Hua Xiaomai didn’t get a chance to answer before Chun Xi next to her ca drifting in with a whisper.
"Xiaomai, your brother Yuhuai is really spoiling you. Where is it seen that whatever you say goes? You can’t be of help with a man’s business, so why run over there? If sothing happens, he has to protect you; aren’t you adding to his troubles?"
Hua Xiaomai knew she couldn’t explain herself clearly to her, so she didn’t bother to say much, just smiled and replied, "I won’t add to his troubles," and then turned to Qing You and said, "Don’t rush to the Provincial City just yet, wait until tomorrow after we’ve discussed everything, then it won’t be too late to go."
After speaking, she hurried out the door and onto the carriage with Li Yingchun.
...
Inside the Lianshun Escort Agency, the atmosphere was tense at the mont.
The fierce wind carried the torrential rain, howling violently, causing the tree branches to sway uncertainly; the water in the courtyard had overflowed the ankles.
Dong Deyou and Lv Bin braved the rain, standing in the middle of the courtyard, with four or five burly n behind them. As Li Yingchun had said, they were all towering and muscular, their arms bulging with tendons, giving off an intimidating presence that set one’s heart pounding just by looking at them.
ng Yuhuai sat steadily under the eaves of the front hall, his gaze calm, his expression composed, unwaveringly watching the people in the courtyard. Han Hu and the others stood to the sides, each folding their arms and clenching their teeth so hard that veins popped on their foreheads, looking like tigers ready to pounce.
Hua Xiaomai, following Li Yingchun, slipped into the Escort Agency through the back door unnoticed and made her way to the front yard, ducking directly into a vacant room. She perched on the windowsill to take a look outside and was imdiately startled by the scene.
Goodness, is this going to be a gang fight? It’s terrifying. Dong Deyou doesn’t have many people with him; he won’t be able to gain the upper hand, will he?
The rain was just too heavy, pounding on the roof with a persistent drumming noise, and the folks from Shenglong Escort Agency looked as though they had just been fished out of a pond, thoroughly drenched from head to toe, which unavoidably made them appear a bit disheveled. However, since their host had not spoken, they could not enter the room and had no choice but to tough it out in the rain.
No one spoke, but there was an undercurrent of tension, prid and spreading rapidly.
Dong Deyou, not being a martial artist by origin and having been a businessman for many years, found it difficult to stand in the rain for long. After roughly the ti it took to brew a cup of tea, he finally took a step forward tentatively.
"Leader ng..."
He wiped the rain off his face and forced a smile, saying, "Shall we talk inside the house, sitting down comfortably?"
"As people in the escorting profession, we’re used to eating and sleeping in the open all year round. Can’t even stand a bit of rain, can we?" Han Hu scoffed coldly, intercepting him with a cutting remark.
"It’s not that..." Dong Deyou rubbed his hands together, "I know you are upset, but... you really have misunderstood."
"Misunderstood?!"
Han Hu’s eyes bulged with anger, ready to charge forward, but he was stopped by ng Yuhuai.
"There’s no need to say too much, just bring those two people out." He instructed calmly, without so much as a flicker of his eyebrows, and imdiately two n turned and headed towards the back courtyard.
At ho, he always had a gentle deanor, and Hua Xiaomai seldom saw him with such an expression. Suddenly seeing this other side of him, she felt sothing strike at her heartstrings in an instant and couldn’t bear to blink, her eyes fixated on him, when suddenly Li Yingchun’s voice reached her ears.
"Sister-in-law, you must find this quite a novelty, huh?" The young man was grinning from ear to ear, winking and making faces as he spoke.
Hua Xiaomai didn’t want to deal with him at all, saying, "What are you doing here? Hurry up and go outside; I’ll be fine staying here alone."
"That won’t do," Li Yingchun shook his head, "ng Yuhuai instructed to stay here to protect you."
"Then stop talking to ," Hua Xiaomai quickly retorted and turned her head back, looking outside the room again.
The two new recruits of the escort agency, whom she had seen before, were dragged to the front courtyard and plopped down in the rain.
It had been quite a few days, yet their faces were still swollen, their noses and eyes slightly deford, looking sowhat pitiable.
ng Yuhuai rose unhurriedly from his chair, walked to the edge of the porch steps, looked down, and said in a deep voice, "Repeat what you told before, in front of Boss Dong and Leader Lv."
The two n, probably frightened by the beating they received, nodded vigorously, almost too eagerly starting to speak.
"It was... Boss Dong gave each of us ten taels of silver to disguise ourselves as applicants and infiltrate Lianshun Escort Agency, saying there would be a reward after the matter was settled. Their aim was simple: to make us sabotage the goods and silver in transit during the escort mission, to ruin the reputation of Lianshun Escort Agency. Escorting is inherently dangerous, and as new recruits, mistakes are bound to happen. Leader Lv said you, Leader ng... are lenient and wouldn’t dismiss us for a single mistake, so after two or three incidents, Lianshun Escort Agency’s credibility would be completely destroyed, and it would naturally be unable to establish itself in Tong’an Prefecture in the future, thus the business would fall into the hands of Shenglong Escort Agency."
Having been held at Lianshun Escort Agency for several days, they had repeated this statent in their minds many tis, so when they spoke, it flowed smoothly without a single stutter.
ng Yuhuai’s lips curled into a slight smirk as he turned his gaze towards Lv Bin, "Knowing so well, should I feel grateful?" Then he shifted his stare to Dong Deyou, "Now, is this still a misunderstanding?"
Dong Deyou and Lv Bin, having received the news, knew that the situation was dire. Their visit to Lianshun Escort Agency was less about defending themselves and more about finding a way to negotiate and properly resolve the issue.
Because they were prepared, when the two n openly confessed the truth, Dong Deyou and Lv Bin didn’t deny it any further. Lv Bin stepped forward and said loudly, "I’ve wronged you in this matter, and how you wish to vent your anger is up to you. We ca here today sincerely wanting to settle the problem... "
ng Yuhuai didn’t even look at him, but said to Dong Deyou, "Two solutions, you choose. The first is to take these two to the county governnt and explain everything in front of Magistrate Tao. What happens next will be out of my control."
Dong Deyou panicked, instinctively waving his hands and said with an awkward smile, "Although our business unavoidably interacts with the governnt, we never rely on it too much. Seeking help from the governnt for every issue, isn’t that... laughing stock? In my opinion..."
ng Yuhuai had no patience to listen to him finish and interrupted, "The second solution follows the rules of our business."
"Right, right, right, that’s what I an too, it’s better to follow the rules!" Dong Deyou hastily nodded.
"I want your Shenglong Escort Agency to leave Tong’an Prefecture and from now on, never to take any business in this area," ng Yuhuai glanced at him indifferently.
"How... how can that be?"
Dong Deyou exploded, "What you’re proposing is as good as saying nothing!"
Whether it was going to the officials or having them leave Tong’an Prefecture, wouldn’t the end result be that Shenglong Escort Agency would have no livelihood in this locality from now on?
"I said we’ll do it by the rules," ng Yuhuai stated calmly, his tone unchanged from beginning to end: "In our line of work, we’ve always resolved matters through strength, and I know to make you leave, you need to be convinced both in heart and speech."
He strode down the steps and walked into the pouring rain.
"Whether you choose to fight one-on-one or all at once, co and duel with . If I win, you leave Tong’an Prefecture, if I lose, then today’s incident shall be as if it never happened. From now on, it will never be ntioned again, and we’ll call it even. How about that?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to vote with your recomndation ticket or monthly ticket at Qidian (qidian). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian to read.)
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