Chapter 14
"Oh, what do you think, young lady?" Liu Qin curled her lips and smiled, the desire in her eyes was self-evident.
"This is my sketchbook," Jian Xinyi handed her a few damaged pictures in her hand, "Give me a way to sell this sketchbook to Xianxianlou. I'll take 70% of the profit and you 30%."
Liu Qin took Jian Xinyi's sketch and looked at it carefully. "The sketchbook is not a rare commodity. Besides, Xianxianlou will open for business in a few days."
"Every bit you earn is a bit. Sister, take a few more books back and make money if you sell them." Jian Xinyi began to persuade her. She needed an ambitious woman like Liu Qin to help her. What's more, she was surrounded by women in Xianxianlou and had countless potential customers.
"Okay, I can help you." Liu Qin no longer hesitated. This matter was not difficult for her. "But where do you get the book?"
"In the alley of North Street. Wait for me to take you there." Seeing that the cooperation was going smoothly, Jian Xinyi came out from the corner after the conversation. Bai Yuanyuan just asked the two of them, "Where did you go just now? I couldn't even see anyone."
"We talked about something. Do you want to buy this?" Jian Xinyi said vaguely, looking at the hairpin in her hand. The purple crystals were stacked in layers to resemble wisteria, hanging on one side. "It's pretty."
"It looks good, right? This is it." Bai Yuanyuan happily took the hairpin and said goodbye to Jian Xinyi.
Jian Xinyi brought Liu Qin back to the bookstore. Old Lin was surprised to see someone coming. "Who is this?"
"It's Miss Liu Qin from Xianxian Tower. I asked her to get some picture books." Jian Xinyi didn't hide it and directly explained her purpose to Lao Lin. Regardless of Lao Lin's opinion, she picked up two or three books and asked her to look at them.
"Your storybook is really something new." Liu Qin flipped through a few pages, particularly interested in the option to turn the pages over. "Give me a few first. If they sell well, I'll send someone to pick them up."
"I'm sorry for the trouble, young lady." Seeing Liu Qin's defensive demeanor drop a little, Jian Xinyi breathed a sigh of relief. "Young lady is a straightforward person. She does things without dragging her feet and is very strategic."
"It's just a punishment for some bad people, why should you be so modest, young lady? I saw that the Lord of the Jinwu Guard treated you sincerely that day, so I believe that young lady can do the right thing in dealing with people." Liu Qin replied casually, but the speaker was unintentional and the listener was attentive. Old Lin secretly listened to several of her words, his eyes gradually deepening. "Zhuiyu, don't talk about business all the time. Would you like some tea, young lady?"
"Thank you, but that's all. I'll be leaving now." Liu Qin and Jian Xinyi gestured to each other, then left with the picture books.
Jian Xinyi turned around with a smile, only to find Lao Lin with a gloomy face. He asked her, "Why do you want to cooperate with such a person?"
"Xianxianlou has the most women in it. Moreover, they have received a good education and most of them are literate. They are our main customers, so there is no reason not to develop our business."
"But you have to know where that is." Lao Lin was still very angry. The scholar's temper was engraved in his bones and could not be changed.
"Of course I know, but we still owe others money. The most urgent thing is to make money quickly, rather than choosing whose money to make." Jian Xinyi is not as arrogant as Lao Lin. He just wants to make money, no matter whose money it is.
Lao Lin paused while making tea and couldn't help but comfort Jian Xinyi, "I know, so I'm not helping you. Let's just sell our own books and don't get involved with anyone else."
"I know you are worried about me, but Miss Liuqin is a good person and she is willing to help us out of kindness. Let's not say anything and just go and print some more." Jian Xinyi understood the stubbornness in Lao Lin's heart. Over the years, he had patched up his long gown and refused to change it even if it came unstitched, all because of his face.
But you can’t eat just your face.
Seeing that she had made up her mind, Lao Lin lowered his eyes slightly and said lightly, "Zhuiyu has become different after growing up."
After saying that, he turned and left.
Only Jian Xinyi was left standing there in a daze.
Did Lao Lin... discover it a long time ago?
Or is she just being overly suspicious?
Jian Xinyi looked at her hands. They were no longer as round and delicate as before, but as thin as dead wood. Only she knew this secret.
She would not tell anyone, no matter what, she was Lin Zhuiyu.
Warm sunlight slowly streamed in from the window of the bookstore. Jian Xinyi rested her chin on one hand and dozed off in the warm winter sun. Lao Lin had gone to the printing place and never came back. She looked at the shop bored.
"Hey, why isn't the old man here?"
A scholar-looking man walked in, wearing a wide-sleeved robe with cloud patterns that looked like a school uniform. It was unclear whether he was a student of that academy. Jian Xinyi walked out slowly from the back and told the truth, "My father has gone to print something, and he probably won't be back until later."
"There's something wrong with this book. The character '州' (state) in the book, which means "number one person in Yanzhou," is printed as '舟' (boat), which means "wooden boat." The man unfolded the book in his hand and showed it to Jian Xinyi. It turned out to be a collection of poems. She nodded nonchalantly. "What's the name of this book? I'll tell him when we get back."
"This book doesn't have a title yet. It's my own work. I asked Old Lin to print it for me." The scholar blushed when he heard Jian Xinyi's question, and his voice became increasingly quiet. His eyes, as delicate as autumn water, only dared to stare at the book. "Since Boss Lin is not here, I'll still..."
"It's okay. Many people come to my father to print books. If your handwriting is wrong, I'll ask him to correct it." Jian Xinyi stopped the man, her expression extremely serious, revealing a maturity that did not match her age. "Is there anything else?"
The man's face flushed again. "I just want to ask Boss Lin to come up with a name. Since he..."
Jian Xinyi looked around. Old Lin had been printing books more and more frequently recently, which made her think of the man in black she had seen in the bookstore before. She felt a little uneasy. After pondering for a long time, she said, "He must be out printing books. I don't think he'll be back for a while. If you don't mind, why don't you let me get it for you? Or do you have any other ideas?"
After saying that, she casually flipped through the poetry collection. The poems were indeed average, and could not be compared with the Yellow River's water that came from heaven, but they were still much better than one, two, three or four poems.
"Let's take Guangyu, which is also my courtesy name." The scholar timidly took the collection of poems. "Leave this to me as a souvenir."
Before Jian Xinyi could say anything, the scholar had already left. From his appearance, it was impossible to tell that he could run so fast.
She put the poetry collection away, and seeing that nothing was happening around her, she was just about to draw the side storyline about the cold-hearted man and the scheming man, when she heard the familiar sound of armor.
"Dad, why were you arrested?" Jian Xinyi hurried to the street corner. Two Jinwu guards were pushing Lao Lin from inside to outside, heading to the Jingzhao Yin's office.
She quickly closed the shop and ran to Lao Lin, "What's going on?"
The Jinwu Guard saw that she looked familiar and did not try to stop her, but his expression remained serious. "Someone reported him for selling banned books privately."
"How is it possible to sell banned books privately? My father has always been cautious, how could that be possible?" Jian Xinyi was very puzzled. Old Lin has always been conscientious in doing his duty. He even complained about selling books to Xianxian Tower. How could he embezzle and sell banned books?
She was worried and followed him all the way to Jingzhao Yin.
At the Jingzhao Yin's office, several Jinwu Guards escorted Lao Lin to the main hall. "Sir, the man is here."
"Sir, I am innocent." Lao Lin cried out to the sky, tears streaming down his face.
Jingzhao Yin drank a cup of tea slowly and spat out the tea leaves. "Lin Zhimin, did you print this book?"
Jian Xinyi looked at this scene, not knowing what was going on. Then she recalled the mysterious figure she had seen in the bookstore before. Could it be that...
"Yes, I printed it. I printed it because people paid me." Lao Lin's expression remained calm, he was just stating the facts.
"You daring and unruly man! Do you know what's written in this book? Why did you print it privately? The prosperity of Western Qin?" Jingzhao Yin's face turned pale and he threw the book down. Jian Xinyi hurriedly picked it up and went to check it with Lao Lin. They found that it was a hidden acrostic composed of the first characters of the first six pages of the storybook. Lao Lin hurriedly explained, "Sir, this is pure coincidence."
"Anyway, it's already a fact that you've illegally printed and sold banned books. Someone, come here."
Before Jingzhao Yin finished speaking, Jian Xinyi spoke first, "Wait a minute, sir. Although we printed this book, it is the only clue to the Western Qin rebels. Why don't you take this opportunity to catch them all in one fell swoop?"
"The Jinwu Guards will naturally be in charge of cracking down on the rebels. Lin Zhimin is already guilty of printing and selling banned books. Come, throw him in jail."
Jingzhao Yin glanced at Jian Xinyi and felt that she looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before. He thought that she must have committed some petty theft before, so he had no scruples and put the bookseller in jail.
Seeing that the Jingzhao Yin was unmoved, Jian Xinyi became anxious, but there was nothing she could do. Seeing that Lao Lin was about to be taken away by the Jinwu Guards, she hugged her tightly and said, "Sir, this book was printed by my nephew who forced my father to print it. Since there is a problem with the book, why don't you go and ask him?"
"How dare you slander the official like this?" Jingzhao Yin saw Jian Xinyi making random accusations and was furious. "Drag them away!"
"Sir, everyone on North Street knows that this nephew is trying to seize our shop. Didn't you also examine this case? He asked us to print this book today in order to frame us and seize our shop."
Seeing that this trick was effective, Jian Xinyi desperately held on to the nephew of the wealthy family. Even if he didn't do it, he must have been the one.
"Sir, I can testify that Qian Yuan was in charge of this case before. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask him." The Jinwu Guard who had helped Jian Xinyi in Wuhou Mansion before spoke up to testify for her and even dragged Qian Yuan into it.
Jian Xinyi couldn't help but laugh. She wondered what this person would feel if he knew that his colleague was the sixth prince of the current dynasty.
Jingzhao Yin's face turned pale. When Qian Yuan was mentioned, he suddenly remembered that this, this girl was the one who was next to the Sixth Prince that day.
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