Chapter 38 Call the shots

Chapter 38 Call the shots

Chapter 38 Call the shots
Three months later, in Luo Zhenwu's mansion.

"Boss, you have to make the decision for me! Hall Master Chen has to use three bottles of Essence Pills every month. The remaining ones are not enough to sell, not even to supply the hall masters and deputy hall masters in the gang! At this rate, I will have to stop doing anything else in Shennong Hall and just refine pills for Hall Master Chen!"

Luo Zhenwu looked at the angry head of Shennong Hall in front of him and said in surprise:

"Is this true? Master Chen uses up one Essence Pill every day?"

The head of Shennong Hall was filled with grief and indignation, and said:
"Yes! This is simply a fantasy. I don't know how much Hall Master Chen has embezzled! He is from Baibing Hall. If he really wants to make money, he should ask Hou Yan for it. But he takes advantage of our Shennong Hall. What's going on?"

Luo Zhenwu frowned and said:
"This matter is indeed a bit strange, but Master Chen has been staying indoors for the past few months, practicing martial arts diligently every day, and he doesn't have much to spend on weekdays, so there is no need for him to embezzle the elixir."

The head of Shennong Hall saw that Luo Zhenwu was still defending Chen Yuan, so he stood up and said angrily:

"If the gang leader thinks I am exaggerating, I will confront Hall Master Chen right now! Three bottles of Essence Pills, with a market value of 1,800 taels of silver, cost at least 1,000 taels, and he took them all! Moreover, without Essence Pills to sell, all the Gangjin customers have been snatched away by Jishidi Hall, and the sales of other pills have also dropped a lot. The monthly loss is at least 3,000 taels of silver, and the reputation is slowly ruined. Who will make up for these losses? It is true that Hall Master Chen has made great contributions, but it is not only Shennong Hall that has benefited. I will not be the scapegoat!"

Luo Zhenwu hurriedly said to comfort him:

"Master Qi, please be patient. How about this? I will go find Master Chen and find out the whole story. Then I will give you an answer. How do you think?"

Only then did Master Qi sit down again, but he was still indignant:

"I'm not stingy, but it's really too much for Hall Master Chen to blatantly embezzle the pills by relying on the promise of the gang leader! My Shennong Hall is willing to provide Hall Master Chen with two bottles of Essence Pills every month, no more. Otherwise, other hall masters will also come to me to ask for three or four bottles of pills every month. How can Shennong Hall still operate?"

"Don't worry, I will definitely give you an explanation..."

Luo Zhenwu spoke a few more gentle words to calm Master Qi down.

After Master Qi left, Luo Zhenwu frowned and fell into deep thought.

He placed several spies among the servants in the Chen Mansion and knew the situation in the Chen Mansion very well.

After Chen Yuan came back from the Chimang Mountains, he stayed indoors, practiced martial arts diligently, and lived a frugal life.

Not only did he not touch the two maids he had sent people to carefully select for him, but his diet was also the same as that of an ordinary wealthy family, with more meat dishes and no delicacies from land and sea.

Do not be obsessed with power, do not be greedy for beauty, and do not have material desires.

Why would such a martial arts fanatic covet elixirs?
Luo Zhenwu's face changed and his emotions were surging. Suddenly, the housekeeper came to report that Hou Yan was here to visit.

Luo Zhenwu calmed his mind and stood up to greet him.

But as soon as he walked out of the main hall, Hou Yan walked over quickly with a gloomy face.

When he saw Luo Zhenwu, he bowed hastily and said hurriedly:
"Boss, I just received news that the No. 3 workshop outside the city was attacked last night. Fifty-six craftsmen, ninety-four apprentices, thirty guards, and twenty-seven servants and cooks were all killed or injured. Ironware worth fourteen thousand taels of silver disappeared!"

Luo Zhenwu's face changed:
"What exactly happened? Tell me in detail!"

"According to established practice, workshops outside the city must send people to the city every morning to report yesterday's progress. However, today the accountant of workshop No. 3 did not enter the city, so I sent Wu Ding to check. As a result, I found that the workshop was burned down, and the craftsmen, apprentices, guards, and servants were all dead or injured."

Luo Zhenwu's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he said:
"Did you find any traces at the scene?"

Hou Yan said without hesitation:
"No, but it must have been done by the Sanjiang Gang! The A-grade workshops have internal energy stewards in charge, and the guards are equipped with strong bows and crossbows. It is impossible for ordinary bandits to do it so cleanly. The bandits in the Chimang Mountains will not come out of the mountains. Looking at Yuzhou, only the Sanjiang Gang has this strength."

Luo Zhenwu nodded and said:

"It's almost certain. We smashed their two gambling houses in Tianshui Lane last month, killing more than 20 people. It seems this is their revenge."

Hou Yan gritted his teeth and said:
"It's a pity that they did it too cleanly. We couldn't find any clues at the scene. Otherwise, if we reported it to the government, they would have been completely rooted out. This is a major case involving 200 people!"

Luo Zhenwu sneered and said:
"Forget about it. The Sanjiang Gang has already used silver to feed the navy on the Yongping River. How could there be any traces left? Maybe the navy is cleaning up after them."

Hou Yan sighed and said:
"I was eager for quick success and built the No. 3 workshop on the bank of the Yongping River, but I forgot that it was the territory of the Sanjiang Gang, which gave them an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Luo Zhenwu waved his hand and said:

"It's not your fault. Workshop No. 3 can use water power to blow air, and a dock has been built. The iron materials shipped from Lanzhou and Xingzhou can be unloaded directly in the workshop, saving a lot of effort. The forged iron weapons can also be shipped down the Yongping River and sold to other states, making a lot of money for our gang. If it were me, I would also choose this place..."

As he spoke, his tone gradually became more solemn:

"The Sanjiang Gang is becoming more and more arrogant. They relied on their connections with Magistrate Jia to snatch the shipping business of Yongping River and insert their hands into the medicinal materials business. Now Magistrate Jia has been transferred to another place, but they are still not satisfied and have inserted their hands into Yuanpingxing. They are also coveting the iron smelting business of my Fuhu Gang!"

"This is the foundation of our Fuhu Gang. How can we allow others to spy on us? Since the Sanjiang Gang is so ungrateful, we don't need to hold back any longer. Let them see who has the final say in Yuzhou!"

Hou Yan showed a delighted look on his face and said, "The leader is wise! Magistrate Jia is no longer a famous person, and now Magistrate Yan is in charge. Although he is not from Yuzhou, he has been an official in Yuzhou for a long time and has a deep friendship with the leader. He will definitely make the decision for us."

Luo Zhenwu shook his head and said:

"It's the affairs of the underworld. If it gets to the government, it will be a bad thing. I'll write a letter later, and you can take three thousand taels of silver and send it to the governor Yan's mansion. He just needs to turn a blind eye. We can do the rest ourselves."

"I will follow the leader's orders!"

Hou Yan left with the letter. Luo Zhenwu thought for a moment and left the house.

……

When the housekeeper found Chen Yuan, he was practicing martial arts in the backyard.

Upon learning that Luo Zhenwu was coming to visit, Chen Yuan reluctantly stopped and followed the butler to the reception room.

In the past four months, he practiced martial arts diligently every day, never leaving the house, and neglecting sleep and food.

With an ample supply of Essence Pills, Chen Yuan made rapid progress and had already reached the peak of Gang Jin, with his Dantian filled with true Qi.

Just spend a few more days polishing your skills and you can try to break through to the level of Hua Jin.

In just half a year, he went from the initial stage of Gang Jin to the peak of Gang Jin, which was unheard of in the martial arts world.

At this critical moment, Luo Zhenwu suddenly visited and interrupted Chen Yuan's process of polishing the true energy in his body. Naturally, he was a little dissatisfied.

But before he could cultivate to the peak of Hua Jin, he still needed the supply of elixirs from the Fu Hu Gang and could not show his displeasure in front of Luo Zhenwu.

When he arrived at the reception room, Chen Yuan had already put on a smiling face and saluted with his fists:

"Erniu greets the gang leader. I was practicing martial arts in the backyard just now and was unable to greet him in person. I hope the gang leader will forgive me for my negligence."

Luo Zhenwu looked solemn and said:
"No need to be polite. I am sorry to have disturbed your martial arts practice, but something big happened in the gang and the situation was urgent, so I had to make this trip."

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed and he asked:

"I wonder what happened in the gang that has anything to do with me?"

Luo Zhenwu smiled bitterly and said:

"This matter has nothing to do with you, but it concerns the reputation of our gang..."

He recounted the attack on Workshop No. 3 in detail. Chen Yuan slammed the table in anger after hearing it:
"How can this be! The Sanjiang Gang has gone too far. We cannot allow them to continue to act recklessly and harm the lives of our disciples!"

Luo Zhenwu said:
"That's what I thought, so..."

"Boss, I think we should mobilize our best members to give the Sanjiang Gang a tough fight! Hall Master Hou has profound skills and superb martial arts. If he takes action personally, he will definitely be able to capture them!"

Before Luo Zhenwu could finish his words, he was interrupted by Chen Yuan.

His words were righteous and his face was full of indignation, which made Luo Zhenwu a little stunned.

But he quickly came to his senses and said:
"You don't know that Hall Master Hou was injured in his early years and hasn't fought anyone for a long time. The two deputy hall masters are traveling with the convoy, and Hall Masters Qi and Liu have their own responsibilities. Even if I want to fight back, I don't have the manpower."

Chen Yuan showed regret on his face and said helplessly:

"Then we can only let the Sanjiang Gang continue to be proud for a while, and wait for the two deputy hall masters to come back and avenge their dead brothers."

Luo Zhenwu frowned slightly, stared at Chen Yuan, and finally stopped hiding:
"If we wait until they come back before we take action, who will take our gang seriously? I want to let you handle this matter. What do you think?"

Chen Yuan was startled, then smiled and said:

"I am weak and I am afraid I cannot take on this important task. Please find someone else, gang leader."

Luo Zhenwu's eyes flashed, staring at Chen Yuan and said with a smile:
"Master Chen has supernatural powers, and is powerful enough to fight against the demon tiger. The Sanjiang Gang is just a bunch of rabble, how could they be your opponent? Could it be that... Master Chen is unwilling to contribute to the gang?"

Chen Yuan lowered his head and pondered for a while, then said:
"I dare not disobey the orders of the gang leader. But I hope that the gang leader will understand that I know that several of the gang leaders and deputy leaders have some doubts about me, so I offered the Six Yang Skill and focused on practicing martial arts. I did not participate in the affairs of the gang to avoid misunderstandings. This is not to evade responsibility."

Thanks to Taoist Heiyun and two book friends for the reward!
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(End of this chapter)