Qu Wu Yang opened the door and saw his old butler, who had followed him for decades, hurrying over with a letter in hand. As he walked, he said: "When Xiaoliu got up to pee, he saw this letter lying at the foot of the east wall of the courtyard. No one knows who threw it in or when. I asked the night watchmen outside, and they didn't notice anything either. These lazy good-for-nothings are really unreliable...

  Qu Wu's expression was invigorated, and for a whole month there had been no news from his only son, not even a single clue or thread of information. Today, he received a letter, how could he not be excited?

  Qu Wu Yang wasn't afraid of someone taking advantage of the Qu family, and hastily took the letter from the steward's hand. The envelope had a line of fine regular script written on it: "Found outside Yangshulin, wants to return to the original owner". Seeing this line of small characters, Qu Wu Yang knew that it was an insider, and outsiders would never know that the mystery occurred outside Yangshulin. He didn't rush to open the letter, but only instructed the steward to find several reliable subordinates. The other party had endured for a month before throwing this letter into the courtyard, and the hidden sentry set up by the Qu family in Sanliuyuan actually didn't notice anything unusual. The other party was definitely not an ordinary force.

  Since the other party did not report the matter to the Procuratorate after catching the person, it seems that they also want to secretly obstruct the power of Chu Dang's new nobleman, Gu Wu Chen, who is stirring up trouble in Jiangdong. This also makes sense with the fact that these people were watching from the sidelines when Qu Jianke and his guests attacked the refugees. Qu Wuyang thought to himself, perhaps there is still room for cooperation between the two parties.

  The housekeeper brought over several servants from Sanliu Garden and also sent someone to invite Second Master Qu Wu Ming.

  Qu Wu Ming and several servants from the Qu family rushed to the courtyard where Qu Wu Yang lived, only to see Qu Wu Yang looking gloomy with a letter spread out on the table. Qu Wu Ming walked over and picked up the letter, which was just an ordinary white paper with a bright red seal in the top corner and two lines of fine regular script: "A jade pendant was found outside the willow forest, its quality is transparent and exquisite, worth hundreds of taels of silver in the jade shops of Jiangning City. If the Qu family is interested, within three days, bury 500 taels of silver under the third old willow tree in the southeast corner of the willow forest. After we receive the silver, we will return the item to its original owner the next day..."

  Qu Wu Ming smelled it and found a red mark on the corner of the letter with a bloody smell. It turned out that someone had stamped their bloody fingerprint on it.

  "It's the young master's personal jade Guanyin pendant... " The old steward reminded Er Ye Qu Wu Ming in a low voice, it was clear that the young master had fallen into their hands, but it was also very obvious that this group of people were not easy to deal with.

  Qu Wu Ming took a deep breath and asked, "They inquired about the price at the Jade Stone Store, can we start investigating from this aspect?"

  "They deliberately disturbed us, there are thirty or forty jade shops in Jiangning City, and they also calculated that we would not disturb the Jiangning government. Even if we went to thirty or forty jade shops to ask questions, we couldn't ask openly. This thought is too complicated, it's better to just bury five hundred taels of silver," Qu Wu Yang said, "We can only respond first and see how the other side reacts..."

  Qu Wu Ming saw that his brother was getting more and more anxious, but he managed to calm down and analyze the situation. He didn't say anything, but in his heart, he wondered which side these people belonged to - were they from the Jin An Hou Fu's Xia Fei Hu, Wang Xue Shan, Jia Peng Yu, or Mu Gong Guo Fu? Or perhaps they were from the Ti Du Fu or the Xuan Fu Shi Si? With Li Zhuo coming to Jiang Ning to take up the position of Jiang Ning Bing Bu Shang Shu and Guardian General, it was almost a done deal. He thought that the current Jiang Ning Guardian General wouldn't dare to intervene again, so he should focus on making money before leaving.

  "The only advantage is that at least we don't have to worry about the other side reporting it to the Procuratorate," Qu Wuyang said, "Maybe they will be more greedy."

  Qu Wu Ming let out a light sigh and took another look at the letter. The words on the paper and envelope were fine and beautiful, but they didn't seem to be written with a brush. Instead, they looked like they were written with a sharp wooden stick that had been burned at the tip. To redeem one jade pendant would cost 500 taels of silver; who knows how much it would take to redeem a person? Moreover, there was also the matter of silencing the refugees who had been attacked at night - who knows how much hush money they would need to pay? Honestly, as long as he could get the person back, he wasn't afraid of the news getting out. Gu Wu Chen didn't have any real evidence, and it was already difficult for him to take action against Di Tou She just because of his identity as a new noble in Chu State.

  Sit down and discuss the details, then arrange for someone to execute them. Qu Wu Yang stayed up all night in the mansion, guarding it for a night, but received no news of anyone going to dig up the silver buried under the willow tree. This went on for three days, and even though he knew his opponent was not easy to deal with, Qu Wu Yang couldn't help feeling impatient. But since he was at their mercy, he had no choice but to swallow his temper.

  On the third night, the steward who was responsible for this matter returned with a bad look on his face, still holding the silver bag containing 500 taels of silver that had been buried outside the willow forest three days ago. He also brought back a letter. Qu Wu Yang, Qu Wu Ming and other stewards were waiting in Sanliu Garden, seeing that they couldn't retrieve the jade pendant, Qu Wu Yang's face turned gloomy as he took the letter, with the same handwriting as before: "The Qu family has sent twelve people to guard the silver, how can we feel at ease taking it? Within three days, please bury the silver under the second bridge pier on the north side of the east end of Jiuyong Bridge..."

  Qu Wu Ming saw the content written in the letter and said disdainfully, "Hmph, that's all they're capable of. We clearly sent eighteen people, but they could only discover twelve!"

  "How did this letter come?" Qu Wuyang asked the housekeeper.

  "Just put it in a silver bag." The person in charge said dejectedly.

  Qu Wu's face suddenly turned very ugly, as if he had been slapped in the face in public. Was he going to vent his anger on others? He sternly scolded the person in charge this time: "Are all eighteen of your eyes blind?"

  Qu Wu Yang's face also turned very unsightly, in order to investigate some clues when the other party took the silver and gain some initiative, he set up a secret whistle around the Yang tree forest, all of which were handpicked by him, and specially divided into six groups, monitoring everyone who enters the Yang tree forest 24 hours a day. Who would have thought that in this situation, they would quietly put this letter in the silver bag without making a sound? The other party was not incapable of taking away the silver, but did so to give them a warning.

  "What should we do?" Qu Wuming asked.

  "I'm afraid the other side has already sent someone to keep an eye on Sanliu Garden," Qu Wuyang said, "Tomorrow I'll personally go to Jiuyong Bridge to bury the silver, and our people will all withdraw. Let's see how the other side reacts?"

  Qu Wu Ming let out a light sigh, knowing that his elder brother wanted to protect his only son's life, and decided to give up the initiative.

  Qu Wu Yang sat in his horse-drawn carriage at Sanliu Garden before dawn on the second day, and buried a silver bag containing 500 taels of silver under the second bridge pier on the north side of Jiuyong Bridge. After he got back into the carriage, he waited for a while on the bridge, just as it was darkest before dawn, with only the sound of water flowing under the bridge and wind blowing through the leaves. He thought that the other party might send a boat to pass under the bridge to take away the silver, but there must also be someone secretly monitoring the bridge surface. In his heart, he thought: The other party's power is indeed not weak, with many skilled masters, and in Jiangning Prefecture, there are not many families that have such power in secret. Anyway, it won't be Gu Wu Deng, who has just arrived in Jiangning and doesn't have much foundation here. Qu Wu Yang let out a light sigh and instructed his old steward, who was driving the carriage: "Let's go back..."

  Qu Wu Yang was still guessing when the other party would take away the silver under the bridge, but the horse-drawn carriage drove back to Sanliu Garden without stopping. He saw his younger brother Qu Wu Ming and others waiting in front of the garden gate.

  Qu Wuyang got off the car and asked: "What's wrong?"

  "Look..." Qu Wuming's hands spread open, and he showed a jade Guanyin pendant to Qu Wuyang.

  Qu Wu Yang was more familiar with this jade pendant than anyone else. It was he who had personally gone to the city to ask Master Qiu to select materials and spend a large sum of money to carve out the Guanyin pendant, hoping to keep his only son safe for life. Seeing the jade pendant now made him anxious. He took the jade pendant over and asked, "When did it arrive?"

  "It's been half a lifetime!" Qu Wu Ming said.

  "...". Qu Wu Yang took a deep breath, calculating the time. The other side had been monitoring him burying the silver, sending someone to retrieve it, and then sending a message to have the jade pendant delivered to Sanliu Garden. Throughout the entire process, they didn't waste a single moment, and must have rushed to make it on time. Yet, on the road, they hadn't heard even a hint of horseshoes galloping by. It seemed that Wu Ming and the others at Sanliu Garden were also completely unaware of anything unusual. Such an opponent was truly frightening, yet didn't reveal any signs of their presence.

  Qu Wu Yang has been in a bad mood these days, unable to figure out the whereabouts of his opponent. Suddenly, he thought of a terrifying question: what if these people are not just extorting money, but are actually enemies of the Qu family?

  "This is a letter that was secretly thrown in by the opponent...". Qu Wu Ming also realized that the Qu family might be facing a very formidable enemy, and he handed the letter over to his older cousin.

  "...". Qu Wu Yang opened the letter and took a look, and couldn't help but take a deep breath. The other party not only asked for 20,000 taels of silver, but also wanted to send a light boat loaded with silver to Chao Tian Tang within three days to exchange people, and only allowed two people from the Qu family to row into Chao Tian Tang.

  "They really are daring, swallowing an elephant with one bite, opening their mouth and asking for 20,000 taels of silver." Qu Wu Ming looked at his older cousin, waiting to see how he would decide.

  "I once joked with Bin'er that if someone threatened his life, I'd be willing to pay 20,000 taels of silver to save him. It seems Bin'er has fallen into their hands and repeated this joke to them," said Qu Wu Yang with a hint of weariness. "But matters big or small in the Qu household can't be decided by me alone. What do you all think we should do?"

  "…Give! As an uncle, I cannot ignore the life of my nephew!" Qu Wu Ming stared at his older brother's eyes, and had to make a statement. He also said viciously, "In the future, if we find out who dares to extort us behind our backs, we will chop them into minced meat and make dumplings to vent our anger!"

  Within three days, bring the silver to Chao Tian Tang for trading. We need time to prepare the silver, and it's inconvenient to trade at night, so we can only choose the third day during the day. During the day, there are no less than 800 fishing boats in Chao Tian Tang, they might think of using this as cover... Alright, let's spread the news through secret channels, saying that I, Qu Wu Yang, will bring 20,000 taels of silver to Chao Tian Tang within three days to redeem someone. Let's see if the other party has the ability to bring out the 20,000 taels of silver from Chao Tian Tang on the third day... Qu Wu Yang gritted his teeth and spoke viciously.

  "If the news reaches his ears, I'm afraid it won't be good for young master..." said the old steward.

  As soon as the news is released, I'm afraid it will attract all the Jiang pirates and bandits around Jiangning Prefecture who can make it to join in on the excitement. After all, 20,000 taels of silver is equivalent to 1,250 kilograms, even if you use the largest silver bags, you'll need five full bags.

  "Can't the Qu family even stand up for themselves?" Qu Wu Yang said with a scowl, "Our Qu family followed the instructions in the letter and only sent one boat with two people to exchange silver for the person. We didn't destroy the letter, but the other side still wants to tear it up. It's all because Brin is destined to escape this calamity." If he just let the other side lead him by the nose without any counterattack, even if they rescued Brin, their prestige in the clan would likely be greatly reduced. The 20,000 taels of silver wouldn't hurt the Qu family that much, but if they let the other side take it away smoothly, the damage to the Qu family would be the greatest. Qu Wu Yang also assumed that the other side only wanted the silver and thought: "If we spread the news, if the other side doesn't dare to come to Chao Tian Tang on the third day to collect the silver, they will still contact us."

  ************

  P.S: Silver coins, silver coins... no, red tickets, red tickets, collect, collect!