When it comes to the art of speaking in a way that touches people's hearts, she is indeed far from it.
Xiao Nanhui sighed inwardly and was about to pick up the teapot when his eyes suddenly stopped at the face of the middle-aged woman who served the tea.
If meeting the head of the Zou Mansion's guards in the inn could barely be considered a coincidence, then meeting the mistress of the Zou Mansion on the boat at this moment could not be considered an accident, right?
Zhao Ximei's eyebrows were drooping, and there was no trace of her former domineering attitude. The skillful way she turned and retreated made Xiao Nanhui twist his neck to watch for a long time.
Shen Linlin noticed her gaze and couldn’t help but snorted coldly.
"What's so good about a stray dog?"
In just eight words, her guess was instantly confirmed.
The Zou Mansion disappeared overnight, and it was indeed the work of the Shen family.
When she sent the letter and received no reply, she felt something was amiss.
If she hadn't personally visited Murhe and gotten lost in the Zou Mansion, perhaps she could have convinced herself of the so-called move. But she had seen how large the Zou family was. How could such a family just disappear without a trace?
If an enemy came to kill his entire family, which enemy would be so thoughtful as to clean up the scene and transport the body out after killing someone, making it seem like nothing happened?
If they had gotten wind of something and moved their entire family away, it would seem reasonable, but in reality, it was even more unbelievable. You have to know that there were at least a hundred people in the Zou Mansion. Even if they dismissed the servants and only kept the people in the mansion, it would take them ten days to pack up their gold and silver, and pack them into dozens of boxes. How could they disappear from the city in one night in full view of everyone?
But if someone helps, the situation will be very different.
The person who intervened must be more powerful than the Zou family, and can even stand firm in Huozhou.
"You are the ones who kidnapped the Zou family?"
"What do you mean by rob?" The young man glanced at her, seeming quite dissatisfied with her choice of words. A hint of disdain lingered in his tone. "The Zou and Xiong families have been raking in a lot of money in Murhe over the years, but they're just greedy gazelles. Once they're fattened up, they'll naturally be slaughtered. If left unchecked, the entire grassland will be eaten bare."
As soon as these words came out, Shen Linlin finally looked a little like a member of the Shen family.
This was the Shen family's method of ruling the northern counties. If they sent clan members to monitor every state and county, they wouldn't have enough manpower or effective means, and the noise would be too loud, inevitably crossing Tiancheng's bottom line.
Therefore, they chose to allow the local clans to grow stronger, keeping a close eye on them both openly and covertly. Once the power of a local clan expanded to a certain level, they would seize the opportunity to slash its throat and eliminate it completely. This would give the people who had been exploited and sucked dry a little time to recuperate, but within three to five years, new fat sheep would emerge, and the cycle would begin anew.
And standing back ten thousand steps to observe the Shen family, sitting and lying on this fertile land, wasn't she also a fat sheep raised by the royal family in the north? But this fat sheep was smarter and knew not to eat too much fat and strong, so that the first autumn fat would become the flesh and fat for the national treasury to survive the winter.
Greed, stubbornness and love of profit are the root causes of destroying a country and killing one's life.
At its core, it is nothing more than a technique of checks and balances.
Xiao Nanhui raised his eyes to see the expression of the man in front of him. He had obviously known about Shen's actions long ago, and his face did not show any emotion when he heard the news.
Or perhaps, he knew from the beginning that Shen would be waiting for him here, and the legendary ribbon weaver was the person they were about to meet.
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of the water around slowed down and the speed of the boat also slowed down.
She looked at the water in the moonlight and realized that the ship had entered an open area of water. There were large mudflats and reed marshes all around, and some narrow sampans were shuttling back and forth. It looked even busier than the Dafengdu Wharf during the day.
On both sides of the river are endless fir forests, and the sharp and towering shadows of the trees are connected together, like the claws and fangs of a giant bear.
Surrounded by black water and fir forests.
She knew where this was.
"We're here." Shen Linlin's voice came from the bow, a little hurriedly, "Hurry up and get off the boat, don't delay!"
Xiao Nanhui glared at Shen Linlin.
I didn't see him in a hurry when we set out just now. I wonder what he is in a hurry for now?
Ding Weixiang was the first to get off the boat. He looked around before picking up the man.
Xiao Nanhui followed closely behind, and when he reached the edge of the deck he discovered that the ship was more stranded than docked.
There was no plank between the boat and the shore, so if you wanted to get off the boat, you had to step into the mud.
Was this an unintentional poor hospitality or a deliberate show of force?
Shen Linlin, who had already walked dozens of steps, kept urging him, so Xiao Nanhui had no choice but to roll up his clothes and jump off the boat.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, she instantly felt that this muddy beach was not muddy like ordinary river mud, but soft and fine, like some kind of sandstone shallows. Under the moonlight, the sandstone was vaguely visible, a lifeless black, just like the water she had just passed.
While I was distracted, several boat trackers passed by pulling tow ropes. They pulled the empty boats side by side to the river mouth not far away. There, a group of big men pushing mud prying machines were loading baskets of black things onto the boats.
Those baskets were about half a person's height, and were filled to the brim with stuff. The big men would sink half a foot into the mudflat every time they picked up one, and they would have to take a few breaths on the spot after carrying each one.
Xiao Nanhui paused, and suddenly understood what was mixed with the black stone beach under his feet and what was in the basket.
It turns out that the word "black wood" does not really describe the color of those ancient fir forests, but refers to a resource that is unique to this place. It is the same thing as the black substance mixed in the belt that the emperor had mentioned earlier in the carriage.
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