A sandalwood incense stick was burning in Zhang Pei'er's study.
Thin wisps of smoke curled up, swaying in the gentle night breeze.
She sat in the chair and looked at the graceful Tan Yan, thinking about the failure of Fu Xiaoguan's mining permit. She wondered what he would think when he knew it was her doing.
Will he come to beg me?
If he comes to ask me for help, should I agree or not?
Why would he give up his job as a landlord's son and go into mining? Could it be...he had other plans?
What this man did was becoming increasingly incomprehensible. Regardless of him, we had already stopped him from wanting to mine, and then we would stop him from drinking!
A smile appeared on Zhang Peier's face. This was quite interesting.
Then she looked out the door. The man in black landed at the door, walked in, and said in a low voice, "Eleven has brought what the lady needs. Please take a look."
The man in black handed over a piece of letter paper. Zhang Pei'er took it, glanced at it, then took out a tinder and burned it. He said, "Tomorrow someone will come from the lower village. Go to the south gate to pick him up and take him to the Qi Mansion and hand him over to Qi Yuanming, the eldest son of the Qi family."
"Eleven, as you command."
"You go ahead."
The man in black took his leave, and Zhang Pei'er sat looking at the sandalwood for a long time before leaving the study and entering the boudoir.
Su Mo also quietly left Zhang's house, returned to the backyard of Fu's house, and went directly into Fu Xiaoguan's room.
"Although I don't know what they are doing, I don't think it's a good thing." Su Mo told Fu Xiaoguan in detail what he saw. Fu Xiaoguan frowned and thought about it, and roughly knew what happened.
The Qi family is in the wine business. Someone came from the lower village, and it was probably someone from their own winery. This matter was passed on to Zhang Pei'er from the west courtyard, so the Qi family must be one of the masterminds.
They bribed a master in their own winery and wanted to steal the secret recipes of Xiangquan and Tianchun.
"Don't tell anyone about this. Just you and I will know about it. We will set out early tomorrow morning to rob this man."
"Xiu'er, you stay here. If anyone asks me where I've been, just tell them I went to Linjiang Academy."
…
A roadblock was set up in the valley leading from Xiacun to Linjiang.
Su Mo, dressed in black and carrying a black sword, stood proudly in the middle of the road. "The government is investigating bandits. All vehicles please stop for inspection!"
This was of course the evil idea of Fu Xiaoguan. Su Mo was very annoyed. How could you pretend to be an official like this? You should at least get a set of police station clothes.
There was definitely no written warrant. Su Mo was worried that someone would resist the inspection and it would be difficult to deal with the situation, but he didn't expect that the carriages would stop obediently and allow him to search.
It turns out that you can use a tiger's skin as a banner in this way.
Fu Xiaoguan was wearing a white robe and holding a folding fan while sitting on a chair. He waved the fan and watched every person getting on and off the carriage. He remembered everyone in the West Mountain Villa clearly, whether they had a name or not. He believed that as long as he saw them, he would be able to recognize them.
Then he saw someone he knew getting out of a carriage.
He was a laborer in the winery named Liuzi, whose job was to carry the lees.
Fu Xiaoguan laughed and walked towards Liuzi. Liuzi was holding a small bundle and was nervously waiting for the government's inspection, but suddenly he saw the young master.
His face tightened and his heart suddenly hung in his throat, but he saw the young master waving at him with a warm face.
He swallowed and walked over slowly.
"I remember your name is Liuzi."
Liuzi nodded.
"I still remember that you have an elderly mother at home, and you are a filial son."
"I've been thinking about this for a long time, but I can't make up my mind. Could you help me see if this idea is feasible?"
Liuzi's legs trembled and he held the bag tighter.
"I'm thinking of changing your status to that of a servant of the Fu family. This is very simple, and doesn't even require your consent. According to Dayu law, a master can execute a servant without being convicted. As for your death, your old mother will be able to enjoy her old age, but there will be no one to see her off."
Liuzi's face turned pale instantly. He opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.
The smile on Fu Xiaoguan's face gradually faded, and Liuzi felt a chill coming over him. It was a chill that penetrated his heart, so cold that he felt his heart had stopped beating.
"What do you think?"
These few words seemed to carry a heavy weight, and Liuzi fell to his knees with a thud.
"I deserve to die. I was blinded by that lard. Please, Master, let me go. I kowtow to you, kowtow to you."
Fu Xiaoguan did not ask him to kowtow, but helped him up.
The roadblock over there had been removed, and Su Mo and the driver were standing nearby.
"Tell me, who told you to do this?"
"It's Master Li. Master Li asked me to deliver a letter to Linjiang. Someone is coming to pick it up."
Liuzi opened the bundle tremblingly, took out the letter inside and handed it to Fu Xiaoguan nervously.
"Oh...how much did he give you?"
"One, one thousand coins."
Liuzi knelt down again, wailing loudly, "Master, my old mother is seriously ill, and I have nowhere else to go..."
Fu Xiaoguan took out the letter and took a look. Inside were the formulas for Tianchun and Xiangquan, as well as drawings of all the processes and equipment.
It is quite detailed and much better than what Fu Xiaoguan made back then.
"Get up."
"I dare not."
"I told you to get up!"
Liuzi stood up tremblingly.
Fu Xiaoguan looked at the driver, who quickly waved his hands and said, "I don't know anything. I'm just a clerk in the carriage shop in Xiacun. I just took this business to Linjiang."
Fu Xiaoguan looked at Liuzi again, and Liuzi wiped his nose and nodded.
"Get in the car and follow me."
"Master, don't kill me!"
"Master, I won't kill you, but it depends on your next performance. Let's go."
The two carriages arrived at the nearest village. Fu Xiaoguan greeted the clan leader warmly, asked for pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and sat on the worn table to write and draw. After thinking for a while, he said to Su Mo, "You come and copy it. My handwriting is too ugly."
The two carriages set off again and stopped by a stream. Fu Xiaoguan got off Liuzi's carriage, got on Su Mo's carriage, and galloped away.
Liuzi's carriage started slowly again and headed towards the river.
"Aren't you going to Xishan to deal with the traitor?" Su Mo asked, turning his head sideways.
"No rush. I remember my father signed some kind of agreement with them to keep it secret. Let's go back and take a look, and then make this Li Erniu a servant of the Fu Mansion."
This guy is going to kill someone. He is quite cruel.
"Then... Qi, what are you going to do?"
"She's about to give birth, after all. It's not good to scare her right now. Let's take it easy first, and let her watch a play. It would be best if she can understand. If she still can't understand... then I'm sorry."
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