Chapter 8 Chapter 8

Chapter 8

When going downstairs, Fu Yin couldn't help but pull Qian Tong's sleeve, "Madam, did you see the look on Young Master Lan's face?" He was pale and blue, blue and red, she couldn't bear to look at it any longer.

No matter what his expression was, just because his father was the prefect, everyone obeyed and praised him, but she refused to indulge them. What she didn't expect was that Young Master Lan was so happy that he actually paid the bill that had been overdue for several years.

An unexpected gain.

"Mrs. Qian Qi." A voice suddenly called from behind.

Qian Tong turned around, looked at the young man who had hurriedly caught up with him, and asked doubtfully, "Master Lan, is there anything else?"

Young Master Lan stammered for a while, then finally mustered up the courage to ask with a blushing face, "Did you ever like me before?"

The amorous young man had a sad face, as if he would burst into tears if she shook her head.

A cousin and a lady from the Cui family, isn't that enough? Why? He's not worth a fortune, so why should all the girls like him?

However, at this moment, a heavy stack of banknotes was tucked inside her sleeve, still warm. The smallest note had a denomination of only ten taels. It was obvious that Young Master Lan had spent all his family's wealth.

If he were a stack of bills, there would be nothing to say. Qian Tong lowered his head slightly, sighed, and said helplessly, "Master Lan, it's all over."

Young Master Lan still shed tears. His vague affection for her gradually expanded into a huge regret, which blocked his chest and also aroused his protective desire. "Madam Qian, don't worry. When the officials from Kyoto come in a few days, I will speak well of the Qian family in front of them."

The young master was so sincere that I was moved.

Unfortunately, those who dare to make promises are often those who have no say. And the rules of survival in this world are never about nice words; profit comes first, above all else.

Qian Tong smiled and bowed to him, "Thank you, Master Lan. On your wedding day, I will come again with a generous gift and ask for a glass of wedding wine."

——

Coming out of the teahouse, the sun was already setting. Fu Yin was about to call a carriage. "The ladies haven't seen my wife yet. I guess she must have left long ago. Let's go back."

"No rush." ​​Qian Tong didn't reply. He bought a few bags of sweet cakes and went to the largest salt factory in the city.

The six-year-old daughter of the salt shop owner liked to sit on the doorstep. When she saw someone coming from afar, she would excitedly call out, "Qiniang is here."

Qian Tong smiled at her and asked, "Did you eat well?"

The little girl patted her bulging belly and said, "I'm full."

Qian Tong then took out a sweet cake from behind him and shook it at her, "Can you still eat this?"

"Yes." The little girl's eyes sparkled and she nodded vigorously.

"You performed well yesterday, this is a reward." Qian Tong handed the sweet cake to her.

The little girl was very happy to get the sweet cake and asked curiously, "Did the old friend of Qi Niang recognize you?"

"Yes." Qian Tong nodded, "I've invited you home."

The little girl asked again, "Can I see him again? He's so handsome."

Even little kids know what is beautiful and what is ugly.

"No." Qian Tong said, "He has a bad temper and doesn't like children. If he sees you, he will break your neck."

The little girl was frightened by her and shrank her head, looking like a chubby orange cat.

Qian Tong was amused by her appearance and patted her head. "Don't ask so many questions, kid. Go play."

The shopkeeper was in the inner courtyard taking inventory of the salt vats. He rushed out upon hearing the news, straightening his rolled-up sleeves and calling out in a clear voice, "Seventh Lady is here."

Qian Tong looked up and called out, "Uncle Wang."

Shopkeeper Wang was just about to look for her. The master had been busy these past few days, busy with the prefectural marriage, and had been nowhere to be seen. He had sent messages several times, but received no reply. Today, when he saw Qian Tong coming, after a few pleasantries, Shopkeeper Wang lowered his voice and asked, "People from several farms have been asking about this these past few days. Should we raise the price of salt?"

The news that the imperial court had sent someone over had now spread throughout the city.

If the emperor really comes to settle the accounts of that year, the four major families will surely suffer. The Qian family may never get salt permits again. This batch of salt will be the last profit, so they must seize the opportunity and make a fortune.

Although the price of salt is clearly regulated, they have plenty of ways to make a profit.

"No need to lift it." Qian Tong said.

Shopkeeper Wang looked at her in surprise.

"The slightest disturbance has already caused such a panic. Even before anyone has investigated, you're already eager to be caught." Qian Tong said, "Uncle Wang, please tell all the villages that the old lady has ordered that the price of salt not be raised. Anyone who dares to do anything behind the scenes will be dealt with severely by the Qian family and will be dealt with according to industry rules."

Fearing that Uncle Wang would be embarrassed, he added, "Meet at Haitang Tower in three days. If they have any objections, tell me in person."

The young woman spoke calmly, unperturbed. She could have been the granddaughter of any of the shopkeepers, yet she possessed a calming apathy. It wasn't clear when, but the people below had begun privately calling her "Little Master."

The Qian family has few male descendants. After the eldest son's family encountered an accident, the remaining three families did not have a single male descendant. The head of the family was in his thirties when he had a daughter, and his wife's pregnancy has never been fruitful since then.

The head of the family does not take concubines, so the only option in the future is adoption.

The concubines in the third and fourth rooms are now trying their best to have a male child. If they succeed, he will be the future heir of the Qian family.

Before this, Qi Niangzi was still the young master.

Uncle Wang obeyed the order and hurriedly sent someone to pass on the message. Seeing that she was not in a hurry to leave, he took her to see the salt stored in the warehouse.

As dusk fell, Qian Tong left the salt farm and had a simple dinner at a nearby teahouse. He then went to the street and bought a few freshly baked sweet cakes, which he gave to Fu Yin. "Take them back to my son-in-law and remind him that I won't be home tonight."

She wanted to see how capable he was.

——

In one day, Song Yunzhi had basically figured out the Qian family's mansion.

The place where he lived was the residence of Qian Qi Niangzi, only separated from her residence by a wall.

Because of his status as a new son-in-law, groups of people came to the house in the afternoon, some were busy fetching water, some were changing tea, and some were mopping the floor. He knew the purpose very well, but he saw through it but did not say it out loud.

He doesn't bother with vulgar people.

After being kept by Qian Tong, Ah Jin became Song Yunzhi's personal servant. When he saw someone looking at him too much, he would kick him in the butt, "What are you looking at? It's what you should be looking at."

"Brother Jin, please spare my life. I was wrong." The servant touched his buttocks with a playful look on his face, without any remorse at all.

Song Yunzhi, who had been brought up with strict family education, found this scene difficult to understand and looked away with disdain.

Merchants are merchants, there are no rules.

Seeing him drinking tea alone and ignoring everyone, Ajin felt bored and went to the yard to chat with the servants who were trimming flowers and plants.

Ah Jin asked, "How much did you lose yesterday?"

"What do you mean again?"

"With your bad luck, bad luck and love of gambling, you've been working for our Seventh Lady for nothing all year round."

"I'm happy to do that. It's better than you spending all your monthly salary in your mouth and leaving nothing behind."

"Who said I didn't keep any? Look at my strong arms and thighs..."

Song Yunzhi didn't want to hear these dirty words anymore, but the two of them couldn't learn to control their voices, so he had no choice but to get up and walk to the door.

Ah Jin, who was rolling up his sleeves, was startled and turned around to ask, "What happened to Master Song?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Song Yunzhi grabbed the door with both hands, stared at him coldly, and closed the door with a "bang".

"Is the uncle angry?"

A voice full of surprise and some ridicule came through the crack in the door. Song Yunzhi held his forehead and suddenly felt confused as to why he was here and had to endure such torture.

After enduring until dark, the servants outside the door finally quieted down and stopped making noise.

Song Yunzhi sat in the house, waiting for the night to deepen.

At the end of the Xu hour, there was a knock on the door. "Mr. Song."

Song Yunzhi looked at Ajin coldly as he came in.

Ah Jin ignored his disapproval and handed the cake in her hand to him with a smile, "Madam, these are the sweet cakes I just bought for Master Song. They are still warm. We have something to do tonight. Madam, please return tomorrow morning. Master, please go to bed early."

Song Yunzhi refused to take it, so Ajin put the sweet cake on the wooden table beside him and quietly left.

The footsteps grew farther and farther away, and Song Yunzhi also began his own plan.

He had been to the study of the head of the Qian family during the day and had already figured out the route, but the time had not come yet and he could not alert the enemy, so he went to the courtyard just across the wall.

First, he would get the account books from the day and find out the price of salt. Within two days, he would make the Qian family the first to be killed to scare the monkeys.

Song Yunzhi moved swiftly to the back window of the main house. Because his master had not returned, there was no light in the house.

The moment he entered in the moonlight, he smelled a woman's sweet fragrance, which was completely inconsistent with the fresh scent on his body. It was very much like a rose that had just bloomed in the morning after the rain.

The seventh lady of the Qian family seems to like flowers and plants very much, so it's not surprising that they are all over the yard.

The night was too dark for him to see clearly, and he didn't know whether the furnishings in her house were as extravagant as Shen Che said.

No matter how extravagant it is, it will soon be razed to the ground.

He began to rummage through the drawers.

He did not even leave out the young lady's bed, and finally found the account books from the day in a small box next to the wooden table.

It was a thick stack. The moment his tentacles touched it, he sensed something was wrong with the surrounding atmosphere. Before he could react, a fire starter suddenly lit up in the darkness, instantly illuminating the young lady sitting on the cushion opposite him.

She stared at his hand quietly, her face calm and her voice without any warmth, "I've lit the lamp for you, look."

The sudden change made the young man's face stiffen.

The five fingers that were on the account book curled up and slowly retracted, confronting the young lady's cold black eyes through the flickering flames.

Needless to say, tonight was clearly a trap set for him, waiting for him to take the bait.

He underestimated her defensiveness.

Since he had failed, there was nothing to say but to fight head-on. He reached for the bronze sword at his waist.

Qian Tong still held the tinder in his hand, watching his movements calmly, "Three."

Song Yunzhi didn't know what she was counting.

"Two." Song Yunzhi felt a stab in his abdomen.

"one."

As she uttered her last word, the pain in his abdomen came like a tidal wave. The intense pain caused him to have a buzzing ringing in his ears. He fell to his knees on the ground without pulling out his sword.

Qian Tong then stood up, lit the lamp in the house, and said slowly, "Golden Cicada Poison, did you think I was lying to you?"

Song Yunzhi's face was pale, his meridians were torn, and even his pupils could not focus for a while.

Didn’t she say that this poison would only paralyze the entire body?

She is a liar!

Qian Tong, holding a lantern, slowly approached him, squatted down, tilted his head, looked at the cold sweat that kept coming out of his forehead, and asked the question in his heart: "Do you think I'm not telling the truth?"

That's right.

"If you had just eaten the sweet cake, you wouldn't be in this pain." She watched him struggle. The eyes that had been soaked in sunlight during the day and had promised to live a good life with him were now cold and emotionless. "And now, just bear with it."

The young man didn't know where he got the strength from, but he grabbed her wrist, his eyes bloodshot with pain and anger.

He wants to kill her!

Is he still stubborn?

Qian Tong refused to believe in evil and insisted on killing the impetus in him.

The young man was completely defenseless and could easily be pushed over. The young woman pinned him to the ground, pinching and rubbing his face with both hands. "Before I left today, I warned you not to let me down. You've fallen into my hands time and time again, and you still refuse to admit defeat... I told you not to accept it, and I told you to steal the account books in the middle of the night. If I don't hurt you, you won't learn to be obedient..."

Not only is she cunning, she is also evil.

The once high and mighty Prince Song, the holy moonlight in the eyes of the world, had never known what failure felt like, and had never suffered such an insult. The moment her face was pinched, Song Yunzhi saw stars and his brain was turned into a ball of raging flames.

He wants to kill her.

To cut her into pieces.

"Tell me, are you still stealing?"

The young man gritted his teeth.

Qian Tong pinched his cheek again and said, "If you don't tell me, I won't give you the antidote."

"No, steal."

Song Yunzhi himself didn't know how he said those two words. After he said them, his almost blurred consciousness was completely swallowed by the darkness.