Mo Sang – CH 225

Chapter 225. Loss

The ferries from Huangmei County to Jiangzhou City were bustling with activity, though most passengers were empty-handed or small vendors carrying loads on shoulder poles.

The Huangmei County side consisted of large stretches of shallow water, preventing large ships from approaching. Large shipments had to detour through Ezhou to cross the river and unload at the Jiangzhou dock.

Li Sangrou and her group carried relatively little cargo, wading through the water and making several trips to reach the river.

After disembarking at the Jiangzhou dock, Datou craned his neck to look at the Qi soldiers checking travel permits and household registration certificates. Suddenly, he exclaimed, “Boss, our household registration certificate is from the Liang Kingdom. Will it work?”

“Let’s try it,” Li Sangrou said, waving her hand dismissively.

“So what if it does not work? Do you not have a Qi household registration certificate?” Hei Ma slapped Datou on the head.

“Which one should we use?” Da Chang asked, reaching into his satchel and looking at Li Sangrou.

In his satchel was a pile of travel permits, some starting with Li Shou, others with Li Huang, Li Yu, Lu Chengfeng, and others with names he’d just made up.

These were the permits he’d obtained before leaving, after he’d gone to see the Seventh Master, who had taken him to Prime Minister Pan. They were genuine and of high quality.

“Use the one from Southern Liang.” Li Sangrou gestured to Datou.

Datou cheerfully agreed, rushed to Da Chang, took the Southern Liang household permit, held it high, and charged towards the Qi soldiers.

“Hey, why does your household permit still have the character ‘Liang’ on it? Why did you not change it?” The squad leader frowned, examining it several times.

“We were not there then, visiting relatives over the river; we just got back,” Datou replied earnestly, his earnestness making him appear even more naively simple-minded.

The squad leader leaned back, pursing his lips as he sized up Datou. After a moment, he shook his head and asked, “Boss Li, is that you? Where are your parents? Who came with you? Someone must have been with you.”

Hei Ma, behind him, chuckled.

“What are you talking about!” Datou was startled, shrinking back and turning to look at Li Sangrou.

“You idiot!” Hei Ma stepped forward and slapped Datou on the head. “I am his brother, just got back from the other side.”

Hei Ma bowed and scraped, holding a bag of sesame candy in front of the squad leader. “Here you go; eat a little bit.”

“No, no!” The squad leader took a step back, stung by Hei Ma’s candy. “When did you go to the other side? How did you get there? You have not come back yet?”

“A long time ago. Back then, we could only swim across. This was our first time back.” Hei Ma took the candy, wiggling two fingers to show that he had swum across.

“You are all from the same family? You do not look like it!” The squad leader looked from Datou to Hei Ma, then to Da Chang, then at Mazha and Chuantiao squatting at Da Chang’s feet, then at Li Sangrou eating sunflower seeds, and Xiao Lu carrying the bag of seeds for her.

This group of people was a family? Were they taking advantage of him because he was blind? He was not blind!

“We are clearly a family, it says so on the household registration!” Hei Ma was very serious; they really were a family.

“Little Three, go call the leader over. Something’s not right with this group.” The squad leader took a step back, his hand gripping the hilt of his knife.

The three young soldiers ran very fast, and in a short while, a burly, middle-aged commander arrived with about ten soldiers. He first looked at Da Chang, then at Li Sangrou, paused for a moment, and then waved his hand. “You, come with me; let’s go inside and talk.”

Da Chang and the others, leading mules and donkeys, followed the commander into the small, low house outside the city gate.

The commander then looked at Li Sangrou again, holding his breath as he asked, “You are… Master Chang, right? Her surname is Sang?”

“I am Master Ma, do you not know?” Hei Ma was displeased.

“Oh dear!” the commander exclaimed. “General! Master Chang, Master Ma, gentlemen! Oh dear!”

“Your squad leader is quite good,” Li Sangrou said, bowing slightly to the Junior Commander. “Is Master Wen in town?”

“Yes, General Sang!” the Junior Commander said, trying to suppress his excitement. “My Boss’s Boss, he’s led your horse!”

“Then we are on the same side,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

“Yes, yes, yes! It is my honor! You just asked if Master Wen is in town; it seems he is not. I will go ask right now…”

“No need.”

Da Chang immediately reached out and pressed the Junior Commander down.

“We are not here to find him. Whether he’s here or not is irrelevant. We were just asking casually. Take a look at this household registration certificate. Do what needs to be done, follow the rules.” Li Sangrou gestured to the household registration certificate in Hei Ma’s hand.

“Just add a stamp, but that stamp is not here. Otherwise, I will bring it to General Sang…” The Junior Commander was being held down by Da Chang on his shoulder and could only keep pointing his finger.

“Just take care of what you need to do here. We will get the stamps in town ourselves,” Li Sangrou said with a smile. “This matter in Jiangzhou City is just between us; do not tell anyone else.”

“Do not worry! General Sang, you can rest assured! I just need a stamp!” The Junior Commander pulled out his stamp from his pocket and stamped it forcefully on the household registration document.

The group came out, while the Junior Commander, who had followed General Sang’s orders and pretended not to know anything, stood in the small hut, waving his hands incessantly until he could not bear to look anymore, then waved a few more times.

The group entered the city, the Boss leading the way, heading straight for the small courtyard they had bought on their previous trip.

The address on their household registration documents was also that of this small courtyard.

The courtyard was fully furnished, though covered in a thick layer of dust. Da Chang directed Xiao Lu and the others to quickly clean and wash it. Hei Ma went out for a stroll, picked out a popular restaurant, and ordered a table full of food to be delivered.

After the meal, Li Sangrou sat in the courtyard that Da Chang and the others had just cleaned, looking at the map of Hongzhou, pondering where it would be most convenient to start her journey with the wind.

Outside the courtyard gate, a voice inquired, “Is Lady Li home?”

“Yes, come in,” Li Sangrou put away the map and answered loudly.

Datou, who was washing in the back room, poked his head out and greeted the middle-aged woman who had just crossed the threshold, smiling. “Hello, Nanny Zhang.”

“Hello, Boss Li.” Datou and Nanny Zhang quickly returned the greeting with a bow.

Li Sangrou had already stood up and gave a slight bow. “Greetings, Nanny Zhang.”

“You flatter me, you flatter me.” Nanny Zhang was startled by Li Sangrou’s bow and quickly returned the greeting with a few quick knee bends to the left and right.

“Please sit. Your mistress said she left someone here. I did not expect it to be you. It seems your mistress has many, and very important, properties in Hongzhou.” Li Sangrou gestured for Nanny Zhang to sit, then sat down herself and poured tea.

“You flatter me, Boss.” Nanny Zhang sat down somewhat confidently, first bowing in thanks. “My mistress does not have many properties in Hongzhou, but…” Nanny Zhang paused, looking around.

“There’s another courtyard outside this one. Feel free to speak freely.” Li Sangrou smiled.

“Yes, Boss, this place is naturally secure. I was overthinking it.” Nanny Zhang apologized in advance. “When our master was still alive, he was very concerned about our mistress’s businesses in Hongzhou.

Our master said that our mistress was getting old and her energy was waning, and he was afraid she would not be able to manage all the businesses, so he sent quite a few people to help her.”

Li Sangrou gave a soft “Oh,” poured a cup of tea, and pushed it towards Nanny Zhang.

The former Lady Meng, now Madam Meng, had not mentioned a word of this to her.

Such cunning!

“Were these people sent from the Hongzhou businesses first?” Li Sangrou asked.

“Ten years ago, when our master was still in the Imperial Guard in Hangzhou, he was very concerned about our mistress, worried that she would not be able to manage them all.

Back then, our master was not having an easy time either. Business is not something you can just jump into. Although our master cared deeply for our mistress and always wanted to help her, he was still somewhat powerless.”

Nanny Zhang gave a dry laugh.

Li Sangrou gave a soft “Ha!”

This Nanny Zhang, she really knew how to talk!

“Later, our master was stationed in Jiangzhou City, practically in charge of the defense of the entire Hongzhou. Although he was very busy, he still cared deeply for our mistress. For the past six or seven years, he’d been constantly sending people to various places to take over many businesses,” Nanny Zhang continued, her eyes lowered.

“What kind of people did he send?” Li Sangrou asked.

“Although the Yang family was not much before, since our master earned military merit and later married our mistress, the Yang family has become a prominent clan. Relatives and friends are all capable people.

Besides, our master has led troops for so many years, and he’s trained many people. The higher his rank, the more capable people he has,” Nanny Zhang replied.

Li Sangrou scoffed again. “Your mistress keeps your most trusted confidant here not because you are the best at managing businesses, but because you know these people inside and out, right?”

“I would not dare say I know them inside and out.” Nanny Zhang bowed and smiled obsequiously.

“Which one should we start with? Have you made a list?” Li Sangrou asked Nanny Zhang.

“In Hongzhou, before our master died, those few important locations in Jiangzhou City were still in our mistress’s hands.” Nanny Zhang smiled ingratiatingly and pulled a thick, two-inch square booklet from his pocket. “Our mistress’s properties are all in here.”

“I see!” Li Sangrou took the booklet, weighed it in her hand, and scoffed.

So, when she found Lady Meng, Lady Meng already had a knife to her throat. No wonder she acted so decisively and swiftly!

So, she’d been taken advantage of in this deal—a bit of a loss!

She had not even noticed at the time!

Such clever tactics, such cunning!

Li Sangrou clicked her tongue.

Nanny Zhang smiled obsequiously, bowing repeatedly.

“Chuantiao,” Li Sangrou called out, turning a couple of pages and closing the booklet.

“Coming!” Chuantiao rushed in from the backyard, rags in both hands.

“Go back to Huangmei County and send a message to Old Meng and the others. The sooner the better; it is urgent,” Li Sangrou instructed.

“Yes, Boss!” “He darted in, came out a moment later, and headed straight for the dock.”

“Where do you think we should start?” Li Sangrou asked Nanny Zhang.

“The shipyard in Yangjiaping is Madam’s property,” Nanny Zhang replied, his eyes lowered.

Li Sangrou held out her hand.

Nanny Zhang gave a dry laugh. “Since the war started the year before last, our master said that the court had ordered that shipbuilding be all military business.”

“So, you mean that since the year before last, you’ve known nothing about this shipyard? What about the manpower?” Li Sangrou raised an eyebrow.

“Originally, our Madam left some people, but within two months, our master found out about one. Our master is both shrewd and cunning; once he found out, he killed the entire family, saying…”

Nanny Zhang paused, then continued, “After that, our Madam withdrew everyone. Our Madam said money is not valuable, but people are.”

“Only one shipyard in Yangjiaping?” Li Sangrou paused for a moment, then asked.

“Originally, there were about ten businesses. Our madam, in business, always believed in sharing wealth; hoarding it will not last. Our master is different; he prefers to have everything to himself. Now, there’s only one shipyard left in Yangjiaping.” Nanny Zhang could not help but let her lips twitch downwards.

“Who’s in charge of the shipyard?” Li Sangrou gave a soft “oh.”

“Yang Gan, our husband’s nephew. Yang Gan has an accountant named Shan; everyone calls him Master Shan. He’s extremely shrewd and capable.

This Master Shan only came to Yang Gan’s side after our madam evacuated everyone. Our madam knows nothing about him.”

“Yang Gan was originally our master’s personal guard. Once, when our master was training his troops, a tornado suddenly appeared, capsizing their boat. Yang Gan risked his life to save our master, and our master gave him the surname Yang and raised him as a nephew. Later, he put him in charge of the Yangjiaping Shipyard,” Nanny Zhang explained in detail.

Li Sangrou slowly hummed in agreement and sighed.

They really knew nothing about this shipyard.

“Never mind, I will go see for myself.

After a moment of silence, Li Sangrou asked Nanny Zhang. “Where do you live?”

“It’s diagonally opposite the Boss, a rented house. I’ve been renting it since our madam left, waiting for the Boss.” Nanny Zhang bowed slightly.

Li Sangrou sighed again. “By the way, did your madam give those two boatloads of silver to Master Wen? You knew about this?”

“I did. Those two boats, after they moored at our madam’s estate—that is, after our madam went aboard to check on them once—no one boarded them again, and they were not moved again.

It was a servant boy named Bai-Cheng, who works for Master Wen, who rowed them away with men,” Nanny Zhang replied, bowing slightly.

“Your madam, alas!” Li Sangrou sighed deeply, paused for a moment, then suddenly raised an eyebrow and asked, “Does your madam still have any silver?”

“Quite a bit.” Nanny Zhang glanced at Li Sangrou. “The Meng family has had plenty of silver since our madam’s grandfather’s time; they’ve built treasuries and stored silver for generations.”

“Hmm, that’s good!” Li Sangrou breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, let me see. Since you rented the place, what kind of business have you been doing?”

“I said it was mending clothes to make a living.”

“Hmm, Da Chang, bring out a few tattered clothes so Nanny Zhang can take them back and mend them for us,” Li Sangrou called out.

“Then I will bring them over tomorrow?” Nanny Zhang stood up, bowed, and asked with a smile.

“You do not need to come over unless you have something to say. If I need to talk to you, I will just have someone call you.” Li Sangrou stood up as well.

“I would not dare!” Nanny Zhang quickly curtsied, took a few steps back, and, holding the few tattered clothes Da Chang handed her, left.