At midnight, just as the night watchman passed by, flames suddenly shot into the sky on the streets of Dashilan, and a woman in purple rode a horse galloping along the road.
Half an hour later, there was a knock on the gate of Ulanara’s residence, and Akdun was awakened by the servants on night watch at the gate.
"Steward, Miss Su Tao from Yue Lai Inn has arrived. It seems like something special is going on," the servant said quickly.
The butler, who was still somewhat dazed, instantly snapped out of it upon hearing his words.
“You dare say that,” the butler quickly rebuked.
He quickly changed his clothes and went to the backyard to find Su Lan.
At this moment, the inner courtyard was very peaceful. Fei Yanggu and his two sons had gone to bed early. The steward first pried open the door to Fei Yanggu's study. A'dun waited patiently and, not daring to delay, went into the shop to report to his master.
Hearing the commotion outside, Su Lan, who lived in the neighboring courtyard, came out of the hall and went to ask what had happened.
"Miss, quickly tell the princess that something has happened at the Yuelai Inn." Su Lan was startled; the steward wouldn't joke about something like this.
"Butler, please wait here for a moment. I will inform the princess immediately." Su Lan did not dare to delay and quickly went in to inform Qing Yan.
A moment later, Qingyan and the others gathered in Fei Yanggu's study. Her face was somewhat ashen. She had never made a mistake before!
"Princess, I have failed in my duty. The wine cellar of Yuelai Inn has been set on fire, and several nearby shops have suffered losses." Su Tao knelt on the ground and reported bitterly.
Su Tao was originally from Yin's Sticky Rod Office, and was considered an elite among Mulan. She was extremely careful in her work, and this was the first time she had ever made such a commotion.
"The nearby shops were also burned to the ground?" She stood up abruptly from her chair, looking at her in astonishment.
“It wasn’t all burned down, just the shops we just took over were burned down. After it was discovered, they started putting out the fire.” Su Tao sensed a conspiracy in this.
Qingyan did business by being kind to his neighbors and never had any arguments with them.
"Father..." Qingyan felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this, "Is it Dong E Shi?"
Fei Yanggu could not draw a conclusion for the time being; Dong Eshi was scheming, but they could not obtain evidence.
"Su Tao, is anyone injured in our inn?" This was Qing Yan's biggest concern.
"Princess, no one was injured, the fire didn't reach the inn, and none of the wine in our cellar was stolen," Su Tao said regretfully.
E Shuo looked at her with slight worry. Yue Lai Inn was Qing Yan's hard work over the years, and it was suddenly set up and almost ruined.
"Sutao, when you were putting out the fire, did the people from Shuntian Prefecture go there?" Saito thought about it; the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture was considered a branch of the Dong'e clan.
Shuntian Prefecture?
“My lord, the yamen runners from Shuntian Prefecture have not yet appeared. When I came here, they had not yet arrived.” Su Tao quickly shook her head.
"Let's go, E'shuo, you go find Shuntian Prefecture yourself. Saito, you come with me and Qingyan to take a look." Fei Yanggu quickly assigned tasks.
Qingyan felt uncomfortable, as those wines had essentially neutralized the effects of the space wine. Most of the customers who came to dine were there specifically for those wines.
I can't keep an eye on the shop these days. There's still a lot of raw liquor in the space, but not much white liquor brewed outside.
"Father, could it be the rival of Yuelai Inn?" Qingyan had a sudden inspiration.
Previously, some unexpected guests arrived at Yuelai Inn. One of them wanted to ask the waiter for the secret recipe for the wine.
Unlike other restaurants, Yue Lai Inn was specially prepared by Qing Yan, who had the waiters carry the wine.
"That's right?!" Fei Yanggu and his two sons were stunned. They sat in the carriage, looking at the little guy.
“A few days ago, it was said that Prince Rui’s servants said that the prince liked those wines. They should be smart and quickly present the wine recipes to him,” Qingyan said angrily.
After Su Tao told her, her impression of those ******** instantly soured. These people usually relied on their ancestors' glory to act arrogantly and domineeringly in the capital.
Prince Rui?!
Fei Yanggu and his two sons were all depressed. Her little inn was really attractive. Prince Rui was now nearly 30 years old, and his greatest hobby was drinking a little wine.
"Father, have I caused trouble?" Qingyan looked at their gloomy faces and felt increasingly uneasy.
Fei Yanggu shook his head. Kangxi's attitude towards the princes was very ambiguous. During the morning court session, the princes with iron caps basically did not attend, unless it was a major court assembly. Tomorrow was the major court assembly on the fifteenth...
Looking at the night outside the window, Qingyan felt a sudden unease, as if something was about to happen.
As they approached Dashilan, she could see flames shooting into the sky from the carriage. People in the shops on the street were working together to help put out the fire. Qingyan and his group's carriage was parked to the side. After Fei Yanggu and the others got off, he took a special look at the crowd. Most of them were shop assistants from nearby shops. The prefect and yamen runners from Shuntian Prefecture had not come over yet.
Just as E'shuo was about to lead his horse away, Fei Yanggu grabbed him and made them stand there properly. Such a big matter could not be hidden; it would be reported to Emperor Kangxi every year.
Regardless, Shuntian Prefecture would be attacked even if it didn't appear.
"Father, we can't let my sister be bullied like this." E'shuo was clearly annoyed that Fei Yanggu wasn't going to pursue the matter. He hoped that his sister's Yuelai Inn would get better and better.
Qingyan stood there, observing that the front of the inn was undamaged and the guests were unaffected by the chaos outside.
As she walked into the courtyard, she looked at the dark wine cellar and felt very uncomfortable.
Sure enough, those people remembered it was wine.
"Akedun, go and count the wine jars." The fire in the wine cellar was extinguished; everything was gone except for the wine jars.
Akdun hurriedly entered the steaming wine cellar and carefully counted the wine jars twice. There were 98 jars. Cold sweat instantly broke out on his back. Every day, Qingyan would prepare a full 100 jars of wine to welcome guests.
"Princess, two jars are missing!" Akdun reported cautiously.
She frowned. After analyzing the contents of the wine, she couldn't find the same taste, even though the original wine and the starter were different.
"Saituo, take Xiaoguai back. I'll handle this." Fiyangu had no choice but to protect his children.
This time, they are facing a prince with an iron-hat hat, which is not something that ordinary people can contend with.
Prince Rui was the old prince whom Kangxi trusted the most, and he never interfered in politics. Therefore, if he were to make things difficult for this prince over such a small matter, they would probably not get away with it.
"Ah Hun, will Father make trouble for Prince Rui?" Qingyan asked, sounding somewhat helpless.
She suspected that this was the work of Prince Rui's servants, and that someone might have plotted against Prince Rui's residence and Ulanara's residence.
"Probably not, Little Darling, you might really have to swallow this loss." E Shuo shook his head helplessly; the little guy was quite resigned. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
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