Chapter 42

They all looked at one another, then promptly pretended to have forgotten everything. What? Don’t know anything; can’t understand what you’re talking about.
Officer Zeng rolled his eyes, what a shameless lot. “Third Miss, on behalf of the official detachment I declare that from now on all actions will follow your orders.”
He voluntarily gave up control, there was no denying Mu Wanqing’s superior ability.
The results spoke for themselves; no one could rival her.
More importantly, if you don’t offer benefits, why would anyone help you get rich?
Mu Wanqing appeared calm and unruffled, but she was fiercely forceful at heart, liking to keep everything around her firmly under her control.
“There’s only one condition: the convicts on the list must reach Liangcheng within the allotted time.” That was his bottom line.
“Understood.” Mu Wanqing nodded slightly; with just a few words the highest decision-making power in this group formally came into her hands.
Shen Yong panicked, how had someone beaten him to it? “Third Miss, from now on we’ll all follow you. You say east, we dare not step west; you say the sky is round and the earth square, we would never contradict you.”
Mu Wanqing’s mouth twitched. “They’re all round, you know.”
Shen Yong insisted the truth didn’t matter, what mattered was showing loyalty. “You’re absolutely right, exactly right, the sky’s round. No objections allowed.”
Officer Zeng couldn’t help but glare. He’d really thrown himself into flattering the Third Miss. “Heh.”
Shen Yong glared back, not to be outdone. “What’s your ‘heh’ for? You picking a fight?”
Mu Wanqing rubbed her forehead and sighed. “Alright, stop making a scene. We’ll take turns. Don’t worry, I haven’t even spent the money yet.”
They had to convert the silver into goods and then resell them for a profit.
“Let’s get down to business. In the days ahead the two teams must cooperate closely, stay hidden, but be ready to lend a hand when it counts. I need real-time updates from both teams so I can manage things better.”
Officer Zeng thought for a moment. “How about appointing Deputy Captain Li and Mu Zicheng as liaisons to handle communication between the two sides?”
Mu Wanqing nodded slightly. "That will work."
The eldest brother should be put through his paces, take on more responsibility and learn to stand on his own sooner.
Shen Yong spoke up as well. "If there are no surprises, the escort team will sleep at the courier station and the delivery team at the inn, keeping a fair distance between them."
"Fine." Mu Wanqing made the decision at once; she was refreshingly straightforward.
Beside her, Mu Zicheng spoke up meekly, "I have a suggestion."
Everyone turned to look at him at once. Mu Zicheng looked a little flustered, he'd been raised by his father never to stick his head up; he was reserved and low-key by nature.
Mu Wanqing looked at him encouragingly. "Brother, go ahead."
Mu Zicheng's voice lacked conviction. "Have both sides keep a notebook recording what happens each day, then send it over to Qing'er so she can keep track of the whole operation."
He was trying to help his sister consolidate her position, only if she thrived could the whole family prosper.
Mu Wanqing was somewhat surprised; she hadn't expected him to be so calculating, a pleasant surprise. "That's a good idea. I agree. What about you all?"
"I agree, I suppose." Officer Zeng hesitated, his face troubled. "I…am not good at writing."
He was a court officer, he could manage basic handwriting and could read notices written by others.
But that was a different matter.
"Then find someone who can write for you, have someone do it." Mu Wanqing treated it as a small thing. "The Mu and Fang families have plenty of scholars; you can surely pick one or two. It's just clerical work."
Officer Zeng thought that would work. "Then have Second Master Mu do it?"
Second Master Mu started in alarm. "I can't."
He'd been suppressed for years, neither literate nor a warrior, and felt useless.
Seeing his lack of confidence, Mu Wanqing didn't press him. "Have Mu Jinyao and Mu Xuerong step up. The former is a renowned talent; the latter is competitive and won't accept being outdone, competition breeds improvement."
"All right; those two are capable." Officer Zeng had seen the sisters manage a group with tidy efficiency, far stronger than the others.
Mu Wanqing was assembling her own team, placing people in key positions one by one to train them.
She had passed over the older generation and chosen from the young.
Captain Jiang of the guards volunteered, "Then I'll have Brother Mu Zicheng handle the writing on my side. I'm better with blade and spear, writing would kill me."
He and Mu Zicheng had spent time together and had become well acquainted; they got along very well.
"All right, it's decided." Mu Wanqing looked at Second Master Mu. "Father, help me handle some of the tedious tasks."
"Very well." This time Second Master Mu did not refuse, working with his daughter steadied him.
That night, nobody slept. Their eyes were bloodshot from staying up, but their spirits were high.
They plotted the route ahead, worked out warning plans for every contingency, arranged how to coordinate and assign personnel, and how operations would run.
Most thrilling of all, Mu Wanqing set a modest goal: for each person to earn a hundred thousand taels.
That news electrified everyone; morale soared and excitement ran high.
Money is a fine thing, it moves the world and solves ninety-nine percent of life's problems.
Money gets things done.
...
Elsewhere, the escorting party had set out at dawn and traveled for a long time, until the official escorts beat drums and struck gongs to call for a meal.
Madam Qian, Second Master's wife, ate a steamed bun with a distracted air; she accidentally bit her tongue and sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
Mu Ziang looked over anxiously. "Mother, are you all right?"
Madam Qian waved him off. "I'm fine. Eat."
Her husband and their two children had been gone for a very long time, counting the days, nearly a month, and the worry had nearly undone her.
She could neither eat nor sleep; each night was fitful.
Before they left they hadn't said where they were going, only that they were carrying out a task.
Sigh, there was no news at all.
Fourth Miss Yu and her maid sat quietly off to one side eating, saying nothing, remarkably still.
The two of them ate and lodged with Madam Qian and paid for their own food.
Fourth Miss Yu had some private money, but finding something truly satisfying to eat was difficult.
What unsettled her more was the increasingly strange atmosphere day by day.
Just then Madam Mu walked over. "Young sister-in-law, Mother wants you to come."
Madam Qian's face went white; the suffocating memories that had been suppressed surged up again. "I'm still eating. I won't go."
She didn't want to go, what right did the old matriarch have to keep up her airs at a time like this?
The two branches had already torn into open hostility, what right did this dowager have to summon and dismiss her at will?
Old Madam Mu, flanked by a throng of descendants, strode over with an overbearing air. "What? Can't I get you to come? Tell me, where has Mu Wanqing gone? It's been a month."
She came ready to exact blame; her presence was imposing.
Madam Qian was not a strong woman and had long been used to being pushed around; at the sight of Old Madam Mu she panicked. "She has something to handle."
Old Madam Mu barked, "What could that yellow-haired girl possibly be doing? She's surely up to some shameful business, just like that foxish concubine of his, "
The "foxish woman" she mentioned was Second Master Mu's birth mother, the woman she had long hated most.
Madam Qian's anger flared. Was there no limit to this humiliation? "Mother, even if you dislike our second branch, regardless, Qing'er is a daughter of the Mu family, "
"Smack!" The sound of a slap rang out and the room fell silent.
Mu Ziang leapt forward to steady his mother; seeing her reddened, swollen face, he was furious, hurt, and broken-hearted. "Mother."
"Old Madam Mu, you have gone too far, how can you strike someone like that?"
Old Madam Mu had struck Madam Qian a harsh slap and her arrogance swelled.
She pointed at Mu Ziang and his mother. "Kneel. All of you, kneel before me."
Mu Ziang steadied his mother and refused to move; his eyes burned with hatred.
She hadn't bullied them enough before, now that they were in trouble she still put on airs.
"Kneel to me, "
Mu Jinyao pushed through the crowd and shoved Third Master Mu aside. "Grandmother, you are unwell, don't be angry. Let me help you over to rest."
What is going on? Wasn't everything peaceful and quiet just a moment ago? Why is it suddenly acting up?
Old Madam Mu stood her ground and refused to move, her wizened face twisted with malice. "How can I rest easy? I'm the matriarch of the Mu household. Our family's honor has been ruined by Mu Wanqing, she ran off with a wild man..."
She ruined Mu Wanqing’s reputation in front of everyone. Mu Ziang could not bear it. "Madam, how can you say that? My sister is not that kind of person. Something really happened to her. You're deliberately stirring trouble because you can't stand to see us well."
A cold flash crossed Old Madam Mu's eyes. "Give her a slap."
Third Young Master Mu sneered with satisfaction and swung a palm; all the pent-up resentment finally had an outlet.
He'd been holding it in and was bursting to let it out.
Mu Ziang wasn't about to take it lying down. He shoved hard and Third Young Master Mu went splat to the ground. "Ah!"
Old Madam Mu exploded with rage and, relying on the crowd, howled loudly.
"This is rebellion! Look at her, this is the kind of daughter the Mu family raised: undisciplined, shameless. And we even raised an unfilial son. Eldest, according to our clan rules, how shall we deal with them?"
Eldest Master Mu's expression turned ice-cold. "A shameless daughter shall be dunked in a cangue; unfilial offspring shall be beaten to death with rods."
The atmosphere shifted instantly; the crowd was stunned. What, beat them to death? Have they gone mad?
Mu Rongxue stared in disbelief. What had come over them? "Uncle, we're all family, why harm one another?"
Eldest Master Mu didn't even look at her. "All Mu clan members listen up: this is what happens when you break clan rules. House rules, clan rules, I will carry them out publicly."
His authority as clan leader had plummeted; he no longer commanded the fear he once did, and many were disinclined to obey him.
Mu Wanqing had, in fact, replaced him, subtly becoming the Mu family's leading force and trampling him and the main and third branches beneath her feet.
That completely violated his interests and crossed his bottom line; he'd long held a grudge.
When Officer Zeng was present before, he hadn't dared make a move.
Now Mu Wanqing had handed him a scandal on a silver platter, giving him the perfect excuse to strike.
Officer Zeng wasn't around at the moment either; Deputy Captain Li had taken men to find a water source, and the remaining constables couldn't hold the situation.
It was a godsend, a perfect opportunity for him to reclaim lost ground and win people back.
Mu Rongxue was beside herself. "Uncle, our whole Mu family is being treated like criminals. Why cling to clan rules now? At a time like this we should unite and help each other through this."
Mu Jinyao pleaded with him too. "Father, everyone's suffering, how do we explain this after Third Miss returns...?"
She couldn't believe Mu Wanqing had run off or done anything shameful; there must have been some urgent matter.
Mu Wanqing was a formidable woman. By sheer force of will she had kept everyone in check; even the constables treated her politely. Anyone who crossed her would reap the consequences.
He didn't care about the truth; what mattered was that he could become a respected clan leader again and make every clansman obey him.
"Shut up. Since when did two girls get to speak up? Seize Mu Ziang and his mother, bring the rods, beat them all to death."
He meant to make an example of them, to elevate his authority with two lives as a warning.
Sixth Uncle from a collateral branch of the Mu family couldn't help himself. "Don't act rashly, private punishment is out of style these days..."
When shouting got him nowhere, he could only rush forward with his family to protect Mu Ziang and Madam Qian.
The Mu household erupted, split into two camps: some moved to carry out the clan leader's orders, others rushed in to stop them. The scene descended into chaos.
The constables shouted furiously to stop it, but nobody listened.
Fourth Miss Yu stared blankly, stunned, this family was terrifying!
The nanny was terrified and grabbed her young charge, trying to drag the girl away from the maelstrom of trouble.
Fourth Miss Yu was pulled backward, dazed, when she saw Madam Qian nearby shoved down by the disorderly crowd, about to be trampled.
The situation was perilous. Her head rushed with adrenaline and without thinking she pushed away the nanny and lunged forward, covering Madam Qian's head with her body.
At that moment, several carriages came tearing up and a commanding voice roared, "Everyone, stop!"