Chapter 94 Who did he kill?

Facing Jiang Yanyi's question, Qiu Kui shook her head in confusion: "I don't know..."

Both her parents passed away, and she was sold to a brothel by her aunt and then transferred to the military camp. She lived in a daze for so long, and finally lived like a normal person after meeting Jiang Yanyi.

But Jiang Yanyi has found his relatives now. She doesn't say it, but she is very jealous in her heart.

When she was bought into the brothel, it was her aunt who took her there, and maybe her uncle didn't know about it.

So when her aunt found her and said that her uncle was critically ill, she followed her aunt with a little hope, but the place her aunt took her to obviously didn't look like a place for her uncle to recuperate, but rather a place of fireworks.

Jiang Yanyi frowned after hearing what she said, "Does she want to sell you again?"

But Qiu Kui is a slave now, and if she wants to be sold again, she must get her indenture. Since her aunt has sold her once, it is impossible for her not to know these things.

Qiu Kui pinched the corner of her clothes with her hands, and said with red eyes: "I saw that the place was wrong, and turned around to run, but my aunt grabbed me. Several maids came out of the building, blocked my mouth and dragged me in. I heard my aunt talking to them about silver and something, and the maids said that they could only give it after the body test..."

At this point, Qiu Kui bit her lip, and tears were already rolling in her eyes.

If it were in the past, she would not cry, because she knew that this would be the end of her life. But after being with Jiang Yanyi for so long, those dirty and gloomy pasts seemed to have nothing to do with her. If she was suddenly pushed back to such a hell, she would fight hard.

Who doesn't want to live facing the sun?

Jiang Yanyi felt distressed and angry, "You silly girl, why didn't you tell me such a big thing happened?"

Qiu Kui's tears fell. Jiang Yanyi was at Chu's house those days, and she couldn't go to Jiang Yanyi and tell him that she was bullied. Later, when Jiang Yanyi came back, it had been several days since the incident, so she didn't say anything.

She was afraid that Jiang Yanyi would worry, so she choked up and said, "Huahua, don't be angry. I didn't suffer any loss. When they dragged me, they met the blacksmith who was delivering goods. He recognized me and threatened them that I was from Jiang's family. If they did anything wrong, he would report to the police. Only then did they let me go."

But her aunt was unwilling to give up without getting the silver. She chased her and the blacksmith all the way and scolded her, saying that she was a loser and a nemesis who killed her parents.

The blacksmith spoke for her, but her aunt said in a weird way that she and the blacksmith were lovers, and deliberately brought up the fact that she had stayed in a brothel and worked as a camp prostitute. The words were as ugly as they could be.

Before, the blacksmith came to help sharpen the knife every now and then, but after that incident, he never came again.

Qiu Kui felt sad: "Here at Huahua, I feel like I can live like when my parents were still alive, and at most I will be considered stupid. But after I tell people about my past experiences, people look at me as if they are looking at something dirty..." At

this moment, Jiang Yanyi suddenly felt that it was okay for Qiu Kui to be like this. The physical injuries she had suffered were in the past, but what she would have to face for the rest of her life was the damage caused by gossip.

She didn't understand the secular world, so she wouldn't get hurt.

This world is always harsh on women. Although she was once a victim, when others talk about her having been in a brothel and a camp prostitute, it is enough for them to imagine and breed endless malice.

Most men either pretend to be noble and point fingers at her, or make vulgar jokes. The saddest thing is that as women, under the feudal ethics, most of them would avoid this like snakes and scorpions. It would be good if they kept silent. What's hateful is that some might gather in twos and threes and criticize it in a shameful tone.

From ancient times to the present, gossip has been a sharp weapon that kills people without bloodshed.

Jiang Yanyi held Qiu Kui's hand and said, "People with dirty hearts will find everything dirty. Don't pay attention to it."

What she cares about now is how Qiu Kui's aunt found this place and what her purpose is in trying to coax Qiu Kui away.

Jiang Yanyi asked, "Do you remember where your aunt took you?"

Qiu Kui nodded, "West Market Willow Lane, the most imposing building with red lanterns."

West Market Willow Lane is a fireworks lane. Could it be that she really wants to sell Qiu Kui?

Jiang Yanyi comforted her: "Don't be afraid. If your aunt dares to come again next time, I will report her to the police."

You can't get anything out of Qiu Kui. If you want to know Qiu Kui's aunt's purpose, you probably have to pry open her aunt's mouth to find out.

Jiang Yanyi asked Qiu Kui to calm down and go back to the kitchen.

The dishes were almost ready, and she personally made the soup base.

Considering that the taste of people in the store was not consistent, Jiang Yanyi planned to cook a quail pot. The clear soup base would be pork bones and fresh soup from old hens.

The base of the spicy pot was fried with old oil to maximize the aroma of the spices. Jiang Yanyi boiled the old oil, and then fried the dogwood and peppercorns in the oil before picking them up, and then frying the sugar over low heat.

Stir-frying sugar in a hot pot is a technical job. If the heat and the time of frying are not well controlled, the whole pot of oil and sugar will be wasted.

The red floating on the surface of the hot pot soup is not only capsanthin, but also the color of the fried sugar. If the sugar is fried well, the soup will be bright red and not sweet. Sugar can enhance the freshness to a certain extent and suppress the spiciness.

Jiang Yanyi did not dare to be careless when frying sugar. Watching the sugar melt, golden sugar bubbles bubbled up on the surface of the oil, and the hot steam rising from the surface of the pot was sweet. She quickly put the green onion, ginger and garlic into the pot and sautéed them. At the same time, she added more than a dozen spices such as grass fruit, cloves, fennel, etc. and stir-fried them. After the aroma came out, she poured bone soup into the pot, sprinkled salt and the previously fried dogwood and pepper and boiled for a while.

The water in the pot was boiling fiercely, and the aroma of various spices mixed with the spiciness of dogwood and the numbness of Sichuan pepper stimulated people's sense of smell.

Spices are natural preservatives. When frying more of the base of the hot pot, it can be used for several days.

After the fire in the big pot was turned off, Jiang Yanyi scooped some of the prepared hot pot base into the long-necked pot, rinsed it with boiling water and cooked the skewers directly.

Although she was infected with a cold by someone and was sick for several days, she still did not forget someone in the palace next door when she had delicious food, and asked Yang Xiu to bring the pot base and the skewered dishes over.

Chu Yangui has difficulty in moving, and now there are more people in the store. If he eats with everyone every time, it will be inconvenient for Chu Zhong to move him in and out. Jiang Yanyi prepared a pot for him and Chen Guogong separately, and she ate in the front shop with other people in the store.

Now the west wing has become their residence, and the waiters in the store will not go there easily.

Hot pot skewers are probably the most healing food. When Qiu Kui saw a pot full of skewers, all the previous unhappiness was thrown behind her. She and Jiang Yanyi have spent the longest time together, and now she has a lot of experience in eating. She puts all the pickled vegetables in the spicy pot and most of the vegetarian dishes in the clear soup pot.

Yao the chef and the old scholar were getting old, and eating too much strong-flavored food had bad stomach problems, so they liked to eat some clear soup to nourish their stomachs. Seeing Qiu Kui stuffing them with a pot full of vegetables, they were so angry that they blew their beards and glared.

"You girl, why do you put all the vegetables in front of you!" Yao the chef said as he snatched a few coriander and beef skewers and put them in the clear soup pot to cook.

Qiu Kui looked innocent: "Meat should be cooked in a hot pot to be delicious."

"Who said that?"

"Hua Hua said that!"

Jiang Yanyi, who was brewing fire-reducing tea at the side, was caught in the crossfire.

The most convenient thing about skewers than hot pot is that you don't have to look for food in the pot. You can just pick up whatever you want to eat with a bamboo skewer, and you don't have to prepare a pair of serving chopsticks for everyone.

It was only when Jiang Yanyi came here that he realized that ancient people were more particular about eating hotpot than modern people. Even if they were familiar with each other, they would prepare two pairs of chopsticks, one pair for eating and one pair for picking up dishes.

When Chef Yao saw Jiang Yanyi cooking like this, he couldn't help but praise him and said, "Boss, why don't you sell hotpot like this?"

Jiang Yanyi refused mercilessly, "It's troublesome to skewer it."

It's fine for eating at home, but if you want to make a profit from it, you might as well sell hotpot directly. You can just cut whatever dishes the diners want and put them on the plate.

If you sell skewers, you have to add the step of skewering after cutting them, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and not worth it.

Chef Yao thought about it and it was indeed the case.

After the coriander beef was cooked, Qiu Kui quickly grabbed two skewers and gave them to Jiang Yanyi.

The new waiter was a little reserved at first and was embarrassed to eat freely. After tasting the skewers, he flattered Jiang Yanyi and praised him. When he found that no one else was talking and was eating the meat, he let go of his awkwardness and rushed to eat.

The beef slices were thinly sliced ​​and the meat was tender. After being boiled, it was full of saliva in the mouth. The coriander wrapped had a richer chewing texture. The sour cowpea wrapped was tender on the outside and crispy on the inside. In addition to the spicy taste, there was an extra sour taste on the taste buds.

This level of spiciness was not a problem for Jiang Yanyi. The others were so spicy that they drank scented tea, but they still refused to give up eating the hot pot.

Even Chef Yao and the old scholar couldn't help but dip the meat cooked in the clear soup into the hot pot to taste the freshness when they saw them eating enthusiastically.

Feng Shuo heard that Jiang Yanyi had sent food again, and hurriedly asked Xing Yao to bring it up.

Xing Yao said with a rather tangled expression: "On the way here, I ran into the Grand Empress Dowager admiring plum blossoms in the front yard. The Grand Empress Dowager heard that it was sent by Jiang Ji next door, so she accepted it on your behalf."

Feng Shuo's expression was subtle. He put down the official document and said: "I will go to Mingtan Courtyard to take a look."

The Grand Empress Dowager's courtyard has always been heavily guarded. Outsiders cannot enter, and the servants inside cannot leave. Even if the Grand Empress Dowager tells them to do something, they have to tell the guards at the gate of the courtyard.

However, if the Grand Empress Dowager wanted to go out in person, the guards would not have the courage to stop her.

Everything in Mingtan Courtyard was remodeled according to the palace where the Grand Empress Dowager once lived. This way, when the Grand Empress Dowager has an attack, she will think that she is still in the palace, instead of being in Xizhou, thousands of miles away, and clamoring to return to the capital.

Feng Shuo did not dare to go in directly. He stood outside the warm pavilion and listened to the movements inside.

"The chefs in the Yu Kitchen have more and more ideas. They even thought of eating the antique soup in this way."

"Your Majesty, this is not made by the chefs in the Yu Kitchen. It's the pot sold by Jiang Ji next door."

"This meatball is cooked skillfully. The meat filling inside is different from the outside."

Feng Shuo looked inside through the crack of the door. The Grand Empress Dowager was holding a pair of ebony ivory chopsticks. The nanny who was taking care of her took the cooked meat and used the serving chopsticks to put it into the jade bowl with a gold rim, as if she was taking care of a child. "These things are heavy in salt. Your Majesty, eat less and be careful not to hurt your stomach."

The tip of her tongue was numbed by the spiciness, but the Grand Empress Dowager was in high spirits: "It's rare for me to have a meal that is made with my heart, so don't nag about this."

The nanny had to continue to prepare the meal for the Grand Empress Dowager. The Grand Empress Dowager was so spicy that she kept inhaling and ate a mouthful of tea and a mouthful of vegetables.

Feng Shuo stood at the door for a long time before leaving.

When Fuxi heard that he was here, she was afraid that the Empress Dowager would have a seizure and the mother and son would quarrel again.

It was rare to see Feng Shuo leave with a gloomy face, so Fuxi was also a little happy: "Prince, the Queen..."

Feng Shuo made a silent gesture to Fuxi, he turned his head to look at Nuan Ge, and said: "My mother likes Jiangji's food, you should buy more for her in the future."

Fuxi nodded quickly.

A few days later, Jiang Yanyi did not wait for Qiu Kui's aunt to come to the store to cause trouble again, but waited for Luo the blacksmith.

She was checking the account at the counter, and Luo the blacksmith lifted the bamboo curtain to block the wind and came in, with a sling on his shoulder.

He was tall and had been working as an ironsmith all year round, so the tendons on his arms were obvious. He only wore a thin cotton-padded jacket in the cold weather, but he didn't seem cold.

Jiang Yanyi thought he was going to have a hot pot, so she politely asked, "Master Luo, what would you like to eat?"

Luo the ironsmith glanced inside, but it seemed that he didn't find anyone. He retracted his gaze and said, "Manager Jiang, can I have a word with you?"

Because she trusted his craftsmanship, most of the ironware in Jiang Yanyi's shop was made by Luo the ironsmith, so they were considered acquaintances.

She asked Chu Shubao to help her watch the counter, and took Luo the ironsmith to the backyard.

The original room had been converted into a simple flower hall, which could be used for guests waiting for seats to rest and for meeting guests.

Aunt Guo saw that the ironworker was tall and strong, and was afraid that Jiang Yanyi would suffer a loss, so she followed Jiang Yanyi all the time.

After entering the house, before Jiang Yanyi could ask a question, Luo the ironworker took off the bag on his shoulder and poured a pile of broken silver and copper plates on the table.

Jiang Yanyi was shocked: "Master Luo, what do you mean by this?"

Luo the ironworker was a straightforward person. Jiang Yanyi had made so many tools from him, but he had never been polite. He always paid for the goods and refused to respond to any other unnecessary words.

This was the first time he said politely, "I want to redeem a person from Shopkeeper Jiang. This is my savings over the years, a total of fifty-seven taels. I don't know if it's enough."

Jiang Yanyi had a vague answer in his mind, but still said, "I don't quite understand what Master Luo means."

Blacksmith Luo was obviously not good at speaking. He blushed, but fortunately his bronze skin made the blush not very obvious: "I want to ask you for a marriage, redeem Qiu Kui's indenture, and marry her."

Aunt Guo was surprised, and obviously she did not expect things to develop like this.

In contrast, Jiang Yanyi was much calmer. She said, "You know Qiu Kui is different from ordinary people. I have never planned to let her get married."

Qiu Kui has no family in her family, and her head was burned when she was a child. Although she is not stupid, her intelligence is always worse than that of ordinary people. If she gets married, Jiang Yanyi is worried that she will be bullied.

When Luo Tiejiang heard Jiang Yanyi's evaluation of Qiu Kui, his brows were wrinkled tightly, and he retorted, "She is not stupid, and she is no different from ordinary people, but she is a little stubborn."

Jiang Yanyi heard the meaning of defending Qiu Kui in his words, and she felt a little happy.

Sometimes she also thinks Qiu Kui is stupid, but in fact she is not. Qiu Kui knows the warmth and coldness of human nature very well. She is even afraid of causing trouble to others and taking on many things alone.

What Qiu Kui couldn't understand was that there were things that were not stipulated by the law but were stipulated by convention in the eyes of the world, because those principles should not be like this in her opinion.

Jiang Yanyi asked the blacksmith: "Do you know her past?"

Luo the blacksmith nodded: "It's not her fault."

That day when he went to Huajie to deliver goods, he met Qiu Kui and learned about Qiu Kui's past experience from her aunt. Qiu Kui's aunt kept saying that Qiu Kui got lost by herself, but Qiu Kui said that her aunt sold her.

Luo the blacksmith had been working as a blacksmith in Xizhou for many years, and he also made handcuffs and torture instruments for the government. He knew someone working in the prison, so it was not difficult to ask him questions.

The madam who committed the crime in the brothel is still in prison. The brothel was closed down on the day Qiu Kui was bought in, so the madam had a deep impression of Qiu Kui.

Qiu Kui was forced by her aunt to put her fingerprints on the contract of sale. As long as the madam was willing to testify, then Qiu Kui's aunt sold a decent girl, which was no different from kidnapping, and she would be sent to prison.

He ran around and it took him a lot of effort to get the madam to be a witness.

Jiang Yanyi didn't expect that Luo the blacksmith had done so much for Qiu Kui silently, and he was overwhelmed with emotions for a while.

She asked, "Do you know why Aunt Qiu Kui tricked her into going to the Red Street that day?"

Ironsmith Luo showed some resentment on his face: "I beat up the old woman and asked her about it. The old woman said that someone came to them and gave them fifty taels of silver to ask about Qiu Kui's whereabouts. She brought Qiu Kui there because they wanted to. If Qiu Kui was the person they were looking for, they would give her more money."

Fifty taels of silver is not a small amount of money. No wonder Aunt Qiu Kui came to her several times.

And if she was just trying to find someone, it would make sense that Aunt Qiu Kui didn't care whether Qiu Kui's contract of sale was in Jiang Yanyi's hands.

The other party could spend so much money to find someone, so his background must be not simple. He also arranged to meet in the Red Street where all kinds of people mixed together, which was obviously not in the public eye.

Jiang Yanyi asked, "Why are they looking for Qiu Kui?"

The blacksmith said, "The family is obsessed with money. They said that their old man is poor and sick and is about to die. They want to find someone with a similar fate to bring good luck."

Jiang Yanyi felt that this statement was full of loopholes. The other party didn't even know Qiu Kui's birth date, so how could he know Qiu Kui's fate?

This was obviously just an excuse.

Jiang Yanyi was confused and her right eyelid twitched twice. She raised her hand and rubbed it. She knew that the blacksmith would suddenly decide to marry Qiu Kui. I guess he was afraid that Qiu Kui would really marry the old rich man.

She said, "I treat Qiukui as my sister and will never let her suffer any injustice. The matter between you and Qiukui has to be decided with her approval. I respect Qiukui's choice."

When Luo the blacksmith heard her change of tone, he was overjoyed and said, "Thanks to Manager Jiang!"

"You don't have to thank me. You can take the money back," said Jiang Yanyi.

After listening for a long time, Aunt Guo finally understood the blacksmith's intention. She smiled and handed him a cup of tea: "Have a cup of tea."

Luo the blacksmith took it with both hands and thanked him, but his mind was obviously not here: "Are the knives in the store still useful, Manager Jiang? I'll go and sharpen them for you?"

Jiang Yanyi remembered what Mrs. An said when he boasted about the usefulness of the knives before, and laughed in his heart, "Thank you."

Luo the blacksmith got up and went to the kitchen.

When Jiang Yanyi and Aunt Guo walked out of the room, they glanced at the kitchen and smiled: "If they can really succeed, I will be happy for Qiu Kui."

Knowing Qiu Kui's past, he didn't mind it, but instead tried every means to help her get rid of the bad temper she had in the past. It was really rare.

Just as she was about to go back to the shop, Yang Xiu walked in quickly and said to Jiang Yanyi with a somewhat unpleasant look: "Boss, there are officials outside, saying that the blacksmith has killed someone and they want to arrest him."

Jiang Yanyi frowned and asked: "Who did he kill?"

"The official said it was a peasant woman."