Yan Xia was so shocked by these words that her face turned completely black.
"Alright, alright, stop nagging. I have to go now. Hurry up and eat while the meat buns are still warm." With that, she held her breath and left without looking back, her steps quick.
The dungeon stinks!
"Mmm, so delicious!" Deng Qiuzhi plopped down on the ground, grabbing the meat bun and wolfing it down, completely abandoning any semblance of decorum.
From the night before last until just now, he hadn't eaten a single grain of rice. The food in the prison was nothing more than watery porridge and stale, grayish-brown steamed buns, which he couldn't eat at all. He could barely drink the water.
"Officer, I'm out. Let's go." Yan Xia patted Xiao Qi, who was leaning against the outer wall of the prison cell in a daze.
"Yeah, pretty punctual," Xiao Qi replied, straightening up.
The two then returned the way they came, and after walking a few steps, they saw Wang Shufang and her family coming out of the county government office.
Yan Xia went in after they had walked out of the county government office.
"Finished reading? Now you can leave. Xiao Qi, see this lady out." Yan Xia had intended to try to bribe the head constable, but before she could even open her mouth or step inside, Xie Yan'an had already told her to leave.
She watched Xie Yan'an sitting in a chair, legs crossed, looking incredibly arrogant.
With no other option, Yan Xia had to leave first, unaware of what the Wang family had said to her.
Xie Yan'an, who was quite nice just now, is now ignoring her completely.
"Sir, may I ask what the relationship is between that member of the Wang family and that officer?"
As they approached the entrance of the county government office, Yan Xia asked in a low voice.
"Well..." Xiao Qi kept it a secret.
He pinched his right thumb, index, and middle fingers together and rubbed them quickly.
Yan Xia then realized that he was asking her for money.
They're incredibly greedy.
She took out another five taels of silver from her spatial storage and placed it in Xiao Qi's hand.
"Wang Guangyao's wife, Yu, is from the same village as my elder brother. He moved to the city after getting married. Their families used to have a good relationship. A few days ago, Yu contacted my brother. I advise you to stay out of this. Wang Guangyao gave my brother a lot of money, at least several tens of yuan, and promised to give him half if he got any money from Manager Deng. I don't know what your relationship is with Manager Deng, but you'd better stay far away to avoid getting into trouble..."
Although Xiao Qi was greedy, he still had a shred of conscience because he had just become an official.
He actually started trying to persuade Yan Xia.
"Thank you, sir. But Brother Deng is my good friend. If something were to happen to your friend, I'm sure you would intervene, wouldn't you? Isn't loyalty the most important thing in life?"
"I never expected you to have such awareness, Madam. It's truly rare. I thought women only cared about jewelry and clothes." Xiao Qi looked at Yan Xia with a hint of admiration in his eyes.
"Haha, to be honest, I have several children and I'm already in my thirties. I don't think about clothes, jewelry, or government officials anymore. I see that you're only a little older than my son, so I'll tell you the truth: I will definitely save Manager Deng. Not only will I save him, but I'll also have to trouble you to help me. Please don't be in a hurry to refuse. Do you know what the most painful thing in a person's life is?"
Before Xiaoqi could answer.
Yan Xia continued.
"The most painful thing is to never earn money in your life, watching your parents who raised you suffer from poverty and toil all their lives, only to be left with a host of illnesses in their old age, yet they refuse to get treatment to save money. At the same age, others are eating and drinking well every day, while you are worrying about where to get money next month so that your family won't go hungry. Other people's wives wear gold and silver, while your wife can't even afford a silver hairpin. She stands aside watching others boast about how well their husbands make money, and the bitterness in her heart is unspeakable. And what about your child? Do you want him to be unable to go to school and have to farm to make a living? Do you want him to be like you, having to beg for a living every day?"
As she spoke, Yan Xia began to empathize with Xiao Qi.
His face grew paler and paler.
It was obvious that Yan Xia had struck a chord with him.
"I have no intention of harming anyone; I only want to rescue my friend. Here is fifty taels of silver, enough for an ordinary family to live on for several years. Please help me out. If the Wang family conspires with your elder brother again, please be sure to tell me. My home is in..."
Yan Xia took out five silver ingots from her sleeve. If anyone was sober, they would be curious why her sleeve looked like a treasure chest, with an endless supply of silver.
But Xiao Qi was in the middle of breaking through her defenses, so naturally she wouldn't suspect Yan Xia.
"Once I rescue Brother Deng, I will give him another fifty taels, making a total of one hundred taels. I wonder if you, sir, would agree? Let's consider this a friendship. If you ever need anything in the future, just come to me, and I will definitely help you."
Yan Xia stuffed the silver directly into his hand.
Five ingots are very large.
Adding the previous five ounces, Xiao Qi almost couldn't catch it all.
He paused for a moment, then his expression changed drastically.
"I didn't expect you to be in your thirties, Madam. I thought you were the same age as me. May I ask how I should address you, Madam?"
He asked with a smile.
"You can call me Madam Yan, or Manager Yan, either is fine."
“Aunt Yan, I’ll act as the informant, but this is a secret between you and me. No one else should know about it. If the Wang family comes looking for my brother, I’ll go to your house to tell you. Alright, you should go back now. Walls have ears, so it’s not convenient to talk in detail.”
The affectionate address of "Aunt Yan" put Yan Xia at ease.
No one can refuse money that is offered to them, unless they don't have enough money.
She gave a soft laugh.
Leave the county government office.
They went straight to Zhu Changji's shop.
Manager Zhu knew almost everything that happened in Jiangnan County.
Yan Xia planned to ask him about Xu Wenyan, the magistrate of Jiangnan County.
"Hey, isn't this Manager Yan? It's rare to see you. How about we grab a bite tonight? Two new restaurants have opened in the county recently, and the food is really good."
As soon as Zhu Changji saw Yan Xia, he walked up to her enthusiastically.
"I'll skip the meal. I need to talk to you about something. Let's find somewhere to chat."
"Okay, let's go to the side. I have private rooms on the second floor of my teahouse."
Seeing Yan Xia's serious expression, Zhu Changji put away his smile and asked the waiter to brew a pot of the best tea and send it to the private room on the second floor. He then took Yan Xia upstairs.
After the tea was served, he closed the door to the private room.
"Manager Deng has been arrested and thrown into jail."
One sentence made Zhu Changji's expression change drastically. "What? How come I didn't know about this? What happened?"
He almost fell off the chair.
"Brother Deng got divorced a few days ago, you should know about it. He probably mentioned it to you. The Wang family, the woman he divorced, are all scoundrels. They wanted to squeeze money out of Brother Deng, so they falsely accused him of selling poisonous flower cakes. They even bribed the head of the county yamen officials, and the night before last, they had Brother Deng arrested and thrown into jail. They said they wouldn't release him until he got a thousand taels of silver. I just visited him in jail. This matter actually concerns us too. They framed Brother Deng, saying the flower cakes are poisonous. How can our shop operate? Who would dare to buy from us! We must resolve this as soon as possible while the people are still unaware of this!"
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