The Bodyguard King’s CEO Wife Chapter 1433: Luring the Snake Out of Its Hole

"Military Marquis, someone outside the camp requests an audience." Suddenly, a guard entered to report.

"Who is it."

"This... subordinates do not know. It seems to be a merchant, accompanied by two guards and a carriage carrying a large box."

"I never expected them to lose patience so quickly." Ye Shikai’s lips curled slightly into a confident smile. He rode out of the camp with his sword and guards and indeed saw the ’merchant’ not far away.

"Greetings, Mr. Ye."

What Ye Shikai didn’t expect was that as soon as he arrived, the leading merchant respectfully bowed and said.

"This is quite strange. It’s my first time in Yang County, and I’m not familiar with anyone here. How do you know my name?" Ye Shikai retorted.

"Ha ha, please don’t misunderstand, Mr. Ye. It would be quite disrespectful not to even know the name of the person we’re visiting." The merchant smiled and said.

"Alright, just say what you need to; I don’t have much time and need to get back to sleep." Ye Shikai said impatiently.

"Military Marquis, please be patient." The merchant clapped his hands, and the two guards behind him lifted the wooden box from the carriage and placed it on the ground.

"Please take a look, Mr. Ye."

The guards slowly opened the wooden box, revealing neatly arranged gold bars inside that would make anyone forget to breathe due to excitement.

"I am here on behalf of my family head, and this box of gold is for you, with our compliments, Mr. Ye."

"Alright, since it’s your family head’s intention, may I ask what exactly he wishes to say?" Ye Shikai asked.

"You, the Military Marquis, have come to Yang County; my master is too busy to visit in person and specifically sends this gold to honor the army." The merchant replied. Ye Shikai sneered coldly. These pleasantries were worthless; he was well aware that the "master" mentioned was likely the person behind the grain stores in Yang County. However, he did not expose it, intending for Ye Shikai to take the money and let it go.

"Five thousand four hundred shī, I fear that’s more than just a thousand gold." Ye Shikai suddenly said, seemingly unintentionally, yet the listener immediately grasped his meaning.

"Mr. Ye is a wise person. Consider today’s grains as a gift to you. As for this one thousand gold, it’s merely a token of our meeting. Tomorrow, my master will have even greater thanks."

As expected, the merchant finally spoke his true intentions. It seemed the owner of this grain store intended to "spend money to solve trouble." Five thousand four hundred shī of grains, even sold at regular prices, would require at least three thousand gold, possibly more. If Ye Shikai pursued it further and uncovered a hidden "grain depot," the loss would certainly exceed three thousand gold. But if he voluntarily gifted Ye Shikai one thousand gold, though still a loss, the profits from Yang County’s populace would compensate the mastermind behind it all.

This calculation was quite clever.

For most people, they might have agreed long ago, but Ye Shikai was not someone easily swayed by greed. However, as Han Hao said, if he insisted on investigating further, their army was just passing through. Haphazardly managing Yang County’s affairs was neither legitimate nor proper, and besides, the army was merely resting here and would soon depart. Pursuing this "local tyrant" was impossible in a short time.

"Since it’s your master’s goodwill, I’ll accept it." Ye Shikai waved his hand, and the dozen guards behind him immediately took the box away.

"Ha ha, Mr. Ye, you are indeed swift and decisive. My master will certainly reward you handsomely tomorrow. It is getting late, and I shall take my leave now. Goodbye."

"No need to be polite, I think... we shall meet again." Ye Shikai turned and murmured.

...............

The next day.

"Xue San, how is it going? Have you found the hidden grain stores?" Ye Shikai stayed up all night and only saw Xue San riding back to the camp with a dozen brothers as dawn approached.

"Military Marquis, you must reward my brothers and me this time. We worked all night without rest..."

"Enough nonsense, did you find them or not?"

"Of course, Military Marquis, please look." Xue San took out a map from his clothes and laid it under the oil lamp. It was a map of Yang County, with several locations marked in ink, thirteen in total.

"How about it, Military Marquis? Surprised, aren’t you? My brothers and I personally scouted these thirteen places. There’s no mistake. The hiding places are very inconspicuous, and each is secretly guarded. We couldn’t get in, so we don’t know how much grain is inside."

"The others are not important, this is a big fish; there’s only more grain inside." Ye Shikai sneered. Well done; he hadn’t expected the hiding spots to be twice what he anticipated — they really were not good people. No wonder they were willing to spend a thousand gold to keep things quiet.

"Sire, are you planning to take down all these places?" Man Cang asked.

"What, do you think I’m joking?" Ye Shikai retorted.

"Subordinate is only concerned that if you do this, you might face their retaliation. As the saying goes, ’cutting off one’s money is like killing one’s parents.’ After all, we are newcomers here, and we are unfamiliar with the means of these local tyrants."

"Man Cang, I never thought you could be afraid."

"Of course, I’m not afraid." Man Cang stood up excitedly and declared firmly, "Even if you ask me to walk on fire, I won’t flinch. I wasn’t scared when we fought the Wolf Clan or when I cut down Helian from a thousand troops, let alone dealing with these city ruffians."

"Then what are you dreading?"

"Subordinate is only worried for your safety."

"Ha ha, Man Cang, if I say I’m doing this to provoke them into retaliating in anger, would you be surprised?"

"What? Sire, why would you do that?" Man Cang exclaimed, unable to close his mouth in shock. As the saying goes, nothing happens without a reason, but provoking others without cause doesn’t seem like a smart choice.

"You don’t need to concern yourself with that. Just do what needs to be done." Ye Shikai waved his hand and stood up from his chair. "Let’s go. Inform the cavalry unit to assemble and enter the city quickly. We’ve got something big to do."

"Yes, I’m on it." Man Cang nodded, not only notifying the cavalry unit, but also gathering the personal guard to stay by Ye Shikai’s side without letting him out of sight.

Ye Shikai donned his armor, grabbed his sword, and walked out of the camp. Since the army was about to leave Yang County, the only way to completely eliminate the mastermind was to lure the snake out of its hole.