Dragon King: [Help! We must do anything that will bring bad luck to the Shen Family!]
Dragon King: [Do you have enough gold? If not, just say so. I have plenty!]
Dragon King: [Can't you find a real Taoist to use the True Word Talisman?]
True Man Qingyun: [Ordinary people will suffer the loss of qi and blood if they use talismans. One mustn't use them recklessly.]
Seeing Shen Baozhu agree, Shen Heqing made a prompt decision. "Let's go now. By the way, we'll take out all the silver of the Shen Family."
Dragon King: [How much silver does the Shen Family have?]
Shen Baozhu tugged at Shen Heqing's sleeve and asked, "Big brother, how much silver has the Shen Family saved?"
Shen Heqing picked up Shen Baozhu and said succinctly, "One million and five hundred thousand taels."
The Dragon King had no concept of money, but he wanted to scold the Shen Family. [Corrupt officials!]
The group went out one after another. Yan Mingli followed at the end. Seeing that the Prince Rui was not there and only the Fourth Prince was at home, he simply picked up the Fourth Prince and took him out together.
The Fourth Prince was held in Yan Mingli's arms. He still remembered what the Prince Rui had said. "I used to be a fool. Do you dislike me?"
At first, Yan Mingli didn't hear clearly. He asked again, and the Fourth Prince slowly repeated it.
Yan Mingli's expression changed slightly. He cursed in his heart. Who was that gossiper who said such things in front of the child!
He gently patted the Fourth Prince on the back. "What fool? It's all nonsense from others. You just took a while to open your mind. Once you do, you'll be the smartest one!"
Hearing this, the Fourth Prince felt a little more at ease, and a smile appeared on his face.
Yan Mingli remembered what Shen Heqing had just done. He was afraid that the Fourth Prince would be afraid of Shen Heqing, so he tried his best to speak for his role model. "He punished you and Baozhu just now because you ran out secretly without any adults following. It's very dangerous. He was just worried about you."
"After we finish this, I'll take you and Baozhu to a restaurant for a big meal. But you have to promise me not to overeat, or I'll be punished."
The Fourth Prince remembered the last big meal and nodded expectantly.
Shen Heqing ordered people to wrap the gold in cloth and then put it on the carriages. Four carriages were used. The commotion was quite big and it also alerted the secret guards who were watching in the dark.
...
At the bank.
The shopkeeper was leaning against the counter, tossing an iron block in his hand. When he saw Shen Heqing and Shen Minghua return with a lot of people, he immediately got angry. "Do you want to rob?"
"Minghua, is this the bank you mentioned? It looks shabby. I won't deposit my money here." Yan Mingli pretended and made a gesture to leave.
Shen Minghua reached out to pull him. "Hey, don't go. This bank is very reliable."
As they were talking back and forth, the shopkeeper understood that the newly - arrived Yan Mingli was here to deposit money.
Knowing that he was a customer, the shopkeeper immediately changed his attitude. "Don't judge the shop by its size. We're definitely reliable. But different from other banks, the minimum deposit here is fifty thousand taels."
Yan Mingli looked like he didn't care about money at all. He asked the shopkeeper to go and check the carriages outside.
The shopkeeper was skeptical, but for Shen Minghua's sake, he decided to trust Yan Mingli once. He raised his hand and called three guys from the backyard. Then he followed Yan Mingli to check the carriages.
Shen Haiyan whispered to Shen Heqing, "Big brother, these people have all practiced martial arts."
After a while, the shopkeeper came back with a big smile on his face. Although he recognized Yan Mingli's financial strength, he didn't forget to emphasize, "These gold bars are too big. We need to transport them out of the capital for inspection."
Shen Heqing knew that the shopkeeper was afraid that the gold might be fake, like iron blocks or stones wrapped in gold. He looked at Shen Baozhu beside him. After getting her consent, he nodded slightly.
The deal was made. Shen Minghua couldn't wait to ask, "Shopkeeper, what's the secret you mentioned earlier?"
The shopkeeper was generous. He told Shen Minghua, "According to the rules, I should tell you after checking the gold. But your uncle and I have been friends for many years, so I'll make an exception and tell you once."
"Do you know why your uncle sent money to your mother through my bank?"
Shen Minghua shook his head. If it weren't for the trouble that the Shen Family had got into, he wouldn't even have known about the bank, let alone this.
"Because the bank is reliable." The shopkeeper leaned against the counter and began to tell the story slowly.
"Back then, your uncle saw that the Shen Family was only after money. He didn't trust your mother to be with them. But your mother was blinded. She was determined to marry into the Shen Family, thinking that as long as she was good enough, the Shen Family would like her."
"My friend, your uncle, had no choice but to let your mother marry in, but he didn't give her a lot of dowry. He gave her fifty thousand taels every year. Your mother could only get the money with a secret signal and a token."
Speaking of this, the shopkeeper said proudly, "One of the greatest advantages of our bank is that it's right under the emperor's nose, and even the emperor can't find out. As long as no one tells the government officials on purpose, even if the imperial guards or the officials from the Supreme Court come to check, they won't find anything."
"If you deposit enough money here and run into trouble, you can also ask us to help you solve it."
While Shen Minghua flattered the shopkeeper as he listened, Shen Heqing and Shen Haiyan were thinking about the shopkeeper's last words. They could tell from his tone that he was very confident, but it was also clear that the bank's backer was not the emperor. So how could the bank help people solve problems?
Only Yan Mingli had a sudden inspiration. He angrily slapped the counter and took out all his money. "Here's a silver note worth two thousand taels. Help me check if the Shen Family ever asked for your help ten years ago."
When the silver note was placed on the counter, the shopkeeper stopped tossing the iron block. He didn't answer but just smiled meaningfully.
Dragon King: [Not enough money? I have some!]
Five gold bars appeared in Shen Baozhu's hand. She stood on tiptoe and put the gold bars on the counter. She clasped her hands together. "Kind shopkeeper uncle, please help. The gold bars are for you to buy delicious food."
Seeing the gold bars, the shopkeeper put away the iron block and started tossing the gold bars. After a few throws, he was sure that the gold bars were real. He said sincerely, "What a cute little girl. Since you've asked, I'll help you check."
The shopkeeper started to turn over the floor tiles under his feet.
Dragon King: [It's good to do things once you get paid.]
Dragon King: [Give him more so that he can check quickly and won't delay the little cutie's big meal.]
As if by magic, five more gold bars appeared in Shen Baozhu's hand. This time, she first gave one to each of the three guys, and then stood on tiptoe to put two gold bars on the counter.
When the guys got the gold bars, their eyes lit up. The guy in the middle even thought the shopkeeper was too slow. He pushed the shopkeeper aside, deftly took out a ledger from under a floor tile that was more than a decade old, and handed it to Shen Baozhu.
Shen Baozhu sensed Yan Mingli's eagerness and handed the ledger to him.
Yan Mingli flipped through the ledger to the day when he first met the Prince Rui according to his memory. "What does this mark mean?"
The shopkeeper took a glance and hesitated as he looked at Shen Baozhu.
Dragon King: [I understand. Just add more money!]
Shen Baozhu put another five gold bars on the counter. The shopkeeper's eyes lit up when he saw the gold. He beamed and said, "This little figure represents the Shen Family, and there's a knife below. It means that the Shen Family deposited two million taels of silver in the bank and asked us to assassinate someone."
"If they wanted to kill two people, there would be two knives."