Chapter 47
The peddler was right. Su Guoer had also heard of the great reputation of the Imperial City Bureau.
They serve the royal family exclusively and are equivalent to the royal family's henchmen. Every arrest is almost always at the instruction of the royal family. Once someone is arrested and imprisoned in the Imperial City Prison, the crime is probably settled.
Now the only thing left is direct conviction from the Heavenly Family, right?
The sullen-faced peddler said: "Ah? Could it be that Master Qi accepted bribes?"
"But I heard that this Lord Qi is very poor. He was born in a poor family in Suizhou. He has been an official for 30 years and his mother still lives in a dilapidated two-story blue brick and tile house. His family is so poor that his colleagues always shed a few tears when they visit his home, then wipe their sleeves and say that Lord Qi's life is too hard, it is really too hard!"
The way this black-faced peddler speaks is quite interesting. His imitations are very vivid and entertaining.
The peddler with the white scarf said: "That's what he said, but don't you think Lord Qi is exaggerating? I've always felt something was wrong. How could an official in Bian Jing be so poor? Who wouldn't take a little? Are there really such honest people?" He really didn't believe it.
"...Uh, well, you can't say that about others. What if he really is a good official?"
The peddler in the white scarf curled his lips and said, "What a good official's son is, yet he spends every day in brothels and even buys a skinny horse to keep at home?"
"This skinny horse must cost several hundred taels of silver, right?" "How much is Lord Qi's annual salary? Even with the subsidies from Lord Qi's wife's family, most people wouldn't be willing to spend that much money."
Qi Xian? Qi Zhang? Su Guoer frowned upon hearing this.
Aren’t these the two people that Prince Pei invited to his house a few days ago?
Then this Lord Qi must be their father?
Su Guoer felt a chill in her heart. This meant that she believed what the white-turban peddler said. The father and son of the Qi family were indeed not good people.
The black-faced peddler said, "So, Lord Qi really embezzled money? Alas! It's really like the tiger eats meat, and the people eat dirt. So it's not unjust that Lord Qi was arrested! Once we enter the Imperial City, Lord Pei will be the one to make the decision. Sooner or later, we will make them spit out what they have eaten!"
"That's right, spit it out! These officials are really no good, using the people's money to raise skinny horses for their sons!"
As he was talking, he started cursing right there under the influence of alcohol.
The cursing was loud, but no one cared. And since cursing wasn't illegal, what was wrong with a few curses? Just ignore them.
"But I heard that this person has been locked up in the Imperial City Prison for several days without being convicted. They said they were looking for something, and if they found it, they could convict them. I think it's silver, piles of silver!"
Finally, the topic came to the point. Su Guoer looked up at the two people.
The two men were now leaning close to each other and whispering something. Perhaps they were planning to get back the hidden silver?
She shook her head. How could this silver be so easy to find? Even if they did find it, it would be dirty silver. If they held it, they would only be implicated.
"I heard someone has been planning to visit the Qi family's house at night. Maybe the dirty silver is hidden there. If we find it, taking one or two hundred taels shouldn't be a problem!"
"This is a chance to make a fortune. What do you think? Do you want to do it?"
Although the two of them were whispering carefully, Su Guoer took in everything.
One can't help but think that they are wishful thinking.
It’s none of her business anyway, and she can’t control what others do.
This is one of the advantages of opening a shop. Occasionally, you can listen to all kinds of gossip in the streets and even in the city of Bianjing, such as who in which factory is in love with whom, who had a fight with whom, or what good things the Hu people brought from outside.
She could hear it all, but she just needed to judge whether the news was accurate.
At least eight or nine out of ten pieces of news were accurate. Just like the Qi family corruption case just now, she believed it. Qi Zhang was indeed not a good person.
After dinner time, the remaining two tables of people left. Su Guoer directed Li Si and others to clean up the tables, chairs, dishes and bowls, while she began to prepare the things to be sold in the evening.
If nothing goes wrong, there should be a group of diners coming into the restaurant to eat near dusk, but there won't be too many people. More people will wait until dark when the night market opens, and sit at the stalls to try the special foods.
So it won’t be too busy at night.
Su Guoer took advantage of this afternoon to chop the mutton, and rolled out the dumpling wrappers with Pang Ya and put them aside.
There was still a lot of braised meat left, so I stopped braising it for now. Meanwhile, the stove that Su Guoer had customized arrived, also on a small cart, and was placed directly outside.
By tomorrow morning, I can light the stove and make duck fat pancakes.
Crispy duck fat pancakes.
She was also a little greedy for it.
As for the evening, Su Guoer and her friends had a big pot of stewed pork, cabbage and tofu. There were five pounds of pork in the pot, so when the dish was served, there was a layer of oil floating on it.
Sprinkle some chopped green onions and it will be delicious!
In addition, a plate of fluffy leek and egg fried together with large white steamed buns fresh from the pan was served. Li Si ate seven steamed buns by himself, and Pang Ya ate even more, only stopping after eating eleven.
Everyone was stunned.
But everyone knew that Pang Ya was strong, so tasks like moving heavy objects in the yard were basically given to Pang Ya, and they couldn't say anything.
The meal was eaten up in no time and the few of them finished it quickly.
After finishing the meal, Li Si didn't forget to pat his belly: "Boss, your cooking skills are amazing! The meal you made is so delicious! It's better than the dishes in big restaurants!"
"If I could eat this kind of food every day, I would be willing to do it even if I didn't get paid monthly!"
He had a feeling that he would gain two kilograms in a month with Su Guoer!
Chunniang and the others just smiled and quickly went back to their own business.
The owner of the butcher shop over there delivered the fresh meat, as well as mutton offal and other things. They needed to clean them, put them in a pot and braise them overnight, so they could eat them directly tomorrow morning.
After finishing my work, I helped Su Guoer make pot stickers.
Making pot stickers is a rather complicated job, and you also have to help sell them.
Su Guoer asked Chunniang and Li Si to stay and help, and asked Cui Niangzi to go back first.
In the future, the store will not need so many people. The three of them can take turns to rest for a night and work in pairs.
Let Madam Cui come over tomorrow morning to help sell mutton soup and sesame cakes.
This way they can have more time to rest, and Su Guoer won't be too busy.
Of course, there is an hour's break at noon, and they can leave by asking for leave, but it is difficult for them to be back in time for lunch. Su Guoer thinks they probably won't go back.
After all, the food here is not only delicious but also has plenty of meat, which is comparable to the food that ordinary people make during the New Year and other festivals.
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