Chapter 44: Suing you, Shopkeeper Jiang?
The rain pounded, thunder roared, and water dripped from her raincoat, barely masking the downpour. Through the curtain of rain, Lu Tingwan cheered everyone in the flower fields, "Thank you for your hard work. After you finish picking this batch, you can take a good rest. We can't let all the flowers you've worked so hard to plant get ruined by the rain."
A villager carrying a basket of flowers walked up the ridge of a field and slipped. The newly picked flowers fell to the ground, covered in mud and water. Lu Tingwan hurried forward to help the man, "Uncle Zhang, be careful."
The rain was so heavy it was almost shouting to speak. Uncle Zhang had just wiped the water off his cheeks when it was immediately covered in mud again. "Manager Jiang, this rain is so heavy, and we don't know when it will stop. Thank goodness you called so many people to help, otherwise all these flowers would have rotted in the fields."
"Now's not the time to talk about this. We're all in this together. We need to tighten the screws. Even if the weather isn't good, we'll just do our best." Lu Tingwan picked up the scattered branches. "It's getting dark, Uncle Zhang, go slower. We'll save as many as we can."
"Hey." Uncle Zhang wiped the water off his cheeks, squinted his eyes so that he could hardly see the road under his feet, and took a step carefully.
Lu Tingwan reassured everyone. They picked all the flowers one after another and carried them back to the thatched shed in the field. Everyone collapsed in the rain exhausted. Lu Tingwan's raincoat was already soaked. The rain seeped into her clothes, making her shiver. Her lips were also white. She dragged her heavy body and stepped into the mud.
"The flowers are almost harvested. Thank you all for your hard work. Let's go back to the village and rest for a while." Looking at the messy flower fields, some people were so tired that they collapsed and lay directly on the ground, gasping for breath.
Fortunately, the flowers were all collected and the damaged ones were picked out. The straw sheds in the fields were filled with baskets, and people were lying in crooked positions. The night gradually submerged the human figures.
After the sudden rainstorm, the path became difficult to walk on. By the time Lu Tingwan made all the arrangements, it was already late at night and the rain had stopped.
Zhichunli had to open its doors the next day. The road was difficult to walk on after the rain. Lu Tingwan walked through the woods in the dark. The wind blew through the woods, and big drops of water hit the roof of the carriage shed. She was half lying in the carriage tiredly, but with a smile on her face. After today, Zhichunli would be one step higher in the capital and one step closer to her goal. Her clear eyes were particularly bright in the dark night.
***
Cheng Xianzhi was investigating the Gao Heng case and had originally laid a trap, waiting for the man to come and fall into the trap. However, for some reason, after midnight, no one appeared at the agreed location of the gambling house, and Gao Heng did not show up.
Han Zhou stood in the darkness, the plum branches on the windowsill blending seamlessly with the autumn wind. Cheng Xianzhi had a calm expression, his cold brows and eyes exuding an icy chill.
"The news leaked..." the voice came out slowly.
It just leaked out from nowhere. Han Zhou peered through the screen window and saw Cheng Xianzhi's shadow getting closer and closer. "Have any of Gao Heng's subordinates who have loaned money to him been active recently?"
"According to your Excellency's instructions, we have placed secret guards in these people's homes and shops. We have not had any contact with Gao Heng recently."
"How can a person who borrows money take the initiative to find the creditor? This approach won't work." Cheng Xianzhi thought to himself.
"Maybe one person will." Han Zhou thought carefully.
Cheng Xianzhi raised the window slightly, his deep facial features caught the light, and he nodded slightly to Han Zhou. Han Zhou walked around the corridor and entered the main gate.
"Gao Heng's loan sharks are numerous, and the recent cases are all related to one person," Han Zhou said, "that's Shopkeeper Yu from Mingyu Pavilion on Weiyang Street."
"Tell me in detail." Cheng Xianzhi waved his hand and motioned him to sit down.
Han Zhou sat down and said, "Mingyu Pavilion has run into problems. The accounts are in the red. We've had to borrow money from Gao Heng a few times at high interest rates to barely maintain normal operations. But this shopkeeper Yu is very smart, and I'm afraid he can't see any problems with the accounts."
"Recently, the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce is looking to select distributors for Zhichunli Jade Dew Cream, and Mingyu Pavilion is among them."
Cheng Xianzhi narrowed his eyes, interested: "Oh?"
The Chamber of Commerce would have to check the accounts of these shops to select the list, and Luo Yunchu would not pass on any problematic ones. Because it was related to his future and reputation, even if Mingyu Pavilion wanted to win him over, he would not take this step.
Therefore, the accounts presented were naturally beyond the reach of ordinary people, and Han Zhou was able to find out only by using some tricks.
Lu Tingwan and Luo Yunchu were unable to investigate further, which allowed Mingyu Pavilion to get away with it. Fortunately, Lu Tingwan was meticulous, otherwise Mingyu Pavilion would have taken advantage of the situation and destroyed the reputation of Zhichunli and Luo Yunchu, the president of the Chamber of Commerce.
"With Gao Heng missing, Mingyu Pavilion has lost its source of income and is unable to continue. The Chamber of Commerce is considering selecting an agent for Zhichunli, and Shopkeeper Yu is banking on this opportunity to turn things around."
"So, Mingyu Pavilion was selected?"
"No," Han Zhou said, "according to the number of votes, Mingyu Pavilion is indeed at the top. However, Shopkeeper Yu was too clever and used extreme tactics. Shopkeeper Jiang was very observant and took advantage of the situation. He then exposed Mingyu Pavilion's secret manipulation of the vote to the public. Now Mingyu Pavilion has lost both its people and its wealth."
As for Shopkeeper Yu, his comeback depended on Zhichunli's agency qualification, so he took the risk and resorted to this bad strategy.
Although there were risks, he had to do it. However, he did not expect Lu Tingwan to notice it so quickly and find evidence in a short time. He also underestimated Lu Tingwan's character and vision.
Cheng Xianzhi's eyes turned, "Then we can use the current situation in Mingyu Pavilion to lure Gao Heng out."
"Han Zhou's idea coincides with yours, sir."
"But speaking of this, we have to thank the Second Madam for what she did. Otherwise, we would have no better way to lure Gao Heng out for the time being."
Cheng Xianzhi suddenly felt something was wrong and asked suspiciously, "When did you think so highly of Lu Tingwan?"
Han Zhou folded his arms and teased, "I've never seen you be so patient with anyone. Why are you only talking about me?"
Cheng Xianzhi remained expressionless and said sternly, "Gao Heng is a scoundrel, and there must be someone behind him. Excessive usury will only disrupt business operations. At this time, those greedy jackals in the court will have something to report on him."
"I will go to Mingyu Pavilion tonight." Han Zhou bowed and left the study.
In the study of Mingyu Pavilion, Manager Yu was still worried about the accounts. He had lost his qualification as the agent of Zhichunli, and the money house was unwilling to lend him money. If he could have borrowed some money from his good colleagues before, he could have helped him out in an emergency. But now, after the incident at the Chamber of Commerce, Mingyu Pavilion has become notorious. Not to mention borrowing money, even his old customers have to take a detour.
A chilly wind blew outside, making it even colder at night. A cold light flashed through the closed window, dazzling Shopkeeper Yu's weary eyes. He tried to look up, but a longsword pressed against his throat, a figure cloaked in black, revealed in the candlelight.
"Shopkeeper Yu, are you worried about money?" Han Zhou asked in a heavy and nonchalant voice.
"You, who are you?" Shopkeeper Yu's voice was weak and trembling.
"Shopkeeper Yu, aren't you short of money? If the bank won't approve your loan, why don't you find someone who lends you money?"
Shopkeeper Yu leaned back, the sword pressed tightly against his throat. He didn't dare to move, and even spoke cautiously: "The interest rate is too high. I, I still owe money. I'm afraid they won't dare to lend me money again..."
Han Zhou exerted a little force, and the sharp sword slashed his throat. The blood that oozed out was not fatal, but a warning. "Go find Gao Heng from the gambling house."
"What?"
"Hmm?" Han Zhou's eyes were sharp, and Shopkeeper Yu didn't dare to act rashly.
"Gao Heng has been missing for half a month. I'm afraid it will be difficult to find him..."
The corners of his lips, hidden under the mask, rose slightly. Mingyu Pavilion had borrowed some money from him half a month ago. In Gao Heng's eyes, Mingyu Pavilion was considered a wealthy man. The relationship between the two was closer than he had imagined.
Han Zhou concluded that Manager Yu had Gao Heng's whereabouts, or at least he could contact this person.
"It's not a big deal that it's hard to find. You can borrow or return it within three days. You can ask people to meet at the gambling house. If Gao Heng doesn't show up, Manager Yu and the Mingyu Pavilion will die together." The hilt of the sword turned a few times in his hand and quickly fell back into the scabbard. Manager Yu's legs became weak and he knelt on the ground, unable to get up.
Seeing that this person came and went without a trace, he didn't know why he was looking for Gao Heng. He was just afraid that if he didn't follow his orders, he would really become a ghost under the sword.
He had no choice.
The next day, as dawn drifted across Kyoto City, Lu Tingwan asked for a carriage early in the morning to go to the Weiyang Street Chamber of Commerce. The shop contracts were drawn up, and the first batch of Yulu Cream was already on the counters of the top ten shops. It was sold out almost within a day.
As the carriage passed Chunfeng Tower, the axle stopped. The driver hurriedly put away the spurs, and the horse's hooves were raised high, causing the people inside the carriage to lose their balance. After the carriage stabilized, Feng Xin lifted the curtain and asked, "What happened?"
Lu Tingwan also lifted the curtain. Before the coachman could report, a fifty-year-old man in front of the carriage was covered with scars, with blood oozing from the corners of his mouth. His coarse cloth clothes had turned white and had several holes in them.
"Feng Xin, go down and take a look." Lu Tingwan got out of the car immediately.
More and more people gathered on the street to watch. She bent down to help the old man, but saw four burly men standing outside the door of Chunfeng Tower, holding sticks and looking very fierce.
It was obvious that the old man was beaten by these people. Chunfenglou was a famous brothel in Kyoto. Most of the people who caused trouble here and were thrown out were freeloaders, so the people were used to it.
"Uncle, who did you offend?" Lu Tingwan listened to the various opinions in the crowd.
"How can anyone who was kicked out of Chunfenglou be a good person? How dare he go out to drink wine without money?"
"Isn't this Shopkeeper Jiang from Zhichun?"
"Yes, maybe Shopkeeper Jiang wants to take care of this matter."
"In my opinion, this guy just wants to get the girl for free."
…
The uncle struggled to stand up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, and said with a heartbroken beating of his head: "My daughter, my daughter is in there..."
Lu Tingwan frowned.
"They, they forced my daughter to Chunfeng Tower. Isn't that going to kill us..." The old man looked at the tall building helplessly. The sound of dance music and piano from Chunfeng Tower continued, and waves of joyful and pleasing sounds came out.
Winter had already begun in Kyoto, and the temperature had plummeted in the past few days. The old man was wearing thin clothes, and Lu Tingwan couldn't help asking, "They? Who are they? Why did they send your daughter to Chunfeng Tower? Could it be to pay off a debt?"
Pay off debt!
Anyone who was sent to Chunfeng Tower and became a prostitute was usually from a family that had fallen on hard times, or was starving and had to sell their children to survive, or was facing a debt collection and had no money or valuables at home, so they had to use their children to pay off the debt.
Lu Tingwan's words seemed to sting the old man. His face, full of wrinkles and traces of time, showed helplessness and guilt. No matter how many emotions he had, they could only turn into grief and anger.
He looked at the young lady in front of him clearly: "You, you are Shopkeeper Jiang."
"Uncle, do you recognize me?" Lu Tingwan was surprised.
"Manager Jiang is recruiting villagers from the flower farm on the outskirts of the city to work and paying them. My wife is among them."
The old man was a villager from a farm near the flower farm. His wife worked in the farm. The uncle had seen her several times on the farm. The surrounding villagers praised Lu Tingwan a lot, especially the villagers on the farm.
"Last year, the harvest was poor, so I went to a bank to borrow money to put some money back into my farm. Seeing I was a farmer, the bank refused to lend me money and instead introduced me to a lender that offered high interest. Unexpectedly, the terms and conditions were all extortionate. I only borrowed 20 taels, but within a month, the amount had ballooned to 100 taels. Even if I had to rip Peter off Peter to pay Paul off Peter, I still couldn't pay it back."
"The money from printing is a bottomless pit. The interest kept piling up, and I don't know how many hundreds of taels I owed them. I even sold all the good land in my family, so I really couldn't come up with anything. When those people saw that I couldn't squeeze them anymore, they came to my house, kidnapped my daughter, and sent her straight to Chunfeng Tower to serve as a prostitute."
"I want to see my daughter, but the people at Chunfeng Tower won't let me. If I want to see her, I have to pay one thousand taels of silver to redeem her..."
One thousand taels, an ordinary farmer would never be able to earn one thousand taels in several lifetimes.
Feng Xin asked, "Since the world is so corrupt under the emperor's feet, why don't you report it to the authorities?"
"Report to the police? I, I went, and they asked me to write a complaint. How could I write one when I can't even read?" The uncle knocked heavily on the bluestone slab, tears streaming down his face.
Perhaps if he reported the matter to the Jingzhao Prefecture Criminal Court, he would be half dead before he could even start to seek justice. Lu Tingwan had experienced this before when a farmer and a merchant had a dispute and were sent to the Jingzhao Prefecture.
"Why don't you go to the Ministry of Justice and file a complaint?" Lu Tingwan thought of someone. "I can write the complaint for you. How can you know it won't work if you don't try?"
After saying that, Lu Tingwan ordered Feng Xin to help his uncle onto the carriage, and the carriage turned around and headed to the Ministry of Justice.
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