Chapter 241 Clues

early morning.

As soon as the gates of the various blocks in Chang'an were opened, the news spread like wildfire.

Everyone heard that Xiaoyaofang, a popular business, had a real fire last night.

The people inside reacted quickly and escaped. At most they were injured, but no one died.

But the entire building of Xiaoyaofang was reduced to ashes overnight.

What hurt Quan Chang'an the most was not the ten thousand taels of gold or He Tingfang, but the gamblers.

They were heartbroken that they had lost such a precious place on earth.

While feeling heartbroken, they hoped that Wan Liang Jin would quickly open a new gambling house and achieve greater success.

Wan Liang Jin, who carried the gamblers' hopes, was sitting in the ruins at this time.

He was still wearing the undershirt he had worn last night. His face and clothes were dirty and black, and his hair was disheveled.

He lowered his head, looking depressed and miserable.

If others didn't know that he was worth ten thousand taels of gold, some would have wanted to throw two copper coins in front of him.

Wan Liang Jin was no longer sad at this moment, he was thinking.

The gambling house was gone, the treasury was gone, but he was not yet at the end of his rope.

He still has money in the bank, a house in the capital, a farm in the suburbs of the capital, and people under his command.

But he didn't have an easy life.

Most of the money in the vault belonged to He Tingfang, and He Tingfang's losses were far greater than his.

He is cruel, and He Tingfang is even more cruel.

If he went to He Tingfang like this, He Tingfang would not let him go. He had to sort out the clues.

The fire last night broke out suddenly and spread quickly.

In the past, when the weather was dry, sparks had occurred, but there were guards on duty at night in the gambling house who would immediately extinguish any flames they saw.

But the guards on duty last night all fainted abnormally.

He has always been a light sleeper and slept very soundly last night.

He had also worked his way up from the bottom of society in his early years, and he had used methods such as murder and arson.

There must be something wrong with this fire.

I'm afraid someone sneaked into Xiaoyaofang at night and did something wrong.

He asked the patrolling imperial guards, and they said with certainty that no one was seen near Xiaoyaofang after the square was closed last night.

The guards of Xiaoyaofang also know some martial arts, so ordinary thieves have no chance of entering Xiaoyaofang.

So there are only two explanations for what happened last night.

Either someone with great martial arts skills has sneaked in, or there is a traitor hiding in Xiaoyaofang.

But no matter which one it is, there is someone behind it.

But who in the capital dares to attack Xiaoyaofang, and has the ability to empty the underground vault?

Many faces flashed through Wan Liangjin's mind, and finally, Hao Ren's mediocre and blurry face stopped.

He originally didn't think it was Hao Ren. Although Hao Ren lost a lot of money yesterday, Hao Ren had just come to the capital from Lingnan and had just been named an imperial merchant. He hadn't even established his foothold yet, so why would he come and cause trouble?

Moreover, Hao Ren doesn't look like he has any capable people under him.

But Wan Liangjin suddenly thought of Hao Ren's words before he left:

"I can make another bet with Boss Wan on how long Xiaoyaofang can stay open."

Wan Liang Jin thought about it, slowly stood up from the ruins and walked out.

The men guarding near the ruins also followed.

The group of people were wearing dirty clothes and walking quietly in the morning light.

A man dressed as a servant suddenly walked up to Wan Liang Jin, who was covered in dirt and black.

"Boss Wan, our master wants to see you."

You don't need to ask to know which master the ten thousand taels of gold belongs to.

He rubbed his tired eyes:

"Well, let's go."

…

The news of the fire in West Market reached almost everyone in the capital.

Yuan Caiwei also heard about it.

When she heard this while having breakfast at her grandparents' house, her eyes widened.

"Burned all? Nothing left at all?" Yuan Caiwei was surprised.

She was not interested in the gambling house, but when she thought about the fact that the place she had never been to was gone, she regretted why she had not gone to see it earlier.

Yuan Caiwei's maternal grandparents' home is the Yan Mansion. Last night, she and her mother stayed at her maternal grandparents' home and chatted with her grandmother and aunt. After lunch today, Yuan Chi will come to pick them up and take them home.

Yan's mansion was in Yankangfang, not far from Xishi.

"It's better to burn it all to avoid causing harm to others. The family at the end of the alley was taken to Xiaoyaofang to lose all their property, and their wives and children were separated." The old lady of the Yan family finished drinking a bowl of porridge and said it with relief.

The Third Miss of the Yan Family said, "The gambling house that had been open for so many years suddenly disappeared. The fire was so strange, maybe it was revenge."

Madam Yuan bit off half of the small and exquisite milk bun:

"After doing so many evil things, this is retribution."

Yuan Caiwei looked at her grandmother, her mother, and then her aunt.

Madam Yan asked, "Caiwei, what are you looking at?"

Yuan Caiwei: "I feel like my grandmother and my aunt look younger again."

Both Old Madam Yan and Third Miss Yan laughed.

Madam Yuan nodded Yuan Caiwei's head and said, "If you let me worry less, I can be younger."

There was a round table with only four of them sitting at it.

There are no men.

The oldest one is Old Madam Yan, and the one who is in charge of the household is Third Miss Yan.

The Yan family is a little special and a little legendary.

Mr. Yan was an official at a young age, and he and Mrs. Yan were a young couple.

The couple had three children, all daughters, and no sons.

The couple hopes their fourth child will be a son.

However, before Mrs. Yan could become pregnant with her fourth child, Mr. Yan went out of town on business and unfortunately contracted the plague and died of the illness.

When Mrs. Yan just experienced the death of her husband, she cried every day and felt like the sky was falling.

If it weren't for her young daughter, she would have wanted to follow her husband.

But after two years, Mrs. Yan felt that the sky had not fallen and her life seemed to be quite stable.

She lived alone with her three daughters and made all the decisions. The family had some assets, and if she managed them well, the income would be more than enough to cover the expenses of the family.

More importantly, the lifelong events of the three daughters have all been arranged.

The Hedong Yan family is a high-ranking family in Dayu, so the Yan family has no worries about marriages for daughters for generations.

For example, Mr. Yan’s two aunts married the late General Xue Ming and former Minister of War Qin Xiao respectively.

If we talk about relatives, General Xue and the Concubine Shu in the palace are considered their cousins.

When Master Yan was alive, he was quite talented and was considered a nobleman in the court. He arranged marriages for his daughters early on.

All the marriages arranged were the best, and the in-laws were all wealthy and famous families in the capital.

Others can’t even ask for it!

The man the eldest daughter was engaged to was Pei Lingfeng, the eldest son of Minister Pei.

Young Master Pei is a handsome and talented man.

Because of Master Yan's death, the marriage was delayed for several years. Pei Lingfeng waited until Miss Yan had finished her mourning period before welcoming her into the family home with all due courtesy.

Old Madam Yan was very pleased and waited to hear good news from her eldest daughter.

As a result, not long after, something happened to the Pei family. The family collapsed and the whole family was exiled.

The eldest daughter of the Yan family followed the exiles to Lingnan and died on the way.

Old Madam Yan cried so much that her eyes were almost blind. She was more heartbroken than when her husband died, and once again felt like the sky was falling.

But the second daughter has grown up a little and helps her support the Yan family.

After a while, although Mrs. Yan was sad, she was able to cheer up again.

Seeing her second daughter grow up to be a beautiful young lady and about to get married at the prime of her life, she had to cheer up and arrange her second daughter's wedding well.

The second daughter's betrothal was to be with Wei Lan, the second son of General Wei Fu.

More than ten years ago, General Wei Fu was highly regarded by the emperor, and the Wei family would definitely not fall suddenly.

Old Madam Yan was relieved to help her second daughter prepare her wedding dress and dowry.

Unexpectedly, General Wei had a problem with his mind. When the auspicious day for the wedding was about to arrive, he suddenly announced that he wanted to retire and return to his hometown, and took his entire family with him.

Before leaving, the Wei family broke off the engagement.

Her daughter from the Yan family was actually broken off from engagement!

Damn Wei family.

Old Madam Yan's eyes turned black, she was so angry that she vomited blood, and cursed all eighteen generations of the Wei family's ancestors.

"What kind of people are the Wei family? They just quit without even explaining the reason and disappeared! Someone who didn't know would think it was a stain on my daughter, that the Wei family didn't want her anymore, and that they were causing my daughter to be criticized for no reason!"

"As an old woman, I don't mind it, but it's hard on Qianqian and Yuanyuan. I don't know what people will say about them in the future."

"The sky is falling..."

Miss Yan Er said, "Mother, the sky hasn't fallen, this is just fine. If I don't marry into the Wei family, there will be others who want to marry me."

Old Madam Yan wiped her tears and sobbed:

"Who would come to propose marriage to you at this time? Who would? Our Yan family respects him as a person of great stature."

The next day, Yuan Chi, who was not very tactful and didn't speak in a roundabout way, came to propose marriage. He opened his mouth and said to Madam Yan:

"Aunt, I and Second Miss Yan have long shared a mutual understanding. Please..."

Madam Yan almost fainted after hearing this and asked Yuan Chi to stop immediately:

"I'll help you two! Xiao Yuan, don't say this in front of others. Don't let them know that you two knew each other before! It's a family shame..."

Fortunately, the family scandal turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Miss Yan Er later became Mrs. Yuan.

Several years later, it was time to arrange a marriage for the third daughter.

After the two previous lessons, Old Lady Yan was extremely cautious about her third daughter's marriage.

This time, there must be no mistakes.

The man who was originally engaged to the third daughter was He Sanlang and He Yanqing from the family of He Zhongshu Ling.