Xiaoyaoshanjun

Chapter 36: Settling Old Grudges

On the road between Qitian Mansion and Yanque City.

Xia Bayuan, who was leading the convoy home, soon received a report from his disciples, and Xia Bayuan's wife Gao was in the carriage next to him.

Xia Bayuan frowned and said, "It's just a servant who died. Why are you so panicked?"

Xia Liu quickly and carefully told the identity of the attacker and the matter of the county magistrate.

Xia Bayuan's face turned very ugly.

"Idiot! Mr. Hu from that family is now the top scholar and will definitely pass the imperial examination in the future. Why did you offend his servant?"

The more Xia Bayuan thought about it, the angrier he got. "What grudge did Lei Hong have with Tian Buli that he had to cause such a thing!!"

Xia Liu said in a low voice: "There is no hatred, I just want to get more money..."

Xia Bayuan became even more angry after hearing this, but soon calmed down.

"Forget it, let Lei Hong prepare some small gifts and send them over. We will give Mr. Hu some face and not pursue the matter any further."

"Yes! I will go and inform the young master right away." Xia Liu ran back quickly.

After Xia Liu left, the caravan continued to move forward slowly. There were many horse-drawn carriages carrying goods in the caravan, and there were bodyguards holding wooden sticks in front and behind the team.

"Master, come in and talk."

Gao's voice came from the carriage. Xia Bayuan got off his horse, asked a nearby escort to lead the horse, and entered the carriage himself.

"What's wrong ma'am?"

Xia Bayuan's current family fortune is closely related to his wife Gao. It is mainly due to the care of the young lady of an official family in the capital that he has achieved his current career.

Because of this, Xia Bayuan was very restrained and even cautious when it came to women.

Gao was already in her forties or fifties, with a noble look on her face, and her expression was very serious at this moment.

Before she spoke, Xia Bayuan felt that something was not good.

Gao said, "Mr. Hu was taken care of by County Magistrate Chen. Now that we have offended him, we may not be able to see County Magistrate Chen after we return. Let's go back to Qitian Mansion immediately and see Mr. Hu first. After we return with Mr. Hu, we can see the county magistrate."

Xia Bayuan was puzzled. "Why is it so troublesome? We don't care about those things anymore. Besides, when Mr. Hu and Mr. Tian passed the examination, we also sent gifts to them. We should have some face."

Gao's brows were furrowed, and her expression became increasingly grim.

"How can you only remember the favor and not the grudge? No matter how much money you gave me before, it's useless. Now that Tian Tongsheng is afraid to escape, and everyone outside knows that our Fuyuan Escort Agency will not let Hu Xiucai go."

"That County Magistrate Chen is extremely cunning, I can't even see through him. Whether it's his strategies or his abilities, they are not comparable to those of a woman like me. If you underestimate him, be careful that your family will be destroyed!!"

Hearing his wife's words, Xia Bayuan quickly said, "Well, let's go find Mr. Hu first. If we find Mr. Hu, will the county magistrate be willing to see us?"

Gao nodded. "Hu Xiucai is a student of County Magistrate Chen. He must meet him. As long as Hu Xiucai doesn't care about this matter, the County Magistrate will be gone in a few years. There is no need to get entangled with us. The Gao family of Qitian Mansion is not to be trifled with!"

Xia Bayuan said again: "That's good. What does Mr. Hu say? This matter doesn't seem to have anything to do with him."

Gao thought it was not a big problem.

"I've heard about that student. That boy had an affair with Mr. Hu's wife. Mr. Hu was too weak to bear it. Now that man has run away, and Mr. Hu has topped the list again. Maybe he's grateful to us for helping him get rid of that man."

Xia Bayuan thought it made sense and quickly followed the woman's arrangements.

The two men did not go to find Mr. Hu themselves, but sent their disciples to ask him for help.

When the two returned to the village, a group of people came out to greet them.

Manager Lei was standing at the door to greet them.

"Master! Madam! I deserve to die! I slap my face! I deserve to die!"

After his wife came out, he quickly slapped his mouth, making a "pa pa pa" sound.

Looking at the old housekeeper who took the initiative to admit his guilt, Gao said calmly: "It's enough to know your mistakes. Remember to be kind to others in the future."

Manager Lei quickly bowed his head and replied, "Yes! Madam is teaching me that I must be kind to others and do good deeds in the future!"

Xia Bayuan and his wife entered the escort agency together and began to arrange business matters. By the way, they sent someone to give Dou Niang some gifts to apologize.

By the time they finished all this, it was already evening and the family began to eat dinner peacefully.

Not long after, the cook Aunt Wang came in from outside.

"Madam, that woman is very fierce. She threw all the gifts on the ground outside the door and scolded the people who gave them gifts for a long time."

Gao's face was calm and she said steadily, "Country women are like this. Don't pay attention to her. Let those two women go over and talk to her tomorrow. Just go a few more times and it will be fine."

Aunt Wang breathed a sigh of relief, "Yes, ma'am!" Gao was the backbone of the Fuyuan Escort Agency. As long as she was here, there was nothing that could not be solved.

Two days later, the disciples sent to pick him up returned empty-handed.

"The scholar Hu went to study at the academy and took the high-ranking official who presided over the examination as his teacher. After we told him about the situation, he said that everything was determined by God, and then he had us kicked out."

Gao frowned, "Everything depends on God's will..."

After pondering for more than ten minutes, Gao quickly looked at the disciple standing aside.

"Go call the second brother over here, I want to ask him something."

"Yes, ma'am!" the disciple agreed.

The maid next to her reminded her, "Madam, the roads in the countryside have been unsafe recently. The second young master and the county's head constable have gone to the countryside for inspection and will not be home for the next two days."

Gao was suddenly shocked!
"Go! Go and call him back! Send more people to protect my son!"

"Go and call the master over!"

Gao's panic made many people realize the trouble.

Xia Bayuan quickly ran in from the outer courtyard.

Although Gao had calmed down at this point, she still looked uneasy.

"Ma'am, what's going on?"

Xia Bayuan felt that it was no small matter.

Gao looked at Xia Bayuan and quickly gave instructions on how to respond.

"Send someone to call my third brother over. He is an official in the county. Only if he comes can this matter be resolved. If he doesn't come, our family may be in danger!"

Xia Bayuan became unusually serious, "Madam, are you saying that the county magistrate wants to deal with us? There are so many people in our village, how dare he mess with us?"

Gao gnashed her teeth and looked at the useless man, "Idiot! As long as you die outside, what's the point of having so many people in this manor?"

Xia Bayuan had just said that out of anger, but after hearing what Gao said, he looked at her in astonishment.

"Then the county magistrate dares to kill me?"

Gao said coldly: "Whether he kills you or arrests you, it's all up to him! If you dare to resist, you're going against the court! No matter what your reason is, you can't escape!"

"If he wants money, he won't kill you. He just needs to arrest you and lock you up, and then conduct a strict investigation of the escort agency's business dealings. The escort agency will not be able to continue its business, and it will naturally fall apart at that time."

"If he's not after money... then we can only go find other high-ranking officials to save our lives."

Xia Bayuan listened to his wife very much and quickly sent someone to invite the senior official of the Gao family.

The county magistrate may not see idle people, but he cannot turn away county officials.

The two middle-aged men soon drank tea and chatted face to face.

Gao Jingxian smiled and said, "Mr. Chen, why do you worry so much just for a servant?"

County Magistrate Chen smiled, and after a few seconds he slowly said, "Master Gao, Hu Yuwei became Shen Hanlin's disciple in the county town. I also met Shen Hanlin once. How is he doing recently?"

Gao Jingxian pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "I am just a small military officer, how can I have any say with Lord Shen?"

County Magistrate Chen smiled and picked up the cup to drink tea.

There is a difference between the two men in terms of civil and military skills, and they don't get along well.

Gao Jingxian did not stay long and left soon without anyone seeing him off.

After returning to Zhuangzi, Gao Jingxian asked his sister who had been waiting for him for a long time the reason.

"Besides this incident, has your family ever offended Mr. Hu? Now this matter is most likely involved with Shen Hanlin. Mr. Hu must have a revenge that he must take, otherwise County Magistrate Chen, who is so shrewd, would not casually get involved in such a matter."

Xia Bayuan said quickly, "No, we are escorts, how could we offend these scholars? Besides, Mr. Hu had a serious illness and was bedridden for several years. We don't even know him."

Gao Jingxian looked at Xia Bayuan, "Why did he get sick? What disease did he have?"

Xia Bayuan and Gao were both at a loss as to what was going on.

Gao Jingxian quickly sent his men out to inquire, and they found out that Mr. Hu had been severely beaten and his martial arts skills were crippled many years ago, his ancestral home had been burned to ashes, and his father had been burned to death in the fire.

All the blame was directed at the Fuyuan Escort Agency.

(End of this chapter)