Xiao Tuo stopped and looked behind him: "Where are the people?!"

The shopkeeper blocked his sword: "Master Xiao, the people, ran away..." The one

who ran away was not No. 48, but No. 47. No. 48 was investigating a case in Jinzhou these days and was not in the capital at all. The shopkeeper just went to check and found that No. 47 was gone.

Xiao Tuo smiled sinisterly: "Li Changge's store is not good. You have forgotten all the rules set in the past, right? You dare to slander and frame?"

Xiao Tuo patted the shopkeeper's trembling face and said: "What do you think, should this store be closed?"

When the shopkeeper heard this, he almost knelt down to this ancestor.

But this is them who broke the rules.

This pawnshop has no name, and similarly, people outside call them by their street numbers. All the spies who came here would sign a life and death agreement and strictly follow the rules. Who can investigate and who can't. Everything they investigated must be recorded in detail without any falsehood.

But this spy No. 47 investigated Xiao Tuo and not only didn't tell anyone, but also turned right and wrong.

He must have been bribed and arranged an escape route.

The shopkeeper hurriedly said, "Mr. Xiao, how about this? I'll go and testify for you!"

Xiao Tuo loosened his collar and patted his clothes with a smile: "If it still doesn't work, your store..."

The shopkeeper interrupted him and hurriedly said, "It works, it works! It must work!"

——

"Madam. Miss." Tong Yuan stood at the door and said, "The person has been brought."

Jiang Yuanyi gently wiped away her mother's tears: "Mother, Yi'er is not stubborn, but you have been deceived by others."

Tong Yuan brought a person in. The person was wearing a stone blue cloud pattern dark silver straight gown, with a long face, sharp eyes, and a smile on his face. He looked like a smart man at first sight.

The shopkeeper was responsible for receiving and arranging the corresponding spies. Jiang had naturally met him before.

As soon as the shopkeeper walked in, Jiang stood up: "Why are you here?"

The shopkeeper looked apologetic and quickly bowed and said: "I came here specially to apologize to Madam Jiang!"

Jiang was confused and didn't know where to start: "Why are you apologizing, shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper said: "Today I checked the number of people and accidentally found that the person who was responsible for helping you investigate has escaped."

Jiang frowned in confusion: "Why did he escape?"

The shopkeeper explained: "He was instructed by someone to deceive customers, but he was afraid of the consequences, so he escaped. Madam Jiang, do you still remember that I rejected your request?"

Jiang nodded: "Yes. "

The shopkeeper said, "The person who accepted your request is indeed our spy, but he was instructed by others to approach Madam Jiang on purpose. Any information he provided to you cannot be guaranteed to be true."

Jiang was puzzled and said, "What you mean is... everything you gave me is... fake?!" The

shopkeeper quickly bowed and apologized, "We will also return all the commissions paid by Madam Jiang. If you need anything in the future, just come to me."

The shopkeeper remembered the anxious look of the young man waiting outside the courtyard gate, looked at Madam Jiang, and said, "I have been in the capital for more than 30 years, and I have a clear understanding of the big and small figures in the capital." He paused and smiled, "The person Madam Jiang investigated is a good person worthy of trust." Jiang was

a little dizzy by this series of words.

Jiang Yuanyi pointed out at the right time: "Mother, the news you got is false. When you went to Liu Street that day, someone calculated the time you would arrive and specially arranged for someone to say those words in front of you. Have you figured it out?"

The first time Jiang went to the pawnshop on Liu Street, she was rejected by the shopkeeper. The next day, she planned to go again. When she was about to reach the door, she saw a man coming out and said that the shopkeeper arranged him.

It was strange to think about it this way.

Jiang asked doubtfully: "I think it's strange when I think about it carefully, but who would do this?" Who

else could it be?

Jiang Yuanyi looked at Jiang: "Mother, Xiao's red book was just returned, and he came to my house in person. He was also able to arrange for the spy to escape. Didn't you expect that?"

Jiang pondered for a moment, and suddenly raised her eyes to look at Jiang Yuanyi: "Chu Huan?!"

Jiang Yuanyi nodded: "Yes."

Jiang's mood was a bit complicated. This Mr. Chu looked gentle and elegant on the surface, but he was secretly setting such a trap. Thinking of the words that she heard the women talking at the alley that day, it was Chu Huan who instructed her to say it, Jiang felt terrified.

Upon seeing this, Tong Yuan left the front hall, walked outside the mansion, and bowed to Xiao Tuo who was waiting outside: "Young Master, you can go home and inform the Duke and the Duchess."

The figure standing under the willow tree finally breathed a sigh of relief, raised his narrow black eyes, and stared at the mansion for a long time.

Jiang Yuanyi saw that her mother's expression finally relaxed, and waved to Xiaoqing.

Xiaoqing nodded, turned around and went out to get a red booklet.

Jiang Yuanyi stood up, took the booklet, handed it to his mother, and said softly: "Please accept it, mother."

When Jiang saw the red booklet, she knew it was a red book sent by the Xiao family.

Jiang accepted it with mixed feelings. Jiang Yuanyi handled it in an orderly and clear manner from beginning to end. She is mature and wise at a young age that is unmatched by others. Jiang looked at her daughter and said angrily: "It's not Xiao Tuo that I believe in, but you."

Jiang Yuanyi smiled, went up to hug her mother's arm, and said coquettishly: "Mom, trust me from now on, that's right."

Jiang squeezed Jiang Yuanyi's face: "You, you, you are really..."

-

Xiao Tuo was afraid of long nights and dreams, so as soon as he returned home, he dragged his father and mother to Jiang Yuanyi's house to propose marriage.

Fortunately, the gifts are all ready and go quickly.

For marriages between men and women in Ning'an country, after the woman accepts the red letter, the man comes to the door. Generally, the man's father comes to the door, which is the most formal and respectful. If the man's father and mother come to the door together, it is more important.

Chu Huan came to propose marriage alone, obviously without the consent of his parents.

The Duke and his wife personally came to the Xiao family to propose marriage. They were all smiling, friendly and polite, without any airs.

Jiang Shi also took it to heart, knowing that she was just a small merchant, but the Duke and his wife came to propose marriage for Yuan Yi.

The gifts prepared were not hastily prepared. A closer look revealed that they were carefully prepared.

She felt relieved.

The Duke and his wife also liked Jiang Yuanyi very much when they talked about her. There was no disrespect in their words.

Xiao Tuo was well-dressed and well-groomed. Putting aside those preconceived notions, he was indeed a handsome young man.

The key was that the Duke and his wife's attitude and character made Jiang feel at ease. She had heard that the two were in love. The Duke only married one wife in his life and did not take concubines. His eldest son also married only one wife.

Except for Xiao Tuo, the entire Xiao family was a good story in Ning'an.

Jiang Nansheng had important business to discuss today, and Jiang Shi couldn't make a decision on her own, so she made an appointment with the Duke's wife for the two families to sit down and talk.

Jiang Nansheng came back at dusk, and the side hall was already piled with gifts.

Jiang Shi and Jiang Yuanyi were waiting for him, and told him about the intention to marry into the Xiao family.

Jiang Nansheng frowned, but didn't express his opinion, but looked at Jiang Yuanyi on the side.

Since the Gao Mingxuan incident and the tea party, Jiang Nansheng knew that his daughter had grown up rapidly and was wise and insightful.

Jiang Nansheng was not a person who believed in rumors. He had met Xiao Tuo several times and had a good impression of him. Although he was a little ostentatious, he behaved in moderation. Jiang Nansheng also knew about the two times he rescued Yuanyi.

During these business talks, others occasionally talked about Xiao Tuo, saying that Xiao had changed his ways and had not been to brothels, bars, or casinos for nearly two months.

He was concerned about Xiao Tuo, so he asked him a few more questions, asking if Xiao Tuo was as lustful and dissolute as the rumors said.

Some people laughed, "Even if Xiao is not dissolute? How many people in the capital can be considered dissolute?"

He felt a little depressed.

Then he heard others say, "But Xiao is also strange. Every time he goes to a brothel, he drinks. I have never seen him fooling around with those women."

"In fact, Master Xiao didn't go to brothels very often. He went in once when he was in his teens, and rarely went there after he was beaten by the Duke of England.

I went there many times but only encountered him once. I saw him sitting there drinking and playing with a few other young masters. The box was open, and the other young masters were surrounded by beautiful girls, but he had no one around him. It was very strange at the time."

Several people found it strange: "Really?"

The man smiled and said, "The time I encountered him, a girl went up to him and tried to flirt with him, but he gave her a few sarcastic remarks with a cold face."

These people have been staying in the capital for many years and love to go to brothels and wine houses. They have heard more anecdotes about Xiao Tuo than Jiangnan Sheng, and what they know is more real.

Jiang Nansheng listened for a long time and realized that Xiao Tuo loved to hang out and have fun. He didn't care about his image or the opinions of others. He did whatever he wanted. He was really unrestrained, but he was definitely not as useless, lustful and dissolute as the rumors said.

Jiangnansheng looked at Jiang Yuanyi and said in a deep voice, "Father wants to hear the reason."

Jiang Yuanyi lifted her skirt and knelt down, saying in a clear voice, "Father, mother, I only want to be with you for the rest of my life, and live my life in peace."

Jiangnansheng knocked on the table, "There are many young men who have come to propose marriage, and there are many who are upright and knowledgeable. Why don't you consider them?"

Jiang Yuanyi suddenly raised her eyes and looked at Jiangnansheng. Her eyes were like a cold spring in the mountains, clear and bright, with light: "I only want to spend my whole life with him."

She didn't know what she was thinking of, and her eyes suddenly became red. Jiang Yuanyi folded her hands, leaned over and kowtowed, "I hope my parents will fulfill my wish."

Jiang Yuanyi seemed to be well-behaved and smart, and very obedient to her parents' wishes. But in this matter, Jiangnansheng and Jiang Shi saw Jiang Yuanyi's determination.

Jiang Yuanyi said that if she was allowed to marry someone she didn't like, she would become a nun in a nunnery. She didn't like anyone except Xiao Tuo, so wasn't it obvious that if they didn't agree to her marrying Xiao Tuo, she would become a nun?

The two didn't say anything, but looked at each other for a few seconds. Jiang Nansheng stood up and helped Jiang Yuanyi up: "Tomorrow, father will go to the Duke to discuss your marriage." Jiang Yuanyi

's eyes were a little wet when she heard it: "Thank you, father and mother for your support. "

The author has something to say: We will get married tomorrow. The wedding night the day after tomorrow. Wow, w ...