Chapter 69: Come up with an idea

  Two bailiffs escorted Zheng Fangjing out, Liu's mother was worried that her son would be at a disadvantage, so she tightly held onto Zheng's hand and followed closely behind. Zheng Fanghui wiped away his tears and also followed them out.

  "Let's go and take a look." Ye Yuqi sighed, patted Ye Zhuo. The situation just now was that even if he spoke up, it would be useless. So he had been standing on the side watching, without making a sound.

  Ye Zhuo pulled Ye Yuqi back: "Grandfather, wait a moment, I'll go talk to Huang Shifu for a bit."

  Ye Yupi looked at Huang Shifu with discontent: "What can be said to that disloyal and timid person?" Huang Shifu first ran to Langyue Pavilion for the sake of money, violating his verbal agreement with Yuzhenfang, and then refused to come out and testify for Zheng Fangjing in order to keep his position at Langyue Pavilion. Ye Yupi was extremely disdainful of him.

  Ye Zhuo didn't answer, and directly walked up to Huang Shifu, saying: "Huang Shifu, can I borrow a step to talk?"

  Huang Shifu was also filled with regret at this time. He and Zheng Fangjing were like father and son, but at that time, so many people said that the jade bangle was thrown away by Zheng Fangjing, and Zhang Shifu's usual strong temper and psychology of seeking benefits and avoiding harm made him say such words. As soon as he spoke, he regretted it, but in this world, there is no medicine for regret.

  So seeing Ye Zhuo still able to come over and talk to him, he was overwhelmed with emotions, repeatedly saying: "Miss Ye, what's on your mind, just say it. I'm also very worried about Fang Jing, it's just that earlier..." He choked up and lowered his head without continuing.

  Ye Chuan let out a sigh, looked around and saw that everyone else had followed him out the door, no one noticed her, she said in a low voice: "I just took a look, it seems that there is not only you and Master Zhang here, but also another master?"

  "Hmm, that's Master Chen, and he brought two apprentices." Master Huang nodded with his chin.

  "What is their relationship with Master Zhang?"

  Huang Shifu shook his head: "It's not good, here it's about who does the best job, whoever is the boss. The one with the most work assigned gets the most reward money. In fact, everyone's craftsmanship has its own strengths and weaknesses, so no one can say who is better than whom. Therefore, no one submits to anyone."

  Ye Zhuo nodded slightly and said, "I'm sure you know what my brother is like. He said he didn't break that jade bangle, so it definitely wasn't him. If Huang needs your help later, please lend a hand."

  Huang Shifu heard this and hastily said: "If there's anything I can do, I definitely won't decline. Actually, just now I wanted to help Fang Jing, but at that time so many people all said it was him..."

  "I understand. You've just arrived here and haven't found your footing yet. It's not easy to compete with Master Zhang." Ye Zhuo thought of explaining his feelings to Huang Shifu for the third or fourth time, but he was still satisfied. At least this Huang Shifu was a bit timid and afraid of trouble, but not entirely bad to the bone. Moreover, he would need Huang Shifu's help soon.

  Huang Shifu heard this and was like Yu Boya meeting Zhong Ziqi. A big man, actually shed tears. Choked with sobs: "Thank you... Ye Niang, thank you..."

  "Then I'll go first." Ye Zhuo sighed and returned to Ye Yuqi's side, supporting him as he said, "Let's go, Grandfather."

  At this time, the onlookers had all dispersed, leaving only Master Chen and his apprentices gathered together discussing in hushed tones. Ye Yuxi walked out of Langxuan Hall, saw that there was no one around, and then asked Ye Zhuo: "You just...".

  "I'm thinking. Since my brother is involved in this matter, it's impossible that nothing will happen. However, giving money to compensate the customer and still getting a reputation for being unyielding, it's better to give that money to other people in the Langyuan Pavilion and ask them to come out as witnesses. I just found out that the Langyuan Pavilion is divided into three factions, and they don't get along with each other. Today's incident was probably done by Zhang Shifu to make Huang Shifu look bad, intentionally trying to cut off his arm; if Huang Shifu comes out to testify, he might still be bitten back, and in the end, they'll both be kicked out. If Huang Shifu is kicked out or becomes weak, Zhang Shifu will probably become the boss of Langyuan Pavilion. It's better to ask the Zheng family for money and have Chen Shifu's people come out to testify on my brother's behalf; I think they'll be happy to step on Zhang Shifu."

  "This is a good idea." Ye Yuxi praised.

  Yue Zhuo sighed: "Let's see what my uncle and aunt have to say first, we can't just help the Zheng family make decisions."

  "Yu'er, from now on with you around, Grandfather can rest assured at home." Seeing his granddaughter so clever and understanding of human relationships, Ye Yuqi felt very comforted.

  Yue Zhuo delayed, fearing that if she arrived at the government office late, things would go wrong. She was also worried about Yue Yu's poor legs and couldn't walk so far. So she hired a horse-drawn carriage to head in the direction of the government office. Along the way, she kept looking out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of her uncle Zheng Pengju's figure.

  But unexpectedly she didn't see that Ye Yuqi was calling out from another window: "Uncle Zheng, Uncle Zheng."

  Ye Zhuo was overjoyed and repeatedly shouted for the car to stop.

  Zheng Pengju was on another cart, heading in the opposite direction of theirs. He didn't know yet that Zheng Fangjing had been taken to the yamen. Hearing Ye Yuxi's shout, he hastily stopped his cart and bowed towards Ye Yuxi, saying: "Is something wrong, Old Master Ye? Something has happened to Fangjing, I'm in a hurry to go to Langyuan Pavilion."

  There was also a strange man sitting in his car, who seemed to be an acquaintance that Liu had invited Zheng Pengju to bring back.

  "Fang Jing has already been taken to the yamen, we are also rushing over. Don't worry, get on this carriage, I'll tell you about the situation." Ye Yuqi said.

  Zheng Peng heard that his son was taken to the government office and became anxious, without saying a word he got off the car and came up onto Ye Zhuo's carriage.

  "Uncle." Ye Zhuo saw Zheng Pengjie get on the car and greeted him.

  "Zhuo'er." Zheng Pengju saw that Ye Zhuo was also in the car, and a forced smile appeared on his face. He hastily asked Ye Yuqi, "Old Master Ye, what's going on? Why were we brought to the yamen?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Can't we let the carriage driver continue on our way while we talk?"

  "Don't be in a hurry, listen to me finish before deciding whether to move forward or go back." Ye Yuqi said.

  Zheng Pengju naturally knew that Ye Yuxi was not the kind of person who didn't know what was important. Hearing this, he could only suppress the anxiety in his heart and said: "Alright, you speak."

  Before finding Zheng Peng, Ye Zhuo and her grandson had already discussed it. When they saw the Zheng family, Ye Yuqi would say that idea out loud. After all, he was older and had experienced more things, so maybe the Zheng family would listen to him more easily. Most importantly, he didn't have any relationship with the Zheng family, so his suggestion was just a suggestion. Whether or not they listened, the Zheng family would make their own decision. On the other hand, if Ye Zhuo were to say it, not only would it not attract enough attention, but in the end, Liu Shi might think that she had spent so much money for nothing and would vent her anger on Ye Zhuo and Zheng Shi, blaming Ye Zhuo for coming up with a bad idea.

  So at this time, Ye Yuqi came forward and told the whole story again, and then said Ye Zhuo's intention, saying: "Of course, I just say so, and finally how to do it is still up to you to decide. If you think that things can be cleared up in the government office, there is no need to do such a thing, and don't mind what I said."

  Zheng Pengju, after all, was a businessman who spent his days outside, with a quick mind and decisive when encountering things. After a moment of contemplation, he stood up and bowed deeply, saying: "Thank you for your advice, Old Master Ye. What you said is the way to solve the problem. I will thank you again later for today's guidance. I will now go back and find the people from Langyuan Pavilion." Having said that, he made a move as if to get off the carriage.

  "Wait, uncle." Ye Zhuo hastily said, "After all, you are Brother's father. If you go to Langyue Pavilion and are seen by someone, it's likely that people will say you bribed a witness and spent money in vain. Moreover, at the yamen, you still need to stabilize the situation and delay as much time as possible. Why don't you mention an amount of money that can be promised? I'll go with Grandfather to find Huang Shifu and have him discuss it privately with Chen Shifu. You can then directly go to the yamen."

  Zheng Pengju nodded in agreement with Ye Yuqi, and then bowed deeply: "In that case, I'll have to trouble Old Master Ye." Turning his head to Ye Zhuo, he said, "Thank you for your hard work, Zhuo'er. After this matter is over, Uncle will thank you properly again."

  "No need for formalities, let's hurry up." Ye Yuke urged.

  Zheng Peng's face showed a determined look: "Our family has only fifty taels of silver in savings. However, if we can clear Fang Jing's name and drive away the scoundrel Zhang Shifu, I am willing to pay 250 taels. Uncle Ye, you go ahead and negotiate, as long as it is within 250 taels, I will definitely borrow the money and pay it off within three days."

  "Alright." With Zheng Pengju's explanation, Ye Yiqi felt more at ease when handling the matter. He let Zheng Pengju get off the carriage and then told the coachman to turn the carriage around and head towards Langyuan Pavilion.

  The horse carriage soon arrived at the entrance of Yiren Street, Ye Zhuo called out to the driver to stop the carriage and said to Ye Yuqi: "Master Zhang and his apprentices are so unscrupulous, if you get involved in this matter, I'm afraid they will come to Yuzhuo Fang to make trouble. You know many people, just wait here and don't get off the carriage, I'll take a detour from that alley. Anyway, not many people recognize me, it should be okay to go to Langxuan Hall."

  Ye Yuqi nodded in satisfaction at his granddaughter's meticulous thinking and sense of responsibility: "Alright, you can go."

  The two brothers who had a dispute with Zheng Fangjing were taken to the yamen as parties involved; Huang Shifu was probably worried about his apprentice and also wanted to go there to put on a show, so he went together with them. Qian Laoban, as the master, naturally had to accompany Niu Laoye, Yu Zhuang's owner, to walk around the street door. So at this time, only Huang Shifu and Chen Shifu were left in the Langyue Pavilion. Then Ye Zhuo very conveniently entered the Langyue Pavilion, directly found Huang Shifu and whispered a few words to him; Huang Shifu then went to find Chen Shifu, had a good talk with him, and came back to reply to Ye Zhuo: "Two hundred taels of silver, they agreed to go and testify for Fangjing."

  "Alright." Ye Zhuo replied in one breath, "Then let them hurry up and leave. The money, my uncle said it must be paid within three days."

  "Don't worry, I've already told them that if your uncle can't come up with the money within three days, they should come find me." This time, Huang Shifu took responsibility.

  "Thank you, Master Huang, let's go."

  "You go first, we'll be right behind you."

  Ye Zhuo nodded and quickly got out of the door, got on the horse-drawn carriage, and said to the coachman: "Go, go to the government office."

  Thank you for the reward from Dongfang Fengyun and I am a girl!