County Magistrate Zhang smiled and shook his head.
"No need to look for her. When the time comes, the princess will come to find us."
Xiaoshan helped Magistrate Zhang onto the carriage, whipped the horse lightly, and the carriage slowly drove towards the county government office.
Yuelai Inn.
Nangong Jiu was tired after a day of work, and on the way back to the inn, he fell asleep on Xiao Wang's back.
Nangong Yunxue, who was waiting at the door, quickly carried the person down, washed her hands and face, and let her sleep on the bed.
Liu Hao called out to the four Ah Bing sisters: "What happened when you visited those workshops today?"
Ah Bing stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, we first went to the nearest candle workshop. It was indeed full of children in their teens working there..."
After Ah Bing detailed his whereabouts for the day, Liu Hao walked to the bedside and gently touched Nangong Jiu's face.
"Although Jiu'er is young, she has a compassionate heart like a bodhisattva!"
Nangong Yunxue smiled and took over the conversation: "This way, the workshop's dilemma will be solved.
Once those noble families have reached an agreement with Magistrate Zhang, they will have a market for their products and won’t have their business taken away from them.”
“Well, it’s going to get better!
I had already made a plan. If those noble families were unwilling to lend a helping hand, I would immediately return to the capital and mobilize the merchants there to find a solution.
Now, they are all willing to lend a hand, which is the best outcome.”
"Then we can no longer hide the fact that we came to Gong County."
Liu Hao smiled and nodded: "After Jiuer's visit today, I guess County Magistrate Zhang already knows her identity.
We'll visit ordinary people's homes tomorrow, and then go to the county government office the day after tomorrow."
"Okay, you make the arrangements. Let's ask Jiuer tomorrow morning if she wants to come with us."
Liu Hao stood up and said, "Okay, you've been tired all day, so you should rest early."
Nangong Yunxue nodded in agreement.
Liu Hao walked to the door, then fell back and said, "Xue'er, my secret guard received a letter via carrier pigeon from the capital, saying that Liu Zhi committed suicide.
After his death, Concubine Zheng also committed suicide."
"When did it happen?"
"On the day we left the capital!"
Nangong Yunxue was slightly surprised.
"Hasn't Liu Zhi already endured all seventy-two torture instruments? Even though he has snakes as companions every day, he's been through this for so long, he should be used to it.
Why did he suddenly become so depressed that he chose to commit suicide?
“You don’t know him, he has a strong desire for power.
When he found that forbearance could not bring back the freedom he wanted, and that he and his mother had made such a mistake that there was no turning back, he collapsed and no longer had the courage to live.
The letter from the secret guard said that Concubine De had visited them mother and son, and probably told them that she and Liu Ze were going to their fiefdom.
Liu Zhi had always looked down on Liu Ze and bullied him, but ended up living a worse life than Liu Ze. This was probably due to some irritation."
Nangong Yunxue sighed: "Defei and her son are honest and smart people."
The Qin family mansion in the west of the city.
The Qin family started out by making condiments.
In the huge flower hall, the old man of the Qin family was drinking tea leisurely.
In the evening, the two sons, who had been busy outside all day, hurried into the hall and knelt down in front of Mr. Qin.
"Dad, something happened to our warehouse, it collapsed!"
"What? When did it happen?"
"It was at the end of the Chen hour, and we didn't dare let anyone tell you.
We originally thought we could salvage the goods even if it collapsed, but in the end, we were unable to recover anything. We dare not hide this from you any longer."
The old man of the Qin family was so heartbroken that he pounded the tea table next to him.
"The hard work of several generations of our Qin family is gone, all gone!
Tell me, what’s going on?”
Mr. Qin’s eldest son and the current head of the family, Qin Mingyuan, looked pale.
"No one knew what happened. We only heard a loud bang and the area where the warehouse was located suddenly collapsed.
The entire warehouse, along with the house, sank, forming a huge pit.
We asked the servants to tie ropes and go down to explore. They said there was an underground river below. The water was very deep and fast, and there were whirlpools.
In a word, the goods cannot be found and are all gone.
The only lucky thing is that everyone was outside at the time and no one was injured."
Qin Mingtao, the second oldest son of the Qin family, cried, "Dad, big brother, what should we do now?
All the goods and raw materials are gone. What will we use to deliver the goods tomorrow?
If we fail to deliver the goods, we will not only have to return the 20,000 taels deposit, but also pay them 20,000 taels in compensation for the missed appointment."
Old Master Qin's lips trembled: "Is there any stock in the workshop?"
"No more. We had just moved all the goods from the workshop back to the warehouse and were about to move the raw materials to the workshop when something happened. All the raw materials and goods are gone."
"Then there's no other way. First, return the deposit, then say something nice to them and see if I can reduce the compensation.
We have been cooperating with them for so many years, I believe they can let us go. If not, we will compensate them.
After all, we still hope to continue cooperating with them in the future and rely on them to turn things around."
Qin Mingyuan slumped in his chair.
"The problem is, within the next two weeks, there are nearly ten companies that need to deliver goods, and the deposit plus compensation will be two or three hundred thousand taels of silver.
Even if we mortgaged all our assets, including this house, we still couldn't afford the compensation.
There is another key point. Even if we try our best to compensate them, there are still ten or so companies next month. What can we use to compensate them?
Dad, I’m afraid we can’t get over this hurdle!”
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