How did such immense wealth fall into my family?

Chapter 35 Passing by
Now, Young Master An was even more depressed.

Before Young Master An could figure out how to explain things to Guard Xiao, Old Master An slipped a silver note into Guard Xiao's hand. "You jest. How could we offend His Highness Prince Xuan for someone who doesn't know his place? I'll go with you to explain to His Highness Prince Xuan right now."

For the sake of the silver notes, Guard Xiao gave Master An a few words of advice. "Then you'd better explain this to the Prince properly. That kid is not only handsome, but also incredibly skilled in martial arts." His Prince had never encountered such a person before.

Old Master An slipped another silver note to Guard Xiao. "Thank you for reminding me." Old Master An knew he was going to have to spend a fortune again. Old Master An wanted to dig Qi Hu out of his grave and give him a good beating.

After getting into the car, Master An gave his eldest son a few more instructions.

The An family father and son stayed at Prince Xuan's residence for more than two hours before coming out. Old Master An told Prince Xuan that the eldest son of the An family was too angry and wanted to avenge Prince Xuan, which allowed others to take advantage of the situation.

Upon returning home, the eldest son of the family immediately knelt before his father, the old master. "Father, I was wrong."

Grandpa An didn't let his eldest son get up. "Tell me what's going on with you, and then go find Old Master Dong."

"Okay. Thank you, Father." The fact that his father didn't let him hand over the work to his other brothers suggests that his father probably just wanted him to reflect on his actions.

After Young Master An finished explaining what he was doing while kneeling, Master An allowed him to stand up. "If you find that grandmother and grandson, be polite to them."

"Yes. I understand. Father, there's still something I don't understand."

"You said."

"Why did it take King Xuan so long to come and ask me for the people?"

Old Master An thought for a moment. "Did that boy take Prince Xuan hostage before or after the Ding family's incident?"

"Before the incident."

“That makes sense. King Xuan probably just wanted you to torment that kid for him, and then he would come out and play the good guy once the kid couldn’t take it anymore. But before he could play the good guy, the Ding family ran into trouble. The Ding family’s relationship with King Xuan is much closer than ours.”

Young Master An understood. "You mean, Prince Xuan doesn't know if the Emperor is only targeting the Ding family, or if he's making an example of them? That's why he doesn't dare act as he did before?"

Grandpa An nodded. "Prince Xuan should now know why the Emperor targeted the Ding family?"

Young Master An bowed to Old Master An. "Father, I will have to learn from you more in the future."

Grandpa An smiled. "Go and prepare."

"Yes. Then I'll take my leave."

"Ah."

Three days later, after finishing breakfast, Young Master An led his men on their journey.

As they approached the fork in the road between the south and the north, Young Master An saw a father and son leading a child toward the capital. The child was clamoring for his father to carry him, but his father ignored him.

Young Master An glanced at them and then led his men, riding past them.

Dong Laoqi didn't even glance at Young Master An. In Dong Laoqi's mind, from the moment Young Master An had Qi Hu throw him to the beggars, he and Young Master An became strangers.

Little Dog Sheng wasn't even as tall as a horse's leg. Young Master An and his group were in a hurry to find someone, so Little Dog Sheng didn't even get a good look at them before they passed by him.

Qian Laifu kept a close eye on his granddaughter, afraid she might accidentally walk into the middle of the road. The middle of the road was always full of vehicles and horses.

The two groups passed each other by.

Apart from Dong Laoqi, no one else knew that they had been so close to each other.

Young Master An is quite capable at finding people.

Unfortunately, they went in the wrong direction from the very beginning.

Young Master An wandered the martial world more than a dozen times but still couldn't find the person he was looking for.

After searching the martial arts world for a long time without success, Young Master An even tried looking for Qian Laifu and his grandson as genuine beggars. But to no avail. He didn't know that not long after Gou Sheng saved Dong Laoqi, he went to the Yuzhen Temple to become a young Taoist nun. Of course, he couldn't find the grandfather and grandson.

In short, due to misunderstandings and coincidences, Young Master An spent three years searching for Qian Laifu and his grandson, along with Dong Laoqi, without success. Finally, Young Master An had no choice but to hand the matter over to his subordinates. He couldn't afford to waste any more time on this.

Grandpa An only wanted to train his eldest son, not necessarily force him to bring Dong Laoqi back. As for whether Dong Laoqi would return to seek revenge on his eldest son after his martial arts skills recovered?

He can just hire a few more experts to stand by his eldest son's side. How could their family, with such a large business, not have any enemies?

Of course, it would be best to find the person.

With the forged documents from Dong Laoqi, Qian Laifu and his grandson successfully entered the capital.

After entering the capital, Xiaogou Sheng asked Dong Laoqi to find him an old, dilapidated, and remote inn.

After settling in, Dong Laoqi and Qian Laifu asked the innkeeper where there were shops for rent. Dong Laoqi wanted to find one in a good location, while Qian Laifu wanted to find one that was cheap.

The shopkeeper glanced at Dong Laoqi and then at Qian Laifu. "Did you make your fortune back home and then want to try your luck in the capital?"

Before Dong Laoqi could even open his mouth, Qian Laifu interrupted, "What? My daughter-in-law ran off with a merchant, and my son, furious, sold the house and land. When I told him not to, he threatened to kill himself. I had no choice but to let him sell everything."

The little dog, Sheng, had her grandfather say this for two reasons: first, to explain to others why their family didn't have a mistress; and second, to reserve a place for her older cousin. Once they rescued her older cousin, she would be the runaway wife.

Old Dong was furious when he heard Qian Laifu say that. "Dad, why do you tell everyone? Aren't you ashamed?"

"How can it not be shameful? But we don't know anyone in the capital, so we need to make some connections, right? Shopkeeper, you seem like a friendly person. I'd like to get to know you better. Is that alright?"

The innkeeper thought to himself: If I say no, will you not stay here? "Sure, why not? Brother, we get along quite well."

He finally has someone to stay with him, he can't let them run away. "Brother, your son is ambitious, you can expect to enjoy a life of luxury from now on."

"What blessings? I'll be grateful if he doesn't starve my little grandson. Uncle, do you know any cheap shops?"

The shopkeeper didn't want to get involved. This family had sold their entire business to come to the capital; if they lost money and then blamed him, saying the shop he recommended was bad, wouldn't he just be asking for trouble?
"I really don't know. I'll have my eldest son take you to visit all the middlemen's shops; there are plenty of them."

Upon hearing this, Qian Laifu immediately began lecturing his son. "Look," he said, "if I didn't confide in your uncle, would he have let his eldest son take us to the China Merchants' Guild? Do you even know where the China Merchants' Guild is?"

Old Dong thought to himself: I actually know that, but that brat said if you're going to lie, you have to make it look more real than the truth. "Thank you, Uncle."

"You're welcome. Please wait a moment, I'll go and call my eldest son over."

The shopkeeper gave his eldest son some careful instructions before bringing him over.

After the introductions, the shopkeeper sent his eldest son with Qian Laifu and the others to the middleman's office to find a middleman.

The shopkeeper's eldest son simply led the way without saying a word.

Little Dog Sheng understood the shopkeeper very well; if it were her, she wouldn't have taken on this responsibility either.

Upon arriving at the Zhongren Pavilion, Qian Laifu and Dong Laoqi were again at odds: one wanted to find something cheap, and the other wanted something good.

After learning about his family's situation, the Chinese people shared similar thoughts with the innkeeper. They felt that not only would they not earn much from this deal, but they might also be taken advantage of by the father and son.

The little dog went to eight different places in a row, but no one was willing to take on their business.

Just as Xiaogou Sheng was wondering if they should try a different approach, a middleman willing to take on their business appeared.

The middleman who was willing to take their business said he had a shop that was both cheap and in a good location.

The puppy's eyes lit up immediately. She had always thought that people in the capital had higher professional ethics than those elsewhere.

Thank you for correcting my mistake, my darling. May you be as beautiful as a flower!

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(End of this chapter)