Xu Hengyi cursed a string of expletives before he could regain his senses. "Why are the heads of bandits displayed by the roadside? And so many of them, trying to scare everyone to death!"
Xia Zeshi, his face pale and clammy, said, "From now on, the Huanglan Mountain bandits will never dare to come again. I'm afraid they'll tremble at the mere mention of Xie Jiang's name in their dreams. Those like Zhu Xue'er before will also not dare to covet this glass factory."
Xu Hengyi: "..."
Indeed, it could ward off evil spirits.
Further along the road, the soil was black, stained by the seepage and drying of blood. The air seemed to still carry a strong scent of gore.
When Tian Kangtai, having received the news, came out to meet them, Xu Hengyi pointed to the marks of blades and axes on the large iron gate and asked, "Did the Huanglan Mountain bandits break into the factory?"
Tian Kangtai replied calmly, "To lure out the big fish behind, they only sent a few minnows and shrimp. Those little fish and shrimp who liked to hack indiscriminately have had their limbs fed to the dogs."
Xu Hengyi looked at Tian Kangtai in shock. He had always seemed like a kind steward, yet he spoke of such things with a completely unruffled expression.
Xia Zeshi's scalp felt cold and numb.
Ruan Ziji observed Tian Kangtai with a subtle gaze.
Everyone followed Xie Jiang into the glass factory.
Tian Kangtai had something to discuss with Xie Jiang, so he beckoned a young man to lead Xu Hengyi and the other two on a tour.
Ruan Ziji, seeing the young man's simple and honest demeanor, thought he would be easy to handle. He casually began to inquire.
"Are the heads piled up on the road outside all from the Huanglan Mountain bandits?"
"Mm," the young man replied, nodding honestly as he led the way.
"How many?" Ruan Ziji asked.
"What?" the young man looked bewildered.
"How many bandits were there in total who came to rob your glass factory that day?" Ruan Ziji confirmed that this fellow was genuinely simple-minded.
The young man said, "Seven or eight hundred."
"Then how many people do you have? Not counting the villagers recruited from nearby to work, as they likely have no combat ability. I'm talking about your Young Master Xie's men, those who actually engaged the bandits."
With the Huanglan Mountain bandits numbering seven to eight hundred, Ruan Ziji couldn't help but wonder if Young Master Xie's men could fight ten against one after a tour of the factory.
After all, apart from the working villagers, he hadn't seen many well-trained guards in the factory.
The simple look on the young man's face instantly turned to suspicion. "You're asking about our factory's defenses? What do you want to know our defenses for? Are you planning to rob our glass factory too?"
Ruan Ziji was utterly speechless and glared at the young man for a long time.
The young man looked at him with increasing vigilance, giving the impression that he would call for help and have Ruan Ziji thrown out at any moment if he sensed anything amiss.
Xu Hengyi pulled Xia Zeshi away from Ruan Ziji to watch the show. They weren't on Ruan Ziji's side, so if a brawl were to break out later, they didn't want to be caught in the crossfire.
Ruan Ziji was furious, pointing at the stubborn, single-minded fellow in front of him, his face red and his neck bulging.
"I, a mere Marquis, would rob a glass factory? Do I need to do that!"
What was there to discuss about military defenses for a factory!
He would rob them!
Did he look like someone who would rob people!
The young man grumbled indignantly, "Why wouldn't a Marquis rob a glass factory? Before, a son of a Earl came to our Young Master, ostensibly to invest, but everyone knew they wanted to get something for nothing. What shameless behavior is that, no different from bandits? It's even worse than bandits who rob and commit evil deeds openly."
Ruan Ziji grabbed the young man by the collar and whispered furiously in his ear, "I'm good friends with your Young Master! Do you understand good friends! I'm just concerned about your factory!"
The young man stared at the wrist that was gripping his collar. His previously vacant, harmless eyes suddenly sharpened. Just as he was considering breaking the wrist, the owner of the wrist suddenly let go.
The young man straightened his disheveled collar and pointed at Xu Hengyi and Xia Zeshi. "They weren't asking around blindly."
Xu Hengyi was thoroughly annoyed with Ruan Ziji and, relishing the chaos, said, "We are Young Master Xie's good friends. As for whether he is, that's for you to judge."
Ruan Ziji roared, "Xu Laosan, are you trying to stir up trouble!"
Xu Hengyi refused to admit it. "I'm not. I'm stating facts."
If Ruan Ziji hadn't shamelessly insisted on following Xie Jiang, would Xie Jiang have even glanced at such a person?
Ruan Ziji waved his hand impatiently at the young man. "Continue the tour, continue the tour. I won't ask how you defeated the bandits anymore."
What did they take him for!
How could they compare him to those shameless scoundrels from the Xing Shun Marquisate!
~
After spending half an hour in Tian Kangtai's usual resting and working room, Xie Jiang casually grabbed a handful of roasted beans to eat before leaving.
Tian Kangtai directly led the young master to a storeroom.
The three who had come with the young master had been in the storeroom for a while and, it seemed, had no intention of leaving yet?
Xie Jiang stood at the entrance of the storeroom and said to the three inside, "Have you seen enough? If you've seen enough, let's go back."
Xu Hengyi ran over, holding a glass bowl, and pointed at it, his emotions a little agitated. "It's exactly the same as the one from the last auction!"
Xie Jiang had little memory of it. He crunched on the beans, saying, "Is that so?"
Xu Hengyi, unable to control himself, shouted, "You said it was a limited edition! It was auctioned for over three thousand taels of silver back then! And now you've made two more!"
That was a deception!
Tian Kangtai chuckled and explained, "The set that Young Master Xu is holding, and the other set displayed over there, have different patterns on them."
Fearing that Xu Hengyi hadn't noticed these details, Tian Kangtai even stepped forward to point them out.
There were indeed some differences. Xu Hengyi frowned, "So?"
Tian Kangtai said, "The set auctioned last time and these two newly produced sets are three different models. We did not produce any more of the set auctioned last time."
So the set auctioned last time was indeed the only one.
The only one.
How could they possibly deceive people?
Xu Hengyi was at a loss for words.
Xia Zeshi walked over, holding a glass sculpture of a horse treading on flying swallows. "I saw an identical one at the Spring Scenery Auction last time. Could it be that the patterns are different on this one too?"
Ruan Ziji joked, "Could it be that the two horses are of different genders? One male and one female?"
To his surprise, Tian Kangtai actually nodded and said earnestly, "The one His Highness Fifth Prince is holding is the male one."
Ruan Ziji was dumbfounded. His guess had actually been correct!
Xia Zeshi stared in disbelief. "Do you think the people who bought glass items at the Spring Scenery Auction last time will believe this explanation?"
Tian Kangtai remained unfazed. "Does it matter whether they believe it or not? This batch of goods is not being sent to the capital."
"You plan to sell them outside the capital?" Xia Zeshi nodded as he spoke. "That's true, there are aristocratic families and wealthy merchants in various regions. These items will have no trouble selling."
Tian Kangtai said, "We won't sell to those people in the capital even if they want to buy. This batch of goods has just come out of the warehouse, and the next few batches have already been pre-ordered."
As for who they were selling to and where, everyone would soon know.
It wasn't just that they had no trouble selling; it was a case of supply not meeting demand! Looking at Xie Jiang now, the three of them saw nothing but a golden glow.