In Jinling City, in addition to the Qi Palace, I am afraid that the most generous place belongs to the Su family; from the outside of the courtyard, the red wall is surrounded, and the green willows hang around; the cobblestone roads in the courtyard are scattered, but they are connected with each other, and the meeting hall in the middle of the mountain and stone is directly connected.

The meeting hall of the Su family is resplendent and magnificent; the whole hall is covered with a red carpet of rich flowers, and the six Taishi chairs in the left and right rows are all made of high-quality rosewood, and the back of the chairs is wrapped with silver edges, which is extremely extravagant; the only strange thing is that the middle of the main hall is empty, and there is no main seat.

"Big brother, what is the so-called matter that the old man is in such a hurry to call everyone here? There are still a lot of things in my shop. A bald man on the first seat on the right kept rotating two jade balls with black lines on a white background in his right hand.

"Yes, big brother, I'm also confused. The red-faced man on the second seat on the right sat lazily on his back in a chair, holding a glass chicken blood snuffbox and sniffing it to his nose.

"The old man is called, and naturally there are important things. The man on the first seat on the left looked majestic: "Second brother, third brother! Don't guess, don't complain, you won't know when the old man comes." ”

"It's all here. From behind the curtain of the main hall, a young girl in palace clothes pushed a wheelchair out, and on the chair sat a seventy-year-old man with white hair and a pale face.

"The child visits his father. The three men who were still in different postures just now stood together and bowed respectfully to the old man.

"No, you don't have to be polite, just sit down and talk. The septuagenarian waved his hands downward and motioned to them: "Today, Lord Sharpa, the head of the household department of the imperial court, is visiting, and I hope that my Su family can set an example." ”

"Father, I don't know what role the imperial court needs my Su family to set an example?" The man on the left had a gloomy face, and seemed to have a bad feeling.

"Raise taxes. When the old man said the two words, he deliberately stretched out his voice very long.

"In the past few years, our business has become more and more difficult to do, but the imperial court has to raise taxes regardless of our life and death, which is simply delusional. The man on the second seat on the right side of the head was indignant, his right hand tightly strangled the snuffbox, and his left hand smashed on the back of the chair.

"Father, what the third brother said is not unreasonable. The man on the first seat on the right listened to the old man's words, and the jade ball in his hand turned faster than before: "These people in the court are insatiable, do we give less filial piety silver during the New Year's holidays? ”

"Father, how much does the court want to increase the tax this time?" The man on the left supported his chin with two fingers, and his eyes stared directly at the old man.

At this critical moment, the boss was still breathing. The old man nodded approvingly, then turned his head to the palace girl and smiled: "Rufeng, you can come and say." ”

"Father, the imperial court means to add two percent. The palace girl saluted the man, and was about to continue to say something, but was interrupted by the irritable voice of the man smoking snuff on the right: "What, you have to add 20 percent? What are you kidding, our Su family has to pay 30 percent of the imperial court tax every year, plus these 2 percent, wouldn't it be half of it?"

"We can't agree, otherwise we really think that my Su family can be slaughtered. The jade ball in the hand of the man on the first seat on the right suddenly stopped, and asked the old man: "Father, can there be a holy decree for the tax increase?"

"It's just something that Tobe Shirou conveyed in private, and there is no clear purpose. The old man coughed lightly twice: "Even so, you can't take this matter lightly. ”

"Like the wind, thou hast always had many ideas, and the Father wants to hear thy opinion. The man on the left mentioned his future daughter-in-law, and his gloomy face eased a lot.

"Rufeng thinks that we can't refuse the request of the imperial court. The palace girl paced slowly in the lobby, at this time she didn't look like a woman waiting to be married in the boudoir at all, but like a battle-hardened strategist, quite a big demeanor: "Although the Su family is one of the four major families, the disadvantage is that no one is an official in the court, so it is necessary to maintain a harmonious relationship with the household department in order to gain a firm foothold, one of them." Moreover, we can completely absorb this 20% tax internally. ”

"Oh, like the wind, how do we digest it internally?"

"Yes, yes, I would like to hear the views of the wind. ”

Everyone listened to the analysis of the palace girl, and they were all immediately interested.

On a wasteland in the west of Jinling City, there are two thatched huts repaired alone, surrounded by a low bamboo fence to form a circle of small courtyards, and only a small wooden door is opened on the east side; at this time, in the evening, the smoke of the chimney on the thatched huts is curling, and the old woman in the house is diligently preparing dinner on the stove, and the food that has not yet come out of the pot has been full of aroma, drifting out of the house with the wind.

"Little potato, come on, come and catch us. In the small courtyard, three little girls of seven or eight years old were hiding behind Liu Ningshi, happily dodging the pace of the little boy chasing on the opposite side.

I saw Liu Ningshi's arms outstretched, and her footsteps moved slightly in the direction of the little boy's movement, trying to block the little boy from going around behind her.

"I don't believe it, my eagle can't jump Sister Ning Shi?" the little boy ran with a look of indignation, but no matter how he moved, he couldn't get around Liu Ningshi's back, and several little girls behind him let out bursts of naughty laughter from time to time.

"Children, they all went into the house to eat. The old woman in the house, on crutches, walked slowly outside the house and beckoned to the children who were playing happily.

"Oh!oh!Eat!" As soon as the three little girls heard about eating, they didn't care if the little boy wanted to catch them, and the wind spread out from behind Liu Ningshi and ran back to the house, leaving only the little boy in place, his hands on his hips.

"How do you pull it, little potato, are you still angry?" Liu Ningshi smiled and touched the little boy's head: "Manly man, you can't be so stingy." ”

"Hmph! Sister Ning Shi is so bad, she helps the three of them every time she plays, but she doesn't help me. The little boy brushed Liu Ningshi's hand away, pouted, and his face was long.

"Little potato, let's go eat first. Liu Ningshi looked at the stubborn little boy and suddenly felt interesting, and touched his head again: "Next time, Sister Ningshi will teach you a set of body methods, and you can catch them by keeping them." ”

"Sister Ning Shi, is what you said true?" The little boy who was still puffing up his anger heard that he was going to teach him how to do it, and immediately shook Liu Ningshi's arm happily: "Don't lie to people!"

"Little potato, don't pester Miss Liu, hurry up and eat in the house. The old woman's voice came from afar.

"Sister Ning Shi, next time you come, you must teach me how to do it. The little boy looked back reluctantly as he walked towards the room.

"Go, go!" Liu Ningshi waved at the little boy until his figure disappeared in front of him.

On the small mound ten zhang away, Tong Bo watched Liu Ningshi play with a few children from such a distance, and there were mixed tastes in his heart, which was a scene he wanted to experience but had never experienced again.

Liu Ningshi walked out of the bamboo fence door, looked at Tong Bo looking this way blankly, and smiled lightly; she stepped lightly, unfolded that wonderful body, and a few ups and downs came to Tong Bodao's side: "Brother Xiangyun, since you like this group of children so much, why don't you go in and play with them?"

"It's not necessarily a good thing to get too close to me, it's enough for this group of children to have you and Wang Ma with them. Tong Bo turned his face to look at Liu Ningshi: "Besides, I'm afraid that I have too many worries." ”

"When you offered to use the money you won to build houses and roads for these children, Ning Shi couldn't believe her ears. Liu Ningshi chuckled: "I always thought that Brother Xiangyun was a person who picked the door. ”

"What is the meaning of slamming the door, I am just more frugal. Tong Bo glanced at Liu Ningshi, and then smiled: "I don't want these children to let others control the fate of their lives because they are orphans." ”

"Ning Shi really wants to know, what is the past of Brother Xiangyun?" Liu Ningshi looked at Tong Bo quietly with a pair of wonderful eyes.

"My past?" Tong Bo's deep eyes looked into the distance: "Time is so long, so long that even I have forgotten that past." ”

"Hmph, don't say it, don't make so many excuses, who is rare. Liu Ningshi turned her head and sneered.

"Huh?" Tong Bo just wanted to coax Liu Ning to say a few words, when he saw the snow-white carrier pigeon flying down on his shoulder: "Miss Liu, compared to my boring past, it is more important to defend now." ”

"What's the matter, there's news from Brother Ren?" Liu Ningshi saw the snow-white carrier pigeon and loved it very much, and kept stroking its forehead.

"This lawyer's citation is true, but we still have to go back to Juyoulou. Tong Bo looked at the flying pigeon in his hand, and sneered in his heart: "Is my silver so easy to take!"

The Qinhuai River has been a prosperous place in Jinling City since ancient times, the lake level under the night sky is like a mirror, and the shops on both sides of the river are extremely lively, selling snacks, selling antiques, everything. Among them, the most famous is the Infernal Music Workshop, where the singers are all good, and every year it attracts many dignitaries and nobles, and the young man comes here, and it is also one of the most gold-absorbing industries of the Su family, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a daily gold fight.

In an inconspicuous small private room in the far corner of the second floor of Infernal Place, a middle-aged fat man in fancy clothes was holding a delicate small box and counting the stack of silver tickets inside: "Miss Misu is really a living sign in our store, since she came, this business is getting better and better." Haha, it seems that it won't be long before I, Lu, can become the richest man in Jinling City. ”

"Yes, Lu Yuanwai, I didn't expect you to be very talented in business. An eerie voice echoed in Lu Yuanwai's ears.

The middle-aged fat man in Chinese clothes was startled, and hugged the small box deadly: "Who is it, pretending to be a ghost here?"

Suddenly, a powerful internal force slapped Lu Yuanwai's face, and I saw his fat body fall more than a foot away, and silver tickets were scattered on the ground messily.

In front of the table, a pair of sharp eyes stared at Lu Yuanwai, as if they were going to eat him: "Lu Wei, do you know who this seat is now?"

Lu Wei covered half of his pig liver face in horror, crawled over and said with a smile: "It turned out to be the envoy, the villain has eyes and doesn't know Mount Tai, he doesn't know that the adult is coming, he is missing the distance, he should be beaten." ”

"Lu Wei, it seems that you finally remembered that you are the Lord's person, and I thought that you had become a complete businessman after working for the Su family for a long time. The man in black's deep voice was a little angry.

"Your Excellency the Special Envoy, Lu Mou doesn't dare to forget for a moment about serving the Lord. Lu Wei nodded and bowed, with a servile face.

"In that case, come with this seat, and this seat has something to say to you. The man in black relented.