There are countless bookstores in Hangzhou, but only a few of them are truly well-known.
Xu Wei sent some people to make some inquiries and then focused their attention on the Zhou, Wu and Wang families.
Before Miaofengtang arrived in Hangzhou, these three companies together controlled almost 90% of the market share, with the rest just enjoying the soup.
Obviously, these three companies are the most suspicious.
But it is still difficult to determine which one it is.
So Xu Wei decided to send his men to these three stores to investigate and see if they could find any clues.
What surprised him was that, apart from the Wu family, the other two stores had imitations of Journey to the West.
This seems to explain something to some extent.
At least it shows that these two families are very sensitive to the emergence of this book and Miaofengtang.
As for the Wu family, you could say he was slow to react or that he looked down on his opponents, but he didn't seem to react in any overly extreme way.
Xu Wei couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
The Zhou and Wang families have great influence in Hangzhou City and their relationships are complicated.
It is not difficult to set fire.
The difficulty lies in how to avoid everyone's eyes and ears and set a fire without anyone noticing.
You should know that in the Ming Dynasty, every neighborhood was divided into districts, and the government office had special people patrolling.
Could it be that someone from these two families had made arrangements with the yamen officers in advance, allowing them to commit arson and murder with such impunity?
Thinking of this, Xu Wei couldn't help but gasp.
If that were true, it would be horrible.
But even so, he still had to investigate.
Otherwise, how can I be worthy of Mr. Xu's trust?
Miaofeng Hall was burned down, and the clues were naturally cut off. In order to dig deeper, Xu Wei decided to lure the snake out of its hole.
He still had the manuscript of the latest five chapters of Journey to the West, and decided to use it as bait to leak some information to see who would take the bait.
...
...
Little Penglai.
In a pavilion near the rockery, Zhou Youde squinted his eyes and listened to the troupe singing "The Story of the Sword".
A maidservant massaged his shoulders, and another one massaged his back.
Zhou Youde hummed with great enjoyment.
It must be said that the southern tunes sound more pleasant than the northern tunes. The Kunshan tune is so refreshing and pleasant when hummed.
"Master, this is a great joyous occasion."
Just then, Zhou Dafu, the Zhou family's steward, came up and said with a smile on his face.
"What good news?"
Zhou Youde asked lazily without even looking at him.
"Sir, it's Journey to the West...someone said they could get the latest manuscript."
When I heard about Zhou Youde, I immediately became excited.
This book really turned the Hangzhou book market upside down a few days ago.
The Zhou family is the dominant family in the bookstore industry, and is almost unrivaled in everything from printing to selling books.
It was precisely because this book was so poorly received that I had to make some damn imitation book.
Even so, the lion's share was taken away by Miaofengtang, and the Zhou family could only drink soup.
When had Zhou Youde ever suffered such humiliation!
Finally, Zhou Youde couldn't stand it anymore and decided to teach these outsiders a lesson.
Since you don’t allow me, Zhou Youde, to make money, then no one else should make any money at all!
A huge fire burned Miaofeng Hall to ashes, and Zhou Youde was in a good mood.
Although he hated it, he still admired the manuscript of Journey to the West.
So when Zhou Youde heard that someone had obtained the manuscript of this book, he immediately said, "Tell me about it in detail."
Zhou Dafu immediately told Zhou Youde the news he had heard, adding some exaggeration.
"Is this person really that capable?"
Zhou Dafu was eager to claim credit for his work, and said with a charming smile, "It's absolutely true. This man is an old friend of Miaofengtang's Dinghai headquarters, and he's responsible for delivering the latest manuscripts to Hangzhou. He's the one who delivers the manuscripts to Miaofengtang's Hangzhou branch. If we can get him on board, we'll get the manuscripts before Miaofengtang's Hangzhou branch."
Zhou Youde squinted his eyes and thought carefully, it seemed to be true.
"Is there a trick?"
It's a bit unusual that an old friend of the Xu family suddenly turned against them.
Zhou Youde is an old fox, so he naturally won't act rashly.
"Master, don't worry. I have already found out everything. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to report it to you."
Zhou Dafu swallowed his saliva and said happily, "Although this man is an old friend of the Xu family, he is frustrated. Originally, the Xu family wanted to promote him to be the store manager of this branch, but this Xu Wei took over everything. He is the store manager of the main store and the branch store at the same time. He is simply not giving him a way out."
"Oh? So he holds a grudge against the Xu family?"
Zhou Youde found it quite interesting.
"That's right. As the saying goes, people die for money and birds die for food. It doesn't matter who you work for. Since you are not valued in the Xu family, why don't you find another employer?"
Of course, you have to be sincere when changing your employer, and you must submit a letter of surrender.
It seems that this old friend of the Xu family intends to use the manuscript of Journey to the West as a token of his allegiance.
"Who in Hangzhou doesn't know the name of our Zhouji Bookstore? As long as the master is willing to help, there's no doubt that this kid will come after him."
As soon as Zhou Dafu finished speaking, Zhou Youde glared at him fiercely: "What do you mean I'm willing to take action?"
Zhou Dafu quickly slapped himself twice.
"Alas, I cannot speak. Master, please forgive me. Master, please forgive me."
"Okay, stop pretending."
Zhou Youde snorted in disgust and said, "Do it beautifully and don't leave any handle for others."
It’s not that poaching is wrong, but it can’t be done too obviously.
What's more, Zhou Youde planned to use this person for a long time, so he naturally didn't want his identity to be exposed too early.
"Hey, I understand!"
Zhou Dafu nodded quickly.
"Go down. Don't disturb me from listening to the opera."
Zhou Youde waved his hands impatiently and closed his eyes again.
...
...
Xixi, Hongyuan.
In the corridor, Hong Miaoyun paced as if she was worried about something.
Perhaps she was tired from walking, so she sat down by the side.
Looking at the koi in the pond, she was a little absent-minded for a moment.
"Miss, Miss..."
Cuiwen's voice was heard from a distance. Hong Miaoyun turned her head and saw the little maid running towards her in a hurry.
"What's wrong?"
"Miss, have you heard that Miaofeng Hall was burned down by a fire?"
Cuiwen ran closer and said breathlessly.
"What?"
Hong Miaoyun was quite surprised.
Why did the shop suddenly catch fire out of nowhere?
"A huge fire burned the shop to ashes. Miaofengtang is seriously injured now."
The little maidservant said somewhat dejectedly, "I don't know how many days it will take for Miaofeng Hall to reopen. It seems I won't be able to watch Journey to the West for the time being."
She and the young lady have been following this book recently, and it's really sad that it has suddenly been interrupted.
Hong Miaoyun bit her lip and said, "There's nothing we can do about it. Just wait a few days. A good book is worth waiting for. When Miaofeng Hall reopens, please give it a reward on my behalf as a token of your appreciation."
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