Chapter 31
The verdict on Guo Daoquan has not yet been announced, but what is certain is that the crime will not be a small one. If the amount of tax evasion in the country reaches a certain level, he will be exiled or even beheaded. If he knows about it but does not report it, he will also be held jointly liable and will have to spend at least a few years in prison.
Although the amount of tax evasion he incurred was not enough to warrant the death penalty, it was enough to get him punished.
After a few days, she and Yin Su never spoke to each other again. Both of them avoided each other deliberately. Yin Su always came back at midnight and went out at dawn, while Jiang Zhaoli always went to bed early and got up at noon.
She felt very upset in her heart. The love that had not yet begun was strangled before it had a chance to bloom just as it sprouted.
Jiang Zhaoli took a breath. Even so, she was able to control herself so as not to let others see her flaws and think that she was trying to commit suicide because of Yin Su.
Soon, Chuntao came in hurriedly and reported: "Miss, my son-in-law sent someone to say that he will not be returning home tonight."
Jiang Zhaoli's hand trembled, and he asked calmly: "Besides this sentence, what else did you say?"
Chun Tao shook her head: "My son-in-law didn't say anything, but I heard from the person who summoned him that Lord Luo called my son-in-law over and said he wanted to play chess with me, and asked me to stay at Luo's house tonight and come back early tomorrow morning."
City Lord Luo? Jiang Zhaoli frowned. How could City Lord Luo suddenly become so familiar with Yin Su? First, they had dinner together at Wanpinlou, then he sent an invitation to attend the flower banquet, and now he played chess all night.
Jiang Zhaoli nodded silently and decided not to think about it any more. It wouldn't be a bad thing for Yin Su to deal more with City Lord Luo.
Chuntao wanted to say something but stopped herself. She always felt that the relationship between the young lady and her husband was very strange these days, but the nanny had warned her not to talk too much in front of the young lady. The young lady was busy at the Jiang Mansion all day, and she couldn't bother her with trivial matters.
Chun Tao suddenly had an idea and wanted to make the girl smile: "Miss, I heard that the kitchen has a new cook recently, and he has a specialty, Jiangnan dim sum, which is delicious. I will go and get some for you right away."
Jiang Zhaoli pursed his lips and nodded.
Seeing Chuntao leave, Jiang Zhaoli stood up and moved to the bronze mirror, looking at the beautiful woman in the mirror who was smiling and frowning. His soft hand gently stroked her cheek, the corners of her lips slightly raised, her beautiful eyes slightly closed, her skin as white as cream, and she was beautiful and charming.
She couldn't keep thinking like this. She felt like she was possessed and had no energy every day. She had to cheer up.
In this way, Jiang Zhaoli practiced smiling in front of the bronze mirror for more than half an hour. Her lips were almost stiff. She rubbed them with her hand, and now her smile should be natural.
Half an hour later, Chun Tao came back angrily, taking heavy steps: "It's so infuriating."
Jiang Zhaoli looked up and saw that she had nothing in her hands. He couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Didn't you go get some snacks?"
Chun Tao pouted: "It was Zhao. She gave all the freshly baked snacks in the kitchen to Wen Qiu Shui. Tao Ping from the Third Madam's courtyard and I didn't get anything."
"Mrs. Zhao said that Wen Qiushui was injured and needed to eat more good food to replenish her body. But now is not mealtime and there is no cooked food in the kitchen, so she just snatched those snacks. Now the Second Madam is arguing with Mrs. Zhao."
Jiang Zhaoli narrowed his eyes. Zhao Xiaoshuang came. Since she took office, she had never lost her temper over anything other than the "fire" in the weaving workshop. She always behaved gently, making others think that she was easy to bully, and they started to put on a show of strength.
Jiang Zhaoli said expressionlessly: "Let's go out and take a look."
Chun Tao's face, which had been gloomy just now, brightened up in an instant. She ran to the door and puffed out her chest: "I'll lead the way for the girl."
Zhao Xiaoshuang was in the servants' room in her second aunt's courtyard.
"The second girl is here." Someone shouted.
Zhao Xiaoshuang's face froze, and she turned back to look at her, gritting her teeth, her eyes full of hatred: "Jiang Zhaoli."
"I sent your cousin to the Jiang Mansion, and you let her live like this. Do you still have a conscience?"
Jiang Zhaoli was so angry that he laughed: "I have no conscience? Who is the one who has no conscience? Who sent Wen Qiushui to the Jiang Mansion to be a servant for money? A servant should behave like a servant and cannot go beyond the master. Wen Qiushui has made mistakes repeatedly, and not punishing her is already a mercy."
Zhao Xiaoshuang: "Jiang Zhaoli, why are you so cold-blooded?"
"Aren't you afraid of retribution? I am your mother's only sister. You treat me like this. Aren't you afraid that your mother will come after you at night to settle the score?"
Jiang Zhaoli's face darkened: "Who is the truly cold-blooded person?" He suppressed his anger and said: "Come here, ask Zhao to leave. From now on, no one is allowed to let her in without my permission. If I find out that anyone dares to let her in privately, he will be beaten with thirty boards."
After he finished speaking, Wang Tiezhu trembled beside him.
Zhao Xiaoshuang was clearly going to act rogue. She shook her plump body, stood still, and pinched her waist: "Let's see who dares."
"If anyone dares to touch me, I will crash into the ground and die. Then, let's see how your Jiang family will explain to the Wen family."
Jiang Zhaoli smiled wryly: "Then you have to think it over carefully. If you die, the worst that can happen is that we will have to pay you some money. Master Wen has several concubines ready to take over. If you vacate the position, they will probably thank you and burn paper money for you in advance."
Zhao Xiaoshuang was shaking with anger.
Jiang Zhaoli changed the subject and his tone suddenly turned cold: "Also, don't think I don't know what your Wen family is going to do by sending Wen Qiushui into the mansion."
Zhao Xiaoshuang was stunned and looked away hurriedly: "I don't understand what you are talking about. Even if you are the head of the Jiang family now, you can't slander people without any reason."
Jiang Zhaoli sneered: "Don't understand? Then aunt, tell me, with Wen Qiu Shui's proud and hot-tempered personality, how could she be willing to marry a servant? She didn't even resist." She emphasized the word "willing".
Zhao Xiaoshuang: "Our Qiushui is sensible and understands how difficult it is for me to be a mother. Stop slandering her."
Jiang Zhaoli sneered: "Whether it is slander or not, your aunt will know it in a while."
Zhao Xiaoshuang felt very nervous after hearing Jiang Zhaoli's words.
Jiang Zhaoli suddenly closed the distance between them and smiled at her: "Aunt, I just happen to have something to ask you. As far as I know, ten years ago, the Wen family was just a poor businessman. How come they suddenly rose in just half a year? And they started doing business with the Liu family? Who are the Liu family? They are a big business family. In the same year, the Jiang family lost a large amount of property. Do you think there is any hidden story behind this?"
Zhao Xiaoshuang yelled and waved her arms wildly as if she was stimulated, trying to wave Jiang Zhaoli aside: "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"I just stopped by to see Qiu Shui today. How can you be so stingy as my cousin? I came in without your permission. I treated you as a family member, so I was more casual. Since you are so dissatisfied, I will go back now."
"I will never come to this mansion again."
Jiang Zhaoli smiled and said, "Aunt, take care. I will come to thank you another day."
Zhao Xiaoshuang staggered and almost lost her balance.
Second Aunt was puzzled: "Is Zhao Xiaoshuang crazy?"
"Just now he was so proud that he wanted to fight with others, but now he has given in."
"Li'er, what did you say to her just now? I saw her face turned pale."
"Tell me that if she dares to come again tomorrow, there is no need to bother you. Second Aunt is here to threaten her."
Jiang Zhaoli smiled and said, "It's nothing. I told her that if she died, I would use Wen Qiushui as the first choice. Second Aunt, you also know that Zhao has only this one daughter and she has always loved her."
Second Aunt looked puzzled: "Is that all?" It was not like Zhao Xiaoshuang would give up easily.
Jiang Zhaoli nodded sincerely.
Wen Qiu Shui kept his head down and said nothing from beginning to end.
Jiang Zhaoli glanced at her calmly, and said in a tone that was not very nice: "Wen Qiushui, although it was your mother's fault for breaking into the mansion, you still have to bear the consequences. I will punish you to kneel for an hour and not eat for a day. This is a warning. If you dare to instigate others to steal things in the future, it will not be as simple as eating and kneeling."
"Yes." Upon hearing this, the servant immediately cleared away the several plates of snacks on Wen Qiu Shui's table, even taking away the half-eaten one in her hand.
Wen Qiu Shui rubbed the remaining snack crumbs with his fingertips and stared at her with resentment and unwillingness.
She had never had a full meal since she came to the Jiang Mansion. She had been eating vegetarian food every day without any oil or water. Now that her mother was here, she thought she could eat something good, but she never expected that it would be taken away by Jiang Zhaoli again.
After Jiang Zhaoli walked away, she still stared at him with resentful eyes.
-
"I heard that there are many refugees outside the city gate. Is there another drought somewhere?"
"Maybe. I heard from the older generation that this was what happened during the drought back then. At first there were only a few refugees, but later more and more of them gathered, and the city gates could no longer hold up."
"I hope there are too many people and they won't come in."
"What are you afraid of? Even if they break in, they won't rob you. If they want to rob, they'll rob the wealthy families first. We can still take the opportunity to escape."
"There is an escape gate in Luo City. When the city gate is breached, we can escape from another gate and go to Yun City."
"Have you seen that escape door? Who knows if it's real or fake?"
“…”
When Jiang Zhaoli heard the news in the mansion, he was stunned for a moment, then realized something and immediately ordered Chuntao, who took the order and hurriedly left.
She had heard her grandfather talk about refugees in the past. The refugees broke into the city, formed groups, and acted like bandits, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of evil.
Even now, when people see refugees, they feel panic for no reason.
It’s not that all refugees are bad people, but they are extremely hungry and the only thing on their minds is filling their stomachs. Their instinct makes them take risks to steal food, no matter what means, just to stay alive. But at this moment, they are no longer refugees, but robbers.
The government is also most afraid of this. In the past few days, more guards have been added to the city gates and two more waves of patrols have been added at night.
—
Jiang Zhaoli planned to go to the dyeing workshop early in the morning to ask Huang Er about the recent profit situation.
During this period, Chuntao was sent by her to do other things and was not there to serve her closely, so she only took two servants with her when she went out.
When she was almost at the dyeing workshop, several masked men suddenly emerged from the alley, each holding a stick or a long knife, and approached her step by step.
The servant stretched out his arms to block her, stared vigilantly at the people who were approaching, and shouted, "Girl, go away."
As soon as he finished speaking, the two were kicked away. The feeling of weightlessness instantly swept through their bodies. Then their whole bodies hit the wall and were bounced to the ground. After wailing in pain, they spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.
Jiang Zhaoli gritted his teeth and kept backing away: "Who sent you?"
Seeing that they didn't answer, Jiang Zhaoli had a rough idea in his mind. They were silent, with cruelty in their eyes, just like vicious criminals.
These people were hired specifically to kill her.
She turned around and ran, but stopped after just two steps. A few more people came from the opposite side, and there were people blocking the alleys on both sides.
It seems that these people are determined to kill her today.
Jiang Zhaoli's eyes were slightly cold, his back pressed tightly against the wall, warning the others not to get close, but his eyes quickly looked around to see if there was any hope of escape.
Naturally, all the common people saw such a loud commotion, but few of them knew martial arts, so they were crowded in the intersection and dared not get close.
Jiang Zhaoli shouted to the crowd, "If anyone knows martial arts, there will be a reward for saving me."
The crowd was noisy.
But even so, no one dared to step forward. They could still distinguish between having money to spend and having life to spend.
These people didn't care what she said at all, they just raised their swords and chopped her head. Even if the people from the Criminal Department came later, she would have been killed by the sword. By then it would be too late to say anything. Everyone covered their eyes and shouted, "Murder, murder."
On the other side, inside a clinic called Zou Ji Medical Clinic on Mudan Street.
Yin Suzheng was sitting opposite Zou Yuan and another man named Ruohuai. He was wearing a black robe and a dark green gemstone jade crown on his head. He had delicate eyebrows and eyes and an outstanding temperament.
The three of them were discussing something, and none of them looked very good.
Ruo Huai frowned and looked at the two of them unhappily: "You two are really not going back?"
Zou Yuan laughed and dodged: "Don't ask me, ask Ah Su, he doesn't want to go back."
Ruo Huai was very confused and thought that the two had been drugged: "Just because of a woman? Have you forgotten what the master taught us?"
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