Chapter 178: Zhou Yu Beats Huang Gai

Wu Zhixiang was somewhat embarrassed. Being a clever man, he could see at a glance that this girl was probably quite favored by Master Zhao and had become a bit arrogant because of it. Her presumptuousness and rash actions had likely angered the usually gentle and refined Master Zhao. As the saying goes, “the deeper the love, the sterner the discipline.”

Seeing that the servants were all standing still, Zhao Yigong became even angrier. “What are you all standing around for? Drag her out!”

This time, the household guards of the inner-duty squad, who had been following behind for protection, dared not delay any longer. They seized the teary-eyed Xihua and dragged her away.

Wu Zhixiang saw that she didn’t utter a single word of pleading, yet her eyes were filled with a lingering reluctance to part with Zhao Yigong. Being a man of sentiment himself, having had his own entanglements with a few maids at home, Wu Zhixiang’s heart softened. He smiled and said, “Brother Zhao, why be so angry? This girl doesn’t know any better. A few strokes of the cane to teach her a lesson would suffice. Why go to such lengths?”

Everyone had been scared stiff. Xihua was no ordinary person; she was one of the few children the Master had personally selected to teach and raise. Nominally a servant girl, she was practically a student of the Master. She usually handled matters independently. Today, she had suddenly incurred his thunderous wrath, leaving everyone stunned.

Some of the quicker-witted ones had already guessed that the Master was using Xihua to make an example. The forewoman reacted the fastest. She walked up to Zhao Yigong, knelt down with a thud, and kowtowed heavily.

“Master, please calm your anger! This time, it’s not Miss Xihua’s fault. It was this servant who talked too much, saying the workshop was terribly hot and everyone was finding it hard to bear… It’s all my fault, a thousand times over. Please, Master, spare Miss Xihua and punish me severely instead!”

A flicker of surprise crossed Zhao Yigong’s face. “What’s your name?” he asked.

“This servant is Huang Xiang.”

Seeing Master Zhao’s grim expression, Huang Xiang felt a little scared, unsure if her gamble was right. But things had come to this point, and there was no other way but to press on. She kowtowed heavily again.

“I beg the Master for his great mercy! Please spare Miss Xihua!”

“Stop trying to curry favor here. I’ve been busy with many things lately and haven’t had time to manage the affairs of the villa. And you all have become more and more audacious! If this continues, what will become of things? Since you’ve come forward to take the blame, you still have a loyal heart. I will spare you the physical punishment for today. Fenghua! Tell the management office to dock her a month’s wages!”

At that moment, the punishment began outside. The sound of a bamboo cane striking flesh and the sounds of moaning and sobbing drifted in. The female workers and servants were as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to speak another word.

Wu Zhixiang couldn’t bear the sound and tried to persuade him again.

“Even if she has a thousand faults, she is still a weak woman. Brother Zhao, you established the charity hall and the filature as acts of kindness and virtue. If you really beat her to death or serious injury, it would be unseemly, a violation of the path of benevolence, and might attract public censure.”

Seemingly realizing that “beating her to death” was indeed too much—flogging a servant to death would be a troublesome matter—Zhao Yigong took a deep, heavy breath and said:

“Since you are pleading for her, I will spare her this time. Pass on my order: sixty strokes of the cane, and make them count!” He waved his hand. “Tell everyone to be careful. Anyone who dares to gossip about the villa’s affairs or leak information will not be let off lightly!” With that, he stood up and walked away.

It was just as Zhao Yigong had estimated. The very next evening, Hao Yuan, who was hiding in Nanxiawa, already knew about the incident. Gou Chengxuan had rushed to Nanxiawa to tell him as soon as he got the news.

“This Xihua is no ordinary person. She is one of the most favored maids around Zhao Yigong,” Gou Chengxuan said excitedly. “Not only does she handle matters independently, but she can also enter and leave Zhao Yigong’s inner study. If we can take this opportunity to win her over, it will be of great benefit to our operation.”

Although the plan they had formulated a few days ago had begun and was going smoothly so far, they still lacked information on some of the most critical points. The Phoenix Villa, after several phases of development, had become a large estate. From the riverbank to the mountain, there were dozens of buildings. Which of these were the vital parts of the villa, where Zhao Yigong rested and worked, and where the documents, gold, and silver were stored—these were all mysteries to them.

They had several informants in the villa, but these people were all ordinary servants or refugee workers who had no access to the core and could only see and hear superficial things.

Whether it was Gou Chengxuan, Hao Yuan, or Gou Chengxuan’s master, they all believed in the principle of “striking a snake at its vital point.” If this painstakingly planned operation could not deliver a fatal blow to Zhao Yigong’s faction, leaving them unable to recover, then with their strength, they would sooner or later make a comeback.

According to the reports from their informants in the villa, they already knew that there was a sizable force of household guards. Therefore, finding out where the guards patrolled and were stationed had become essential intelligence for this operation. If they rashly launched an attack on the villa without knowing the details, they would most likely be driven out by the villa’s guards.

Hao Yuan’s attitude was much calmer. “Could it be a bitter flesh trick?” he asked.

Gou Chengxuan seemed to have anticipated this question. “I have questioned the informant in detail. This incident has a clear cause and effect; it was not a sudden event.”

He then recounted the information he had obtained from the informant: Xihua’s usual focus on teaching and her reluctance for her students to do menial tasks; the harsh environment in the filature, which had already been a topic of discussion in the villa—he told Hao Yuan everything.

“This young lady Xihua was originally the daughter of a scholar. She can read and write, and it’s said she can even compose poetry. Her looks also appeal to that bald Zhao. She is very favored. Her arrogance from being favored is not a new thing. She has vaguely become the number one person around that bald Zhao. That bald Zhao didn’t make her his personal attendant, but instead chose the dark and ugly Fenghua, which was also meant to suppress her.”

Hao Yuan remained silent, continuing to listen to Gou Chengxuan’s chatter.

Gou Chengxuan became even more animated.

“…If he had punished her for no reason, not just you, brother, but even I would find it strange. But when you connect all the dots, this matter is at least seventy or eighty percent true.”

Hao Yuan nodded. “Brother Gou speaks with reason.”

He only said “with reason,” not “correct.” Gou Chengxuan, being a clever man, knew he had reservations and wanted to say more. Hao Yuan suddenly asked, “You just said that Xihua angered Zhao Yigong by pleading for the female workers in the filature?”

“Correct!” Gou Chengxuan nodded repeatedly. “The informant said that the filature is like a living hell. An ordinary person can’t work in there for more than an hour without needing to come out for a break. A weaker person would faint within a quarter of an hour. It was better before, but now that the weather is hot, several people faint every day and have to be carried out for medical treatment. They have to work for six shichen a day, without rest even on the first and fifteenth of the month. The female workers all say they can’t take it and are only gritting their teeth and doing it for the high wages.”

“How does Zhao Yigong usually treat his servants and female workers?”

“That’s something you can’t fault him on. He’s better than most gentry families. But his discipline is also strict!” Gou Chengxuan said. “The informant says that in the villa, the servants get good pay and food, but the beatings are also severe. Everything in the villa has rules, and breaking a rule is never taken lightly.”

“Never mind the artisans and laborers, are the ordinary servants’ workloads heavy?”

“Heavy!” Gou Chengxuan said without hesitation. “The informants all say there are no idle people in the Zhao household. They work from morning till night. But the pay is good and the food is good, so everyone is willing to do the extra work.”

“I see.” Hao Yuan nodded thoughtfully, then asked, “You just said that this Xihua even took her students to boil water and wash towels for the female workers?”

“Yes. If not for that, how could she have angered that bald Zhao?” Gou Chengxuan said. “Speaking of which, this girl really has a chivalrous heart.”

“Is she usually a chivalrous and righteous woman?”

This question immediately stumped Gou Chengxuan. When he was talking to the informant, he was so focused on the details of the incident itself that he hadn’t asked about such derivative matters in such detail.

“I didn’t ask about that in detail…”

A faint smile appeared on Hao Yuan’s lips. “Brother Gou, I think the possibility of this being a bitter flesh trick is extremely high.” He stood up, walked to the door to look outside, tucked the straw curtain, and then returned. “Zhao Yigong didn’t beat her before, and he didn’t beat her later. Why would he suddenly make an example of her at this particular moment? Isn’t this a case of Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai?”

“But, the story makes sense…”

“The story makes sense in terms of both reason and emotion. The problem is the timing,” Hao Yuan said. “We have informants in the villa, but that Master Zhao also has plenty of eyes and ears in Hangzhou and Jiangnan. The news that someone is plotting against him has probably already reached his ears.”

Gou Chengxuan was startled. Hao Yuan was right. How could he have forgotten that! After receiving the news yesterday, he had not only questioned the informant thoroughly about the entire incident but had also discussed it with Cao Guangjiu for over an hour, going over the whole thing several times. Both of them felt that the possibility of using this to win over Xihua as an inside agent was very high.

However, they had both forgotten that while they were secretly plotting against Zhao Yigong, Zhao Yigong was not completely unaware.

Since he was not unaware, he would have a countermove. Right now, they were in the dark, and Zhao Yigong was in the open. The most effective way to reverse the situation would be to plant an undercover agent.

Hao Yuan’s words were like a wake-up call for Gou Chengxuan. These short haired thieves were truly cunning! He gritted his teeth. “Thank you for the reminder, Brother Hao! I almost fell for that bald Zhao’s trick!”

Hao Yuan said faintly, “It’s no matter. Zhao Yigong is blinded by his own cleverness. Since he thinks he’s so smart, we’ll just turn his own trick against him.” He opened his ink box, picked up a brush, and quickly wrote a few lines on a piece of paper. “I’ll have to trouble Brother Gou to summon the informants from the villa again and ask them about the matters on this paper one by one. The more detailed, the better.”

“Good!” Hearing that Hao Yuan had a plan to “turn the trick against him,” Gou Chengxuan was overjoyed. He hurriedly took the paper, blew on it, and tucked it into his robes. “I’ll go and do it right away!”