Chapter 113
Chapter 113
Xu Guangyun seemed to have had a lot to drink. He was naturally boisterous, and with today's happy occasion, he was so full of himself that he had lost all composure.
“Everyone, my Xu clan will be hosting another grand banquet tomorrow, so please come and enjoy the show. At my daughter's engagement banquet, didn't Shen Lang win a great victory and put on a grand display? Tomorrow night, you will see him kneel before you and beg for forgiveness. If he doesn't kneel, the hundred thousand people in the Count of Xuanwu's fief will starve to death! Hahahaha!”
Just then, the sound of urgent footsteps came from outside. The workshop manager, accompanied by a dozen guards, rushed into the banquet hall. His face was covered in soot, and his body was dusted with ash. Seeing their appearance, Xu Guangyun spoke with displeasure.
“What is the meaning of this? We have esteemed guests here. How can you show up in such a sorry state? You're embarrassing me!”
The workshop manager fell to his knees, kowtowed, and cried out loudly.
“Master, it's a disaster! A fire broke out at our workshop, and everything has burned to the ground. The massive amount of cocoons, the countless raw silks and brocades—all gone. We're finished, we're finished.”
Hearing this, Xu Guangyun staggered, digging at his ears as if he had misheard. But the invited guests all fell silent, unable to believe what they had just heard.
‘The Xu clan's workshop burned down? How is that possible? There are water vats everywhere inside, and steam is constantly rising. How could everything have burned!’
Xu Guangyun suddenly strode forward and kicked the manager.
“What nonsense are you spouting?! Do you have a death wish, or did you eat something you shouldn't have?”
The manager desperately slammed his head on the floor and said.
“It's true. It's really true. You'll see for yourself when you get there, Master.”
Just then, Xu Qianqian rushed in like the wind.
“Father, something terrible has happened. There's a fire to the west. Someone, prepare the carriage. We're going to the workshop!”
Xu Guangyun and Xu Qianqian boarded the carriage and raced madly toward the workshop outside the city.
***
When Xu Qianqian and Xu Guangyun arrived at the workshop, it was surrounded by several hundred private soldiers. The soldiers had been mobilized not to extinguish the fire, but to prevent it from spreading. There was no need to put out the workshop fire anymore. Everything had burned down, and now even the walls were beginning to collapse one after another.
The season was turning to autumn and the air was cool, but being near the blaze felt like standing before a furnace. Yet Xu Guangyun felt no warmth; his entire body had turned ice-cold. The sight of the great fire soaring into the sky completely sobered him up, and a chill shot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
Decades. That's how long it had taken to build it to its current size. Starting from a few acres, they had painstakingly expanded it to tens, and then to its current scale of several hundred acres. It was a business built over nearly two generations. Inside were countless cocoons, raw silks, and brocades, and now they had all gone up in flames. Only the heavens knew the extent of the loss. They had poured most of their family fortune into it, making the workshop the very pillar of the Xu clan, and now it had crumbled.
Just an hour ago, Xu Guangyun had felt on top of the world, triumphant and full of pride, but now it was as if he had plunged into hell.
“What were you doing? Why didn't you put out the fire!”
Xu Guangyun screamed like a madman. The manager replied with a tearful face.
“We couldn't. Dozens of warehouses caught fire at the same time, and strangely, the flames wouldn't go out even when we doused them with water.”
‘It's all over, it's all over!’
“Ah... Aaargh...”
Xu Guangyun roared like a wounded beast. He felt a surge of energy rampage between his chest and stomach, a suffocating pressure that felt like it would burst. A gut-wrenching pain soon followed, and he began to vomit bright red blood uncontrollably. It was a textbook case of vomiting blood. As Xu Guangyun continued to spew blood, the face of Shen Lang appeared in his mind. The face of a sneering viper.
“Shen Lang, this was your doing! You fiend. You're too vicious...”
And with that, Xu Guangyun fell backward and fainted.
“My lord, my lord!”
Several servants rushed over, pressing on the philtrum below his nose and applying pressure to his solar plexus. After a while, Xu Guangyun regained consciousness. Strangely, after vomiting blood, his mind felt clearer.
‘This is definitely Shen Lang's plot. It must be! That wretched man, who is usually so arrogant and defiant, bowed his head and apologized today. He even burned his own book. A man as venomous as a viper like him would never do that unless it was to lure his opponent into a deadly trap.’
But they had inspected all the cocoons Shen Lang sold them, and there was nothing wrong. Besides, the cocoons had all burned to ashes, leaving no evidence. Though he couldn't find any loopholes or proof, Xu Guangyun knew with certainty that Shen Lang was behind this fire.
Xu Guangyun shouted.
“Men, come with me to the Count of Xuanwu's Estate to capture Shen Lang. He must be the one who set this fire. It must be him. City Lord Liu Chengyan, bring your soldiers and let's go to the Count of Xuanwu's Estate to arrest that bastard Shen Lang.”
However, Liu Chengyan, mounted on his horse, did not move. Liu Chengyan's scalp tingled.
‘That wretched Shen Lang... I never knew he could be this ruthless. To destroy someone's entire business in a single blow.’
Liu Chengyan was also Shen Lang's enemy. City Lord Liu Chengyan knew his name was on Shen Lang's list of enemies. To be hated by someone like Shen Lang was a terrifying prospect.
“City Lord Liu Chengyan! What are you hesitating for? We must capture Shen Lang.”
Xu Guangyun yelled, to which Liu Chengyan replied.
“Capture him how? Do you have any proof? Do you think I can just arrest someone without evidence like Lin Zhuo?”
***
Staring at the smoldering ruins of the workshop, Xu Qianqian's beautiful body felt like a statue. She felt no warmth at all, as if she had lost all sensation. After a long moment, tears finally fell from her eyes, and then she couldn't stop them.
Her body went from ice-cold to burning hot, and she looked as if she were losing her mind. Her beautiful eyes were bloodshot and completely red. Including her, this was a three-generation family business. To see it crumble like this! She felt like she didn't want to live. Even when Shen Lang had trampled on and humiliated her in various ways before, she had felt pain, but it was nothing compared to this.
‘How could a despicable villain like Shen Lang ever admit defeat? I should have realized. A man like him would rather die with his enemy than bow his head and admit he was wrong. He would never humiliate himself by burning his own book! If he did something like that, it was only to drive his opponent into a deadly trap.’
Nearby, Xu Guangyun was shouting like a madman.
“Liu Chengyan, are you scared? You may be, but I'm not. I have the Prefect's Office and the Governor's Office behind me. What's more, I have the calligraphy bestowed by the Crown Prince himself. Let's take the soldiers and arrest Shen Lang, let's go...”
Xu Qianqian's vision went dark, and she felt like she was about to faint. But with her father acting like a madman, she had to remain calm. She took a deep breath. She didn't know why, but every breath she took felt like a knife stabbing into her lungs. Xu Qianqian stepped forward, took her father Xu Guangyun's hand, and said gravely.
“Father, the Xu clan is facing its most perilous moment.”
“Shen Lang, we have to catch that bastard. We have to.”
“Father, the most important thing right now isn't to investigate why our workshop burned down, but to overcome the crisis at hand. Don't forget, we accepted tens of thousands of gold coins from the Western merchants as a deposit. If we fail to deliver the brocades by the agreed date, we'll have to pay double in compensation.
Our workshop has burned down, but what's most important to us isn't the workshop itself, but our reputation as the finest producer of brocade. If we lose our name and credibility, then we are truly finished.”
Xu Qianqian was right. What Coca-Cola valued most wasn't its factories, but its brand value and distribution channels. Even if all their factories burned down, banks all over the world would be waving checks, eager to lend them money, and they could recover in a few months. The reputation of the Xu clan's brocade couldn't be compared to Coca-Cola's, but it was held in similarly high regard by the people. Especially since the Crown Prince had recently bestowed upon them a piece of calligraphy that read, "The Xu Clan shall adorn the entire Tiannan Province," this was the asset the Xu clan had to protect above all else.
“Father, we still have a chance. The workshop burned down, but we can rebuild it. And as for Shen Lang destroying our workshop, we can get our revenge later. We have the Prefect's Office and the Governor's Office backing us, don't we? But... if our family's reputation is ruined, then everything is truly over.”
At that, Xu Guangyun came to his senses. What Xu Qianqian said was right. At a time like this, they couldn't afford to fall into disarray.
“Time is of the essence. The delivery date is fast approaching. Even if we don't sell brocades in our shops, we absolutely must deliver the goods to the merchants who placed orders with us. Otherwise, our family will truly be ruined.”
“Daughter, you're right. You're right. Then what should we do?”
“Let's borrow Lin Mo's workshop. It's smaller, but it will be enough. Since we share a common enemy, he will surely lend it to us.”
“No problem. I will go see Lin Mo myself.”
Lin Mo's voice rang out from behind them.
“There's no need for that. I will lend it to you. I will lend my workshop to the Xu clan, no conditions attached.”
Xu Qianqian stepped forward and bowed deeply.
“Master Lin, I don't even know how to begin to thank you for this great kindness.”
“We have a common enemy. At times like this, we must stand united.”
Xu Guangyun said, trembling.
“After we overcome this crisis, let's join forces and kill that bastard Shen Lang. We'll flay him, pull out his tendons, and annihilate his entire family!”
“That's right. Let's kill his whole family. Let's kill that bastard's entire family.”
Lin Mo's hatred for Shen Lang was no less than Xu Guangyun's. It wasn't just because Shen Lang had harmed his son and tried to ruin his future. He was terrified of Shen Lang. If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. If that bastard Shen Lang could do this to Xu Guangyun, wouldn't he be next? Therefore, he had to help Xu Guangyun overcome this crisis.
Now that they had secured a workshop, only the most crucial component remained. The cocoons! Without cocoons, how could they produce the brocades and deliver them on time? This year, the Xu clan had expanded its business aggressively, buying up nearly all the cocoons in Tiannan Province, and now they had all burned. So, should they go to another province to buy cocoons? The problem wasn't whether they could buy cocoons from another province; the key was time.
The merchants from the southern capital and the Western Regions would be arriving soon. They had all paid deposits, and if the Xu clan couldn't produce the brocades upon their arrival, not only would their reputation as the industry's best be shattered, but they would also have to pay compensation several times over. At that point, even selling all the Xu clan's lands and mansions wouldn't be enough to cover the damages.
Currently, there was only one place that had cocoons: the Count of Xuanwu's Estate. They had three million catties of cocoons in their possession. It wasn't a large amount, but if they gathered all the brocades meant for sale in their various shops and added what they could produce from three million catties of cocoons, they could just barely meet the delivery quantity. The key now wasn't to make money, but to preserve the Xu clan's reputation and credibility. They would pay any price to deliver the goods on time.
The thought of having to go see Shen Lang sent another chill down Xu Guangyun and Xu Qianqian's spines. Only this time, they had to ask Shen Lang to sell them the remaining three million catties of cocoons. It was karma, delivered far too swiftly. If this was all Shen Lang's scheme, then he was truly a terrifying and vicious existence. They shared a deep-seated grudge that could only end with one of their deaths, yet now they had to go and beg him? How was that any different from a sheep walking into a tiger's den? But right now, the Xu clan was like a fish on the chopping block, waiting for the knife to fall.
Xu Guangyun asked, “Where is Zhang Jin?”
“He went to take care of important business.”
Zhang Jin had gone with his father to visit the Marquis of Zhenbei's Estate on important business. Zhang Chong wanted the Marquis of Zhenbei's Estate to not just offer superficial support, but to take concrete action.
Xu Qianqian trembled as she tried to suppress her anger.
“Father, I will go see Shen Lang and ask him to sell us the three million catties of cocoons.”
Xu Guangyun closed his eyes in agony.
‘Could there be anything more painful in this world? Knowing full well that Shen Lang burned down the workshop, yet not only can I not arrest him, I have to go and beg him instead. Heavens, is there anyone more wicked than that bastard?’