"Although I don't know where you heard the news, but I have sent someone to inquire clearly. There is indeed such a person as Ren Weizhi. His family does have a saltworks in Ziliujing that has been in existence for some years, but now there is basically no salt output. I can’t even find a few long-term workers.” Seeing that the Shuxiang Inn was already in sight, You Yue and You Fangyin confessed, “My identity is different from yours, and I don’t know what this Shuxiang Inn is. A dirty and dirty place. I will stop the carriage outside and wait for you at the teahouse opposite. Then you go into the inn to ask the matter clearly, and come back to me later. If someone asks your identity, you say you are just here to snoop There are big customers behind the news. Don’t pretend to be a big-tailed wolf in front of outsiders!”

It's completely using You Fangyin as a maid.

And it's easier to use than a maid.

Since this little **** has a sum of money of unknown origin, maybe he earned it by himself, whether it is true or not, sending her to one can deceive people and prevent her from showing up in person; the other is to try this hoof Deep and shallow, to see if she is hiding something tricky; three things, if there is any accident in this matter, it will be convenient for her to plant it directly on You Fangyin's head.

If you use your own maid and mother-in-law, it will not have such a good effect.

You Yue is very satisfied with her plan.

You Fangyin didn't speak after hearing this, and seemed to be resigned.

The carriage stopped as soon as it reached the opposite side of Shuxiang Inn.

You Fangyin got out of the car.

You Yue only said: "Remember not to tell others that you are from the Qingyuan uncle's residence, ask carefully, especially keep the situation of the saltworks and the money he needs in mind."

You Fangyin nodded and walked towards the Shuxiang Inn.

You can tell from the name of Shuxiang Inn that it was opened by businessmen from Shu.

The west of the capital city has never been a place where princes and aristocrats built their mansions. Instead, there are many tiles, si, golans, and most of the people walking on the streets are from south to north. There are even some beggars sitting on the side of the street and begging.

Fortunately, You Fangyin can be regarded as someone who has seen the "big scene".

After all, the last time she was in contact with the raw silk business, she entered and exited the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Guild Hall, and went through dozens of chambers of commerce. Although she was a little nervous at the moment, the small Shuxiang Inn did not make her feel at a loss.

It was also at this moment that she clearly realized—

I am no longer the same as before.

Standing at the door of the inn, she shook her fingers vigorously, took a deep breath, and walked in.

This inn has two floors and occupies a large area, but the interior decoration is very ordinary, and it looks a bit old and dilapidated. There are still knife marks on a few tables in the lobby, and I don't know what happened before.

It was already past noon, and there were not many guests below.

Only a few small vendors and passers-by stop here, order a pot of wine and sit in the corner to eat a few dishes.

The shopkeeper also stood listlessly behind the counter.

When You Fangyin walked in, he took a look and yawned, as if he didn't see it. It wasn't until the eyelids were closed and were about to touch the lower eyelids that he was shocked and realized that there was a guest.

He just opened his eyes and looked You Fangyin up and down, feeling a little puzzled.

Nowadays, there is a lot of turmoil in the capital, and it is not uncommon for a girl to come out alone.

He smiled and asked curiously: "Does the girl stay in the hotel when she plays top?"

You Fangyin glanced at the stairs next to him and said, "Look for someone."

The smile on the shopkeeper's face faded, and his expression became weird, and he said: "Isn't it, are you looking for someone too? Miss, don't tell me that you are also looking for the person named Ren upstairs, right?"

You Fangyin was a little surprised: "Is Mr. Ren here?"

The shopkeeper had already opened the account book, took out the abacus, and was about to receive the guests. At this moment, he rolled his eyes and closed the account book. Without even raising his head, he pointed to the stairs on the left, and said, "Upstairs on the left. Go to the innermost room. It was only half an hour ago that someone came looking for him, and he hasn't left yet."

If I had known that so many people came to look for me, I should have collected money according to the head.

If someone came to look for him, he would only charge a few pennies, so as to subsidize the rent owed by this poor ghost!

You Fangyin didn't know what Ren Weizhi's situation was now, she was very grateful when she heard the shopkeeper pointing the way, she bowed to him and said, "Thank you, shopkeeper, then I'll wait below for a while."

I don't know if it's a business discussion. It's not good if it disturbs others.

She didn't bring any money and couldn't order anything, so she stood by and waited after saying this.

Coincidentally, after standing there for a while, someone came down from upstairs.

Footsteps creaked on the old wooden stairs.

You Fangyin raised his head, and saw a young man in a long gown coming down from upstairs. He had an ordinary face and a thin figure, but he was in a happy posture. With his hands behind his back, he was playing with a Hetian topaz fan pendant between his fingers.

He walked down and stopped in front of the counter, took out a bank note from his sleeve, put it directly in front of the shopkeeper, and said, "The extra money for Mr. Ren's rent upstairs will come later. If it takes a long time, It's all recorded in the account, and every 15th day of the lunar new year, I will go to the Youhuang Pavilion in the east of the city to settle the knot."

The shopkeeper was taken aback: "Oh, rich!"

He picked up the bank note and looked at it. Seeing the seven words "Tonghe ticket number 100 taels" shining brightly on it, he immediately beamed with joy: "It seems that I want to congratulate this nobleman and Mr. Ren, too. It's a good deal!"

This person is no one else, it is Lu Xian, the owner of Youhuang Pavilion who is not doing business now, he has seen such a philistine face as the shopkeeper a lot, so he waved his hand and said: "It's just a handy hand, I haven't talked about any business yet. "

The shopkeeper immediately said: "I know, I know."

Lu Xian scolded you for being a fart in his heart, snorted, and didn't bother to answer anything, turned around and left.

At this time, the shopkeeper's mood improved a lot, and he said to You Fang who was standing on the other side: "Girl, now Mr. Ren's guests have left, you can go up and have a look."

Only then did You Fangyin know that the young scholar was Ren Weizhi's guest.

She couldn't help but take another look.

Lu Xian saw a girl in such a gathering place of three religions and nine streams, although he also felt a little strange, but he didn't think much about it at first, so he walked over.

But when he heard the shopkeeper's voice, he stopped abruptly.

This girl also came to find Ren Weizhi?

Lu Xian didn't hold back, turned around and looked back, and coincidentally met You Fangyin's eyes.

It's really a "Jingchai sarong", this one looks a bit shabby. His facial features are good, he is pretty, but he looks weak and thin, his eyes are extraordinarily big and bright, which is surprising at first glance.

He was startled for a moment.

The girl didn't seem to expect that he would look back, she was startled, like a frightened rabbit, she quickly looked away, bowed slightly apologetically towards him, and then went upstairs.

Lu Xian couldn't help frowning: Could it be Ren Weizhi's relatives? But I didn't hear that he had any sisters, let alone that he had a family.

He felt a little suspicious.

Turning his footsteps, he walked out of this humble inn. Who would have thought that as soon as he raised his eyes, he saw the carriage parked across the street, and then glanced at the emblem on it, his eyelids jumped suddenly, and his mind flashed A flash: There is a carriage in Youfu, and there should be the master of Youfu in the teahouse opposite; the girl he met just now is thin and haggard, although she is wearing maid's clothes and is not as good as a maid, but her demeanor does not look like a maid, Could it be...

"The concubine in Qingyuan uncle's mansion?" Lu Xian turned his head and glanced at the Shuxiang Inn again with a ghostly face, deep thoughts flashed in his eyes, and finally he laughed, "Interesting! Really interesting ..."

He clapped his palm lightly, and made a decision in his heart.

Originally, he planned to go back directly to the Youhuang Mansion, but at this moment he changed his mind, got on the soft sedan waiting by the roadside, and said, "Go to Xie Mansion."

You Fangyin went upstairs.

Turn left to the innermost.

She stopped outside the door, stretched out her hand, and knocked lightly on the door: "Excuse me, is Mr. Ren there?"

Ren Weizhi is twenty-four years old this year, and he has failed in many trials. Before he was twenty, he hadn't even passed a child's exam, so he gave up his thoughts and took over the family saltworks after his father passed away. It's just that the salt farm at home has been passed down for three generations. After hundreds of years of mining, it was already close to exhaustion.

By now, the original long-term workers have all left.

He couldn't borrow money everywhere, so he had to sell a lot of ancestral property to make enough money to go to Beijing. He has been in Beijing for almost a month, and many people heard about his invention of Zhuo Tongjing and came to the inn to inquire about the news. But most of these people didn't really want to lend him money or buy shares, they just wanted to trick him into taking a look at the drawings in his hand.

They couldn't be fooled by going back and forth, so they naturally dispersed slowly.

Fewer and fewer people came to him in this inn, and many people even said that he was a liar, who had ruined his family property and failed to manage the saltworks well, so he came to Beijing under the banner of some invention to bluff and deceive.

In the words of those people—

For hundreds of years, so many people have not thought of a way to dig deep wells. You, an idiot who is immersed in reading, have never even been to the saltworks a few times, let alone extracting brine yourself, and you say you have a way. I also know that it is just talking on paper, it sounds nice!

As soon as Lu Xian was sent away, Ren Weizhi was a little disheartened.

Having met so many people, and having been in the imperial examination field, he could tell that Lu Zhaoyin was by no means a small person. It's just that the other party was not as eager as the others at all. Although he also asked about the situation of Ziliujing Salt Field and Zhuotongjing, and was even willing to give him money as a temporary charity, he never mentioned the matter of buying shares with money, and only said a few words. See him again someday.

Ren Weizhi didn't know how long he could last.

He was wearing a dark blue brocade gown, the cuffs were a little wrinkled, a pair of beautiful red phoenix eyes on his fair face, his lips were neither thin nor thick, and he had a face that hadn't suffered much since he was a child. yes.

Right now, he is pacing around the house in anxiety.

When he heard the sound of knocking on the door accompanied by the voice of inquiry, he was startled for a moment, then hurriedly stepped forward to answer the door, only saying: "Yes."

"Squeak" the door opened.

Ren Weizhi saw that the person standing outside was a clean girl.

He looked behind her, and he did not see anyone else, so he couldn't help being a little confused: "Yes, the girl is looking for me?"

You Fangyin didn't expect him to open the door so quickly, the knocking hand was still raised in the air, at this moment he put it down with some embarrassment, and said: "If you are Mr. Ren, then I am looking for you. "

Ren Weizhi didn't know her, so he just said, "What's the matter, girl?"

You Fangyin recalled what Xu Wenyi taught him when he was in the raw silk business, and he never sold his words when he should be concise, so he said very briefly: "Ziliujing, Saltworks, Zhuotongjing, pay for the shares."

Ren Weizhi suddenly opened his mouth slightly, feeling incredible: This girl doesn't look like she is rich!

But is there any character in the capital?

Since I have nothing, someone couldn't have set up a beauty trick to deceive him about the blueprint, right?

Thinking of this, he suddenly laughed at himself, took a step back, let You Fangyin in, and said, "So I came here for the salt, please come in. I haven't asked the girl what to call her yet?"

Although You Fangyin had discussed business with Xu Wenyi before, but Xu Wenyi is not young and even has children, she only regards Xu Wenyi as an elder.

This Ren Weizhi is the same age as her.

After entering his shabby guest room, she was inevitably a little cautious, and said: "My surname is You."

Ren Weizhi nodded: "Then I will call you 'Miss You', please sit down."

There is only a bare square table in the guest room, on which there is a plate of cold tortillas, a few teacups, and a pot of tea.

There are three chairs beside it.

He invited You Fangyin to sit across from him, then took a teapot and poured her a cup of tea, and smiled shamelessly: "A few days ago, when serving such crude tea to others, I still felt a little embarrassing, but The situation is so poor, even if you want to save face, you can't do it. The situation is forcing, please don't dislike Miss You."

You Fangyin was a little flattered, took the teacup with both hands, only remembered that she couldn't even drink a sip of rough tea in the uncle's mansion, and felt a little desolate for a while, so she said in a low voice: "I don't dislike it."

Ren Weizhi looked at her.

She held the teacup and took a sip. When she looked down, she saw the plate of cold tortillas. She raised her eyes to look at Ren Weizhi, and said slowly, "Can I eat this?"

Ren Weizhi was startled, looked at the plate of pancakes, his face was on fire, and he stumbled when he spoke: "This, this, at noon, you can eat it, but it's already cold..."

You Fangyin curled her lips and smiled: "It's okay."

She is just a little hungry.

With the host's consent, You Fangyin temporarily put down the teacup, picked up a piece of corn pancake from the plate, and ate it in small bites.

The cold food slides into the abdominal cavity, warmed by the heat of the body.

She obviously didn't feel that she was wronged, but after taking a few mouthfuls, tears rolled down unknowingly, and she almost choked up.

Ren Weizhi thought it was an unusual customer, how could he expect that she would start crying before eating even half of the pancake? I was in a hurry for a while, trying to find Fang Jinpa to hand it over, but I couldn't find it for a long time.

I can only say dryly: "You, don't cry, others think I have done something to you!"

You Fangyin lowered her head, staring at the gap she bit into the tortilla, but murmured something irrelevant: "Living is so difficult, so what's the matter of face..."

Ren Weizhi suddenly froze.

Jiang Xuening waited in the car for a long time.

If you look to the left, You Yue can't come out in the teahouse; if you look to the right, You Fang can't come out to sing in the inn.

She is bored.

What to do if you are bored?

You Yue is domineering in her own mansion, always bullying and mistreating You Fangyin, so it's really unreasonable for her not to go down to find You Yue's bad luck.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xuening said decisively: "Get out of the car."

Tang'er and Lian'er helped her down, and she went directly to the nearby teahouse.

This tea house is in the shape of a Chinese character, with a stage set up underneath, which is reserved for people who sing operas or storytellers, but at this time there are neither opera singers nor storytellers, so it looks quite deserted.

You Yue is on the second floor.

Jiang Xuening went in and took a look upstairs, just in time to see You Yue's position, then pointed to the waiting waiter who came up to that position, took out the arrogance that had been pent up for a long time, and said: "I want to go upstairs That position."

The waiter looked at her posture and attire, and knew that she was a rich master. He immediately piled up smiling faces, trying to welcome people in. Who would have thought that Miss Jiao's words would be astonishing.

The smiling faces froze.

His eyelids fluttered and he looked upstairs, he swallowed and said, "But, there is already someone in that position..."

Jiang Xuening raised her eyelids and cast a sidelong glance at him: "Tell her to get out."

Waiter: "..."

It can be seen that this girl has an enmity with the one above, and she is looking for trouble!

There was cold sweat on the waiter's forehead, and he didn't know what to do for a moment.

This tea house is not very big.

The distance from upstairs to downstairs is less than two feet, and the words from the lower level can be heard clearly from the upper level.

You Yue was muttering why You Fangyin didn't come out from above, but she heard someone below talking, saying "tell her to go away". You must know that there are not many guests upstairs at the moment, and the voice sounds very familiar.

She frowned and looked downstairs.

This look almost didn't make her grit her teeth with hatred, and she got up from her seat suddenly: "Okay, Yuanjia Road is narrow, I won't come to embarrass you, but you Jiang Xuening will embarrass me instead! How dare you tell me to get out?!"

Jiang Xuening raised her head, as if she had just seen her at this time, covered her lips in surprise: "I thought it was someone upstairs who didn't wink that took my favorite seat, but I didn't expect it to be Miss You!"

You Yue was out of breath: "You—"

Seeing that the ugly words were about to come out, but she rolled her eyes and held back in a daze. She just moved a step and walked down the stairs in a graceful manner, pinching her throat and saying, "Oh, why don't you I want to argue with you, but now that I think you are like a phoenix that has lost its hair and is not as good as a chicken, I think you are pitiful."

Jiang Xuening had heard so many taunts in her previous life, but it really didn't really arouse her anger, so she just smiled and watched You Yue approaching.

Her complexion remained unchanged, but You Yue's complexion changed.

Seeing that these words didn't work, old and new hatred welled up in my heart, and I became more vicious: "Look at you, you are from a small family, a savage who grew up in Zhuangzi, and even if you don't know the rules, you want to climb up a branch to do it. Phoenix. I don’t dare to say it inside the palace, but I should advise you when I go outside. It’s nothing more than a girl’s family who doesn’t know how to hook up with men to ruin the reputation of her daughter’s family. I don’t know who used to be a big bully in the Marquis of Yongyi’s family in the past, but now that family is going to be beheaded. First, the son of Yan Lin, and I don’t know what will happen to Zhang Zhe in the future!”

The color in Jiang Xuening's eyes finally darkened.

She slowly raised the corners of her lips, and her eyes wandered around the teahouse.

At the end, he muttered to himself, "It's strange, why doesn't there even be a fish tank in this teahouse..."

fish tank!

When You Yue heard these two words, the hairs on the back of You Yue almost immediately stood on end, and she instantly remembered the scene in front of her at that time when the lunatic pressed her head down into the fish tank with a cold and stern face!

A sense of crisis immediately climbed up!

When she saw Jiang Xuening's eyes turn back, and lightly landed on her body, and even put her hand on her shoulder, she screamed in fright, and brushed her hand away!

When Jiang Xuening was a child in the mountains of Zhuangzi, she was a little devil that everyone feared, not to mention the repressed and unrelenting hostility accumulated in her body after rebirth, she was not afraid of a little You Yue at all.

She was thinking about making You Yue's impression of herself more "deep".

But before she had time to make a move, Tang'er behind her said to her in a low voice: "Miss Fangyin is here!"

Jiang Xuening's eyelids twitched, and she immediately remembered the lies she had told You Fangyin before, and she was the one who was bullied by You Yue so much that she didn't even dare to say anything!

You can't show your stuff!

She reacted so quickly that she didn't even wait for You Yue to react. When she bent her legs, she screamed and fell weakly to the ground. She pressed her heart lightly with one hand, and sobbed with the other half covering her face: "You Yue Miss, you, how could you be like this..."

"..."

You Yue felt that this scene was a bit familiar, and the back of her head began to tingle like a conditioned reflex.

She first glanced around and confirmed that neither the eldest princess nor Yan Lin was there, and then she breathed a sigh of relief, then turned her head to see that Jiang Xuening was still acting, she couldn't beat her anger, and scolded angrily: "You lunatic! Who are you pretending to be? Did I push you? Did I push you? If I really pushed you, what can you do to me? Do you think anyone can see now?"

As soon as You Yue finished speaking, she misled her eyes and finally saw You Fangyin standing outside the door of the teahouse.

In her eyes, this person who has always been docile and easy to bully, stared at her with a pair of eyes, and his eyes were even redder, and asked each word: "Did you push the second girl?"

It was only then that You Yue remembered that Jiang Xuening was You Fangyin's lifesaver.

But she didn't think she needed to be afraid of You Fangyin, she was just a prostitute born to a concubine.

He sneered at the moment, wanting to ridicule.

Unexpectedly, the next moment, You Fangyin didn't even say a word, directly picked up a bench in the lobby of the teahouse, and walked towards her!

"Ah, what are you doing!"

"You're crazy!"

"Come on, help, help!!"

You Fangyin just came from the opposite inn, and when she first saw Jiang Xuening, she was very pleasantly surprised, but then she saw her second sister push the second girl down, at that moment, she just felt cold in her heart.

But in an instant, this coldness turned into infinite flames of anger!

She didn't know if she was crazy, but at this moment, she didn't want to back down, let alone back down and compromise. She just wanted to be stronger, and even stronger, she could protect the person she wanted to protect.

Holding the bench in her hand, she couldn't see the other people in the teahouse who were in a panic. She only had You Yue in her eyes, so she approached her step by step.

Where has You Yue seen such a desperate person?

Even if she uttered evil words, she was just a boudoir lady, not to mention that she had never seen You Fangyin so vicious as if possessed by a demon, she was so frightened that she backed away again and again, tears came out: "You, get out of here, come on!" People, help!"

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

But even the maids were frightened, screaming and backing away.

You Yue fell to the ground in a panic, and when she looked around asking for help, she caught a glimpse of Jiang Xuening who just fell to the ground—

Where does this **** still look weak and pitiful before?

With a completely lazy posture, he took the time to gently straighten his hanging strands of hair, and even looked at her with a bit of pity and sigh.

He also gently waved his hand and told the maid beside him: "Please persuade me, don't cause trouble."

You Yue is mad!

The same trick was used twice on her alone, and after she got it once, she still got it the second time!

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

This hateful monster! Yan! cheap! goods! !