Guanshan Muyu

chapter 30

The smile in Qi Yan’s eyes was getting stronger.

“You have really grown up, unlike when you were a kid—”

“Not as easy to cheat as when I was a kid, right?” Xia Xun retorted.

Qi Yan’s smile gradually faded.

“Then guess who ordered them to go after you?” He asked Xia Xun.

Xia Xun didn’t think much and blurted out:

“It can only be Duke Chen. Lingnan is his fief, and only his interests can be involved.”

Qi Yan nodded in approval:

“You are right.”

He sat up straight and started talking.

The imperial court did not know that the mine in Douzhou produced jade. Duke Chen had deceived the emperor for many years. The emperor and the civil and military officials thought that it was just an ordinary gravel mine.

Duke Chen appropriated all the jade produced, then took out a little bit of money, bought the same amount of sand and gravel, and paid taxes to the state treasury.

A dan (100 litres) of sand and gravel only cost one tenth of a tael, while a small piece of jade was worth a fortune.

Over the years, Duke Chen relied on this jade mine, making an indescribable amount of money.

Lingnan was located in a remote area and Duke Chen covered the sky with one hand, so no one dared to leak the information.

He could do such a profitable business and could rest easy. He thought that he could continue his scam for a long time, until two months ago, Qi Yan suddenly went to Douzhou.

Duke Chen didn’t dare to neglect this fact and sent someone to follow him.

Qi Yan was extremely vigilant and got rid of the surveillance several times.

Duke Chen could do nothing, so he had to use his spy in Douzhou to monitor Qi Yan’s every move.

Qi Yan only stayed in Douzhou for two days, and Duke Chen’s informant had no way of knowing where he had gone and what he had done.

Oddly enough, when he left two days later, he was alone.

His personal guard Qi Hui did not accompany him.

Duke Chen didn’t dare to take it lightly and asked the informant to continue to monitor Qi Hui.

Soon after, the news came from the informant that Qi Hui had also returned to the capital, but he had taken a man from Douzhou along.

—This man was Xia Xun.

Xia Xun pondered:

“Duke Chen must have thought that you knew the secret of the jade mine, and I was the witness you secretly brought back to the capital.”

Qi Yan nodded.

“Your existence was like a thorn in his flesh and he would use any means to kill you. In order to clear his name, he deliberately found a group of men from Lingnan to get rid of you, preferably killing me, his rival in the court, as well if they could. In the capital, he tried to attack me several times, without success. Now that I was ordered to go to Qingzhou and was on my way, it was a perfect opportunity to strike.”

Xia Xun asked in confusion:

“Since you already knew about Duke Chen’s plan, why did you only bring Qi Hui as a guard when you went to Qingzhou? Why did you split with him in the first place? When you encountered the Bai Yue people following us in the inn, why didn’t you send someone to investigate them?”