Deceive Me, Marry Me Chapter 12 The Death Of Royal Preceptor

"Old Sea Master Gongsun, who was keeping us good connection, failed in the war and died. His son has retreated to Daimao Island. Outside there are two Sea Masters seeing covetously, including Han and Pan; Inside there is a group of cunning underlings who are not loyal to him for his inferior age," Sheng Lanci sighed, "The son of Old Sea Master sent his henchmen to island to sell the treasure acc.u.mulated by the ancestors during a long time on sea. That jade pendant was in the treasure."

The name Sea Master was to address the leaders of the pirate respectfully.

Nanfeng County was next to the sea, surrounded by many islands where lived abundant pirates making a living by robbing the boat past. They robbed the people near the sea from time to time but could not be arrested by feudal officials more than once. The officials only set out the sea as a deterrent for the pirates every year.

But the emperor on the throne indulged himself in the l.u.s.t and never handled affairs of the dynasty.

The three-way intrigue happened among cousins, imperial clans and courtiers. He seldom asked information about Ruru Calamity from the northern part which was closer to Chang'an. On the southern side, the bandits didn't occupy the state and were not in open self-governance, so the court did not need to regulate them, either.

Therefore, Nanfeng County organized its own people's strengths. After several battles with the pirates, they felt that it did not worth it. Gradually, they negotiated with each other and made a deal. On one hand, wealthy families needed to pay tribute on an annual basis and help Sea Masters to sell stolen goods. On the other hand, Sea Masters had to restrict their men from intruding on the sh.o.r.e at will and from attacking merchant s.h.i.+ps.

Even when necessary, they needed to provide escort and debt collection services.

In the past ten years or more, the most powerful bandit near Nanfeng County was the Gongsun Family based on Daimao Island.

These bandits got along well with the three main families, especially with Sheng Lanci. Sheng Lanci made great efforts to turn the two main families in Nanfeng County into three. This could owe to the support and partiality of Gongsun Tu, the Old Sea Master.

But not long ago, two other Sea Masters, the Han Family, and the Pan Family, suddenly attacked the Gongsun Family together. The Gongsun Family suffered a crus.h.i.+ng defeat and even Gongsun Tu was killed. At present, the temporary head of the household was Gongsun Tu's only son, Gongsun Su. It was said that he was ruthless and extremely cruel. But who was a good pirate?

None of his opponents was easy to handle. To be honest, everyone was not optimistic on Gongsun Su, even not on the Gongsun Family could continue to occupy the area of the sea in Nanfeng County.

Mrs. Feng was one of them. She had no intention to care for the jade pendant at the moment. She looked dignified and said, "When you picked up Shuihe, did you ask about the news? What about the result on Daimao Island? Will it come out recently? I'm worried about it these days. The goods imported at the beginning of the year will be s.h.i.+pped to the north when the direction of the wind changes in the summer. I don't want Sea Masters to stand still until now. A dozen s.h.i.+ps are worth more than 100,000 taels of silver. How dare I sail so rashly without accurate news?"

"If there had been a result, wouldn't I already have told you, elder sister?" Sheng Lanci said with a sigh, "The s.h.i.+p from our Sheng Family are hocking in the harbor at the moment as well!"

"Have you sent anyone to deal with Sea Masters, including Han and Pan?" Mrs. Feng sipped her tea and asked, "If their price were not outrageous, why couldn't we find a way to help them? It is better than looking at the situation but doing nothing like this!"

For goods with more than 100,000 taels of silver, the net profit was about 30,000 to 40,000 taels.

But Han and Pan would certainly ask more than that.

However, considering the credit of timely delivery, Mrs. Feng did not care about losing money.

As for how they helped the two Sea Masters, including Han and Pan, it was hard to say. Firstly, everyone who had dealt with the Gongsun Family for so many years would send a few spies to Daimao Island. Secondly, although the navy division stationed here by the imperial court had become more symbolic in recent years, it was still a regular army. If they chose to buy them to do things according to chance, it was expected that Daimao Island, which was not in good condition, would not hold up.

"This business is not easy to deal with!" Hearing this, Sheng Lanci shook his head repeatedly and whispered, "I sent someone to inquire about the two Sea Masters. They were all from the sea in Bishui County. They had a feud with Old Sea Master Gongsun for killing their fathers. That's why they bring people and come here in the distance."

Sheng Lanci would naturally not be so gracious as not to interfere in their revenge. But he said the point, "The reason why Old Sea Master Gongsun was able to slay their fathers was that Old Sea Master Han and Pan have lost their minds. They tied up a man who even majesty dared not hurt lightly today, Royal Preceptor Huan Guanlan!"

"Ten years ago, Mr. Huan disappeared from his ancestral home. He was suspected to have been captured by bandits. It turned out to be done by fathers of bandits Han and Pan?!" Mrs. Feng gasped and immediately changed her tune, calling Sea Masters Han and Pan "bandits". She shouted, "Don't they want to live?!"

No wonder she was so rude. Who was Huan Guanlan?

He was the patriarch of the three dynasties, the magnate of the temple, and the preceptor the emperor today, having pupils everywhere. There were rumors in the court that when the emperor was a crown prince, neither he nor his queen mother today was liked by the previous emperor who intended to change the position of crown prince from him to the son of his favorite concubine, the present Nankang Prince. At that time, because his queen mother's family were powerless, all the civil and military officials of the dynasty had a tacit understanding.

Was it not for Huan Guanlan, who was not yet the preceptor of the crown prince at that time, insisted on opposing it and urged the previous emperor to "have crown prince based on age", who knew what would happen to the queen mother and the emperor today? After all, how many good endings to the abolished crown prince and his biological mother since ancient times?

However, even though he was young when he ascended the throne, he was very good and diligent. He had run like a different person on the way to the fatuous and self-indulgent ruler since he met the Shu Sisters!

Huan Guanlan remembered what the previous emperor had entrusted him to do. But he was forced back to his hometown, Bishui County, by Shu Sisters saying bad words on him to the emperor after repeated admonitions failed.

Even so, he still held an important position in Damu Temple ten years ago. Therefore, when the feudal official in Bishui County received a report from the Huan Family that Huan Guanlan suddenly disappeared and suspected to have been abducted, all of them were half dead with fright!

The news reached Chang'an. Queen Mother Meng and all the officials suspected that Shu Sisters had driven him to extinction. If it had not been for the emperor to stop, Shu Sisters would not have survived till now.

But others weren't as lucky as Shu Sisters who could let the emperor speak for them. For full two years, from Bishui County to the temple, blood flowed everywhere. The bandits especially near Bishui County, whether in the mountains or the sea, were all severely eliminated by the court. Gongsun Tu took this opportunity to play dirty to Old Sea Masters Han and Pan and killed them!

If she did not know this, that was fine. But now, how was it possible for her to cooperate with Han and Pan?

It must be known that Huan Guanlan's fame was very high during his lifetime and reached its peak after he died. Although the Xuanyu family concentrated on merchants and did not pay much attention to the fame, if people knew that they had helped the descendants of those who murdered Huan Guanlan, they would have had no way to do the business in the future, regardless of the reason!

"It is said that this matter had something to do with the two imperial Concubines Shu in the palace. If you know about it, you must not tell anyone!" Sheng Lanci didn't mean to give his aunt a detailed explanation. After all, although he and Mrs. Feng were relatives, they were also the princ.i.p.als of the Sheng Family and the Xuanyu Family respectively. There was also a limit to exchanging information. It was impossible to solve each other's doubts without paying.

This was understandable for Mrs. Feng, who nodded her head and stopped asking questions. She only said, "What is missing from Young Old Master Gongsun? Just say it!"

Since she couldn't choose Han and Pan, but she also hoped to calm down the sea situation early, she could only find ways to support Gongsun Su.

When they had finished their business, Sheng Lanci was about to leave, but Mrs. Feng thought of another thing, "By the way, when Weiqiao came to my side, she met my disappointing nephew on her way back. It was said that it was Shuihe who helped her solve the problem?"

"There is such a thing," Sheng Lanci said, "The kid has always wanted to have a younger sister to care. As it happens, when he came back, he heard that Xuanyu Che was speaking rudely in public. How couldn't he stand up for the sweetheart?"

He said so for praising his son of a mistress in front of his wife's family to achieve their favorable impression.

However, Mrs. Feng did not take this remark. She said, "Although my nephew is disappointing, he is the only son of his parents. His parents had a quarrel with me over the separation two years ago. This time, his son was badly beaten by Shuihe. Then they ran up to me and made a terrible scene for the old and new hatred. If I hadn't been holding it down, they would have gone to the Sheng Family's House!"

Sheng Lanci did not pay much attention to the matter that Xuanyu Che was beaten. After all, it was not his children who suffered in the end, and Xuanyu Che's parents could not do anything to the Sheng Family.

However, when he heard that this matter had affected his wife's elder sister, he felt embarra.s.sed. So, he made an apology to Mrs. Feng. He also said, "I can't get away the recent days. I should let the housekeeper send them some medicine to make some compensation!"

"Why making the compensation?" Mrs. Feng sneered, "The matter is caused by Xuanyu Che. He's wrong and deserved to be beaten! Xuanyu Che's parents were not bashful. I told them at that time. Now was not the time when my husband was alive, I will punish and even kill them if they dare to make trouble without reason!"

Sheng Lanci apologized with a smile and said nothing. He knew that her husband Xuanyu Le had died suddenly. Mrs. Feng had spared a lot of efforts and thoughts before taking over all the power. In the middle of this, her relations.h.i.+p with her husband's relatives naturally deteriorated all the way. Now it seemed that both of them were still furious at each other.

"But that couple has always been narrow-minded and vicious," Mrs. Feng didn't want her brother-in-law to apologize to them, but she warned, "Although I scolded them, I'd better ask Weiqiao to be more careful in the future. Do not be alone or she might be bullied by them!"

"Elder sister, don't worry. How can I leave Weiqiao alone?" When Sheng Lanci heard this, he kept it in mind and thanked his wife's elder sister again. They ended the conversation when they had nothing else to say.

At that time, the sun was nearly fainting. It was not appropriate for Sheng Lanci to leave for the Feng family. After meeting his daughter, he had to return directly to the Sheng Family's House.

After the father and daughter entered the gate, they were immediately told that Senior Father Sheng and Young Lord Xu had already arrived outside the city. Unfortunately, due to the closure of the gate, they could only rest outside for one night before entering the house the next day.