Union

Chapter 46 Keep Your Mouth Tight
Yunying looked enlightened; it seemed that Second Master had been unexpectedly injured by Zhao Xiong.

However, she did know Zhao Xiong, and had even heard many rumors about him.

Rumor has it that although this man is unattractive and vicious, he is quite popular with women. Moreover, because of his outstanding martial arts skills and fearlessness, his Huitong Escort Agency is thriving and has a great reputation in Yungui County.

The escort agency where Qian Cheng worked, who had been cuckolded by Magistrate Fan, was far inferior to the Huitong Escort Agency run by Zhao Xiong.

In short, Zhao Xiong is a very prominent figure in Yungui County.

Unexpectedly, this man, who openly ran a legitimate escort agency business, was secretly colluding with Magistrate Fan and even dared to sell smuggled salt.

Yunying sighed, "He's really bold. Why can't he just run the escort agency properly? The money comes in easily, and he doesn't have to live in constant fear. But by getting involved in that smuggled salt business, all his friends and relatives are implicated."

Chen Yanzhou said, "This is a case of insatiable greed."

Yunying's eyes darted around, and she said, "On another note, wasn't it Magistrate Fan who started this smuggled salt trade?"

"What do you ask for this?"

"What I'm trying to say is that although Magistrate Fan started it, to manage such a large business, he must have brought in people to invest. On the surface, it seems like only five or six people are in charge, but behind the scenes, are there really no other people involved?"

Chen Yanzhou clenched his fists in pain, his chin slightly raised, his teeth clenched, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

But he endured the pain without uttering a single cry, and even when speaking to Yunying, his voice showed no sign of distress.

Chen Yanzhou said, "Whether there are more people involved, and how many are hiding behind the scenes, we'll find out by arresting and interrogating a few more people. Foxes always show their tails eventually, and we'll catch them one day."

Yunying: "It's good that you know the answer. I'm waiting to hear your good news about solving the case."

She spoke fluently, and her hands moved just as quickly.

She carefully cleaned the bloody hole on Chen Yanzhou's back.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that a ring of flesh around the bloody hole had been removed.

Yunying thought that Zhao Xiong's hidden weapon was probably poisoned, so the people who cleaned the Second Master's wounds later had to remove the rotten flesh for safety reasons.

It's just that I've lost some flesh for no reason, and the thought of it makes me feel pain.

Yunying couldn't help but shudder. As she applied medicine to her wound, she secretly admired the Second Master's endurance.

If she had suffered such an injury, she would have been lying on the bed crying her heart out.

Second Master acted as if nothing was wrong. Not only did he not show any unusual expression along the way, but he even took a bath and a soak in the tub... Just how heavy was his mind to ignore the excruciating pain in his body?

Yunying applied a thick layer of milky white ointment to the wound before taking out a bandage to bandage it.

The Second Master was injured in the back, and she had to wrap the bandage around his chest. This was tantamount to her having to hug him...

Yunying's face flushed even more.

She couldn't help but slow her breathing, reaching her hands out from behind the Second Master to his chest. But in order to create distance between them, she leaned back, her face almost touching the Second Master's bare back.

She was very restrained and mindful of her boundaries, but in that instant when she got close, the man's radiant heat washed over her, making Yunying's cheeks turn rosy.

Unbeknownst to her, Chen Yanzhou felt a chill run down his spine.

After finally managing to wrap the bandage twice, the atmosphere in the room became visibly awkward. Yunying broke the silence with a light cough.

"Second Master, the wound on your back is quite large. It's best to avoid getting it wet for the next few days." She carefully tied a knot in the bandage and then took Chen Yanzhou's inner and outer garments to help him put them on.

"To help your wound heal faster, please bear with it for now. Even if you really want to take a bath, just wipe yourself with water for now."

Chen Yanzhou hummed in agreement and looked down at the whorl of hair on the top of her head.

Because she was helping to tie the ribbon, she ended up in front of him. But she kept her head down, bustling around in circles, and didn't dare to look up at him.

Seeing her flushed cheeks and bright red ears, Chen Yanzhou felt his heart pounding even harder.

His throat bobbed slightly, and he picked up the now-cold tea on the table and drank it all in one gulp. At that moment, he sincerely felt that having this maidservant come to serve him was truly not a wise decision.

This wasn't punishing her; it was more like punishing himself.

After finally finishing all these tasks, Yunying calmed her disordered breathing and respectfully asked the Second Master, "Is there anything else I need to do here? If not, I will go back now."

Chen Yanzhou sat in the armchair, glanced at her with his eyelids raised, and said, "It's nothing, you can go now."

Yunying felt relieved, packed her things, put them away, and turned to leave.

Just then, another voice rang out from inside the room, "Wait."

To be honest, Yunying now has a phobia of those two words.

But she still had to obediently stop and listen to the Second Master's orders.

The Second Master's instructions this time were quite simple, consisting of only one sentence: "Keep your mouth shut and don't say anything you shouldn't."

Yunying didn't know if this was a reminder not to spread the news of his injury to everyone, or if it meant that she shouldn't speak about Zhao Xiong.

She was never a talkative person to begin with, and now that the Second Master had specifically mentioned it, she was even less likely to say another word.

Yunying said, "Second Master, rest assured, I will not tell anyone a single word of what you said today."

"Go down."

"Ugh."

Yunying walked out of the courtyard where the Second Master was and saw her little maid He Sui outside the courtyard.

He Sui looked distressed, but when she saw Yun Ying finally come out, she showed a relieved expression.

She walked up to Yunying, looked at the guards standing outside the Second Master's door, and whispered to Yunying, "I want to go in, but they won't let me in. They just told me to wait outside."

Yunying patted her arm and comforted her, "You're so kind. But if you encounter a similar situation again, just find a place to sit and wait for me. You don't need to think about coming in to serve me." She goes in to serve others anyway, so it wouldn't be appropriate to have a maid come in to serve her as well.

He Sui hummed in agreement, opened her mouth as if to ask something, but ultimately didn't.

While He Sui was not one to ask questions, Qiu Ning and Rui Zhu were not so reserved.

Upon hearing that Yunying had returned to the backyard, the three of them rushed to her room. Even the head maid who had been serving Aunt Ding came to Yunying's room to join in the fun.

Qiu Ning asked Yun Ying what the Second Master wanted her to do by following him. She also carefully examined Yun Ying's complexion and clothing to see if there was anything unusual.

But Yunying's complexion had long since returned to normal, and her clothes were perfectly neat, without any mess or dirt.

But she just smiled and remained silent, avoiding Qiu Ning's questions and refusing to give a straight answer.

Seeing this, Ruizhu and Mujin's eyes darkened even more, and Qiu Ning muttered to herself, becoming even more dissatisfied.

The more aloof she became, the more curious the group grew. They lingered, trying to extract more information from Yunying through roundabout means.

Seeing this, Yunying knew that feigning silence wouldn't work. She thought and thought, then decided to half-truthfully let slip, "I merely served Second Master during his bath..."

These words came out as if he was so annoyed by the people bothering him that he couldn't help but speak his true feelings.

Observing Yunying's frustrated expression at this moment, the truthfulness of her words seems even greater, adding to their credibility.

The last few people lingered there for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and seeing that they couldn't get any more information out of Yunying, they finally left, grumbling and complaining.

When Qiu Ning returned, she naturally threw things around in a fit of rage, insisting that what Yun Ying had said earlier was definitely not true. She also said that the Second Master had Yun Ying serve him during his bath, which showed that he had taken a liking to her. Who would have thought that among the four of them, Yun Ying would be the first to win the Second Master's favor…

These words were quickly relayed to Yunying by the cleaning maid. Upon hearing this, Yunying breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a bit amused and exasperated.

Qiu Ning has some wisdom, but not much.

Another thing is, her mouth is like a megaphone; she blurts out everything. If she can't keep a secret, who will dare to confide in her in the future?

Leaving aside Qiu Ning's situation, let's just talk about Rui Zhu. After returning to her room, she sat silently for a long time. It wasn't until a maid ran in from outside that Rui Zhu was finally freed from her anxious and helpless state of mind.

The maid greeted Ruizhu and secretly took out a purse from her bosom.

She said, "Miss, the Qi family has come again. They said they would trouble you to spare a moment to meet their mistress."

As he spoke, he handed the purse in his hand to Ruizhu, saying, "This is a reward from the Qi family for your hard work. They said that no matter whether the matter succeeds or not, they will not let you work for nothing and will reward you handsomely afterwards."

Ruizhu is now in charge of the household affairs, and in the eyes of outsiders, she is the de facto head housekeeper. Since outsiders have no way to curry favor with the county magistrate, they naturally target her.

Since Ruizhu took over the household, she has received countless similar requests to see her, but she is cautious and had declined all of them before, but this one...

Whether it was the Second Master's special treatment of Yunying that spurred her on, or perhaps Ruizhu saw her bleak future and wanted to plan more for herself, she remained silent for a moment before instructing her maid to bring the person in.

The lady who was brought in was the eldest wife of the Qi family in Yungui County, who specialized in the dried goods business.

The dried seafood from the Qi family is of average quality, but because the price is not too expensive, and the hinterland of Daxia is indeed lacking in seafood, dried seafood such as shark fin, sea cucumber, abalone, squid, and cuttlefish sells well in Daxia.

But Qi Jia is clearly an ambitious man.

What they wanted was not just to make their goods sell well; they also wanted to use their connections with the powerful and wealthy to turn their goods into high-end products that were difficult for ordinary people to buy.

But to make a name for yourself, you need connections.

It's obvious that the Qi family didn't have such connections before. But now, these connections have been delivered right to their doorstep.

The newly appointed county magistrate is the son of the Duke of Rongguo's family. If their dried goods can be sent to the Duke's mansion as a specialty, and then the Duke's mansion can send them to other noble families, their reputation will be established. After that, they can do business with the nobility and elevate their family's status.
However, such underhanded schemes could not be displayed before the county magistrate. But that didn't matter; such matters of exchanging gifts were not men's concern. As long as good relationships were cultivated with the women in the inner quarters or the stewards, wouldn't everything fall into place naturally?
The Qi family had previously tried to get their hands on Aunt Ding's offerings, but Aunt Ding had high standards and didn't care about any of the "samples" they brought. So, naturally, the matter came to nothing.

But now that the steward of the county government's back residence has changed, the Qi family will inevitably have to put their minds to it again and come to their door seeking help.

Madam Qi was eloquent and persuasive, and most importantly, she was truly willing to spend real money.

Just as the maid went to invite Madam Qi, Ruizhu had already seen the purse the maid had given her.

The purse contained a heavy gold bracelet. It was just an ordinary gold bracelet, without any patterns on it. But holding it in your hand, you could feel its weight. It probably weighed at least a pound.

Ruizhu's monthly allowance was only two taels of silver. All the years she had worked as a servant and received her salary, plus the rewards from her masters, she couldn't afford even one-tenth of a gold bracelet.

Therefore, upon seeing this gleaming gold bracelet, Ruizhu's eyelids twitched several times, and she ultimately put it into her bosom.

With this sincere gift, Ruizhu's expression improved considerably when she met Madam Qi later.

In addition, Madam Qi was a very shrewd person. She not only spoke wittily but also flattered Ruizhu. Before leaving, she even slipped a purse into Ruizhu's hand.

This time, the purse felt incredibly light; just by touching it, I knew it contained banknotes.

The minimum denomination for a silver note is one hundred taels.

Ruizhu was so tempted that she couldn't help but agree to the Qi family's request after confirming that the silver note in her arms was worth five hundred taels. She gritted her teeth and made the deal with them.

Once it happened, two more merchants came knocking. One was responsible for delivering slaughtered pigs, cattle, sheep, fruits, and vegetables to wealthy families, and the other sold porcelain.

Both households secretly gave Ruizhu gifts, so the servants in the mansion no longer needed to go out to buy things. Fresh meat, vegetables, rice and noodles were delivered to their door every day. The mansion also took advantage of the fact that the Second Master's birthday was approaching to replace the porcelain teacups.

Ruizhu was very careful when she did these things, and before each big move, she would always find an excuse and get Aunt Ding's approval in advance.

Aunt Ding trusted Ruizhu to some extent, and also because the fact that the Second Master had been seriously injured had not escaped her notice.

Aunt Ding was worried about Second Master's health, so her attention was diverted. As a result, she didn't investigate the reasons behind Ruizhu's actions in detail, nor did she keep a close eye on things from beginning to end.

This was just a small matter, but who knew that Ruizhu's "insatiable greed" almost cost the lives of everyone in the county government?

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(End of this chapter)