It was Du Rong, the wealthy owner of Qingfeng Hang Company in Jiangning, who secretly colluded with the East pirates in order to rob Su Mei Xianmei from the She family in Jin'an and created the robbery in Baisha County that shocked Jianghuai.
Although the group of East pirates later plundered Xiao Taoyuan, deputy general of Ninghai Town, on Xisha Island inside the Yangtze River estuary, Lin Fu and Fu Qinghe also experienced dangers and rescued Su Mei and others on Changshan Island, but they thought of Du
Dong himself is a wealthy man from Jiangdong, and the robbery in Baisha County involves the She family of Jin'an who had just split their soil and enfeoffed the marquis. Even if Lin Fu rescued Su Mei and Xiaoman, he would never dare to let Du Rong know about his collusion with the She family.
Let them see through it.
Su Mei's safe and sound return to Jiangning will definitely make Du Rong panic. When Lin Fu was still in Tinghu County, he and Su Mei agreed to wait until Jiangning to keep their relationship cold, so as not to expose any flaws to Du Rong's spy.
Come.
When Lin Fu arrived in Jiangning, Xiaoman dressed up as a young man to greet him, but Su Mei did not dare to greet him in disguise, because he was afraid that if someone saw through it tomorrow, there would be gossip spread throughout the streets and alleys of Jiangning City, which would inevitably arouse Du Rong's intense anger.
suspicion.
Lin Fu was startled when he saw Du Rong, who was wearing a silk shirt and had an honest and seemingly harmless face, standing in front of the post house with a young man in brocade to greet Gu Wuchen. He hurriedly grabbed Xiao Man's slim waist and pulled her off the horse.
Hug it down.
Xiaoman was also scared out of his wits. How could he have thought that such a coincidence could happen in the world?
Lin Fu still held Xiao Man's waist, and with a little force, he whispered to her: "It's nothing, just walk in as usual," and whispered to Zhou Pu, "The person who bowed to Gu Wuchen is Du Rong.
...You cover Xiaoman with your body, and I'll move away to attract his attention."
Zhou Pu understood this, took the reins from Lin Fu's hand and led the horse, and continued to follow the postman who was helping the Gu family to pull the luggage cage into the post house. Zhao Hu and Chen Size each took the horses and moved to Zhou Pu's left side. Only Liu Yue
Er didn't understand and didn't know what was going on. He just watched Lin Fu walk to the outside and was several steps away from them.
Lin Fu walked closer and saw that the young man in golden clothes was standing in front of the post house greeting Gu Wuchen. Du Rong stood aside humbly. Gu Wuchen's son Gu Siyuan also stood beside him with a happy face. It seemed that he and the young man in golden clothes were very close.
Ripened.
"Uncle Gu, I thought you and Brother Siyuan had already entered Jiangning City. I didn't expect to come to Jiangning with you. I'm really happy." The young man in gilded clothes bowed to Gu Wuchen and saluted, and then eagerly held Gu Siyuan's arm and said, "
It was inconvenient for the merchant ship to stop on the way. My nephew thought that Uncle Gu might stop at Chaotianyi, so he got off the boat at the ferry and waited here for Uncle Gu and Siyuan to arrive. I came from Zhongzhou with my servants, and this Du
The gentleman was very heroic. He met me in Zhongzhou and knew that I was also coming to Jiangning, so he invited me to come with him on his boat..."
Lin Fu listened to them talking, but still didn't know who the young man in brocade was. He thought that Du Rong was very good at currying favor with powerful people, and he deliberately curry favor with this young man when they met in Zhongzhou. Seeing that this young man was also very affectionate with Gu Siyuan, he probably
You can guess what kind of person he belongs to.
"Du Rong was lucky enough to meet Mr. Gu during his trip to Qingfeng in Jiangning." Du Rong humbly bowed to Gu Wuchen and gave him the registration number.
Lin Fu was slightly stunned when he looked at Gu Wuchen, thinking that he had also heard of Du Rong.
Qingfengxing itself is a well-known large business in Jiangning. Besides, the She family requested a surrender and was finally granted the title of Marquis of Jin'an by the imperial court. As a big businessman, Du Rong was quite active behind the scenes. Gu Wuchen came to serve as Jiangdong's deputy envoy.
It would be strange if he had never heard of Du Rong before.
"Du Caidong is welcome," Gu Wuchen held up his hands to ask Du Rong to excuse him. At this time, he saw Lin Fu approaching and called him, "Nephew Lin, come on, come on, come on, let me introduce Nephew Jin Sheng."
Let me get to know you, you young people in Jiangning should have a good relationship, Jinsheng’s nephew is the young prince of Yongchang..."
Lin Fu did not expect that this young man in brocade clothes was actually the grandson of the Yuan clan, and the son of the hereditary Yongchang Marquis.
In the Dai Viet Dynasty, from the time of Emperor Gaozu, the direct descendants of the royal family were granted the title of ennoblement. Each generation of those who received the title of ennoblement were granted a first-class title. Finally, they were reduced to the generals of the Wu Kingdom. They were hereditary and replaced without any further titles. It took two hundred years since the founding of the Dai Viet Dynasty.
Over the past 13 generations, almost every generation of emperors has been granted the title of a bunch of princes and dukes. After several generations of descendants, hundreds of princes and grandsons were demoted to generals of the Wu Kingdom. Most of these princes and grandsons followed
Nowadays, the relationship between the emperor and the emperor is estranged, so he is known as the prince, grandson and eldest son, and the favor he receives from the court is very limited. Those who do not do well in business are even impoverished.
However, in addition to the ennoblements, there are also hereditary military merit-based princes and marquises. These are the nephews and brothers of the great ancestor who had military merits when the country was founded. The titles are hereditary and will never be reduced. They are commonly known as golden rice bowl marquises. There are only twelve golden rice bowls in the entire Dai Viet Dynasty.
Marquis. The ancestor of the Marquis of Yongchang was the younger brother of the Emperor Gaozu. He made great contributions in the early days of the founding of the country. His descendants continued to attack the Marquis of Yongchang from generation to generation without reducing their titles.
Although these princes and grandsons all have land in their names, the court, in order to restrict the prince's eldest son from wielding power and harming the place, even though he had land, built mansions in two capitals for the prince's eldest son to live there, and strictly prohibited the prince's eldest son from leaving privately on his own.
The fiefdom is called a vassal. In fact, these princes and grandchildren are allowed to enjoy the glory and wealth, and they should not think about trying to usurp the throne or anything like that.
The residence of Marquis Yongchang is in Jiangning City, and he can be regarded as the truly deep-rooted noble grandson of Jiangning.
Lin Fu bowed to Yuan Jinsheng, a young man in gilded clothes, the Young Master of Yongchang Marquis, and said, "Your son, Lin Fu, has met the Young Master." He then turned to Du Rong, cupped his hands, and said with a tight fake smile, "Du Caidong
You probably didn’t expect to meet me here, right?”
In front of the gate of the post house, two strings of angry wind lanterns were hung high, blocking the blurred night at a height ten feet away. Compared with two months ago in Baisha County, Lin Fu was darker and thinner, and his facial lines were also tougher.
As if carved with a knife and an axe, his eyes are bright and lively under the light. He is dressed in a green shirt, with a tall and straight posture, and a simple and unpretentious saber tied around his waist.
Lin Fu came closer, and although his whole temperament and image had changed a lot, giving him a sense of bravery and perseverance with his sword out of its sheath, Du Rong still recognized him at a glance. Du Rong thought that he had already practiced so well that he collapsed in front of him.
His face remained calm, but when he saw Lin Fu walking over as if nothing had happened, Du Rong still couldn't hide the strange look in his eyes. He squinted and stared at Lin Fu's face for a few breaths before saying with emotion:
"It turns out it's really Mr. Lin - I haven't been able to sleep well and eat tastelessly for the past two months. Later, when I learned that Miss Su returned to Jiangning safely, I had hope that Mr. Lin would survive. Thank God..." He
He was wondering about the relationship between Lin Fu and Gu Wuchen, the deputy inspector of Jiangdong.
"I didn't know that Du Caidong valued Lin Fu so much!" Lin Fu sneered, "The words Du Caidong said in the past are still in Lin Fu's ears, but they sound like Du Caidong looks down on people.
.”
Du Rong never expected that when he met Lin Fu again, he would be so sharp-minded and reveal his old grudges without any concealment. He also didn't know what the relationship between him and Gu Wu was, so he stood there in a daze, embarrassed and unable to answer.
The officials from the Jiangning Procuratorate who had crossed the river to greet Gu Wuchen looked at the young man in green shirts in surprise and thought: Has Du Rong from Qingfengxing ever severely offended him before?
Lin Fu bowed to Gu Wuchen and Yuan Jinsheng, the young prince of Yongchang Hou, and said: "In the past, Lin Fu was humiliated by this person in Weiyang Mansion. Although Lin Fu is poor, he has no short ambitions. With this person here, I'm sorry.
Lin Fu was rude and resigned first..." When he said this, he held down the sword at his waist, which made people wonder if he would be so angry that he could draw the knife towards Du Rong on the spot.
In this era, officials and Confucian scholars all liked to wear swords as decorations. Some even wore wooden swords decorated with gold and silver around their waists. However, Lin Fu had a slightly curved long sword with a straight spine on his waist. Although the scabbard was simple and unpretentious,
There were only fragments of leather decoration, but people could see at a glance that it was a sharp blade. Du Rong was frightened when he saw Lin Fu clenching the handle of the knife. His two guards beside him were also worried and were ready to rush over at any time.
Lin Fu glanced at Du Rong, then walked towards the post house with the saber in his hand.
Lin Fu walked away with an indignant look on his face. Everyone looked at Du Rong and there was something else hidden in their eyes: What did Du Rong do that was so outrageous that he made this young man estranged?
Du Rong only thought that Lin Fu hated being slighted by him in Baisha County, and instead no longer suspected Lin Fu of the activities behind the robbery in Baisha County. Lin Fu's posture made Du Rong very passive and embarrassed, and there was nothing he could do.
Explain that after all, he did disrespect Lin Fu with his words when he was in Baisha County.
With Lin Fu making such a fuss, Gu Wuchen naturally had no impression of Du Rong. He turned to his son Gu Siyuan and said, "You accompany Jinsheng to reminisce about old times. I'll go in first..."
Thanks to Gu Wuchen, Yi Cheng also arranged for Lin Fu and others to enter a courtyard with five elegant houses. After the servant who led them here left, Xiaoman covered his chest and said, "I was scared to death..."
"
Lin Fu did not answer Xiaoman's words and first said to Liu Yue'er: "Miss Liu, it's getting late. You should go back to your room and rest early. We will go to Jiangning City tomorrow..."
When Liu Yue'er saw Lin Fu trying to get away from her, she didn't say anything. She bowed, bowed, and left, returning to the elegant house prepared for her to rest.
Xiao Man stuck out his tongue cutely, and then whispered: "Seeing your majesty in killing Du Rong makes me feel so happy."
"Is it just the prestige of killing him?" Lin Fu asked with a smile.
"What else is it used for?" Xiaoman asked in confusion.
"We have almost no foundation in Jiangning. How can we destroy Du Rongdou in the future?" Lin Fu sat down on the soft futon behind the long case and said, "After the She family's incident in Jin'an, Du Rong and his Qingfeng business were
It only took six or seven years for the sudden rise in Jiangning. Even with the support of the She Family behind it, if Qingfenghang Company can reach its current scale, it will inevitably trample on the corpses of others... Whether overtly or covertly, Du Rong's opponents in Jiangning will surely
Not too few, I did this to tell Du Rong's opponents that another guy who dared to brag and glare at Du Rong and vowed to be incompatible has come to Jiangning..." There is another purpose that he did not say clearly.
, he had just quarreled with Du Rong in front of Gu Wuchen and the officials of the Inspectorate. Gu Wuchen might only think that he was unwilling to be humiliated, but in the eyes of others, he would think that he had strong support before he dared to do so in front of him.
Everyone is at odds with Du Rong. This information will naturally reach the ears of Du Rong's opponents, and they will never think that he is just a young man with no foundation in Jiangning.
"Hehe," Xiao Manjiao laughed, "You don't have a beard to stare at..." She happily walked to Lin Fu and squatted down, leaning her elbows on the case, and said, "After we return to Jiangning, Du Rong
I've been to Dustpan Alley twice, trying to test whether we know the inside story of the robbery in Baisha County. The young lady is very worried and at a loss what to do. She hopes that you can come over one day early to make up your mind... Now we don't have to worry.
Already."
Lin Fu smiled and said to Zhou Pu who was sitting aside with a knife in his hand: "Master Zhou, maybe Du Rong will let someone come over secretly to inquire. If you want to see it, break one of his legs. Du Rong is always in the post house."
Don't dare to say anything," he said to Chen Enze again, "The man in brocade is Yuan Chunsheng, the son of the current Marquis of Yongchang. He has a close relationship with Gu Siyuan, the son of the Gu family. Maybe the maids of the Gu family know something. Why don't you hurry up and take a rest?
You can go and ask around..."
Chen Enze agreed: "Okay!" After all, Chen Enze was still at the age when he had just tied his hair. During this trip on the official ship, he got along well with the maids and mothers-in-law of the Gu family.