The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

He then looked at the group of江湖汉子 (jianghu men, martial arts practitioners) and chuckled, "You guys did a good job. I heard about your glorious deeds all over the capital!"

Ignoring the group, he couldn't hide his smugness and repeatedly said, "You wouldn't dare," waving his hand casually and saying, "No need to be so polite. You've all made a name for yourselves now, so we'll be partners from now on!"

"I've already said what I needed to say back at the small martial arts school on Ningrong Street, and I doubt you'd want to hear it again, so I won't waste my breath!"

"But remember one thing: no matter what happens in the future, you must hold the Tongzhou Wharf. As for the rest, you can discuss it yourselves!"

Jia Huan didn't drink any alcohol, and the group of江湖汉子 (jianghu men) and Xue Pan quickly finished their meal and left the official post station before dark, clearly having other activities planned for the evening.

He didn't mind, and after finishing all the dishes on the table, he leisurely returned to the small courtyard where Lin Ruhai was temporarily staying. At this time, he still held the position of a third-rank official in the Imperial Academy, so he naturally received such treatment.

Upon seeing Steward Lin, he inquired and learned that Lin Ruhai was still resting, so he did not go over to disturb him and went straight back to his room to wash up and rest.

Be careful when you're out and about!

Despite feeling quite restless, I forced myself to suppress it and didn't open the virtual screen created by the cheat system, planning to wait until I returned to Beijing.

As it turned out, his caution was indeed necessary.

I was suddenly awakened in the middle of the night, and my increasingly acute senses detected something amiss.

Quietly getting up, I approached the latticed window of the pavilion by the moonlight and saw two lithe figures gracefully scaling the wall and entering.

Judging from their black clothes and the black veils covering their faces, it was clear that they were up to no good.

I just don't understand why the Lin family guards who came with Lin Ruhai didn't react.

Fortunately, he always carried some copper coins with him. He grabbed two coins, quietly opened the window, and suddenly threw them out.

Two sharp, metallic clangs rang out, particularly clear on the early autumn night.

"Who?" "Who is it?"

The once dark courtyard was suddenly brightly lit.

Dozens of Lin family guards kept a tight watch on Lin Ruhai and Jia Huan's residence.

The two men in black, who had just infiltrated and hadn't had a chance to do anything yet, turned around and jumped over the wall like startled rabbits. Judging from their skills, it would be difficult to catch them.

"what happened?"

An oil lamp was lit in Jia Huan's room. He stood behind the door without rushing out, and instead asked in a low voice through the wooden door, "Guard the door well and don't let any scoundrels take advantage of the situation!"

The Lin family guards outside the door responded softly, but it was unclear whether they heard them.

He didn't bother with all that and simply lay down on the bed to begin his breathing exercises.

In another room, Lin Ruhai was awakened by the commotion outside.

His forehead was covered in white sweat, but he felt unusually relaxed both physically and mentally.

"what happened?"

He coughed lightly, and immediately a servant came over with tea to serve him.

Originally, there were two concubines and many maids and servants accompanying the group, but they had just experienced a long journey by boat and were all in low spirits, so they were all settled in a large inn nearby.

At that moment, the door opened and the old butler entered with light footsteps.

"Master, they must have been petty thieves; they've already run away!"

"Hey, those salt merchants are really going too far!"

Lin Ruhai sipped his tea and said leisurely, "I've already left my post in Yangzhou, and you still have to pull this stunt? That shows how worried you are!"

"If you had nothing to hide, you wouldn't have gone to such lengths!"

The old steward scoffed, "Merchants are merchants. They always think the imperial court is just as calculating and unwilling to part with even a penny of profit!"

In fact, Lin Ruhai did have the so-called ledger, but he did not bring it with him.

As early as when he left office, he sent it to the eunuch in charge of guarding Jinling through the royal guards around him.

What a joke! How could the imperial family not have any safeguards for such an important position as the Salt Inspector?

The secret guards assigned to his side served two purposes: to monitor and to protect him.

Some officials strongly opposed it, while others didn't think much of it; Lin Ruhai was one of the latter.

As the old steward said, there are rules in officialdom!

Such practices as settling scores after the fact are not the norm in officialdom.

In officialdom, the emphasis is on fulfilling one's duties and responsibilities. Lin Ruhai understood this principle well and had no intention or thought of overstepping the rules.

However, the salt merchants had something to hide.

This means that the Royal Guard has already been handed over to its successor; otherwise, this incident would have been far more serious.

"Don't worry about it too much. Once we get to the capital, this matter will be completely over!"

Lin Ruhai saw it clearly, waved his hand and laughed, "By the way, where's Huan-ge'er? Was he scared?"

"Young Master Huan is quite calm!"

The old steward shook his head, recounted Jia Huan's performance, and chuckled, "As expected of a scion of a prominent family, he handled such a situation with remarkable composure!"

Seeing Lin Ruhai's satisfied expression, he then recounted how Jia Huan, Xue Pan, and others had eaten together in the evening, emphasizing the presence of those men with a strong江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) aura.

"As long as you don't commit any crimes, you don't need to pay too much attention to these things!"

Lin Ruhai scoffed, chuckling, "I didn't expect Huan-ge'er to be so capable!"

Before taking up his post in Yangzhou, he had a strong aversion to and rejection of the so-called江湖草莽 (jianghu caomen, meaning outlaws and bandits).

Having served in Yangzhou for nearly five years, he has changed his somewhat narrow-minded views.

He survived several perilous assassination attempts and serious incidents involving salt workers at the salt fields, each time with the involvement of江湖 ...和)

Some chivalrous people from the martial arts world also took the initiative to help him, which changed his perception of the rough and tumble world.

Putting everything else aside, the Salt Gang is a powerful gang that he has no choice but to deal with!

Of course, the martial arts world has its own rules of conduct, which he didn't care much about.

But I also understand that some things are unavoidable, so I'll just have to face them proactively.

Nothing was said that night. When Lin Ruhai saw Jia Huan the next day, he couldn't help but chuckle.

As expected, a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. Jia Huan was in exceptionally good spirits, and his whole body was overflowing with vitality. It seemed that the air around him became lively and cheerful.

"I hope I didn't scare you last night!"

During breakfast, Lin Ruhai still managed to ask, "I didn't expect there to be petty thieves here at the official post station!"

"Uncle, if the officials at the post station heard you say that, they'd be terrified!"

Jia Huan laughed heartily, casually finished the third basket of xiaolongbao, and chuckled, "Don't worry, there won't be any problems!"

"The commotion that Ma Yuan caused in Beijing back then was far more exaggerated than that!"

Lin Ruhai smiled and nodded, remaining noncommittal about the topic of Ma Yuan, and did not seem inclined to ask further questions.

Ma Yuan has almost become a taboo subject in officialdom. In short, one should not get involved with him lightly, or one might bring considerable trouble upon oneself.

After having breakfast, Lin Ruhai and his party departed amidst a warm farewell from the staff and servants of the official post station.

Unfortunately, Lin Ruhai had just checked in when the thieves broke in. The entire inn was in an uproar last night, and no one slept well.

If even the slightest thing goes wrong, no one can bear the consequences.

Lin Ruhai and his party traveled to the capital via the official road without encountering any trouble along the way.

Upon entering the capital, Lin Ruhai went directly to the inn in the city to stay, as was the custom.

The main Lin family group, escorted by Jia Huan, headed to the Lin family's residence in the capital.

Because the Lin family has lost its noble title, the old house can no longer be called a mansion.

After successfully delivering the person to their destination, Jia Huan patted his behind and left, ignoring Steward Lin's attempts to persuade him to stay.

The Lin family has a lot of things to do, what is he doing there?

Lin Ruhai has already gone to Beijing!

The news spread like wildfire throughout the entire Rong Mansion.

The happiest person was Lin Daiyu, who couldn't wait to see her father.

Fortunately, he was stopped, otherwise Jia Baoyu would have definitely made a scene!

Chapter 147 Soaring Luck (Please Subscribe)

The official guesthouses in the capital are being watched by countless people!

Lin Daiyu was a reasonable young girl. Jia Huan only gave her a slight hint of the intricacies of the matter, and once she understood, she was no longer in such a hurry.

It would be troublesome for her to go to Lin Ruhai now, as the cleaning of the Lin family's old house has only just begun.

It wouldn't be right for the father and daughter to just stay at an inn; that would be too embarrassing.

Having completed the task of welcoming Lin Ruhai, Jia Huan returned to a normal life.

Every morning I would go to the tribal school, and in the afternoon I would either play Cuju (ancient Chinese football) at the tribal school or study medicine at the small martial arts hall. In the evening I would go to the large study room in the outer courtyard to report for duty. It was that simple and unpretentious.

As for the business and the branches, they only took him very little time to handle, as they were all handled by dedicated personnel.