After being forced to leave the marriage, I became the wife of a top scholar.

Chapter 227 Insignificant

The woman looked at the Fang family's servant warily, not intending to answer, and wanted to leave directly, but the servant stopped her.

"Madam, did you receive a bribe from the Du family, which is why you came to the Du family to buy fabric?"

The woman pursed her lips and shook her head repeatedly, "No, no."

The waiter glared at the woman and whispered in her ear, threateningly, "If I say you are, then you are!"

"Have you forgotten the consequences of offending the Fang family?"

The woman's pupils contracted, and her whole body trembled with fear. Her lips, which were already pursed, were now pressed even tighter. She was afraid, but she could not do anything immoral, much less become an accomplice to evil.

Just as the woman was in a dilemma, the little girl seemed to realize that the person in front of her was a bad guy.

Holding the newly bought fabric, she loudly addressed the shop assistant who was threatening her mother, saying, "We won't buy fabric from your shop. Your fabric is expensive. The fabric from Du Family Fabric Shop is cheap and beautiful. The shopkeeper even gave us pastries. He's a good person."

The little girl spoke very loudly, and everyone passing by could hear her clearly.

The shop assistant at Fang's Cloth Shop glared at the woman, but she remained silent.

The surrounding area was filled with onlookers pointing and whispering, but most of them were saying that Fang's cloth shop was bad.

The shop assistants at the cloth store were getting a little anxious.

"Little girl, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."

The little girl raised her head and said without any fear, "I didn't say anything wrong."

“My mother and I went to your shop to buy fabric before, but we couldn’t afford it because of the high prices, so you kicked us out.”

"Many people are watching this!"

Those around them chimed in, "Yes! It happened just a couple of days ago. Have your Fang family's employees forgotten so quickly?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the pedestrians on the street burst into loud laughter, each laugh filled with sarcasm.

The Fang family's employee was furious. He knew he had to make an example of them, otherwise everyone would think the Fang family was easy to bully.

Thinking of this, the Fang family's shop assistant raised his hand and waved, and several people dressed as shop assistants surrounded him from not far away.

They surrounded the woman and her daughter, threatening the woman to falsely accuse the Du family.

The woman and the girl were so frightened that they huddled together. Although the people around wanted to help, they still remembered the consequences of offending the Fang family.

Everyone watched helplessly, too afraid to step forward.

Fang's henchman smirked, then roared, "This mother and daughter are slandering the Fang family! Beat them up!"

The woman was so frightened that she hugged her daughter tightly and closed her eyes, waiting for the Fang family to beat her.

But the expected heavy blow did not come. The woman slowly opened her eyes and saw that the manager of the Du family was leading the Du family's cloth shop's employees, keeping the Fang family's employees on the outer layer.

The manager of the Du family said leisurely, "This lady is a guest of our Du family."

"No matter who you are, if you want to make a move at the Du family's doorstep, you need the Du family's permission."

"I don't know, young man, can you understand me?"

With a wave of his hand, the Du family's shopkeeper captured the Fang family's shopkeeper. With a little force, the Fang family's shopkeeper began to writhe and wail in pain.

"Ouch, ouch, have mercy!"

Manager Du walked up to Fang's servants and asked again, "Did you understand what I just said?"

Fang's servant nodded painfully and said, "I understand! I understand."

The shopkeeper of the Du family had him released and then sent someone to take the woman and the little girl away.

Seeing that they had gained nothing and were no match for the Du family, the Fang family members could only slink away.

He then reported it to Master Fang.

"Master, Master! The Du family is rebelling!"

The shopkeeper of the Fang family, along with the employee who had just acted arrogantly, knelt on the ground in grievance and recounted, with exaggerated details, how the Du family had built their reputation by stepping on the Fang family.

Master Fang was so angry he wanted to grind his teeth.

“You bunch of good-for-nothings! Our cloth shop is even cheaper than the Du family’s, and you still can’t get any customers.”

"If not trash, then what are you?"

The shopkeeper of the Fang family dared not utter a word. He did feel that it was because Third Master Fang's previous scheme was flawed, but naturally, he dared not say it.

They could only swallow their anger and listen to Third Master Fang's rant.

Master Fang decided to lower the price again, and sure enough, the low price attracted many people to buy the cloth.

However, the money that the Fang family subsidized was flowing in like water.

The better the business, the more money they lost. In the end, even Master Fang was terrified when he looked at the account books.

However, the Du family, which was originally expected to shut down, showed no signs of doing so.

"Master, if this continues, we might be the first to give way," the Fang family steward said worriedly.

Didn't Master Fang know that himself?

Moreover, it is unknown who informed the Prince of Huai and Master Fang of Jiangnan about his situation.

The Prince of Huai is now getting impatient with him!
Grandpa Fang's letter just arrived, telling him to withdraw from Huaizhou City, otherwise no one will give him money to plug the hole here anymore.

Third Master Fang also wanted to write a letter to Prince Huai, hoping that Prince Huai would take action and deal with the Du family.

But the previous letters had already been sent one after another, and the Prince of Huai refused to reply with a single word.

He's only just arrived in Huaizhou City! Has he already lost money and offended the Prince of Huai before even starting anything?

Fang Sanye was naturally unwilling to give up, so that very night he secretly went to deliver a visiting card to Lord Hai, saying he wanted to pay a visit, and also attached a token given to him by the Prince of Huai.

The fact that the Prince of Huai himself was unwilling to take action did not mean that he could not use the name of the Prince of Huai to do things.

Therefore, when Third Master Fang handed the visiting card to the Hai family, he was quite confident. Hai Chengming, that old fox, was the best at cultivating relationships, and he certainly wouldn't let go of the connection with the Prince of Huai.

So, Master Fang had already prepared the gifts he would bring when he visited, but he still hadn't received a reply from Hai Chengming.

He summoned the butler and asked, "What happened?"

"Why hasn't the Hai family made a move? Are you really sure you've submitted the invitation?"

The butler bowed and replied, "Master, it's been handed in. I delivered it myself."

"Then why is there no movement!" At this point, Third Master Fang could no longer sit still.

The steward didn't know either, and could only guess, "Perhaps the Hai family isn't afraid of Prince Huai, or perhaps he doesn't want to get involved."

Third Master Fang froze, sensing something was amiss. "What's there for him to be afraid of insignificant families like the Du family?"

The butler said, "Master, the Du family is nothing, but have you forgotten how the Fang family fell from grace?"

"The Du family and the Lin family are related."

"Especially Lin Yunche's wife, Bai Wanqing, she dotes on her younger sister."

Master Fang, however, didn't take it seriously, saying, "What is the Lin family anyway?"

"Now that Lin Yunche is seriously ill and his life hangs in the balance, would Hai Chengming be afraid of someone who is about to die?"

Third Master Fang felt it didn't make sense.

The housekeeper also found it strange, but that was the truth.

Third Master Fang never received a reply from Hai Chengming. The Fang family's cloth shop was shut down due to severe losses, and in order to make up for the losses incurred, they sold off all their shops in Huaizhou City at bargain prices.

Unwilling to give up, Third Master Fang sought out Zhuang Qi, hoping to meet the Prince of Huai.

Unexpectedly, the Prince of Huai, because the Fang family had failed to perform their duties effectively, sent someone to retrieve the tokens given to the Fang family.

Third Master Fang was abandoned.

He sat in his shop, which had been sold off at a bargain price, looking at the thriving Du family business across the street, his eyes bloodshot.

"Why is that?!"

"Isn't it just a small Du family? Where do they get the strength and money to support such low prices all the time?"

"This is something even our Fang family couldn't do."

Master Fang sat on the ground and sighed, his eyes filled with resentment. Suddenly, he thought of something and rushed to the backyard like a madman, grabbing the Fang family's manager and questioning him.

"Did the Du family buy our cheap fabric?"

"Didn't you realize that those people were from the Du family at all?"

The shopkeeper was taken aback and immediately shook his head. "Master, we've been observing. The person who came to buy the cloth isn't from the Du family."

"The cloth from the Du family is not the same as the cloth from our Fang family."

Manager Fang had wanted to say that the Du family's cloth looked more sturdy and even, but now he dared not say it under any circumstances.

But Third Master Fang simply didn't believe it, "You're lying!"

"It's because you were useless and failed to stop the Du family from buying our Fang family's cheap cloth that we've ended up in this situation today."

"That must be it."

Master Fang laughed loudly, "I've seen through it! I've seen through the Du family's conspiracy!"

"I didn't lose! I didn't lose!"

The shopkeeper of the Fang family sighed as he looked at the deranged Third Master, and then summoned the Fang family's steward to take the Third Master back home.

Not long after, the Fang family completely disappeared from Huaizhou City.

The Du family finally breathed a sigh of relief, but the people of Huaizhou City were still somewhat uneasy, as they all knew that the Du family's cloth was much cheaper than the cloth from the Du family's cloth shop in previous years.

That's all because of competition with the Fang family.

Now that the Fang family is gone, will the Du family really keep their promise and not raise the price of cloth?

Although the people of Huaizhou City still have doubts, they will know in six months that the Du family truly keeps its promise.

The Du Family Cloth Shop had influence not only in Huaizhou City, but also throughout the entire Shang Kingdom's cloth industry.

Of course, that's a story for later. At this moment, Du Wei was happily talking to Du Huan.

"Huan'er, go to the Lin family tomorrow and deliver these things to your eldest sister."

"She is kind and generous, but we cannot be ignorant of the principles of things."

Du Huan nodded as he looked at the valuable gifts Du Wei had prepared. "I understand! I'll take Furong to thank you at your house tomorrow."

Hai Chengming witnessed firsthand how the Du family escaped the crisis.

However, he only saw through half of it; there was still half that he couldn't understand.

No wonder the Fang family fell into Bai Wanqing's hands back then. It seems that Bai Wanqing is not just a name without substance; she does have some tricks up her sleeve.

Hai Chengming was somewhat relieved that he hadn't let his daughter marry into the Lin family.

Otherwise, with their current strength, they probably really wouldn't be able to defeat Bai Wanqing.

Hai Chengming looked out at the night sky and counted the days in his mind. It must have been some time since Lord Cheng left after he came to Huaizhou City from the capital to ask him about it.

Why haven't we heard anything from them yet?
The matter of the Prince of Huai is now a sword hanging over his head; he doesn't know when the Emperor will recall him.

But he has no way of verifying those things right now, and he has to wait for news from Lord Cheng.

Lord Cheng! You absolutely must get the evidence verified as soon as possible!

Meanwhile, Lord Cheng had already been secretly in the territory of the Prince of Huai for some time.

He had already located the two estates according to the positions marked on the memorial, and indeed, as Hai Chengming had said, they were concentration camps for secret guards.

During this period, he also found evidence that these secret guards were inextricably linked to the Prince of Huai.

However, these bodyguards seem to have been more active lately.

Cheng Kaihuai sat on the couch in the inn, feeling that things seemed to be getting out of hand.

"Han Shan!" Cheng Kaihuai called out.

A burly middle-aged man walked in. As soon as he entered, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to Cheng Kai and said, "Lord Cheng, what are your orders?"

Han Shan was a bodyguard specially assigned to Cheng Kaihuai by the Emperor. He was highly skilled and also had the unique ability to disguise himself.

"Find a few clever people to stay and keep an eye on these concentration camps."

"Tomorrow we'll disguise ourselves properly and set off to explore the Prince of Huai's hidden estates."

The middle-aged man nodded in agreement. Before leaving, he looked at Cheng Kaihuai's expression and knew that their mission this time was probably no ordinary danger.

After Han Shan left, Cheng Kaihuai sat down at the table and wrote a secret letter, which he handed to another bodyguard given to him by the Emperor. "Go and deliver this secret letter to the Emperor."

The guard stepped out in a flash, tucked the letter into his pocket, and then disappeared into the night.

Cheng Kaihuai sighed softly, gazing at the stars in the sky, and said, "If there really is a private army, who in the Shang Kingdom can now rival the Prince of Huai!"

Is this turmoil truly unavoidable?

(End of this chapter)