"It is said that this kind of grape wine from the Western Regions is only available in the palace in Jinling City. I didn't expect that the orchid room outside Yuan Yuan would be so generous." A burly man, one of the fake tax collectors, held the wine bottle and looked at the ruby red wine inside. Tut tut praise.
"Brother Zuo, you are really exaggerating. This fine grape wine was given by His Majesty. Otherwise, how could Lu dare to keep it secretly?" Lu Wei also picked up the wine bottle in his hand: "Come on, let us drink from this cup."
"The three of us brothers have been here in Jinling City for some time. I wonder when your special envoy will meet with my eldest brother?" The burly man raised his neck and drank it all in one gulp, staring at Lu with a smile on his face. Wei.
"Hey, hey, hey! Brother Zuo, why should you be anxious? Lu has already informed the special envoy." Lu Wei pretended to fill the burly man with more wine: "He said he would meet with your brother at the appropriate time."
"Hmph! You, the special envoy, are so arrogant." The burly man snorted first, then grinned with his big mouth: "But, I'm just here to convey a message, so there's no need to worry about so much, right? ?"
"Brother Zuo can see clearly." Lu Wei laughed, but his eyes were full of fear: "Bi'er, Lei'er, why don't you come over and serve Brother Zuo drinking."
"Uncle Zuo, why are you ignoring us?" Bi'er and Lei'er sat on the left and right sides of the burly man like a gust of wind, pouring and feeding him wine.
"Hahaha, good!" The burly man touched Bi'er's smooth oval face while enjoying the wine brought to his mouth by Lian'er.
"Dong dong dong!" There was a knock on the door: "Master, I have something to ask for!"
"Come in." Wu Ma entered the Orchid Room and was stunned for a moment when she saw the burly man, and then swallowed back what she wanted to say.
"Brother Zuo is not an outsider. If you have anything to say, just say it." Lu Wei seemed to see Wu Ma's concerns and spoke.
"My boss, there are three guards from the Jingwei Palace outside. They want to see my boss by name. They seem to have bad intentions." Wu Ma looked worried.
"Huh? I have heard that His Majesty has decreed that all the Su family's properties, except Wujian Lefang and Shanshui Inn, have been sealed off. What are the guards from the Jingwei Mansion doing here?" A burly man who was enjoying himself and whose eyes were gradually blurred suddenly appeared. One sentence.
"Brother Zuo, please wait a moment while Lu goes out to take a look." Lu Wei stood up and ordered the two stunning maids: "You two must serve our distinguished guests well."
The Wujiang Music Studio, which usually has a steady stream of guests, was surprisingly deserted today. There were only a few pretty dancers dancing on the red carpet on the stage. There were a lot of empty seats under the stage, and there were only three private rooms upstairs. For one of the guests, the strong atmosphere of the past was completely gone.
"What kind of wind has brought Mr. Wu here? It really makes Lefang Pengpi shine!" Lu Wei's face was full of smiles, and his fat body swayed very comically when he walked.
"Jifeng has been thinking about this music studio for a long time. He came here just after leaving Tingwei Mansion." The leading guard was Wu Jifeng from Xuanwu Academy.
"I heard that Mr. Wu was wronged a few days ago, and now that he has been redressed, it is natural to celebrate." Lu Wei told Wu's mother: "You go to Mingfeng Pavilion and prepare a table of good food and wine. I want to cleanse the dust for you. "
"Jifeng came here today because he has official business, so there is no need to wash his hands." Wu Jifeng was much more straightforward in front of these merchants: "Who is Miss Yanran? I want to take her to Tingwei's Mansion for questioning."
"Miss Yanran is one of the pillars of my Wujian Music Studio. I wonder what you have done to bother Master Wu?" Lu Wei heard that Wu Jifeng was going to take Yanran away, and the fleshy face disappeared. The smile just now.
"This is official business for Jifeng." Wu Jifeng has been a guard for many years and is very good at observing people's emotions. When he saw Lu Wei's face, he immediately changed his tone: "This member Li Shu should know who the criminal is. What happened? He treated Miss Yanran unusually; not only did he reward her with a hundred and fifty taels, but he also deposited a thousand taels of silver in Miss Yanran's account at Sanshun Bank."
"Huh? Does Lu know about the reward?" Seeing that Wu Jifeng still gave him face, Lu Wei's expression softened: "But the matter of depositing money..."
"Do you still need Miss Yanran to clarify the matter of depositing money?" Wu Jifeng took advantage of the opportunity before Lu Wei finished speaking: "After all, the fake tax collector's matter has caused a lot of noise in the city recently, and the Ministry of Household Affairs also has to verify whether the money is Dirty silver, isn’t it?”
"Master Wu is saying that if Lu insists on disobeying, it will appear aggrieved." Lu Wei laughed angrily: "Mother Wu, go and invite Miss Yanran."
Not long after, Yanran slowly came down from the attic. She changed from her usual appearance and wore a smart pure white silk shirt. She did not wear any headdress with black hair. She only tied a small bunch of hair behind her head with a white ribbon. There are two strands of hair on the side braided into a twist, which is cool yet cute.
"I wonder what the officer wants to see Yanran for?" Yanran bowed to Lu Wei and looked at Wu Jifeng, who was wearing a guard uniform, with a vague feeling of bad premonition in her heart.
"This is Mr. Wu from Jingwei Mansion. He is here to pick up the girl and go to Tingwei Mansion to learn some things." Lu Wei was also very careful when talking to Yanran.
"Yanran is just a music girl, what do you need to ask the Tingwei Mansion to invite you for?" Yanran replied coldly.
"Li Shu deposited a thousand taels of silver into the girl's account at Sanshun Bank. He hopes that the girl will go to Tingwei's Mansion with me to make it clear." Wu Jifeng said with a smile.
"I don't know this Li Shu, nor do I know about Yinzi." Yanran said without even looking at Wu Jifeng: "I'm sorry that I won't accompany you."
"So Miss Yanran wants to disobey her?" Wu Jifeng couldn't help but feel angry when he saw Yanran being so tough. He moved back with his right hand, and two guards immediately surrounded him.
"Stop it!" Lu Wei on the side cleared his throat and whispered in Wu Jifeng's ear: "Master Wu, please don't get angry. Let Lu persuade her."
"Okay, just for the sake of the officer, Jifeng will wait for a moment." Wu Jifeng motioned to the two guards with his eyes to ask them to retreat.
"Miss Yanran, this is also a routine question from Tingwei. If you insist on not going, wouldn't it appear that you are timid, and you will be convicted?" Lu Wei said softly to Yanran.
Yanran looked at Lu Wei who couldn't wait to push her out the door, and then looked at Wu Jifeng who had a fierce look on his face, and sighed in her heart: "Okay, let's go with Mr. Wu."
"Sir, Miss Yanran agreed." Lu Wei was overjoyed when he saw Yanran relaxed: "Wu Ma, prepare a carriage to send Miss Yanran away."
"Yes! Boss." Wu Ma spread her hands towards Wu Jifeng again: "Mr. Wu, please wait at the door."
Liu Ningshi wandered aimlessly like this, with the scene of Tong Bo pushing her out of the secret room the moment the boulder fell falling over and over again in her mind, and she unknowingly arrived in front of a shop.
"Li Laoshi Wonton Shop?" Liu Ningshi looked up at the sign of the shop and smelled the fragrance of wontons inside. She couldn't help but think of the last time she and Tong Bo came here to eat wontons, and couldn't help but step in.
"Girl, please take a seat inside." At this time, the wonton shop was deserted, with only three or two customers left, and the excitement of the previous period was completely gone.
"Boy, I remember the last time I came to your place, the business was good. Why is it so sluggish now?" Liu Ningshi chose a ventilated position by the window and sat down.
"Young lady, you don't know. Since the last time the shop was defrauded of a lot of money by a fake tax collector, the business has plummeted." The waiter waved the rag in his hand and wiped the table for Liu Ningshi: "Look at us. Shopkeeper, you’ve been hanging your head and looking dark all day these days.”
"Fake tax collector? It turns out that this wonton shop has also been deceived." Liu Ningshi asked curiously: "This is not the first time that you, the shopkeeper, have paid taxes. Can't you tell the truth from the fake?"
"Those tax collectors are so evil, we ordinary people don't dare to doubt them." The waiter looked a little aggrieved when he mentioned the fake tax collectors: "That day, our shopkeeper heard that their accents were locals, so he believed them."
"Accent?" Liu Ningshi's heart stirred: "The people in black I was competing with clearly didn't have a local accent. Aren't they fake tax collectors? Then why do they have to change their tax licenses again?"
"Girl, what do you want to order?" The waiter asked tentatively when he saw Liu Ningshi suddenly distracted.
"Let's have a serving of three fresh wontons." Liu Ningshi came back to her senses after being called out by the waiter: "Second brother, didn't you see anything wrong with their uniforms at that time?"
"There's nothing wrong. The uniform is the same as that of a real tax collector." After the waiter finished speaking, he flicked the rag hanging on his shoulder: "A bowl of three fresh wontons."
"The fake tax collector is a local, and the uniforms are genuine. The burly man from the Ministry of Revenue probably just returned the real tax tag that night." Liu Ningshi thought in her mind: "It seems that we should check the production of the uniforms. shop."
"Girl, your wontons are here." While Liu Ningshi was thinking about it, the waiter came to her with fragrant wontons.
"Little brother, do you still remember what those three fake tax collectors looked like?" Liu Ningshi's eyes flashed with excitement.
"Hmm! Let me think about it." The waiter scratched the back of his head: "The fake tax collector at the head is tall and thin, with a pale complexion. Oh, by the way! There is a vermilion birthmark on the back of his right hand."
Teams of White Tiger Guards were walking back and forth in the huge courtyard of the Su Mansion. Although they were wearing imperial guard uniforms, they looked like red-eyed robbers at this time. Some were holding precious porcelain in their hands, and some were holding precious porcelain. Some held gold and silver jewelry in their hands, while others held the coveted white silver.
"You can't take these away, I'm going to die." A noble lady tightly held the thigh of a white tiger guard.
"Fuck you." The White Tiger Guard impatiently kicked the lady over and kicked her three feet away: "You bitch, get out of here."
The entire Su Mansion was enveloped in a violent and depressing atmosphere, but Ye Hu seemed to turn a blind eye to everything that happened in the courtyard, sitting leisurely in Su Xing's original seat in the council hall, sipping tea.
"Brother Ye, I think that's enough. Why don't we just go back and resume our lives." The ghost face beside him couldn't stand it any longer.
"Brother Ghost, Your Majesty asked us to bring back one hundred thousand taels of stolen tax silver." Ye Hu used the bowl lid to skim the tea leaves floating on the water: "How can we return empty-handed."
"Brother Ye, it seems you didn't understand what I meant." Ghost Face leaned in front of Ye Hu: "Your Majesty asked us to bring back the tax money, but he didn't say that he would use such a rough method to plunder the Su Mansion. .”
"Brother Ghost, this is Ye's errand, so I won't bother you." Ye Hu squinted and enjoyed the Dahongpao: "This Su Mansion is indeed one of the four major families, and this tea is really the best."
"Hey! In that case, I won't say much more; everything here is all decided by Brother Ye." Ghost Face stood up and walked out of the house, and a snow-white dove flew on his shoulder.
