The atmosphere in the room was so depressing that it made people breathless. Ji Zhifei looked at Qin Zhao, then at Gu Changzhou who was standing beside the table. His slow and blank brain gradually understood the current situation.
He messed with the wrong people.
This Mr. Qin was obviously not the poor scholar he had expected. On the contrary, he had a very high status, so high that even Gu Changzhou from Jiangling Weaving Mill had to stay by his side.
Who on earth is this person? ! !
It took Ji Zhifei a while to find his voice again, and he said hoarsely: "You... who are you?"
Qin Zhao closed the book in front of him, his eyes swept across the plain and elegant cover, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
“Does it matter?”
This is important, but not that important to Ji Zhifei.
Regardless of Qin Zhaozhen's identity, it was obvious that Gu Changzhou was his man. It was also obvious that Ji Zhifei had hit a wall this time.
Ji Zhifei's mind was racing, and he forced himself to calm down.
The Ji family's status in Jiangling Prefecture is not as high as Gu's, but it is not something that others can shake at will. Moreover, this matter is just for a small shop, and Gu Changzhou will not tear his face with the Ji family for such a small matter.
He had thought it was simple before, but now that the situation has developed to this point, what good can it do to admit the mistake and bow his head
Judging the situation is the most important thing Ji Zhifei has learned over the years.
He quickly thought through the pros and cons, closed his eyes, and when he opened them he was much calmer: "Mr. Qin, I am a good person. I hope you will forgive me and let me go this time."
He bent down and bowed politely to Qin Zhao.
The other party replied from above: "Okay."
Ji Zhifei was secretly delighted and could not wait to look up, but he heard the other party say: "Then you should go to the government office right now and admit that you hired someone to kill someone."
Are you kidding
"Mr. Qin, are you joking with me?" Ji Zhifei forced a smile and said, "What do you mean by hiring a killer to kill someone? How can you admit to something you haven't done?"
Qin Zhao just lowered his head to sip his tea and did not answer.
Ji Zhifei looked at Gu Changzhou who was standing beside him and pleaded, "Uncle Gu, please say something for me! How dare I hire someone to kill someone? This is absolutely impossible!"
Gu Changzhou hesitated to speak, and finally just sighed heavily and looked away.
"Well, if Ji Zizi doesn't want to go, then don't go." Qin Zhao raised his eyes and looked at him, "I can give you a second choice."
Qin Zhao said calmly: "At dawn tomorrow, all the businesses of the Ji family in the capital city will be taken over by someone else. And I hope that all the people in the Ji family can disappear from Jiangling and never set foot here."
"you!"
Ji Zhifei's face changed drastically.
This is not an opportunity, it's clearly a threat.
If Ji Zhifei went to the government office and admitted that he hired a killer to kill someone, there would be only one outcome for him, which was to be thrown into prison or even executed according to the law. But if he was unwilling, he would have to pay the price of bankrupting the Ji family.
This person... can this person really do this
It's just a small shop!
Ji Zhifei couldn't even fake that forced smile. He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "It seems that Mr. Qin is sure that those things were done by me? ... Do you have any evidence?"
There can be no evidence.
The people that Ji Zhifei found were very clean. The killers who did this kind of business in the black market must have killed countless people, so they wouldn't be caught so easily.
Moreover, if the government found evidence, given the prefect's temperament, he would have sent people to Ji's house to arrest him long ago.
How can it be so calm
Thinking of this, Ji Zhifei felt relieved and said, "You use the Ji family to threaten me to confess my crime, aren't you afraid that I will go to the government to sue you for deliberate false accusation?"
"Ji Zhifei!" Gu Changzhou lowered his voice and scolded, "If you still want to live, do as Mr. Qin says."
"He was the one who didn't give me a way out first!" Ji Zhifei felt all the blood rushing to his brain, and shouted, "It's just a small shop, Uncle Gu. My father has devoted all these years to you, is it not as good as a shop?!"
"Asshole!"
Gu Changzhou kicked Ji Zhifei in the chest and knocked him to the ground: "I'm telling you, if it weren't for your father's sake, your life would be in danger from the moment you provoked Madam Qin!"
Ji Zhifei stood there in a daze.
"Changzhou, calm down." Qin Zhao put down the teacup and looked down at Ji Zhifei who was sitting on the ground. "You guessed right. I really have no evidence."
"That's why I'm willing to give you a chance to choose."
"There are more than thirty people in your Ji family. If you don't want them all to die, I advise you to do as I say."
"Why do you... Why do you..." Ji Zhifei's face turned pale, and his lips trembled, "Is there any law left?!"
Qin Zhao asked calmly, "When you were plotting to seize the shop and hiring assassins to kill innocent people, did you ever think about the law?"
Ji Zhifei did not answer.
He always thought that what he did was just for a small shop and never thought that he actually killed a life and destroyed a family.
In this world, human life is such a cheap thing, how could things turn out like this
Ji Zhifei's vision was blurry and his head was buzzing. He saw a figure walking up to him and helping him up.
"Zhifei, listen to Uncle Gu." Gu Changzhou said, "Go to the government and turn yourself in, admit what you did. Only in this way can the Ji family be kept safe."
Ji Zhifei stared at Gu Changzhou in a daze.
He tried to see any intimidation or threat on the other's face, but there was none. Gu Changzhou's eyes only showed pity and helplessness.
In this room, he is no longer the person who can control the life and death of the Ji family, and he doesn't even have the right to choose whether to forgive him or not.
Ji Zhifei couldn't help shaking all over, and slowly moved his eyes to the man behind the table. In a trance, he asked the same question again: "You... who are you..."
“Does it matter?”
The man looked at him, his expression still calm and peaceful. From the time Ji Zhifei entered the room until now, his slightly pale and sickly face did not even show much emotion. He just calmly proposed two options, but ruined everything for Ji Zhifei.
At this point, the answer seems even less important.
Ji Zhifei felt that all the strength in his body had completely dissipated at this moment. He clung to Gu Changzhou and barely stood firm. He said in a trembling voice: "Tomorrow morning, I will go to the government office to surrender myself."
Gu Changzhou breathed a sigh of relief.
Qin Zhao nodded: "Okay, you can go now."
Ji Zhifei was in a trance for a moment: "Just like that?"
"Well, that's it." Qin Zhao said, "I hope Ji Zizi won't tell anyone about what happened today. Remember, I'm talking about anyone."
Gu Changzhou escorted Ji Zhifei out of the room, watched him stagger away, sighed and shook his head. He closed the door and returned to the inner room. Qin Zhao drank the last sip of tea and asked, "Are you satisfied with this?"
Gu Changzhou bowed to him and said, "Thank you, Mr. Qin."
Gu Changzhou and Ji Zhifei's father are old friends. They have been superiors and subordinates for many years and have some friendship. Qin Zhao agreed to let Gu Changzhou give the Ji family a way out because of this friendship.
Otherwise, based on what Ji Zhifei had done in recent days, the outcome would be a hundred times more tragic than it is now.
The most appropriate way to deal with this is to let Ji Zhifei surrender to the authorities and clear Boss Chang's name.
"It's just..." Gu Changzhou hesitated again, "Do you really want to let Ji Zhifei leave like this? What if he tells others what happened tonight..."
"Send someone to guard him." Qin Zhao said calmly, "If he says a single word, cut off his tongue. If he flees from the battlefield, chop off one of his legs. I'm at ease leaving this matter to you."
Gu Changzhou: “…Yes.”
Qin Zhao turned around, walked to his side, and said, "Also, regarding the feud between my husband and Ji Zhifei, I don't want any rumors in the city. Do you know what to do?"
Gu Changzhou nodded: "Don't worry, Mr. Qin, I have already ordered."
"Very good." Qin Zhao handed the book he had been reading to Gu Changzhou and smiled, "This book is well written. I'll give it to you."
After saying that, he turned around and pushed the door open to walk out.
Gu Changzhou stood alone in front of the door of his room. When the cold wind blew in from outside, he realized that a layer of cold sweat had appeared on his back. He raised his hand to wipe his forehead and looked down at the book in his hand.
— "Dream Talk Notes Volume 2"
Gu Changzhou: “…”
Qin Zhao walked out of Gu's house wrapped in a long coat.
The night breeze was chilly. Qin Zhao rubbed his numb fingers and immediately saw the carriage waiting in front of the door of Gu's house.
The candlelight was on in the carriage, and the dim light cast a vague and warm shadow on the curtains. He was motionless, obviously asleep. The servant of the Gu Mansion who was guarding the carriage saw Qin Zhao coming out and hurriedly came forward: "Mr. Qin—"
"Shh." Qin Zhao raised his hand and pressed it to his lips, signaling him to speak in a lower voice.
The servant nodded and sighed in a low voice: "Mr. Qin treats Madam very well."
Qin Zhao lowered his eyes, hiding a little bit of a warm smile in his eyes, and said, "Let's go."
The servant helped him into the carriage.
The carriage was warmed by the charcoal brazier. Jing Li huddled into a corner, curled up into a ball, and fell into a sound sleep.
Qin Zhao couldn't help but even breathe slower.
Given Qin Zhao's personality, there could have been a safer and more thorough solution to today's incident.
Ji Zhifei offended someone he shouldn't have offended, so even if he had to pay with his life, it was only right.
He chose not to do that.
This is certainly not because I am soft-hearted for Qin Zhao, nor is it because I am pleading for Gu Changzhou.
He would do that just because he thought this should be the result that his young husband most wanted to see.
His little husband was so kind that he could shed a few tears of guilt for a stranger who had nothing to do with him.
If he really fought violence with violence, Jing Li would probably not be happy.
Qin Zhao lowered his eyes and looked at the beautiful sleeping face, and suddenly felt a little worried.
He began to worry about how his husband would react if he knew his identity.
Would he be afraid, knowing that he had once been that kind of person
Will you feel disgusted
What to do...
The former regent, who had been so calm and composed just now, seemed to be treading on thin ice when facing this simple and innocent boy.
"Hmm..." The carriage began to move slowly forward. Jing Li's head shook and he woke up in a daze. He rubbed his eyes, but he was too sleepy to open them. "Are we home yet?"
Qin Zhao lowered his head and kissed the other person's slightly open lips gently: "It's almost time, go back to sleep if you're tired."
"Not sleepy, I'll wake up soon." Jing Li closed his eyes and rubbed Qin Zhao's arms. He rubbed his hands for a while, accurately found Qin Zhao's cold hands, and put them in his palms to warm them. "They are so cold. Remember to ask Ah Qi to make some ginger soup for you when you go back."
"good."
The young man's whole body was warmed up in the carriage, like a small stove, soft and warm.
"Did Master Gu agree?"
"What?"
"The price has increased." Jing Li asked, "Why did you guys talk for so long?"
Qin Zhao suddenly realized.
The little guy thought he went to discuss his salary with Boss Gu.
"I agree." Qin Zhao said nonsense, "It will increase to 25 taels per month, and I will give you free snacks."
"You asked for the latter one, right?" Jing Li buried his head in Qin Zhao's arms and chuckled, "But the snacks at Gu Mansion are really delicious. Let Xiao Yuzai have some when we get home. He will definitely like it."
"If he likes it too, aren't you worried that he'll snatch it all away?"
"What are you talking about?" Jing Li was dissatisfied. "Am I the kind of person who would snatch snacks from my son?"
"Well, you are not, I am." Qin Zhao coaxed without any principles.
Jing Li snorted, too lazy to argue with him.
The carriage drove quietly into the night. Qin Zhao gently stroked the hair of the person in his arms and sighed softly.
His young husband always thinks about food and money, which makes his worries seem a bit unnecessary.
I don’t know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.
well.