Chapter 339

The money shop is the Gu family's business.

Among the local tyrants in Yunan City, the Qian Family is the only one that legitimately started in business.

Their money shop isn't just in Yunan; they have businesses in many prefectures and counties of Nan Jun.

Their normal business is deposits and withdrawals—for example, depositing money in Yunan and withdrawing silver elsewhere with a voucher; their reputation is decent, and many merchants reportedly trust them.

Besides that, they also operate currency exchange and lending.

Exchange means converting between copper coins, silver, and gold.

This trade is likely the lowest profit for the money shop; they only charge a modest handling fee—for exchanging one tael of silver they might collect one or two wen.

Lending and deposits are the money shop's main business and also one of the foundations of the Gu family's rise.

"Where is the money shop's hidden silver? Is this silver the Gu family's?" Chen Wuji asked.

He is somewhat interested in this matter.

But we need to clarify this.

If the silver belonged to merchants deposited in the Gu family's money shop and he pried it open, it would harm his and Qin Feng's reputations and be detrimental to future governance of Yunan.

"Naturally it's the Gu family's own," Shopkeeper Li said firmly.

I know what you mean, Deputy Commander. The merchants' silver deposited in the money shop is mostly kept there; the Gu family clearly separates public and private funds and would never appropriate others' money for themselves.

If so, why doesn't the Gu family keep their wealth at home instead of hiding it elsewhere?" Chen Wuji asked in a deep voice, suspecting this old guy was just trying to fool him.

Deputy Commander, you should know 'a cunning rabbit has three burrows'!" Shopkeeper Li said. "In Yunan City, the Gu family's wealth is the greatest; if they claimed second place, no one would dare claim first in financial strength.

This wealth is a fallback the Gu family left for their descendants; having come from exile, they likely feared another exile and left a treasure for their descendants to make a comeback.

Chen Wuji stared at Shopkeeper Li, scrutinizing, and asked, "How did you come to know this?"

I happened to learn of it; I have good relations with the younger generation of the Gu family, and for some reason I obtained one‑third of the treasure map, and I've already deciphered most of it," Shopkeeper Li said.

If Deputy Commander Chen agrees, I'm willing to trade this half of the treasure map for my and my family's safety. No one knows exactly how much silver the Gu family has hidden—not even their younger members—but the amount is certainly not small; less than 100,000 taels wouldn't be worth their mobilizing forces like this.

Chen Wuji nodded. "If what you say is true, I can give you this chance. But I'll say the ugly truth up front: if you dare to deceive me, I'll have your whole family sliced to pieces.

Deputy Commander Chen, you're underestimating me—how could the thing I'm offering to trade for my life possibly deceive you? As Magistrate Qin just said, I'm now the meat on your chopping block, with no room for tricks," Shopkeeper Li gave a self‑deprecating laugh.

Cut the nonsense—where is it?" Chen Wuji barked.

Shopkeeper Li said, "Please, Deputy Commander, have someone prepare brush and ink for me. The map is in my mind; I can draw it out first, then personally lead you into the mountains to search. I've roughly guessed the location on the map.

Someone, fetch brush and ink!" Chen Wuji ordered.

A Personal Guard left the city wall, brought brush, ink, and a piece of cloth, and came back up.

Shopkeeper Li spread the cloth on the wall top and began drawing by the torchlight.

Chen Wuji stood to the side watching, his brows gradually furrowing.

This drawing is truly abstract.

Aside from barely being able to make out that it depicts a few mountains, there is nothing else to corroborate it.

Shopkeeper Li drew quickly, finishing with just a few strokes.

Is that all?" Chen Wuji asked.

He had basically concluded that this old guy was deceiving him.

This thing, a treasure map?

How could this look like a treasure map?

The whole map is so simple it's infuriating—just a few lines that look like mountain peaks, and then…

Nothing else!

The map does look simple, but it actually contains a big secret; after comparing it with all the nearby peaks, I finally found a matching spot," Shopkeeper Li said.

The younger members of the Gu family said the other two maps consist of a poem and an object, but they only heard about it secondhand and never actually saw them.

I think their hearsay is true; this map indicates the treasure's hiding place, while the poem and object point to specific clues.

Chen Wuji pointed at the drawing in Shopkeeper Li's hand and said, "Tell me, how do you pinpoint the exact treasure location among these seven or eight mountains? Have you been to Shenxian Ling? Do you know how big a mountain is?"

If it's a treasure site, it must have something special," Shopkeeper Li said.

Having entered the mountains several times and traversed these peaks, I've also discovered a few suspicious spots; I can determine the treasure lies in one of them.

Chen Wuji's expression remained unchanged as he carefully examined Shopkeeper Li's drawing again.

No matter how you look at it, it's just a few lines resembling mountains; you can't see anything else, and it hardly looks like a treasure map at all.

Yet he couldn't figure out what Shopkeeper Li could gain by fabricating a treasure map to lure him into the mountains.

Chen Wuji glanced casually at Xu Zengyi.

He needed an outside aide to help him deliberate.

Xu Zengyi nodded without changing expression.

Chen Wuji understood, and immediately told Shopkeeper Li, "We've made this deal; I hope what you produce is genuine. Also, who is currently in charge of the Li family?"

It's the eldest son.

Are you the eldest son's man?

……Yes.

Shopkeeper Li found it puzzling that Chen Wuji suddenly asked about this again, but since it was already public knowledge with no need to cover up, he answered frankly.

Chen Wuji clapped his hands and laughed, "Your Li family sure plays dirty—Old Two teamed up with the Cao clan to kill Old Master, then Old One turned around and killed Old Two; such family values are truly admirable."

The Second Son is utterly wicked, unkind and unfilial; the Eldest Son is merely restoring order," Shopkeeper Li corrected. "Moreover, the Eldest Son didn't kill the Second Son—he just temporarily imprisoned him.

You don't need to explain all this to me," Chen Wuji said, raising his hand to interrupt, then ordered, "Someone, take Shopkeeper Li downstairs and find a proper place to accommodate him in the camp.

Deputy Commander Qian, you handle this personally; don't let Shopkeeper Li suffer any injustice here.

Yes!" Qian Fuguai cupped his fists in reply, then asked quietly, "Deputy Commander, should we still have him whipped?

Hold off for now; he's still useful," Chen Wuji said.

"Here."