Chapter 861

In the Chamber of Commerce courtyard, thirty-plus hired guard martial artists heard the sound of the main gate being smashed, rushing out from various rooms, holding all kinds of weapons, long sabers, short sticks, iron chains, the display not small but the formation scattered to the point that Gu Yuci didn't even frown.

The leading guard leader was a burly man with sideburns, holding a long-handled saber three feet long, his voice raised extremely high.

"Brothers, block them! There will be a heavy reward for blocking them!"

Before his words were finished, the first row of long saber soldiers had already crossed the collapsed door panels.

Six long sabers pushed forward simultaneously, the blade edges forming a neat steel line in the morning sun that made one's heart feel cold, the distance between the blades not exceeding two inches.

The burly man's long-handled saber slashed toward the head of the long saber soldier on the far left.

The long saber soldier's saber did not lift to meet the blade edge.

The long saber soldier beside him stepped half a step forward, the blade edge cutting horizontally from the side, cutting into the arm holding the saber of the burly man, severing the entire forearm from the elbow joint.

The long-handled saber along with half an arm flew out, smashing onto the blue bricks in the courtyard, the blade edge embedding itself into the brick seam.

The burly man's scream hadn't spilled from his throat when the third long saber soldier's saber arrived, the blade edge cutting in from his left shoulder and stopping at the position of his right ribs.

Blood surged from the huge wound, watering the blue bricks in front of him into a dark red color.

His body fell forward, face down into his own pool of blood.

After this scene, half of the weapons in the hands of the remaining guard martial artists dropped in the same instant.

Long sabers dropped, short sticks dropped, iron chains dropped, the clanging sounds echoing in the courtyard one after another, followed by the muffled sound of knees smashing onto the blue bricks, one after another, piece after piece.

"Spare us! We surrender! Surrender!"

When the long saber soldiers walked past them, no one looked at them more than once.

Gu Yuci carried his long spear across the threshold of the courtyard gate, striding into the Chamber of Commerce main hall, the spear tip still hanging with a drop of blood left from when a guard who didn't know better lunged at him at the gate, the blood drop flowing down the spear shaft and onto the back of his hand holding the spear.

In the main hall, those stewards and accountants who were usually arrogant huddled in the corners, some holding their heads and squatting on the ground, some lying under the desks, some with legs shaking to the point they couldn't stand, leaning against pillars and sliding down.

Gu Yuci's gaze swept across these people's faces, his voice lowered to a level that made those still shaking in the main hall shake three points more violently.

"Where is Qian Wansan."

No one replied.

Gu Yuci's spear tip pointed toward the nearest steward, the spear edge less than an inch from that person's nose.

"I'll ask one more time, where is Qian Wansan."

The steward's voice squeezed through his teeth, shattered into several segments.

"In... in the back... in the secret chamber... the secret door is behind that landscape painting behind the main hall..."

Gu Yuci withdrew the spear tip and signaled toward the soldiers behind him.

"Smash the door."

Four Beiwei death guards carrying a bowl-thick iron-plated wooden battering ram walked to the side of the landscape painting behind the main hall, the battering ram raised above their heads, smashing heavily against the position of the secret door.

The first hammer, a crack opened on the stone wall.

The second hammer, the mechanism of the secret door was smashed, the stone slab loosening from the door frame.

The third hammer.

The secret door collapsed, stone fragments and mud dust splashing everywhere, revealing the stone steps leading to the secret chamber behind it.

Qian Wansan's voice came from below the stone steps, his voice sharp to the point of being off-key, every word carrying a kind of fear that was about to explode.

"Don't come over! You can't come in! Old man is the president of the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce, you can't move old man without the imperial decree of the imperial court!"

Gu Yuci's mouth twitched, carrying his long spear and striding down the stone steps.

In the secret chamber, Qian Wansan slumped in the tiger-skin chair, his entire body of fat shaking as if someone were shaking his skeleton from the inside, his fingers gripping the armrests, the jade thumb rings scraping several white marks on the wood.

Lin Xin knelt on the floor, his forehead against the stone slabs, both hands holding his head, not making a sound.

Wu Hongyuan slumped in the corner of the wall, his hand pressing on the hilt of the saber at his waist, but his fingers were shaking to the point he couldn't grip it at all, the saber swaying back and forth in the scabbard, producing a faint metallic clashing sound.

Gu Yuci walked to Qian Wansan, looking down at this round, fat figure slumped in the chair, his voice carrying a coldness that dropped the temperature of the secret chamber by two points.

"Qian Wansan, you bribed Western Region assassins to assassinate a Pillar of State, smuggled salt and iron to collude with the enemy and betray the country, caught red-handed, what else do you have to say."

Qian Wansan's hand loosened from the armrest, his entire body sliding down from the chair, his knees smashing onto the stone slabs, his fingers trembling as he reached into his bosom, pulling out a stack of silver notes, the silver notes soaked wrinkled by his sweat, he held the silver notes high above his head, his voice turning into a kind of sobbing tone that made one feel uncomfortable all over.

"General, spare my life! General, these silver notes are all yours, ten thousand taels each, twelve in total, twelve thousand taels of silver! As long as the general spares old man a path to live, all the family property of the Chamber of Commerce will be offered, all of it!"

Gu Yuci didn't even look at that stack of silver notes.

His right foot lifted, kicking heavily against Qian Wansan's chest, Qian Wansan's body flying backward under the force of this kick, his back hitting the leg of the tiger-skin chair, the chair overturning, and he rolling onto the stone slabs along with the chair, the silver notes scattering from his hand and drifting all over the floor.

Gu Yuci's boot sole stepped on Qian Wansan's face, pressing his round, fat face against the stone slabs, the three chins squeezed into a lump under the boot sole.

"Keep your dirty silver to pay the toll for the Yama King in the underworld."

Qian Wansan's voice squeezed from beneath the boot sole, garbled, carrying snot and tears.

"Spare my life... spare my life..."

Gu Yuci moved his boot sole away from his face, turning to look at the deputy general beside him.

"Count the heads, not a single leader of the four great Chambers of Commerce can be missing."

The deputy general quickly counted the secret chamber and the main hall, his voice tightening by half when he returned.

"General, Qian Wansan, Lin Xin, Wu Hongyuan are all here, but the Yang clan leader Yang Huairen is not in the secret chamber, and he wasn't found in the main hall or the courtyard, subordinate asked several stewards, no one saw him go out."

Gu Yuci's brow twisted, his voice cooling by three points.

"Four people missing one?"

The deputy general's voice tightened by two points.

"Subordinate has already had people search the entire Chamber of Commerce mansion, every room and every corner turned over, none."

Gu Yuci's fingers tapped on the spear shaft, his voice raised by a notch.

"Martial law in the whole city, seal the four gates, dig three feet into the ground and find this person!"

The deputy general hammered a fist against his chest armor, turning and running out.

At this time, Yinzhou City, north of the city, Dragon King Temple.

The dilapidated temple gate leaned to one side, most of the red lacquer on half the door panel peeled away, revealing the gray-white wood grain underneath, the clay statue in the temple missing half its head, spider webs hanging from the rafters, swaying lightly in the morning breeze.

Beside the withered well in the backyard of the temple, the weeds on the ground were trampled, there were fresh footprints on the mud, the footprints extending from the well mouth to the edge of the well rim.

The well wall was chiseled with iron nail foot pedals, the foot pedals stained with fresh mud.

The sound of heavy panting and footsteps came from the secret passage at the bottom of the well, getting closer and closer, faster and faster.

Yang Huairen was covered in mud, the hem of his brocade robe scraped with several holes by the gravel in the secret passage, the boot on his right foot squeezed off while climbing the well wall, leaving only one white silk sock stepping on the wet and slippery stone steps.

His bosom tightly held a rosewood box, the copper buckle of the wooden box pressing against his ribs, hurting, but he didn't dare loosen a single hand.

The wooden box contained his lifeline, the secret land deeds of several cities in the south, the huge flying notes deposited in the silver shop, and a roster of the political and field relationship network he had woven for ten years, which officials had received his silver, which noble families had business dealings with him, every name followed by a number sufficient to ruin that person.

With these things, even if he fled to the Southern Liang, he could make a comeback.

Yang Huairen climbed up the iron nail foot pedals on the well wall with his hands and feet, his fingernails grinding blood on the iron nails, he gritted his teeth and kicked up the final step, both hands grabbing the stones of the well rim.

The morning light poured down from the well mouth, shining on his face full of mud, he squinted his eyes, supporting his body up by half.

His head just poked out of the well mouth.

The blade edge of a horizontal blade pressed against his neck.

The coldness of the blade edge transmitted through his skin into his blood vessels, Yang Huairen's fingers gripping the stones of the well rim until his finger bones turned white, his entire body stiffening into a piece of wood on the well wall.

Gao Jiong's face appeared above the well mouth.

The morning light shone from behind him, covering his features in a layer of backlit shadow, only the arc of the corner of his mouth exceptionally clear in the shadow.

"Clan Leader Yang, running quite fast."

His voice was not high, but every word carried a calmness of a cat catching a mouse.

"I've been waiting here for half an hour, you were a stick of incense slower than I expected."

Yang Huairen's voice rolled from his throat, hoarse to the point of nearly breaking.

"You... how did you know about this tunnel."

Gao Jiong pressed the blade edge of the horizontal blade against his neck by half, the blade edge pressing out a white mark.

"The Mingjing Si has been watching the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce for half a year, did you think no one saw when you repaired that tunnel three years ago?"

Yang Huairen's eyeballs rolled twice after these words fell, the fear in his voice slowly replaced by something more intense.

That was a kind of obedience that only emerges when an old fox is driven to a dead end.

"Changshi Gao, old man is different from Qian Wansan, old man can cooperate, old man has things in his hands, things that everyone wants."

The arc of Gao Jiong's mouth deepened by two points.

"What things."

Yang Huairen's fingers loosened by half on the well rim, lifting the rosewood box in his bosom by two inches.

"Roster, a roster of officials in the Northwest Seven Prefectures who have dealings with the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce, who received how much silver, when they received it, who the handler was, all inside."

Gao Jiong's gaze fell on that rosewood box, pausing for a breath.

His left hand withdrew from the horizontal blade, grabbing Yang Huairen's collar, lifting him out of the well like a chick, and throwing him onto the mud ground beside the well rim.

Yang Huairen's body rolled half a turn on the mud ground, the rosewood box in his bosom slipping out, rolling to the front of Gao Jiong's boot tips.

Gao Jiong's boot sole stepped on the lid of the wooden box, pressing the wooden box tightly into the mud ground.

Yang Huairen lay on the ground, his hand reaching half a length toward the direction of the wooden box, his fingers grabbing twice in the mud.

"That is old man's lifeline..."

Gao Jiong squatted down, pulling the wooden box from beneath his boot sole, opening the copper buckle with one hand, and flipping through the things inside.

Land deeds, flying notes, and a small book the size of a palm, the cover of the book wrapped in cowhide, flipping to the first page, dense names and numbers clearly visible in the morning light.

Gao Jiong's eyeballs scanned three lines on the book, something lighting up in his pupils.

He closed the wooden box, tucked it under his arm, stood up, and signaled toward the hidden agent beside him.

"Tie him up, escort him back to the Chamber of Commerce main hall."

Yang Huairen was held down by two hidden agents, his arms twisted behind his back, hemp rope wrapped three times around his wrists.

His voice came from the mud ground, carrying a kind of humbleness that only reveals itself after his dignity has been crushed.

"Changshi Gao, old man voluntarily handed over the roster, can the Pillar of State deal with it lightly."

Gao Jiong tucked the wooden box tighter under his arm, turned, and walked toward outside the Dragon King Temple, his voice drifting back from above his shoulder.

"Deal with it lightly? How the Pillar of State deals with you is the Pillar of State's business, I am only responsible for handing you over to the Pillar of State completely, not a single hair missing."

Yang Huairen was dragged up, stumbling behind the hidden agents, stepping on gravel and mud with one bare foot, the silk sock worn through at the bottom, the sole of his foot seeping blood.

Half an hour later, Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce main hall.

The display of the main hall no longer existed, the rosewood long desk turned upside down by the soldiers, the contracts and documents in the drawers scattered all over the floor, the silver wine pots and tea sets swept into the corners, the curtains torn down and stepped under the boots of the iron cavalry.

Qian Wansan, Lin Xin, Wu Hongyuan knelt in a row, their wrists tied behind their backs with hemp rope, their knees pressing on the blue bricks, the expressions on their faces all different.

Qian Wansan's three chins were still shaking, his face smeared with tears and snot, his mouth constantly muttering for mercy.

Lin Xin's face was white to the point of transparency, his lips tightly closed, not saying a word, but his shoulders shrugging one by one, crying silently.

Wu Hongyuan's face had no expression left, both hands tied behind his back, his head drooping, like a dead fish pulled out of the water.

Yang Huairen was escorted in by the hidden agents, thrown beside the three people, and knelt at the very end.

The four giants of the Chamber of Commerce knelt in a row on the blue bricks of the main hall.

Gu Yuci stood at the entrance of the main hall, carrying his long spear, the spear shaft resting on his shoulder, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the four people one by one.

The deputy general walked in from the side door, his voice half a beat faster.

"General, all the account books and contracts of the Chamber of Commerce have been sealed, the iron box and smuggling records in the secret chamber have also been confiscated, and we have also found the location of the underground vault, but the iron door of the vault has three locks, and the key is not on Qian Wansan."

Gu Yuci's gaze fell on Qian Wansan, his voice lowering.

"Where is the key."

Qian Wansan's voice squeezed through his teeth, every word carrying a kind of reckless arrogance.

His head lifted from the ground, beneath the layer of tears and snot on his face revealing something indescribable.