Chapter 488: Heaven Bless, Must Let Us Successfully Escape to Qi

Late at night.

The wind and snow in the suburbs of Chang'an gradually subsided.

Only fine snow foam swirled in the cold wind.

A manor, however, was completely devoid of the stillness of late night, instead brightly lit, with dozens of lamps hanging under the corridors and corners of the courtyard, illuminating the snow-covered ground as bright as day, revealing the busy figures all over the courtyard.

Yuan Shu was dressed in a brocade robe, but he couldn't care about brushing off the snow particles on his shoulders. Sweat seeped from his forehead, and he was standing beside the carriage in the courtyard, urging his servants sternly: "Quick! Be quick with your hands and feet! Pack the boxes steadily, don't bump or knock them!"

His eyes were incomparably anxious, looking back frequently toward the small road outside the manor.

Several sturdy servants were carrying heavy wooden boxes and piling them onto the carriage. Through the gaps in the boxes, the luster of jade ornaments and the cold color of bronze were vaguely visible, all treasures stolen from Rong Qi's tomb.

Some boxes weren't closed tightly, and a string of bright pearls rolled out, refracting a brilliant light under the lamp fire. Seeing this, Yuan Shu hurriedly bent down to pick them up, carefully stuffing them back into the box, cursing while doing so: "Fool! You can't even protect this little thing, if you delay the big event, watch your skin!"

Yuan Shu's wife, Liu, stood on the side, dressed in a plain brocade jacket, wrapped in a fox fur cloak, looking at the busy servants loading the carriage in the courtyard, her face full of confusion.

She walked lightly to Yuan Shu's side, her tone carrying a touch of confusion: "Old Master, didn't you say you were going to prepare to find a way to sell all these things?"

Saying this, she glanced at the wooden boxes that were being carefully loaded onto the carriage, her eyebrows tightly furrowed, and asked again: "Why are they being loaded suddenly? And it's so urgent in the middle of the night. It's pitch black, what if something goes wrong?"

The woman's voice was gentle, yet she couldn't hide the worry in her eyes.

Clearly, she didn't understand why her husband was so abnormal, suddenly changing his mind...

Just a few days ago, he said he was going to find wealthy and powerful households in Chang'an to sell these good treasures, and then further expand the ancestral property to bring glory to his ancestors.

When Yuan Shu heard this, his face instantly sank until it could drip water, the blue veins on his forehead jumping, and he cursed through gritted teeth: "It's all because of those stupid things Yuan Wu and the others did!"

Having said this, he clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white, hatred surging in his pupils.

Liu was confused, her eyebrows furrowed even tighter, the confusion in her eyes deepening, and she asked uncomprehendingly: "Yuan Wu? What did they do?"

"They are just a few servants, how could it lead to such a serious situation that we have to flee for our lives in the middle of the night?"

She gripped the ties of her cloak tightly, her voice faintly carrying a trace of unease.

She never expected that the actions of a few servants would make her husband so panicked.

Yuan Shu was so angry that his chest heaved violently. He kicked an empty wooden box beside him, making a muffled sound, and cursed angrily: "Those stupid things that are ignorant and incompetent! They dared to go and teach Cao Qing a lesson behind my back!"

"The result? They beat the person to death directly!" He gritted his teeth, his tone full of monstrous anger, "What's even stupider is that after killing someone, they didn't even bury him, and just dumped the corpse on the street!"

"Are they afraid that the government won't find out it's us?!"

Liu's eyes widened suddenly, her pupils constricted, the confusion on her face instantly replaced by shock, and she exclaimed: "What?!"

She stumbled back half a step, holding onto the corridor pillar beside her to stabilize her figure, her tone full of unbelievable surprise: "Why would they act on their own, and still be so heavy-handed?!"

Yuan Shu's chest heaved violently, and he snorted coldly, his tone full of resentment and helplessness: "You ask me, who should I ask!"

He slammed his clenched fist against the carriage, adding through gritted teeth: "They even dared to hide it from me for half a word after beating him to death!"

"It wasn't until Cao Qing's corpse was discovered by the government and the news reached me that they saw it couldn't be hidden anymore and confessed with crying faces!"

The anger in his pupils almost overflowed.

Clearly, he hated the self-assertion of these servants to the bone.

Liu's pretty face instantly lost its blood color, turning dark and iron-blue. She gripped the cloak ties tightly with both hands and couldn't help but curse through gritted teeth: "Those damn bastards! They fail more than they succeed!"

At that moment, she understood her husband's actions...

What kind of existence was Lord Chen Yan?

Was there any case he couldn't solve? Any real culprit he couldn't catch?

The only thing to do now is: flee!

Flee as far as possible!

Maybe we can still save our lives...

A flash of trance passed through Yuan Shu's pupils, his thoughts instantly pulled back to this afternoon—

The underground warehouse was dimly lit, permeated with the smell of old wood and the cold fragrance of jade.

He squatted beside the treasures all over the ground, his fingertips rubbing a Han Dynasty jade bi, raised his eyes to look at Steward Li beside him, his tone carrying a touch of urgency and impatience: "Have you found a buyer to sell them?"

"These things piled up here will cause trouble if they stay too long. We must exchange them for silver as soon as possible to fill the deficit, that's the urgent matter!"

Steward Li stood beside the mountain of treasures, his waist bowed lower, respectfully: "Returning to the Old Master, I have already contacted several, all of whom are interested and can afford a higher price!"

He raised his eyes to glance at the jade bi in Yuan Shu's hand and added: "And the auction house side, I have also made contact. The person in charge promised to arrange a special session as soon as possible..."

Upon hearing this, the tense expression on Yuan Shu's face relaxed for the most part. He nodded with satisfaction, his fingertips rubbing the patterns on the jade bi, his tone carrying a touch of relaxation: "Very good! First pick seven or eight items of top quality to sell, and the deficit crisis in the mansion will be resolved!"

Saying this, his gaze swept over the small mountains of bronze tripods, pearl strings, and ancient jade ornaments, a flash of calculating light in his eyes.

The remaining things must be sold slowly, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the government...

Find channels to gift some treasures to high-ranking officials and powerful people, and build connections with them...

Just at this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the warehouse. A servant rushed in, his face pale, panting and shouting urgently: "Old Master! Not good! There is bad news—!"

The smile on Yuan Shu's face instantly stiffened, his eyebrows furrowed fiercely, his eyes sank, and he looked at the servant who rushed in, his tone carrying a touch of impatience: "What's the panic? What news?"

The servant was so scared that his body shivered, blurting out: "Cao Qing is dead!"

He leaned against the wall and panted violently, his face as white as paper, and hurriedly added: "The corpse was dumped in the alley, and someone has already gone to report the case, and the county yamen has intervened to start investigating..."

Yuan Shu's eyebrows twisted into a knot, his face full of confusion, his fingertips unconsciously clenching the jade bi in his hand, murmuring to himself: "How did Cao Qing die?"

Didn't that kid come to ask for a share of thirty percent of the treasure last night?

Why did he suddenly disappear...

At the same time, Yuan Wu, standing on the side, turned pale, his expression panicked and uncertain, subconsciously blurting out: "Discovered so quickly?!"

Yuan Shu's heart skipped a beat. He raised his head abruptly, his sharp gaze staring at Yuan Wu, his tone instantly turning cold: "What did you just say? What do you mean by 'discovered so quickly'?"

He forced himself a step closer, the air pressure around him dropping sharply, and then as if he suddenly realized something, his eyes widened, and he questioned sharply: "Yuan Wu! This matter wouldn't be done by you, right?!"

"It... it..."

Yuan Wu shivered like a sieve, cold sweat flowing down his cheeks, soaking his collar, looking extremely guilty.

He met Yuan Shu's fiery eyes, then hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to look again, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "The little one led Yuan Qi and the others, preparing to teach him a lesson, didn't... didn't expect to be heavy-handed, and accidentally beat him to death..."

Yuan Shu only felt his brain buzzing, anger rushing to the top of his head, his chest heaving violently, and he grabbed Yuan Wu's collar, his eyes full of scarlet anger, questioning sharply: "Then why didn't you find a place to bury him? And just dumped him on the street openly?"

"Are you crazy?!" He gritted his teeth, his voice trembling with anger, "Are you afraid that others won't find out?"

For a moment, Yuan Shu really didn't know how this bastard's brain grew?

Yuan Wu was grabbed by the collar, shivering like a leaf in the autumn wind, his lips trembling, trembling and explaining: "The... the little one thought that the alley was remote, and it was snowing heavily, it would be very difficult for people to discover it in a few days..."

"When discovered, there wouldn't be any traces left..."

"Who, who knew it would be discovered so quickly..."

Yuan Wu remembered the alley where they blocked the person, it was so remote that it was impossible for anyone to go there on ordinary days.

Yuan Shu was laughed at by his stupid defense, the laughter full of monstrous anger and despair.

He let go of his hand abruptly and threw Yuan Wu heavily to the ground.

"You thought? What did you think!" He pointed at Yuan Wu's nose and roared repeatedly, his voice making the warehouse pillars buzz, "You thought Lord Chen Yan was the same fool as you?"

Saying this, he kicked him again, his whole body trembling with anger, "Thought the Mingjing Si was eating dry rice?!"

Yuan Wu crawled on the cold ground, crawling to Yuan Shu's trouser legs, holding his trouser legs tightly with both hands, his forehead hitting the ground and trembling, his voice carrying a crying plea: "Old Master, the little one really didn't mean it!"

He cried with snot and tears, his forehead knocking on the ground with a thud, "The little one's original intention was just to vent your anger, and solve a hidden danger..."

Yuan Shu was laughed at again, but the smile didn't reach the bottom of his eyes, full of icy mockery, snorting and asking: "Is this how you solve a hidden danger?"

Yuan Wu shrank his neck, not daring to look up, sobbing and repeating: "The little one knows he was wrong... really knows he was wrong..."

Yuan Wu shrank his neck, not daring to look up, and repeated with a sob, "This lowly one knows he was wrong... truly knows he was wrong..."

Immediately, he turned to Steward Li and ordered sharply: "Drag him and Yuan Qi and the others all out! Beat them to death!"

"As you command!" Steward Li bowed and agreed, immediately turning to call several fierce servants, grabbing Yuan Wu by the back of the collar and dragging him out like a dead dog.

Yuan Wu's crying and begging gradually went away.

"Sigh—"

A heavy sigh broke the stillness in the manor. Yuan Shu came back to his senses from the memory, a bitter smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, his voice hoarse as he said to Liu: "It's too late to say anything now... Now we can only stay away from Chang'an as soon as possible!"

"It really wasn't instructed by the little one!"

"It was the servants in the little one's mansion who acted on their own!"

"This matter has nothing to do with the little one!"

"Please investigate, my Lord!"

Chen Yan straightened up abruptly, his black brocade robe bringing up a cold wind, his eyes narrowed like a falcon, his sharp gaze locked on Yuan Shu, shouting sharply: "Is it interesting to quibble like this!"

"Your servants wouldn't have the guts to do such a thing without your instruction!"