This is indeed Lanting’s trump card.
So no matter how Zhou Chujin threatened or bribed her, she just held on tight and asked her to tell him Xinlan's whereabouts, and the Zhou sisters had to let her go.
Zhou Chujin flatly refused and signaled Ma Fushan's family to cut the tendons of Lan Ting's hands.
Lan Ting screamed.
Zhou Shaojin, who was standing in the yard with his sister, was so scared that he held his sister's arm and trembled.
After a while, Ma Fushan came out from the main hall and whispered, "She said. Xinlan might be in Jingzhou Prefecture."
She looked exhausted, and it was obvious that this task was difficult for her.
"Maybe?" Zhou Chujin frowned and pondered, "Didn't they say where exactly it was?"
"No!" Ma Fushan's wife said respectfully, "She doesn't know exactly where it is. She said that Xinlan's husband collected cotton nearby in the early years, and later found that the cotton in Jingzhou Prefecture was much cheaper than here, so he quit his wife and took Xinlan to Jingzhou Prefecture.
"When Xinlan returned home, the lady asked about her recent situation. She also said that she lived in Jingzhou Prefecture. She came back to Jinling this time because she wanted to sell the old house she had left in Jinling and settle down in Jingzhou Prefecture in the future.
"Later, she discovered that Xinlan and Cheng Bo were having an affair, and thought that she must be cheating on her wife, so she secretly went to the house where Xinlan used to live, and found that the house had been entrusted to a brokerage firm and had not yet been sold. She suspected that Xinlan had stolen the man's title deed, and she also asked someone to pretend to be a buyer to go to the government office to see the documents of the house. The procedures were complete, so Xinlan really came back to sell the house...
"Later, Cheng Bai fell ill, and she didn't see Xin Lan, so she went to Xin Lan's house again. The neighbor next door told her that Xin Lan's man had rushed over from Jingzhou Prefecture a few days ago, sold the house, and took Xin Lan back to Jingzhou Prefecture.
"She never saw Xinlan again after that."
Zhou Chujin was silent for a while, and said to Ma Fushan: "She is like this, I am afraid she is still hoping for the best, thinking that since I know about Xinlan's affairs, I will definitely find Xinlan out and will not take her life. You go in now and say that I don't believe her at all and want you to cut her tendons..."
If you split the tendons in your foot, you'll be bedridden for the rest of your life.
Ma Fushan's family was shocked and said, "Really, did you really cut her tendons?"
Zhou Chujin was furious and said, "One plays the good cop and the other plays the bad cop, do you understand?"
Ma Fushan understood immediately and nodded with a red face.
Zhou Chujin said, "You have to make her believe that the reason why I didn't give her the mute medicine is that the medicine is hard to find and has not been delivered yet. If she doesn't tell the truth again, after drinking a bowl of mute medicine, she won't be able to speak even if she wants to. Although there is a doctor who can connect tendons in Jinling Mansion, it will be useless if the doctor is not treated in time. ... Make her believe that I don't trust her at all - what basis does she have to suspect that the lady was killed by Cheng Bai? Xinlan just helped the little maid to carry a pot of water in, and Cheng Bai just had an ambiguous relationship with Xinlan. Maybe Xinlan didn't do anything, maybe Cheng Bai accidentally met Xinlan, and the two of them got entangled... You have to persuade her that if she wants to live, she must tell everything she knows. Even if she doesn't say it, I know Xinlan is in Jingzhou Mansion, and I can send someone to check through the Cheng family. Unless she is talking nonsense, it is easy to find out that she is an outsider who moved there ten years ago."
Ma Fushan responded “yes” repeatedly, thought for a while, and went into the main room.
Zhou Shaojin was still a little worried and asked, "What if she doesn't believe it? Are we really going to cut her tendons?"
"If it really comes to that," Zhou Chujin murmured, "this is the only way."
Zhou Shaojin sighed and accompanied his sister to the upper room to wait for news.
After about an incense stick of time, Ma Fushan's family came over.
"Miss," she said with a somewhat embarrassed look, "Lanting said that after the wife passed away, the master wanted to release them all. In order to gain the master's trust, she thought of a pair of mutton-fat jade bracelets that she had seen in the silver shop, which were similar to the ones that the wife secretly gave to the uncle of the Zhuang family. But she had no money to buy them, so she finally set her sights on Cheng Bai. But Cheng Bai ignored her at all. She had no choice but to boldly write a note to Cheng Bai saying, 'You and Xinlan conspired to kill the wife.' Cheng Bai actually did what she said and put two hundred taels of silver under the big tree in the City God Temple. When she found out, she was scared half to death. She was afraid of revenge by Cheng Bai, so she didn't dare to take it. After that, Cheng Bai fell ill... As for Xinlan, she really didn't know where she lived exactly. She only knew that she saw that Cheng Bai was very ill, and even if she entered the Cheng family, she would not have a good life. When her husband came, she followed her husband back to Jingzhou Prefecture."
In other words, the so-called last will and testament of her mother asking her to take care of her younger sister might be false!
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
Zhou Chujin covered his chest as if he was having difficulty breathing, and after a while he said, "For now, let's save her life. When I find Xinlan, I will notify my father to come over for questioning. Then we will know exactly what happened!"
Ma Fushan's family bowed their heads in response.
Zhou Chujin warned her: "You must keep a close eye on her. If she gives you money to bribe you, just accept it. Even if she asks you to secretly find a doctor to repair her tendons, you should find someone for her. Don't let her feel that there is no hope and commit suicide without any care. I'm counting on her and Xinlan to fight each other!"
Ma Fushan's family hurriedly patted their chests and made a promise.
My sister is trying to keep Lanting alive with hope!
Only then did Zhou Shaojin truly realize how powerful Zhou Chujin was.
She was very envious, but more of it was admiration.
So on the way back, when Zhou Chujin asked her "What have you learned?", she giggled and shook her head, saying, "Sister, I'd better hide behind you and father and live my life peacefully."
Zhou Chujin shook his head in anger.
Zhou Shaojin just hugged her arms and smiled.
Zhou Chujin sighed helplessly, thinking of what his grandmother said, "Every blade of grass has a drop of dew."
For my sister, the path I want to take may not be suitable for her. On the contrary, her path is under her own feet. As long as she walks her own path well, she can find happiness... Maybe she will be happier!
Zhou Chujin felt relieved and gently touched his sister's head.
Zhou Shaojin asked his sister: "How do we investigate Xinlan's case?"
Zhou Chujin smiled and asked her, "How do you think we should check it?"
Zhou Shaojin thought for a moment and said, "I think Ma Fushan is the most suitable, but I'm afraid Ma Fushan's family is not available."
"Yeah!" Zhou Chujin agreed, "He's indeed not very suitable. After the Cold Clothes Festival comes the Beginning of Winter, and we have to prepare the New Year's gifts. Many officials are from the south of the Yangtze River, and they like lotus seed rice from Hangzhou and salt duck eggs from Gaoyou. Ma Fushan has to help prepare these things, and he can't get away."
Zhou Shaojin thought of someone.
Ma Fushan’s cousin Ma Ci.
In the previous life, Ma Ci was the one who was sponsored by Ma Fushan when her sister was getting married and had to choose a bride from the Zhou family's servants. He was not only hardworking, but also smart, capable, and loyal. Not long after Zhou Chujin went to the Liao family, he emerged and became the person Zhou Chujin relied on the most. Later, when she got married, there was no suitable person around to help take care of the dowry. After her sister asked her, she gave her dowry to Ma Ci. In just a few years, her personal money doubled. Until her rebirth, Ma Ci helped her sisters with things.
She clasped her hands tightly together and said, "Sister, I occasionally heard that Ma Fushan has a cousin who is very capable. I think his name is Ma Ci. Why don't you ask Ma Fushan if you can let his cousin run errands for us!"
Zhou Chujin was very surprised.
She was not surprised that Zhou Shaojin suddenly mentioned Ma Fushan's cousin, she was surprised that Zhou Shaojin suddenly thought of a way to overcome his bad habit of twisting his fingers when he was nervous.
"When did you come up with this idea?" Zhou Chujin pointed at her hand and said, "But, relax a little, it will look more natural."
Zhou Shaojin was too embarrassed to say that it was Cheng Chi who told him. He said "Oh", adjusted his posture, and asked his sister: "Do you think my idea is good?"
Zhou Chujin didn't believe that Zhou Shaojin had just heard the name Ma Ci by chance. In her opinion, this must be Ma Fushan's family asking Zhou Shaojin to arrange an errand for her cousin. If it was something else, she would have agreed immediately, but this time it was to investigate Xinlan's whereabouts, so she said, "Let him come to see me! If it's okay, let him go."
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief and agreed with a smile. After returning to Wanxiangju, he asked Shi Xiang to take a letter to Ma Fushan's house and asked Ma Ci to meet Zhou Chujin.
Ma Fushan knew that his nephew had always wanted to work in the Zhou Mansion, but Zhou Zhen was an official outside, and the two young ladies lived in the Cheng family for a long time, so there was really no vacancy in Pingqiao Street, so he had been idle. When he heard that Zhou Chujin wanted to see Ma Ci, he thought that Ma Ci had taken some other channels, so he didn't ask much, and told him a few things he should pay attention to, and let him go to Jiuru Lane.
Ma Ci was only sixteen years old, but he had grown tall, strong and very steady.
After asking the question, Zhou Chujin was very satisfied and promised him two hundred taels of silver to make a trip to Jingzhou Prefecture.
Zhou Shaojin was stunned for a long while after hearing this.
My sister only gave Ma Ci two hundred taels of silver to go to Jingzhou Prefecture... She gave Fan Qi five hundred taels of silver to go to the capital...
She hurriedly asked Shi Xiang to check her private money.
Every transaction of incense in and out is recorded and counted from time to time to ensure that the accounts match the actual situation.
When Zhou Shaojin asked, she answered immediately: "You still have 16.30 taels of your own money."
Zhou Shaojin immediately broke out in a sweat.
She promised Fan Qi a reward of 200 taels of silver and 10 mu of top-quality paddy fields after the task was completed...
When Fan Qi comes back, what silver will she use to reward him
She was so anxious that she turned around in the room and asked Shi Xiang: "When I asked for money, why didn't you tell me that I only had more than 500 taels of silver?"
Shi Xiang was surprised and said, "You said you wanted to use the money to buy land... I think buying land is a long-term plan... Besides, you don't have much use for the money. When the New Year comes, Mrs. An, the first wife, the first master, etc. will all give you rewards..."
Zhou Shaojin said: "But those are silver ingots. Can silver ingots be exchanged for money?"
Shi Xiang opened her eyes wide and said, "Of course silver ingots can be exchanged for money, otherwise where did Master Yi and his men get the money for gambling?"
"Yes!" Zhou Shaojin replied, but in his heart he was thinking about asking Shi Xiang to collect all the silver ingots he had obtained over the years to see if he could get two hundred taels of silver... If that didn't work, he would write a letter to his father to ask for it... But what was the excuse? He couldn't say that he wanted to reward Fan Qi, right
※
Sisters, today's extra update.
O(∩_∩)o
※(To be continued)