When the shopkeeper heard that the girl was so sensible, he looked at her secretly.
Judging from her dress and demeanor, she was definitely from a wealthy family. He was no longer afraid that she would go back on her word.
"Miss, please take a seat." The shopkeeper guided Shangguan Wan Ning to sit at the table by the window, then turned around and called to the waiter, "Lengzi, make a pot of good tea for the guest."
As he spoke, he looked at Shangguan Wanning again, looking worried. Before he finished speaking, he sighed heavily.
"Girl, no matter where you come from, you should know that the world is in chaos and wars are everywhere. Originally, our place was not so difficult, but..."
The shopkeeper looked around, as if he was worried that there were ears on the other side of the wall, so he lowered his voice and continued, "It's the prefect who is taking advantage of the opportunity to make money."
A look of surprise flashed across Shangguan Wanning's eyes. "Why do you say that, shopkeeper?"
"Miss, every provincial capital city has two big rice merchants and salt merchants. They are all designated by the government. They have to purchase goods through government channels and sell them at the prices designated by the government."
"I know that."
Shangguan Wanning certainly knew about these things. "However, in recent years, the court has relaxed its requirements for rice merchants. As far as I know, rice merchants can now run their own businesses privately, and as long as the price is reasonable, the government will not pursue it."
"Young lady, you have good insight." The shopkeeper looked at Shangguan Wanning twice more. This was definitely not an ordinary lady from a wealthy family.
"It is because the government has relaxed its control over rice merchants that those merchants who run private rice shops have colluded with local officials in order to gain more profits. For example, here we have a private rice merchant who is the brother-in-law of the prefect."
"In order to take care of his own business, the prefect has cut off the supply of rice from the government-run rice merchants. We have no choice but to buy from private rice merchants. Who told us to eat every day? But what is their purpose in cutting off the government-run rice shops?"
The shopkeeper showed an indignant expression and was furious. "The price of rice in the market now is three times that of the original official rice."
"What?" Shangguan Wanning was shocked.
How can ordinary people afford this?
"Is it like this in the neighboring county as well?" The attendant also found it incredible after hearing this.
The shopkeeper waved his hand. "No, the next county is pretty normal."
"Then you can go to the next county to buy it. It's just a matter of walking a few more steps."
"Young man, you make it sound so easy. But, what you can think of, can the government not think of it? They set up checkpoints at the city gates. Anyone who transports rice will be thrown into jail. They can accuse you of any crime and you will die."
Shangguan Wanning secretly clenched her fists.
"This is outrageous." The attendant said angrily, "Are you going to let us live?"
"Who said it wasn't true? Right now the government is just relying on the fact that the court is busy fighting the war. Even if we take the complaint to the capital, no one will pay attention to us."
Shangguan Wanning looked back at the deserted street.
Food is the foundation of the people. If the people cannot even solve the problem of food and clothing, how can they produce with peace of mind?
Shangguan Wanning gave a wink to the attendant, who immediately took out twenty taels of silver from his pocket and stuffed it into the shopkeeper's hand.
"Please prepare some food for us, just something simple."
"Okay, okay, I'll ask the waiter to take you to the guest rooms to rest first."
The shopkeeper went down to make arrangements. Shangguan Wanning returned to the room feeling a little tired, so she lay down and slept for a while. When she woke up again, it was already time for lighting.
She opened the window and looked out. It was not yet completely dark and there were no pedestrians on the street.
Shangguan Wan Ning lived here for two days, waiting for her father to join her. She asked her men to go out and inquire about the situation, and it turned out to be just as the shopkeeper said, that the people here were almost all starving.
That night, Shangguan Wanning was about to fall asleep when she suddenly heard a series of messy and noisy footsteps coming from the street.
She was slightly startled, and immediately rushed to the window, where she saw a group of soldiers holding torches, heading in the same direction.
Shangguan Wanning had a premonition that something big was happening and immediately called her followers to go over and check it out.
I saw the officers and soldiers coming to the granary.
There was already a group of civilians fighting with the soldiers. The two sides were originally evenly matched, but with the addition of a group of reinforcements, the civilians were quickly defeated.
"You are so bold that you even dare to rob the government's granary. Do you want to rebel?"
"Even if we wanted to rebel, it was because you forced us to do so. You raised the price of rice so high, and would rather let it grow worms in the warehouse than give it to us to eat. You will not have a good death."
"How dare you curse us. Come, take him to jail. I want to see who is harder, you peasants or the torture instruments in the jail."
The soldiers were about to arrest these civilians. The two followers around Shangguan Wanning couldn't bear to watch and were about to step forward to help, but were stopped by Shangguan Wanning.
"Miss, we really don't care?"
"Of course not. But..." Shangguan Wanning's face was solemn, and she said, "If you want to intervene, then intervene thoroughly. These people are just following orders. They are not the ones we are looking for."
The followers looked at each other.
"Come with me."
Shangguan Wanning brought her followers to the back door of the government office and whispered a few words to two of her confidants.
The trusted follower understood what he meant and selected four agile and quick-reacting men from the team, and together they climbed over the wall and broke into the government office.
After about an incense stick of time, the back door opened.
"Everything went well, Miss."
Shangguan Wanning smiled faintly and walked in confidently.
She walked into the main room and saw a middle-aged man in thin pajamas crawling on the ground. The woman beside him was wrapped in clothes, curled up and shivering.
Shangguan Wanning sat down in the upper position, looking down at the man.
He was the local prefect.
"You... who are you? You are so brave... ah!"
Shangguan Wanning's follower raised his hand and slapped him hard in the face without waiting for the prefect to finish his words.
He only felt a fishy and salty taste spreading in his mouth, and blood slowly overflowed from the corners of his mouth.
"Sir, I am here to visit you on the orders of my father."
The prefect was a little dazed by the slap in the face. He knew that these people were not easy to deal with, but he did not completely resign himself to his fate.
As long as we wait until daybreak, rescue will surely come.
"Who...is your father?"
"My father is Shangguan Yue."
The prefect was stunned, and his mood suddenly became complicated.
"Haha, it turns out you are a traitor from the court." The prefect tried to stand up but was kicked on the knee by the big man next to him.
He knelt down again in great pain. "What do you want?"
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