Chapter 1094 There's Something Fishy Going On Behind It

Not far ahead were the homes of ordinary people. At the street corner, there was a small noodle shop with a dim light on.

"Husband, shall we go get some noodles?"

Lin Yuesha took Qi Heng's hand and smiled.

Grand restaurants are nothing special; the aromas wafting from ordinary little eateries are much more appealing.

"good."

Qi Heng returned the handshake, and the couple held hands tightly as they slowly entered the room.

The owner was about to close up shop when he saw a customer arrive, so he quickly went up to greet him.

"What would you two gentlemen like to order?"

It was too late, and all he had left was a piece of cooked pork belly and some green garlic, enough to make two bowls of twice-cooked pork noodles.

"This is what my husband and I will eat. Boss, it's cold, please add more chili."

The shop was small, the tables were faded, the corners were mottled, and Qi Heng and Lin Yuesha's clothes were out of place in the shop, but they were very comfortable with themselves.

This place is more comfortable than a grand restaurant, giving people a sense of unrestrained joy.

“I remember when we were in Chenjia Village, my mother’s cooking skills weren’t very good. Every time she cooked meat, it was very greasy.”

The Chen family doesn't cook the fatty pork for long, and they don't fry it too dry, believing that this way, the belly will still have some oil.

When her mother, Chen, served food to her and her stepbrother, they would both finish their meals completely. Especially when the family ate together, they would feel a sense of happiness for no reason.

The couple just ate a piece of the exorbitantly priced horse meat at the He Tai Restaurant, something they couldn't afford before. They wasted the rest.

"Husband, why have you eaten horse meat?"

Lin Yuesha had never heard Qi Heng mention this before, and asked in confusion.

“A few years ago, I was chased by the Fang family and had nowhere to go, so I had to ride my horse into the mountains to hide.”

Qi Heng was reluctant to talk about his past experiences. At the time, he was injured and had to kill his horse to hide and fill his stomach.

Qi Heng spoke casually, seemingly unconcerned, but Lin Yuesha felt heavy-hearted. She knew Qi Heng's character; he would never have chosen to kill the horse unless he was forced into a corner and had a glimmer of hope. He had experienced too much, yet rarely complained.

"Sir, your twice-cooked pork noodles are here!"

The owner served steaming, fragrant noodles, pointed to a small bottle on the table, and said, "There's oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar on the table. You can add more noodles if needed."

The boss put down his apron and rushed home. No one was home; his wife was still in postpartum confinement. He needed to hurry back to make her a bowl of noodles. "After you two have finished eating, just leave the door ajar."

Lin Yuesha paid with copper coins, and the couple were left alone in the small shop, making their conversation more comfortable.

"The fact that He Tai Restaurant substituted horse meat for donkey meat is a serious crime from any perspective."

Qi Heng explained to Lin Yuesha that He Tai Restaurant was involved with Prefect Shen and had also obtained horse meat, which made Qi Heng think more deeply.

Selling horse meat is a serious crime, and horse meat doesn't taste any better than donkey meat, so why would Tai Restaurant do such a business?

Merchants are profit-driven and won't do business at a loss. It can only be said that their horse meat source cost is very low, or even free.

“My lord, an old horse costs twenty or thirty taels of silver on the market, and it is extremely difficult to find one.”

Wuzhou allows the slaughter of donkeys, and many families in the surrounding areas raise donkeys specifically for this purpose, but their prices are far lower than those of horses.

The fact that He Tai Restaurant could find a source for horse meat suggests that Prefect Shen might be behind the business, given that the Prefect's brother-in-law is related to him by marriage.

"Could it be related to the horse meat trade that my brother-in-law drove away the people from Sunjia Village and created a large hunting ground?"

Lin Yuesha suddenly had a flash of inspiration. After all, selling horse meat still needed to be done covertly. She should choose a safe place to hide and kill the horses.

Sunjia Village is nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with farmland. It's rather strange that they drove all the villagers away, fenced off the land, and put people in charge of guarding it.

A large quantity of horse meat must have a supply chain, and Qi Heng was worried that the Shen family's sale of horse meat was related to the military.

In the past two years, there have been successive wars. A number of old and disabled horses have been retired from the battlefield. These warhorses had made great contributions. Qi Heng allocated more than 100,000 taels of silver for the resettlement of the warhorses.

If someone deceives their superiors and subordinates, kills the horse and sells it for a sum of money, and then pockets the money meant for the horse's upkeep, they essentially get two profits.

This was the last thing Qi Heng wanted to see, but based on this glimpse, he guessed that the matter was inextricably linked to the Shen family.

"That's right."

Lin Yuesha is a businesswoman herself. From the Shen family's perspective, she would definitely not buy horse meat from someone selling it at a low price. The profit she would make was not enough for her to violate the laws of Daqi. It would be a losing proposition.

The Shen family would never take the risk if the benefits weren't sufficient.

Having this suspicion, Qi Heng took Lin Yuesha straight to Sunjia Village early the next morning. As the Sun family father and son had said, a high fence had been built around the village, and there were guards at the entrance.

What are you doing?

The guards, seeing a carriage approaching, asked the question with great vigilance.

Qingxing rolled down the car window and asked with a smile, "Excuse me, sir, is this Sunjia Village?"

The guard didn't answer, but instead glanced at the green apricot sideways.

“My young lady once received help from the people of Sunjia Village. She is passing through Wuzhou and wants to visit them.”

Qingxing got off the carriage and handed the guard a handful of copper coins and a packet of pastries.

There was a benefit to it; the guard's attitude softened somewhat. He waved his hand and said, "The people of Sunjia Village have long since moved away, and we don't know where they went. If it's convenient for your young lady, you can go and take a look at the dilapidated temple outside the city."

A group of beggars fought against the government, but ended up homeless.

The most ridiculous thing is the old village chief, who even tried to go to another place to sue the officials, saying that they were selling warhorses. That blind old man had already been silenced by them. Only the dead don't talk nonsense.

"Hurry up, hurry up, we can't stay here any longer."

After the guard finished speaking, he glanced at the horses pulling the cart and then began to urge the people away.

On the way back, Qi Heng became almost certain of his guess: there was something fishy going on in Sunjia Village.

This trip was worthwhile; they will need to stay in Wuzhou for a few more days to handle this matter.

The couple had just returned to the inn when the scholar from the previous night came looking for them, accompanied by a servant.

"Thank you both for your help to my young master."

The servant presented a purse containing twenty taels of silver, along with several gifts, and spoke very politely.

"Ten taels of silver will suffice."

Lin Yuesha returned the remaining ten taels of silver to the servant. Her original intention in helping people was not to make more money, so there was no need to give more silver.

"If I may ask, are you two heading towards the capital?"

If we go in this direction, we will definitely pass through the neighboring city of Yucheng. His young master is the son of the magistrate of Gaixian County, which is under the jurisdiction of Yucheng. If we pass through Gaixian County, his master will definitely treat him well.

"No need to be so polite. It's also because your young master is a man of his word and of noble character."

Qi Heng rarely said anything polite, but he made the magistrate's son blush and lower his head, feeling very embarrassed.