The girl looked at her with no expression on her face.
The shopkeeper signaled Ms. Ding to stop talking and led the girl upstairs.
"Business has been bad recently. There are only two people staying in my store right now. They are doing business from Yong'an. It rained heavily today and they haven't gone out..."
The shopkeeper introduced the restaurant as she walked, and also told her about the hotel's reception facilities, so that if she needed anything, she could just ask.
The girl nodded and occasionally said a few words to thank the shopkeeper.
The room is diagonally opposite Zhi Changle, with a screen with a painting of a thousand-mile bright moon in the middle, and a gilt copper stove with patterns of exotic animals on both sides.
The shopkeeper invited the girl into the side room and repeatedly and enthusiastically warned her not to be polite if there was anything she wanted.
After leaving, the shopkeeper looked at the two guest rooms opposite, thought for a while, and knocked on the door.
He knocked on Zhi Changle's door, but the door next door opened with a creak.
"Looking for me?" Zhi Changle asked.
"Ah, your guest," the shopkeeper said with his hands raised, "I have a few things I want to talk to your guest. Can you please let me in?"
Zhi Changle stepped aside: "Come in."
The shopkeeper entered the house, bowed politely, and then bluntly stated that he hoped they would leave after the rain stopped.
"We paid a lot for rent, right?" Zhi Changle frowned, "What's the point of this?"
"The small meeting will refund the guest officer..."
"In business, benevolence and righteousness are important. We are all benevolent and righteous, but the shopkeeper is not very good at being a good person?"
The shopkeeper held up his hands and said with a bit of pleading in his voice: "Sir, I can't help you this time. When I come back next time, I will treat you well. Can we make friends this time?"
Zhi Changle didn't answer and looked sideways at Xia Zhaoyi.
Xia Zhaoyi's eyes were gentle and he said softly: "It's okay, we will leave. There are many inns here. When the weather clears, we will find another place."
"Thank you, girl, thank you girl! You are really considerate!"
"Did you hear that?" Zhi Changle said in a dissatisfied voice to the shopkeeper, "Don't bother us, let's go!"
The door clicked shut behind him, and the shopkeeper let out a long sigh of relief.
The reason why he let them go was because the entourage just now said that someone would most likely come to assassinate the girl. He did this entirely out of consideration for the two residents, fearing that they would get involved in something they shouldn't be involved in.
The word "assassin" is really scary. If someone else had offered him this job, the shopkeeper would definitely not accept it, but this was Xin Fengcai.
If Tian Dayao and Yao could rule the world in the future, people like Xin Fengcai would be destined to be crowned marquises and prime ministers.
"Ah Li, you've gone too far to bully others." Zhi Changle came over and said.
Xia Zhaoyi smiled lightly: "Brother Zhi, we gave you five taels of silver, which is not a small sum of money. Shopkeeper Hong was very happy when he took it. It can be seen that he also loves this money. There must be something unspeakable in asking us to leave now, so it is not difficult.
He got it."
"That's true..." Zhi Changle sat down, "But it's always uncomfortable to move around."
"I wanted to leave last night and stop looking for caravans here. Since there is no trade route, there is really no point in continuing to stay in such a big inn."
"Is it because of the incident involving the Eight Capital Military Envoys? So we don't build a trade road here?"
Xia Zhaoyi shook his head and smiled at Zhi Changle: "It's because the humanities here are not very good."
"Then, why do you want to stay again?"
"There are still a few people who have not been killed."
His tone was still calm, but Zhi Changle's eyebrows furrowed.
The girl in front of her was much gentler than the previous few days. Her tone of voice was soft and gentle, but she was also cold and distant, with an indescribable cold murderous aura.
He and Lao Tong rarely talked about Xia Zhaoyi, but now they felt scared: "Ah Li, did something happen last night?"
Xia Zhaoyi turned to the window, and saw heavy rain pouring down from the sky. Amidst the sound of rain, there was occasionally a huge thunder.
She didn't want to mention those things about Shen Lie to others, whether they were true or false.
And, although all the signs seemed to be true, she still felt unbelievable.
Shen Lie is such an arrogant and aloof person. If he really fell into such a tragic and desperate situation, it would be impossible for him to...
"...Ali?" Zhi Changle looked at her rarely distracted eyes.
Xia Zhaoyi turned his head and a smile appeared on his lips: "Brother Zhi, can I talk to you later?"
"If you don't want to say it, then don't say it. It's okay. I'm just worried about you." Zhi Changle said with concern.
"Okay." Xia Zhaoyi smiled and nodded.
When the shopkeeper got downstairs, he was pulled aside by Mrs. Ding.
His ears hurt from being pinched. Shopkeeper Hong pulled off his wife's hand and said, "Be gentle!"
"Tell me the truth about what I just said to you!"
Shopkeeper Hong didn't want to hide such a big thing from her, so he sent a few waiters away in the lobby and carefully told them the instructions for his entourage.
"Killer?!" Ding was surprised.
"Her mother died outside the Yamen today." Shopkeeper Hong pointed upstairs.
"I saw an old woman who was grabbing her and beating her, and she actually died?" Ms. Ding got goosebumps.
"Mr. Fengcai will send someone to protect her later," shopkeeper Hong said, fearing that Mrs. Ding would drive her away, he added, "This matter actually has nothing to do with us, we will be fine."
Unexpectedly, Mr. Ding was unexpectedly reasonable: "Wealth is sought in danger. Since it is Xin Fengcai's request, we can accomplish it, which is a great achievement."
"right!"
"It's finally over," Ding sighed. "In the early years, I still looked down on Xin Fengcai's poor and elegant appearance. I didn't expect that things would change."
"He was not poor in his early years either."
"The rice wine only costs twenty taels, and you still have to count the peanuts, haha." Ding thought it was funny when she thought about it, so she didn't bother to say anything more to her husband, so she turned around and walked towards the back.
Xia Zhaoyi and Zhi Changle didn't have much baggage, so they packed it up after a while.
The thunderstorm outside is getting bigger and bigger, and huge dark clouds cover the entire sky of Congxin. It's only midnight, but it feels like night.
Xia Zhaoyi was reading by the window. Seeing this, Zhi Changle lit two candles and asked Xia Zhaoyi to return to the table.
"I'm afraid the rain won't stop," Zhi Changle said.
"You should stop when you are ugly." Xia Zhaoyi said.
"Ah? Isn't it midnight?"
"Um."
"Then let's sort this out..."
"What if the shopkeeper has prepared a carriage for us?" Xia Zhaoyi said with a smile.
"Is there anyone in such a hurry to drive people away? This is too much."
"It's just a possibility, so I'll sort it out first. I have to leave anyway."
Zhi Changle nodded: "That's all we have to do."
Time gradually passed, and the sky was still as dark as splashing ink. When it completely entered the dark night, there was no sign of the shopkeeper preparing a carriage to drive people away.
Instead, the waiter came up and asked them if they wanted something to eat and if they wanted hot water.
Zhi Changle asked for some food, and the waiter went downstairs to prepare it.
Mrs. Ding was not happy about it. She heard that shopkeeper Hong sent the waiter to ask about it, so she turned around to find trouble with her husband.
After holding an umbrella from the back kitchen, she walked through the large courtyard covered with rainwater, went up the steps to collect her umbrella, and leaned her umbrella against the eaves. Someone then forcefully pulled Ding aside, and at the same time, her mouth was covered by someone's hand. .
The cold blade was pressed against her throat: "Where is that little lady from the Huang family?"
Ding's eyes widened, and her body stiffened for a while before she regained consciousness.
"Say it quickly!" the man lowered his voice and said angrily.
"I can't see you!" Ding quickly closed her eyes, "I couldn't see anything just now, and I don't know what you look like. Don't kill me, good man!"
"Don't tell me!" The man lost his patience.
Mrs. Ding stretched out her hand, pointed towards the upstairs, and said in a trembling voice: "Here, there..."
She suddenly had a flash of inspiration and tilted her finger to the east: "On the third floor, walk to the left along the handrail. Once you enter, you will see that it is Tianzi No. 1."
"If you're trying to trick me, just wait for death!" the man said, raising his hand to knock her unconscious, and handed her to his companions behind him, who threw her into a dark room with no one around.
