Chapter 114

Feng Shuo’s people interrogated the former officials Yang Zheng had brought in, but they didn’t get anything out of them.

These former officials knew only a little about the treasure map, and had never even seen what the parchment scroll looked like.

Feng Shuo’s staff read various ancient books and tried many methods, but they still couldn’t figure out what was on the treasure map. They gradually realized that the map was probably a cover to lure Xing’an Hou into a trap.

The news that the treasure map was fake spread, and after Jiang Yanyi brought Ruyi Tower and the noodle shop to join the Chamber of Commerce, he began to incite the merchants in the Chamber of Commerce to donate for military supplies. The merchants suffered heavy losses and complained about the government.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the military camp was short of money. They were originally skeptical about whether the treasure map was fake, but seeing that the government was forcing merchants to pay, they believed it.

Jiang Yanyi still couldn't figure it out. If the female itinerant doctor just wanted to use the fake sheepskin scroll to deceive the Marquis of Xing'an, why did they fight so hard to snatch the sheepskin scroll? Unfortunately,

she looked at it over and over again, but still couldn't find the secret of the sheepskin scroll. So she didn't bother to figure it out anymore, just treated it as an ordinary sheepskin and concentrated on doing the current work.

Jiang Yanyi had already visited almost all the people in the Chamber of Commerce. Today was the day for fundraising. Manager Xu was the head of the Chamber of Commerce, so the fundraising location was naturally set at Lai Fu Restaurant.

Aunt Guo injured her arm and was inconvenient, so Jiang Yanyi asked her to rest and now she takes Huo Jianjia with her wherever she goes.

Laifu Restaurant is at the intersection of Duhufu Street, just a few steps away from Jiang Yanyi's original shop.

Jiang Yanyi walked there, and by coincidence, she met the former young master of Shangfang, Tian Dalang, who was blocked in the alley by a group of hooligans and beaten.

He just crawled out of the alley and was dragged back. Passersby saw him but didn't have time to avoid him, let alone stop him.

One of the bald men stepped on Tian Dalang's face, holding a kitchen knife in his hand, and said viciously: "You bastard! You have no money and you dare to come to the casino to gamble? I'll cut off your arm as compensation!"

Tian Dalang was so scared that he screamed and begged for mercy. He saw Jiang Yanyi standing across the street, and he shouted as if he saw a savior: "Manager Jiang! Manager Jiang, save me!"

He didn't know that Jiang Yanyi had inherited the Chu family, and he still called Jiang Yanyi as before.

Jiang Yanyi heard the shouting and saw Tian Dalang who was stepped on in the alley. He thought he was retaliated by the casino owner again, so he changed his voice to "Jianjia."

Huo Jianjia got Jiang Yanyi's instructions, walked over and threw left and right, and several big men were knocked to the ground by her.

Several big men rolled on the ground in pain, unable to understand what was happening. Seeing that a skinny little girl's punch was as painful as a horse's kick, they dared not do it again and left in disgrace.

Jiang Yanyi approached and saw that Tian Dalang was covered in injuries, and said, "You should go see a doctor."

Tian Dalang got up with a bruised face and bowed to Jiang Yanyi, "Thank you for your help, Manager Jiang. My injury is not a problem."

Jiang Yanyi asked him, "Who are those people?"

Tian Dalang said with embarrassment, "I owed the casino some money, and I will pay it back."

He said a little, but it was to the point of cutting off his hand, so it must be more than a little.

He didn't go to the pharmacy, probably because he didn't have enough money to treat his injuries.

Jiang Yanyi sighed and took out five taels of silver and handed it to him: "Young Master, take care of yourself. I have something else to do, so I'll leave you now."

Tian Dalang held the silver with mixed feelings in his heart. He suddenly called Jiang Yanyi: "I heard that Shopkeeper Jiang joined the Chamber of Commerce. Tian would like to congratulate Shopkeeper Jiang, but Shopkeeper Jiang should be careful. When I was in the casino, I saw Shopkeeper Xu and Mr. Lu, Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Chen gathered in a private room in the casino to discuss something, and they seemed to have mentioned you."

Although he was a gambler, he also knew a thing or two about business. Jiang Yanyi suddenly joined the Chamber of Commerce, and the group of old foxes in the Chamber of Commerce might be planning how to divide up her prosperous Ruyi Tower and Noodle Shop!

Jiang Yanyi paused. The people that Tian Dalang mentioned were all well-known figures in the Chamber of Commerce.

She asked, "When did it happen?"

Tian Dalang said, "Just two days ago, the carriages left in batches, as if they were afraid that people would find out that they went to the casino."

Jiang Yanyi thought that the fundraising was already stable, but after hearing what Tian Dalang said, her heart sank.

She underestimated those old foxes in the Chamber of Commerce. She thought that she could coerce and lure them one by one, but those old foxes secretly agreed.

Jiang Yanyi said to Tian Dalang, "Thank you."

Tian Dalang waved his hands repeatedly, "It is Tian who should thank Manager Jiang."

Going to Lai Fu Wine House again, Jiang Yanyi was a little distracted, thinking about the corresponding strategy in her mind.

A high platform was built at the entrance of Lai Fu Restaurant, and red ribbons were hung all around. Many people gathered on the street to watch the excitement, and they were all talking about the wealthy businessmen in Xizhou raising money for military supplies.

As soon as Jiang Yanyi walked over, a waiter led her to the private room on the second floor.

The most influential people in the Chamber of Commerce were all there, and Madam An was among them.

The largest pharmacy in Xizhou was opened by the An family. Jiang Yanyi was able to persuade the wealthy businessmen in the Chamber of Commerce to raise funds so quickly, in large part because Madam An directly sided with her.

The wealthy businessmen knew that the military camp was short of money, but the An family was so powerful, and they had already paid the money obediently. What ability did they have to challenge the government?

The idea of ​​public fundraising was proposed by Shopkeeper Xu and several officials, probably because they wanted the people of Xizhou to watch and see that the government was directly asking them for money.

Jiang Yanyi had been prepared for their move and bribed several of the most agitators to praise her in the crowd and suppress the unpleasant voices.

When she entered the room, the merchants in the room all looked at her, but they did not have much kindness, as if they wanted to intimidate her. Jiang Yanyi walked past them without looking away and sat down next to Madam An Shao.

In order to appear more stable, she wore a sandalwood green brocade emerald feather shirt today and an emerald ring on her hand.

The emerald was too green, and if it was in someone else's hand, it might look a bit old, but Jiang Yanyi's fingers were evenly proportioned, with slender knuckles, creamy white with a touch of green, and there seemed to be a sense of majesty in the invisible, which made people feel breathless.

After she entered the house, she didn't say a word, but she was already overpowering them in terms of arrogance.

Madam An's complexion was much better than before. She smiled and took the initiative to talk to Jiang Yanyi: "Was it windy and snowy all the way here?"

Jiang Yanyi glanced at Shopkeeper Xu and smiled, "Shopkeeper Xu is thoughtful. It's only a few steps from my house, and there won't be much wind."

Shopkeeper Xu is the head of the Chamber of Commerce, but when there are many people around, he will never take the initiative to be the bad guy, and he will only instigate others to say bad words.

He is the one who is most opposed to raising funds for the army. After Jiang Yanyi visited the wealthy businessmen one by one, the wealthy businessmen went to the casino secretly, which was probably Shopkeeper Xu's idea.

Jiang Yanyi ignored others, but suddenly took the initiative to mention Shopkeeper Xu. First, he wanted to warn Shopkeeper Xu that he knew his little tricks; second, he wanted to make the few people who entered the casino with Shopkeeper Xu that day suspicious.

Sure enough, after Jiang Yanyi said this, not only was Madam An confused, but the other wealthy businessmen looked at each other and looked at Shopkeeper Xu differently.

Shopkeeper Xu did not expect Jiang Yanyi to attack him at this time. He thought that Jiang Yanyi knew that he had secretly invited the wealthy businessmen to have tea. He felt uneasy and just curled his lips at Jiang Yanyi.

He originally wanted to work with a few wealthy businessmen to donate less money. After all, the law does not punish the masses. No matter how powerful the King of Liaoning is, he can't confiscate their homes just because they donated less money.

Now Jiang Yanyi seems to know that he is the one who started it. If the money raised later is not enough, and he and Jiang Yanyi have many conflicts, Jiang Yanyi will turn around and report him to the King of Liaoning.

It is not the law that does not punish the masses to deal with him as a small merchant...

Shopkeeper Xu became more and more frightened as he thought about it, and his palms were full of sweat.

When the auspicious time for fundraising arrived, the outside of Lai Fu Restaurant was already bustling with the sound of gongs and drums, and the people from the Chamber of Commerce came out of the private rooms one after another to raise funds.

As the host, Manager Xu had to greet everyone in the Chamber of Commerce. When Jiang Yanyi and Madam An Shao went out together, Manager Xu said, "Manager Chu, can you please have a word with me?"

Madam An Shao saw that Manager Xu had something to discuss with Jiang Yanyi, so she said something to Jiang Yanyi and left first.

Huo Jianjia had been following him, so Jiang Yanyi was not worried about the danger. When they reached the entrance, she asked knowingly, "What does Shopkeeper Xu want to talk to me about?"

Shopkeeper Xu said awkwardly, "I hope Shopkeeper Chu will not be offended by the business matters in the past."

Jiang Yanyi said, "What are you talking about, Shopkeeper Xu? If you hadn't opened this antique soup shop, Master Yao wouldn't have come to work in my Ruyi Building. I should thank Shopkeeper Xu."

Shopkeeper Xu was embarrassed by Jiang Yanyi's words, but he also knew that things were different now. For some harmless business matters, King Liaoning might just think that Jiang Yanyi himself was not good at business, and he would not confront him directly, so he was fearless.

But the problem now is that King Liaoning's army is short of money. Jiang Yanyi is helping the army to raise funds, but he takes the lead in asking wealthy businessmen to donate less. King Liaoning probably will kill him directly.

Shopkeeper Xu said humbly, "I will not open this antique soup shop, nor the noodle shop. I'm sorry that Shopkeeper Chu is magnanimous and doesn't want to argue with me..."

Jiang Yanyi smiled and said, "I'm afraid that's not what Shopkeeper Xu had in mind when he invited a few officials to the casino." Jiang

Yanyi told him about the casino, and Shopkeeper Xu was even more desperate. He wanted to say something else, but Jiang Yanyi only left a sentence, "If the prince sees the amount of military funds raised, he may not care so much."

Shopkeeper Xu regretted it. He originally wanted to keep more money in his pocket, but now he has to pay more money.

But for the sake of life and property, what are these external things like money?

When it came to the public fundraising, Shopkeeper Xu was the first to go up and donated a huge sum of 30,000 taels.

The few officials who had met with Shopkeeper Xu before were completely dumbfounded. They thought that what Jiang Yanyi had said before was true. Shopkeeper Xu deliberately asked them to donate less in order to kick them out and get the benefits that originally belonged to them. They quickly asked the servant to go home to get the banknotes.

Some small merchants followed the actions of the rich businessmen. Seeing that the rich businessmen almost donated half of their property one by one, even if they were reluctant to spend money, they also donated.

The pharmacy did not make much money, and Xizhou was poor. The 3,000 taels of silver in Madam An's hand were all she could take out. During the previous discussion, many rich businessmen were willing to take out only 1,000 taels of silver even if they died.

Seeing this, she was a little confused and asked Jiang Yanyi who was sitting next to her: "Miss Chu, what is this..."

Jiang Yanyi did not expect that the fundraising effect after her intimidation for Manager Xu was so good. She was very happy, but she was cautious that she was outside, so she still looked calm and said to Madam An Shao with a faint smile: "It seems that everyone wants to contribute to Xizhou."

It was rare that there was no snow today. The sun was just a white shadow without much temperature in the sky.

Huo Jianjia stood behind Jiang Yanyi. In order to cover the birthmark on her face, she still combed a lot of hair down to cover it.

In order not to scare others, she did not carry her heavy sword, but only hid a dagger in her sleeve to protect Jiang Yanyi at critical moments.

On the roof opposite the restaurant, something flashed in the sunlight, and Huo Jianjia raised her head instantly.

When she found someone shooting arrows at Jiang Yanyi, she immediately shouted: "Boss, be careful!"

At the same time, she pulled out the dagger hidden in her sleeve. With a "clang" sound, the sharp arrow rubbed against the dagger and sparks were blocked.

Before everyone could come to their senses, the figure on the opposite roof had disappeared. Huo Jianjia chased after him with a dagger. When she ran past the Guan Gong statue in front of the restaurant gate, she turned back and threw away the dagger, took off the Qinglong Yanyue Sword, and rushed into the crowd again with the sword on her small body. Everyone came to their senses and screamed continuously. Manager Xu's heart almost stopped beating .

If anything happened to Jiang Yanyi, his family would be dead.