Chapter 165
Chapter 165
Xiao Hai and his men reached the nearby estate first.
The guards and steward he had brought had secretly pledged themselves to him long ago. None of them had any intention of going back after this trip.
Xiao Hai had been corresponding with Prince Cheng in secret. By now, he was already Prince Cheng’s man.
Prince Cheng desperately needed grain, but Xiao Lan, as head of the Xiao Family, was a tough nut to crack. He flatly refused to cooperate or sell the family’s grain to Prince Cheng at a low price.
That was why Prince Cheng had deliberately set up checkpoints along the river to make things difficult for the Xiao Family.
Xiao Hai did not want to watch the family decline. In his secret correspondence with Prince Cheng, he had offered half the Xiao Family’s fortune in exchange for unhindered passage along the river.
Shipping had been halted for six months, yet the Xiao Family still had to spend vast sums every day to maintain its fleet and support its workers in various places. They were steadily eating through their reserves.
Xiao Hai believed the family head was muddleheaded, so he had contacted Prince Cheng behind Xiao Lan’s back and offered his surrender.
This time, he had chosen the estate closest to the docks.
He had planned to send the ships out tonight, only for the Star Maiden to appear out of nowhere and ruin everything.
The moment Xiao Hai reached the estate, he ordered the men to transport the grain they had prepared to the docks at once.
Once the grain was loaded onto the ships, the matter would be settled.
Xiao Hai believed he had covered his tracks well enough that the family head could not possibly discover the scheme so soon.
Unfortunately for him, he had run into Jin Bao.
Otherwise, he truly might have succeeded.
Xiao Hai had barely led the wagon train out of the estate when Xiao Lan and his men surrounded them.
“Family Head, what are you doing?”
Even with disaster staring him in the face, Xiao Hai still pretended not to understand.
“What am I doing? You know perfectly well what you have done.”
Xiao Lan was so enraged by Xiao Hai’s shamelessness that he nearly laughed. He must have been blind to employ Xiao Hai for so many years without ever noticing his ambition. The man was such a skilled actor that even performers on the opera stage might not compare.
Xiao Hai jumped down from a wagon without the slightest sign of panic.
“Didn’t you order me to come check the estate, Family Head? I was just preparing to bring everyone back.”
Xiao Lan gave him a look that made it clear he did not believe a word.
“Men, tie up the Second Master and take him back.”
Seeing that the deception had failed, Xiao Hai suddenly raised a lit fire striker.
“Nobody move! Otherwise, I’ll burn all this grain, and none of you will get it. I hid lamp oil underneath it. Take one more step and see what happens!”
Madness filled Xiao Hai’s eyes as he retreated step by step. The guards he had brought immediately closed ranks around him, shielding him from harm.
Xiao Lan raised a hand, ordering his men to fall back.
There was enough grain here to feed an army of fifty thousand for at least three months. If it burned, the flames would consume the Xiao Family’s fortune. Xiao Hai had truly gone mad.
“Xiao Hai, think this through. Admit your mistake obediently, and you will remain the Xiao Family’s Second Master. I will guarantee that you live comfortably for the rest of your life. But if you insist on this course, then even if you escape today, you will never be able to live openly in the Northern Frontier again. You will spend the rest of your life hiding in darkness while every member of the Xiao Family hunts you down.”
Xiao Hai threw back his head and laughed. “Xiao Lan, you’re a fool! You don’t deserve to lead the Xiao Family.
“Your temper is worse than a stone in a latrine, stinking and stubborn. If you remain in charge, you’ll drag the Xiao Family into ruin sooner or later.
“Prince Cheng clearly promised us safe passage. All you had to do was sell him the grain cheaply, and our fleet could have traveled the river without obstruction. Even if we lost some money on the grain, we could make it back elsewhere. The Xiao Family consists of merchants, yet you insist on clinging to some patriotic ideal. You’re a hopeless fool! The family will fail in your hands sooner or later. Your position should have been mine!”
Xiao Lan listened to accusation after accusation without losing his temper.
“Xiao Hai, do you know why you could never sit in my position? Because you cannot see beyond the end of your nose, and you cannot tell right from wrong.
“The Xiao Family has been in business for generations, yet we still hold a place in the Northern Frontier. Do you know why?
“Because our family never involves itself in affairs of the imperial court.
“Do you think Prince Cheng is a good man?
“Once he takes our grain, whether he pays us at all is another question. Do you truly believe he will let us travel the river freely?
“Everyone wants a share of the river trade now. Prince Cheng’s men are not the only ones setting up checkpoints. Other feudal princes are doing it too. Are we supposed to bribe every last one of them?
“If we did, selling the entire Xiao Family would not raise enough money.
“In troubled times, the Xiao Family must avoid drawing attention and blindly choosing sides. Only by keeping our heads down and preserving our strength can we survive to the end. We are like snakes in winter. This is the time to hibernate.
“You understand nothing, and your vision is painfully narrow. Even if I gave you my position, you would only hasten the Xiao Family’s destruction.”
Xiao Lan was not speaking only for Xiao Hai’s benefit. His words were meant for every member of the Xiao Family present.
He knew that unease had spread through the family lately. Everyone was waiting for him, the family head, to decide what they should do.
But the Xiao Family was a great ship, and every decision he made determined whether it lived or died. One moment of carelessness could wreck the entire vessel. A century-old clan could be erased from the soil of the Northern Frontier, soon replaced by another great family. Within a few years, every trace they had left behind would vanish.
That was reality.
As Xiao Lan spoke, the flame on the fire striker in Xiao Hai’s hand gradually went out.
His shoulders slumped as he staggered back several steps, head hanging weakly.
Xiao Lan waved a hand, and the guards stepped forward to seize him. To everyone’s surprise, the steward suddenly sprang out and pressed a blade against Xiao Hai’s neck.
“Nobody move! Clear a path, all of you, or I’ll kill him!”
Xiao Lan narrowed his eyes. This steward had served him for more than ten years and was one of the household’s longest-serving retainers. Never had Xiao Lan imagined the man would betray him, much less threaten to kill his master.
Xiao Hai was equally frightened by the sudden turn of events.
“Steward Wang, do you have any idea what you’re doing? Even if you kill me, you won’t escape. Put down the knife! The family head already said he won’t pursue the matter. If we admit our mistake now, we’ll be punished at most. But if you dare hurt me, the family head will never let you go.”
Steward Wang sneered. “You think he’ll spare me if I go back with you? You’re both naive and stupid.”
Xiao Hai had just endured a scolding from the family head, but Xiao Lan was family, and his argument had made sense. Now even a servant was calling him stupid. How could he stomach that?
“Steward Wang, don’t forget that you’re nothing but a lowly servant. If not for the Xiao Family, would you have enjoyed such a comfortable life all these years?”
“Comfortable? You order me around like a dog every day, and you call that comfortable? If it’s such a fine life, why don’t you spend a day as my dog and see how you like it?
“You refuse to admit you’re stupid, but you don’t have half your older brother’s brains. No wonder the previous family head never thought much of you.
“I made arrangements with Prince Cheng’s men long ago. Once you shipped this grain out, I was going to become one of Prince Cheng’s favorites. He would grant me an official position and a noble title, and I would finally live above everyone else. But you idiot couldn’t even manage this one simple task. And you!”
Steward Wang looked utterly deranged. Hysteria filled his eyes as he glared at Jin Bao.
“You’re the Star Maiden Prince Cheng is looking for. What an effortless stroke of luck.”
Steward Wang was pointing straight at Jin Bao.
Worse, he was threatening someone with a knife.
Jin Bao had no intention of indulging him.
“Bad Uncle, are you talking to me?”
“Bad Uncle? You have no manners at all. Then again, what else would anyone expect from a motherless little mongrel? Prince Cheng is only using you as a pawn, yet you think that makes you important? Once Prince Cheng conquers the realm, every last ant among you will die.”
Jin Bao was already four years old. She could tell when someone was insulting her.
Hearing him curse her so viciously, she finally lost her temper. Besides, he was threatening to kill someone so he could escape. She was a superpowered baby. How could she let a terrible villain run wild right under her nose?
Steward Wang was still laughing wildly at the sky when a bolt of lightning suddenly struck his throat and coursed through his entire body.
The abrupt turn frightened everyone around him.
They all looked up instinctively, only to find wispy clouds drifting across a clear blue sky. There was no lightning at all.
When they turned back to Steward Wang, they found that he had become a charred corpse from the inside out.
His body was pitch-black and his original features were no longer recognizable. He looked like a roasted suckling pig, while the thick stench of scorched flesh filled the air.
Xiao Hai’s legs trembled so violently that he collapsed to the ground.
He began kneeling toward every direction, chanting under his breath, “Buddha, Jade Emperor, Guanyin Bodhisattva, I didn’t do anything wrong. He talked me into all of it. Punish him if you must, but please spare me.”
As he spoke, Xiao Hai kowtowed in every direction, turning after each one.
Only Xiao Lan, who had remained beside Jin Bao the entire time, had clearly witnessed everything.
He was both shocked and elated.
So this was the Star Maiden’s true power?
She could discharge lightning through the air and kill someone from dozens of feet away. If she was not a divine maiden, how could she possess such a miraculous ability?
A new thought took root in Xiao Lan’s mind. Perhaps this was the Baishui Xiao Family’s chance to rise with the wind.
Heaven was giving his family the opportunity to enter a new dynasty at its very founding.
If he failed to seize it, the Xiao ancestors would surely beat him senseless when he joined them in the underworld.
With Steward Wang dead, the traitorous guards were stunned into submission. Xiao Lan’s men barely had to lift a finger before they surrendered on their own.
Naturally, guards who had betrayed the family could not be allowed to remain.
Xiao Lan also ordered a thorough investigation of everyone in the Xiao Family.
Being stabbed in the back by a trusted subordinate had served as a warning. There might be other spies in the household, and every person would have to be screened so that these hidden dangers could be rooted out.
“Older Brother Xiao, will this grain be enough for your needs?”
Xiao Che immediately understood what Xiao Lan meant.
It seemed Xiao Lan had made up his mind. He intended to cooperate with Jintang Valley against Prince Cheng.
Xiao Che also knew that Jin Bao’s display of power had been crucial to this change.
He gazed at the wagon train stretching beyond sight and could barely contain his delight. With this grain, their army would certainly last until the next harvest came in.
“Younger Brother Xiao, I give you my word. As long as Jintang Valley stands, no one in the Northern Frontier will dare touch the Baishui Xiao Family. Jintang Valley will protect your family.”
Xiao Lan knew his gamble had paid off, and an understanding smile spread across his face.
With the agreement settled, the great weight pressing on both men’s hearts finally lifted.
Meanwhile, at the Yanchi Zhou Family residence, Zhou Wanting finally received news of the Star Maiden after several days of inquiries.