Chapter 207 3/3

The man in front of her had fled from Yucheng County with Mu, the shopkeeper.

If it weren’t for him, Shopkeeper Mu might not have been able to leave Yucheng County or come into contact with Lu Qingxi’s people.

After arriving in the capital, this man had been helping Shopkeeper Mu with various tasks.

He wasn’t much of a talker, but he had some real skills. After coming to the capital, he took over a gang in the city.

With Shopkeeper Mu’s help, his gang had expanded.

In the capital, they naturally didn’t dare to do anything outrageous. Their usual activities mainly involved helping people collect debts and escorting goods.

But even among these miscellaneous characters, they were well-informed.

The man said, “Miss, as you know, I have contacts at the docks… Fan Weiyan has arrived. He’s here to take the imperial examination in the capital.”

Shopkeeper Mu’s movements froze, and flames seemed to flicker in her eyes.

Shopkeeper Mu harbored a deep hatred for the person who had caused the deaths of her parents and siblings, as well as for Fan Weiyan.

Her daughter, her obedient and adorable daughter, had been strangled to death by people from the Fan family.

At that time, she had already had a premonition. She knew that the Fan family was going to abandon her, so she wanted to leave with her dowry and accompanying servants.

Although there had been a flood in Yucheng County, the worst off were the common people. As long as wealthy people hadn’t died in the flood, they could still survive.

She was wealthy and had connections, so she could have easily left the Fan family with her daughter and sought refuge with her uncle.

However, the Fan family had gone too far. They not only didn’t intend to let her go but also planned to kill her and her daughter. By doing so, they could rightfully claim her dowry.

Her poor daughter was still so young at that time!

After coming to the capital, she had been accumulating strength and planning revenge. Naturally, the Fan family was one of her targets for revenge.

However, when she first arrived in the capital, she hadn’t been able to establish a stable foothold, so she hadn’t been able to retaliate against the Fan family, who were far from the capital.

Later, when she had finally established herself, she didn’t have many people under her command, and Lu Qingxi only saw her as a useful subordinate who couldn’t help her.

After receiving the goods from Jin Ye Workshop, she had earned more and more money, and the number of people under her command had increased. However, one thing after another had kept her busy in the capital, so she hadn’t had time to deal with the Fan family.

She hadn’t expected Fan Weiyan to come to the capital.

It was as if the heavens were helping her!

Shopkeeper Mu said, “Have someone follow him, and I want to know everything about him.”

“Yes, Miss.” The man in his thirties agreed again. He looked deeply at Shopkeeper Mu before leaving.

Li Qingzhi had just taken a short nap when Jin Xiaoye woke him up.

Li Damao and Li Ermao were hungry, and it was almost time for dinner. They were going out to eat.

“What delicious food does the capital have?” Jin Xiaoye asked.

“There’s a lot of delicious food in the capital. People from all over Daqi might come to the capital to work as officials and settle down, so there are various delicacies from different regions of Daqi,” Li Qingzhi said.

What he said was true, but the food here at the docks was different from that in the city. The food here was generally large in portion but not very refined.

Since they had a large group, Li Qingzhi found a small restaurant nearby for dinner.

It was a baozi (steamed bun) shop that sold various types of baozi, as well as noodles and tofu pudding.

Li Qingzhi ordered many baozi and some tofu pudding.

The baozi here were large and thick, with a very chewy outer skin.

As Li Qingzhi and the others ate heartily, Jin Xiaoye talked to him about their plans for the next day. “Ah Qing, tomorrow, Eunuch Lu’s people will come. I plan to go and see. You don’t need to go. Take Damao and Ermao to see some houses.”

Most of the provincial graduates who came to the capital to take the imperial examination would rent a room in an inn instead of renting a whole house. After all, renting a room in an inn was cheaper, and they could also pay for meals monthly, which would be much more convenient.

But with so many people, including women and children, staying in an inn wasn’t convenient.

Li Qingzhi didn’t plan to rent one of those large, beautiful mansions to live in. He planned to rent a small house that would be enough for his family.

They would live like this for now. When they had enough money, they could rent or even buy a better house.

The price of houses in the capital had been rising over the years!

Unless Daqi fell apart, and someone invaded the capital, the housing prices probably wouldn’t drop. Buying a house wouldn’t be a loss.

But buying a house required a lot of money. Li Qingzhi had earned quite a bit from writing books, but he had spent some on building schools along the way, and he had spent some during the journey to the capital. He didn’t have enough money to buy the house he wanted now.

It was different for Du Yongning.

Du’s family had officials in the capital, so Du Yongning would directly go there.

In fact, Du Yongning had already arranged for a carriage to take him to his relatives yesterday.

As for Taoist Lu Mingshan… He bid farewell to Du Yongning as soon as they got off the boat, but he didn’t know where he had taken his little disciple.

As for Wu Baichuan and the others… These merchants would guard their goods in the next few days.