Chapter 115 Making Money at Midnight
Chapter 115 Making Money at Midnight
After Xie Lan completed the formalities for Zhouji Rice and Grain Store at the government office, he took inventory of all his money.
Even though she seems to have made a lot of money since coming to Beijing.
In fact, she would set aside half of every penny she earned and send it back to Sanqing Mountain to worship the ancestors. In addition, she would also buy cinnabar talisman paper and instruments for making various talismans.
There wasn't much money left.
Now that the shop has been bought, it still needs to be renovated, and a shopkeeper, accountant, and clerk are all indispensable to run the shop. In addition, people and cars need to be hired to go back to Sanqing Mountain to transport the magical rice, magical tea, and mountain goods to Beijing.
All of these things require money.
Xie Lan sighed. She still had too little money.
"Tiechui, go to bed early tonight. We'll go get some money in the middle of the night."
Tiechui was chewing a big bun. Hearing this, he looked at Xie Lan in confusion, "Girl, what money do you want? Why do you have to go there in the middle of the night?"
"It's the three thousand taels that Daqing lost."
"Ah, wasn't the banknote stolen? Did you figure out who was behind it?"
Nanny Zhang was puzzled and asked, "Didn't we get the banknote back from the second house? And we took away all the valuables from the second house. Even if you go to ask for it again, I'm afraid they won't be able to give you three thousand taels."
"The three thousand taels were not stolen at all. Daqing lied."
"But I heard that Daqing was hit by a club and there was a wound on the back of his head. Could it be that the wound was fake?"
"The wound is real, but Tiechui checked it and it's not serious. It wouldn't knock Daqing unconscious at all."
Nanny Zhang suddenly frowned and asked, "So, it was Daqing who embezzled the three thousand taels? Why didn't the young lady expose him?"
Xie Lan shook his head. "It's not him. Daqing doesn't have the guts. The person behind it is Liu."
Nanny Zhang was startled, then realized, "So it was her. It seems that she agreed to let the young lady study at the White Crane Academy on the surface, but she was actually dissatisfied in her heart. That's why she bribed Daqing to keep the three thousand taels, and then lied that it was stolen by someone."
“Liu is really good at scheming. She originally just arranged for someone to beat up Daqing and forged a banknote to be robbed.
Unexpectedly, the third girl asked her maid to switch the package containing the assessment stickers, so that the robbery of the banknotes was pinned on her.
This way, she could ruin the girl's plan to study at the academy, and also pit her against the second branch, while she herself would reap the benefits."
"Since the young lady knew that it was Liu who stole the banknotes, why didn't she expose her, but went to ask for it in the middle of the night?"
Xie Lan put down the teacup and looked at Nanny Zhang and Tiechui. "Now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you. I suspect that I am not the Xie family's child, but I have no evidence. The reason why I didn't expose Liu was that I planned to take this opportunity to go to her yard to see if there are any clues."
Aunt Zhang and Tiechui were shocked. "The girl is not the Xie family's child. Is this... is this true?"
Xie Lan shook his head, "Not sure, this is just my guess."
Aunt Zhang frowned, "It's a pity that we don't know the mystical arts, so we can't tell the girl's fortune. If only Ling Feng was here, he would definitely be able to tell if the girl is the Xie family's child."
Tiechui also said, "Miss, aren't your senior brothers and sisters in Kyoto? Why don't you go ask them to tell your fortune?"
"It's useless. Xie Changting has a magic weapon on him, so I can't figure it out."
Xie Lan didn't plan to look for her senior brothers and sisters. She had to dig out her own melon.
The second house has been driven crazy by her, and now she is trying to get rid of Liu and the third house as well. I don’t believe that she can’t dig out this melon.
At midnight, Xie Lan and Tiechui went to the main courtyard where Liu lived. Tiechui had already found out that Xie Changting stayed in the study tonight and did not return to the main courtyard.
Xie Lan still had some drugs made by the third senior sister. After Tiechui knocked Liu unconscious, he also knocked down all the maids and servants in the main courtyard.
Unfortunately, Xie Lan searched the main courtyard but didn't find anything suspicious.
To her surprise, Liu didn't have anything valuable. In addition to some dowry, the silver notes totaled more than 4,000 taels. Xie Lan didn't touch the dowry, and only took back the 3,000 taels that belonged to her.
Seeing that there was nothing found at Liu's place, Xie Lan simply went all out and asked Tiechui to go to the study and drug Xie Changting as well.
Unfortunately, nothing was found in the study, only some jewelry and more than 5,000 taels of silver notes were found in the secret compartment. Her father was just a small clerk in the Imperial Household Department, and it was unknown whether these silver notes were obtained through corruption or other means.
Those pieces of jewelry were old and looked quite old, and I didn't know which woman they belonged to.
Xie Lan did not touch the banknotes and jewelry. He put them back after looking at them.
And Xie Changting did indeed have a magical weapon on him.
After Xie Lan took it away, he wanted to take the opportunity to tell Xie Changting's fortune and show him his face. Unexpectedly, after taking the jade pendant away, he still didn't tell anything.
It was not known whether Xie Changting had asked a Taoist priest or a high monk to do something. In order not to alert the enemy, Xie Lan did not cast any spell to investigate.
Xie Lan was not disappointed even though she didn't get anything this time. She wouldn't die for a while anyway, and eating melons didn't have to be fast. Sometimes it was more fun to dig slowly.
Go to bed late at night and get up late in the morning.
There was not much money in the government, and the meals were simple. Xie Lan was used to enjoying life, so he naturally would not suffer with the people in the Xie Mansion.
She was not short of money and set up a small kitchen in Tinglan Pavilion. Nanny Zhang prepared sumptuous meals according to her taste for three meals a day.
After finishing his meal leisurely, Xie Lan was preparing to take a stroll on the street.
Tiechui came in through the curtains and said, "Girl, Daqing is dead."
Aunt Zhang was shocked. "How could it be? Wasn't he fine yesterday? How could he die suddenly?"
“I don’t know exactly what happened, but Daqing’s mother went to find Liu and cried, saying that he hadn’t returned all night.
In the morning, his father asked for leave and went out to look for him. He searched all the places Daqing often went to, but couldn't find him. I heard that he was finally found dead in a remote dead end alley.
According to Daqing's mother, Daqing was stabbed several times and was already dead when he was found. He had more than 100 taels of silver with him when he left the house, but that was also missing. It is estimated that the person who stabbed him to death took it away.
"Ah, he was stabbed to death. Doesn't that mean the oath he made that day has come true?"
Xie Lan looked calm, "This is retribution. I warned him not to swear carelessly, but he wanted to die for the benefit of Liu's Xu."
Aunt Zhang shook her head. "As a person, you should live an honest life and not have thoughts that you shouldn't have. If Daqing hadn't been bribed by Liu and taken the money she promised, how could he have been targeted by the villains?
He was so young and hadn't even gotten married yet, and he lost his life like this. What a pity."
After thinking about it, Aunt Zhang couldn't help but be curious, "What about Daqing's body? Did his father bring it back home?"
Tiechui shook his head. "No, he was stopped by the housekeeper outside the mansion gate. Daqing's mother went to find Liu to complain, and Liu gave her 20 taels of silver and let Daqing's parents take the body away for burial."
(End of this chapter)