Shen Mo didn't want to get involved in such a troublesome matter unless absolutely necessary: "Ask them for help to put pressure on."

  "Don't look, it's useless." Shen Jing suddenly lost his enthusiasm and said in a low voice: "My father was implicated in the Xia Party and was dismissed to return to his hometown for surveillance. Although he regained his official position several years ago, he offended those in power. Which parent official dares to get close? As for my second uncle, he is now teaching at the clan school. He... Ah, you'll understand when you see him."

  "Who is that person?" Shén Mò has been worrying about making a living and hasn't had time to care about national affairs.

  "Yan Song Yan Ge Lao Ba." Shen Jing was delighted to know some silent unknown things.

  "Oh..." Hearing this name, Shen Mo also took a deep breath and said softly: "Understood."

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  Shen Jing must join no matter what, Shen Mo can only be more careful, and under no circumstances can he leave any handles that would harm the Shen family.

  The two returned to the attic and carefully discussed it, as the matter might involve Shen He, so Shen Mo told his father in detail. Shen He nodded and said: "You haven't read the classics of the sages for nothing." Then he agreed with the plan of the two young men.

  Shenmo didn't want his handwriting to be recognized, so he naturally thought of movable type printing. But when he asked his father about it, he found out that this thing was a government-controlled item, and there were only a few sets in the entire county, all of which were being kept safe. If he were to mess with that sort of thing, it would be no safer than writing directly.

  Just as the two were looking worried, Shen He suddenly laughed and said: "It's really guarding the carpenter to find a saw, forgetting what I do?"

  " Selling words...... " Shen Mo was silent for a moment and asked: "Father, what's your wonderful plan?"

  "Haha, different guests have different needs. Your old man switches between seal script, clerical script, cursive script, regular script, and running script every day, writing a font that nobody can recognize, isn't it as easy as turning one's hand over?"

  It's really a case of "when you want to sleep, someone brings you a pillow." The two were overjoyed and said, "Is it really so?"

  "That's natural." Shen He smiled complacently and said, "If you're not reassured, I have another ultimate skill that has never been shown to outsiders before." As he spoke, he stretched out his left hand in a pen-holding gesture.

  "Can you write with your left hand?" The two finally felt at ease.

  Division line

  It's being pulled further and further away, everyone collect your votes, let's give the monk a boost of energy...