193: Chapter 193 Encounter

In the inner hall of the Jinhuai Branch, Pei Tianquan was processing official business when a man dressed in steward's attire hurried in to report.

"Reporting to Elder Tianquan, there is a visitor outside claiming to be from the Qian Clan. Do you wish to receive him?" the steward asked, bowing.

"Someone from the Qian Clan?" Pei Tianquan mused.

In this Jinhuai Prefecture city, for anyone to dare claim they are from the Qian Clan, it could only be the Qian Family, the head of the Four Great Families.

Thinking of this, Pei Tianquan's expression grew heavy.

The Pei Clan had frequent dealings with the Chen Clan and the He Clan, so naturally, their relationship with the Qian Clan was not good.

Therefore, the Pei Clan's businesses almost never had any dealings with the Qian Clan, the Lü Clan, or their associated in-law families.

A visit from the Qian Clan at this time was definitely not a good sign.

However, if he were to decline with some other excuse, it would not be a viable strategy.

Since the Qian Clan had come to this Jinhuai Branch, they must have known he was inside.

At least on the surface, the Pei Clan and the Qian Clan were not in conflict.

If he deliberately refused, it would only give them ammunition against him.

Besides, he could not simply guess the other party's malicious intent based on his own imagination.

After careful consideration, Pei Tianquan made up his mind and said, "Xiao Lei, go and invite this person from the Qian Clan in."

"Yes," the steward replied respectfully.

Before long, a young man, around twenty-five years old with delicate features, walked in from outside the hall.

The young man was dressed in a moon-white brocade robe with dark patterns, embroidered with flowing cloud designs at the hem and outlined with gold thread at the edges.

His ink-black hair was tied up in a jade crown, and the Hetian white jade embedded in the crown was warm and translucent, complementing the silver-threaded tassels hanging by his temples.

Every movement he made displayed the noble air of a Young Master from a Great Family.

Upon seeing Pei Tianquan, the young man bowed slightly, without a hint of arrogance in his tone, "I am Qian Handong, greetings to Elder Tianquan."

Hearing this, Pei Tianquan was slightly stunned.

As one of the Four Great Families of Jinhuai, anyone who had lived in the Jinhuai Prefecture city had heard of the Qian Clan, unless they were completely ignorant of the world.

But to say how much one knew about the Qian Clan would be a stretch.

Despite living in the prefecture city for many years, Pei Tianquan's knowledge of the Qian Clan was still limited to some direct descendants and important figures of the main lineage.

As it happened, this Qian Handong before him was one of the direct descendants of the Qian Clan.

"So it is the Young Master of the Qian Clan, I have long heard of your name," Pei Tianquan said.

Qian Handong responded modestly, "Not at all, not at all. It is my presumption to come here, and it is already a stroke of luck to be received by Elder Tianquan in person. I have recently heard many rumors saying that the Yuanhang Trade Caravan is the largest trade caravan in our Jinhuai Prefecture, and seeing it today, it truly lives up to its reputation."

Listening to these flattering words from Qian Handong, Pei Tianquan felt something was not quite right.

In fact, given the current size and scale of the Yuanhang Trade Caravan, it was indeed the number one trade caravan in Jinhuai Prefecture.

But the Yuanhang Trade Caravan had been established for too short a time, and its accumulated reputation was far inferior to the trade caravans held by the Four Great Families.

If Pei Tianquan were to ask any passerby this question, the Yuanhang Trade Caravan would likely not be on their list.

Not to mention that these words came from a direct descendant of the Qian Clan, the number one Great Family in Jinhuai Prefecture.

Undoubtedly, this statement carried a hint of 'killing with kindness.'

As the saying goes, one does not hit a smiling face.

Regardless of Qian Handong's purpose in saying this, Pei Tianquan could only play along for now, "Young Master Qian is teasing me. My Yuanhang Trade Caravan is just a small caravan that has been established for less than two years. The title of the number one trade caravan is pure nonsense."

A strange look flashed in Qian Handong's eyes, "Elder Tianquan is too modest. Looking across Jinhuai Prefecture, who has not heard of the name of the Yuanhang Trade Caravan? In my opinion, it is only a matter of time."

Pei Tianquan shook his head and quickly stopped him, "Young Master Qian, please do not mention this again. My Yuanhang Trade Caravan is just a small caravan earning some hard-earned money, and we only want to manage our own little plot of land well."

Seeing this, Qian Handong knew that this topic should not be brought up again.

So he slowly restrained his smile, changed the subject, and said indifferently, "I heard that the Yuanhang Trade Caravan is recruiting investors, and it just so happens that my Qian Clan is also very interested. I wonder what the conditions are for investing in the Yuanhang Trade Caravan? I hope Elder Tianquan can inform me."

Hearing this, Pei Tianquan's heart sank; he did not expect Qian Handong to ask this.

The matter of investing was not top-secret information. With the Qian Clan's intelligence capabilities, it was impossible for them not to know about it.

Yet, at this moment, Qian Handong specifically asked this.

He certainly did not believe there was no other motive behind this.

But on the surface, Pei Tianquan still replied calmly, "I am afraid this will disappoint Young Master Qian. As early as half a year ago, the investment quotas for the Jinhuai Branch of my Yuanhang Trade Caravan had already been sold out."

"Is that so? That is truly a pity. I am very optimistic about the business model of the Yuanhang Trade Caravan. I did not expect to miss such a good opportunity by a single step," Qian Handong said with a look of regret, "Elder Tianquan, why don't you consider whether to add another quota? If our two families can cooperate sincerely, I believe the Yuanhang Trade Caravan can grow bigger and stronger in the shortest possible time."

Pei Tianquan looked troubled, "I am afraid that is not possible..."

At the same time, Qian Handong's expression changed, "It seems that Elder Tianquan does not trust the capabilities of my Qian Clan."

Pei Tianquan said earnestly, "Young Master Qian is overthinking it. The Qian Clan is the number one Great Family in Jinhuai. If there is something the Qian Clan cannot do, no one in this Jinhuai Prefecture can accomplish it. It is just that this matter is indeed beyond my scope of authority. I hope Young Master Qian can understand. I will report this to the Old Ancestor later."

"Then I shall await the good news," after saying this, Qian Handong gently placed the teacup in his hand and turned to leave the Jinhuai Branch.

"Young Master Qian, walk slowly."

After Qian Handong left, the smile on Pei Tianquan's face disappeared without a trace in an instant.

"It really is a troubled time. My Yuanhang Trade Caravan Jinhuai Branch has only just started to improve, and such a thing has happened," Pei Tianquan said with a look of melancholy.

He certainly did not believe that the arrival of this direct descendant, Qian Handong, was not authorized by the head of the Qian Clan.

Qian Handong's visit undoubtedly signaled that the Qian Clan had set its sights on the Yuanhang Trade Caravan.

For the Wuyang Pei Clan, this was by no means a good signal.

Being targeted by the number one Great Family in Jinhuai, if this were any other third-rate family, let alone a mere investment quota, they would likely hand over their entire Family business.

Before long, Pei Tianquan returned to his study, quickly wrote down today's events in a letter, and then handed it to the Family messenger.

"You must deliver this letter to the Old Ancestor immediately. Remember, the faster, the better."

"Yes."

Midnight.

In Wuyang City, on Shiming Street, a fast horse was galloping along the main road. In this silent night, the sound of hooves seemed even louder.

Suddenly, a burst of urgent neighing sounded, and the fast horse stopped at the main gate of the Pei Clan Estate.

Neigh, neigh, neigh...

"An urgent letter has arrived!"

A messenger dismounted and handed his identity token to the guard for verification.

After confirmation, the messenger was allowed to enter the Pei Clan Estate.

Inside the ancestral house, Pei Qingyun had just finished washing up and was preparing to undress when urgent knocking sounded outside the door.

Pei Qingyun felt a bit impatient, "What could be the matter in the middle of the night?"

However, he also knew that anyone daring to disturb him at this time must have urgent business.

Before he could speak, a familiar voice came from outside the door.

"Old Ancestor, there is an urgent letter."

"Come in," Pei Qingyun said in a deep voice.

The next second, a middle-aged man wearing a black robe with sweat beads on his forehead walked in from outside the door.

Upon seeing Pei Qingyun, the middle-aged man bowed respectfully and said, "Elder Tianquan asked me to deliver this letter to you overnight."

As he spoke, he opened his palms completely and respectfully handed the letter to Pei Qingyun.

"Good, you may withdraw," after receiving the letter, Pei Qingyun allowed the middle-aged man to leave hurriedly.

It was not until the middle-aged man left that Pei Qingyun slowly opened the letter in his hand.

As soon as he opened the letter, he saw the signature at the bottom right corner and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Counting the time, it has already been half a year. For Tianquan to send a letter overnight at this time, something must have happened at the Jinhuai Branch?"

After a brief moment of contemplation, Pei Qingyun focused his attention on the content of the letter.

After reading the letter, Pei Qingyun understood everything at once.

"No wonder Tianquan sent a letter overnight. I did not expect the Qian Clan to have set their sights on the Yuanhang Trade Caravan as well," Pei Qingyun muttered.

Of course, besides explaining Qian Handong's arrival, Pei Tianquan also wrote in detail about the development of the Jinhuai Branch in the letter.

Over the past six months, the development of the Jinhuai Branch was roughly in line with his plan. In just half a year, the Jinhuai Branch had captured 30% of the market share and created a profit of 500,000 taels.

And of these profits, most were created in the second quarter. The profit from the first quarter accounted for less than 30% of that.

Pei Qingyun had long expected this. The Jinhuai Branch needed to seize the market in the Early Stage, so the market share in the first quarter was not much, and the profit was naturally low.

According to this trend, the profit of the Jinhuai Branch in the third quarter would only be higher. Calculated this way, creating a profit of one million taels a year was easy, and there was even a chance to achieve 1.5 million taels.

"The Qian Clan targeting my Yuanhang Trade Caravan this time is probably not a whim. Looking at this posture, the Qian Clan has probably been collecting intelligence on my Yuanhang Trade Caravan since the Jinhuai Branch was established. I underestimated the Qian Clan; this might be a test from the Qian Clan," Pei Qingyun speculated to himself.

Pei Qingyun was no stranger to the Jinhuai Qian Clan. Two years ago, the Qian Clan and the Lü Clan formed an Alliance to buy grain from his Pei Clan.

Due to his relationship with Chen Yuanba, this batch of grain ended up in the hands of the Chen Clan and the He Clan.

Although Pei Qingyun publicly claimed that there was no grain, if the Qian Clan and the Lü Clan had intended to investigate, they would surely have been able to find that the batch of grain sold by the Chen and He Clans was purchased from the Pei Clan.

To say he offended the Qian Clan and the Lü Clan would not really count. At most, he offended that branch of the Qian and Lü direct lineages that came to buy grain.

So much time had passed that he had almost forgotten about it.

To this day, when Pei Qingyun recalled it, it still felt fresh in his memory.

Two years had passed; if the Qian Clan and the Lü Clan wanted to retaliate, they would have done so long ago.

The four words "Jinhuai Qian Clan" were no less than Mount Tai to anyone from a Great Family in Jinhuai Prefecture.

Although the Wuyang Pei Clan had developed rapidly in the two years prior, not losing a bit to some top-tier third-rate families, and even exceeding them in terms of profitability.

But compared with the Jinhuai Qian Clan, there was still a considerable gap.

Whether in terms of economic scale, heritage, the overall strength of Family members, or even the top experts, they were completely crushed by the Jinhuai Qian Clan.

Obviously, this move by the Qian Clan must have been made after they had clearly investigated his relationship with the Chen and He families.

Yet, even under these circumstances, the Qian Clan still approached the Yuanhang Trade Caravan.

The Qian Clan wanting to invest was a lie.

Even if he really gave the Qian Clan an investment quota, it would just be tearing a hole in the Yuanhang Trade Caravan.

Pei Qingyun would naturally not do such a stupid thing.

Not to mention, the Qian Clan's intention was not about the wine. Even if he did so, the Qian Clan would not give up, and the other shareholders would definitely not agree to the Qian Clan's investment.

Unless Pei Qingyun intended to please no one.

It was just that there was one point Pei Qingyun could not figure out: why did the Qian Clan have the confidence to do this?

"Forget it, I would like to see what methods the Qian Clan will use next."

Late at night, Pei Qingyun put down the letter in his hand.

The next morning.

Pei Qingyun got up early.

After finishing breakfast, Pei Qingyun wrote a reply.

At this moment, he could almost imagine that Pei Tianquan was probably sitting on pins and needles.

The fact was exactly as Pei Qingyun had guessed.

Ever since communicating with Qian Handong, Pei Tianquan had not slept all night, waiting for the reply from Pei Qingyun.

The pressure the Qian Clan put on him was simply too great, exceeding any previous occasion.

It was not until the night that he received the reply from Pei Qingyun.

So, upon receiving the reply, Pei Tianquan opened it impatiently.

But the content of the letter left him somewhat dumbfounded.

Pei Qingyun did not teach him what to do, but only left him with eight characters: "Do not be restless, do not worry; watch the changes quietly."

After reading these eight characters, Pei Tianquan also fell into deep thought, secretly speculating on the meaning of these eight characters.

After some deduction, Pei Tianquan had a vague guess in his heart.

"The Old Ancestor's meaning is to let me not worry," Pei Tianquan thought to himself.

Having figured this out, Pei Tianquan's state of mind suddenly calmed down.

If anything happened, there were taller people to hold it up.

Since the Old Ancestor said there was no need to worry, why should he think so much?

As for whether Qian Handong would come to the door again, it seemed not so important anymore.

Meanwhile.

Inside the Qian Clan main residence.

A young man, around twenty-five, looking a bit like a scholarly dandy, was standing respectfully in front of a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man wore a purple-patterned cloud robe, and the edges of the cloud robe were embroidered with a circle of gold thread, looking extraordinary at a glance, exuding a unique dignity of a superior.

The young man was Qian Handong, and the middle-aged man was the head of the Qian Clan, Qian Ninghe.