"The latest information, the latest information. It's said that the most annoying Chen family in this county made a big move this afternoon. "
Xiao Bei excitedly said to the other eight people sitting in a circle.
"We heard it. Let's get down to business." Xiao Yuan timely stopped Xiao Bei from continuing to report.
Xiao Bei didn't scold Xiao Yuan this time. He put his two small hands on the table and said, "The business is that we need to know what they want to do first."
"What else? Of course, they want to find us. Almost everyone in the county has a copy of our portrait. Who engraved our faces on boards and sold them everywhere? I don't object to their behavior. I'm angry that they didn't give us a share of the income. "
Xiao Nan obviously valued the right of the portrait very much. When the portrait was sold and he didn't get a single cent, it would be a lie to say that he wasn't angry.
The actual situation was as Xiao Nan said. After the Chen family found out that the eldest son of the first branch had offended Xiao Bei and the others, they immediately began to discuss countermeasures.
At first, they wanted to send someone to tell them to hide the goods elsewhere, but the eagles circling in the sky clearly told them that they were being watched.
The two eagles, Shui Yun and Hong Luan, constantly told people who saw them that the Zhang Family and Wang Family were here. The red and white colors were too eye-catching.
After the Chen family found out about this situation, they wanted to chase after the eagles to find Xiao Bei and the others, but it was obviously impossible. The only way left was to ask the people in the county to help. Chen Yaozu told them that Xiao Bei and the others wanted to enter the county that day.
When they found them, they could contact Xiao Bei and the others while sending people to arrange other things. At that time, Xiao Bei and the others would let down their guard.
Now, Xiao Bei and the others were thinking about when and where to take action. Because they didn't launch a large-scale intelligence contact and only sent people to inquire in the county, they didn't collect much information. It was a bit far-fetched to say that they were guilty.
"Can't we meet with them first? There's no evidence to prove that they did something wrong. It's better to alert the enemy than to suspect them. "Xiao Bei wanted to take the initiative.
Xiao Yuan had other considerations and said, "I mean, let's leave first. Think about it. They asked the locals to find us. If they can't find us, won't they search every house? I don't want to meet them in this situation. "
"I agree. Let's leave." Xiao Hai thought about it and supported Xiao Yuan.
"Then let's go." Xiao Bei immediately agreed when he heard his brother speak.
At dusk that day, Xiao Bei and the other nine people were once again sent out of the county through various disguises and transport vehicles.
Less than an hour after they left, the yamen runners and the servants of the Chen family started to go door to door to ask questions. When they asked about the shop on the neighboring street where Xiao Bei and the others had just stayed, there were only two local workers in this shop that had changed its business to selling steamed pancakes.
When they found out about the house that had been bought, the Chen family finally found out that Zhang Xiaobei and the others had been there and had stayed there for a period of time.
Slap! Chen Guanghou slapped his eldest son's face in front of everyone else in the clan's meeting hall.
"Relying on his family's wealth and connections with other local officials, he went out and caused trouble all day long. I've warned you time and time again, but you wouldn't listen. Now that you've brought a calamity upon yourself, I don't need to warn you anymore. "
The skin on Chen Guanghou's face drooped as if it had lost all moisture. His eye sockets had also sunk in for a short period of time. After slapping his son, he fell back into his chair. Weiwei opened her mouth as if she was at the end of her rope.
"Father, father, don't kill me. Give me to Xiao Bei and the others to vent their anger. Don't kill me." Chen Yaozu, who had been slapped, fell to his knees in front of his father and hugged his legs as he begged.
"Kill you? If killing you could solve the current situation, you would have been killed long ago. In the eyes of Zhang Xiaobei and the others, you're just an ant. Didn't you see the eagle circling the sky during the day? Would the Shui Yun General be sent to deal with you? You think too highly of yourself. "
Chen Yaowei, one of the twins from the third branch's Chen Guanghun family, ridiculed. Clearly, at his age, he didn't know many things. He only heard it from his father, unless he could be nurtured like Xiao Bei and the others.
A few days ago, the two brothers had been harshly scolded by the head of the family. Now, they finally had a chance to retaliate. Even when facing the survival of the family, they didn't forget to add insult to injury.
"I remember that First Father said that we caused trouble that day. I didn't expect that, I didn't expect that the trouble we caused was still too small compared to First Father's eldest brother. I admire you, I really admire you. This little brother has seen it."
Chen Yaohong also criticized the first branch with his younger brother.
"All of you shut up, I'm not dead yet." The old man of the Chen family held the arms of the chair with both hands and shouted.
The other people in the hall all looked at the old man who usually didn't care about the family matters. They were all looking forward to the old man, hoping that he could help the family turn the tide.
The old man's eyes were wide open, no longer squinting like before. The eyes that were exposed under his eyelids gave people a feeling that they were shining.
"Now, don't expect to apologize to Zhang Xiaobei and the others. The more we apologize, the more guilty we will be. Just now, we sent people to investigate and received news that Zhang Xiaobei and the others left not long ago. They didn't leave for many days and only left today. It means that they know about the map we sent in the county, so there is no need to look for them again. "
Old Man Chen looked back and forth at the younger generation in the family and said in a deep voice.
"Father, if we don't look for them, are we going to wait for them to come to us? It's better to immediately send people to other places in the dark to convey the family's orders. At least, we should first hide or dispose of a batch of goods. "
The second branch's Chen Guangliang said the plan in his heart.
Old Man Chen shook his head: "It's too late. If you can think of it, others can also think of it. Anyone who leaves the county tonight will be watched."
"I don't believe that Xiaobei and the others are so smart." Chen Guangliang insisted.
"Are the people around Xiaobei just decorations? What's so scary about the nine children? What's scary is their identity and the team that supports them. "Old Man Chen looked at his second son with dissatisfaction.
"Then what should we do?" The beaten Chen Yaozu said what everyone was thinking.
"Wait, continue to do business in the county. Take out the accounts of the past few years. Send out the servants who didn't participate in the family business. Remember to give enough money. Those who participated in the family business stay. Those who helped the younger generation in the family fight, and those who were responsible for transporting goods that shouldn't be transported, stay together. "
Old Man Chen straightened his back and gave the order.
Everyone else sucked in a breath of cold air, as if they couldn't believe that the old man would give such an order.
Chen Yaodong of the second branch gritted his teeth and said: "Is there only one way? The people left in the family can't beat Xiaobei and the others. "
"Fight? When did I ever want to fight? I'm waiting for them to come and directly hand over the accounts to them. I'll let them do whatever they want. If I die, I'll die. I just want them to leave a line of descendants for my Chen family. "
Old Man Chen's words disappointed the rest of the family. They thought that there would be a good way, but in the end, it was to be captured without a fight.
Chen Yaozu was stunned and then burst into tears: "If I had known, I wouldn't have provoked them when I came back that day. Or if I didn't come back, there wouldn't be such a thing in the family. Wuwuwu … "
Except for the old man of the Chen family, everyone else stared at the crying Chen Yaozu with resentful eyes. They hated him for causing such a big trouble for the family.
Old Man Chen shook his head: "Get up, it's not your fault. I've thought it through. Whether you come back or not, whether you provoke them or not, it has nothing to do with what happened in the family today."
"How is it not related? If he didn't have to take liberties with Xiaobei and threaten her, would they have entered the county to secretly investigate us? "Chen Yaowei said unhappily when he saw his grandfather shift the blame to the first branch.
"Shut up." Old Man Chen snorted and then said: "The last time Xiaobei and the others came, they must have wanted to see the situation in the county. There is no school in the county at all. When they see it, the first thing they will ask is which family has the biggest business in the county. When they ask about our family, they will inevitably ask about the location of our family.
When they see that our family lives in a big place and has a lot of money, but we haven't taken out the money to build the school, they will continue to investigate. Heavens, it's really the cycle of the heavens, retribution is not good. It doesn't matter that we don't have the money to build the school, the important thing is that our hands are not clean. "
"If we had known, we would have spent the money to build the school. When Xiaobei and the others came, they wouldn't have investigated us." Chen Yaodong said regretfully.
Old Man Chen laughed: "Haha, hahaha, do you still remember the owner of the incense business, Fan Fan, two years ago in the west of the city? At that time, he came to our Chen family and said that he wanted to contact the other merchants in the county. With our Chen family leading the way, we would first build a school in the wasteland outside the city. Then we would each pay for the children in the county to study.
In the end, no one agreed, and I also didn't agree. Why should we give the money to unrelated people? Then Fan Fan took out some money himself to build the school. We said that he was using this method to force us. In the end, he could only spend money to print books for the children to read.
"Last year, we should have known that we were wrong. At that time, our family lacked living money and wanted to go to the bank to borrow money. Usually, when the merchants who were much worse than us went to get a loan, the bank would give them money after the examination, and the interest was low.
When it was our turn, no matter how much data we provided, no matter how much we asked to increase the interest, the Tang Bank didn't give us a loan.
"Now you know why, right? The bank is a place to make money and shouldn't care about other things. However, the bank was built by Zhang Xiaobao, so the things it does have to comply with Zhang Xiaobao's requirements.
"The Tang Bank uses this method to reward merchants who have contributed to the children of the Tang Empire. Unless they have a lot of living money, they won't consider lending to merchants like us.
"Now I believe that good deeds will be rewarded with good deeds. Even if the heavens don't reward them, they will. "Even for those who have contributed money to the school and then accidentally lost money, as long as they come up with a new way to make money, the bank will also provide them with money.
"Retribution, human retribution is more direct and more vicious than heavenly retribution. "These are the rules, the rules set by the Zhang Xiaobao and Wang families. As long as we don't have the ability to fight against them and escape from their control, we must do things according to their rules. If we don't agree, then this will be the result. "
After saying these words, the Old Master of the Chen Clan fell silent and shrank back into his chair. His entire body was much shorter, and his eyes were closed as if he had fallen asleep.
The other members of the Chen Clan in the hall also couldn't say anything. It wasn't that they hadn't thought of spending some money to do good deeds, but their children spent a lot of money. For example, of Chen Yaozu's group of six hundred people, some of them were bought servants, but most of them were hired.
Going out to play normally required money. Eating delicious food and wearing comfortable clothes required money. Roping in officials required money. This money was for their own enjoyment. If they took it out and gave it to other people's children, what would they get in return?
If there were no other problems, they wouldn't be afraid. At most, it would be troublesome to borrow money from the bank, and if they really couldn't, they could just borrow from other places. But now, there were other problems, and the school was a loophole that people had to investigate.
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