Zheng Ruqian suddenly grinned foolishly.
The five siblings, including the older brother, younger brother, and younger sister, were all startled.
Changyan reached out and carefully poked his cheek. Just as he was about to speak, his second brother picked him up.
"I'm fine, Xiao Wu." Zheng Ruqian put down the long banquet, then hugged each of his other brothers in turn, and finally hugged Jiang Sheng. "I'm really fine."
Finally, after putting Jiang Sheng down, he said in a deep voice, "Brother is right. We've only come a short distance. It's normal to encounter setbacks. If a mere workshop business can defeat me, how can I be Master Zheng in the future?"
Xu Mo let out a long breath and nodded in agreement.
Fang Heng picked up the thick stick and said, "Second brother, I can't help you much, but if anyone leaks your formula, I can help you get revenge and break their legs."
Upon seeing this, Zhang Qiquan's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly returned to the workshop, presumably to frighten people with Fang San Gongzi's stick.
"It doesn't matter who leaked the recipe," Xu Mo tapped the table. "What matters is that the Wang family is no longer just targeting the third son, but has included us all as enemies."
It takes more than twenty days for cured pork to be ready to be sold, from marinating and drying to smoking.
Just over twenty days ago, the Wang family was focused on helping Sun Yumou secure the position of the next prefect.
At the time, Xu Mo and his sister thought that they would not act recklessly again, but the leak of the recipe for cured meat proved that although the Wang family was plotting to seize the position of governor of Anshui County, they did not relax their efforts to deal with them, and even wanted to wipe them out in one fell swoop.
Sure enough, right after Sun Yu died, Zheng Ruqian's recipe for cured pork was leaked.
Who will be next?
Is it Wen Zhiyun, who helps people get medicine? Or is it Jiang Sheng, the only girl?
Or perhaps, it was Xu Mo, the clerk of Xiyang County.
No matter who it is, they don't have the energy to deal with one underhanded trick after another, nor do they have the energy to live in constant fear every day.
There are no days when you can guard against thieves, only days when you're a thief yourself.
Since the Wang family doesn't want them to have a good time, then they have no choice but to make things difficult for the Wang family as well.
Xu Mo slammed the bundle he had just packed onto the table and said in a deep voice, "I'm not leaving yet. I'm going to contact Wang Fufeng."
Everyone present looked surprised.
Only Jiang Sheng's eyes were bright as she happily exclaimed, "It's great that you're not leaving! I was just telling Fifth Brother that I wanted to see Sister Sun Qin."
Sun Qin is Qiao Yuhe's daughter, and she is half a year older than Jiang Sheng.
After Qiao Yuhe's death, the Sun family took the two children back and did not seem to mistreat them.
But Jiang Sheng was still worried and felt that she had to see it with her own eyes to be worthy of her gentle and kind aunt.
"Okay, I'll take you to see it when I have time." Xu Mo patted his little sister's head.
Turning to Zheng Ruqian, he said, "Second brother, I don't understand business matters and I won't interfere, but I believe you will handle it well and won't be defeated by these petty schemes, right?"
Zheng Ruqian nodded vigorously.
Giving up the business in the prefectural city is easy, but if you back down when you encounter difficulties, the spirit you've built up will crumble.
No matter what, he must protect the workshop in the Zanhua Courtyard, and he must also find out the spies in the workshop.
The six siblings started working separately again.
Zheng Ruqian worked with Zhang Qiquan to find the traitor who leaked the recipe for cured meat, but they couldn't find him no matter what they did.
Everyone's micro-expressions were flawless, and everyone could vouch for each other, confirming that no one had ever revealed the recipe for cured meat.
Could it be a ghost?
Did the recipe for cured pork grow legs and run away?
Or perhaps it was Zhang Qiquan and his wife, who were in charge, and Aunt Zhang Xianglian, who helped with the work?
Zheng Ruqian isn't completely naive yet. If he were to actually suspect Uncle Zhang, Aunt Cui'er, and Aunt Zhang, he would be breaking the hearts of his own people.
But he couldn't stand having spies in the workshop all the time.
So, Master Zheng went all in and said ruthlessly, "Since that's the case, fire you all. Don't come to Zanhua Courtyard again. Hire new people for the entire workshop."
Actually, what he said was quite absurd. Even Youranju couldn't sell cured meat anymore. Except for Anyang County, which was far away, they could still sell a little bit, but at other times they didn't need it at all.
That amount of work can be done by Liu Cui and Zhang Xianglian alone; there's no need to hire new people.
But the day laborers hired by the workshop had no idea that most of them were farmers who toiled in the fields, only knowing how to work and supporting their families on a few coins a day.
Upon hearing Zheng Ruqian's words, nine out of ten day laborers panicked and begged for mercy, almost kneeling down and kowtowing.
Needless to say, pleas for leniency were made.
Zheng Ruqian noticed the only person who remained unmoved.
He called Zhang Qiquan over, pointed to the thin, dark-skinned woman in the corner, and asked, "Uncle Zhang, who is this?"
Zhang Qiquan frowned and recalled, "It should be from Dafu Village. She said that her parents and in-laws had all died, and her husband was paralyzed in bed. She was busy with everything at home and outside. I saw how pitiful her life was, so I made an exception and recruited her."
Farming in the village is done according to population. Although the dark-skinned, thin woman is capable, there is only one mu of land for two people. Once that is done, there is no more work. After paying taxes, the grain produced is not enough to feed them. Working in the workshop for a day and earning a few coins is already considered a blessing from heaven.
But now, she doesn't seem afraid of losing her good life at all, which clearly means she has something to rely on.
Zheng Ruqian nodded to Zhang Qiquan.
Zhang Qiquan walked up to the thin, dark-skinned woman with a grim face and said, "You signed a contract while working in the workshop. No matter whether you leave the workshop in the future, you cannot reveal the workshop's recipe. Once you do, it's a crime punishable by beheading."
It's not that serious, at most you'll just have to pay some money.
But the dark-skinned, thin woman didn't understand that beheading would have the greatest impact on her and would frighten her the most.
Sure enough, the woman who had been indifferent just moments before turned to astonishment, asking in a hoarse voice, "This, this is true? You must be talking nonsense!"
"Nonsense?" Zhang Qiquan laughed. "Even if there's no such law, let alone a clause in the contract, with the relationship between our young master and the prefect, beheading a commoner like you would be a piece of cake."
Everyone in the Zanhua Courtyard knew that Xu Mo had a close relationship with the Prefect of Anshui County.
Although Master Xu is fair and just, he would never abuse his power to bully others.
But the dark-skinned, thin woman didn't know that.
She was panicked and couldn't control herself.
But Zhang Qiquan was ruthless, and added, "Not only you, but your family won't escape either!"
The thin, dark-skinned woman finally broke down, knelt on the ground, and recounted the whole story of how she stole and sold the recipe for cured meat.
It was indeed the Wang family who approached her, giving her ten taels of silver in exchange for revealing the recipe for cured meat.
Ten taels of silver! That's enough for her to live on for the rest of her life, and enough for her husband's medical treatment.
So the dark-skinned, thin woman sold Zheng Ruqian without any remorse.
Of course, she regretted it now, tears streaming down her face, kowtowing repeatedly, "I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong, please don't cut off my head, don't cut off my man's head."
But it was too late.
Zheng Ruqian can't take her life, but he can kick her out of the workshop and make her lose everything.
But he hadn't said those words yet.
Xu Mo rushed over, grabbed his arm, and whispered in his ear, "Don't touch this spy yet, I can't contact Wang Fufeng..."
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