Chapter 105 Fan Huaiqing, Don't You Want a Good Night's Sleep?
"Are you not satisfied with the food I cooked?" Yuan Hongqu retorted.
"No, no, no, I'm very satisfied." Fan Huaiqing's tone was even a little anxious, as if he was afraid that Yuan Hongqu wouldn't believe him.
"Then how come there's so much left?"
"I feel so upset, I can't eat. The food is really good."
"Is there anything else?"
Fan Huaiqing stared blankly at Yuan Hongqu, without uttering a word.
Prince Xian and Lin Ruhai, who were standing to the side, felt their hearts sink once again. For the past few days, Fan Huaiqing had been like this, staring blankly at one spot, lost in thought, without saying a word.
Even when torture was inflicted on him, he seemed completely oblivious, not like a human being, but like a piece of hard wood.
If the evidence wasn't conclusive, Prince Xian would have seriously doubted whether Lin Ruhai had arrested the wrong person.
How could such a person be the biggest salt smuggler in the Huaiyang area?
"If you have nothing else, I'll be going now. I have something very important to do." Yuan Hongqu didn't have much patience either. She had been out for too long, and she was afraid that Yang Mama from the Lin family would not be able to keep it a secret any longer.
"They all want that list from me. Aren't you even a little bit interested in having you come?"
Yuan Hongqu chuckled, her voice perfectly calm, "What does this have to do with me?"
"If you find out, you can naturally ask them for credit, and a great deal of wealth and honor will be yours."
"What's the use? Even if you have immense wealth and glory, you'll still live in constant fear. Have you ever had a single day of peace and comfort?"
The original red lotus scorned it.
"I heard from Lord Lin that you live a simple life, and even when you go to the market to buy a piece of meat, you still have to haggle with the vendor... But you have so much gold and silver in your storeroom that you can't even count it all. Tell me, do you have so much silver because you eat well or dress comfortably?"
Fan Huaiqing shook his head, "I can't even sleep..."
Yuan Hongqu simply couldn't understand this kind of person.
After Fan Huaiqing finished speaking, he fell silent again. Yuan Hongqu turned to leave, but then heard Fan Huaiqing say...
"You must be Lord Yuan's daughter. Your temper is exactly the same as your father's."
Yuan Hongqu paused for a moment. Did this person know the original owner of this body? This place is not safe to stay for long!
"When I was a child, I begged for food at your doorstep. It was New Year's Eve, and your father gave me a bowl of braised lion's head meatballs and a cotton-padded coat. With those two things, I didn't freeze or starve to death on that New Year's Eve..."
“My father was an honest and upright official. If he were alive, he would surely regret it if he knew that the people he once helped had become salt smugglers who harm the people.”
Fan Huaiqing said self-deprecatingly, "Yes, how could Lord Yuan possibly think highly of someone like me?"
"Fan Huaiqing, if you hand over the list to the Prince and cooperate with the Emperor to clean up the Huaiyang salt administration, it will be a great achievement. Even if you die in the end, you will have the face to meet your benefactor again," Lin Ruhai said, seizing the opportunity.
As soon as he said that, Fan Huaiqing hesitated again.
Yuan Hongqu was dissatisfied. If such a big salt smuggler still remembered the favors he had received, how could he have resisted until now? If he didn't even have that much mental fortitude, how could he be a salt smuggler?
Lord Lin is too naive.
She was anxious; if things continued to delay like this, little Daiyu at home would be extremely worried.
Fan Huaiqing received a favor from the old master Yuan decades ago. As for whether he had ever met the original person, who knows!
Let's try anything, even if it seems hopeless!
Yuan Hongqu stood on the other side of the table, looking directly at Fan Huaiqing:
"Fan Huaiqing, you are definitely going to die. It's just a matter of whether you die sooner or later, or even worse, you'll suffer a fate worse than death. You can't expect those people to save you. Believe it or not, the moment you show your face, they'll want you to die first more than anyone else."
"Staying here is worse than death for you. Going out of this door might mean instant death, or you might live a few more days, or even years, or decades, thanks to the protection of Prince Xian and Lord Lin... No matter how bad the future may be, it won't keep you up at night..."
Fan Huaiqing initially looked at Yuan Hongqu, but then slowly lowered his head, and no one knew what he was thinking.
In fact, Fan Huaiqing knew the facts that Yuan Hongqu had said better than anyone else, but he still felt resentful. So much money, all of which he had worked hard to earn, and now it was all gone.
Fan Huaiqing didn't know what he needed so much silver for. He was just happy and at ease when he saw silver, and he felt comfortable as long as he had silver.
He didn't know how he suddenly had so much silver.
He hadn't received much formal education, only learning to read later. However, he understood a little about concepts like great benevolence, righteousness, right and wrong, but not much.
All he knew was that being good to himself was what made him happy.
At first, he followed the salt gang to smuggle salt. Later, the salt gang fell apart, and he was left with nothing to do, so he became a small salt merchant. He found that salt merchants did not earn as much as smuggling salt, so he joined in. Who knew that he would eventually grow bigger and bigger, and a group of people supported him. He inexplicably became the leader of the new salt gang.
He has always been steady and progressive, never greedy or reckless, and has the best reputation.
The salt merchants' business never stopped, and gradually they grew bigger. Their salt, from the Fan family, was not only clean, but also had more fine salt than coarse salt, and had the best reputation.
As his business grew, more and more people followed him, including salt merchants and officials from the Huaiyang area, who gradually became more and more involved with him.
Fan Huaiqing had so much money that he himself had lost count.
However, although he was happy to see the money, he didn't get a single good night's sleep.
"Fan Huaiqing, don't you want to get a good night's sleep?" Yuan Hongqu asked one last time.
“Miss Yuan,” Fan Huaiqing looked up, his face already streaked with tears.
"The bowl of braised lion's head meatballs that Master Yuan gave me was the best dish I've ever eaten in my life. That New Year's Eve, I ate my fill, wrapped myself in a cotton coat, and slept soundly and comfortably in the local temple. I've never slept as soundly as that night since."
"Ever since I tasted that lion's head meatball at Lord Lin's banquet, the taste has been exactly the same as the one from Master Yuan's family decades ago. That night, I slept soundly all night. From then on, I started paying attention to Lord Lin's affairs, wanting to know who made that lion's head meatball... However, I couldn't find out. I used various excuses to go to the Lin family several times, requesting an audience with Lord Lin, hoping he would invite me to have a simple meal... That's when I gave myself away, allowing Lord Lin to discover the clues..."
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