The news of the assassin infiltrating the Marquis of Lin'an's residence spread like wildfire throughout the capital.
The day after the incident, Gu Shaoqing had just opened his escort agency when he overheard the neighboring shop discussing the Lin'an Marquis's residence.
Without regard for anything else, he rushed to the Marquis of Lin'an's residence immediately.
Unexpectedly, before they even reached the gate, they were stopped outside the mansion.
They could only have the gatekeeper announce that they were there to see Nineteen.
The gatekeeper returned, saying that Nineteen was not in the mansion and that he had already told the servants to inform Nineteen immediately.
Having neither a formal invitation nor a formal visitor's invitation, and being a man, Gu Shaoqing was hesitant to directly approach Lu Qiqi, given her unmarried status, and could only return to the escort agency.
Since its opening, Tianlang Escort Agency has received a number of orders, all of which specifically request bamboo paper from Tianxin Village.
However, these orders were all very similar; all of them involved picking up the goods themselves from the escort agency, without needing to have them delivered to the door.
Gu Shaoqing had been delivering goods with his father for many years, and now he traveled all over the country, but he had never received such a shipment before, so he couldn't help but pay more attention to it.
He quickly discovered the mystery the very next day.
The same customer placed another large order the very next day; such frequent occurrences must be suspicious.
So he sent one of the more efficient men from the escort agency to follow the customer and check on the situation.
Unexpectedly, the customer turned out to be the owner of a paper mill.
Before Lu Qiqi went to the border town, she had already made the secret recipe for bamboo paper public.
Paper mills were all the rage in various parts of the Great Jin Dynasty, but in the end, they all chose to give up making bamboo paper because their production costs could not match the selling price in Tianxin Village.
Could it be that these paper mills want to revive their old dreams and try again?
Thinking of this, Gu Shaoqing went to the Marquis of Lin'an's residence again.
...
The Marquis of Lin'an's residence.
Lu Qiqi was polishing the gold needles, preparing to go to the escort agency in the next couple of days to have Biaozi use the needles.
Nineteen hurriedly walked in, his usual playful expression gone.
Seeing his appearance, Lu Qiqi dismissed Qingdai, who was serving her.
"What happened?"
Nineteen said, "The county magistrate has already received news about the Shadow Guards investigating the Genji Study."
Lu Qiqi paused in wiping the gold needles. "Oh?"
Nineteen explained, "The Shadow Guards discovered that all the bamboo paper in the Genji Study had been bought by a young master surnamed Qian."
I wonder what that young master Qian's intentions were, as he only sent the bamboo paper to the paper mill in the south of the city this morning.
This wasn't hard to explain; Lu Qiqi immediately had an idea in her mind.
The assassination attempt on the Marquis of Lin'an's residence caused such a commotion that the paper mill in the south of the city passed by the Dali Temple.
If Genji's study had delivered the bamboo paper yesterday, they might have run into the Dali Temple officials.
It's better to avoid trouble.
Lu Qiqi wiped the last gold needle clean, carefully wrapped it in silk cloth, and asked in a low voice, "Have the Shadow Guards found out who's behind the paper mill?"
The nineteenth item reads, "Minister of Revenue, Qian Lishe."
The Ministry of Revenue controlled the treasury of the Jin Dynasty. With the national treasury empty, Qian Lishe, the Minister of Revenue, sided with the central government.
Lu Qiqi said, "It seems I took something from someone else's plate, and now they're trying to cause me trouble."
When she handed over the papermaking formula, she not only did not return to Tianxin Village as she had expected, but instead witnessed the cruelty of war for more than half a year in the border town.
She just couldn't understand why they would buy so much bamboo paper. Even if it was a commercial war, with the low price of bamboo paper, only students from poor families would benefit.
Moreover, there will always be times when she can't afford the losses from buying bamboo paper; it's just a matter of time, and it won't affect her normal business operations and income at all.
The Minister of Revenue has not yet taken any further action, and there is no way to prevent it in advance.
"Have the Shadow Guards continue their watch and report back immediately if there is any news."
After Nineteen responded, he planned to go to the escort agency later.
After two busy days, I only learned today that Gu Shaoqing had come looking for me. I don't know if it has delayed things.
Just as he was about to take his leave, a servant came to report.
“People from the Tianlang Escort Agency have come to visit outside the manor, saying they are looking for the Nineteenth Young Master.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Qiqi immediately instructed her servants to invite Gu Shaoqing into the mansion.
Standing outside the Lin'an Marquis's residence, Gu Shaoqing's eyes lit up when he learned that the Princess of Kangle County had invited him. He then followed the servants into the residence.
He had originally planned to relay the message to the county magistrate through the Nineteenth Prince, but now he doesn't need to go through that trouble, and he can find out how to handle the situation much faster.
Gu Shaoqing followed the servants through the long corridor, past the waterside pavilion, and finally arrived at the courtyard where Lu Qiqi lived.
Upon entering the house, he saw two people inside, one standing and one sitting.
When Lu Qiqi saw him enter the room, she said, "Manager Gu, please have a seat."
Gu Shaoqing had known her for a long time, and since they had something to discuss, he didn't pay much attention to formalities and quickly walked over to sit down.
Lu Qiqi poured him a cup of tea. "I just heard from Nineteen that you came here yesterday. Did something happen?"
Gu Shaoqing said, "The county princess is indeed a brilliant strategist!"
He then truthfully told the two men about the large number of orders the escort agency had received in the past two days.
Lu Qiqi and Shijiu locked eyes for a moment before shifting their gaze back to Gu Shaoqing.
"Nineteen found out that all the bamboo paper from Genji's study had been sent to the paper mill in the south of the city."
Gu Shaoqing asked, "Now that we know they have ulterior motives, should we return all these orders?"
Lu Qiqi shook her head, "No, we not only need to provide bamboo paper on time and in the required quantity, but we also need to ask the paper mill to prepare more pulp."
Making paper pulp from bamboo takes time, but turning paper pulp into bamboo paper takes only a few days.
She planned to see what Minister Qian would do next. She was the one who set up the paper mill, and if Minister Qian had other ways to make money, she would be the one to benefit.
Lu Qiqi didn't explain much, only telling Gu Shaoqing to deliver the goods as usual, and to keep him informed of any follow-up developments.
After he failed to find Nineteen yesterday, Lu Qiqi specifically instructed, "If Nineteen is not in the manor, you can have someone inform me directly."
"I don't have so many rules at the Marquis of Lin'an's residence. There's no need to be overly cautious about these things, lest we be bound by them and lose sight of the bigger picture."
Gu Shaoqing understood what she meant by the separation between men and women.
These past two days, he hasn't been able to find anyone or send any messages, making him as restless as an ant on a hot fire.
Her words made him feel much more at ease.
"Yes, Your Highness."
After Gu Shaoqing left, Lu Qiqi remembered the twenty assassins lying in the Dali Temple.
She asked Nineteen, "How does your young master plan to deal with the assassins from the Dali Temple?"
Wu Qi sent assassins to kill him, and even though the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review knew it was her doing, he was unable to produce any evidence.
It would be difficult to directly report the matter of a marriage alliance between the Great Jin and the Tatars to the emperor, wouldn't it?
You can't present the emperor with beef jerky that's still inside the assassin's stomach.
Moreover, she didn't tell the emperor about her assassination attempt on Tadar, so bringing it up now is not a good thing.
Nineteenth, “The county magistrate’s guess is correct.”
However, the Crown Prince has already instructed the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to detain the case and investigate further, intending to find out about the brothel founded by Sudiya before making the matter public!
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