Situ Cen and Jia Cong left their errands to their two daughters-in-law and slipped out to stop work. Jia Cong remembered the gossip he had heard a few days ago and told Situ Cen that his uncle was buying and selling by force. Situ Cen was shocked: "Impossible!"
Jia Cong shrugged: "I knew you had this reaction. Anyway, I told you, check it out yourself."
Situ Cen said: "My uncle is not short of money, and he doesn't love money that much. I am his nephew and I know that."
Jia Cong said: "If I hadn't recognized your brother, I would have suspected him of using your name to make money for the prince. Now it is obvious that your brother and the prince of Wu are not from the same place. And after visiting the teahouse and restaurant, the people in the market will mention your mother's family.
Not bad. Besides, I see that you and your brother don’t seem to have any intention of being untrustworthy and holding back your mother’s family. Acen,” he said sternly, “check this matter carefully. First,
Don't make a fuss."
Situ Cen narrowed his eyes: "Speak more clearly."
Jia Cong breathed out, held his cheek and said, "Do you feel that you have never been so busy before?"
Situ Cen glared at him: "Nonsense. What did I just complain about?"
Jia Cong pursed his lips: "Neither did I. I traveled around various countries, no matter whether I was nosy or serious, I never encountered one thing after another, everything was not easy, and everything couldn't be let go. You see
." He clapped his fingers and said, "I came to Shu to help you escape from your marriage. Once you two get married, I will be fine. If you go on your honeymoon in peace, I will go to Chengdu with my wife to steal a lot of money.
During the day at leisure, the prince and his son are nowhere to be seen, let alone hanging around old man Qiu Liang. Who would have thought that you would fall into the hands of bandits just a few days after you left home."
Situ Cen snorted: "If it hadn't happened, I wouldn't have known that Fuping County had become a bandit den."
"You came back soon. The bandits also sent troops to encircle and suppress them. Everything should have gone smoothly. But the suppression of the bandits did not go smoothly again. The bandits were rescued by people from Tianshi Dao. Old man Qiu Liang asked me to follow him.
Investigate and suppress Tianshi Dao. Before I could do my job for a few days, something happened in your brother's backyard. He stole a dragon and turned into a phoenix. Fan Meiren's Wen Po didn't have time to investigate. Mr. Mei coaxed me to go to Biyan Mansion and sang half a song at the door.
Shi Chen Xiaoqu'er didn't see his master. That night, someone slipped a secret message into the crack of the back door of Shizi's house. Before dawn, Qiu Liang led his troops to attack the mansion and uncovered more than two hundred urns in the ground. That hadn't happened yet.
I found out that your uncle's seizure of people's property has come up again. Ah Cen, I think, either there are people who sincerely don't let old man Qiu investigate the Tianshi Dao, or there are people who sincerely don't let you rectify the officialdom." He said.
After finishing the tea in the cup, "Since your uncle who has never been holding you back suddenly shows up to buy and sell by force, it is obviously a stumbling block for you. The latter is more likely."
Situ Cen was stunned for a while: "Are you overthinking...?"
Jia Cong smiled bitterly and said: "Wouldn't it be better if I thought too much? If I didn't think too much, the most terrifying thing among these things is that someone can control your mother's family and the son's backyard, and know that they have been buried underground for many years.
The late emperor’s secret.”
Situ Cen shivered in vain. After a while, he stood up and said, "Let's go and see that embroidery workshop."
Jia Cong glanced behind him: "Where is Zhou Hu?"
Situ Cen said angrily: "It doesn't matter whether he follows or not. That's an idea!"
Jia Cong shrugged: "Looking for someone to find out where the Guo family's auspicious embroidery workshop was." Without waiting for Situ Cen to ask, he rushed to say, "I only heard about this. How did you know the address of the embroidery workshop? You are the only one who knows it."
Thank you for being a local snake."
Situ Cen had no choice but to send an entourage out to inquire. Fortunately, the embroidery workshop was quite famous, so he asked about it soon. The two then went out and got on their horses and headed for Jixiang Embroidery Workshop.
I was going to take a sneak peek and get a general idea of the situation; when I got there, I saw that the entrance to the embroidery workshop was packed with people, men, women, old and young, at least hundreds of people gathered around. I separated from the crowd and squeezed in, and I was startled. I saw only about thirty people.
A big man with a heavy back and a heavy back. He looked like he was a servant of a wealthy family. He was standing in front of the embroidery workshop with a long stick in his hand. There were more than 20 people sitting on the ground at the gate of the embroidery workshop, mostly women and some men. Their faces were calm and their eyes were closed.
There was a group of people standing nearby who were obviously not watching the excitement, including men, women, old and young. They were either angry or frightened, quietly wiping their tears or crying loudly.
Jia Cong casually pulled an idle man who stretched his neck and asked, "What happened?"
The man beamed with joy and said, "It's so lively~~ Did you know that this embroidery workshop was bought by His Highness the Third Prince's family a few days ago?" Situ Cen couldn't help but stumble and tightly closed his lips.
Jia Cong's eyes radiated with gossip: "I know, I know! I heard it's quite cheap."
The idle man raised his hand and gestured: "These are all embroiderers in the embroidery workshop, but they are unwilling to work for His Highness. The steward said that they would resign and go to Lingnan with their original employer! His Highness was annoyed and ordered these people
They didn't want to sign the deed of betrayal. They didn't want to, so they sat on the ground at the door, saying that they would rather freeze to death and starve to death than sell themselves. His Highness the Third Prince was furious and sent people -" The idle man pointed at the big men with sticks, "come and guard, and said
If they have the ability, they can just freeze to death and starve to death. Anyway, they are not afraid of not having embroiderers and embroiderers!"
Jia Cong turned to look at Situ Cen; Situ Cen clenched his fists. Jia Cong spread his hands and said, "It's none of my business! I really don't know how to calculate!" He patted him on the shoulder again, "You are so lucky, why are you so lucky?
What?" Nafu'er said softly, "Now if I shout, 'Your Highness is here,' do you think you will get beaten?"
Situ Cen glared at him, walked forward with his hands behind his hands, and asked solemnly: "Who is in charge?"
I saw a man in charge came out with his sleeves rolled up and looked Situ Cen up and down: "Are you here to meddle in other people's business too?"
Jia Cong shouted from behind, not thinking it was a big deal: "Hey~~Brother~~Did someone meddle in other people's business before and you guys beat them up?"
Situ Cen looked at the steward calmly: "Whose servant are you?"
The steward snorted in his nostrils: "I am from the residence of His Highness the Third."
Situ Cen raised his eyebrows: "Really? What do you do in that mansion?"
The steward said: "Can you take care of it? If you are a bitch, you should get out of here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Situ Cen's hand was like lightning, and he pinched the man's neck. The steward gasped and shouted: "It's reversed, it's reversed..." A big man with a stick in the left corner swung the stick and hit Situ Cen's head.
Smash. The people watching the excitement screamed in surprise, but they saw a figure flashing. Zhou Hu jumped out from the crowd and kicked the man holding the stick on the head. Hearing a "plop", the man holding the stick fell to the ground.
, Zhou Hu stood behind Situ Cen. Jia Cong also walked forward with his arms behind his back, shaking his head and pretending to be: "Those who rely on violence to dominate will one day meet players who are more violent than you."
Situ Cen still pinched the steward's neck, and Leng Sensen asked again: "Whose family do you belong to?"
The steward struggled and shouted: "Rebel! Our Third Highness will chop your dog into pieces..." Before the last word could be uttered, Situ Cen's men exerted their strength and he could no longer make a sound.
With a smile on his face, Jia Cong walked up to the fallen man and asked, "Hey, brother, who is your subordinate? Why are you pretending to be His Highness the Third?"
The man was kicked so hard that it took him a while to come to his senses. He hadn't gotten up yet. He lay on the ground and said, "We are from His Highness the Third Prince..."
Jia Cong waved his hand: "No. I haven't been to His Highness's residence once or twice, and I don't wear clothes like yours."
The man said: "We are from Baitou Village in the eastern suburbs."
Jia Cong looked back at Situ Cen and then back again: "Since you are from Zhuangzi, who went over to call you to the city?"
The man sat up: "Steward Wang asked us to follow Steward Xu."
"What's the name of Manager Wang? What's the name of Manager Xu?"
"Steward Wang's name is Wang Deshun. This -" he pointed at the man whose neck was being strangled by Situ Cen, "is Steward Xu. I don't know what his name is."
Situ Cen frowned: "Who is Wang Deshun?"
Zhou Hu whispered from the side: "Your Highness, Wang Deshun actually belongs to our family. He is always in charge of Zhuangzi's affairs. He has never spoken to His Highness, so His Highness does not recognize him."
Situ Cen let go of Manager Xu, who fell to the ground. Situ Cen lowered his head and looked at him: "It doesn't matter if you don't want to say whose family you belong to. It's not like I haven't interrogated prisoners before."
Theoretically speaking, based on this posture, experienced officers should have guessed Situ Cen's identity long ago, but they were surprised that no one came out to smooth things over. Another guard stepped forward and twisted Guanshi Xu's arm, took out a rope from his arms and tied it up.
Is this okay? The group of big men with sticks roared and rushed forward. Zhou Hu was still standing behind Situ Cen, and the other guards beat them. Each one of them was knocked down with one move, and fell to the ground in the blink of an eye.
Jia Cong folded his arms and said lazily: "Tsk, tsk, it's obvious that he drew his sword to help when there was an injustice, but no one praised him. Hey, everyone, look at the excitement, don't you think the fight was good?"
Someone in the crowd clapped: "Well done -" A few scattered people clapped along. Looking at the crowd, most of the onlookers had already run away.
Suddenly I heard someone say loudly: "What's the matter? You just took a selfie and left. When someone comes back from the Yamen, it's not these masters who are unlucky."
Jia Cong said: "That's right! Go to the Yamen quickly and report the case, saying that someone pretended to be the steward of His Highness's family and oppressed good people." He clapped his hands, looked at Situ Cen and said with a fake smile, "These masters are so lucky. They are in trouble.
It's a fake. If it's really the steward of His Highness's family, the masters probably won't be able to live to see the sun tomorrow morning."
Situ Cen's face darkened: "What did you say?"
"It's nothing." Jia Cong shrugged and said loudly, "Everyone, this Manager Xu is a fake. Don't worry. Those who want to go to other countries don't go there for now. It won't be too late to go when your three highnesses really seize the people's property.
.”
Situ Cen said angrily: "How unreasonable!"
Jia Cong smiled and said, "What's wrong?" Situ Cen didn't bother to pay attention to him, and ordered the guards to take Manager Xu back to the house for interrogation in person. He rolled up his sleeves and left. Jia Cong turned back to the embroidery masters who were sitting quietly at the door and said, "It's okay.
Now, it’s time for you to eat and sleep. No one is forcing you to sign a deed of betrayal. Tell your boss that if you make some money selling the workshop in vain, the workshop is still his." He dusted off his clothes and followed.
Several guards pushed aside the crowd, and Situ Cen got on his horse and glanced around. He saw a young man in Tsing Yi standing behind the crowd wearing a bamboo hat. The face under the bamboo hat seemed to be smiling. Although his eyebrows were covered,
The man looked at him obviously. Situ Cenlema ordered a guard beside him: "Ask who the person wearing the hat is." The guard left in response.
Situ Cen, Jia Cong and others took Guanshi Xu straight back to the house. Just after sitting in the outer study for a while, the guard who had just been left behind also arrived. Situ Cen asked him how he was doing. The guard said: "The man wearing the hat said
, he is engaged in other businesses, and his business is quite large and profitable. He said... he is hesitating whether to sell off his property and move to Ping'an Prefecture." The guard hesitated a little.
Situ Cen glanced at him: "Finished."
The guard lowered his head and said: "The man said that in the past half year or so... more and more people have had their property taken away from them. They are all excellent shops, workshops and factories. Since the Third Highness doesn't know about it, can he take away the property that was taken away from him?"
The property was returned to the people. He said that since there was a misunderstanding, he planned to wait until after the new year to see it. In the first month of next year, if the property has not been returned, he would leave." The guard raised his eyes and glanced at Situ Cen, "He said... go.
Although it is not as cheap as in Shu State to move to Ping'an State, after all, the property belongs to you. Even if you are poorer, you don't have to worry that your good property will suddenly become someone else's."
Situ Cen stayed for half a day, looked at Jia Cong with a sneer and said, "Today we just said that the people of Chengdu are living a comfortable life." Jia Cong shrugged and said nothing. When Situ Cen saw that the guard was still there, he asked, "Is there anything else?"
"
The guard took out a piece of paper folded in a square shape from his sleeve and presented it to Situ Cen: "This is what the man in the bamboo hat just borrowed the pen and ink from Jixiang Embroidery Workshop."
Situ Cen opened it and took a look. There was a neat list on it. The first item was that in April this year, a certain antique shop was robbed by his family, and the name of the steward who came to seize the shop was written on the back. The second item was that in May, a certain bank building was robbed.
I bought it at a low price, with the name of the steward and the price at the back; the third and fourth items were all in June, a farm and a restaurant... The last item was the Jixiang Embroidery Shop, and the steward's name was Xu Ershui, who must have been just captured.
Manager Xu. Each item is marked with a sequence in front of it, making it clear at a glance. Situ Cen robbed a total of nineteen people's properties in more than half a year, and they were all very profitable.
Jia Cong stretched his head and laughed: "It only cost you twenty taels of silver to buy Jixiang Embroidery Studio! It's so shameless! It's strange that other merchants don't run away."
Situ Cen said angrily: "I didn't buy it!"
"Yes, yes, you didn't buy it, you robbed it!" Jia Cong pointed out, "In May, I was even more shameless, buying a silver house for 3,000 taels. Oh, it's getting cheaper as of late, and at first I only got one for a month.
Gradually, it becomes more and more frequent. It’s so quick to become bold! Is it because I was afraid that you would notice it at first? Then I found that you didn’t know anything, so you acted recklessly? "
Suddenly hearing a commotion outside, Situ Cen frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
A guard came back and said: "That manager Xu was stunned when he saw the gate of our house. I dragged him for a few steps, and he hit a stone lion. Fortunately, the brothers were quick and stopped him. His Highness said that he would be interrogated.
He, his subordinates brought him here. But just now he struggled again and almost hit the wall."
Jia Cong, who was standing by, shook his head and bared his teeth in a pretentious manner: "Want to die? It's not that easy!"