Chapter 1653: Taking Again

"I thought you would spend the night with Miss Su."

In the bridal chamber, Liao Xuan's tone carried a hint of grievance as she looked longingly at Wang Yan, who had just walked in.

She was still wearing her red wedding dress, though some of the gold and silver jewelry had been removed, leaving only two gold dangling hairpins inlaid with gemstones to secure her hair.

"On such a joyous wedding day, how could I leave you alone in the room to keep an empty bed? Never mind spending the night with her, I didn't even go to see her; I came straight here after finishing my talk with Magistrate Chen."

Wang Yan took a few steps over and pulled Liao Xuan onto his lap. "Besides, you are my properly wedded first wife and the mistress of the household. As for her, a mere secondary wife, could she really reach the heavens? No matter when, you are the senior. Once we accomplish our great cause, you will be even more formidable. Wouldn't disciplining the minor wives be as easy as reaching for something in your pocket?"

"You only know how to coax me." Liao Xuan swatted Wang Yan. "Put me down. I need to wash my feet and rest."

Liao Xuan was not a particularly considerate girl, as she did not have a delicate nature. Although Old Liao was a gambler, he always maintained the bottom line of never gambling away his beloved daughter, with whom he depended on for survival. He had raised her quite well; though they sometimes had a full meal and sometimes went hungry, she had never suffered too much. After all, Old Liao was a skilled worker—a famously good one—and with so much tea in Huizhou, there was never a shortage of work throughout the year.

This had fostered Liao Xuan's carefree personality; otherwise, she wouldn't have dared to chat with her father while brewing tea for Wang Yan, laughing and giggling quite happily.

Precisely because of this, Liao Xuan was always careless—no major mistakes, but constant minor ones. Yet, having made many mistakes, she had also made progress. Now, Liao Xuan had been arranged by Wang Yan to be in charge of matters related to the women, and she was doing quite well...

Liao Xuan and Su Zixuan were two sides of the same coin, but the difference was that while Su Zixuan was just as unrestrained during their first interaction, Liao Xuan was very shy, completely devoid of her usual carefree nature...

After a night of intimacy, Liao Xuan came to the dining table after washing up.

"How does it feel to be a woman for the first time?" Su Zixuan, who had long been sitting at the table, greeted her with a smile.

"That's none of your business!"

"As the mistress of the house, show some composure. You must have the capacity to tolerate others. Otherwise, how will our other sisters be convinced by you in the future?"

"That's even less of your business! You know I'm the mistress of the house, yet you're still here pointing fingers? Be careful, or I'll make things difficult for you!"

"Is that so?" Su Zixuan laughed wantonly. "But how come I've heard that the secondary wives, concubines, and mistresses are more favored?"

"But how come I've heard that it's always the secondary wives, concubines, and mistresses who die?" Liao Xuan glared at the minor wife, unconvinced.

"Fine, you win. Who let you be the mistress of the house?"

Su Zixuan looked indifferent, but she bit hard on the words "mistress of the house," glaring at Wang Yan as he walked in from the doorway.

"The minor wife is going to compete for favor~" Liao Xuan giggled, then took a deep breath, intoxicated and satisfied. "Mmm, this stewed hen is really good. Just smelling it makes me want to eat."

"I've eaten it!"

Liao Xuan looked over and saw Su Zixuan holding up two fingers. "This is the second time!"

Wang Yan explained to Liao Xuan: "It's to nourish Qi and enrich the blood, to recover your body. You should eat more."

Su Zixuan said: "I want to eat more too!"

"You are in good health. If you eat too much, your Qi and blood will surge, and you won't be able to handle it."

"That just means my internal heat is too high. What is a man like you for? I don't care, I'm eating it!"

Having said that, Su Zixuan lifted the lid and scrambled with Liao Xuan to serve the soup, while Wang Yan played favorites and served Liao Xuan...

Su Zixuan drank the chicken soup happily, saying sourly: "Men, they just forget their old love when they have a new one. They aren't reliable at all."

"Really unreliable?" Liao Xuan sipped the chicken soup and glanced at her sideways. "As far as I know, you haven't done little in the way of doing business outside under the Master's banner. Are you trying to say that the Master gained many talents and introduced some business? Do you think those people wouldn't have come without you?"

"I was the one who sent them out. Even if the security firms are now open all over the world, there are still places that can't be reached, and some people can't get out."

Then, not giving Liao Xuan a chance to retort, Su Zixuan went straight to the point. "There are the 'Old Eight Families' in Shanxi, you know them, right?"

Wang Yan smiled: "Is it about the draft banks?"

"You know?"

Before Wang Yan could answer, Liao Xuan said gloomily from the side: "You might not know, but yesterday when we got married, there were people of theirs who seized the opportunity to assassinate us. It was just interrogated yesterday. Besides, there was another incident before, also done by them, right after the large-scale issuance of the new banknotes."

Wang Yan nodded: "They use silver to run draft bank businesses, while we issue new banknotes without capital, and they can still be stably exchanged for silver. Now, many transactions use the new banknotes. Even a clay figure has a temper; the wealthy families who were affected and earned less silver are naturally more vicious. It's not just the Old Eight Families; there are many other wealthy families, Shanxi merchants, Huizhou merchants... they haven't forgotten me."

"You might not know yet, but they have gathered a group of people specifically to crack the anti-counterfeiting measures of the new banknotes and are spreading counterfeit notes everywhere. Although their counterfeiting methods are still clumsy and can't fool those merchants, the common people are suffering, and it's not easy to catch them."

"Then how do you plan to deal with it?"

"Find the place where they are counterfeiting, get the evidence of the counterfeiting, and then the bandits will send them away from this agonizing world, so they can escape the sea of suffering early."

"Then why are you still looking for evidence?" Su Zixuan's big eyes were full of confusion.

"You have a huge misunderstanding of me. The people I dealt with before were all handled after I had grasped a certain situation. Moreover, now is not the past; our brothers can be considered to have entered the hall. With so many eyes watching, killing people casually is never good. Only when it is confirmed can we take action."

"Besides, there are so many counterfeiters. There is only the thief who works for a thousand days, how can there be a thief who guards for a thousand days? There will always be people willing to take the risk of losing their heads to greedily earn more money. What I can do is to kill those who print counterfeit notes on a large scale; as for the small ones, just catch them from time to time. They won't be able to hide for long."

"Otherwise, if I really kill everyone who has some suspicion without distinction, who will cooperate with me in the future if I kill the innocent indiscriminately? They spread rumors, and how will the common people view me? The hearts of the people cannot be lost, and credibility cannot be gone. This is the cornerstone of how we have reached today."

"What if the evidence is broken?"

Wang Yan ate the stewed chicken meat that had become dry: "It will definitely be broken. I'll kill as many as I can. Once there is an accurate target of suspicion, there are plenty of ways to make them wish they were dead. Let's talk about your business. A busy person like you can't be seen a few times a year. You aren't here just for the wedding wine, are you?"

"Can't I just want to drink wedding wine?"

"Of course you can." Liao Xuan glanced at her sideways. "It's just that the news of the wedding wasn't told to you in advance. You came back a bit too coincidentally. You know, you wouldn't come back if you didn't have anything to do before."

Su Zixuan pinched the spoon with her orchid fingers: "It's still about buying firearms. The Heavenly Kingdom wants more firearms. They don't know where they found out about the artillery, saying that the artillery from Huoshan is better, and they hope to buy artillery."

"Artillery is not for sale. That is my advantage in fighting them. If I sell artillery, although I can still win, the casualties caused will be greater, which is not cost-effective. However, since you came out in person, you must have some face, and I must express my support for you. You take ten thousand rifles; consider it fulfilling the task for the Heavenly King."

"And then you turn around and sell ten thousand guns to the Manchu Qing?"

"Of course, balance is very important. Otherwise, wouldn't they come to fight me? Bashu and Guanzhong still need to be managed, so it's not suitable to use force, as it's easy to have trouble in the backyard."

"Who are you planning to sell to?"

"Magistrate Chen."

Su Zixuan's sense of smell was very keen: "He just suffered a defeat and was beaten by Li Cheng until he fled in panic, and now he comes to rely on you?"

"Your news is very well-informed."

"I went to see Li Cheng first."

Wang Yan smiled and nodded: "Then when you go back, you can tell him that when the time comes to break through Magistrate Chen's army, send a surprise force directly south to fight the one surnamed Jiang."

"I always feel that being with you is like seeking a tiger's skin."

"Then you are treating yourself as an outsider. Sigh..." Wang Yan shook his head pretentiously, then served Liao Xuan some food. "The first wife is still the best, so considerate."

Su Zixuan hummed: "I actually want to be considerate to you."

"Helplessly, I bear a sea of blood and deep hatred. If this hatred is not reported, it is difficult to be peaceful. In fact, I told you long ago that as long as you develop slowly and strengthen yourself, any hatred can be reported. Conspiracy and tricks are often dangerous moves, with frequent accidents, and it is difficult to implement."

"It depends on the person. If you were willing to arrange an assassination, my hatred would have been reported long ago."

"That's useless. Instead, I would be targeted, forcing me to go to war with them. Do you think your father died at the hands of this one emperor and empress? No, they died at the hands of all the emperors and empresses. Where did their power come from? It's their Eight Banners, the Han bureaucrats, and those wealthy families. They are all helping the Manchu Qing maintain their rule."

"An emperor died, it's nothing more than changing one to come up. They still occupy so much territory, and they still have so many people working for them. The difference is just that because they died, they have to come directly to attack me, which will disrupt the current situation and cause more deaths."

"Is it that fewer people are dying now? You don't know about the human meat trade outside."

Wang Yan shook his head: "At least many people have run to safe places. In the past few years, Bashu and Guanzhong have added millions of people. They have basically survived. But if I get involved, that little grain reserve won't be able to support it. As soon as the army moves, there will be corpses everywhere."

He couldn't tell the two women how many people were affected by the war, but his stability here had truly saved many people. Even if he was selling arms now, making the lethality on both sides greater, it was equivalent to a trade-off. The fighting methods were also changing with the times. People who used troops began to study trenches and how to kill more enemies while suffering fewer bullets themselves.

Both sides plagiarized each other, constantly being ingenious, writing the war philosophy of hot weapons...

"In the final analysis, what you should hate is that force. Without the support of that force, your father is a high official, and he can't be killed just because they want to. It is everyone who abandoned your father and pushed him out to die."

"I'm used to it. If I don't do something, I feel anxious and can't settle down. Otherwise..." Su Zixuan looked at Liao Xuan. "Let me have a child. We've been together for several years, and we don't have a child. I'm too incompetent as a minor wife."

"Wait until the first wife is pregnant and gives birth before talking."

"Did you hear that? You haven't given birth for so many years, and now you want to? No way!" Liao Xuan was triumphant.

Su Zixuan hummed and threw the spoon heavily into the bowl: "I'm not eating!"

Liao Xuan glanced at the clean bowl: "You're full, aren't you?"

"I'm very angry right now!" Su Zixuan looked at Liao Xuan, and then, under the latter's indifferent gaze, she set her sights on Wang Yan again...

Early in the morning, Pang Qingyun washed up, ate, and drank, and then sunbathed in the courtyard.

It was a good day in winter, with the sun hanging high in the sky. Hiding in the courtyard without wind, only sunshine, it was really comfortable enough to make one squint, with sleepiness coming on, drowsy.

Finally, when the sun was high, he and some others who wanted to see Wang Yan came to the large study in the drill ground. In the hall outside, each person held a cup of clear tea and lined up, waiting for Wang Yan's reception.

Pang Qingyun was the last in line. He watched the people in front going in and out, some happy and some sad, constantly drafting in his heart, thinking about how to talk to Wang Yan to show his talent.

In fact, he had been thinking for a long time, and even didn't rest well last night...

Another person left looking happy and sad, and Pang Qingyun walked into the hall that symbolized the supreme power of 'Huoshan'.

He saw the young man sitting by the window, pressing tobacco into his pipe. The most eye-catching thing was the yin-yang hairstyle on this person's head.

Everyone knew this was a great rebel. The Taiping Army all had normal long hair, but this rebel leader who didn't need to walk around everywhere still kept a yin-yang hairstyle. Even after he came to Huoshan yesterday, many people were still wearing yin-yang hairstyles...

He walked closer to pay his respects, and then he heard Wang Yan speak.

"You are Magistrate Chen's subordinate. How do you view Magistrate Chen?"

Pang Qingyun didn't expect that Wang Yan wouldn't let him elaborate. It was like someone looking for investment, not giving the carefully prepared PPT, but being questioned directly, and even...

He pondered for a moment and replied: "Magistrate Chen is a weak person. He can't fight Magistrate Di, Magistrate Jiang, or the other ministers of the military council. If it weren't for this, this subordinate wouldn't have been defeated so miserably in this battle that only one person survived. Master, this subordinate is willing to work for you, only asking for a chance to sell my life for you!"

"Everyone you saw coming in before said the same thing. They all wanted a chance and all said they wanted to sell their lives. Pang Qingyun, do you think I lack people to sell their lives?"

"Of course not, Master. But some people just send their lives, while others can handle the things you entrust to them."

Wang Yan lit the fire to light the smoke, puffing on the pipe: "Then did you handle the things Magistrate Chen entrusted to you?"

"Master, it was the Kui Battalion that watched us die without saving us. As long as they went up, more than half of the brothers in my battalion could have survived, and this battle could have been won! Master, He Kui is Magistrate Jiang's man, so this subordinate said that Magistrate Chen can't fight Magistrate Jiang!"

"Why don't you go back first, and I'll send someone to inquire about the news, such as whether this He Kui has been punished."

Watching Wang Yan puffing smoke rings leisurely there, Pang Qingyun's heart skipped a beat...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who tipped, voted for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support! ===== CHAPTER 1654 =====