Union

Chapter 39: The Story Behind It
Leaving aside how depressed Yunying was in the carriage, and how deep the Second Master's thoughts were, after watching the carriage leave, Chen Er couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

The servant who was serving him came to his side at some point. Seeing the fierce look in his eyes, the servant was very curious about how the guest had offended him.

But ever since this master was injured, his temper has become increasingly strange and unpredictable. He would beat and scold him at the slightest provocation.

The servant dared not ask any more questions, and could only choose the safest topic to ask: "Master, how did today go?"

“Smooth sailing? How could it not be smooth sailing?” Chen Er chuckled coldly. “Everything is going smoothly. Now all that’s left is to pay the silver to the yamen for registration. At that time, I’ll be able to get at least a hundred taels of silver.”

A hundred or so taels?
so much?
The servant clicked his tongue in disbelief.

Houses in Yungui County are cheap; under normal circumstances, you can buy a small courtyard with two sections for just a few dozen taels of silver.

The Shang family's mansion was exquisitely renovated, made with high-quality materials, and occupied a large area. At the time, the government offered a price of four hundred taels of silver.

This price is far above the market price.

With all the furniture and furnishings inside looted, expecting to sell an empty house for this price is pure wishful thinking.

Local families with some savings would never consider buying it; and outsiders who would buy it, after carefully inquiring about the house, would not dare to take it even if they gave up their deposit.

Thinking back on the past, the servant said, "Didn't this merchant inquire carefully before coming? This house is haunted..."

Chen Er: "Fool! You really think this house can't be sold because of evil spirits?"

The servant, having been scolded, couldn't help but shrink back in fear. But he was genuinely curious about the matter, so he asked, "What else could it be? Could it be that you were scared off by the price?" The deposit had already been paid; if he said he was scared off by the price, no one would believe him.

Chen Er chuckled, "That's because someone doesn't want this house to be sold."

The servant said, "Don't you want to sell this house? Are there any people like that in our county? If that's really the case, wouldn't selling this house now be getting in their way? Won't they retaliate against us?"

Chen Er: "You idiot, even you understand this, do you think your master doesn't? The reason your master dares to sell this house now is naturally because that person has fallen on hard times and can no longer care about such things. Do you understand?"

Magistrate Fan was imprisoned and then escaped; he is now a wanted criminal. He himself is in dire straits, and naturally, those behind him who engage in petty scheming are all hiding in the shadows.

If he was afraid of Magistrate Fan and the people behind him before and dared not do anything, now that Magistrate Fan has fallen from power, he can openly and honestly do business and make money based on his own abilities. Who would dare to stop him?
Chen Er's vision was too narrow. He only thought that the group of people led by Magistrate Fan were preventing the house from being sold because they wanted to keep it for themselves. He never expected that there was more to the house than met the eye, and that it could be used for other purposes.

At the same time, he thought that Magistrate Fan and his gang were too busy to pay attention to the house, which was why they brought people to see the house in such a grand manner.

Little did he know that those very people he was trying to avoid were now right there in this house, watching and listening to everything he said and did.

Furthermore, beneath the Shang residence, all the densely packed tunnels lead to the same place: the main hall located underground.

There were five people sitting in the middle of the hall at that moment.

Besides the escaped County Magistrate Fan, Zhao Xiong, and Wu Shixun, there was also a gaunt, honest-looking old man and a beautiful, charming, and seemingly shrewd and capable woman.

Upon hearing the news from outside, the five men all sneered. Zhao Xiong, the most sarcastic, said, "We haven't even fallen on hard times yet, and some nobody is already looking down on us. If you ask me, we should just kill them all."

Wu Shixun remained calm: "There are plenty of people like that. You can't possibly kill them all, can you? Let them be. These people are fine, but the ones who want to buy the house are the real problem..."

Wu Shixun looked at Magistrate Fan, who was reclining in a deck chair with his eyes closed, and said in a different tone, "If you ask me, this new magistrate is really quite capable."

Although the method was a bit underhanded, it worked.

Look, that blow completely stunned Magistrate Fan; he probably hasn't recovered yet.

However, it was also Fan County Magistrate's fault for not hiding it well enough, which allowed someone to seize on his weakness. As a result, not only did he lose his promising future, but he also almost lost his life at the hands of the new county magistrate.

But that's a long story; let's get back to the present. Wu Shixun asked Magistrate Fan, "What do you think our next step should be? This house absolutely cannot be sold. When we said we wanted to buy it, you said it wasn't necessary, since it's still in your hands and nothing can go wrong." But who could have imagined that Magistrate Fan would cause such a problem, leaving them in such a passive position now?

County Magistrate Fan recognized the voice and immediately opened his dim, cloudy old eyes. There was no hostility in his eyes, but everyone knew he harbored a torrent of hatred. He probably wished he could devour the new magistrate alive to swallow the humiliation of being fooled, the near-death experience, and the excruciating pain he was currently experiencing.

But it's not the right time yet, so we have to put up with these things for now.

Magistrate Fan said, "Go find Chen Er and seize this house. This matter is of great importance and cannot fall into the hands of others."

"Tsk, that kid who came to look at the house before, he's made a wasted trip today. The servants just said that he's handsome and has a natural womanizing nature..."

The beautiful woman pinched her pinky finger and smiled sweetly, but before she could finish speaking, she was abruptly interrupted by Magistrate Fan, "Have someone investigate the identity of that boy today."

Wu Shixun paused in his tea-drinking motion. "You suspect..."

"I have no doubts, but just to be on the safe side, it's best to find out the person's identity and background. We don't want to be caught off guard by someone coming to us before we even realize what's going on, only to be trapped like a turtle in a jar."

Jiaoniang chuckled at Magistrate Fan, saying, "You're truly like someone who's been bitten by a snake once and is now afraid of ropes for ten years."

Magistrate Fan ignored her and only instructed Wu Shixun, "Find out that person's identity as soon as possible, and then have someone buy this house."

Wu Shixun: "Okay, I'll have someone take care of it shortly."

Magistrate Fan wanted to say, "Don't wait, get up immediately, go and do it right away."

But thinking about how his authority among the group would be greatly diminished without that protective skin, it was clear he was giving Wu Shixun face by chatting about these trivial things. Since it was still safe here for the time being, it wouldn't hurt to stay a little longer.

Thinking this through, Magistrate Fan shut his mouth and said nothing more.

Upon seeing this, the others all revealed meaningful expressions.

Magistrate Fan was truly badly injured this time, almost to the point of death. They all understood his exhaustion. However, since he was involved less, he would have to share some of his share of the profits with everyone else; otherwise, they wouldn't agree.

(End of this chapter)