Chapter 418: The Persuader
Chapter 418: Chapter 418: The Persuader
The Bai Family’s wealth was quite tempting. It meant that wherever they went, they could drive the local economy. If the Bai Family settled here, most of their businesses would surely relocate with them, naturally transforming the lives of the local people. Any official with half a brain would recognize this as a guaranteed political achievement. It would be strange if they didn’t take action.
"You two catch up first. I’ll go check on how the others are settling in," Bai Jingwen said. As the patriarch of the Bai Family, he had his ways of teaching his sons, but when it came to interacting with his daughter, he was still somewhat out of practice. He needed to check on the concubines and his children born of them, who had gone to the backyard to settle in earlier.
Mrs. Bai turned a blind eye to his behavior. She had her own sons and daughter now, and the Bai Family rules were clear—those illegitimate sons could never surpass her two boys. He could do whatever he wanted. Even if he had a dozen more illegitimate children, they would still only get to split ten percent of the family estate. The ones anxious right now were the concubines with children; she just needed to sit back and watch.
Bai Suihe felt as if she had been separated from her mother and brothers for two lifetimes. Her little mouth chattered non-stop, as if she had an endless supply of things to share. Mrs. Bai and her two sons eagerly listened, and when Bai Suihe finally tired herself out, they chimed in with their own amusing anecdotes. The group enjoyed a harmonious time, their laughter ringing out every now and then.
Hearing the cheerful voices from the courtyard, Xu Zitian and his companions couldn’t help but feel a tinge of envy. They had come to this county town alone and hadn’t seen their families in a long time. His master had written previously. Originally, Xu Zitian could have been promoted upon completing this term, but his master had suppressed it. With the political situation in the court uncertain, staying in a remote border county was actually much safer. He heard his master was also planning to leave the Capital City soon under the guise of traveling.
"Brother Gu, you really found yourself a good Yue Family," Xu Zitian said, his envy genuine. As the men conversed, they had already begun addressing each other as brothers. With the Gu Family in trouble, the Bai Family still offered such strong support. It was clear they doted on their daughter. Previously, he had thought the Bai Family was just going to great lengths for their daughter by relocating the entire household. Now, it seemed the patriarch was an old fox. He suspected that, like his master, Bai Jingwen had sensed something wrong and fled the Capital City early to seek refuge.
"I am quite lucky," Gu Kaiyuan boasted slightly. "But I still can’t compare to you two. I trust Lord Xu will be promoted in the near future?"
Although Xu Zitian addressed him as a brother, Gu Kaiyuan knew his place and maintained the formal title.
Xu Zitian didn’t bother correcting him. "I’ll be honest with you. I have to stay here in Zhang County for the next few years. If you trust me, Brother Gu, you can persuade Mr. Bai and the others to settle down here.
"As long as I am the County Magistrate for even a single day, Zhang County will never descend into chaos."
"I really can’t make that decision," Gu Kaiyuan said sincerely. "I am just a son-in-law, after all. But I will mention it to my father-in-law later."
"That is already good enough." This was exactly Xu Zitian’s goal for today. If Mr. Bai didn’t want to stay, he couldn’t force him. Still, because of Gu Kaiyuan and his wife, Mr. Bai would inevitably view this place with a bit more regard.
After chatting a while longer, knowing that his host still had relatives to entertain, Xu Zitian declined Gu Kaiyuan’s invitation to stay for dinner and led his men back to the county office.
"You shouldn’t have brought up Lord Wang back there." Back in the inner courtyard of the county office where there were no outsiders, Wu Xingshun finally spoke up. His senior brother was excellent in every way, except his emotional intelligence was a bit low. Xu Zitian’s aunt had taken the place of Bai Jingwen’s sister. Even though this didn’t have much to do with Aunt Xu herself, bringing it up was still somewhat awkward and off-putting.
"I didn’t think too much about it at the time. I’ve heard my aunt mention that my uncle still holds his first wife in his heart and hasn’t let her go all these years. I assumed the Bai Family’s relationship with him was still quite good. It seems I was being presumptuous." Xu Zitian was willing to admit his mistakes. He had heard his aunt complain about this often enough, leading him to believe the Bai Family and the Wang Family were closer than they actually were.
"Even so, the Bai Family has no connection to the Xu family. Don’t mention such things again," Wu Xingshun said, shaking his head. "It’s fortunate that Mr. Bai has some refinement. Otherwise, if he had beaten you out of the house with a large stick, you would have had to just take it."
As far as he knew, that was Mr. Bai’s own blood sister. Rubbing salt in their wounds the moment they met... Being brothers with someone like this put him in quite a difficult spot.
"Alright, it’s already happened, and since Mr. Bai didn’t make a fuss about it, let’s consider the matter closed." Xu Zitian changed the subject. "What do you think are the chances of the Bai Family settling down here?"
"There is no way to know. After all, the Imperial Envoy is still purging the local officialdom. Right now, everywhere is waiting to be rebuilt. No matter where the Bai Family chooses to settle, they will be given a massive welcome."
"Nowhere else can compare to here," Xu Zitian said, still full of confidence. "As long as I am here, I won’t allow any dark forces to breed. Under my jurisdiction, the common people can live in peace and work happily—"
"Stop, you are getting a bit carried away," Wu Xingshun quickly reminded him. "How long can you really stay in this place? Even if you manage to serve consecutive terms, you will still have to leave in three years’ time.
"When a family wants to settle down securely in a place, they have to consider every aspect, not just the governing officials.
"Actually, I think those coastal towns are quite good. Look at those aristocratic families—as long as they get involved in maritime trade, every single one of them makes a fortune. The Bai Family are merchants. If they choose this region, it likely has a lot to do with that."
After saying this, both men fell silent. In truth, they both suspected that the Bai Family was already involved in maritime trade.
Later that evening.
After the Bai Family finished washing up, Gu Kaiyuan, who had hired a master chef early on, set up several tables for a banquet at home. Once everyone had eaten their fill, the whole family sat down to chat.
Bai Jianbei brought up Lord Xu. "This brilliant disciple of Grand Tutor Lu is nothing special. He’s no different from the other officials we met on the road."
Bai Jiannan smacked his brother’s back. "What nonsense are you spouting? How can we discuss Grand Tutor Lu like that?
"Didn’t you just say you ate too much? Why don’t you go take a walk in the backyard?"
This younger brother of his was good in every way except for his lack of a filter. He never paid attention to his surroundings when talking about others. Besides, they had only just met the man—what could he possibly tell from a single encounter? He reasoned that given Grand Tutor Lu’s rigorous nature, his disciple couldn’t possibly be that bad.
"I was just—"
"Listen to your older brother and go take a walk in the backyard," Mrs. Bai said. Sometimes she really wanted to see how her third child’s mouth was built; out of all her three children, he was the only blabbermouth.
Though somewhat defiant, Bai Jianbei obeyed anyway. He figured his older brother would surely come to his room later to lecture him, and he would find out where he messed up then. He recalled that he had just mentioned Grand Tutor Lu.