RPAGF Chapter 808 [Mistress of the House 13]
Chapter 808 [Mistress of the House 13]
On this day, the sun was shining and the breeze was blowing. Cao Wenbin personally invited Shen Cuixi to his home to select suitable materials for his daughter who was about to get married. Shen Cuixi naturally agreed happily. After all, it was a great honor to be invited by Lord Cao.
Shen Cuixi knew the importance of this mission, so she carefully prepared a batch of exquisite and precious kesi fabrics. These fabrics are not only brightly colored and complex in pattern, but also soft and smooth in texture, as colorful as the clouds in the sky. Among them, the ones prepared for Miss Cao are the most important, and each piece is the best of the best. Of course, Shen Cuixi did not forget Cao Wenbin and his wife, and also prepared kesi fabrics suitable for their status for each of them, in order to express her respect and flattery for the Cao family.
When Cao Wenbin saw this batch of exquisite tapestry, his eyes lit up immediately, and he took the materials with a smile on his face and showed them to everyone, praising them. Then, he enthusiastically proposed to use these tapestry to write words and carve inscriptions for others to show his family's glory and dignity.
Although the Ren family had spent a lot of money to prepare for Miss Cao's engagement party, the reputation of Qingyuefang became more and more famous after Cao Wenbin spared no effort to promote the good name of the Ren family. Many guests came in droves, making Qingyuefang's business increasingly prosperous, and the profit soared like a rocket.
Behind this lively scene, there is a little secret discovered by Youyou - it turns out that Shuyan has always been in love with Miss Ruyi. This time he came to Qingyuefang to learn how to be a shopkeeper, probably mostly to be able to get closer to the one he loves.
As time went by, more and more people specifically asked to buy the brocade works made by Shen Cuixi. Faced with such strong demand, Shen Cuixi had to work day and night, often staying up late to brocade until dawn. Shu Fang saw it with her own eyes and felt pain in her heart. She knew Shen Cuixi's difficulties and hard work, so she repeatedly told Xiaolan to take good care of Shen Cuixi's diet and daily life so that she could stay in good condition and devote herself to work.
The sky was covered with dark clouds, thunder and lightning, and heavy rain poured down like a torrential rain, shrouding the whole city in a curtain of rain. Li Zhao dragged his tired body and finally returned to Suzhou. This trip to Jiangning was full of twists and turns, but fortunately everything went smoothly according to plan, and he successfully arranged things.
After solving the problem of Cao Wenbin, Li Zhao finally felt relieved. From then on, Cao Wenbin could no longer cause trouble for him. Meanwhile, Ding Rong was also busy, as he was working non-stop to carry out the task of reselling raw silk to the Jiangnan pirates.
However, things did not go smoothly. Not long after, Cao Wenbin suddenly became angry with Youyou for some unknown reason. Facing Cao Wenbin's questioning and accusations, Youyou remained calm. She explained to Cao Wenbin in an orderly manner and made a series of assurances. After some negotiations, Youyou finally succeeded in calming Cao Wenbin's anger.
Meanwhile, Ding Rong always worked faithfully for Li Zhao. He spared no effort to sell the raw silk piled up in the warehouse to the Jiangnan pirates. Since Cao Wenbin had stopped patrolling them, the pirates became bolder and began to buy a large amount of raw silk. Seeing this, the greedy Li Zhao started to think crookedly. He seized the opportunity and secretly purchased a large amount of raw silk from the Suzhou market, ready to make a fortune. As expected, this adventure made him earn a lot of money and he couldn't stop smiling.
Ding Rong was always cautious in his actions. In order to avoid being noticed, he changed the trading location with Zhang Biao. At the new location, the two met. Ding Rong warmly invited Zhang Biao to sit down with him and drank a bowl of wine to show his appearance. After his men loaded all the goods onto the ship, Ding Rong stood up and said goodbye and left in a hurry.
But who could have imagined that just as Ding Rong was leaving, a team of well-trained soldiers appeared at the scene like a god descending from the sky. Without saying a word, they captured Zhang Biao, who had not yet walked far.
Not only that, even the secret warehouse where Li Zhao hid the raw silk could not escape the sharp eyes of the officers and soldiers and was eventually discovered.
When Cao Wenbin heard the news, he was so excited that he rushed to the warehouse and saw the piles of raw silk with his own eyes.
Looking at the mouth-watering wealth in front of him, Cao Wenbin's eyes instantly glowed with greed. At this moment, he secretly thought in his heart: As long as he can successfully overthrow Li Zhao, then all these raw silks will belong to him!
At the same time, under the cover of night, Ding Rong, wearing heavy clothes and a black cloth on his face, sneaked into Li Zhao's heavily guarded study like a ghost. He nimbly avoided the patrolling guards and the traps in the dark, and finally successfully found the account book that Li Zhao used to record the reselling of raw silk.
In fact, Ding Rong had planned all this in his mind several days ago. He knew that in order to bring down the evil power of Li Zhao, he must have solid evidence, and this account book of reselling raw silk was undoubtedly the most critical link. Therefore, after many careful plans and deployments, Ding Rong was able to succeed tonight.
The next morning, the sun shone through the window onto Li Zhao's face, which was twisted with anger. When he walked into the study as usual, he was shocked to find that the crucial account book was missing! Not only that, even the loyal servant who had been guarding the gate for many years disappeared without a trace. Li Zhao suddenly realized that he must have fallen into a trap carefully designed by others.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Li Zhao did not dare to delay for even a second. He immediately ordered his advisor Liu to rush to Mudu Town to quickly move the large amount of raw silk stored there, so as not to let Cao Wenbin find the evidence and catch him. However, what they did not expect was that when Liu arrived at Mudu Town in a hurry, he saw that the warehouse where the raw silk was originally stored had been tightly sealed by government troops.
On the other hand, Zhang Biao, Li Zhao's capable subordinate, also failed to escape the law and was soon arrested. At the same time, the government also seized a large amount of raw silk that he had secretly hidden. Now, all the evidence is in hand, and Cao Wenbin only needs to interrogate the case and come to a final conclusion, and then report it to the court for a decision.
Li Zhao, who was desperate, decided to make a desperate attempt. He personally brought boxes of heavy gold and silver treasures to ask Cao Wenbin to meet him, hoping to use money to buy his life. However, the iron-faced and selfless Cao Wenbin was not moved at all and refused to meet him without hesitation.
At this time, Youyou happened to come to visit Cao Wenbin. Li Zhao happened to see this scene, and saw that the prefect's subordinates respectfully welcomed Youyou and his party into the mansion. In this situation, Li Zhao already understood in his heart that Cao Wenbin was clearly avoiding him on purpose.
It turns out that Cao Wenbin summoned Youyou with ulterior motives. He wanted to embezzle the ordinary raw silk stored in Li Zhao's warehouse, and also tried to win Youyou over to embark on this road of no return with him and become an accomplice.
However, Youyou did not agree to this easily. Facing the temptation thrown by Cao Wenbin, she showed a little hesitation and hesitation. Seeing this, Cao Wenbin showed a cunning look and threatened: "As long as you make up your mind to join, I will submit a memorial impeaching Li Zhao to the court at that time."
At the same time, Li Zhao, who learned of all this, was furious and thought that since things had developed to this point, he might as well burn his boats and go all out. So he immediately ordered his men to go to the warehouse and burn all the raw silk piled up there.