After a few days of investigation, the situation developed in an even weirder direction.
The low-level general who tipped off the news suddenly died on top of the city for no apparent reason, and his death was tragic.
At the same time, the soldiers who did not receive cotton wool began to change their tune and kept silent about the matter. They all believed that there was no other reason for not receiving cotton wool.
"Absolutely lawless!"
Lu Bu was completely angry. Did he really think he was an idiot? Can't you even see such a shoddy method?
It was obvious that someone was behind the scenes to shut up these soldiers who did not get the cotton wool, otherwise they would end up like the low-level officers who died violently!
"Without some means, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get the truth out of some people's mouths."
Chen Gong said in a deep voice.
"Keep a close eye on Hou Cheng's camp. Be sure to observe whoever has been close to Hou Cheng recently!"
Lu Bu ordered.
"Um!"
Chen Gong nodded and closely monitored Hou Cheng without alerting the enemy.
Lu Bu's expression was gloomy and uncertain. He could only say that it was reasonable for the original person in front of him to be suspicious of these generals.
Hou Cheng's hand stretched out too long, so long that even Lu Bu felt frightened.
The hard work paid off, Chen Gong soon investigated the clues, and a wealthy Zhou family gradually surfaced.
When he learned that the Zhou family was in the cotton wool business, Lu Bu's expression was very exciting.
The Zhou family is not a particularly big family in Xiapi City, but they have a lot of fertile land and shops, and their business is booming!
It doesn't matter if we don't investigate. Once we investigate, we find that the Zhou family's hands and feet are very dirty.
He often uses harsh means to attack his colleagues. If his colleagues want to cause trouble, they immediately ask Hou Cheng to come out, and Hou Cheng will naturally settle everything for him!
With Hou Cheng as a protective umbrella, the Zhou family had a smooth life in Xiapi City. Of course, most of the benefits they collected had to be handed over to Hou Cheng.
Otherwise, why would Hou Cheng be willing to cooperate with the Zhou family?
Relying on Hou Cheng's protection, the Zhou family gradually became a local wealthy family from a small local clan.
It is comparable to those big families that sell grain, cloth, and oil!
As for the most powerful family in Xiapi City, it is none other than the Zhao family with a well-established family. The Zhao family has served as county magistrates for three consecutive generations. This generation, Zhao Yinian, once served as a county magistrate under Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
Now that he has taken refuge with the Chen family, he seems to be extremely honest after being trapped in Xiapi City. He does not dare to contact the Chen family at all for fear of being targeted by Lu Bu!
After all, not every wealthy family has the courage to cooperate internally and externally to overthrow the rule.
Regarding the existence of the Zhao family, Lu Bu could only put it aside for the time being and ignore it. The top priority now was to control the Zhou family and let the Zhou family identify Hou Cheng!
Zhou Xueyi, the current head of the Zhou family, is currently sitting at home drinking tea leisurely. He is sitting on a chair with a big belly, which makes the chair creak.
Recently, as the weather has gotten colder, the cotton wool business has become better. Coupled with the high-quality cotton wool obtained from Hou Cheng, he directly sold it at a good price.
Watching Mr. Accountant calculating his calculations, the sound made him feel particularly pleasant.
"Jian'er, how's your arithmetic doing?"
Zhou Xueyi asked his youngest son.
He gave birth to three sons, and the youngest son was the most promising and clever.
He is only ten years old this year and already has very high attainments in arithmetic, which makes Zhou Xueyi deeply gratified.
The first two accounts were considered useless, and this one was raised, so someone could inherit his mantle.
The Zhou family's huge fortune cannot be left in the hands of two beasts.
Walking birds all day long is a waste of knowledge and skills!
A person who fights with crickets all day long and causes trouble is not a fuel-efficient lamp.
Of course, what upset Zhou Xueyi the most was his second son, who not only fought with crickets all day, but also provoked women from good families.
If Zhou Xueyi had not backed Hou Cheng, it would have been difficult to deal with those unruly fathers.
Now the second son got into trouble again and was directly grounded by Zhou Xueyi. No matter how his mother begged for mercy, nothing could be done.
It's just that this younger son was born from a concubine and his family status is far lower than that of his two elder brothers. When the time comes for the family fortune, just thinking about it gives Zhou Xueyi a headache.
Zhou Xueyi only had one official wife, and the other six were all concubines. One of them was extremely beautiful, and Zhou Xueyi loved her very much, so she gave birth to her youngest son.
Some of the remaining concubines were unborn, and some of them gave birth to daughters, so they did not pose the slightest threat to the main wife.
Moreover, the main wife's mother's family is not bad at all. They are from a well-known family in Xiapi City. In addition, they have given birth to two sons. It stands to reason that they will not feel the slightest danger.
But the concubine named Gu Mei is indeed very beautiful. In terms of beauty alone, no one in Xiapi City can compare with her.
Moreover, the son he gave birth to was also extremely smart, making his wife very jealous.
However, because of Zhou Xueyi's protection, the wife did not dare to do anything to Gu Mei, but the fire of jealousy burned in the heart of the wife and was difficult to extinguish.
"The young master's arithmetic skills have improved the fastest I have ever seen. I'm afraid it won't be long before I have nothing to give to the young master."
Mr. Accountant, tell the truth.
"Hahaha, I like hearing this. I will reward you with five taels of silver."
Zhou Xueyi laughed heartily and felt that Mr. Accountant was also a wonderful person. In addition, his recent income was good, so he rewarded him without even thinking about it.
"Thank you, sir!"
The accountant was overjoyed. This was an unexpected surprise, considering that his monthly salary was only thirty taels.
This reward is equivalent to one-sixth of the account-settler's salary, and his life will be easy again.
Zhou Jian, who was wearing a tiger head hat, was confused and didn't know the benefits of silver. He only knew that it could buy delicious food.
Zhou Jian was distracted as he looked at the fluttering butterflies outside.
His mother, Gu Yan, was slender and pretty, and she did not look like she had given birth to a child.
She vaguely exudes the brilliance of motherhood, and her big eyes are very moving, and her pure gaze can arouse male desire.
"Yan, let Jian'er go to the academy to read some Confucian classics in the future, get to know more classmates, and expand his network."
"If possible, I am helping him to establish relationships and see if he can become an official in another country."
Zhou Xueyi began to look forward to the days after the troubled times were settled. With the capital accumulated over the years, Jian'er might be able to become an official.
In ancient times, becoming an official was definitely the fastest way to cross class, but there were too few ways to become an official, and ordinary small businessmen and hawkers would never even think about it in their lifetime.
Zhou Xueyi held Gu Yan's weak and boneless hand, and suddenly felt a little itchy in his heart. Looking at Gu Yan's figure, evil thoughts came to his heart.
Zhou Xueyi ignored Gu Yan's exclamation and hugged her into his arms. Gu Yan said shyly: "Master, there are people around!"
"You all stand down."
Zhou Xueyi waved his hand and told Mr. Accountant to wait, he was about to do something big.
"What does daddy want to do? Why don't you let me stay?"
Zhou Jian said in an innocent voice.
"Daddy has to do something important with mother. Jian'er will go down first. After daddy has finished the important thing, I will buy you some candies."
Zhou Xueyi coaxed and deceived.
"Okay, okay, daddy is going to do something big, and I want some candy."
Zhou Jian was a happy drummer, holding the hands of everyone in the house and retreating.
When Gu Yan heard this, her face turned as red as her butt. She was still playing tricks on her, and she had to do big things in such an open-air place.
