Chapter 40

At the third floor of Tianfu Building, the people who had been busy for half a day finally had a chance to rest properly. Besides the people from Yuxu Palace who came to Liangxiang City, Fang Yingyu, Chen Guangfu, the Zhong family father and son, and others were also present. Everyone sipped tea while chatting in groups about the morning auction.

The Zhong family father and son, sitting at the same table as Wang Xiaojun, Zhang Weixin, Xu Shaoguan, and other key figures, seemed very pleased. After Zhong Youpeng said a few words of congratulations, Wang Xiaojun asked somewhat worriedly, "According to Mr. Zhong, there shouldn't be any problems with the two buyers paying, right? After all, the final auction price was quite high."

Zhong Youpeng waved his hand and said, "Brother Wang, you don't need to worry about this. Mr. Cui is from a prestigious family and has been in business for many years. The most important thing for him is trust. If he breaks his word and loses credibility, the loss to his future business will be far greater than the tens of thousands of strings of coins. He is such a shrewd person and wouldn't do something that would result in a small loss for a big gain."

As for the manager Feng from the留守府 (Resident Office), I was originally a bit worried. He came to the auction not for himself but for the Resident of Nanjing, Xiao Siwen. Xiao Siwen has no great abilities; he only enjoys luxury and satisfies his own desires. However, because he is a royal relative and is good at pleasing the Emperor of Liao, he has obtained this important position. If this was for his own use, he wouldn't send a household servant to the auction; he would probably send someone to forcibly take what he wanted. After all, he has done this before. To avenge his concubine and satisfy his greed, he once falsely accused the Lu family of Fan Yang of treason, almost wiping out the entire family and seizing their vast wealth, which amounted to over a million strings of coins."

At this, Zhong Youpeng's face was full of anger, but after a while, he gradually calmed down and continued, "But if, as you said, Manager Feng indicated that he was buying this item for Xiao Siwen to present to the Emperor of Liao to gain favor, then there's no need to worry about him reneging or forcibly taking it. First, tens of thousands of strings of coins are not a large sum for Xiao Siwen. Second, as a tribute to the Emperor, spending tens of thousands to buy it is more sincere than forcibly taking it. The 'Sleeping King' Emperor, when pleased, will likely reward him much more than his expenses."

Wang Xiaojun and the others found this quite reasonable, but they didn't understand why Mr. Zhong seemed to grit his teeth when mentioning Xiao Siwen, guessing there might be some past grievances. However, since the other party was unwilling to talk about it, they didn't press the issue. What they were most concerned about was whether the auction payment would be received on time, and Mr. Zhong's analysis gave them some reassurance.

After taking a sip of tea, Wang Xiaojun said, "If the auction payment can be received within three days, I have another matter to ask for Mr. Zhong's help."

"Everyone is friends, and we will soon be in-laws. Brother Wang, if there's anything you need, just say it. No need to be polite."

Hearing this, Wang Xiaojun stopped being formal and said, "Since we brothers came to the Central Plains, we have been taken care of by Mr. Zhong, allowing us to stay at Yuxu Palace and become fellow disciples of Daoist Yuxu. As fellow disciples, there's nothing wrong with us living at Yuxu Palace. However, considering that we will eventually need to marry and have children, although our sect does not prohibit marriage, living in a Daoist temple will be inconvenient. Therefore, after discussing with my brothers, once we receive the auction payment, we plan to buy a piece of land near Yuxu Palace. First, to build a manor as a place for us to live. Second, to lease the land and collect rent to solve the food problem for everyone. However, we are clueless about land transactions, so we would like to ask Mr. Zhong to help us with this. Additionally, we plan to take over a few shops in Liangxiang City or nearby cities, to make money through business and improve our lives."

Zhong Youpeng naturally had no objections; this was something he expected. Given their shrewdness, they would certainly make long-term plans. Moreover, his daughter would soon marry Wang Feng, and he didn't want his daughter to live in a Daoist temple after marriage, living off her husband's resources. He had already decided that if they didn't bring up these ideas, he would find a suitable time to remind them. Now, seeing that such a reminder was unnecessary, he readily agreed to Wang Xiaojun's request, even guaranteeing to handle it properly and ensure satisfaction for Brother Wang and his brothers.

They then discussed how to transport such a large sum of money. Since there were no paper currencies at the time, it was all real gold, silver, or copper coins. Moreover, there were no banks, let alone the silver shops and money houses popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the end, they decided that Mr. Zhong would select a few trusted servants to drive enough carts, load the gold and silver, and after necessary disguises, transport everything back to Yuxu Palace. Before they had their own residence, Yuxu Palace, protected by modern weapons, was probably the safest place for the穿越者 (穿越者, time travelers) to use.

After sitting for a while and drinking enough tea, it was getting late, and everyone left Tianfu Building. Most of the time travelers and the Zhong family father and son returned to the inn, while Mr. Fang returned to his Fangji. For safety, the auction items were handled with a "decoy and ambush" strategy. The boxes containing the auction items—just empty boxes—were personally carried by Mr. Fang, escorted by Tang Chao and Zeng Zhilin from the security group and Fangji's own staff, back to the jewelry shop. The glass items were carried by other time travelers, escorted by other members of the security group, back to the inn.

After leaving Tianfu Building, the two groups went their separate ways. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and they all safely reached their destinations. At Fangji, although the boxes were empty, the act had to be convincing. At the shop, Tang and Zeng arranged for the staff to guard in shifts, as if they were facing a major threat. At the Yuelai Inn, the security group's remaining five members worked in shifts, maintaining a relaxed exterior but being vigilant internally. Others, though not on duty, remained alert, ready to respond quickly if needed.

In the room where Wang Xiaojun, Wang Feng, and Zhang Weixin were staying, Wang Feng was on duty and not there, while Wang Xiaojun and Zhang Weixin were discussing how to make the best use of their first pot of gold. This was to ensure they were on the same page before discussing it at the committee and general assembly. After a short while, Qian Yuanshan and Xu Shaoguan knocked and entered. The two men greeted them, offering them tea. Xu and Qian clearly had something important to say, and after taking the tea cups, they placed them on the table and Xu Shaoguan said to Wang and Zhang, "Old Wang, Old Zhang, there's something I need to tell you."

Wang Xiaojun and Zhang Weixin, seeing their serious faces, knew it was important. Zhang Weixin asked, "What happened?"

Xu Shaoguan pointed to Qian Yuanshan and said, "It's about the young lady Huang Ying'er. Qian Yuanshan handled this matter, so let him explain."

Wang and Zhang, hearing it was about Huang Ying'er, were puzzled, not understanding why this lady would be so important to Xu and Qian. They turned to Qian Yuanshan, ready to listen.

Qian Yuanshan organized his words and said, "Let's start from yesterday. During the exhibition, Liangzi mentioned seeing the young lady Huang and another lady, but when he went to look for them, they were gone. Afterward, we asked Chief Zheng to investigate her background."

"Have you found out anything?" Zhang Weixin asked.

Qian Yuanshan nodded and said, "Yes. Chief Zheng sent a subordinate to inform us of their findings. According to their investigation, this young lady Huang is not from this area but from Jiangdu Prefecture in the south, which is our era's Yangzhou. She came to Youzhou Prefecture to find relatives, but they were no longer there. She and her three servants then settled down. At the end of last month, they bought a house in the county, planning to stay long-term. A few days after buying the house, a young lady named Liu Yunyan, claiming to be Huang Ying'er's cousin, came to visit and stayed."

"These details are consistent with what we knew before. Is there any other information?" Wang Xiaojun asked.

"Yes," Qian Yuanshan confirmed. "During today's auction, we noticed a suspicious man participating in the bidding. Although he was dressed well, his appearance and demeanor did not match that of a wealthy person. He looked more like a servant, and he was missing his left arm. Moreover, during the auction, he seemed not to pay attention to the items being auctioned but focused on the entrance between the auction area and the preparation area. When you all appeared, he stared at you intently. I found this unusual and asked a county official to keep an eye on him.

After the auction, the one-armed man left immediately without stopping, and the official followed him in plain clothes. According to the official, the one-armed man quickly returned home. The address he lived at matched Huang Ying'er's. I later confirmed with Chief Zheng that one of Huang Ying'er's servants is also missing an arm. In other words, this one-armed man is Huang Ying'er's servant."

After Qian Yuanshan's explanation, everyone was surprised. They all concluded that this young lady Huang Ying'er seemed to be sending someone to secretly investigate and monitor them. Zhang Weixin was particularly worried. First, this Huang lady came to him because he plagiarized famous poems, and he couldn't escape the connection with the time travelers—this wasn't his fault, but rather Xu Shaoguan's for being too talkative. Second, because this Huang lady resembled his wife from his previous life, mainly in that she was younger and more beautiful. This resemblance made him subconsciously associate her with his wife from his previous life, even developing some affection for her. Fortunately, it was still just affection. If he had truly fallen in love, it would be difficult to handle now. Moreover, because of this affection, he had overlooked or ignored some unreasonable aspects of her behavior. He realized this feeling was dangerous; if it developed into romantic love and she had ulterior motives, it could end badly.

Seeing Zhang Weixin's troubled expression, Wang Xiaojun understood his thoughts. He knew his close friend well. Because this Huang lady resembled Zhang Weixin's wife from his previous life, he naturally had some affection for her, but it wasn't deep. Now that they had discovered the suspicious points, they just needed to be more cautious. As the saying goes, "One should not have the heart to harm others, but one must be cautious." As time travelers, they should be more careful, which was why the team had established a review system. Seeing Zhang Weixin's expression, Wang Xiaojun patted his shoulder and said, "Old Zhang, don't dwell on this. We just think this young lady and her people are a bit strange, but we haven't found any evidence of them intending to harm us. Don't overthink it. If we see her again, just be more cautious."

"Exactly, exactly. Brother Wang is right," Xu Shaoguan added, "In fact, I'm the one to blame. If I hadn't talked so much, we wouldn't have so many troubles."

Qian Yuanshan also offered a few words of comfort. After a while, Zhang Weixin relaxed and said, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

Seeing him say this and his expression returning to normal, the others comforted him further. Since it was getting late, they pulled him along to have dinner, to prevent him from overthinking.

Over the next two days, the wealthy Mr. Cui and Manager Feng came to Fangji Jewelry Shop and, according to their initial agreement, paid the relevant amounts to the nominal auctioneer, Fang Yingyu. Mr. Fang, through Tang Chao and Zeng Zhilin who were guarding his shop, promptly informed the inn, allowing the two buyers to receive the auction items after verifying the payments.

Mr. Cui and Mr. Feng, having obtained what they wanted, left happily. Mr. Fang then quickly invited Wang Xiaojun and the others from the inn to discuss how to transport the large sum of money. After all, this was a significant amount, and if anything went wrong, he, Fang Yingyu, couldn't afford to compensate.

Wang Xiaojun, Zhang Weixin, Xu Shaoguan, and relevant members of the security and trade groups soon arrived at Fangji. They entered the warehouse prepared by Fangji, where they saw neatly stacked gold and silver ingots and a pile of copper coins. Even Wang Feng, who had worked in a bank and seen stacks of paper money, couldn't help but take a deep breath, thinking, "Real gold and silver are more attractive than those colorful paper bills. The glittering gold is truly dazzling!"

Mr. Fang, leading the way, pointed to the piles of gold and silver and said, "This is the total proceeds from the auction, totaling 11,000 taels of gold, 55,000 taels of silver, and 10,000 strings of copper coins. This has been verified with Daoists Tang and Zeng, and they have been personally guarding it for the past two days, with no one else touching it."

After a pause, Mr. Fang, waiting for the others to absorb this, asked Wang Xiaojun, whom he considered the leader of the group, "Daoist Wang, how do you plan to transport this large sum of money back to the temple?"

Wang Xiaojun, after a moment of reflection, replied, "Oh, I have already discussed this with Mr. Zhong. Once the auction payment is settled, we will notify him. Mr. Zhong will send trusted servants with carts to transport the gold and silver. As for the 10,000 strings of copper coins, after paying Mr. Fang and Mr. Chen from Tianfu Building as agreed, about 1,000 strings will remain. Each of us will carry a few hundred coins for personal use, and the rest will be temporarily stored with Mr. Fang. We will often come to the city, and we can take what we need from Mr. Fang, which will be more convenient." He looked at the sky outside, "I estimate the carts will arrive by noon."

Mr. Fang, hearing this, felt relieved. The longer the money stayed with him, the more worried he would be. It was better to transport it quickly. Although 1,000 strings of coins was not a large amount, considering the 5,000 strings of coins in benefits, he didn't insist on transporting it all. Moreover, with money, these Daoists would likely buy some luxuries. If they often came to his shop and bought a few pieces of jade, he could make more profits, so why not?

After leaving the warehouse, Wang Xiaojun, Zhang Weixin, and Xu Shaoguan discussed and decided to split into two groups. One group, led by the logistics and security teams, would stay at Fangji to wait for the Zhong family's carts. The other group, led by Qian Yuanshan and Yang Xin, would immediately return to Yuxu Palace.

The subsequent events went smoothly. Qian and Yang led the main group back to Yuxu Palace and reported safety via radio to the county. After receiving the report, the second group left Liangxiang City, a convoy of over ten carts heading towards Yuxu Palace.

On the evening of the 23rd day of the 10th lunar month, the money convoy safely arrived at its destination, marking the successful conclusion of the auction. To celebrate, a grand banquet was held at Yuxu Palace, with everyone in high spirits, toasting and drinking until midnight.