Chapter 312 - 308: People Die for Wealth and Birds Perish for Food_1

Pei Shixian was taken aback, his heart pounding inexplicably.

He had committed his deeds in such secrecy that outsiders would never suspect that he had done them.

So what did these people from the Wei family want to do by stopping his carriage? Were they planning to blackmail him?

Pei Shixian chuckled to himself but answered politely: “How would I know about the disappearance of Master Zhou’s disciple?”

Steward Feng stroked his chin. “But Master Zhou ordered that if we came across Mr. Pei, we were to invite you over for a conversation.”

The color drained from Pei Shixian’s face. He pondered for a moment before pulling out a silver ingot from his sleeve and thrusting it into the hands of Steward Feng. “Thank you for the reminder, Steward Feng. I shall go check up on Master Zhou right now.”

Steward Feng clutched the silver ingot in his hand and chuckled without moving an inch.

Sighing, Pei Shixian pulled out a silver note from his sleeve and tossed it toward him while raising his fists in a formal manner. “Steward Feng, please let us pass.”

Only then did Steward Feng disperse the crowd and allow the carriage to move on.

Pei Shixian drove the carriage to a secluded area and told the Han Family’s mother and daughter: “Find an inn and stay there for the time being. I’ll return after figuring out what’s going on.”

Madam Han was worried. “What about our Yuanbao?”

She had brought her daughter to the outskirts of the city and had not brought her young son, Yuanbao, along. She couldn’t help but worry about him.

“Yuanbao will be fine.” After giving some additional instructions, Pei Shixian handed over his silver note and change to his wife. “If anything goes wrong, don’t go back home. Use this money to head directly to Beijing and seek refuge with Imperial Teacher Xiao.”

Madam Han nodded, but still worried about her daughter who seemed lethargic. “What’s wrong with our girl? Why does she seem so listless?”

“Perhaps the child’s blood carried a knockout drug. There’s nothing wrong, she will recover soon.”

After sending his wife and daughter to an inn and making arrangements for lodging with his identity badge, a carriage was kept for them with an instruction that if he didn’t return by the next day, they should immediately leave the city.

Afterward, Pei Shixian started walking slowly towards his house.

Before he could reach his doorstep, he was met by guards from the Xiao family.

“Mr. Pei, the young master requests your presence,” said a guard with indifference.

Feigning calm, Pei Shixian asked: “What matters does the young master have?”

“I don’t know.” The captain of the guard, not willing to elaborate, motioned to his comrades to carry Pei Shixian onto a carriage.

The carriage galloped through the streets and eventually halted at the back door of the Xiao residence.

Two guards carried Pei Shixian down from the carriage and brought him directly to Xiao Weizhong’s study.

Xiao Weizhong sat in his round-backed chair, gazing coldly at Pei Shixian. He asked, “Mr. Pei, where have you been today?”

Pei Shixian straightened his robe, paid his respects to Xiao Weizhong, and replied, “I made a trip outside the city. May I ask what matter concerns the young master?”

Xiao Weizhong: “Mr. Pei, you don’t need to hide anything in front of me. I just want to know why you abducted Zhou Wuchang’s young disciple?”

Pei Shixian’s face turned pale. He quickly bowed deeply to Xiao Weizhong: “The young master has a keen eye. I… I was just curious as to why that child could attract Zhou Wuchang’s favor, so I…”

Xiao Weizhong was playing with his teacup and glanced at him, motioning for him to continue.

Pei Shixian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, “My divination showed that the child has a fortunate fate but is destined to die young. I found her fate peculiar, so I kindly performed a blessing ritual for her so that she could live a longer life…”

“Is that so?” Xiao Weizhong took a sip from his teacup and squinted at Pei Shixian. “Where is the girl now?”

“She mistakenly thought that I wanted to harm her and ran away. I don’t know where she went.” Pei Shixian’s words flowed more smoothly, and his demeanor grew more composed.

Xiao Weizhong chuckled, put down his teacup and said, “In that case, accompany me to meet Zhou Wuchang. Let’s explain everything to him to avoid any misunderstanding.”

With that, he rose and led Pei Shixian out the door.

On the way, they ran into Xiao Weizhong’s younger son, Xiao Chengjun, who was clad in armor and carrying a sword at his side. Xiao Weizhong asked, “Chengjun, why have you returned?”

Xiao Chengjun saluted, “Father, I heard that a Taoist priest was causing trouble in the city, so I brought some men to inspect.”

“It’s nothing serious, only a misunderstanding. I will clear it up.]” Xiao Weizhong waved his hand at his son. “You should hurry back to the military camp. Don’t act rashly.”

Xiao Chengjun furrowed his brow, “Father, I will go with you. We cannot tolerate troublemakers.”

Xiao Weizhong, seeing his son’s determination, said nothing more and strode towards the door.

At that moment, Zhou Wuchang was sitting cross-legged at the doorway of Pei Shixian’s house. Even at the sight of Xiao Weizhong and others approaching, he didn’t get up nor open his eyes as if he was dozing off.

Zhou Hao, his elder disciple, and his second disciple, Zhang Min, stood behind him, silently watching the visitors.

“Master Zhou, I’ve brought Pei here. If you have anything to ask, do so,” Xiao Weizhong approached and said.

Zhou Wuchang opened his eyes, giving a cold look at them. He spoke, “The poor Taoist has nothing to ask. If my disciples are not returned unharmed today, I will have to do unto others as they have done unto me.”

Perhaps these people had forgotten what he used to do, daring to lay their hands on his disciples.

Pei Shixian’s face changed. He immediately bowed and said, “I… I… I don’t know anything.” In the end, he did not dare to admit any association with this affair.

Zhou Wuchang sneered coldly and took out an hourglass from his sleeve, placing it on the ground in front of him. “The time it takes for the sand to run out, the poor Taoist will take matters into his own hands.”

Pei Shixian broke into a cold sweat and pleaded with his master for help, “My lord, you see…”

Xiao Weizhong, seeing that Pei Shixian was not telling the truth, understood instantly. He frowned and said, “Mr. Pei, just tell the truth.”

Zhou Wuchang was beyond the Emperor’s control due to his special status. Xiao Weizhong himself was only a Supervisory History; he knew he was not in the right nor in a position to challenge Zhou.

Pei Shixian began shaking, but still managed to keep his sanity. He said, “I’ll tell you the truth..I just came back from outside the city, and I really don’t know what Master Zhou is talking about.”

He had cleaned up the manor where the incident had taken place the night before. His disciples who had participated in the kidnapping were also dismissed, leaving only two mute servants. Even if Zhou Wuchang could find the place, no evidence would be found there.

As for the child, both he and Yueniang had their faces covered and had administered a knockout drug to her. She probably did not know what had happened.

He then fed the child a mute potion that would keep her from speaking for a long time.

Even if the child were to be found, what clarity could a little girl, who barely understood anything, provide?

Zhou Wuchang closed his eyes in meditation, not paying any attention to Pei Shixian.

Seeing such disrespect, Xiao Chengjun, standing next to Xiao Weizhong, became angry. He was about to step forward to say something, but his father stopped him: “Chengjun, this is not our place to intervene. Let the Prefectural Government Office handle it.”

With that, he turned and left.

Seeing Xiao Weizhong leave, Pei Shixian hesitated for a moment, then entered his house.

All his children and concubines were huddled inside, too afraid to breathe.

As soon as the head of the house returned, they immediately surrounded him, chattering incessantly.

Pei Shixian cut them off and asked, “Where’s Yuanlang?”

A nursemaid approached and kneeled in a salute, “The young master cried all night and has just fallen asleep.”

Pei Shixian stepped forward to check on his young son, indeed he was sound asleep. He sighed slightly.

He turned to the nursemaid and said, “Take good care of Yuanlang. You’ll be held accountable if anything goes wrong.”

The nursemaid knelt and responded.

Only then did Pei Shixian leave his young son’s room to go to his wife’s room to pack things up.

He packed all the silver notes, jewelry, and precious utensils, tucking them into his large sleeves. He then left his house and headed for the inn.

He planned to send Han Yueniang and her daughter away to avoid any accidents.

Chen Tiantian was the one personally cared for by Imperial Teacher Xiao and was the star of fortune for the sole prince regent. As long as he remained associated with her, why should he worry about the prosperity of his family?

By then he would become the father-in-law of the future emperor, and his young son would be the uncle of the future emperor.

From then on, he would no longer have to serve others, nor would he have to act according to the Xiao Family’s wishes.

Thinking of this made him excited.

So he was taking this gamble now to pave the way for the future.

As the old saying goes, “People risk their lives for money and birds do the same for food”. It couldn’t be more true.