After the death of the previous emperor, the Empress Dowager became arrogant

"Why do we need to check these?" Lu Zhao was a little confused.

If something really big happened, it's impossible that he didn't hear any news at all.

"You can understand it as a sense of crisis brought about by the unknown. The investigation is only to negate the conjecture." Seeing him frown, Yuan Qing thought for a moment and said, "If it's difficult, I'll show you another way."

After hearing her words, Lu Zhao's brows relaxed slightly, "You mean 'shadow'?"

"Ying" is a gangster organization that developed as early as the previous dynasty. It has been doing business of killing people for money and has an extremely bad reputation.

But since the collapse of the royal family of the previous dynasty and the division of the world by the rebel army, "Shadow" also disappeared.

For some unknown reason, he reappeared in the world more than ten years ago.

But they no longer engage in the business of killing people and robbing them for money. Instead, they exchange money for information, or use information for equivalent exchange.

In just a few years, he built a huge information network among the countries and made a lot of money.

Perhaps some people are jealous and want to seek benefits by following the path of "shadow", kidnapping people on a large scale, setting up "secret villages", training specialized talents, and quietly infiltrating into various countries.

Compared with the "Dark Village", the behavior of the "Shadow" seemed somewhat decent, and the people's voices of boycott against it gradually subsided.

If you want to get information, "shadow" is the most direct and effective way.

But how to find the "shadow" is another difficult problem.

She wouldn't say such a thing for no reason. Lu Zhao suddenly looked at her meaningfully, "Could you be one of the 'shadows'?"

Yuan Qing's expression did not change. He looked at him for a while and replied, "No, we just had a deal."

This is half true and half false.

She still hasn't figured out how the "shadows" are selected.

Three years ago, she got a chance to get started through an informant.

It can only be considered temporary now and is still in the probation period, so it is not a "shadow" in the true sense.

The upper-class "shadows" have wide-ranging information and also charge high prices, which most people cannot afford.

The internal structure of "Shadow" is very fair. How much money you make depends on how many chips you hold.

Currently, among the bottom-level candidates, she is the only one who has clues about the toxic fans. If Lu Zhao wants to buy it with money, no matter who he finds, the final transaction rights will return to her.

Yuan Qing covered her mouth and laughed.

After deducting what I deserve, there is still money left to be handed in, and I can complete the tasks assigned for this month.

Miss Lu is truly her lucky star.

Lu Zhao suddenly felt a cold wind blowing from behind and sneezed. As soon as his hand touched his nose, he felt a piercing pain again.

"Hiss, it's my life..." He reached out to take the cloak on the table, still talking about business, "Be more generous and lend me something else."

"I will return this later." Yuan Qing held down the cloak to prevent him from moving. "Why are you beating around the bush? Just ask me to lend you all the manpower in Pingjin Mansion."

Noticing that she had relaxed, Lu Zhao shook out his cloak and wrapped most of it around himself.

Yuan Qing's mind moved slightly. Isn't there a ready-made God of Wealth?

She suddenly loosened her hand, blew away the few strands of gold thread between her fingers, and pretended to be surprised and said, "Oh, why is Lord Lu so careless?

The cloak was lent to me by the head of the Gong family. Judging from the workmanship, it must have been quite expensive.

Although the thread is a little damaged, it should still be wearable after some repairs.

Since Lord Lu wants it and we are old acquaintances, I might as well sell it to you at a low price.

How about a 40% discount? I'll round it off for you, 500 taels, which is absolutely a fair price."

Five hundred taels!

Why doesn’t she just go and rob? She’s never seen anyone so heartless!

Lu Zhao glared at the woman who was smiling cunningly.

This one has already been worn by her, so if I want to repay the favor, I have to buy a new one.

Naturally, ordinary shops did not have such high-quality fabrics, so one had to buy the material first and then ask a specialized embroiderer to sew it. Including the labor cost, the whole set would cost about six or seven hundred taels.

The cloak on his body seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, pressing down on him so heavily that he seemed to have difficulty breathing.

Lu Zhao tightened his cape and said nonchalantly, "You asked me to do something for you and you also cheated me out of my money. Is our past friendship all fake?"

"Let's talk about the business first, then we can talk about friendship." Yuan Qing said calmly, "It's just a way of doing business. I help you to make connections, and you spend a little money to help me get this done. Everyone is happy."

"Five hundred taels is a small amount of money?!" Lu Zhao slammed the table. "Aren't you afraid that I will get angry and give up helping you?"

The anger caused his red and swollen nose to move, and the pain made him almost faint again.

"Please be patient, you won't waste these five hundred taels." Yuan Qing walked behind him, resting his hands on the back of the chair, and explained, "I will use my connections to help you contact 'Shadow', and as compensation, I will send you another person as an assistant.

It would be best if nothing happened, but if it did happen, it would be a great achievement if it was resolved in advance and the people were spared from suffering, which would benefit the country and the people, and it would be you, Lord Lu, who would have made the greatest contribution.

Think about it carefully, who is making money? "

Having said that, she couldn't say too much, as saying too much would easily arouse suspicion.

Although every sentence puts the word "profit" first, the unusualness of this matter is implied everywhere.

Lu Zhao also stopped smiling and fell into deep thought.

Is it really as serious as she said?

He carefully put away the poison powder and said, "Rest here tonight. I'll ask Hua Niang to arrange a room for you and send you out of the city tomorrow."

Yuan Qing agreed and left with Hua Niang. Lu Zhao turned around and found a white medicine bottle on the table.

He opened it and smelled it, the cool medicinal fragrance filled his nose and the pain seemed to be relieved a little.

"How cruel." Lu Zhao sighed, touching his nose.

……

Jiangzhou is close to the sea. Every summer, the sea breeze blows into the city with the hot air, making people feel damp and hot.

As soon as Yuan Qing and Mu Xiaoxiao arrived at the city gate, they were stopped by the soldiers guarding the city.

Mu Xiaoxiao opened her umbrella and got off the car, handing over the prepared pass.

The soldier did not dare to neglect it and took it with both hands. "Don't blame me, my lord. There are many strangers in the city recently. We have to be careful to prevent bandits from sneaking in."

"Of course I should." Mu Xiaoxiao raised the brim of her umbrella slightly, flicked her handkerchief and said with emotion, "It's so hot, the officials are really working hard."

The soldier replied embarrassedly: "We are all locals in Jiangzhou. We have been used to it since childhood. It's not hardship or not."

The woman in front of him was amused by him.

The soldier looked up in shock, his dark face shining under the scorching sun, and he felt his palms getting sweatier and sweatier.

"Ruan Ruan." The person in the car called Mu Xiaoxiao.

She quickly suppressed the corners of her mouth and stood in front of the car properly, "Master."

"Now that you've checked, hurry into the city and don't delay other people's business." Yuan Qing handed over a sachet of ordinary pattern and rolled his eyes at her through the gap in the sedan chair curtain, "Is it fun to tease others?"

Mu Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, turned around, put the sachet in the soldier's hand and said, "This is something my master gave to you specially."

"Thank you, sir." The soldier let go of the hilt and took it.