Chapter 188: Who Is the Chicken?

Their Bai Family has been involved in water transport for decades, even a century; they know exactly which waterways are navigable in which seasons, and what size ships can pass. As for where the open warehouses are and where the hidden ones are, they might not know every single one, but the Bai Family has a clear count of more than half the storage facilities near the ports!

In water transport, every procedure and every stretch of the route is a place to skim off profits. They know too many secrets!

They also know of many hidden goods and assets; some were hidden by the Bai Family, but more are ones they know others have hidden.

As the head of the Bai Family, Master Bai truly wanted to accomplish great things in Jizhou at the start of these chaotic times!

And those supplies, according to the original plan, were also to be gradually brought out and used in Jizhou.

Now... hah!

You take me for a chicken to be slaughtered?

Keep dreaming!

When Bai Hang left the courtyard, he saw the manservant guarding the gate.

The head manservant was named Lai Sha; Lai Sha and his father had both been employed by the Bai Family for two generations, and they were often entrusted with important tasks, belonging to the inner circle of Master Bai—if he weren't trusted, he couldn't possibly be guarding Master Bai's courtyard gate.

Bai Hang looked at Lai Sha.

His father said this person was temporarily trustworthy, so he said to Lai Sha: "Guard this courtyard well. Aside from the people I bring back in a moment, no one else is to be let in! Anyone at all!"

Lai Sha realized something was wrong and nodded.

But after this young master left, Lai Sha felt uneasy. The old master had been kind to his family, and he couldn't set his mind at ease, so he went to the front of the old master's room and knocked gently: "Old Master, are you still well?"

A voice came from inside the room: "Do as Hang'er said!"

The voice was a bit hoarse, and it seemed to carry a chilling, emotionless coldness that made one's hair stand on end.

But it was indeed the old master's voice.

Perhaps there was some emergency.

Lai Sha thought to himself and replied: "Yes! Old Master!"

At this time, Master Bai inside the room said again: "Knowing too much will never do you any good!"

"Yes!" Lai Sha responded again, even more sincerely.

He had worked for the Bai Family for many years; in his experience, some things the old master said truly had to be taken to heart—one must never treat them lightly!

Bai Hang notified several older siblings and quickly returned to the old master's courtyard.

At this time, the others had not yet arrived, and under Master Bai's instruction, Bai Hang found the secret compartment in the bed and gathered the letters inside.

Afterward, he took several letters out of another cabinet in the room and placed them into the secret compartment.

Master Bai gave his youngest son a few instructions, and voices and footsteps could be heard outside.

The children he had named arrived one after another.

While he was still clear-headed, he had to arrange everything as quickly as possible!

Otherwise, once he was gone, if the younger generation were instigated to fight among themselves, they would soon be carved up by outsiders.

Hah, wanting to feast on my Bai Family?

Then you must endure my Bai Family's counterattack!

Another hour passed, and the Bai Family sent out dire news—Master Bai had passed away from illness!

The few children who had seen him before he died applied makeup to the old master to cover up the Evil Spot. It would be enough to fool the rest of the family.

The courtyard was completely sealed off, and no one was allowed to enter; the funeral was also held in a rush, citing the hot weather as the reason it had to be done quickly.

To the outside world, they only said the old master was of advanced age, had caught a cold, and then suffered a sudden relapse of an old ailment, failing to pull through.

People on the outside didn't say anything to their faces, but privately, everyone discussed it: How could that be? He was full of vigor the day before, arguing with other merchants, and now he was suddenly gone?

Furthermore, they wouldn't even let people see him one last time; there must be something fishy!

As they continued to probe for news, everyone realized:

Holy crap! Killing the chicken to warn the monkey, they actually offed Master Bai?

Those whose status and standing were similar to Master Bai Zi, or even inferior to Master Bai, had previously been quite full of themselves, but now they were all as quiet as chickens. They were terrified that they would be the next ones to "suddenly catch a cold."

Before the mourning hall, many people saw the distracted and dazed look of Master Bai's most beloved youngest son, and they exchanged glances: it truly looked like the incident was sudden, with no follow-up arrangements.

Jizhou was not as rowdy, but beneath the surface, there seemed to be deeper whirlpools hidden, and there was a subtle sense of tension everywhere.

After Master Bai Zi passed away, Lai Sha, the guard of Master Bai's courtyard, also frequently encountered people probing him, but he kept his mouth shut tight. One day, a friend he had a good relationship with invited him to drink.

Alcohol was a luxury item now, especially grain liquor; Lai Sha was a bit tempted, and since his relationship with this friend was good, after some hesitation, he went to the appointment.

During the mourning period, the dietary restrictions only needed to be observed by the masters of the Bai Family; as for others, as long as they didn't eat or drink inside the manor, the Bai Family wouldn't care. It was too rare to have a good meal now, so there was no need to be too strict in this regard.

Lai Sha was invited over by his friend, and as they ate and chatted, he became somewhat tipsy. The man looked very worried about Lai Sha's future: "With Master Bai Zi gone, what will you do next?"

Lai Sha, with his tipsiness, said unguardedly: "I used to follow the old master, and now... oh, I have to change how I address them now; I used to follow the old patriarch, and now I have to follow the several masters. Whatever they order, that's what we do; what else can we do?"

His friend poured him more wine and continued the topic of the Bai Family, probing him multiple times in his speech.

After he was full and satisfied, he let Lai Sha go back.

After Lai Sha left, another person walked out from where they had just been drinking.

"How was it?" that person asked.

"Lai Sha is simple-minded, and his subconscious reactions can't lie. There really are no other abnormalities," Lai Sha's friend replied.

On the other side, Lai Sha returned to the Bai Family mansion and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

After the alcohol wore off, he requested permission from Bai Hang and went to the ancestral hall to offer incense and kowtow to Master Bai.

The old master was right; he could only stay alive if he didn't know certain things. If he knew even a little, he might have to go underground to accompany the old master! The sky grew dark, and everywhere fell silent.

The courtyard where Master Bai lived during his lifetime had already been sealed off. His children only said they would later invite people to hold a Dharma Assembly to let the old master depart in peace. But everything in the courtyard was sealed up, and no one was allowed to enter.

Under the cover of night, a black shadow quietly climbed into the sealed courtyard.

He entered the room and searched everywhere, finding several letters to collect, and then tapped around lightly, finding the secret compartment in the bed where Master Bai had lain before he died, collecting the letters inside as well.

Afterward, he left without a sound.

Jizhou, a mountain where the Du Family lived. This place was very close to the mountain where the Bai Family lived, but here, the lights were blazing.

In the candlelit council hall, the Head of the Family of the Du Family and several clan descendants were all present.

A strategist was flipping through letters searched out from the room of Master Bai Zi.

Several letters contained the Bai Family's commercial plans, including how many ships they had and how much cargo they had accumulated.

Comparing this to the quantity of hoarded salt written inside, it was indeed about the same as what the Bai Family had taken from their hands.

"What is written in here should be credible," a strategist said with a hint of regret.

That Bai Family truly only wanted to trade goods; they had no other ulterior motives.

Looking at the commercial plans and the goods that could be brought back as written in these letters, one couldn't help but feel regret!

He naturally dared not say that the Du Family had killed the wrong "chicken," so he could only say: "It seems it was just jealousy and slander among that group of lowly merchants."

Previously, some said the Bai Family had ulterior motives. When the Du Family was killing the chicken to warn the monkeys and choosing a "chicken," they discussed it back and forth, debated it over and over, and finally settled on Master Bai.

Now it seems, it is indeed a pity!

If Master Bai were still alive, he could bring even greater benefits, but the Bai Family without Master Bai Zi has no particularly outstanding members among the younger generation. If the younger generation were united, it would be fine, as many people have much wisdom, but if their hearts are not aligned... it is hard to say.

A young master of the Du Family said: "It doesn't matter. Those long-term plans written above sound somewhat useful. If the current Bai Family cannot achieve them, then hand them over to another family!"

"The old thing has fallen; the younger generation of this branch of the Bai Family cannot hold things up."

Several young masters and strategists of the Du Family looked at each other, silently exchanging certain information.

The Du Family Head, sitting in a high position, glanced at them and said: "Find out clearly before taking action next time!"

The tone carried reproach, but he did not say much more. In the eyes of the Du Family leader, there were more important matters waiting to be handled.

That old fellow of the Bai Family, killing him was just killing him; the old thing was indeed not very obedient and had offended quite a few people.

In Jizhou, the Bai Family is not the only one doing water transport; without the Bai Family, there are several other choices.

A strategist asked: "Then, those watching the Bai Family?"

The Du Family Head said casually: "Withdraw them all."

Everyone present knew in their hearts that the fleets and goods held by the Bai Family would soon be carved up by their subordinates, and they did not need to waste effort intervening.

It was another seemingly ordinary day.

The Bai Family mansion.

Bai Hang stayed in his room alone, flipping through the letters left behind by the old man.

His father had said that these letters could only be opened and read at a chosen time after the funeral was over.

Before, he had always felt that someone was watching them, but now it was much quieter.

Therefore, today he finally found a suitable time to carefully look at these letters.

Looking at the contents of letter after letter, Bai Hang's expression changed repeatedly—at times shocked, at times serious, and at times he even wanted to blurt out a few "holy crap"s! These letters actually even wrote about the affairs of Minister Xue back then!

He had inquired about the Xue Family's affairs.

That kind of high-stakes game was not something small fries like them could participate in. Even the Transport Commissioner in charge of grain transport back then could become cannon fodder; they, these small characters, dared not get involved even more!

But Bai Hang did not expect that the old man had actually met Xue Er Gongzi!

Although Master Bai was relatively old, he still personally escorted some of the more important goods.

Having done things personally all these years, the old man actually knew which places in the shipping lanes had abnormalities.

Back then, after the Xue Family incident, the old man was personally escorting goods one time and met Xue Er Gongzi while resting at a certain port along the way. He had seen this well-known playboy of the capital before when delivering goods to the capital. Seeing him again, even though the other party had disguised himself, Master Bai still recognized him. It was just that the political situation was sensitive at that time, and it was inconvenient to reveal his identity. Thus, the old man left an anonymous letter for Xue Er Gongzi; some clues about water transport storage were provided to Xue Er Gongzi by him!

It was also to leave an extra path for their Bai Family.

Master Bai Zi had a fiery temper; he knew he was prone to offending people, so he often left some extra paths for himself and his family. There were still people alive from the Xue Family, and there seemed to be many big figures helping in secret. With the changing times, who knew if the Xue Family could make a comeback? Master Bai had never mentioned this to anyone. He thought that if this path was not needed later and the Xue Family truly fell, he would just pretend nothing had happened and let it rot in his heart! He would never let anyone know he had written a letter to Xue Er Gongzi!

But if the Xue Family made a comeback, their Bai Family could be considered to have provided help in their time of need and could obtain even greater benefits!

Besides the Xue Family's affairs, these letters also contained the corruption in the water transport system that the old man knew about, writing down the secret warehouses of those corrupt officials! Bai Hang watched these letters with a trembling heart.

Rather than calling them letters, it would be better to call them notes. At first glance, it looked like the old man had written them for others, but in fact, they were all private records.

The contents of the letters did not mention the identities of various important figures; whether it was events or people, most used code words.

Bai Hang had followed the old man since he was young, so he could guess most of them.

If this were before the chaotic times, the person who wrote the letters and everyone who had seen such letters would have been lined up for the death penalty!

Now in chaotic times, it doesn't matter; even death row prisoners are ignored, and that group of private salt sellers is more rampant than the next.

But the relationships and connections involved, and the benefits that the stored goods could bring, must absolutely not be known by others!

Bai Hang took a deep breath to calm his emotions.

He couldn't help but pull out an ugly smile again.

The people who laid hands on Master Bai Zi would never have thought that the chicken they slaughtered could actually lay golden eggs, right?!

When the old man came to Jizhou, he truly wanted to develop here, feeling that chaotic times were also an opportunity. Jizhou had many merchants, and their Bai Family should be able to grow here.

Perhaps in the old man's plans, one day in the future, when he had chosen a person among the various factions watching from the sidelines, he would take out those hidden riches one after another to strengthen Jizhou.

Now, those people are dreaming!

"Our water transport Bai Family has been underestimated!"

Not to mention the contents written in Master Bai Zi's letters, the cargo ships gathered and the routes studied by the Bai Family after participating in water transport for many years were not something ordinary fleets could compare to!

Master Bai also left behind a thin volume, which contained extremely detailed maps of the various water transport routes he had drawn.

In the past, when transporting grain, if they encountered any unexpected events and their fleet was forced to change routes, they had to choose a more suitable waterway to bypass it in the shortest time possible.

When he was young, the old man did everything personally. After he got older, Master Bai would still go out at least once a year to see which canal waterways, locks, and wharves had changed.

He would teach all of this to his younger generation.

To prevent forgetting, the old man drew them all out, compiled the drawings into a volume, and kept it hidden.

Now, it was left to his children.

And the water transport Bai Family was also about to open up a backup route to bypass this hurdle!

The Bai Family's affairs had stirred up waves in the merchant circles of Jizhou, and soon, everyone's attention shifted from the cause of Master Bai Zi's death to the subsequent movements of the Bai Family.

"I heard the Bai Family couldn't hold onto a batch of cargo ships and were forced to sell them!"

"That's not all! To keep the remaining fleet, they even transferred their stored salt to others!"

The salt stored by the Bai Family was mostly high-grade goods; even with the current threat from Xinzhou, as long as such a necessity and hard currency were brought out, plenty of people would be willing to take them off their hands!

"There's more, there's more! The internal strife in the Bai Family is intense. It's a large family, after all, with many people. I heard they're splitting up the family, and so-and-so fought with so-and-so over the family assets and lost, and they couldn't even keep their brick-and-tile house, so they had to squeeze into a small courtyard with other brothers. How pitiful!"

"Hiss... Roughly calculating, most of the family wealth that Master Bai accumulated in Jizhou is about to be squandered by his children!"

Various rumors were flying about, all saying that the water transport Bai Family was likely finished, and they were just barely holding on now, and wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

Because of the threat from Xinzhou, the merchants in Jizhou gathered to discuss and decided to set off earlier this year.

They would take advantage of the fact that Xinzhou's salt had not yet been sold everywhere to go and make a profit first.

The nighttime temperature was starting to drop; as long as they avoided the dangerous periods, it would be easy to deal with Plague Ghosts even if they were discovered in the water at other times.

Compared to the profits that could be gained, this bit of risk was worth it!

The merchants began a tense period of preparing their goods.

The Bai Family was brought up again as a topic of idle chatter after tea and meals.

"The Bai Family's sons-in-law are also participating in the transport escort this time. I heard the cargo wasn't enough, so those sons-in-law even touched their wives' dowries!" "Sigh!"

The person speaking sighed repeatedly, but their face wore an expression of gloating.

At first, they felt some regret, but now, the benefits they had gnawed off the Bai Family made them greedy.

And while this group of people was mocking the Bai Family, several core members of the Bai Family were quietly huddled together, calculating.

Clear out all goods that can be sold, take everything that needs to be brought, kick out everyone within the family who has ulterior motives; the consistency of the family's actions must be guaranteed! These were all arrangements made by Master Bai Zi before he passed away!

"Have you made contact with that side?"

"Contact has been made, waiting for a reply."

"I hope everything is as Father said."

"Master Bai Zi is worthy of being the one who managed the family for many years; he is indeed cunning... deep in his calculations!"

A message was sent by a flying servant, and a secret letter was delivered to the Xinzhou Xunweis.

Wen Gu took a look and called for Xue Yanzhi.

Xue Yanzhi came over and was about to flatter him a few times, but Wen Gu handed the secret letter directly to him: "Take a look."

Xue Yanzhi looked at the secret letter, his grinning face turned serious, and the emotions in his eyes were somewhat complex: "The one who left the letter back then, it turns out it was his family!" Many of those who secretly helped Xue Yanzhi back then were big figures, so when he saw this letter back then, Xue Yanzhi also thought it was left for him by one of them. He didn't expect that it was actually the water transport Bai Family, with whom he had never had any contact.

Compared to the nobles, the Bai Family could indeed only be considered small fry.

But it was this small character who, during Xue Yanzhi's most difficult time, left behind some important clues to help him investigate the truth.

Regardless of what Master Bai Zi's original intention was, he did indeed help Xue Yanzhi.

Now that the Bai Family was in trouble, Xue Yanzhi was of course willing to help.

The secret letter also stated that to show their sincerity and prove that what they said was true, the Bai Family revealed the locations of two secret warehouses.

There were private hoards of certain corrupt officials in the water transport system there.

In the past, the Bai Family knew about those secret warehouses but pretended not to; they couldn't break the unspoken rules.

But now it was a chaotic world; whoever found them or couldn't protect them, anyone could pry them open!

Xinzhou could of course go and pry them open too!

Xue Yanzhi looked at the secret letter, unable to understand, his face full of question marks:

"This Master Bai is a very capable person! He hadn't rebelled before this, and looking at it like this, Master Bai had no intention of contacting me at all before. Why did Jizhou kill him to warn the others?"

Wen Gu thought for a moment: "The arrogance of the nobility."

Speaking of this, Xue Yanzhi understood best: "The Du Clan got carried away after becoming a powerful clan! This Master Bai was indeed a rare talent, what a pity!" A little setback, and they actually killed the person who could get things done first?

Xue Yanzhi had drafted many lists for the revenge plan of Xinzhou against Jizhou triggered by the salt, but the Bai Family was not on them.

How talented must the people of Jizhou be to look down on even the Bai Family?

Wen Gu truly felt it was a pity. Over in Jizhou, they couldn't even keep the talents they had!

This matter once again let them see human nature in a chaotic world.

Master Bai thought he was just a monkey watching from the sidelines, wanting to stand by and watch, but he didn't expect to become the chicken that was slaughtered.

The people who did the deed thought they were just casually slaughtering a chicken, and threw the chicks in the chicken coop to the jackals below to divide up.

But the group from the Du Clan who did it would never have thought that this "chicken" was actually a dinosaur with feathers!