Du Xiancheng waited patiently at home for a few more days, but instead of hearing news about Xiao Xiangsheng and the others, he waited for Longxiang Ye instead.

In the past few years, Long Xiangye has visited Du's house only a handful of times. This time he came to visit in person at dusk, which made Du Xiancheng feel a little bit in his heart and hurriedly went out to greet him.

"Xiancheng, I won't be polite to you anymore. I really have no choice when I come here this time." As soon as Long Xiangye saw Du Xiancheng, he knelt down with a plop.

"Sister-in-law has killed my little brother!" Du Xiancheng was so anxious that he rubbed his hands, but he couldn't help Longxiangye up himself. Fortunately, the maid next to him had some eyes and quickly rushed over to help Longxiangye up.

After Long Xiangye sat down on the chair, Du Xiancheng took a closer look at Long Xiangye.

His face was haggard, his hair was yellow and dull, and his eyes were as swollen as peaches. It was obvious that he had been crying at home for a long time.

"Sister-in-law, is it because of elder brother and Shiji's affairs? - Do they have any news?" Du Xiancheng knew without thinking what was the reason that made Long Xiangye obey Qu Gui and take the initiative to come to their Du family.

Long Xiangye nodded in confusion, and said to Du Xiancheng: "They have been gone for almost three months. In the past, every few days, letters came back to report that they were safe. I asked Xiangsheng to send them. I am worried about my brother.

If I don't hear from him for a day, I feel like a cat scratching my head. Xiancheng, you have sent several people to my house in the past half month to inquire about Xiangsheng and Shiji. It's not that I don't tell them, but I don't either.

I know what's going on. They haven't sent me a letter for more than a month. Half a month ago, I sent two stewards to Zhuangzi in Jiangnan and asked them to find Xiangsheng. Later, I received a letter from them saying that Xiangsheng

Brother Heji left Zhuangzi in the south of the Yangtze River and returned to Chang'an a month ago. But they have been gone for a month. Even if they walked the entire Zhou Dynasty from south to north, they should be home. But now

There was no news, and I was so worried that I couldn't sleep well. But today, I received this letter..." He handed the letter to Du Xiancheng and started crying again.

Fang Wuniang rushed over and happened to hear Long Xiangye's cry. Although the two of them had somehow become more estranged than before in the past few years, after all, the previous friendship was still there, and the two would become sons and daughters in the future, so she felt much softer in her heart.

He hurriedly came over and sat next to Long Xiangye to comfort her.

Du Xiancheng took the letter, opened it and read it, his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Actually they want to demand a ransom!" Du Xiancheng was furious, "Our brothers have gone through life and death, killing countless enemies outside, but at home, we were bullied by a few little thieves! - Sister-in-law, don't be afraid, I, Du Xiancheng, will not let them succeed!

"

Fang Wu Niang said angrily: "It's really lawless! Sister Long, you should report it to the officials and let the officers and soldiers catch these kidnappers!"

After hearing this, Long Xiangye was very anxious. He rushed over and knelt down in front of Du Xiancheng, pleading: "Xiancheng, my sister-in-law came to beg you today because she didn't want you to fight the kidnappers. They are all desperadoes and you can't fight with them.

We will fight to the death." Fang Wu Niang said again: "This matter must not be reported to the official! If we report it to the official, our family will have to deal with the kidnappers and official officials, but it will really break up!"

Du Xiancheng was so angry that he punched the table, "These official servants only know how to scrape money, who will try their best to save people for you?!"

Fang Wu Niang was also startled. While helping Long Xiangye up, she said angrily to Du Xiancheng: "Who are you trying to scare with your noise? If you have something to say, is there no other way besides beating and killing?"

He also advised Long Xiangye, "Sister Long, as the saying goes, if you lose money, you will avoid disaster. Sister, just think of it as accumulating blessings for Brother Xiao and Brother Ji. - If the money is not enough, we still have it here, let's all chip in together.

It’s best to rescue people.”

Although Fang Wu Niang loves banknotes the most, she is not a miser. When she should be generous, she is not stingy at all.

Long Xiangye was moved in her heart, and hurriedly took Fang Wu Niang's hand and said: "My sister means what she said, and I will keep this feeling in my heart. However, my family still has money, so there is no need for my sister's family to take action. I just want to ask Xiancheng for a favor.

..." After saying that, he looked at Du Xiancheng with some embarrassment, "...Help us send the money to the kidnappers. Xiancheng also saw it. The kidnappers wanted one hundred thousand taels of silver. They couldn't use banknotes, they wanted cash. This one hundred thousand

Two, it takes two big trucks to transport it out. We don’t have anyone we can trust, so we have to ask Xiancheng to come forward."

When Fang Wu Niang heard this, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief, screamed lowly, and couldn't help scolding: "Which kidnapper is this? He's too evil, isn't he? He wants a hundred thousand taels for asking, and it's hard to live.

Alive? - This kind of money-making business is so easy to do, why are we still working hard as salt merchants? Let’s forget about being kidnappers and extorting ransom!”

Du Xiancheng laughed loudly and praised Fang Wu Niang, "Madam is really amazing! - From now on, the most popular food in our family will depend on Madam!"

Fang Wuniang knew that Du Xiancheng was making fun of her, so she spat at him and asked Long Xiangye, "Sister Long, one hundred thousand taels of silver is not a small amount. I don't know how many people on the way will be interested in this money."

"

Long Xiangye's face was full of shame. She stood up and gave Du Xiancheng a few more gifts before saying: "Both of you are well aware of our family's situation. My brother-in-law, it would be faster for him to spend money. If he is allowed to

I'm worried that...he will take the money and run away without caring about the life and death of his eldest brother and nephew. But Xiancheng is different. You and Xiangsheng have a life-long friendship, and your brother is

Your son-in-law, your family has a great business, and he will not take this one hundred thousand taels seriously. So after much thought, you are the only one who can save the lives of our Xiangsheng and brother." After saying that, he knelt down again, no.

When Fang Wu Niang stopped her, she kowtowed a few times with Du Xiancheng.

Du Xiancheng coughed, stepped aside, and said to Long Xiangye: "Sister-in-law said something serious. Even if sister-in-law doesn't ask me, I plan to go out in the next few days and find my eldest brother and Shiji personally. Now I know their letter.

Son, I can't just sit back and watch. - Sister-in-law, don't worry about this matter. One hundred thousand taels of silver is not a small amount, sister-in-law will have to spend a few more days planning and selling the property..."

Long Xiangye was stunned for a moment, a little confused, "Although one hundred thousand taels is a lot, it's nothing to a family like ours. Why did Xian Cheng say this?"

Du Xiancheng was a little embarrassed and said sarcastically: "...Sister-in-law, since the kidnappers have sent a letter to your home, they must be waiting in Chang'an City, waiting for your news. If you take it too readily, these kidnappers will know about it.

With your family’s wealth, it’s not impossible to increase the value of your assets. For these people, they won’t let you go easily unless they bankrupt you.”

Long Xiangye was shocked and said angrily: "How can they be so evil? How much money do they need, and I can't even give it to them? How can they scheme against our family like this?!"

Du Xiancheng smiled bitterly. After all, my sister-in-law comes from a scholarly family, so she is very pedantic...

"Sister-in-law, if these people were good and honest people, they wouldn't be kidnappers and extort ransom. Sister-in-law, don't worry, let me find a way. Sister-in-law also pretended to raise money, borrowed money from everywhere, and sold one or two irrelevant things.

It's an important shop. If you're worried about fraud, you can temporarily bet on the Hengxiang shop. It's the capital that my eldest brother and I share, and we won't cheat our own property." Du Xiancheng is a man after all, and he takes a longer-term view than women in these matters.

.

Hengxiang Pu is a well-known pawn shop in Chang'an City, also known as "pawn shop".

"Hengxiang Shop is your and eldest brother's property? How come I didn't know?!" Fang Wu Niang raised her eyebrows, very dissatisfied.

Long Xiangye was also startled. She had never heard Xiao Xiangsheng say that. Thinking that she and Xiao Xiangsheng were married, but the other party was still hiding these things from her, Long Xiangye felt even more miserable.

Du Xiancheng laughed and comforted Fang Wu Niang, "Don't you know this? My eldest brother and I are also taking precautions. If others find out, my reputation as a benevolent and righteous person will be ruined. You won't do something like this to harm you.

Is it about your husband?"

Fang Wu Niang spat at Du Xiancheng again and continued to comfort Long Xiangye, "Sister Long, what Xiancheng said makes sense. Sister Long, hurry up and make preparations. In two days, let Xiancheng take the money to pick up Brother Xiao and Brother Ji.

."

Long Xiangye nodded, "I'm sorry to bother you, Xiancheng. It's getting late and the curfew is about to begin, so I'll take my leave."

After sending Longxiang Ye away, Du Xiancheng did not go back to rest. Instead, he went out overnight to his shop and called a few of his capable men to investigate the origins of this group of kidnappers.

The next day, I found out the news. It turned out that this group of kidnappers had been entrenched on the road from Jiangnan to Chang'an since the beginning of this year. They recruited troops, robbed passing merchants, committed countless major crimes, saved a lot of money, and recruited them.

More people joined the gang. Now, eight out of ten people in Chang'an City know that the Dongshan bandit "Jin Bapi" is greedy and a master at fishing out money from the frying pan.

Xiao Xiangsheng fell into their hands, extorting money was still a trivial matter.

Du Xiancheng's heart sank when he heard the news. He knew that this matter might not be solved by spending a few dollars.

Xiao Xiangsheng is a big salt merchant in Chang'an City. The other party imprisoned him for a month, and finally sent the letter to his home. It should be that his identity was found out clearly, and he couldn't admit it even if he didn't want to admit it. - Big brother, this trip,

It's really a disaster.

Of course he, Du Xiancheng, couldn't just watch the other party squeeze out the Xiao family, let alone watch them kill Xiao Xiangsheng and Xiao Shiji with one blow.

The news that Long Xiangye was raising money in Chang'an City spread quietly.

The kidnappers' spies guarding Chang'an City knew the news and sent a letter to Dongshan with satisfaction, asking them to wait.

Du Xiancheng thought about it at home, holding a simple terrain map from Jiangnan to Chang'an and looking at it all day long, and finally came up with an idea.

Not far from Dongshan is Taizhou.

Qi Boshi, the Duke of Qi, was stationed in Taizhou with heavy troops.

Perhaps, they can ask Qi Boshi to come forward and give it a try.
Chapter completed!