Jiuxi

Chapter 833

There are more than one million residents in the capital, and countless foreigners from all over the world.

Some people are just passers-by in a hurry, while others choose to put down roots and struggle hard to live like a human being.

Luo Yan is the third party.

He is thirty-five years old this year and has lived in the capital of Da Qi for fourteen years. He has settled down here, married and had children. To anyone, he is a standard Qi person.

When the Qi court moved south, Luo Yaozong had a different opinion from other leaders. He believed that Qi would not perish and would at least be able to survive in one corner for a few decades.

In order to collect as much important intelligence as possible about Qi, Luo Yaozong asked the calm and experienced Luo Yan to hide in the capital of Qi under the pretext of seeking refuge with relatives.

Luo Yan would regularly send intelligence back to Shazhou in a secret manner. At the same time, relying on his more than ten years of management, he finally had a stable and safe foothold here. A few years ago, when Luo Jiujiu came to the capital to assassinate Hou Yu, it was Luo Yan who helped her solve her worries.

The longer he lived in this extremely prosperous and wealthy city, the more Luo Yan missed the green mountains and clear waters of Shazhou. Especially after Qi and Shazhou restored their relationship, the exchanges between the two sides became more frequent. Shazhou people no longer needed to hide their identities. As long as they had a certificate issued by the Qi government, they could travel freely around Jiangnan. He felt that his mission had been accomplished, so he wanted to take his family back to his hometown.

Unexpectedly, the reply from Shazhou was disagreement, and this decision came from Luo Jiujiu.

When Luo Yan was wondering, several strangers suddenly came to visit him.

From then on, Luo Yan had an additional mission and often went to various entertainment places in South City just to find someone.

He didn't know the other person's name or identity, and only had the memory of having met him twice. In this situation, trying to find the other person was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

In Luo Yan's opinion, this was a case of a blind cat catching a mouse, but he had to do his best because those strangers were the trusted subordinates of Qin Duke Lu Chen.

Lu Chen single-handedly led the alliance between Qi and Shazhou, and Luo Yan also knew that Luo Jiujiu's attitude towards this young nobleman was very unusual. In addition, the various tribes in Shazhou are now increasingly relying on the support of the Lu family business, so Luo Yan certainly dare not slack off.

For five whole months, he gained nothing but memorized the topography of South City.

Reality is always so wonderful. When Luo Yan was about to despair, he suddenly widened his eyes and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

At this moment, he was in an ordinary tea shop on the street. At the end of the street was the famous Fanlou.

"what happened?"

A thirty-year-old man next to him noticed his abnormality and asked with concern.

"The man in the green robe is more than ten feet away diagonally opposite."

Luo Yan glanced toward the street, then tried his best to look away calmly, picking up the teacup to hide his turbulent emotions.

The thirty-year-old man understood immediately.

In the past few months, they have been following Luo Yan, using the most clumsy methods to find the man who bought the Cloud Chan Grass. No one knows whether they can get anything. After all, if the other party has left the capital, it will be meaningless even if they dig three feet underground.

Fortunately, Huangtian paid off his hard work.

The man in his thirties looked calm. He stood up and walked outside the tea shop, then came to a vendor's stall and asked.

Not long after, several men locked their eyes on the man in the green robe and followed him quietly.

The thirty-year-old man returned to the teahouse with a few small items in his hands, sat down, and whispered, "Brother Luo, thank you very much."

"It is my honor to help the Duke."

Luo Yan had calmed down by now and spoke with a smile.

He looked into the distance and saw that the man in green robe and his two companions had gone far away. It seemed that they were going to the alum building at the end of the long street.

The thirty-year-old man was also looking into the distance, with a sharp look in his eyes.

……

A few years ago, with the end of the rebellion in the capital, the Guo family of De'an, the Wang family of Yongxin, the Ning family of Changle, and the Le family of Xingshan were uprooted, and the nine great families in Jiangnan were no longer worthy of their name.

The romantic atmosphere is always blown away by the wind and rain, but the old is replaced by the new.

The Jinlin Li family remained standing, and with Li Shizhi's rapid rise to prominence, their position as the leader of the Jiangnan clans remained solid, and even had the potential to rise to a higher level.

The Qingyuan Xue family was unable to take advantage of Xue Nanting's power. On the contrary, because of Xue Nanting's personality, he made many enemies. In recent years, they have been like sailing against the current, not making progress but regressing, and gradually falling to the bottom of the nine families. If they could choose, they would hate to cut off their relationship with Xue Nanting.

After the overthrow of the four aristocratic families, the royal family gained the most, followed by the four deeply rooted clans of Jinlin Li, Ningtan Ding, Boyue Chen, and Longlin Gao. In addition, clans that were originally one level lower, such as Yongxin Wang, Queshan Wu, Pingjiang Lin, and Fenglin Fu, also took this opportunity to share a lot of benefits.

In the hot summer, Jianhu Lake on the southwest outskirts of the capital has always been a summer resort. The powerful and wealthy people from the aristocratic families certainly know how to enjoy luxury, and carriages can often be seen in the manors around Jianhu Lake.

Fu Yangzi, the head of the Fenglin Fu family, has been in a bad mood recently. Even though he is in the tranquil and green surroundings with the rippling Jianhu Lake in sight, the irritability between his brows is still difficult to conceal.

The Fu family is different from other aristocratic families. They are not particularly keen on a career in officialdom. Now, there is only one high-ranking official in the family, Fu Shuhan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. He is not dispensable in the court, but he certainly cannot squeeze into the core of power.

Since more than 200 years ago, the Fu family has been focusing on running businesses. Many of the big businesses in the thirteen states of Jiangnan are actually the property of the Fu family. At the same time, the Fu family built schools in various places to support students, using this kind of slow and steady work to cultivate their own power. Although it is difficult to control the power of the court, it is enough to protect their own property.

Fu Yangzi never dreamed of ruling the world. He just wanted the family business to expand steadily. However, recently, there seemed to be a force secretly targeting the Fu family. Even if it was just some small tricks, it made Fu Yangzi keenly aware of the crisis. He felt very strange. Other families in Jiangnan would not offend the Fu family easily unless they had no choice, because everyone has difficult times. Fu Yangzi often helped those powerful people to borrow money, thus winning great popularity. Naturally, he couldn't figure out who was secretly playing tricks.

Until today, a rare visitor came to visit.

In the quiet and elegant side hall, Fu Yangzi looked at the imposing man in his thirties opposite him and said indifferently, "I thought you were dead a long time ago."

"Why did Uncle Fu say that?"

The man's shoulders were as broad as a mountain, and he looked like a tiger crouching even when he was sitting. He picked up the pot and poured tea in a familiar manner, saying leisurely, "The brothers Ning Yuanfu and Ning Yuande are courting death. They dared to rebel under the nose of the late emperor. They are obviously tired of living. It is only natural that the Changle Ning family was confiscated and exterminated for this, but what does this have to do with me? As early as nineteen years ago, I broke out and had no connection with the Changle Ning family anymore. The court cannot hold me accountable."

This person is naturally Ning Bugui.

Fu Yangzi snorted and said unhappily: "Just tell me, what exactly do you want to do?"

Ning Bugui calmly took a sip of the fragrant tea and praised, "Good tea. I guess this is the unique tea that doesn't know spring? It's even better than the Snow on Bitan Lake."

Seeing that this person was talking about something else, Fu Yangzi simply kept silent.

Ning Bugui was not in a hurry, and said slowly: "Uncle Fu, I haven't seen you for many years, why are you so hostile to me?"

"I know who you are and what you are like."

Fu Yangzi leaned back in his chair and said coldly: “Don’t say that those recent small actions against the Fu family have nothing to do with you.”

Ning Bugui said sincerely: "I knew I couldn't hide it from Uncle Fu."

Fu Yangzi narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a slow tone, "Ning Bugui, I don't have any grudge against you. When you broke out and were in a difficult situation, the Fu family helped you. The Fu family has no intention of repaying a favor, but this is not a reason for you to repay a favor with a grudge. If you are just short of money, you can tell me clearly and don't have to resort to these shameful means."

"Then say something presentable."

Ning Bugui smiled and said calmly: "Uncle Fu, do you think I am here to cause trouble today? No, I am here to help you avoid disaster because of the favor I showed you back then."

"Alarmist."

Fu Yangzi uttered four words expressionlessly.

Ning Bugui put his arms on the armrests, his eyes gradually sharpened: "Alarmist? Uncle Fu may not know what sins the people below have committed. The Fu family's business is spread across the thirteen states of Jiangnan. Things like forced buying and selling are not worth mentioning. There are more than a hundred deaths that have been verified, and half of them are related to the children of the Fu family. If these things are exposed to the court, even if Uncle Fu has a lot of connections, how many times can he stop it? The four families were overthrown before, and the others made a lot of money. If the Fenglin Fu family follows in their footsteps, I think many families will be happy to see it happen."

Fu Yangzi had experienced countless hardships after all, and said calmly: "How much silver do you want?"

"I don't want any money."

Ning Bugui raised his hand and touched his chin, smiling: "It seems that these things are not disasters in Uncle Fu's eyes, but if the emperor and the officials in the court knew that there was a fish that escaped the rebellion in the capital, and that the Fu family provided assistance to the rebels in addition to the four families, I wonder if there will be a good show?"

At this moment Fu Yangzi's expression changed, a murderous look suddenly appeared on his face, and he subconsciously clenched the teacup in his hand.

Ning Bugui was unmoved and said leisurely: "Uncle Fu, you know who I am. Even if you ask the masters outside the side hall to chop me into minced meat, I can guarantee that Fenglin Fu's will not survive until next month."

Fu Yangzi's face was uncertain. After a long while, he slowly put down the teacup and said in a deep voice, "What do you want?"

"I just want to make a good relationship with Uncle Fu."

Ning Bugui's eyes gleamed, and he said slowly: "To be precise, I hope Uncle Fu can make a wise choice at some point in the future. In addition, I also want to know some interesting stories from Uncle Fu."

Fu Yangzi remained silent, but finally lowered his head.

What followed was a secret conversation that lasted nearly half an hour, after which Ning Bugui stood up and said goodbye.

At this time, Fu Yangzi finally couldn't help asking, "It's not surprising that you can find evidence against the Fu family members, but how do you know the details of the rebellion in the capital?"

Ning Bugui stopped walking, turned around and said with a smile: "Uncle Fu, don't you know that your youngest son is lustful, and your third brother is addicted to gambling? It just so happens that I was their close friend ten years ago. I provided them with the best entertainment, so naturally we can talk about anything."

Hearing this, Fu Yangzi's face turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye, but there was also a hint of sadness in his expression.

Ning Bugui seemed to recall an incident from the past, and asked with interest, "Uncle Fu, when Guo Congyi and Hou Yu hosted Duke Qin for a banquet, it was said that you tried to show your goodwill to Duke Qin during the banquet, but Duke Qin smashed a wine glass in front of you. Is this true?"

Fu Yangzi suppressed his anger and asked coldly, "So what?"

Ning Bugui did not laugh at him, but gave him a thumbs up, and couldn't help but praise: "There are few people in this world who can make Duke Qin do it himself, Uncle Fu, I envy you a little bit."

With a hearty laugh, Ning Bugui strode away, leaving Fu Yangzi standing there with a bitter and puzzled look on his face.

About an incense stick later, a carriage drove away from Jianhu Lake.

Inside the carriage, Qu Zhong looked at Ning Bugui and asked, "Brother Ning, do you want to take a day off?"

Ning Bugui shook his head and said, "The Duke is willing to trust a commoner like me, so I will do my best to live up to his high expectations."

"After finishing the work here, we should go somewhere else."

(End of this chapter)