Chapter 26 Chapter 26 [VIP]
Chapter 26
A one-month extension only delays death, but you still have to worry.
The family endured three days together, their mouths nearly covered in blisters. A month... someone would be dying of exhaustion. Second Master Qian hurried forward and bowed, "Don't worry, sir. My Qian family honors our duties and is wholeheartedly loyal to the court, without any selfish motives. But a month is too short for us salt merchants. The salt wells haven't even been opened yet, and the deadline is approaching. Do you think...?"
"Your Excellency is right." Qian Tong suddenly interrupted Second Master Qian's plea, took a month's salt permit from Wang Zhao, and knelt down to express his gratitude. "I thank you for giving my family this opportunity. I will not let you down."
Wang Zhao left.
Mr. Qian and Mrs. Qian stared blankly at the salt permit in Qian Tong's hand. They had thought about whether they would have it or not, but they never expected that this would be the result.
Mrs. Qian, who always flattered officials, couldn't help but curse at this moment: "This dog official has such a vicious heart."
Song Yunzhi was also there.
Hearing this, his eyes moved slightly.
In the past few days, he had gained Mrs. Qian's approval. She would call him over every day, and the four of them would sit together for meals. Before the officials arrived, Mrs. Qian had said, "We share hardships and happiness. As long as our family is well, we won't starve to death..."
I won’t die of hunger, but I will die of anger.
Isn't this a joke?
After Madam Qian finished scolding, she began to feel guilty. On the way back to the courtyard, she grabbed Qian Tong's arm and confessed her crime, "I, I go to the salt pile from time to time to get some salt. I'm a good friend of mine, so I give some to her and sell some to her. Have we been discovered?"
As a salt merchant, this small amount of money is nothing, and Mrs. Qian is not the only one who is being helped by the Qian family.
But when the government wants to deal with you, they can always find your faults. They don’t give it to you earlier or later, but at the last minute, and they only give you one month... Madam Qian’s heart sank. Could it be that the people in the court are waiting for them to admit their mistakes themselves?
Her face changed again and again.
She scares herself. People in the government like her the most. She's timid and rich. Who else should she kill? Qian Tong said, "Why are you panicking?"
She gave the salt permit to Mr. Qian Erye and said, "Sell it as long as it's sold. Tell everyone to do what needs to be done. Don't worry about the future. If my Qian family really doesn't do this business anymore, I will give them a penny of the money I paid."
Mr. Qian also wanted to say this, but he didn't have the confidence. If the salt permits were really lost, all the salt piles and salt wells would have to be handed over, and the Qian family would have no money left.
"With the little money left in our family, how can it be enough to fill..."
The family of three walked in front, guessing the court's intentions and future plans. Song Yunzhi followed silently behind them, not too far away and not too close, just enough to hear their conversation, but also keeping a proper distance to keep himself out of it.
After walking for a while, the young lady in front suddenly turned around.
The seventh uncle paused and met her gaze.
Young Master Song is still dazzling today, wearing a moonlight round-necked robe, with handsome eyebrows and eyes, elegant and majestic, and a face as white as jade, making people reluctant to desecrate him in the slightest.
The young lady looked at him intently, her gaze deep and long. Even the usually calm Prince Song couldn't help but feel uneasy under her gaze and asked her, "What's wrong?"
Her eyes sparkled, as if she had discovered a great treasure waiting for her to dig. She smiled and said, "I've found a job that suits you."
A look of vigilance appeared in Song Yunzhi's eyes.
"I'm planning to open a teahouse." She asked him, "How about you help me buy some tea?"
Song Yunzhi subconsciously clenched his hands behind his back.
She really couldn't hold it in any longer.
Before he could answer, Mr. Qian and Mrs. Qian also heard it. Mr. Qian was startled and turned to ask her, "Open a teahouse?"
Qian Tong nodded. "The Cui family has collapsed, and everyone is watching the Yangzhou teahouse business. I originally didn't intend to get involved, but Father has seen how difficult it is to get salt permits. Previously, we couldn't compete with the Cui family for business because of my sister. Now there's nothing to worry about. While the Cui family case is still unresolved and no one dares to take over, Father will go buy two teahouses first. I'll figure out the tea business with my son-in-law."
Any idea?
Mr. Qian has also been thinking about this recently. If the salt permit cannot be obtained, the Qian family will change their business and take over the Cui family's business. They can't just wait to starve to death.
Restaurants are fine, but teahouses...
There is no tea.
Over the years, the Cui family has almost monopolized the tea market by running teahouses. The first batch of tea entering Yangzhou was controlled by the Cui family. Even if other merchants wanted to make money, they had to purchase goods from the Cui family.
A few days ago, when the eldest son of the Cui family escaped, he took away all the tea in the city, and ten cargo ships sank to the bottom of the sea. Now, the price of loose tea in Yangzhou teahouses is almost rising to three hundred coins.
Where to buy at this time.
Qian Tong withdrew his gaze from the young master's face and reminded Second Master Qian, "Didn't the Cui family previously have two ships of tea that were robbed by bandits?"
She said, "My uncle and I will go buy it."
Apart from the police, what wealthy businessmen feared most since ancient times were robbers. They were difficult to guard against even in times of peace and prosperity. The Yangzhou government raised funds to suppress the bandits every year, but the robbers were still as rampant as ever.
A lot. When they heard that she was going to do business with the robbers, Mr. Qian and Mrs. Qian became more and more panicked.
"This is not right. The salt permit for a month is definitely not enough." He was so angry that he lost his mind. He comforted her, "It hasn't come to that yet. At least the salt permit has been delayed for a month..."
Qian Tong nodded perfunctorily, "Okay, go down the path on the left and call my uncle, 'Yun Zhen.'"
, no one can stop it.
Mrs. Qian knew that she would not listen to them, so she hurriedly said to her son-in-law who had followed her, "Please help persuade her. She is very bold, and we can't let her do whatever she wants."
After spending the past few days together, Song Yunzhi and Mr. Qian and his wife had become familiar with each other. He was no longer silent and would chat from time to time. His upbringing, ingrained in him, made it impossible for him to ignore the words of his elders. He had to stop, turn around and return the greeting, politely saying, "Junior will do his best."
When he made a promise to Mrs. Qian, Qian Tong twisted his neck and looked at him with interest.
The young man is poor, but he has good upbringing.
She waited for his best efforts, wanting to see how Young Master Song would persuade her. The two of them walked side by side down the corridor back to the courtyard. Qian Tong tilted his head and looked at him several times before Song Yunzhi spoke and asked her, "Do you really want to go?"
Qian Tong asked back: "Are you scared?"
Her eyes were provocative, clearly trying to provoke him.
When Song Yunzhi decided to give her the one-month salt permit, he was waiting for this moment. She was unwilling to confess the Cui family's smuggling case, so he could only force her into a desperate situation and let her go find tea on her own initiative.
She had tea in her hand. That day in the alley, he had drunk the tea brewed by the widow, which was the loose tea shipped from Shuzhou.
Once her hope of getting salt permits is dashed, she will set her sights on the teahouse.
He wanted to know where the tea came from.
However, at this moment, he looked at the arrogance in the girl's eyes, remembered the several whip marks on her back, and the bird's nest that would never be placed in front of her. When he thought about it carefully, he realized that she had never harmed anyone except himself. On the contrary, she gave porridge to save the people, destroyed the pawnshop, and raised the widows of the suffering workers, and was deeply respected and loved by the world.
Even though she was cunning and everything she did had ulterior motives, the results she achieved, as the people who received the porridge provided said, were truly good deeds.
At this moment, Song Yunzhi felt that at least she had a good heart. He shouldn't use her like this and put her in danger. So, he said, "Tell me the place. I'll go alone."
——
Before Prince Song decided to suppress the bandits, he personally went to interrogate the head of the Cui family.
No mask, no disguise.
When he saw Wang Zhaoshi, Mr. Cui no longer had any fear in his heart. He was certain that Wang Zhaoshi could not find any evidence. He glanced at the hem of his clothes and did not even want to open his eyes. "No matter how much you ask, I still say the same thing. The Cui family was harmed by Lan Mingquan..."
He heard footsteps approaching and stopping in front of him. What he heard was an unfamiliar voice, "Who promised you that there is still hope for the Cui family?"
The man who spoke was very young, but his voice was clear and silent, with a hint of solemnity.
Mr. Cui's face froze, he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the visitor. The young man was dressed in brocade, with sleeves as white as the wind and moon. His appearance could be compared to gold and jade, but Mr. Cui felt that he had seen such a face somewhere before.
He soon remembered.
The seventh uncle of the Qian family, whom Madam Qian Qi brought that day, was also very outstanding in appearance. He had just come back from meeting Lan Mingquan, and he took a look at him through the crowd, and his appearance was imprinted in his mind.
Why is the seventh uncle of the Qian family here?
Mr. Cui's mind was working faster than ever at this moment. The young master was of divine appearance and definitely did not belong here, but he was definitely not an orphan as the seventh lady of the Qian family said.
who is he?
People coming from the imperial court... Yes, he had heard from Lan Mingquan a long time ago that there were important figures among the people coming back, not only the Dali Temple Secretary, but also the young master of the Shen family, Shen Che.
But Mr. Cui, the young master of the Shen family, happened to know him, and he was not.
Then who is he?
Master Cui was racking his brains to guess his identity when the young master in front of him stepped forward and grabbed one of his arms with one hand. "I heard that the four major families have an unwritten rule: fighting between families is allowed, but they are not allowed to kill each other and destroy their foundations."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mr. Cui felt the hand on his shoulder suddenly become heavier, and then he heard the sound of his bones breaking. He widened his eyes in horror, and the intense pain made him scream.
The young master had the face of an immortal, but not the heart of a bodhisattva. He did not let him go, but continued to press down on his broken bones. "I am different. I specialize in killing unscrupulous merchants and eradicating them completely."
He had been to the battlefield, been injured, and knew how to inflict greater pain on the opponent.
Seeing the Choi family's head's face turning purple with pain, unable to scream, he temporarily withdrew his strength, giving him a chance to breathe, and asked, "Is it the Park family?"
Even though the head of the Cui family was sweating profusely from the pain, he still had the strength to shake his head.
"I guessed right." Song Yunzhi had expected this and remained calm. "I'll only ask you once, who are the participating merchants?"
The Cui family's patriarch saw that the young master in front of him was not as easy to talk to as Wang Zhao. He really had murderous intentions. There was no point in denying it. He hugged his broken arm, endured the pain, and confessed his guilt, "It's the boss who is confused and greedy for immediate benefits..."
"The Qian family is involved?" Song Yunzhi stared closely at the expression on his face when asking the question. He clearly saw a slight surprise flash in the eyes of the head of the Cui family.
No.
Song Yunzhi got the answer he wanted and picked him up again. This time, he put his five fingers around his neck and asked, "Where did the Cui family sell their tea? Where did the profits go?"
The head of the Cui family's arm was still hurting, and his throat was pinched so hard that he couldn't breathe. How could he have the strength to answer him?
Wang Zhao saw that it was almost done and reminded him, "Prince..."
Crown Prince?
He remembered the servant saying the Qian family's son-in-law's surname was Song...
The Cui family patriarch's brain, which was gradually depriving of oxygen, suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
Combining his appearance, age, and skills, it was easy to guess who he was. He was the eldest princess and the Marquis of Yong'an's only son, the Crown Prince of Song, Song Yunzhi...
The Emperor sent him?!
He had actually arrived a long time ago and was lurking in the Qian family. He was captured by the seventh lady of the Qian family and became the seventh son-in-law. The head of the Cui family did not have time to think about the future fate of the Qian family. He first reacted and wondered why he wanted to see him in his true identity today.
The head of the Cui family struggled violently, his eyes bloodshot.
Prince Song was determined to kill him today, and was certain that his identity would not be revealed. He also knew that he could not answer the questions he asked just now, and there was no point in keeping him around.
Two lamps were lit in the dim prison, placed beside the head of the Cui family, and Song Yunzhi had his back to Wang Zhao.
Wang Zhao didn't see how he killed the head of the Cui family, but soon he saw Prince Song let go, and the head of the Cui family fell to the ground with his eyes wide open.
Prince Song turned around, his expression calm, and said to him, "I'm going out tonight. I have secret guards with me, so you don't need to follow me. If I don't send a reply within an hour, you will take the cavalry and capture Qian Tong without asking why."
Wang Zhao had been accustomed to seeing him pretending to be the seventh uncle of the Qian family these days. When he saw him take a life so skillfully, he remembered that he was also once called General Song.
Wang Zhao asked him where he was going, but he didn't answer.
Song Yunzhi didn't know where to go. After dark, Qian Qi Niangzi arrived, preparing a few Qian family thugs for him and giving him Ah Jin. She leaned against the doorway, watching him carefully polish the bronze sword, and asked, "Can you do it alone? Don't you want me to come with you?"
Song Yunzhi did not respond.
Qian Tong walked up to him and said softly, "Although I know you're skilled in martial arts, I'm still worried. How about this? If you still haven't come out in half an hour, I'll bring Fu Yin to pick you up. What do you think?"
He doesn't need it.
Young Master Song had the same attitude towards his own kung fu as she did towards calculating people's hearts. He was very conceited. He looked up at her and said confidently, "Wait for me to come back."
Qian Tong pulled out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to him. "Give this letter to the man you meet. He'll give you the tea after reading it. As for the banknotes, he'll come to the Qian family to get them after the matter is completed."
The letter was sealed with wax. Song Yunzhi took a look at it, took it and put it into his clothes.
It was almost time. Qian Tong escorted the man to the door, watched him get into the carriage, and peered in through the side window. He instructed, "Song Langjun, if there's any danger, you can call me. I can hear you."
Song Yunzhi just hoped that she would be quiet tonight and never appear in front of him again.
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