Chapter 185: A Frank Rebuke

Xihua was startled. Although Jia Le had mentioned several times that the Master’s money “wasn’t clean,” Jia Le was a child, and what she said was merely parroting others, unlike Hao Yuan, who was well-reasoned and logical. His words struck a chord deep within her, a question she had been unwilling to delve into: was the Master good or bad?

“What has this to do with you?” In her alarm, Xihua blurted out.

“The world belongs to the people of the world, not to a Master Zhao!” Hao Yuan’s presence was commanding, pressing forward relentlessly. “Without the people’s farming and weaving, where would the world’s food and clothing come from? This is all the blood and sweat of the common people. Since we are the common people, it has everything to do with me!”

“You’re mad!” Xihua had forgotten her intended demeanor, which was to gradually shift her attitude and slowly show her acceptance of Hao Yuan’s views. She hadn’t expected his words to be like a tempest, battering her thoughts until they swayed. She was, after all, only a fifteen-year-old girl, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.

Hao Yuan gave a cold smile. “Whether I am mad or not, time will tell.” He lowered his voice and continued, “Miss Xihua, you are a person who has studied and understands reason. I have also heard of your righteous act of stepping forward, and I know you are a remarkable woman of benevolence and righteousness. That is why I have come to visit you in person today. If you truly want my head, I will have no resentment.”

Xihua stood up, then sat down again. “Tell me, what is it you want?”

Hao Yuan said sternly, “Miss Xihua…”

---

Zhao Yigong raised an eyebrow and frowned. “Did he really say that?”

“Yes, this servant would not dare to lie.” Xihua stood before him, seemingly still shaken.

“This child is still too naive,” Zhao Yigong sighed inwardly, seeing her distraught appearance.

However, the content of Xihua’s report today secretly astonished him. Who was this Hao Yuan? His rhetoric was nothing special in modern society, but in the 17th-century Ming, it was not something an ordinary scholar could articulate. It would have to be a master of the caliber of Huang Zongxi.

At this time, Huang Zongxi was still a young man. His theories would only gradually take shape in his middle age, after the failure of the anti-Qing resistance, when he devoted himself to writing. Could this Hao Yuan be some unknown genius? His interest in Hao Yuan grew stronger.

If the emissary was this formidable, the person behind him must be incredibly powerful. A cold sweat broke out on Zhao Yigong’s back.

It seemed the crisis he was facing was far greater than he had estimated.

Things had come to this point; he could only take it one step at a time. The most urgent task was still to find the mastermind as soon as possible. This Hao Yuan was definitely not a minor figure under the enemy leader. If he could be used as a breakthrough point, it would not be difficult to wipe them out in one go.

“You can agree to him, and take it slow,” Zhao Yigong instructed Xihua. “You are doing very well now.”

“Yes, thank you, Master.”

“You must do this with all your heart. The safety of everyone in the villa rests on you. You must act with caution and not betray my trust.”

“Yes, this servant will not fail my mission,” Xihua said in a low voice, bowing her head.

“Chief,” Zhao Tong said, entering quietly from another small door after Xihua had left, “the men sent to tail Hao Yuan have been intercepted!”

“Intercepted?!” Zhao Yigong’s eyelid twitched. Although his secret system was not comparable to Lingao’s, it was still composed of elite soldiers and strong generals. They had never suffered a defeat before.

“Correct, it was our own kind!” Zhao Tong’s expression was also tense. “From the looks of it, they are men from several of the capital’s escort agencies!”

Most of Zhao Tong’s men were from the Qiwei Escort Agency system. Although the escort agencies operated differently in the north and south, the basic model and methods were the same.

Zhao Yigong’s face was wooden. Men from the capital’s escort agencies! The matter seemed to be getting more and more complicated. Since the opponent had men from the capital’s escort agencies providing protection, it meant the opponent was likely a powerful figure from the capital.

Could it be some high-ranking official in the court? Or some lawless imperial relative? But what was the purpose of such a secret plot?

If it was to force him to surrender his industries, then they should have used the same “courtesy before force” tactic as the Guangzhou station had. Besides, Zhao Yigong had some understanding of these people. They were mostly very confident in their own power and would not need such a complex plot against a mere minor scholar like him.

---

After Xihua left, she couldn’t sleep a wink all night. Whenever she closed her eyes, Hao Yuan’s face and voice would appear before her, as if he were still there, speaking eloquently. The next morning, she woke up feeling exhausted, but the affairs of the villa could not be neglected for even a day, so she forced herself to get up and go to work.

A few days passed like this. One day, she was inspecting the progress of the new classroom construction at the charity school’s construction site. For the past few days, she had been troubled by her mission. Hao Yuan’s words constantly echoed in her mind. On one hand, there was the “heavy responsibility of protecting the villa.”

She felt she had already let Zhao Yigong down. She hadn’t told him about the last part of her conversation with Hao Yuan, about why the poor were poor. As Hao Yuan was leaving, he had specifically told her, “This is a secret between us.”

From that sentence, she had a gut feeling that Hao Yuan knew she was a bait. Yet, knowing she was a bait, he still ventured into the tiger’s den to persuade her, which moved her even more.

The two conflicting feelings churned within her, making it difficult for her to eat or sleep. The sense of pride she used to feel every time she saw the refugees and children of the Cihuitang well-fed and clothed had completely vanished.

Xihua walked around the construction site. Her status was not ordinary. The refugee laborers all automatically parted for her, looking at her with a mixture of awe and gratitude, which only threw her into further confusion.

After finally finishing her inspection, she sat down in a room not far from the site to have some tea and refresh herself. Suddenly, she saw Hao Yuan approaching with a smile. He was still dressed as he was that day, like a senior partner of a large shop.

“Has Miss Xihua been well?”

“Fine.” Xihua nodded. For some reason, she was now both a little afraid and a little eager to see this man.

To think that he would brave such great risks for her, coming to see her repeatedly. How much must he value her?

At this thought, her cheeks couldn’t help but feel a little hot.

“This is the new merchandise we spoke of the other day. Please take a look, Miss Xihua.” Hao Yuan’s smile was just like any other shopkeeper’s, attentive and eager.

Xihua took the sample book he handed her, opened it, and pretended to browse, speaking in a low voice, “Why are you here again?”

“Does Miss Xihua not wish for me to come?”

“Even if you could talk the heavens into a shower of flowers, do you have the power to change the world?” Xihua suppressed the nervousness in her heart and asked while drinking her tea.

“I naturally do not.”

“Then the great righteousness you speak of, the principle of letting the poor rise up, is nothing but a castle in the air, a reflection of the moon in the water. How can you even begin to talk about it?”

Hao Yuan smiled faintly and turned a page. “Please look here, young miss. These straw sandals are excellent, and the price is very cheap, just right for your needs here. We can discuss the price further…”

When the nearby people had moved away, Hao Yuan continued, “…The exploitation of the people of the world has not been for just a day. How can one person in one lifetime turn the tide?” Hao Yuan’s smiling face was in complete contrast to the tone of his words. “In the past, the founding emperor of the Zhu dynasty rose from extreme poverty and eventually established the great Ming. Yet, what is the difference between the great Ming and the great Yuan? The people suffer all the same.” He recited softly, “The peaks gather like a crowd, the waves roar in anger…”

Zhang Yanghao’s “Meditation on the Past at Tong Pass” was not unfamiliar to Xihua, who came from a scholarly family. When she had read it before, she had only felt the vicissitudes of life. But now, hearing Hao Yuan recite it again, her feelings were completely different. Thinking of her own life story, a sourness rose in her heart, and her eyes moistened.

Just then, a servant came to ask for instructions. Xihua asked a few questions, either rejecting or approving, and handled the matter in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Only then did Hao Yuan continue.

“Although you now live in luxury and hold great power in this Phoenix Villa, handling many important matters for Zhao Yigong, seemingly highly valued and endlessly glorious—something many young ladies from great families cannot do. Never mind the daughters of rich families, even many men who struggle to make a living outside, how many can compare to you? Yet, when you see Zhao Yigong, you still have to kneel and call yourself ‘servant’…” Hao Yuan looked at her meaningfully. “Zhao Yigong has indeed done countless good deeds and saved countless lives, but he demands that people sell themselves into servitude to repay him. Think about it, how much silver is each shi of raw silk from the filature? The female workers inside are all slaves of the villa, and the wages and provisions they are given are minuscule… Do you think he is a man of great benevolence and righteousness, or is he selfish?”

“If he didn’t open the factory, if he didn’t take in the slaves, wouldn’t they all have starved to death?” Xihua resisted feebly.

“Correct, he has done good deeds, saved countless lives. But he does not do good for the sake of righteousness, but only for his own selfish gain. It’s like doing business. Everyone is selling, and he, Zhao Yigong, is buying. It’s just that Master Zhao is a big shot, so how much to sell for and how much to buy for are all decided by him. Anyone who refuses to sell will be left to starve to death.”

Xihua’s face became blank. Hao Yuan struck while the iron was hot. “You know Liu Ya’er from the filature.”

“I know. A very pitiful child. Her family’s land was taken by a creditor. With nowhere to go, her whole family committed suicide. She was the only one saved by a neighbor and sent here.”

“Liu Ya’er’s family were sericulturists. They were doing alright before and would never have been forced to sell their land. It was all because of a government procurement order that they went bankrupt and, with nowhere to go, the whole family committed suicide. Do you know whose idea that procurement order was?!”

Xihua felt the world spin before her eyes. She quickly steadied herself. She had vaguely heard some rumors about this. It was said that the disaster relief in Hangzhou Prefecture this year was a success entirely because the Master, as a member of the disaster relief bureau, had given the prefect an idea, which had raised a large sum of silver.