"Master Zhao, let's go back first and wait until the banquet is over before we talk."
Zhou Shi was confused, but the excitement of solving the mystery overwhelmed everything else. Although Zhao Xuan was puzzled, she didn't say much and turned back to the front hall.
The banquet ended on the first watch, and Meng Xingyuan, the head teacher of the Sun family, and Zhou Shi stood at the door to see off the guests.
"Shopkeeper Meng, I really enjoyed myself today!"
"Haha, walk slowly."
"Shopkeeper Meng, our store is going to hold a reception party next month, so I'm going to leave it to you."
"Thank you very much, walk slowly."
The people from the Chamber of Commerce talked to Meng Xingyuan enthusiastically, while the people from the Yamen were more reserved and passed him by without looking back.
The last one left was the prefect’s wife.
Zhou Shi grabbed his right hand with his left hand and turned his head to one side, not looking at Madam Meng's cooing expression when she said goodbye to Shopkeeper Meng.
Finally, Meng Xingyuan tidied up his clothes and said to the three people in Fengdelou: "Guys, you have worked hard today. I will definitely come to thank you tomorrow."
Zhou Shi said with a smile: "Why does Shopkeeper Meng need to see others? Isn't it common for you to go to the door of Fengde Building?"
Meng Xingyuan has been in the business world for forty years and has developed a cunning and mean temperament. After all, there is no treachery in business, and you will be punished if you are unkind, and your colleagues will definitely treat you as a soft persimmon. When Fengdelou wanted to recruit people from him, he took it for granted.
He wanted to take revenge, but tonight he discovered that Agui was able to handle himself in front of all kinds of guests, completely different from the lifeless look he had when he was at Yueqing Tower.
It’s not that he let go of talents, but that he couldn’t cultivate talents himself.
Thinking back on what he had done before, thinking that he, an old man in his fifties, was bullying a kid in his early twenties, his old face suddenly became unbearable.
Seeing the embarrassment on his face, Zhou Shi came to the rescue and said, "Shopkeeper Meng, let's forget about the past."
"No, I..."
"The last time you came to Fengde House, we didn't bring out good food to entertain you. It was our fault."
Meng Xingyuan was shocked and said quickly: "No, no, no, that is actually..."
"The guest put down his chopsticks after only one bite. Of course the food is not to his liking." Zhou Shi smiled and said, "Next month, please come to Fengde Building again next month. I promise you will come back with a full stomach." Meng Xingyuan asked: Do you have the magnanimity of Shopkeeper Zhou?
"Okay, I will pay you a visit on the first day of next month."
"It's a deal." Zhou Shi cupped his hands and said, "Farewell."
The three of them were silent for a long time as they walked back to Fengde Building.
Agui and Xue An walked side by side in a tacit understanding, keeping a certain distance from the shopkeeper. Although there was no communication between them, the two of them were still secretly playing a game to see who could first raise the question that existed in their minds at the same time.
Walking to Yuqing Street, Agui finally couldn't help but say: "Shopkeeper Zhou, do you really want to invite Shopkeeper Meng to dinner?"
"A gentleman's words."
"I know... Shopkeeper Meng has always been at odds with us. I'm worried that he will find an excuse to find trouble."
It is really rare to hear such candid remarks from Agui.
"Don't worry, he doesn't dare to do that." Zhou Shi smiled.
Since the shopkeeper said that, it was hard for the two of them to raise questions.
"It's getting late today. You should hurry up and go to bed. We have to open tomorrow."
"Yes."
Lao Zhao wanted to go home at night, so he asked a boy to guard the front hall and open the door for the three people who came home late.
Zhou Shi urged them to go back to their rooms to rest like a mother, so as not to affect the opening of the Yinhun Inn. If they still didn't sleep at midnight, they would have no choice but to ask Huang Liangzhen to come forward again.
At a quarter before midnight, Zhou Shi went to the room to ask Mr. Mo out and told him about his meeting with Zhao Xuan that night.
Before Yinghun took his seat, Zhou Shi walked to Yuqing Street and looked around, but he couldn't see anyone.
"Talk here?"
Zhao Xuan's voice came from behind, startling him.
He took Zhao Xuan to the corner of the street and saw no one around. He sat down on a stone on the side of the road and recounted in detail what he saw in Wei Yanxing's dream.
"Well, as a wealthy businessman from Bashu, he got involved with Wu Zhaokun, killed your scholar friend, and then framed it for the Bashu Chamber of Commerce..." Zhao Xuan said thoughtfully, "What's the purpose? What is his purpose?"<
/p>
"Before that, let me confirm again, what was the name of Wu Zhaokun's father-in-law, the Minister of Rites?"
"Yu Zicai." Zhao Xuan expressed confusion about Zhou Shi's obsession with this senior official, "Is he related to the case of the female corpse in the well?"
"Compared with what the husband-in-law planned, that case is just like a street fight... Mr. Zhao, is it going to be Qiu Wei soon?"
"Huh? Yes, just next month...does it have something to do with Qiu Wei?" Zhao Xuan narrowed her eyes. If it involves the imperial examination, it would be a really big case, enough to shock the world!
Speaking of which, the Ministry of Rites was responsible for the imperial examination, and Yu Zicai was the Minister of Rites!
"Yes. As the head of the Ministry of Rites, Yu Zicai, and Qiu Wei is currently the top priority of the Ministry of Rites, it must be led by him personally."
"Of course." Unlike the masters who were promoted from the army and the martial arts world, Zhao Xuan, a gold medal detective, had worked in the Ministry of Justice for many years and was very familiar with the court organs.
"Remember what Wei Yanxing's son said in his dream? 'When I go to the capital, I will definitely bring back fame and glory.' I guess he is the one who came to the capital this year to take the exam." Zhou Shi rubbed his hands.
Chin said, "Let me ask him, Wei Yanxing, as a wealthy businessman from Bashu, is quite famous in the business world, and has more gold and silver than can be squandered in ten lifetimes. He has two children at home, why would he risk his life and plan something together with Wu Zhaokun?"
What if it might cost him his life?
"The first is 'the world's cheap businessman', the second is 'care for the children', it's nothing more than these two possibilities."
Zhao Xuan thought for a moment and nodded: "In order to open up an official career for his son... cheating in the imperial examination?"
Zhou Shi immediately spoke: "It can't be wrong."
After all, he was a commoner. Although he had already figured out the general idea of the matter, the words "imperial examination fraud" could not come out of his mouth. Zhao Xuan had to deduce it himself.
When he said it, he was talking about the government's affairs and slandering the court. But Zhao Xuan, as a gold medal police officer, had no such scruples.
"So, it was Wu Zhaokun or Yu Zicai who was the mastermind, and Wei Yanxing was responsible for the frame-up, and the reward was to provide convenience to his son... It makes sense, but what about the other accomplices? Are those people the cheaters?" Zhao Xuan asked tentatively.
Asked, "Do you have any clues?"
"My idea is that fraud needs to open up the relationship between the upper and lower levels and give huge benefits to those who take risks. It is definitely not something that ordinary people can afford. Moreover, the people who participated in Qiuwei come from all over the world and are strangers to each other. Why?
Participate in the plan? In addition, Wei Yanxing wants to frame the Bashu Chamber of Commerce..."
Seeing that Zhou Shi refused to speak directly, Zhao Xuan understood that he was worried that he would get into trouble, so she followed his wishes and continued:
"Well, we have a lot of wealth, reliable connections with each other, and we need to have connections with the Bashu Chamber of Commerce to make it easy to get rid of, but also have a certain gap to prevent being implicated, then there is only..."