As soon as the carriage turned out of the alley, a man came out of the hidden corner next to it to stop it.

"Lord Shizi, Miss Lu, wait a minute!"

Yun Qi opened the carriage curtain with a jade bone fan and looked at it, and said with a smile: "Yu Governor's Mansion." Looking down, "Your new look?" ”

Yu Fangjing did not wear an official robe, but changed into a set of Confucian cyan clothes, wearing a scarf lined with a virtuous crown, and stepping on the green cloud shoes, looking like a college student.

Yu Fangjing smiled bitterly and waved his hand hurriedly: "Lord Shizi, don't make fun of the lower officials, the lower officials have something to do with the two of you." ”

This matter is not a big deal, but it is the purpose of Yunqi and Lu Anran's trip.

The three of them chose a nearby teahouse and sat down.

Yu Fangjing spoke first: "Don't go to the county office, Xia Guan and Xue Dujun came together, he went to see Qian Zhixian, no, I found an opportunity to run out to talk to you two." ”

Yun Qi looked at Yu Fangjing's dress, and then listened to what he said, and immediately understood: "Oh? So, did the prefect of Yu still hide from Xue Dujun? ”

Yu Fangjing opened his mouth: "It's not that I deliberately avoided it, it's just that Xue Dujun has a big temperament at the moment, and the lower officials are afraid of trying to provoke right and wrong." ”

Yun Qi nodded, seemed to accept this explanation, and asked again, "What does Governor Yu want to communicate with us?" ”

"Well...... this" Yu Fangjing pressed the tea bowl with one hand, his eyes turned slightly, and said: "The following officials are not mistaken, but the prince is going to Qian Zhixian to ask about the Zhou family?" ”

Although the words were questioning, the tone showed a bit of clear and thorough affirmation.

Yun Qi raised his eyebrows slightly, and didn't say whether it was or not, "I heard that there is a backer behind the Zhou family, and since Xue Tai is here, this backer is very clear." ”

"This is one." Yu Fangjing raised a finger, "Officials and businessmen are mutually beneficial, although the Daning Dynasty explicitly prohibits it, but there are many people who do these things in secret." ”

Lu Anran was silent all the time, and at this point he wondered: "Is it because of the second prince?" ”

When it comes to Xue Tai, it is impossible not to say that the people behind him are the concubines and the two princes who are far away in the royal capital.

Yu Fangjing shook his head, "This second point is in the Zhou family itself. ”

From the Zhou family's encounter with the Yaksha to the destruction of the door, and now the body is burned, Yunqi and Lu Anran have already sensed the unusualness in this, this merchant family not only has a close relationship with the nouveau riche of the current dynasty, but may also hide deeper secrets.

"The Zhou family has been rooted in the territory of Diqiu for several generations, counting the generation of Zhou Hou's grandfather, they have been doing business and trading, even if they start from small vendors, the accumulation of several generations has also achieved some family business."

Yu Fangjing began to narrate: "But this family business is not enough to be the richest man in Diqiu, and even in Licheng, few people can match it. ”

Yun Qi rested on the table with one hand, leaned back lazily, and only glanced lightly when he heard the words, and said very attentively: "According to what you say, the Zhou family will not be able to fit in Licheng no matter how much it develops, and it will soon become the richest man in the Daning Dynasty." ”

"Not really."

Yu Fangjing's tone was too determined, which made the two puzzled.

"Why does the prince think that the Zhou family's wealth is still shrinking to the land of Diqiu." Yu Fangjing tugged at the corners of his mouth, and his smile was a little sneering, "Because what they do is an unsightly business!" ”

Yun Qi rose a little interested, and raised his eyebrows, "Let's talk about it." ”

"At first, the Zhou family opened a rice shop and a cloth village, which was only one of the many squires in Diqiu, and later Zhou Hou took over the position of the head of the family and began to think about how to make the Zhou family go to the next level, so he picked the most profitable and black-hearted business."

Lu Anran thought about Fang Jing's tone, and abandoned the opening of gambling houses and brothels, no matter what, this is a regular business with the permission of the government, and speculated: "Selling illicit salt? ”

This was already the fastest and most dangerous money she could think of.

Who knows, Yu Fangjing shook his head again, "Although this is a crime of killing the head, it is only his Zhou family who takes the risk, and the so-called black heart is to abandon ethics and morals and do unconscionable things, such as ......"

He paused for a moment, his expression extremely cold: "Human trafficking." ”

Lu Anran's brows furrowed, and even Yun Qi's action of waving the jade bone fan naturally stopped, and both of them looked a little surprised.

After a while, Yun Qi said lightly: "The Zhou family is so bold. ”

Yu Fangjing sighed: "They specially encircled a group of bold bandits, or robbed or abducted, all the women were sold farther away, as for the children, when they met a boy, they might be able to sell to others, and the girls suffered, most of them broke their hands and feet and let them beg on the streets, and all the money they begged for was handed over, and they couldn't even meet the food and clothing." ”

If someone else heard this, he might have been indignant a long time ago, and he couldn't wait to pull out the corpse of the Zhou family and whip it again.

It's just that one of these two people has always been cold-hearted, and the other has a casual mentality about everything in the world, so they are still calm when they hear it, but they still have a little disdain from their frowning brows.

Yun Qi closed the fan in the palm of his hand, his fingers rubbed the jade carving on the handle of the fan, his peach blossom eyes drooped slightly, with a little coldness, "Since you know what the Zhou family did, the government does not do it?" ”

Yu Fangjing heard the dissatisfaction here, and sighed: "Xiaguan also said just now, the Zhou family has specially raised a group of extremely vicious people who don't want to die, and the matter is all those people, not to mention that you can't catch people, you will be arrested, you will interrogate, the Zhou family is not contaminated at all." ”

Lu Anran's eyelids narrowed slightly: "Good means." ”

"And that's not all." Yu Fangjing took a sip of tea, and then said: "This matter was later revealed, a man from another county came here to work as a helper, and recognized that the girl begging on the street with mutilated legs was the daughter of their neighbor who had been missing for three years. ”

This matter is a big problem, the Zhou family will definitely not be able to do it, while they are busy clearing themselves, the girls they see from time to time on the street are gone.

"Where did the people go?" Lu Anran had some bad premonitions.

Yu Fangjing exhaled, "Originally, everyone didn't know that the previous prefect of my lordship was worried about this matter, and it was difficult to sleep every night when I thought about it, so I persevered and sent someone to look for it for a long time. ”

"Found it?"

"In the waterhole behind a barren mountain, there are not only those girls, but also dozens of big men."

When the words fell, the three of them fell into different degrees of emotion, and they didn't speak for a while.

Yunqi was the first to break the silence, "Those big men must be the ones who were instructed by the Zhou family?" ”

Yu Fangjing nodded: "Not bad." ”

"This Shizi has a little doubt, although the Zhou family's heart is not right, but after all, it is an ordinary businessman's family, why can he deal with everyone so cleanly overnight."

Forget a few little girls, none of those poor people are easy to provoke, how can people obediently pinch their necks and dispose of them casually.

"This subordinate doesn't know." Yu Fangjing said: "Before Lord Wang left office, he still thought about this matter, so he specially informed the lower officials, hoping that the lower officials would seek justice for the girls who died in vain and the women and children who did not know where they were trafficked. ”

Mentioning these is a bit heavy, Yun Qi deliberately changed his words, "Could it be that the Zhou family has accumulated wealth through this and has become the richest man in Diqiu?" ”

Contrary to the expectations of the two, Yu Fangjing denied it again, "This transaction has not been done for a long time, but the Zhou family has made huge profits from it, which can be regarded as a stepping stone for standing out among the squires in the future." ”

"This son has a question," Yun Qi rubbed the jade pendant, his eyes slightly dark, "Xue Taike is involved." ”

Yu Fangjing thought for a moment and said, "According to the time calculation, Xue Inspector had not yet served in Licheng at that time. ”

Yun raised his head and motioned to Fang Jing to continue.

"Xu is the Zhou family tasted the sweetness, or maybe their desires were raised, and after cutting off all the connections of the previous deal, they thought about it again - to put the account for profit."

This time, the Zhou family was very hidden, "The reason why I found out was completely because Lord Wang was stubborn about the Zhou family." ”

Using normal means of livelihood as a cover, secretly doing unknown shady transactions, the Zhou family made a profit, and became the richest family in Diqiu County and even Licheng in one fell swoop.

"So the Zhou family will not leave Diqiu, here they are like the soil emperor doing whatever he wants, and they may not be able to be like a fish in water if they leave."

What Yu Fangjing said was completely contrary to Steward Zhou's words, Yun Qi and Lu Anran glanced at each other, it seemed necessary to find Steward Zhou for a detailed interrogation.

Now there is still a question, "Since Lord Wang has found so much, why didn't he go up, just because the Zhou family had an extra Xue Tai cover later?" ”

"Not really." Yu Fangjing twitched with a strange expression, "If you want to say that the Zhou family has been safe and sound for so many years, in addition to doing things carefully, I am afraid that there is also God's care." ”

Yunqi sneered: "It seems that God really doesn't have long eyes." ”

"The witness who revealed these to Lord Wang suddenly died of an old illness before Lord Wang sent someone to collect the evidence, and the evidence was also mixed with a group of relics and burned by his family."

It should be said that Lord Wang is unlucky, or the Zhou family is blessed.

After saying this, Yu Fangjing revealed, "According to Lord Wang's investigation, I don't know whether Xue Dujun knows whether the Zhou family is profitable, but Xue Dujun once cooperated with the Zhou family to occupy the mountain and excavate it privately. ”

"Dig what?"

"It's said to be a small copper mine, right around the watershed."

A pot of tea was cool, and the matter was almost discussed, Yu Fangjing said: "The reason why the lower officials are waiting for the two is that if Xue Dujun knows that the Yaksha case is in charge of the prince, he will definitely be angry, although the prince is not afraid of him, it is better to avoid it; Moreover, Qian Zhixian has been in Diqiu for a long time, and the Zhou family must have heard about these things, and since he has the intention to conceal it, he will not tell the truth, and no party will be offended until the critical moment. ”

Yun Qi laughed: "Isn't Governor Yu afraid of offending Xue Dujun?" ”

Yu Fangjing smiled unnaturally, "To be honest, according to the previous style of the lower officials, it would be troublesome to try to avoid these things, but it is not only Miss Lu who is kind to me, but also Lord Wang......"

Every time he thought of Lord Wang, his eyes were full of old tears, he clenched his fists and arched his hands and bowed to the end, begging him to investigate this case thoroughly, give justice to those innocent victims, let those filthy and filthy all be exposed to the light of day, and severely punish businessmen like the Zhou family who had lost their conscience, he didn't feel good in his heart.

"Although Xia Guan values his official career, Xia Guan is also a father, a husband, and a son, so he will not take action when he sees injustice, and he still has a lot of blood and courage."

was so impassioned, Yun Qi just raised his eyelids, "What Lord Wang didn't do, you are lucky to be in the prefect's mansion, and you will solve it as soon as you take office." ”

Now that the Zhou family is all gone, it can be regarded as a solution of another meaning.

However, Yu Fangjing was not as relaxed as the dust had settled, and said tiredly: "Lord Shizi, do you really believe that there is a Yaksha?" ”