In the following days, the streets of Luoyang City were turned into chaos by a handsome young man dressed in black.
The scenes at various food stalls, meat shops, and fruit stands were strikingly similar: while the shop owners were busy collecting payments, they would suddenly see a young child holding items like roasted chicken, ham, and peaches. The shop owners would quote the prices, but the child would quickly run away as soon as they turned around. The shop owners would chase after the child with knives in hand. Once they were both gone, Nigu would step in and snatch the cash boxes.
Using the same trick, Mu Le and Nigu had managed to make quite a profit. They rendezvoused in an abandoned temple afterwards. Nigu meticulously counted the money, while Mu Le sat nearby observing. Nigu said, "Great buddy, you're quite thoughtful. Tonight, I'll take you to a fun place, what do you say?"
Now, where would that crafty Nigu take Mu Le? It was a brothel near the South Market. The two of them entered the main hall, and the madam came forward with a sly look in her eyes, neither friendly nor cold, "Isn't this the young master from so-and-so family? You still haven't paid the tea money from last time. What are you here for now?"
Ni Gu casually threw money to the madam: "Cut the nonsense, this is what I owed you last time. Now, call Chunhua for me. And find a sister for this little brother!"
The madam, with the money in hand, immediately changed her expression, very enthusiastic: "Chunhua, your elder brother is here! Qiuyue, come quickly, greet your younger brother!"
The two women named Chunhua and Qiuyue came up, each supporting Ni Gu and Mu Le. Mu Le, who was usually taken care of by Yuan'an in the mansion, naturally had his hair combed and face pinched, but now being held by other women, even with clothes in between, he felt extremely uncomfortable. He dodged, but was pushed and shoved onto the second floor.
At this time, two more guests entered the brothel, the leader of whom had a handsome face and a tall figure, none other than Zhao Lanzhi, the constable from the Luoyang County government, and his subordinate Xiaohu.
The madam hurriedly went forward to greet them: "Two lords, please come over here. I'll arrange the best seats, the best wine, and the most beautiful girls for you. Please come this way."
Zhao Lanzhi waved his hand: "Madam, no need to trouble. We made an appointment with a friend, and he should be here."
Zhao Lanzhi's eyes moved, and he saw at a table inside, a fat man in a blue shirt was hugging two girls, eating and drinking heartily, touching and playing around.
Xiaohu whispered: "Sir, is that him?"
Zhao Lanzhi nodded slightly: "Yes."
The two walked to the table of the fat man in blue, and the fat man looked at them, wary: "These are my girls, my wine and food. I don't know you, you are not my friends. Go somewhere else."
Zhao Lanzhi smiled: "Hey, Mr. Zhou what kind of words are these? If we know each other, can't we be friends?"
The fat man was surprised: "How do you know my surname is Zhou?"
Zhao Lanzhi nodded: "And I know you have what I want."
The fat man asked: "Which is?"
"The Zijin Cauldron."
The fat man took a sip of wine, looked up and down Zhao Lanzhi: "Are you the buyer?"
Zhao Lanzhi nodded: "Yes, that's me. Do you have it with you?"
The fat man said: "Of course, it was discussed with the messenger pigeon. I'll take it out for you now!"
After saying that, the fat man covered his face with the wide sleeves and leaned on the table, his whole person seemed to be in the shape of a turtle shell. However, in the blink of an eye, the robe went down, and Zhao Lanzhi suddenly felt something was wrong. He slapped Zhou Lixian's clothes.
Zhao Lanzhi squinted his eyes: "Hmph, he wants to escape!"
However, the shirtless fat man suddenly rolled out from under the table, fell at Zhao Lanzhi's feet, forehead down, and climbed up embarrassingly, wanting to run outside.
On the second floor, Qiuyue rushed to the railing on the second floor: "Hey, little brother, don't run! Don't run outside!"
The person was extremely scared, covering his chest with both hands, and rushing out.
Zhao Lanzhi was very surprised: "That's Mu Le, Yuan'an's little slave!"
Qiuyue returned to her room, dissatisfied: "Ah, such a handsome little brother, why did he run away? And it's you, the dirty rascal, who stayed behind."
Ni Gu laughed with money in hand: "I'm the dirty rascal, but aren't I generous?"
Chunhua poured him some wine: "You've made a fortune. Lucky you. Tell me honestly, how did you earn so much money?"
Ni Gu said: "Well, that little kid just helped me a lot."
Chunhua said: "When will you save up and redeem me?!"
Ni Gu drank, pondering: "People don't become rich without a windfall. This money, I have to think about making it big."
Whether you are a commoner in the market or a high-ranking official in the court, life is not easy for anyone. This includes Ye Fucheng, the Ministry of Revenue's deputy minister, in charge of thirteen counties in the south.
In the council today, the chief secretary was discussing the celebration of the empress dowager's birthday. Official Ye entered from outside, looked around, turned half a circle, and found that there wasn't even a seat left for him.
The chief secretary saw him and asked: "Oh, it's Official Ye. We are discussing the celebration of the empress dowager's birthday. Do you have any good ideas?"
Official Ye shrugged his shoulders and honestly replied: "Sir, about this matter, this lower official has no ideas."
The chief secretary asked: "What do you have in your hand?"
Official Ye answered: "It's a petition from the people in thirteen counties requesting a reduction in hard labor."
The chief secretary stretched out his hand, and Official Ye presented it. The chief secretary flipped through it and threw it aside: "The Empress' birthday is approaching, and we need to report some good news. Regarding the thirteen counties in the south, we need to report that the construction is progressing smoothly, and the people are living and working in peace. The matters in your petition can be put on hold."
Official Ye spread his hands, there was nothing he could do.
~Thank You for Reading, Please Comment Below~
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