At dinner in the evening, Qi Ning was helping to serve small dishes behind the counter, and Lu Laosan came in: "Miss Qi, my mother-in-law said that you went to look for me today?" ”

"Third uncle, please take a seat, have you eaten? I'll give you a few dishes to try. ”

"Miss Qi, don't be busy, I've eaten."

"Tie Niu will go to the back and bring my good tea and make it for the third uncle." Qi Ning ordered Tie Niu before he came out and let Lu Laosan sit down.

"Third uncle, I bought all the shops on both sides of Dongcheng Wai Road all the way to the wharf, and I want to build a market and snack street. Here are the drawings for you to see. Qi Ning took out the drawings from his sleeve and spread them on the table.

Lu Laosan looked at the candle carefully.

"A hundred meters away from the city gate is our land, this section of the road to both sides of the official road to build me into a small house, the front shop and the back kitchen, are two zhang wide. There are sheds on both sides of the north and south official roads, all of which are one zhang wide and one zhang deep, and the sheds are separated by walls in the middle of the sheds. There are no doors along the street and bricks are built into three-foot-high cases to facilitate the placement of goods. There is a shed-sized gap in the middle of the ten sheds for easy access and parking from the back. ”

"Miss Qi, you are really ashamed of us old men, you have done so much business in a short period of time. Lu really admired it. Lu Laosan took a deep breath.

"The third uncle has won the award, I just want to make some money and do something for everyone by the way."

"Okay, I'll take the drawings back, I'll go to measure the place early tomorrow morning, and I'll tell you the price after calculating the price." Lu Laosan stood up, took the drawings, said goodbye, and left.

The next afternoon, he came back with the drawings: "Miss Qi, these houses and sheds cost three hundred and sixty taels of silver. ”

"Okay, I'm the most trustworthy third uncle, you can bring someone to do it, but the construction period still has to be rushed."

"Miss Qi, don't worry, I still find everyone to do the old rules, I always take care of it, and it will be completed at the end of October and the beginning of November."

"Then I'll bother the third uncle, I'll give you two hundred taels of silver first, and then you can withdraw it."

Lu Laosan took the silver ticket and rushed out of the city to find his senior brother, in the past two years, he has established a high prestige among his senior brothers and peers because of Qi Ning, and he has earned a lot of money by taking on big jobs continuously. At present, Qi Ning is engaged to a big official like Jing Su, and Qi Ning is good at business, and he has set up on this big tree.

Qi Ning asked Zhu Xiuwen to write a few notices and posted them outside the West Street and several city gates, telling everyone that she had built a snack street and a market on the official road outside the East City Gate. The shops in the snack street are all one or two silver a month.

Even the owner of the winery had people come and book a branch that sold wine.

Just when everyone was still talking and watching, Wu and Xiao Wu both came to book a shop in the snack street, Xiao Wu planned to sell stinky tofu, and Wu wanted his daughter to sell groceries.

There were a total of sixteen shops, and they were rented by the merchants in the city before they were built.

The bazaar is not in a hurry, just wait for it to be built, and then persuade people to go. Most of the merchants who came out of the wharf were scattered from the official roads to the various state capitals. Those stalls are on both sides of the official road, which is considered a prime location, and when people understand it, they will definitely take the initiative to move there.

In the afternoon, Wu and Xiao Wu came to Qi Ning to chat, Wu said a news, and Qi Ning was stunned.

A thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl was killed! Thrown into the river, it was fished up by the people on the pier and placed on the shore to wait for the body to be identified.

Wu happened to go to the dock today, and saw a group of people surrounding, she squeezed in and took a look: "That little girl looks very much like your cousin, she died a terrible death, with purple pinching marks on her neck, and her eyes are open, and she was strangled to death before being thrown into the river." The people on the dock went to report the crime, and the government sent people to investigate the scene, but no one knew the little girl, so they put the body on the riverside and covered a mat, and waited for someone to recognize it. ”

The more Wu went back, the more wrong he became, so he hurried to tell Qi Ning.

The more Qi Ning listened, the more he wondered if Wang Gouzi and those people had found the eldest girl, and for some reason they were killed.

At that moment, Qi Ning couldn't sit still: "Aunt Wu, I want to go and see, if it is really a big girl, I want to go to the yamen to sue the official, when the mother of the big girl said that Wang Gouzi was going to snatch the big girl, she should have escaped with the big girl, I don't know why this happened." ”

"If I had known, I wouldn't have told you. You girl is kind-hearted, anyone who touches this kind of thing is fishy, you better not go. Wu persuaded.

"No, I can't be unrighteous if they are unkind, in case it is really a big girl, no matter how bad she is, she is also my cousin."

"Then you go and take a look, and if you don't see things well, talk less." Wu and Xiao Wu stood up and said.

"Well, I see, thank you two aunts."

Sent away the Wu sisters, hurriedly took Han Dong and Qi Fugui to the river to identify the corpse, and walked out of the east city gate to the southeast for a short time, and saw a group of people around the river.

Qi Ning and Han Dong squeezed into the crowd of discussions, and the people on the ground were covered with a broken mat and leaking their unshoed feet.

Qi Ning took a deep breath, and boldly lifted the mat with a handkerchief, the deceased's eyes were half-open, his face was pale, and he was very terrifying.

Han Dong glanced at it timidly and fainted on the spot. Qi Ning hurriedly threw down the mat and hugged Han Dong and sent her to the carriage.

I was bold again, and when I came back, I lifted the mat and took a closer look, it was indeed a big girl. The disheveled placket leaked out of the bruised neck, and the skirt below was missing, revealing two slick legs. It seems that it was fished up after being thrown into the river for a short time, so the body was not swollen.

Qi Ning's eyes were filled with tears in an instant, she hated, why was she so ruthless in the first place, why didn't she want to save the eldest girl, if she had found a way to find a place for the eldest girl, maybe the eldest girl would not have died.

"Girl, is this your relative?" People who watched the excitement asked curiously.

"It must be, I fainted from the one just now."

......

Qi Ning ignored everyone, took a deep breath, turned around and got into the carriage, and said to Qi Fugui: "Go to the Yamen." ”

Qi Fugui whipped and hurriedly entered the city and went straight to the yamen.

Han Dong never woke up, and his face was pale.

When she arrived at the Yamen, Qi Ning jumped out of the car: "Take Handong to the hospital to have a look, don't use it to pick me up." ”

After a few steps to the Dengwen drum at the entrance of the yamen, he took out the drumstick from the shelf and knocked it more than a dozen times.

Master Zhou's son, now he is the head of Zhou Zhutou, and when he heard the drum sound, he saw Qi Ning stunned: "Miss Qi, why are you beating the drum?" ”

"I'll sue."

"Then, then you can go in with me, and when you see the adults, you must kneel down and salute, and don't contradict the adults." Zhou Zhutou whispered to Qi Ning.

"Well, thank you, Brother Zhou."

Zhou Zhutou led in front, and Qi Ning followed him to the door of the lobby.

"Wait, I'll shout to ascend to the hall in a while, pass you, and you will go in again." After Zhou Zhutou finished speaking, he hurriedly ran in.

"Drummer." There was a shout inside, Qi Ning hurriedly lifted her skirt and crossed the high threshold, and there was a man in his forties or fifties with a beard and a serious face sitting behind the desk in the middle of the lobby. On both sides stood a group of officials.

Qi Ning took a few steps forward and knelt down: "The people's daughter Qi Ning, I have seen the old man." ”

"What's the matter with the drumming of the people in the hall?" The adults in the hall asked solemnly.

"The people's daughter shouted for her cousin, and the little girl who was caught on the dock today is the cousin of the people's daughter."

"Tell me what you know."

Master Zhou, who was on the side of the paperwork, saw that it was Qi Ning who was kneeling below.

"Lord Yu, the deceased's name is Zhong Daya, and she is the only daughter of the people's aunt Qi. A few days ago, the aunt of the folk girl once came to the folk girl and said that Zhong Dashan, that is, Zhong Daya's father, lost Zhong Daya to the rogue king dog in the city, and the folk girl asked them to flee for their lives. Who knew that today I heard that there was a little girl of the same age as my cousin in the river, so the folk girl went to see it. If it is really my cousin, Zhong Daya died a tragic death, with a circle of bruises on her neck, it must not be a simple drowning, I beg the adults to make the decision for the people's daughter, and find out the murderer who killed Zhong Daya. ”

"Do you recognize that the deceased is indeed Zhong Daya?"

"Back to my lord, the folk girl can see it clearly, and ask the adult to call the shots." Qi Ning said and slammed his head on the ground.

"You said that the deceased's name was Zhong Daya, so let me ask you where the deceased is from?"

"It's the granddaughter of Zhong Laoshi in Youzhuang Village, Chengnan, and the adults will find out when they send someone to ask."

"Zhou Zhutou, you lead the soldiers into two ways, all the way to Youzhuang Village to pass on Zhong Laoshi father and son, and all the way to take Wang Gouzi. Be quiet and proceed with caution. ”

Zhou Zhutou went out with more than a dozen servants.

"You go outside and wait first, and then summon you later."

After the adult finished speaking, he got up and retreated, in fact, this adult is Xiao Yunsheng's own uncle, he has heard of Qi Ning for a long time, and he also knows that many of his family's businesses have Qi Ning's ideas, and his brother also has a lot of praise for Qi Ning, who has never met. I didn't expect to see it for the first time today in the lobby.

Qi Ning also heard the shopkeeper Hu say that the new adult is Xiao Yunsheng's own uncle, the cousin of the current emperor Li Yu. In order to avoid suspicion, Qi Ning can only pretend not to know now.

Master Zhou hurriedly led Qi Ning to the room where he worked, and when he covered the door, Master Zhou looked at Qi Ning and whispered: "You kid is too bold, why don't you send someone to inform the people of the Zhong family that you have come to avenge your grievances?" ”

"Uncle Zhou didn't know, the life of the mother and daughter of the Zhong family was very difficult, and my aunt was once abandoned by them once, and then in order to get my recipe for making lo-mei, they were coaxed back, which is why I didn't make lo-mei later. In fact, the eldest girl is not a bad person in her bones, but she has not learned well from those people in the Zhong family, and now she is dying tragically, and Zhong Dashan's involvement is indispensable, if I let someone send the news, in case the murderer runs away. ”

"Tiger poison still doesn't eat children, and the Zhong family is too unbearable. You wait here for me, and when someone brings it back, the adults will have to summon you. ”

"Thank you, uncle." Qi Ning found a stool and sat down with a stomach full of resentment.