Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

After walking around for a while, Zhang Jingwei found that such a "Fangshi" was similar to the current urban commercial planning area. Snacks, restaurants, clothing, and entertainment can be seen here, and even larger workshops and factories are included.

"Steamed buns, steamed buns, freshly baked steamed buns..."

"Rouge, powder, mirror..."

"We are having a grand opening sale at the Yingbin Building. Please take a look, guests."

Various shouting sounds filled Zhang Jingwei's ears.

The most exaggerated thing is the hawking in brothels. It’s not because the content is explosive, but because the madam’s voice is too loud and too harsh.

"No private room, no peanuts, no fennel, lots of discounts, affordable prices, girls, please sing a song for the gentlemen!"

After that, five or six heavily made-up girls came out of the building, playing various musical instruments and singing.

As the tune started, it filled the entire market with a busy and energetic rhythm, which is the kind of "busyness" that cannot be experienced in modern life.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, we finally saw the "Zhu Ji" that Zhang Liu mentioned.

This small shop might not be huge, but it has everything you need. It faces the street, with two tables set up along the street. There's also a restaurant inside and private rooms upstairs.

"Waiter, we want a box of mung bean cakes, a box of red bean cakes, a box of apricot blossom cakes, and two cans of mung bean soup." Ma Tianmao called out to the waiter while taking out a brocade cloth to wipe the stools.

Before, Zhang Jingwei loved the hustle and bustle and liked to eat and drink on the street. However, the dusty environment outside made him, a mysophobe, develop the habit of carrying a piece of brocade every time he went out.

Everyone looked at Liang Dahai with admiration.

"The young masters of wealthy families are different. They use fine materials to wipe the tables."

"That's right. Even though our young master is in such a bad state now, he had to use brocade cloth to take a shit a few nights ago."

"Why don't you ask him later if he still wants that handkerchief? I see it's embroidered with gold thread, so it must be worth a fortune."

"This is no better than working a month in the Marquis's Mansion."

The sound of their discussion stopped when Ma Tianmao took it in. He turned around and said to Liang Dahai and the others with a forced smile, "This is something that belongs to me very closely. I'm sorry I can't give it to you."

"Hahaha, Tianmiao, you are so funny. Don't take these brothers so seriously." Zhang Jingwei patted Ma Tianmao's shoulder and laughed.

Ma Tianmao smiled slightly and said, "I'm not serious, Brother Jingwei. Normally, the servants you lead always stand. I'm not used to sitting down with you today."

Everyone's laughter stopped for a moment, and they thought: Yes, how could we have imagined that we could sit like this and have snacks with the young masters of Yunzhou.

Although Mu Tou was a man of few words, he was quite smart. When he heard this, he was about to stand up, but was held down by Zhang Jingwei.

Zhang Jingwei smiled and said, "It's okay, you'll get used to it slowly."

Zhang Jingwei believed that the young man in front of him had serious class ideology, but looking at the thousands of years of feudal dynasties in China, such ideology was deeply rooted.

Zhang Jingwei said to Ma Tianmao very seriously, "They are not servants, they are friends. I have a new word here, called 'roommates'. They are friends who live under the same roof."

Ma Tianmao didn't understand, but he still stood up and saluted everyone, saying, "Roommate? What a strange term. But since you're Brother Jingwei's 'roommate', you'll be mine from now on. This meal is mine, so feel free to order whatever you want."

"Great!" Liang Dahai shouted excitedly.

But after half a day, the waiter who was supposed to serve the snacks did not come, but an old woman came over instead.

The old woman bowed respectfully and said, "Master Zhang, my young lady invites you all to the private room upstairs for tea."

Zhang Jingwei wondered which lady had taken a fancy to him.

But he didn't ask any more questions, just turned and looked at Zhang Liu.

Zhang Liu whispered in his ear, "This old servant's master is Zhu Banyu, the owner of Zhu Ji and Zhu Banshan's biological sister. He must be here to ask for someone."

Zhang Jingwei also asked softly: "Should I go up then?"

"This Zhu Banyu isn't a bad person. She's a decent person and has a good reputation in Yuncheng. If the young master doesn't want to go, she won't dare force him with the Ma family's young master here."

Seeing the two whispering for a long time, Ma Tianmao knocked on the table and said, "If you have anything to say, ask Shopkeeper Zhu to come down and say it. Didn't you see that I have been wiping the table for half a day?"

Perhaps it was because he saw Zhang Jingwei's embarrassed expression, and when he thought about the Zhang family's current decline and the way the shopkeepers in the alley treated him so unreasonably, Ma Tianmao revealed a dandy air.

"My young lady is not feeling well, I'm afraid..."

"Are you deaf? I asked her to come down, I didn't ask her why she didn't."

"Ah, this..."

"She doesn't even give me face?"

Although Ma Tianmao's voice was still gentle, the words that came out of his mouth were extremely intimidating.

Zhang Jingwei, who was standing by, was shocked.

"Master Ma, you're joking. I have to give face to both you and Master Zhang. It's just that I haven't been feeling well lately." Along with the crisp words, a beautiful woman with a haggard face slowly came down from upstairs.

"Master Zhang, my master may have some grudges against you. I have tried to persuade him not to oppose you, but he insisted on doing so."

As she spoke, tears began to fall, and this sense of weakness did not seem to be fake, she looked like Lin Daiyu in "Dream of Red Mansions"... the young woman version of Lin Daiyu.

After wiping away two tears, he continued.

"My uncle is the magistrate of Yunzhou. He's arrogant and domineering, and he oppresses the people. He deserves his punishment. But my brother..."

Zhang Jingwei hated to see girls cry. He pulled the brocade cloth from Ma Tianmao's sleeve and handed it to this young woman version of Lin Daiyu, saying, "If you have something to say, talk to her nicely. Don't cry. Even if you cry down the city wall, it won't solve the problem, right?"

Ma Tianmao's face turned pale instantly. My Western Regions embroidered scarf!

She took the embroidered scarf from Ma Tianmao, wiped her tears, and calmed down. Just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by a yamen runner.

"Huh... Master Zhang... I finally found you... Huh... Zhu Banshan is dead! He was already dead when the Tongzhi found him."

He took several breaths before he finished speaking.

Zhang Jingwei was shocked. "What the hell! Dead? That's unnecessary, right?"

When Zhu Banyu heard the news, she collapsed to the ground, shaking with anger. She didn't cry loudly, but tears kept flowing out.

His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails dug into the flesh of his palms, and the embroidered scarf with gold thread was dyed blood red.

The old woman supported her and said, "Miss, please accept my condolences. The dead cannot be resurrected. You are pregnant and cannot be overly sad. Think of the young lady and the unborn child in your belly."

He was still trying to persuade her, but he was already in tears.

Zhu Banyu glared at Zhang Jingwei fiercely, gritting his teeth and angrily saying, "It's all your fault, it's all your fault... He's clearly innocent, but you insisted on sending him to jail. It's all your fault..."

As he said this, he fainted.

Zhang Jingwei's mind was blank at this moment.

Ma Tianmao, who was standing aside, stared at the embroidered scarf in Zhu Banyu's hand with an ugly expression, cursing in his heart: My Western Region embroidered scarf!!!