After his inner voice was read, the little cannon fodder became the darling of the world

Magistrate Zhang smiled and shook his head.

"No need to look for her. When the time comes, the princess will come to find us."

Xiaoshan helped Magistrate Zhang onto the carriage, whipped the horse lightly, and the carriage slowly drove towards the county government office.

Yuelai Inn.

Nangong Jiu was tired after a long day and fell asleep on Xiao Wang's back on the way back to the inn.

Nangong Yunxue, who was waiting at the door, quickly carried the person down, washed her hands and face, and let her sleep on the bed.

Liu Hao called out to the four Ah Bing sisters: "What happened when you visited those workshops today?"

Ah Bing stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, we first went to the nearest candle workshop. It was indeed full of children in their teens working there..."

After Ah Bing told him in detail about what happened that day, Liu Hao walked to the bed and gently touched Nangong Jiu's face.

"Although Jiu'er is very young, she has a compassionate heart like a bodhisattva!"

Nangong Yunxue smiled and took over the conversation: "This way, the workshop's dilemma will be solved.

Once those noble families have negotiated with Magistrate Zhang, the goods they make will have a market, and they won’t have their business taken away from them anymore.”

“Well, it’s going to get better!

I had already made a plan. If those noble families were unwilling to lend a helping hand, I would immediately return to the capital and mobilize the merchants in the capital to find a solution.

Now, they are all willing to lend a hand, which is the best outcome.”

"Then we can't hide what happened in Gong County."

Liu Hao smiled and nodded: "After Jiuer's visit today, I guess County Magistrate Zhang already knows her identity.

We will visit ordinary people's homes tomorrow, and go to the county government the day after tomorrow."

"Okay, you make the arrangements. Let's ask Jiu'er tomorrow morning if she wants to go with us."

Liu Hao stood up and said, "Okay, you've been tired all day, so take a rest early."

Nangong Yunxue nodded in agreement.

Liu Hao walked to the door, then turned back and said, "Xue'er, my secret guard received a pigeon message from the capital, saying that Liu Zhi committed suicide.

After his death, Concubine Zheng also committed suicide. "

"When did this happen?"

"On the day we leave the capital!"

Nangong Yunxue was slightly surprised.

"Hasn't Liu Zhi already been tortured by the 72 instruments of torture? Although he has snakes to keep him company every day, he should be used to it after such a long time.

Why did he suddenly become so depressed that he chose to commit suicide? "

“You don’t know him, he has a strong desire for power.

When he found that forbearance could not bring back the freedom he wanted, and that he and his mother had made such a mistake that there was no turning back, he collapsed and no longer had the courage to live.

The secret guard's letter said that Concubine De had visited them mother and son, and probably told them that she and Liu Ze were going to their fiefdom.

Liu Zhi has always looked down on Liu Ze and bullied Liu Ze, but he ended up living a worse life than Liu Ze. He was probably provoked."

Nangong Yunxue sighed: "Defei and her son are honest and smart people."

The Qin family mansion in the west of the city.

The Qin family started out by making condiments.

In the huge flower hall, the old man of the Qin family was drinking tea leisurely.

In the evening, the two sons, who had been busy outside all day, hurried into the hall and knelt down in front of Mr. Qin.

"Dad, something happened to our warehouse. It collapsed!"

"What? When did it happen?"

"It was at the end of Chen Hour, and we didn't dare let anyone tell you.

We originally thought that even if it collapsed, we could still salvage the goods, but in the end, we were unable to find anything. We dare not hide it from you anymore."

The old man of the Qin family was so heartbroken that he pounded the tea table next to him.

"The hard work of several generations of our Qin family is gone, all gone!

Tell me, what is going on?"

Mr. Qin’s eldest son and the current head of the family, Qin Mingyuan, looked pale.

“No one knew what happened. We only heard a loud bang, and the area where the warehouse was located suddenly collapsed.

The entire warehouse, along with the house, sank, forming a huge pit.

We asked the servants to tie ropes and go down to explore, and they said there was an underground river below, the water was very deep and fast, and there were whirlpools.

In a word, the goods cannot be found and are all gone.

The only lucky thing is that everyone was outside at the time and no one was injured."

Qin Mingtao, the second oldest son of the Qin family, cried, "Dad, big brother, what should we do now?

All the goods and raw materials are gone. What will we use to deliver the goods tomorrow?

If we fail to deliver the goods, we will not only have to return the 20,000 taels of deposit, but also pay them 20,000 taels of silver for breaking the contract."

Old Master Qin trembled his lips and asked, "Are there any stocks left in the workshop?"

"No more. We had just moved all the goods from the workshop back to the warehouse and were about to move the raw materials to the workshop when something went wrong. All the raw materials and goods are gone."

"Then there is no other way. First return the deposit, then say something nice to them and see if we can reduce the compensation.

We have been cooperating with them for so many years, I believe they can let us off the hook. If not, we will just compensate them.

After all, we still hope to continue cooperating with them in the future and rely on them to make a comeback."

Qin Mingyuan slumped in his chair.

"The problem is that within this half month, there are nearly ten companies that need to deliver goods, and the deposit plus the compensation will be two or three hundred thousand taels of silver.

Even if we mortgaged all our assets, including this house, we still couldn't afford the compensation.

There is another key point. Even if we try our best to compensate them, there are still ten or so companies next month. What can we use to compensate them?

Dad, I’m afraid we can’t make it through this hurdle!”

Old Master Qin looked up to the sky and howled: "Heaven wants to destroy me! Heaven wants to destroy my Qin family..."

After a long time, Mr. Qin made a surprising decision.

"Mingyuan, Mingtao, gather up all the gold and silver in the house, and have your wives and children take them and flee immediately.

Go far away, to a place where no one knows you, and start a new life.

As for us father and son, we will stay here and figure out a solution slowly.

If we can pass this test, we will go find them. If we can’t, at least the Qin family will not be extinct.”

Qin Mingyuan and Qin Mingtao looked at each other and quickly got up to do it.

The women and children of the Qin family quietly left the city at night.

The Qin family's servants who could and should run away all scattered like birds and beasts.

Old Master Qin and his sons sat in the flower hall, looking at the empty house. No one spoke for a long time.

Midnight.

Old Master Qin suddenly stood up tremblingly and walked into the yard.

Qin Mingyuan and Qin Mingtao wanted to go forward to help.

Old Master Qin pushed the two brothers away, knelt down, kowtowed several times, and muttered something.

After reading, raise your hands and look up to the sky.

"Who in my Qin family has done something that deserves to be punished by heaven? We kneel down and beg the gods to send down an oracle to let the believers die with a clear conscience."

sudden.

A loud thunderclap suddenly occurred and hit Qin Mingyuan without any warning.

Qin Mingyuan's hair was on fire, his face was covered with black soot, and he kept coughing.

Qin Mingtao hurried forward to help put out the fire.

Old Master Qin shouted.

"Mingyuan, what on earth did you do?"