allonlinenovel Chapter 80 Linjiazhuang
Chapter 80 Linjiazhuang
Chapter 80 Linjiazhuang
Last night, Wei Shilin, the winner of the 10,000-tael lottery prize, was brutally murdered along with his entire family by robbers. The news quickly spread throughout Hanshan City, becoming the talk of the town.
That morning, after someone reported the crime, Wang Wenzhou personally led the coroner to investigate. The robbers were clearly seasoned veterans; they had executed the case flawlessly, and the coroner found no useful clues.
The streets of Hanshan County were swarming with government officials, as Wang Wenzhou had ordered a house-to-house search. The people cooperated readily, given the horrific case of the murder of a family of thirteen—a major crime.
Wang Wenzhou didn't have high hopes for the search results. Since he was an experienced person, he wouldn't be foolish enough to hide the silver on his person.
But Wang Wenzhou was confident that he could catch the criminals. After all, 10,000 taels of silver, weighing more than 1,000 jin, was not an easy task to smuggle out of the city.
Wang Wenzhou plans to start by investigating the money to track down the murderer, but finding the murderer in a short period of time will be difficult.
Sheng Lan put down her abacus and said, "The accounts are all settled. The total income in the public accounts this month is over 20,000 taels of silver. The city entry tax and good citizen certificates each cost about 10,000 taels, and the expenditure is 2,000 taels. There are currently 30,000 taels of silver left in the public accounts. Please take a look."
Wang Wenzhou took the ledger.
This month, the population of Hanshan City has reached over 25, roughly equivalent to the population of a small county town in later times. Wang Wenzhou is quite satisfied with the rate of population growth.
Next, Wang Wenzhou plans to develop real estate. Hanshan currently has a population of 250,000, many of whom live in tents outside the city or rent houses within the city. With over 200,000 people in dire need of housing, real estate developers shouldn't make too much profit!
"What's wrong with Lan Lan?" Wang Wenzhou looked up and saw that Sheng Lan seemed hesitant to speak, so he asked.
"Is the Flower Queen Contest about to begin?" Sheng Lan asked.
"It'll start after the stadium is finished. What's wrong?" Wang Wenzhou felt that something was on the goddess's mind. Could it be that she wanted to participate?
"Lazy Blue, you shouldn't participate!" Wang Wenzhou didn't want his goddess to participate.
"I have a sister who has already registered." Sheng Lan knew that the master was cunning and wanted to find out if there was anything fishy going on. If there was really any behind-the-scenes manipulation, she would not allow her sister to participate.
"Lazy Blue, are you two close?" Wang Wenzhou asked.
“We are like sisters. She is six years younger than me and used to be my maid. You could say I raised her,” Sheng Lan replied.
"Oh, I see! What's her name?" Wang Wenzhou asked.
“Li Yajing,” Sheng Lan replied.
“I’ve got it. Don’t worry, she’ll be the queen of the courtesans competition this time. But she can’t have all the prize money; she can only have a portion. Make sure you explain that to her beforehand,” Wang Wenzhou said with a smile.
"Ah..." Sheng Lan's mouth dropped open. As expected, the adults were up to something again.
"Thank you!" Sheng Lan felt a warmth in her heart. The master was so kind to her. She had only mentioned it slightly, and the master had already given the title of courtesan to Ya Jing. Although Ya Jing wouldn't win the grand prize of ten thousand taels of silver, with so many girls participating, once she became the courtesan, her fame would surely spread far and wide, and she would no longer be short of money.
"Lazy Lan, that's too much! Why are you thanking me? Come here and give me a kiss!" Wang Wenzhou laughed and pulled Sheng Lan onto his lap.
Sheng Lan's face was flushed with happiness as she kissed Wang Wenzhou's large mouth with her crimson lips.
Wang Wenzhou has been consistently trying to lose weight, and in the past month, he has lost more than 20 kilograms. Although he still looks quite fat, compared to his previous "pig-like" physique of nearly 300 kilograms, he now looks somewhat presentable. Although Wang Wenzhou's father is frail and often ill, he has good genes, and his mother is also a beautiful woman. If Wang Wenzhou truly succeeds in losing weight, he will immediately transform into a handsome young man.
Wang Wenzhou was eagerly anticipating his successful weight loss, after all, he still hadn't been able to properly sleep with his goddess. Once he succeeded, he was determined to have a passionate, all-out battle with her!
……
Outside Hanshan City, in Linjiazhuang.
Linjiazhuang is the property of Lin Qing's grandfather, Lin Feigang. Lin Feigang used to be a bandit, but later he cleaned up his identity, bought a large area of fertile land, and settled there with his former brothers, which became the Linjiazhuang we know today.
"Young Master, the checks in Hanshan City are so strict right now, we can't get the money out!" Lin Hu said.
Lin Qing nodded and said, "No rush! We'll take the silver out after things calm down."
The massacre of Wei Shilin's entire family was committed by Lin Qing.
Although Lin Qing was one of the four great talents of Hanshan City, his background differed somewhat from the other three. The other three came from families of officials, while Lin Qing's father, Lin Nan, was merely a wealthy landowner in Hanshan County; Lin Qing was not a son of an official.
In the past two months, Lin Qing lost a lot of money due to collecting tax invoices. In addition, his investment in Chunfeng Pavilion also amounted to a considerable sum of money. Lin Qing was short of money, so he took a risk and secretly led a group of people to commit a heist behind his father's and grandfather's backs.
The men Lin Qing led were all bandits who had followed his grandfather in their youth. They were experts at robbing and plundering, leaving no trace behind.
"Uncle Tiger, you can't tell my dad and my grandpa about this!" Lin Qing said.
"Young Master, don't worry, I won't let Master and Old Master know." Lin Hu smiled and patted Lin Qing on the shoulder.
"Thank you, Uncle Tiger!" Lin Qing said.
"Young Master, you have to listen to my advice! This is the last time!" Lin Hu suddenly said, his face darkening.
"Uncle Tiger, I was truly desperate, that's why I did this. Don't worry, there will never be a next time!" Lin Qing quickly assured him.
“Young Master, you should stay away from Ma Deyun and the others. After all, their status is different. They are all sons of officials, and their families make money easily. Our Lin Family Village only relies on income from land, and we don’t earn much silver each year!” Lin Hu said.
"Okay, Uncle Hu! I have something to do, I'm going into town first!" Lin Qing didn't want to listen to Lin Hu's nagging.
"Hey!"
Lin Hu watched Lin Qing's departing figure and sighed softly. The old master only had this one grandson, whom he doted on immensely. He gave him the best of everything! Fortunately, the young master lived up to expectations, passing the imperial examination at a young age and becoming a scholar.
But ever since Lin Qing started hanging out with Ma Deyun and other sons of high-ranking officials, Lin Qing has gradually changed. He no longer wants to study, spends his days fooling around with them, and squanders money like water.
Lin Hu had advised Lin Qing many times, but Lin Qing hadn't taken it to heart. A few days ago, Lin Qing secretly stole silver from the treasury behind the old man's back and invested it in tax invoices.
When Lin Hu discovered this, he wanted to stop him, but he couldn't resist Lin Qing's persistent pleas. Lin Hu had no choice but to agree to let Lin Qing borrow the money temporarily. He promised to repay it once he earned more. However, the investment failed, and more than three thousand taels of silver went down the drain. This was a huge loss; Lin Family Village couldn't produce that much silver in a year.
Lin Hu was in his fifties, with a muscular and powerful physique. He was Lin Feigang's adopted son. Years ago, when he was a bandit, he suffered a groin injury and never married or had children. He watched Lin Qing grow up and doted on him, treating him like his own son. It was precisely because of this that, at Lin Qing's pleading, he led his men on this heist to cover their losses.