138: Chapter 138 Deep-Water Harbor

Before long, a middle-aged man with a gentle and refined aura appeared in the small courtyard of the ancestral house.

This person was none other than Cui Ruiyuan of the Heyuan Cui Clan.

He was dressed in a dark brocade robe with exquisite patterns embroidered on the sleeves, resembling drifting clouds and ancient pines. Every gesture he made exuded the poise of a Great Family.

Upon seeing Pei Qingyun, Cui Ruiyuan lowered his head and bowed slightly, saying, "Cui Ruiyuan, Patriarch of the Heyuan Cui Clan, has come today specifically to pay respects to Grandmaster Pei."

Pei Qingyun nodded slightly and pointed to the stone stool on the other side of the stone table, gesturing. "Patriarch Cui, no need for such formalities. Please, have a seat."

Cui Ruiyuan did not act pretentiously and sat down directly, then spoke eloquently, "Grandmaster Pei, I have come to visit you today because I actually have a favor to ask."

Hearing this, Pei Qingyun was somewhat surprised.

Although he had guessed that Cui Ruiyuan might have a request, he didn't expect Cui Ruiyuan to lower his stance so much, rather than using a cooperative approach to tactfully express his needs.

It seemed that the situation facing the Heyuan Cui Clan was more serious than he had imagined; otherwise, Cui Ruiyuan would not have adopted such a posture.

Pei Qingyun's expression turned solemn as he said seriously, "Patriarch Cui, please speak plainly. Our two families are considered relatives by marriage. If it is something within our power, my Pei Clan would not mind lending a hand."

Even though Pei Qingyun was only speaking polite formalities, as long as there was no explicit refusal,

it wasn't a bad thing for Cui Ruiyuan.

Cui Ruiyuan cleared his throat, organized his thoughts, and then said slowly, "My Heyuan Cui Clan makes a living through maritime transport. But just a few months ago..."

Despite the two families having a marriage connection, this relationship was actually quite weak. In fact, Pei Qingyun really didn't know much about the Heyuan Cui Clan.

He only knew that the Heyuan Cui Clan, like the Pei Clan, was a third-rate family. Back then, it was purely an accident that Elder Tianqi was able to marry a direct descendant of the Cui Clan.

Unlike the major allied families in Jinhuai Prefecture, who had a long history of intermarriage with the Pei Clan, with some families intermarrying for one or even several generations.

Through Cui Ruiyuan's narrative, Pei Qingyun finally gained a general understanding of the Heyuan Cui Clan.

Like the Huaishui Qi Family, the Heyuan Cui Clan was also a maritime Great Family that built its fortune through ports and shipping.

However, the Heyuan Cui Clan was much stronger and had a much older Legacy, having once stood at the very peak of third-rate families.

It was only in recent decades that the Heyuan Cui Clan suffered from a lack of talented successors. Furthermore, a few months ago, the Cui Clan's last Six Viscera Grandmaster passed away.

For many years, the Heyuan Cui Clan's exclusive control over Deep Water Harbor had long attracted the envy of many third-rate families, including several veteran third-rate families.

But due to the strength of the Heyuan Cui Clan, even if these veteran third-rate families were envious, they didn't dare to act rashly.

A third-rate family with a Grandmaster and one without are on completely different levels. The reason the Heyuan Cui Clan could monopolize Deep Water Harbor was that there had never been a gap between generations of Grandmasters.

Now, with the passing of the Cui Clan's last Grandmaster, a generational gap at the Grandmaster level had appeared.

These veteran third-rate families were like fish smelling blood, itching to tear the Cui Clan to pieces.

Yet, even without a Grandmaster, the Heyuan Cui Clan's strength was still not weak.

Their power was definitely not inferior to any veteran third-rate family, and was perhaps even a notch higher.

But the profits from Deep Water Harbor were too immense.

Unlike Nanfeng Port, which was jointly operated by two families whose business was mainly active in the surrounding prefectures,

the combined annual net profit of those two families would not exceed four hundred thousand taels.

Deep Water Harbor was different; it wasn't an ordinary port, but a seaport.

Every year, Deep Water Harbor could bring the Cui Clan at least a million taels in net profit, and at its peak, it had once reached two million taels in a single year.

One must realize that many veteran third-rate families only had an annual net profit of around three hundred thousand to five hundred thousand taels.

To put it bluntly, the annual revenue brought by Deep Water Harbor was enough to support more than three veteran third-rate families.

Faced with an annual profit of over a million taels, let alone veteran third-rate families, even top-tier third-rate families with Grandmasters would be envious.

Fortunately, among the surrounding Great Families where Deep Water Harbor was located, there were no other top-tier third-rate families besides the Heyuan Pei Clan.

Otherwise, once the Cui Clan's last Grandmaster passed away,

there would be no choice but to hand over Deep Water Harbor to others.

"You mean to say that the frequent incidents involving your Cui Clan's merchant ships over these past few months are because the other two families are acting in the shadows?" Pei Qingyun frowned and said slowly.

Cui Ruiyuan nodded. "Yes."

Pei Qingyun asked, "Then do you have evidence?"

Cui Ruiyuan shook his head. "No."

Pei Qingyun questioned, "Since there is no evidence, how can you be sure it's those two families? What if pirates have set their sights on your Heyuan Cui Clan?"

"Grandmaster Pei might not know, but the area around Deep Water Harbor is the territory of the Gale Pirates. Although my Cui Clan does not fear the Gale Pirates, to prevent maritime transport from being affected, our Cui Clan's Grandmaster once personally negotiated with them. Every year, our Heyuan Cui Clan pays a toll in exchange for a promise that the Gale Pirates will not harass our merchant ships."

"Over the years, we have lived in peace. In the Deep Water Harbor area, the Gale Pirates have also kept their promise and never harassed our merchant ships," Cui Ruiyuan explained.

Hearing this, Pei Qingyun couldn't help but scoff.

Although he didn't know much about these so-called Gale Pirates, if a pirate's promise could be trusted,

then there was nothing in this world that couldn't be trusted.

Back then, the Heyuan Cui Clan could avoid harassment from the Gale Pirates with a toll.

Money was one factor, but the bigger reason was likely the deterrent power of the Cui Clan's Grandmaster.

Without a Grandmaster, the Cui Clan was a toothless tiger.

Would the Gale Pirates still keep their word?

In Pei Qingyun's view, the possibility was extremely low.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be pirates.

From this point alone, Cui Ruiyuan seemed somewhat naive.

Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that Cui Ruiyuan had other reasons for saying this.

However, Pei Qingyun did not dismiss Cui Ruiyuan's judgment. Instead, he followed Cui Ruiyuan's logic and asked, "Since Patriarch Cui believes it was the work of those two families, I also have a doubt. How did they precisely determine the movements of the Cui Clan's merchant ships, and how did they plunder them?"

"Grandmaster Pei implies that there are moles from those two families within my Cui Clan, which is why they can repeatedly track our ships' movements?" Cui Ruiyuan's expression tightened as he said seriously.

"Moles are a certainty. I imagine there are also your Cui Clan's moles within their families. But moles alone cannot achieve this. Once a ship is out on the vast ocean, precisely locating it is not easy. Moreover, if those two families sent people to act, with such a large movement, it's impossible for your Cui Clan to not notice anything. Furthermore, those two families do not operate ports, and their maritime capabilities are far inferior to your Cui Clan's."

"Even with the involvement of those two families, it's still far from enough. Therefore, I believe there must be a third party involved, and one that is extremely familiar with maritime transport."