Zheng Haizhu and Zhang Yanke completed their survey and returned to the inn. When the sun turned west, Zhang Dai stepped in with his servant Agui.
Zhang Dai told his third brother and Zheng Haizhu that Yang Amo, the servant of the Yang family, first went to the white shop to order a coffin for his master, but he seemed to be very impatient, and soon threw away the money and left. As expected, he went to
Heading towards the river. He wandered around several piers, talked to many boatmen or fishermen, and finally found a small sand boat and turned back to the west county town.
Master Zhang Dai also hired a boat and followed Yang Amo. Finally, he found that after he landed, he entered the Huizhou Guild Hall in Shanghai County. Agui asked people around him and a waiter from a rice paper shop said that there were many guest rooms in the Guild Hall.
There are many people living here these days, and one of them is Mr. Yang.
"We haven't seen that Yang Amo come out after waiting for a long time, so we will come back to discuss with you first."
Zheng Haizhu nodded and said: "The late autumn and early winter are the peak seasons for collecting cotton cloth. The cotton cloth trading in Songjiang is done by Huizhou merchants, so there are especially many Huizhou merchants in these two months."
Suddenly he shook his head: "No, today we were at the county government office and saw well-dressed people who came to hear the lawsuit. They were all students or government officials with local accents. We didn't see Hui merchants. My Mr. Han said that under the rule of Songjiang Prefecture,
The three counties have all established Huizhou Merchants Guild Halls, which are very organized and can even gather merchants to argue with the government over the amount of taxes. Logically speaking, if such a group of people work together, how could such a tragic disaster happen to their fellow villagers?
One who goes to hear the trial?"
Zhang Dai pondered and said: "I am thinking the same thing as Miss Zheng. Could it be that Mr. Yang has a bad relationship with everyone?"
Zhang Yanke rolled his eyes and suddenly slapped the table: "Oh, that's not simple. We are enemies in the same industry. It must be other Huizhou businessmen who bribed Yang Amo, killed Mr. Yang, and put the blame on Sister He."
Then he told Zhang Dai the key points about what he and Zheng Haizhu found at the back door of Jiulian Nunnery.
After Zhang Dai heard this, he said sincerely to Zheng Haizhu: "Miss Zheng acts in an orderly manner, and I have benefited a lot from you."
Zheng Haizhu returned the gift, twisted a piece of snacks that Agui brought in to satisfy his hunger, and discussed with the Zhang brothers: "But there are still a lot of missing witnesses and material evidence. Based on what we have seen and guessed, we rashly lost the county and found
Master, on the one hand, I am afraid that he will not take it seriously, and on the other hand, I am afraid of disturbing the situation. It is already late, so I will go back to the house first. After all, I am on an errand for the Han family. My lady is open-minded, so I cannot lose my sense of proportion and delay outside. Besides,
There are some strange things in the bloody soil that I dug, and I don’t know enough to explain it. I have to ask experts and report back to the two young masters."
Zhang Dai hurriedly ordered Agui to hire a carriage to escort Zheng Haizhu to Han Mansion.
When he turned around and returned to the courtyard, he saw Zhang Yanke looking at him with a smile, so he said with a cold expression: "What's wrong?"
Zhang Yanke dusted off the mud on his sleeves and said cheerfully: "Brother, even with Miss Wang, you haven't been so careful."
The Miss Wang he was talking about was Wang Yuesheng, a famous prostitute from Qinhuai River in Yingtian Prefecture.
How could Zhang Dai not know the hidden meaning behind his third brother's words? He said sternly: "You are such a hozen, you only think about filthy things."
Zhang Yanke smiled and said: "Brother, what you said makes no sense. Admiring beautiful women, from emperors and generals to common people, has always been the most superior human morality. How can it be considered a sloppy thing?"
Zhang Dai was speechless, and sadness gradually appeared on his face. He was silent for a while, and finally sighed: "You are right, my brother is narrow-minded. However, Miss Zheng and I met by chance, but there was really no ripple of love between a man and a woman.
Wei feels that she is decisive, steady and kind-hearted, so she really likes to deal with her. Yuesheng and her are very different. Don't compare them. Yuesheng is the person in my heart, but I will eventually let Yuesheng down.
gave birth."
Zhang Yanke said with even more disdain: "Brother, you were still praising Miss Zheng for her decisiveness in the first sentence, but the second sentence revealed your cowardice. Look at you, a man, not even as good as a girl. For example, I mean
For example, if I love Miss Zheng as much as you love Yuesheng, I don't care which daughter my parents marry me, I will bring Miss Zheng back to Shanyin in all her glory."
Zhang Dai spat at him: "Miss Zheng is so beautiful and capable, but she grooms herself at such a young age and swears not to obey others. It seems that she is going to help the master in charge of a big business. She will be your concubine all day long."
Are you jealous of competing with your big and small girls?"
Zhang Yanke scratched his head and said with a smile: "If you can't write two characters in one stroke, how can you bury your brothers? Okay, okay, Miss Zheng is doing us a big favor. It's really unkind for me to make fun of her behind my back."
Brother, didn't you say that the master of the Han family mentioned that Zheng's aunt and nephew also came from a scholarly family. Miss Zheng did not want to marry her nephew and remain a servant like this. She wanted to open a workshop for her nephew to teach him crafts.
Is there a property in his name? I have always had a good eye for this Miss Zheng. How about we, brothers, invest money for her aunt and nephew, and simply make it more respectable. It's like building a small Shaoxing in Songjiang.
As for the guild hall, the merchants in Shanyin who have good relations with our Zhang family, the Qi family, and the Wang family can also have a place to contact us if they come to Songjiang Prefecture for a visit."
This time, Zhang Dai looked at his third brother with admiration and said sincerely: "Ke Yan, this gift of thanks from you really shows your sincerity."
…
Zheng Haizhu returned to the Han Mansion and saw his nephew Zheng Shoukuan and other servants gathering together to count the large and small boxes and luggage.
"Is there a distinguished guest in the house?" Zheng Haizhu stepped forward and asked his nephew.
Zheng Shoukuan said: "It's Third Grandma's uncle, Mr. Hu, who is here. The Second Master and Second Grandma are talking together. Dinner will be served soon."
Zheng Haizhu understood.
Not long after she entered the Han family, she found out the approximate scale of the Han family's business and its main connections.
Mr. Han San, Han Ximeng's younger uncle, was originally responsible for taking the scientific examination and becoming an official. However, he was inspired by God and devoted himself to preaching with foreigners. He left behind his third mistress Yang Shi and his third daughter Han Xiying, who was jealous of Han Ximeng.
Mrs. Yang's wife was looking for trouble in the house all day long, but the second master and second grandma in charge of the house especially let her go and supported her. This was because her natal family, surnamed Hu, was a big merchant in Huizhou and bought most of the Han family's cotton cloth every year.
Mr. Hu who is here today is the Yang family's eldest cousin and the head of the Hu family's business.
Zheng Haizhu thoughtfully tightened the bag containing the bloody soil in his hand.
Regarding some doubts about the blood mud, Zheng Haizhu originally wanted to ask Lao Peng, the housekeeper of the Han family. Lao Peng had taken care of the Han family's cotton industry for many years and was proficient in printing and dyeing. Now that he is older, the second master asked Lao Peng to focus on the hard work of the dyeing workshop and looms.
He was handed over to his disciples and entered the Han Mansion to do some work such as welcoming and sending people off and assigning work to the servants.
At this moment, Lao Peng was instructing the maids and women to prepare for the family dinner. He was in a hurry, and Zheng Haizhu was ready to ask again tomorrow morning.
Unexpectedly, the next day when Chen Shi was handed over, the Songjiang prefect sent someone to Han's house and asked Mr. Han to go to his weaving workshop to wait. Liu Eunuch, the eunuch of Suzhou weaving, was going to Han's weaving workshop at midnight today.
He also specifically told Zheng Haizhu to be there if the father-in-law had anything to ask.