0p0 Chapter 807 [Mistress of the House 12]
Chapter 807 [Mistress of the House 12]
Li Zhao was furious that the Ren family actually acted like this! He angrily forced Ding Rong to make Qiao'er go to the gate of the Ren Mansion and kneel down to apologize to Shen Cuixi. You know, even if Shen Cuixi is not as powerful as Ren Youyou, they are still master and servant after all, so her words still have some weight.
Although Ding Rong was reluctant, he did not dare to disobey Li Zhao's order, so he had to bite the bullet and go to beg Qiao'er. In desperation, Qiao'er could only drag her heavy body to the door of Ren's house and kneel down straight. When Shen Cuixi learned about this, her heart softened and she rushed out. However, at this time, Qiao'er finally couldn't hold on because she had been kneeling for a long time and her body was weak, and she fainted on the ground.
After some intensive treatment, Qiao'er was fortunately born prematurely, and both mother and child were safe and sound. Afterwards, Shen Cuixi asked Ding Rong to go back and tell Li Zhao: As long as Li Zhao refused to sign a written agreement and solemnly promised that he would never rob the weavers of their skills, then all the shops in Suzhou would never open for business!
These words were like a sharp sword, piercing Li Zhao's heart, instantly igniting his anger to the extreme. Seeing this, Master Liu, who was standing by, hurried forward to give him advice. After careful consideration, Li Zhao weighed the pros and cons again and again, and finally had to grit his teeth and sign a document to all 100,000 weavers in Suzhou, clearly stating that the government could not demand the brocade craftsmanship on which the weavers depended for their survival for any reason or in any way.
As soon as the news spread, Suzhou City was in an uproar. Not long after, Qingyuefang and other weaving households reopened like mushrooms after rain. After this incident, these merchants finally got reliable protection. But at the same time, Li Zhao hated Ren Youyou so much that he secretly vowed to find an opportunity to take revenge in the future.
Youyou looked at Ren Rufeng solemnly and said earnestly, "Second brother, the imperial examination is of vital importance. You must prepare wholeheartedly and must not be distracted. Put other miscellaneous matters aside for now."
Ren Rufeng nodded heavily, indicating that he would do his best.
Time flies, and five years have passed in the blink of an eye. Finally, it is the day for Ren Rufeng to go to Beijing for the imperial examination. However, because the Ren family still has many affairs to deal with, Youyou is unable to go to the capital in person to see Ren Rufeng off.
At this time, Shen Cuixi decisively sent Shu Fang to see him off. After all these years of getting along, Shu Fang had long since abandoned her initial prejudice against Ren Rufeng and the Ren family. She saw a completely different second young master of the Ren family - hardworking, studious, and ambitious.
Meanwhile, Li Zhao, who was far away in the capital, was in great trouble. It turned out that over the years, he had secretly misappropriated the grain transport money and manipulated the price of raw silk, forcing many weavers to go bankrupt, and then incorporated these bankrupt weavers into the weaving house for his own use. Now, the capital has noticed what he did and sent him a stern letter, ordering him to make up all the deficits within half a year. But that was an astonishing amount of silver!
Faced with such a huge deficit, Li Zhao was extremely anxious. After thinking it over, he came up with a desperate solution. He found Ding Rong and asked him to act as a contact person to go to the dock to resell raw silk to fill the deficit. Ding Rong was a little hesitant at first, but under Li Zhao's coercion and inducement, he finally agreed.
That night, the moon was dark and the wind was high. Ding Rong came to the dock with a trepidation. The whole transaction process was full of thrills and tensions, and the slightest mistake could lead to fatal disaster. When everything was successfully completed, Ding Rong felt that his legs were as heavy as lead and almost collapsed to the ground. But fortunately, there was no mistake in this operation.
The next morning, Master Liu came to check the amount of silver and the accounts. After a careful check, he found that all the data were accurate. Li Zhao was overjoyed when he heard the news and was very satisfied with Ding Rong's performance. So he made up his mind to hand over this dangerous and important task to Ding Rong.
When they were doing business with the vicious pirates for the second time, the situation suddenly took a turn for the worse. Just as the two sides were about to complete the deal, a noisy shouting came from far away - it turned out that a group of soldiers were coming like wolves and tigers! In an instant, the scene fell into chaos.
Faced with this sudden change, Ding Rong was shocked, but he reacted very quickly and hid under a thick piece of cloth. This piece of cloth was originally used to cover the goods, but now it became his life-saving straw. Ding Rong curled up his body and dared not breathe, for fear of making a sound that would attract the attention of the officers and soldiers.
On the other hand, the officers and soldiers mercilessly launched a capture operation. After a fierce fight, many water bandits were caught. However, what was strange was that among these captured water bandits, the leader named Zhang Biao was not there.
At this time, Cao Wenbin was sitting in the government office, anxiously waiting for news. Not long after, his master hurried over and reported to him in detail the situation of the arrest and his own analysis: "Sir, based on the current situation, we were able to successfully capture some of the bandits this time, and it is very likely that someone provided us with important clues. And the person who provided the clues is most likely Miss Ren Er. She directed the prefect to arrest people, and there must be a deep meaning behind it."
After hearing this, Cao Wenbin frowned and nodded thoughtfully, saying: "Well... this matter is indeed a bit strange. But in my opinion, Youyou's behavior may be because Li Zhao is involved. If this is true, it would be terrible! This will surely become a shocking case that will shock the entire Jiangnan region!" Thinking of this, Cao Wenbin couldn't help but show his joy.
Cao Wenbin then decisively ordered to strengthen patrols and not to miss any clues. He also promised that once Li Zhao was caught, all those involved in the operation would be rewarded handsomely.
As a result, the streets and alleys of the entire city were suddenly filled with patrolling officers and soldiers, and the atmosphere became extremely tense.
At the same time, Li Zhao also soon learned the news that Cao Wenbin sent troops to patrol everywhere. He was furious and furious.
Seeing this, Master Liu hurriedly offered a suggestion: "Master, calm down. In my opinion, the current situation is not favorable to you. It is better to go to Jiangning for the time being and find some connections so that the big shots there can come forward to suppress Cao Wenbin, so that he will not continue to pursue the case recklessly."
Li Zhao thought this was a great plan and decided to go to Jiangning immediately.