Chapter 71-1 Expenditure (I)
When I woke up, I found myself lying on the bed in my room. The surprised voice of the Stygian Flame was close at hand: "Sister is awake?" I blinked tiredly: "Stygian Flame ......" Hearing the voice, Xiaohong and Ning Er Xin'er also came around: "Sister! "The young lady is awake!"
"How does my sister feel?" Wraith's flame seemed relieved. I reached out to stroke my forehead, but he grabbed my hand: "Sister, don't move, there is still a needle on your head, I'll help you take it off." β
When he had exhausted the needles, he helped me to sit up, and I whispered, "Didn't alarm anyone, did you?" β
"Nope." Little Red shook her head. Stygian Flame said softly, "Why does my sister suddenly have a headache?" I helped my sister check her pulse, and her pulse was very messy, what did my sister do with something unhappy today? β
"It's not a big deal." The news I heard today was too shocking, I haven't had time to think about it yet, and this matter has nothing to do with them, so it's better not to let too many people know about it first, "Stygian Flame, it's night, you go back to rest early, don't tell grandpa and Xiao ...... about this today Uncle. β
I hesitated when I mentioned An Yuanxi, but Stygian Flame didn't care, and only instructed with concern: "I know, but sister, you also have to take care of your own body, you suffered from the cold when you gave birth to Nuo'er, and your body fell into the root of the disease, and if you can't stand it, you have to rest more......"
"Well, I see. Stygian Flame, I'm sleepy......" I listened to his endless nagging, nodded quickly, and urged him to get out. Stygian Flame whispered a few more words to Xiaohong before leaving. I lay on the bed, closed my eyes, and heard Xiaohong help me put down the gauze tent, and Ning'er Xin'er gently exited the inner room, only then did I slowly open my eyes, looked at the top of the bed in a daze, and began to think about the amazing conversations I heard in Huanyueju today.
From their conversation, I have already determined that the person with the hoarse voice is undoubtedly the ghost-faced man, but I know that the ghost-faced man is An Yuanxi, and why does Yueniang think that the ghost-faced man is Chu Yan? Is it because, as she said, the ghost-faced man knows Chu Yan's martial arts, knows the internal situation of Wujimen, and still has affection for Azure Snow? If it is said that the reason why he has affection for Azure Snow makes her suspect that the ghost-faced man is Chu Yan, I can deny her suspicions for this reason, because Yueniang doesn't know about the entanglement between An Yuanxi and me. But the first two reasons that Yueniang said, how can he make sense of Chu Yan's martial arts and know the internal situation of Wujimen? When I married Yun Zheng, An Yuanxi didn't know martial arts at all, he never even left Cangdu, he was just an ordinary ordinary person...... But is he really an ordinary person? What if all this is just the side he wants others to know? I shuddered, I heard him say with my own ears that he was entrusted to help Yueniang, and through Yueniang's mouth, I proved that the person who asked him was Chu Yan, unless, he recognized him before Chu Yan died, not only did he recognize him, but also the friendship was extraordinary, Chu Yan was willing to teach him his martial arts, and he was willing to tell him the inside story of Wujimen, and even his identity was so secret that even Yueniang didn't know it...... My hand tightened the sheets, An Yuanxi, did you pretend to be stupid in the face of me at the beginning? Are you deliberately approaching me with a mask? Am I, have I never recognized you?
I smiled wryly. Maybe I really didn't recognize him, from the time he appeared in front of me again as the second son of the Yun family, Yunqi, I clearly couldn't understand him anymore, he is no longer the stupid nerd I am familiar with, but, whether it was in the past or now, my heart clearly feels that his kindness to me, tenderness and care for me are sincere, but why, the seed of doubt in my heart still began to take root and sprout and break through the ground? Is it because when he pushed me away for no reason and without mercy, he had cut a deep rift in my heart, so that I could no longer trust him completely?
Suspicion gnaws at my heart like a poisonous snake and keeps me awake at night, what should I do? He withheld these things because he didn't want me to know them, and if I asked him, would he admit it? But if I can't get this straight, how can I trust him in the future? If in the Yun family, even An Yuanxi can't be trusted, then who else can I trust? Sitting up from the bed suddenly, I bit my lower lip, and I had already decided in my heart that I must find out about this matter, but I didn't want to and couldn't alarm An Yuanxi. In the past, I could have asked the hidden forces of the Yun family to help me investigate, but now that An Yuanxi has become a hidden deacon, I can only obtain the information I want through external forces. Fortunately, I once heard Yu Die'er say that there is a "Xiaoqing Building" on the rivers and lakes that is dedicated to people to find out the news.
Xiaoqinglou is a well-known intelligence agency in the rivers and lakes, it is said that in addition to the Wujimen that coexists with them, they have limited knowledge, please ask them to investigate the information of the customer, basically can get the answer they want, so their fees are also very high, the most ordinary information is also a thousand taels of silver starting price, if you want to find out important information, the asking price of ten thousand gold is not expensive. Different from the mysterious and low-key Wujimen, Xiaoqinglou has a special business faΓ§ade all over the country, decorated like a luxury teahouse, and the high-profile pomp and circumstance do not look like an organization that eats by collecting intelligence.
When I got up in the morning and reported the request to the old man, I immediately went out to Xiaoqing Building. When the old man heard that I had asked the Queen Mother for permission to return to his hometown, he nodded with satisfaction and asked me to arrange for my subordinates to pack their luggage, and when there was a response to the matter of proposing to the Jin family, they could set off. Don't think it's easy to pack your luggage, big families go out and have a lot of things to bring, not to mention that we are going back to Cangdu for a long time, when Yun Zheng and I entered Beijing the year before last, it took half a month just to pack some luggage.
At this time, I was sitting in the private room of the main store in the capital of Xiaoqinglou, holding the lid of the teacup on the table with a heavy heart, dialing the tea leaves floating on the water, waiting for their shopkeeper. In order to avoid the eyes of the Yun family, I didn't bring Tiewei and Xiaohong, and changed into men's clothes and went out secretly. After a while, the door was pushed open, and a woman in white with a white veil on her head stepped into the box, saw me, and bowed slightly: "I'm sorry, I've kept my son waiting." β
I was a little surprised: "The girl is the shopkeeper of Xiaoqing Building?" β
"The shopkeeper of the main store in the capital." The woman came up and sat down across from me, "The little girl is seventh, you can call me Seven." β
"Seven girls." I called out politely, knowing that the person who did this wouldn't reveal her real name, just as I wouldn't tell her who I was.
"Childe is the first time you've come to us for business, right? Do you know the rules of Xiaoqing Building? The voice of the seventh girl was elegant and beautiful, and I looked at her blurred face under the veil, and secretly thought that this woman should also be very beautiful.
"Yes." I took out a stack of silver tickets from my arms and gently put them on the table, I said lightly, "The starting price is 1,000 taels of silver, and the final price is determined according to the information that the guest wants, no matter how high the price is, you have to pay half of the deposit first, and then pay the remaining half after receiving the information you want." If the guest is not satisfied with the information, the deposit will not be refunded. β
"It seems that Childe is a cheerful person." The seventh girl said, "What does Childe want to check?" β
"I want to check the experience of Yunqi, the second son of the Yongle Marquis Mansion......" I frowned, thinking about how to say it more simply and clearly, "I don't want the things he often shows people, what I want to know is whether there is another side behind his ordinary experience...... Do you understand? β
"Totally understood." The seventh girl nodded, "Five thousand taels of silver, and I will get the news in three months." β
"I can't wait that long." I shook my head, "A month at most, I'll pick up the news." β
"Ten thousand taels, a month." The seventh girl didn't talk to me, she was concise and to the point, and wrote two contracts. I smiled, pushed the silver ticket in front of her, took the contract, and got up and walked out of Xiaoqing Building.
(To be continued)