"Guest officer please!"
The waiter who greeted the guests was a smart person, shrewd and enthusiastic. As soon as they met, Xiao Yi and Nan Gongyue were blown away.
When Zhuzhu asked to go to the upper room, Xiaoer became even more attentive.
The upper room is a small courtyard, and generally only rich families with maids and servants will live in the upper room.
Their Zhanyun Inn is one of the largest inns in Heyu City, and there are a lot of customers every day, so although Xiaoer is not very old, he has seen a lot of people and things.
Just like this handsome young master and young lady, although they didn't bring a few servants with them when they traveled, they dressed lightly, but they had an extraordinary demeanor at first glance.
Moreover, their carriage looks like the most common green-covered carriage. In fact, the axles of this carriage are made of high-quality red axle wood, and the red horse pulling the cart and the black horse of the guards are similar to each other at first glance. A tall horse, one in a hundred, can be used as a war horse. It can be seen from this that these guests must have extraordinary backgrounds!
really--
As soon as he makes a move, he goes to the upper room.
Xiaoer was secretly happy, almost sure that he would get a lot of money today, so he chatted with Zhuzi enthusiastically, asking where they came from, and why they came here, and I heard that they were the first Once I came to Heyu City, I would like to introduce them to Heyu City, from the history of Heyu City to nearby scenic spots, snacks, etc...
During the conversation, the small yard behind the inn arrived. The small yard looked very quiet. There were a few weeping willows planted in the yard, and the house was also neatly arranged.
Xiao Yi is not picky about living. When fighting or traveling, even if he uses the sky as his quilt and the earth as his bed, he can sleep with his eyes closed, so he only quietly observes Nangong Yue's life. Looking at her face, seeing her smile on the corner of her mouth, knowing that she was quite satisfied, she was relieved. Then, he gave Zhuzi a wink.
Zhuzi has followed Xiao Yi for so many years, and he immediately understood it. He smiled and said: "Second brother, we are new here and we are not familiar with the place, so it doesn't matter, I am afraid that we will accidentally offend people who shouldn't be offended. Dare I ask if you can tell me about He Yucheng? Is there any big family or some powerful family in China that you should pay attention to?"
It's not the first time Xiao Er has been asked about such information. Generally speaking, people who come to Yucheng to do business will carefully inquire first, so as not to offend the dignitaries who shouldn't be offended if the business is not completed.
"If you want to talk about us and Yucheng, the biggest powerful family is naturally the 'Fang' family." Xiao Er pointedly increased the volume on the word "Fang".
Zhuzi immediately made an expression of enlightenment, "Could it be that 'Fang' family?"
Xiao Er nodded and said, "It's that Fang's family!"
This huge family with the surname "Fang" in southern Xinjiang is only one of the four major families in southern Xinjiang!
Not to mention, since the two daughters of the Fang family have married into the Zhennan Palace one after another, that has made the Fang family even more prosperous. After all, the current son of the Zhennan Prince, Xiao Yi, has half of the Fang family's blood on him.
Xiaoer didn't know what he thought of, his face showed a bit of confusion, and then he smiled nonchalantly: "The Fang family, that's the owner of half of Heyu City, and all the shops in the city with the pennant with the word 'Fang' are Fang. The property of the family! If you are free later, you can go for a walk in the city and look around."
Zhuzi said again: "To tell the truth, my second brother, our young master is here to do business with Yucheng, and wants to establish a relationship with the Fang family, but who is in charge of the Fang family now?"
This noble young man is actually a businessman? I thought he was a noble young man from some rich family! Xiao Er gave Xiao Yi a strange look, and thought: Don’t they all say that businessmen value profit more than parting? With his wife, it is a sentimental one.
While muttering in his heart, he replied: "I heard that Mr. Fang is in charge of the Fang family now, and Mrs. Fang has long enjoyed a happy life."
Xiao Er's expression of not wanting to say much was obviously concealing something, Zhuzi rolled his eyes, quietly handed Xiao Er a silver donkey, and said with a smile: "Little Er brother, actually, we'll see you as soon as we enter the city." Hearing some rumors about the Fang family, I feel a little uneasy... "
Xiaoer weighed the silver naked without any trace, smiled even brighter, and said: "Guest officer, you are too polite." Having said that, he quickly put the silver away in his hand, and then he After coughing dryly, he looked outside the door, then lowered his voice and said, "Guest officer, I only talked to you after seeing how kind you are. There are rumors that the Fang family is not very friendly to the miners below. Well... I heard that there was a fugitive slave who escaped from the mine before, and went to the government to sue the mine for disregarding human life, saying that the mine was only allowed to sleep for an hour and a half a day, and he ate pig food, and many of them died of exhaustion and illness Miner... However, the Fang family is protected by the Zhennan Palace, so no one dares to say more. In the end, the fugitive slave was also sent back to the Fang family by the government in the name of a fugitive slave." After a pause, he kindly persuaded He said, "Anyway, the Fang family has a lot of power here, and the guest officer should be careful not to offend."
Zhuzi took a quick look at Xiao Yi, cupped his hands at Xiao Er and said with a smile, "Thank you for reminding me, Brother Xiao Er."
"Brother, you're being polite." Xiao Er nodded and bowed, and then left.
Although Xiao Yi didn't have a good impression of Xiao Fang's family, or even the third house where Xiao Fang's family lived, the eldest house of Fang's family was Xiao Yi's mother's house. The clean ground was covered with dust, even Xiao Yi was a little dazed.
Nangong Yue couldn't help asking: "Ayi, the other party's family...do you still have any memories?"
Xiao Yi frowned and thought hard for a moment, then said: "When I lived with my grandfather in the military camp, my grandfather would come to see me from time to time. I only remember that he has a good temper and is kind to everyone. The Fang family is also famous far and near. In those years of wars in southern Xinjiang, many people survived thanks to the Fang family's porridge and food."
Nangong Yue thought carefully and said, "Ayi, do you still remember uncle?"
"Uncle?" Xiao Yi blinked his eyes, then suddenly understood, "You are talking about Master Fang who was mentioned by Xiao Er just now. He is actually my grandfather's adoptive heir."
"Heir?" Nangong Yue heard of it for the first time.
"My mother is an only child, the only heir of Fang's family." Xiao Yi has never seen his biological mother since he was born, but like any child, he will always ask about his mother, "...it is said My grandfather and my grandmother had a very good relationship. After my grandmother passed away, he did not remarry and brought up my mother by himself until she got married. My grandfather had no children, but the family business of the long house could not be inherited by anyone. , and adopted an heir from another house. By the way..."
Speaking of this, Xiao Yi remembered something that had been forgotten for a long time, "... I remember that when my grandfather drank too much, he mentioned it inadvertently. Let me be filial to him in the future."
At that time, he was still young, and his memory had already faded a lot with the years. If it weren't for this situation, he would not recall this incident.
Xiao Yi was too lazy to think about it, and said bluntly: "Anyway, we've already come, why don't we go to Fang's house tomorrow, and everything will be clear when we see my grandfather."
Nangong Yue nodded and agreed, "Okay."
"But... Ah Yue, I want to go to Fang's mine tonight first." Xiao Yi said in a deep voice, "Go and see how dark it is."
Mineral veins are the lifeblood of the Fang family.
If the mine "cannibalizes people without spitting out bones" as Xiaoer said, the Fang family would be a place of pickling.
He must see it with his own eyes before he can decide how to deal with it tomorrow.
It's just that the mine is mostly inconvenient to walk in the mountains, and his trip to the mine must be quiet and not attract attention.
"You stay in the inn for the time being." Xiao Yi paused, and then said: "As far as I know, the nearest mine is only seven or eight miles away from Yucheng, and I should be able to come back tomorrow morning. Wait for me to come back After that, we will go to Fang's house together."
Nangong Yue gave Xiao Yi a comforting smile, and said, "A Yi, you can go anyway. I'll wait for you here."
This matter should not be delayed, Xiao Yi immediately set off with Zhou Dacheng.
Baihui and Que'er also hurriedly retreated to clean up the house. Although it was said that they were lightly dressed, they brought all the brocade quilts and so on for sleeping. They would never let Nangong Yue just use the ones in the inn...
On the second day, Nangong Yue woke up early, planning to walk around Heyu City with Baihui.
But before they finished their breakfast, they heard a commotion from the yard. Huamei was about to go out to investigate and see what happened, but saw five or six men rushing into their small yard, aggressively.
Beside them was a short and fat rough woman who looked familiar, as if she cleaned their yard yesterday.
Seeing the unkindness of these people, Baihui stopped Huamei, walked out of the house, and said coldly to those people: "Who are you? Why did you trespass on our yard?"
The leader was a brocade robed man in his early forties, he glanced at Baihui contemptuously, and asked the woman next to him, "Is that them?"
The old lady nodded hurriedly, pointed at Baihui and said, "Master Liu, it's them! Yesterday the old lady heard them quietly inquiring about your Fangfu with the second child! The old lady could tell right away that they are not from our Southern Xinjiang. This little girl clearly has a northern accent!"
At that time, the woman thought that there must be something wrong with these outsiders secretly inquiring about Fang's mansion!
The mother-in-law tossed and turned, didn't sleep all night, and finally went to Fang's mansion in a hurry early in the morning, thinking if she could ask for a reward, and by the way, she could sell Guanshi Liu for a favor!
Guanshi Liu frowned, yes, this yellow-haired girl really speaks standard Wangdu official dialect. It must be from the capital of the king, could it be...
Liu Guanshi felt a little uneasy, and asked in a cold voice: "Who are you? Why do you want to inquire about our Fangfu?"
Baihui smiled calmly, looked at Guanshi Liu and said, "It turns out that this uncle is from Fangfu. My master and I have just arrived here in Heyu City, just to check the situation at random, so as not to accidentally offend the dignitaries in the city. If there is any offence, please forgive me!" She clasped her fists boldly, but she avoided the other party's first question and deliberately did not answer.
Guanshi Liu narrowed his eyes and looked at Baihui, feeling that she seemed to have a bit of quackery, could it be that he was thinking too much
Guanshi Liu hadn't spoken yet, but the old lady was already shouting loudly: "Master Liu, this little hoof is clearly lying! They rewarded Xiao Er with five taels of silver yesterday. I saw it all! If you just inquired about it casually, why bother to pay five liang of silver! And that young master, after inquiring about Fang's mansion yesterday, immediately left with his entourage, there must be a ghost among them!"
Thinking about it, the woman's eyes were red, five taels of silver is enough for their family to live well for two years.
Liu Guanshi also felt that something was wrong when he heard it, and his cloudy triangular eyes narrowed dangerously, thinking: I have heard before that those imperial officials in the capital like to visit in private, so could it be that this young couple is...
"I don't care who you are?" Guanshi Liu warned harshly, "In short, we and Yucheng don't welcome you guys. I advise you to pack up your things and leave! Otherwise, hehe... don't blame me for being rude!" There was a strong threat in his words.
-off topic-
There will be a chapter update at 12 o'clock and 8 o'clock in the evening.