Chapter 4370 — Chai Laoshi

"Listen well, all of you! In my capacity as an honorary vice-chairman of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, I am taking temporary charge of the Weihu Branch!" Wei Zhao announced at once, his voice ringing out clear and loud.

His gaze swept slowly across every face present, and each person it touched could not help but lower his head, not daring to meet his eyes. They did not know whether this man truly was an honorary vice-chairman, but of one thing at least they were certain: from this moment on, everything was for him to decide.

"Where is the deputy steward?" Wei Zhao asked abruptly.

No one answered, but the eyes of the crowd had already given him his answer, all of them coming to rest on a middle-aged man at the edge.

Wei Zhao followed their gaze and saw a man with his head bowed and eyes lowered, wearing an air not so much of honest simplicity as of the born whipping boy—the sort whom one glance told you could never be a forceful man in anything.

The middle-aged man had been shrinking into himself, but seeing that everyone was looking at him—and that Wei Zhao and his two companions were sizing him up as well—panic seized him, and he steeled himself and stepped forward.

"This… this humble one is Chai Laoshi, deputy steward of this branch. I pay my respects to the vice-chairman…" the middle-aged man stammered, cautiously making his salute.

Though he was deputy steward, he had risen purely by keeping his head down and serving out his years. He had no connections among the higher-ups at headquarters either, and naturally knew nothing of any purple-gold jade pendant. His attitude toward Wei Zhao and the other two was exactly that of every other clerk and errand boy in the place.

But Chai Laoshi was a timid man by nature. Wei Zhao and his companions were clearly not to be trifled with—even a formidable figure like Wei Zhaotong had been left utterly cowed—so he naturally dared not defy them openly. If Wei Zhao said he was an honorary vice-chairman, then an honorary vice-chairman he would be.

"Hm. Were you involved in Wei Zhaotong's affairs?" Wei Zhao looked him up and down. Many a man seemed honest at first glance when in truth he was merely hiding himself deeply; and since this man had served as deputy steward under an old fox like Wei Zhaotong, he was very likely not to be underestimated. Perhaps they were birds of a feather.

"I—I beg to report to the vice-chairman… this humble one… this humble one has been idle, and knows nothing of anything. I have never taken part in such matters," Chai Laoshi said, nearly frightened out of his wits, hastily shaking his head in denial.

"Idle?" Wei Zhao frowned, somewhat skeptical. "You are a deputy steward in good standing—how could you possibly be idle?"

In any branch of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild, the deputy steward was the second most powerful figure. He might not oversee the whole enterprise and act as agent of a region the way the steward did, but his authority was likewise very great. Wei Zhaotong himself, back in the Gaolin Sea Region, was a case in point: without sufficient power, he could never have conspired with Qin Deli to line their own pockets.

How could a man in such a crucial position possibly be idle? How could he know nothing of anything?

"It is true—every word this humble one speaks is true. I would not dare utter the slightest lie; if I deceive you, may heaven and earth destroy me!" Chai Laoshi hastily swore. If Wei Zhao took him for one of Wei Zhaotong's accomplices, he would have nowhere even to weep—his death would be more unjust than Dou E's.

"There is no need to panic. Whether it is true or not, I need only ask someone and I will know," Wei Zhao said mildly, then signaled to Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao to keep a close watch on the trussed-up Wei Zhaotong, while he himself casually singled out a clerk by name.

Wei Zhao took the clerk into the reception hall, leaving Chai Laoshi and the rest to wait outside in anxious suspense.

"That Deputy Steward Chai just now claimed he was idle. Is that true or false?" Wei Zhao turned to the clerk who had followed him in and asked quietly, betraying nothing.

"It—it is true…" The clerk was merely a Heaven-tier expert who had not even succeeded in Foundation Establishment, no different from an ordinary man before Wei Zhao; a single casual glance from him set his heart pounding, and he answered in a stammer.

"Oh? A deputy steward with real authority in his hands—just how was he idle? Tell me," Wei Zhao said, his face full of doubt.

"It is true, truly true—this lowly one would not dare deceive you in the slightest. Deputy Steward Chai really does not do much these days; everything in our branch, above and below, is managed personally by Steward Wei. Deputy Steward Chai seldom shows himself…" The clerk was on the verge of tears, terrified that Wei Zhao would not believe him.

"Seldom shows himself? You mean this fellow has been shirking his duties all along?" Wei Zhao pressed.

"N-no… it is not that… Deputy Steward Chai never shirked before. He was always diligent, seeing to everything himself. But after Steward Wei was transferred here a few years ago, he… he stopped concerning himself with affairs…" the clerk answered cautiously.

"So you are saying this Chai Laoshi was pushed aside by Wei Zhaotong? Did the two of them ever clash openly?" Wei Zhao pinched his chin thoughtfully.

"Uh…" The clerk thought it over carefully. "If you mean an open clash, that would be several years back. Steward Wei had just been transferred here and forcibly took over all the business that Deputy Steward Chai had been in charge of. Deputy Steward Chai went to argue it out with him at the time, and Steward Wei said nothing and did not lose his temper—but afterward Deputy Steward Chai disappeared for a month, saying he had gone to the headquarters on Central Isle. Apart from that there was no conflict. On the whole, whatever Steward Wei said, Deputy Steward Chai neither took part nor spoke up…"

"Disappeared for a month?" Wei Zhao found this rather strange. Seeing the clerk hesitate, he said, "Whatever you know, spit it all out. Do not force me to use a soul-search technique!"

"Yes, yes!" The clerk had no idea that Wei Zhao could not perform any soul-search technique at all and was simply scaring him for sport. He dared hold nothing back now and hurried on: "I heard people say that during that month, Deputy Steward Chai never went to the headquarters on Central Isle at all—he had been beaten and injured, and spent the whole month recovering…"

"A month recovering? So it was Wei Zhaotong's doing, then?" Wei Zhao's mouth curved faintly.

"Uh… Deputy Steward Chai never spoke of it to anyone, so we do not know for certain, but that is what everyone guessed. Otherwise he would not have been so afraid of Steward Wei afterward, not daring to meddle in anything, hollowed out entirely…" the clerk said cautiously.

"Hm, I understand. You may go. Send Chai Laoshi in," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

He had been watching the clerk's expression the whole time and had detected nothing amiss—which meant the man was most likely telling the truth. Moreover, what he had let slip matched both the air Chai Laoshi gave off and his behavior a moment ago; such things could not be invented on the spot, and so were credible enough.

"Yes, yes." Only then did the clerk let out a long breath.

...R1052