Xiao Zhong looked stunned. He knew who the voice was as soon as he heard it. He looked at Shopkeeper Liu blankly.
"Sister Liu, did something happen to Sister Wu?"
Shopkeeper Liu looked at Wu Qinghui's winery in front of him, covered his mouth and smiled.
"Her wine was stolen and she's mad now."
Xiao Zhong was stunned. He had just helped Sister Wu push a cart full of wine before leaving in the morning, but it was stolen when he came back.
When he walked into the winery, he saw Wu Qinghui rolling up his sleeves and holding a kitchen knife in his hand. The veins on his forehead popped out, as if he was going to chop someone at the next moment.
Xiao Zhong was about to step forward, but was held back by Su Qinqin on the side.
"Sister Su?"
Su Qinqin shook her head at him
"She's going crazy. Don't go up there. She'll be fine on her own after a while."
Xiao Zhong asked
"What happened?"
Su Qinqin sighed and said
"After you left in the morning, two officials came to the winery, saying they were looking for a fugitive. As a result, they searched the winery inside and out, but couldn't find them. After the two officials left, Qing Hui felt something was wrong. , so I checked and found that the cart of wine she had just pushed in this morning was missing."
Xiao Zhong frowned and said
"Flying away? Can the wine grow wings on its own and fly?"
Su Qinqin tapped Xiao Zhong's head dotingly.
"Of course he won't fly on his own, but what's even more strange now is that the two officers said they were looking for fugitives, but after they left, they didn't go to nearby stores to search. I suspect that the two officers went straight to Qing Hui. From the winery.”
Xiao Zhong was even more confused
"Are the officials here to steal the wine? Then why do they want to steal the wine?"
Su Qinqin smiled and said
"I don't know about this, but something is really not right in the city recently. There are many more official patrols than before. In the past, there were only three patrols on the streets in the morning, noon and evening. In recent days, there are no less than ten officers and soldiers patrolling every day. Team."
Hearing this, Xiao Zhong nodded silently. When entering and leaving the city today, he also felt that the city was much more heavily guarded than before.
"Leave her alone for a while. She'll probably be fine in the afternoon."
With that said, Su Qinqin walked out the door. When Xiao Zhong saw Su Qinqin leaving, he also left the winery and went to his shop.
Su Qinqin returned to her store, but an old man happened to walk in.
"Shopkeeper Su?"
The old man said with a smile.
Su Qinqin nodded slightly and said politely
"What do guests need?"
Su Qinqin's shop was a rice paper shop. The old man looked around and smiled softly.
"I've heard for a long time that Shopkeeper Su's rice paper is one of the best in the capital. My husband wants a piece of rice paper and would like to ask Shopkeeper Su if he has it?"
Su Qinqin glanced at the old man in surprise. Although the old man was not dressed richly, he was also fresh and refined. It seemed that he did come from a wealthy family.
"One?"
But she didn't understand why the other party only wanted a piece of paper.
The old man smiled and nodded.
"The master just asked shopkeeper Su if he could make it. A piece of paper is twenty feet square."
Su Qinqin looked shocked. A piece of paper twenty feet square had never been heard of, let alone done.
"Guest, are you joking?"
Unexpectedly, the old man looked serious, not joking at all.
"I don't have the time to come here and make fun of Shopkeeper Su. Just tell me whether it is there or not. If it is, I will pick up the paper in half a month."
With that said, the old man slapped a piece of gold on the table with a bang.
"This is the deposit. Once everything is done, there is still the final payment."
Su Qinqin's eyebrows were twitching, and there was a hint of worry in her beautiful eyes. If the other party was willing to spend such a high price, it would not be as simple as making a piece of paper.
She was silent for a long time and said
"I need to think about this for a day and will give you an answer tomorrow."
There was a slight trace of disappointment on the old man's face, which disappeared briefly, and then he said again
"Then come back tomorrow."
After the old man left, Su Qinqin was worried. Among the sisters on this street, she was undoubtedly the most astute and knowledgeable.
In the past two days, strange things have happened one after another on the street. Until just now, a strange person came to her shop, and an ominous premonition arose spontaneously.
At this time, an uninvited guest also came to Wu Qinghui Winery.
"Shopkeeper Wu"
A middle-aged man walked in and looked at the angry Wu Qinghui with a smile. When Wu Qinghui saw the man, his expression changed and he felt a little embarrassed.
"Mr. Zhang"
Wu Qinghui instantly calmed down, hid the kitchen knife in his hand behind his back, and greeted him with a smile.
The middle-aged man was not embarrassed at all by Wu Qinghui's actions just now. He just gently took out a large banknote from his arms.
"I'm here today to pay the deposit."
Wu Qinghui's face froze, then he took the banknote and said with a smile
"Mr. Zhang, please make a special trip."
Mr. Zhang looked inside the room and said doubtfully
"What happened?"
Wu Qinghui looked unmoved and said
"Nothing, just two little thieves."
Mr. Zhang’s face tightened
"Is my drink okay then?"
Wu Qinghui laughed loudly
"The wine Mr. Zhang ordered must be properly ordered."
Mr. Zhang looked relaxed and said
"That's good. When the time comes, I will bring someone to pick up the wine as agreed."
With that, he left the winery. After Wu Qinghui said goodbye to Mr. Zhang, he quickly closed the shop door and ran to Su Qinqin's place.
"Qinqin!"
Su Qinqin was thinking about what had just happened, but was interrupted by Wu Qinghui's shout.
"What's the matter? You're in a hurry."
Wu Qinghui grabbed Su Qinqin's arm, as if grasping a life-saving straw, and said
"The person who ordered the drinks just now is here."
Su Qinqin said
"The one who ordered twelve cartloads of fine wine?"
Wu Qinghui nodded and said
"He came to pay the deposit, but the cart of wine I just borrowed from the street next door was stolen. There are still ten days left, how will I get together these twelve carts of wine."
Su Qinqin frowned and said
"If you work hard for ten days, how much wine can you make at most?"
Wu Qinghui said
"I have a lot of inventory in my wine cellar. In fact, I am only short of this carload of wine. If I hurry up, I can indeed make up the quantity. But you also know about wine. The ones that are shipped out in the tenth day are from my wine cellar. Naturally, those stored wines cannot be compared, otherwise I would not have had to go around looking for people to borrow them to get such a cart of wine."
Su Qinqin asked again
"Then you might think of a way to borrow some more."
Wu Qinghui shook his head
"My wine cellar contains lotus stamens that are more than one year old. In the entire capital, there are only Zhuangyuan Red from Zhuangyuan Building, Ner Hong from Yingbin Building, Lansheng Wine from Linyue Pavilion, and Penglai Chun from Lengxiang Garden. Bi, I have already borrowed from all four companies to get such a car together, and if I borrow more, I’m afraid they won’t have much in stock.”
Su Qinqin asked
"Then what will happen if we can't get it together when the time comes?"
Wu Qinghui said
"Of course, according to the rules of the business, we will pay double the price."
Su Qinqin pondered for a moment. At this point, things seemed to be developing in a clear direction.
Could this be a scam, an attempt to defraud Qing Hui of his money?
Su Qinqin thought so.
"Do you still remember the characteristics of those two official servants?"
Su Qinqin asked again.
Wu Qinghui heard this and recalled it.
"Those two officers were wearing armor and had fierce eyes. They looked much bigger than the officers who patrolled in the past."
When Su Qinqin heard this, her eyes tightened
"What kind of armor."
Wu Qinghui thought hard.
"It looks quite heavy. There is a raised pattern in the shape of an animal face on the left shoulder. It looks a bit creepy, but I can't tell what kind of beast it is. It looks like a lion or a tiger."
When Su Qin heard this, his face suddenly turned pale.
"The Qilin pattern is the forbidden army!"
Wu Qinghui also lost her beauty
"Why did the Imperial Guard come to my shop and steal my wine?"
Su Qinqin seemed to have run out of ideas for a moment. If the other party was really the Forbidden Army, then all her previous speculations were wrong.
"Which family does Mr. Zhang, who ordered the wine, belong to?"
Su Qinqin said.
Wu Qinghui shook her head blankly. She was already in a state of confusion.
Su Qinqin’s beautiful eyebrows are tightly clustered
"How come, isn't your wine usually delivered directly to the person's house? He didn't leave his address?"
Wu Qinghui said
"He said he would bring someone to pick up the wine when the time comes."
Su Qinqin felt that things were more and more strange. It seemed that the man had prepared this series of things early in the morning and did not even reveal his address. What a good plan.
Of course, this was not what worried her the most. The other party wanted exactly twelve carts of wine, no more, no less, but Wu Qinghui's inventory was only short of one cart of wine. This cannot be explained by a simple coincidence.
"Sister Su, Sister Wu."
At this moment, Xiao Zhong walked in. Seeing his bright smile, Su Qinqin and Wu Qinghui were also happy.
Su Qinqin said
"Xiao Zhong, what's the matter?"
Xiao Zhong shook his head
"I just came to tell my sisters that I am going to the City Lord's Mansion to prevent my sisters from being worried like yesterday."
Su Qinqin and Wu Qinghui were confused by the wine issue at the moment, and they didn't have time to make fun of him as usual, saying
"I know, be careful, pay attention to your safety, and go back early."
On the other side, in the courtyard of the City Lord's Mansion.
The bored Yan Sihai was teasing Xiao Taohua, who looked impatient and said
"Manager Yan, if you are bored, just go to the lake and play. I am very busy today."
Chang Sheng came over. She rolled her eyes at Yan Sihai, then looked at Xiao Taohua and said
"Go and do your work."
Yan Sihai saw Chang Sheng's unhappy expression and said
"Shengwazi, judging from your expression, you are still thinking about the human emperor being kidnapped."
Chang Sheng sat aside angrily
"The saint's whereabouts are still unknown, but you are very leisurely."
When Yan Sihai saw Chang Sheng's expression was not good, he stopped playing around and said seriously.
"Compared to the Human Emperor, I care more about the man in a hat that I met on the lake that day."
Chang Shengdao
"What's wrong with that guy?"
Yan Sihai shook his head hesitantly
"I don't know either. I always felt that that guy gave me a familiar yet dangerous feeling. And even though that guy kept his face covered that day, I felt like he was always looking at me."
Chang Sheng said in shock
"Could he be your former enemy?"
Yan Sihai Road
"I don't know about this, but if you meet him, be careful. That guy is not a good person no matter how you look at him."
Chang Sheng waved his hand
"Well, all I can think about right now is what those two forbidden soldiers said. I don't have time to think about anything else."
Yan Sihai said
"Are you talking about those men in black suddenly disappearing from the palace?"
Chang Sheng nodded.
"Tell me, is there any way to make people disappear suddenly under your nose?"
Yan Sihai thought for a while
"I've only seen one person do this."
Chang Sheng asked
"who?"
Yan Sihai Road
"Mobei three years ago was the only one who could do what you said with his body as if he was shrinking to an inch. Other than that, even your brother couldn't do it."
Chang Sheng lay on the table in disappointment
"You can't say that those men in black are all masters of the gods."
At this moment, Little Taohua suddenly ran back and said naughtily
"City Lord, that kid is here again."
Chang Sheng immediately raised his head with a smile on his lips.
"Xiao Zhong is here, let him in."
