After Qingchuan finished speaking, Youqing said regretfully at the side: "Madam, since you know that the poison was caused by the Liu family, didn't Zhang Er's arrest be in vain?"
Luo Ran said: "The arrest is not in vain. I heard that Aunt Mei is in charge of the second uncle's house now?"
Mentioning this, Youqing's face was full of disdain: "I don't know what the second master thinks, but now he is doting on that Aunt Mei. The Li family is also spineless. The eldest young master of the Li family was harmed by the second miss. , I heard that the second master and the Li family have been getting closer recently."
Luo Ran chuckled softly: "We just live our own lives behind closed doors, pampering whoever he likes. But my mother is about to give birth. I heard that Aunt Mei has been going to the grandmother's yard frequently recently. Since she is so free, , just find something for them to do.”
Asking Qingchuan to take a step forward and whispering a few words, Qingchuan went out with a smile on his face.
Youqing asked curiously: "Madam, what did you tell Qingchuan?"
Luo Ran tilted his head and smiled, and said, "You will know when the time comes."
A few days later, I heard the news. As soon as Luo Dewen came out of the Yamen after his shift, he was stopped by a man named Zhang Er. He shouted in the street that the second wife owed him money and refused to pay him back, and now he couldn't find anyone. I can only come to the Yamen to block people.
Just as he was off duty, a group of spectators quickly gathered around him. Luo Dewen felt shameless and gave Zhang twenty taels of silver to make him stop. After everyone dispersed, I asked carefully where the second lady was. It turned out to be Aunt Mei.
This starts with the heavy rain this spring. Luo Ran was not yet married at the time. Because he knew about it in advance, he saved a lot of food. In order not to implicate innocent people, I distributed the food to the second and third households.
Unexpectedly, Aunt Mei was not only ungrateful, but also turned a deaf ear to Luo Dewen, not to mention that Luo Ran took this opportunity to make a lot of money. In addition, after the separation of the family, the second bedroom was even more stretched, so Aunt Mei came up with other ideas.
I want to learn from Luo Ran and stock up on some charcoal before winter comes, and then sell it at a high price when the weather gets cold.
This isn't a money-losing deal, but it's a pity that people are so weak.
Aunt Mei didn't have the ability, but she still wanted to do a big job. She didn't have enough money, so she went to a private place that specializes in loan sharking, got a large sum of money, and exchanged it all for charcoal.
Who would have thought that even God would be in trouble with her, and this year would actually be a mild winter.
It's November, and some people's floor cages haven't been burned yet, which makes Aunt Mei anxious.
The charcoal can't be sold, and the usury has expired. Aunt Mei still hasn't paid back the money. She's so scared that she doesn't dare to go out recently.
As for why Luo Ran knew about this, it was really an accident.
Before she got married, she heard a shopkeeper below accidentally mention it and asked Luo Ran if they wanted to buy some charcoal in advance. But in Luo Ran's memory, he couldn't remember any extremely cold weather in his previous life.
So that day she told Qingchuan to find a way to get Aunt Mei's debt so that she could earn a sum of interest and teach her second wife a lesson.
After listening to Zhang Er's words, Luo Dewen's nose became angry when he saw the dazzling red fingerprints on the black and white paper. He couldn't help but raise his voice: "How much did you say?"
Zhang Er took the IOU, calculated it decently for a long time, and said: "Yes, it is indeed 3,100 taels of silver. For the sake of the prince, my lord, just give me 3,000 taels."
Luo Dewen's eyes lit up: "Whose face are you talking about?"
Zhang Er: "The eldest son, the eldest son of Duke Jingguo, isn't he your son-in-law?"
Luo Dewen nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, I am his father-in-law, so this..."
Zhang Er hurriedly held the IOU in his arms and said: "That won't work. Even if the prince is your son-in-law, the one hundred taels that the common people can give you is already a lot. It can't be less!"
Luo Dewen thought for a moment and said: "In this way, I can't carry so many banknotes with me at all times. Three days later, you will still come here to wait for me, three days later. Remember! No more yelling!"
Zhang Er rolled his eyes and said cruelly: "Okay! I will trust you just once!"
After returning home, Luo Devin not only scolded Aunt Mei, but also locked her up and asked her to face the wall and think about her mistakes. He turned around and ordered someone to deliver a letter to Luo Ruxue.
When Luo Ruxue found out, she and Aunt Mei had another big fight, but after all the trouble, the money had to be paid back, and she couldn't just watch her father being blocked at the yamen gate every day.
After returning home, I didn't dare to tell Mrs. Fang, so I had to secretly beg Fu Shiheng.
Fu Shiheng looked at Luo Ruxue with contempt: "That's your Luo family's business, what does it have to do with me?"
Luo Ruxue was a little embarrassed, but she was reluctant to touch her dowry and said, "Isn't my father the father-in-law? If the father-in-law is in trouble, shouldn't you, as a son-in-law, help him?"
Fu Shiheng knew what Luo Ruxue cared about most, so he retorted: "If you don't want to be the prince's wife, just say so, there are a lot of people waiting in line!"
Luo Ruxue's face turned pale and she blurted out: "If you don't help me, I will send people to make trouble in Xifu! Anyway, my father is also Luo Ran's second uncle. If you want to embarrass us, we will all be embarrassed!"
Fu Shiheng's eyes widened: "You! It's simply unreasonable!"
Luo Ruxue frowned, not wanting to be outdone.
In the end, Fu Shiheng compromised and took out the money.
But from then on, he didn't even enter Luo Ruxue's yard.
Of course, this is something to be said later. Qingchuan took three thousand taels of silver and handed it to Luo Ran and said: "Madam, this is a banknote. My subordinates have found someone to change it. They can't find it in the east courtyard. Remove the original We paid off Aunt Mei’s debt of two thousand taels, and there is still one thousand taels left.”
Chun Yu said in surprise: "You have earned a thousand taels in just a few days? Isn't this money so profitable?"
Qingchuan laughed: "Who made them stupid? They dared to buy so much charcoal without even thinking about it. Moreover, anyone can touch that usury? How many people have lost their entire lives for this!"
Luo Ran agreed, nodded and asked: "Where's Zhang Er, has it been dealt with completely?"
Qingchuan: "Madam, don't worry, my subordinate never let him see his face from the beginning to the end. Even if he was arrested at the beginning, he thought it was the people behind the scenes who wanted to silence him. Moreover, now he has been taken out by his subordinates. It’s Beijing.”
Luo Ran said: "You did a good job. It would be really difficult for others to handle this matter. Only those of them who always hang out on the street will not arouse others' suspicion."
Then he took out a few of the banknotes and said: "These five hundred taels are for you. Excluding the money spent this time, the rest is left. If you meet a reliable person, buy a few and train them first, and keep them for later use."
Qingchuan took the banknote and said, "Yes. I understand."
After this time, not only Luo Ruxue had to keep her tail between her legs for a while, but also the second room of the Luo family had calmed down. Luo Ran was relieved that Yuan Shuyi was about to give birth.
Of course, no one knew what she was doing except the people around her. Even Youqing couldn't help but said: "Madam, you have done so much for me and my wife, why didn't you tell them."
Luo Ran shook his head gently: "No need."
He looked up at the sky outside and saw that there was still some time before lunch. He also remembered that he had not been to the east courtyard for some days, so he stood up and tidied up his clothes: "It's been a long time since I visited the old lady. Let Chunyu and Zizhu follow me."
Youqing: "Yes."
On the way, Chunyu walked while whispering: "Madam, I have spoken to that old woman a few times recently. According to the old woman's recollection, it seems that Mrs. Xie became depressed after entering the palace, and once even got into a fight with Duke Jing Now. Duke Jingguo’s face was scratched badly by her.”
Luo Ran was surprised. He heard that the Xie family women were always well-educated, gentle and virtuous. How could they start a fight with her husband?
