Chapter 20
Upon hearing this, Song Shiyan suddenly looked towards the beautiful figure not far away, who was walking towards them slowly with light steps.
Jiang Zhaoli nodded when she heard the voice: "Brother, Brother Song." When her eyes fell on Song Shiyan, she pursed her lips and smiled as a greeting.
Jiang Yiche looked sideways at the route she had taken and understood: "Second sister, are you going to grandfather's yard?"
Jiang Zhaoli nodded: "I haven't visited my grandfather for many days. I want to go and see him today when I have some free time. I want to talk to him so that he won't nag me all the time."
Jiang Zhaoli looked around and asked, "Why don't I see the third sister?"
Jiang Yiche pulled his lips and said helplessly: "She is used to it. She has been secretly looking at the picture book these days and forgot to memorize the book given by the teacher. Now, she is detained again today. If grandfather asks about it later, I will trouble my second sister to smooth things over."
Jiang Zhaoli nodded: "Of course, where are you going, second brother?"
Jiang Yiche glanced at Song Shuye who was standing beside him and whispered, "Brother Song and I are planning to go look for my sister together."
Jiang Zhaoli suddenly realized and nodded: "Okay, then go ahead, big brother, I'll leave first."
Jiang Yi Che nodded.
Song Shiyan took the opportunity to get between the two of them, put his arms on their shoulders, and then put them down. He patted their shoulders gently, revealing a mouthful of white teeth: "Well, I suddenly have something to do, you two go first, I won't go."
After saying this, he quickly chased after the figure which had not yet gone far.
Jiang Yiche was stunned for a moment, then shouted at his back: "Hey, Song Shiyan, didn't you say that you hadn't seen your sister for a few days and asked me and Brother Song to go visit her? Why aren't you going again?"
Song Shiyan waved his hands lazily behind their back.
Jiang Yiche suddenly felt angry and cursed inwardly, wondering why Song Shiyan kept saying whatever he wanted.
When asked to whom Song Shiyan gave the Yao Huang that he had taken such good care of that day, he hesitated and refused to say.
Jiang Yiche frowned, staring at the two figures not far away. A strange feeling arose in his heart. It couldn't be the second sister, right?
Although he seldom communicated with his second brother-in-law, his third sister had a very good impression of him and often praised his second brother-in-law in front of him. Now he subconsciously thought that Yin Su was a good person. If Song Shiyan really wanted to destroy the two of them, he would definitely not allow it.
Song Shuye looked at Jiang Yiche staring at the direction the two men left, and couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that the two of them are not destined to be together."
Hearing this, Jiang Yiche's heart trembled, and he looked at Song Shuye suddenly, with a surprised look on his face: "Brother Song, what do you mean by this? I don't understand."
Song Shuye seemed puzzled: "You are with A Yan all day long, don't you know that A Yan likes Zhao Li?"
Jiang Yiche was stunned for a moment, then came back to his senses: "I don't know, Song Shiyan never admitted it, I thought he was joking on purpose."
When a person is used to joking, no matter what he says later, others will not believe it. But when you realize that he is telling the truth, you will not be able to accept it.
Song Shiyan had never praised his second sister in front of him, but instead often praised his elder sister in front of him.
Whenever he met his second sister, they would easily have a verbal dispute, and no one thought about it in that direction.
Jiang Yiche asked himself three times in his heart whether Song Shiyan liked his second sister, before he slowly accepted that it was true.
Suddenly, fragmentary fragments of the time when Song Shiyan met his second sister in the past flashed through his mind, and it seemed that all the unreasonable and suspicious things made sense in an instant.
No wonder Song Shiyan was beaten half to death by his father and locked up on the day when his second sister was looking for a husband. It turned out that he was not joking, he was serious...
Recalling that some time ago he taught Song Shiyan how to pursue the woman of his dreams... If he had known it was his second sister, what would he have taught her? Isn't this just teaching him to kidnap his own family members?
Jiang Yi Che suddenly felt like crying but had no tears, and silently blamed all the faults on Song Shi Yan.
Song Shiyan, you better not let me catch you. I will beat him up next time.
Song Shuye: “…”
It turns out that they didn't know that A Yan liked Zhao Li, so did he accidentally let something slip? His naughty brother wouldn't be beaten, would he?
On the other side, Song Shiyan followed closely beside Jiang Zhaoli. Seeing Jiang Zhaoli walking forward with all his strength without even giving him a glance, he spoke helplessly: "Jiang Zhaoli, stop for a moment. I have something to ask you."
Jiang Zhaoli paused and tilted his head to look at him: "Tell me, what's the matter."
Song Shiyan suddenly didn't stop and stepped back to her side again: "Well... that's... that's the Yao Huang I gave you some time ago. Do you like it?"
Jiang Zhaoli looked at him in confusion: "Why? Do you have any left at home? If there are extra, please transplant two pots for me. I will give you money. Thank you very much."
Song Shiyan curved his eyebrows and said, "Yes, yes, I will personally deliver it to you next time. You don't need to pay with silver. With our friendship, it would be too vulgar to pay with silver."
Jiang Zhaoli smiled with a fake smile: "What kind of relationship do we have?"
Song Shiyan raised his chin proudly: "Although we don't have a life-and-death friendship, we are childhood sweethearts, which is much more precious than a life-and-death friendship. Others want to be friends with me, but I don't think so. So, for the sake of our deep friendship, I decided to give you two pots for free."
Jiang Zhaoli said, "Thank you so much, thank you for liking me and being my friend."
Song Shiyan blinked: "That's it... gone?"
Jiang Zhaoli was surprised and looked at him inquiringly, as if he saw through him: "What else? What else do you want?"
Song Shiyan muttered: "Of course there are nice words."
His voice was very low, as if he was talking to himself. There was no sound. Jiang Zhaoli tilted his head: "What?"
Seeing Jiang Zhaoli staring at him, Song Shiyan became nervous and answered hesitantly, "Yes... yes... I mean, there are chrysanthemums. Yes, I have two large pots of chrysanthemums at home. Do you want some?"
Jiang Zhaoli: "...Song Shiyan, do you like growing flowers so much?"
Song Shiyan whispered: "There's no other way, this is for giving away."
Seeing that they were about to reach Huaiyuan, Jiang Zhaoli stopped and said seriously: "Master, I have something important to do now. Can you leave for a while?"
Song Shiyan responded quickly: "Okay, I'll go back and ask someone to prepare the things for you."
Jiang Zhaoli shook his head. He really didn’t know when Song Shiyan would grow up.
—
After the guards of the capital tax department went to report, their attitude became particularly respectful and they addressed him in a more intimate manner. Lord Zhuang personally invited Yin Su into the mansion, and sent someone to prepare top-quality Biluochun tea for the guest, and even sent someone to invite the chef from Wanpinlou to come to the mansion to cook.
Lord Zhuang bowed, his brows lit up with joy, and addressed him as a brother: "It has been a long time since we last met, Brother Yin, do you still remember me?"
This person was none other than the one who had been drinking with City Lord Luo at Wanpin Tower last time, and he was also Lord Zhuang, who was in charge of the capital's taxation.
Yin Su hummed and bowed to him in a perfunctory manner, which was not very proper.
Lord Zhuang didn't mind. He slowly raised his left hand, with his palm facing the direction of the mansion door, and made a sincere invitation with a sincere attitude: "Brother Yin, please come in."
The guard looked suspicious. Who was this person that could make Lord Zhuang come to greet him personally and even let him enter first?
After entering the mansion, the scene in front of him really made Yin Su frown.
This place is not as magnificent and splendid as the homes of the rich and powerful. There are not too many carvings in the courtyard. There are only a few pots of common flowers, plants and trees. Although they are not precious, they are all lush and green, standing uniquely in the courtyard, showing off their posture and adding a bit of vitality.
Seeing Yin Su looking at him, Lord Zhuang smiled with a self-abasement, and said with a sigh: "My place is far inferior to the Jiang Mansion, Brother Yin, please don't despise me. Our Luo Cheng is a kind man, always simple and unpretentious. The officials under us can only follow him, save money, and use the money saved for the people."
Save your own money and use it on the people? Oh, are there really such selfless city lords and subordinates in this world? Yin Su's lips curled up with a hint of sarcasm. He didn't believe it. One day, he would tear off the masks of these hypocritical people with his own hands.
Master Zhuang smiled and said, "This is Brother Yin's first time to come to the capital to collect taxes, so I must treat him well. I have already given instructions that Brother Yin will have a meal at the mansion today. I have sent someone to buy the vegetables and cut the meat. I guarantee that you will eat and drink well this time."
Yin Su said calmly: "Let's do it another day. I came here today to get the account book of the Jiang family's tax payments over the years."
Master Zhuang waved his sleeves, not taking the matter seriously at all: "It's nothing, I'll send someone to Jiang Mansion myself, and it will save you the trouble."
Yin Su: "Master Zhuang, you don't have to be polite. I won't stay for dinner today. We will meet at the flower banquet in a while. I will definitely have a drink with you then."
Mr. Zhuang was stunned for a moment: "This Miss Jiang is really nice to Brother Yin. She is willing to take you to the flower banquet."
The Flower Banquet is a banquet held by the Lord of Luo City every year. It is called the Flower Appreciation Banquet, but it is actually a conversation banquet. All the well-known figures are present on that day. The purpose is to make the so-called businessmen work harder for the development of Luo City and pay when they should. Of course, there is no coercion and it is voluntary.
Most people are willing to pay this money, simply because they don't have much money. To them, it's just a few taels of silver, as high as thirty taels, as low as five taels. It can also gain a good reputation among the people, so why not do it? What's more, they can also attend flower banquets and meet many nobles.
It is said that this year's flower banquet is different from usual ones. Merchants from outside the city can also participate, but they have to pay five taels of silver before entering.
Since there were many big businessmen inside, many people from outside the city tried their best to squeeze in and did not care about the five taels of silver at all.
After Yin Su declined Master Zhuang's invitation, he left the capital tax office amid Master Zhuang's frequent sighs and strolled along Changming Street. As he passed a corner, he heard a voice calling out, "A Su."
It’s Zou Yuan.
Yin Su walked over, folded his arms, stared around impatiently, and said in an unhappy tone: "I told you not to hang out lately."
Zou Yuan spread his hands: "I really have something to do this time."
Yin Su frowned: "If you have something to say, just say it. Why keep it a secret?"
Zou Yuan stared at him in disbelief: "No, Ah Su, does Miss Jiang know that you have such a bad temper?"
Yin Su sneered: "Forget it if you don't want to talk about it."
Turned around and was about to leave.
"Wait, let me tell you, let me tell you." Zou Yuan shouted anxiously.
"It's about Miss Jiang Er."
Yin Su paused slightly, his brows showing a cold expression, his eyes indifferently cast on Zou Yuan.
Zou Yuan glanced at Yin Su stealthily and whispered, "Miss Jiang Er has been secretly sending people to search for the whereabouts of the Jade Face Crown Man for some time."
Yin Su frowned: "Why does she want to find the Jade Face Crown Man?"
Zou Yuan pondered: "Hmm... It seems that she wanted to find out the truth about her parents' death. I heard that she has been searching secretly for years, but her ability is limited and she couldn't find any evidence, so she looked for the Jade Face Crown Man."
"But she's quite generous. Ten thousand taels of silver, do you want to take it?"
A playful smile appeared on Yin Su's lips, and he approached Zou Yuan with steady and powerful steps. His eyes were half-closed, and there was an imperceptible coldness flashing in his eyes.
Zou Yuan was startled by this move and immediately jumped away, standing three feet away from him, staring at him warily: "No, what do you want to do?"
Killing to silence the witness?
Yin Su smiled wryly: "I want to know how you knew this news."
Zou Yuan's eyes widened in disbelief: "What do you mean, you knew it a long time ago?"
"You just asked me that."
After figuring out what was going on, Zou Yuan was furious. Bah, old fox, he actually plotted against him. He even wanted to point at Yin Su's nose and curse him, but he didn't dare to. He was afraid that Yin Su would break his neck if he was unhappy.
After all, he really was a ruthless killer in the past and could break a person's neck with just one hand. The "crackling" sound of shattering still echoes in his mind from time to time. Thinking of this, he unconsciously touched his neck.
After a while, he turned his anger into a soft question: "A Su, how can you trick me? I've been so good to you, how can you treat me like this?"
Yin Su glanced at him and said in a cold voice: "Stop talking nonsense, if you don't want to die, just say it."
Zou Yuan reluctantly took out a roll of paper about the size of a finger from his bosom, unfolded it, and saw two lines of words written on it. It was undoubtedly an instruction to take on the case provided by the Jiang family. It was written in the master's beautiful handwriting.
Yin Su lightly slapped his palm, and the note was instantly shattered into pieces.
Zou Yuan shuddered for no apparent reason: "..."
this…
It won’t shatter him too.
Yin Su said indifferently, and slowly straightened his uneven sleeves: "Go on, what did you do?"
Zou Yuan trembled, stretched out his index finger in front of him, and said humbly: "I... I just released a small piece of news."
Yin Su said coldly: "Speak."
Zou Yuan was so scared that he closed his eyes and blurted out, "I... I deliberately told the people in Jiang's residence that... the Jade Face Crown Man had come to Luo City."
"Don't hit me. I was forced to do this. My master wrote to me and said that I must take over the Jiang family's case because... because she needs money to support her army. I didn't go directly to the Jiang family to take over the case because of you. I'm here to tell you."
Yin Su's face darkened, his eyes fixed calmly on a certain place. The light climbed up the high wall to the trees, the high wall and even to his body, as if he was covered by layers of gauze. Indistinctly, he seemed to see clearly, yet he seemed not to see clearly.
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