CHAPTER 210: CHAPTER 210: KICKING AN IRON PLATE

Qin San Lang knew what she was talking about and immediately said, "I’ll take care of it now."

Upon saying that, he called out to Gu Jin’an, "Good Brother An, you’re going to be late for school, let’s go together."

Gu Jin’an frowned at him and asked, "What riddle are you and Xiao Yu playing at?"

Qin San Lang said, "I’m going to the county to find Uncle Ah Ji. His family is from the Capital, handling the Qi Family of Prefecture City is no problem at all."

When they heard this, Third Grandpa and the others were much relieved.

"That’s good, that’s good. Then go quickly and don’t delay," Third Grandpa urged him as Qin San Lang and Gu Jin’an trotted away.

Elder Qin knew about Ah Ji’s identity, so he wasn’t worried, and Xiao Yu’s tactics were indeed helping them.

Ah Ji was reluctant to give them the Ning Family Token, but if Ah Ji came to help this time, he would have to reveal his identity as one of the Ning Family People. In doing so, Ah Ji was truly tied to the same boat as them, and his grandson no longer had to worry about Ah Ji betraying them halfway.

Therefore, Elder Qin was in a very good mood and said to Third Grandpa, "Let’s be at ease. Nothing will go wrong."

...

Master Qi brought a servant with him, one with some martial arts skills, who had been lurking in the shadows watching Gu’s Workshop. When the servant saw Qin San Lang and Gu Jin’an running off, he hurriedly followed them.

He trailed them until they reached Shang Family Village and waited outside for a moment; then he saw Qin San Lang riding out on a fast horse, leaving Shang Family Village and heading toward the direction of the county.

The servant couldn’t keep up and had to return to Lu Mansion to report to Master Qi, "My lord, the Qin family lad has ridden to the county, probably going to seek help from County Captain Jiang."

Master Qi knew that several families had good relations with County Captain Jiang, but he didn’t take the County Magistrate seriously.

"He’s just a County Magistrate, with limited abilities, no big deal." Master Qi was relieved and waited calmly for the next day to come.

The following day, in the late afternoon around three o’clock, Master Qi left Lu Mansion with his servant and headed for Gu’s Workshop.

Zou Yuzhen wanted to follow, but Master Qi did not permit it.

He was just using Zou Yuzhen, and now that the matter of the seasoning recipe was about to be settled, he didn’t need to appease Zou Yuzhen anymore.

Furious but helpless, Zou Yuzhen didn’t have much influence in the Prefecture and still relied on the Qi Family, so he couldn’t afford to fall out with Master Qi.

Before long, Master Qi arrived at Gu’s Workshop with his servant, and He Sanlai led them into the same chamber as the day before.

Third Grandpa and the others were already waiting for Master Qi in the room.

Master Qi glanced around the room and noticed two additional people.

One was an old man in his fifties, bearing the air of a wanderer; the other, a man of a similar age to himself, exuded an aura of scholarship and an imperious presence that could not be ignored.

Master Qi furrowed his brow, his unease growing. He had originally thought that the Qin lad had gone to solicit County Captain Jiang, but instead, he had invited these two strangers.

Who were these men?

Before he could voice the question, Elder Lei Wu already took out a bronze plaque, placed it on the table, pointed to it, and said, "My surname is Lei; this is the plaque of our Lei Family’s Trading Team from the Northwest. Test it, see if it’s genuine?"

Ah Ji, being one of the Ning Family People, his Ning Family Token would intimidate Master Qi even more, but he didn’t want to take it out... As long as the Emperor had not yet fallen, the Qin family were not safe enough, he couldn’t let outsiders know that Ningbo Mansion had ties to the Qin family.

However, to deal with the lesser Qi Family, the name of the Lei Family’s Trading Team was enough.

Master Qi saw the token and was shocked beyond belief, never having imagined that these fleeing famine-stricken people would know Lei Family’s Trading Team, one of the three major merchant caravans in Great Chu.

The Lei Family’s Trading Team was not solely owned by Lei Family but was established in partnership with several large clans, one of which was a prominent military family. The Qi Family simply couldn’t afford to provoke them.

Master Qi’s legs went weak, all traces of pleasant breezes and clear moonlight vanished, and he immediately bowed and said, "So it is Elder Lei of Lei Family’s Trading Team. This junior has eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai. Please forgive my offense."

He was relieved beyond measure, thankful that he had not done anything detrimental to Gu’s Workshop yesterday, otherwise, he wouldn’t know when he would be chopped to pieces.

Lei Family’s Trading Team had connections in both the court and the Green Forest; they wouldn’t be afraid of a Hanlin Official’s family.

Elder Lei Wu’s face softened somewhat upon seeing his good sense, and he said, "Our trading team has signed a contract with Gu’s Workshop and will continue to purchase their seasoning spices. If the Qi Family wishes to do business, then do it properly and don’t engage in this business of stealing recipes."

Elder Lei Wu sneered, "This recipe, the Qi Family won’t get it even if they dream of it!"

Master Qi hurriedly replied, "I wouldn’t dare. This junior was previously unaware of the relationship between Gu’s Workshop and Lei Family. Now that I know, I wouldn’t dare to covet their spice recipe again."

"You’d better be aware. Gu’s Workshop has been very busy lately and doesn’t have the time to deal with the Qi Family’s business." Elder Lei Wu gave one final reminder, "Although Lei Family’s Trading Team does not often come to the south, you should know the reputation of our trading team. As for revenge, ten years is not too late!"

Elder Lei Wu was warning Master Qi that if the Qi Family dared to target Gu’s Workshop, they’d better be prepared to be annihilated by Lei Family’s Trading Team.

"Yes, yes, yes, Master Qi is fully aware and will not dare to do it again." Master Qi was sweating cold beads of sweat; how could he dare utter a word of dissent?

"Hmph, get lost!" As Elder Lei Wu spoke, Master Qi ran away immediately.

Gu Jinli stood at the threshold of the room and shouted after him, "Uncle Qi, come buy spices again next time."

Hearing these words, Master Qi stumbled almost falling face-first into the dirt, deeply regretting his actions. If he’d known that Gu’s Workshop had such a powerful backer, he wouldn’t have dared to try buying their spice recipe even if someone beat him to death.

Now, not only did he fail to acquire the recipe, but he’d also offended Lei Family’s Trading Team. Oh, the regret!

Master Qi had kicked the biggest iron plate of his life; his guts turned green with regret.

After leaving Gu’s Workshop empty-handed, Master Qi immediately took his servants and left the Lu Mansion.

Zou Yuzhen hurriedly chased after him, trying to get Master Qi to stay, but Master Qi completely ignored him.

Zou Yuzhen, not understanding the situation, returned to the Lu Mansion with an ugly expression on his face.

Zou Yuwan had already heard that Master Qi had left and quickly came forward to ask, "Where is Master Qi? Why did he suddenly leave? What exactly happened to Master Qi at Gu’s Workshop?"

Zou Yuzhen, frustrated by her questioning, roared back, "How the hell would I know?!"

He had put aside his dignity and chased after Master Qi and his servant’s mule cart for a good while, but Master Qi didn’t even say a word to him.

Zou Yuwan panicked, "What are we going to do? If Master Qi runs away, how can we go to Prefecture City and use the Qi Family to make connections with the official noble families there?"

"Third Brother, let’s hurry and chase after Master Qi by carriage. We must rope him in and cannot let him escape."

Rope him in?

How to rope him in?

Seeing Master Qi’s attitude, he was livid with them, and it was good enough that he hadn’t taken action against them, let alone ’rope him in’.

Suppressing the rage in his heart, Zou Yuzhen threw off Zou Yuwan and returned to his own guest room, contemplating his next move.