Wang Jian and several servants rode horses all night to return to Wenshui County. At dawn, the group finally arrived at Wenshui County. However, the county gate had not yet opened, and many people were waiting outside the city gate to enter the city.
There was a farmer selling vegetables, and there was a caravan next to him, headed by a short, fat, middle-aged man.
"Officer, should we call the door?" several attendants asked.
Wang Jian looked at the sky, shook his head and said: "The city gate will open soon, it doesn't hurt to wait."
"It's Wang Zhixian!" Several vegetable farmers recognized Wang Jian.
The vegetable farmers shouted towards the city: "Open the city gate quickly, Wang Zhixian is coming!"
Wang Jian quickly waved his hand, "Hey! Don't shout, it will open in a moment."
At this time, the two government officials at the top of the city looked down and saw that Wang Zhixian was indeed back, so they quickly opened the city gate.
The vegetable farmers didn't care about anything. They wanted to grab a good position to sell vegetables. They swarmed in. A guy from the caravan whispered: "Shopkeeper, the city gate is open, let's go in!"
The short, fat middle-aged man was Zou Hong. He also rushed to Wenshui County overnight. Unfortunately, the city gate had not yet opened, so they waited outside the city for half an hour.
Zou Hong was a little surprised. Aren't all the officials in Taiyuan Prefecture dismissed from their posts? Why is this Wang Zhixian still there?
He saw several government officials surrounding the magistrate talking about something, looking very excited, so he slowly walked forward and listened carefully.
"Nothing happened in the county in the past two days, right?"
"Reporting to the County Lord, with us watching, who of those bastards dares to mess around?"
"County Lord, have you been reinstated to your original position?"
"No! I'm just worried about the county, for fear of trouble. Remember to continue the porridge relief tomorrow. Li Shan, and the orphans at the charity home, go and see them. I won't be here these two days, so don't let anything happen."
"I'll go there at dawn!"
Zou Hong nodded secretly, this county magistrate is good, and he still cares about the lonely old man. When he saw the other party looking at him doubtfully, he clasped his fists and said with a smile: "I just want to know how to get to Sanyuan Restaurant?"
Wang Jian pointed forward, "Keep going, on the left side of the road, and you'll see it after about a mile."
"Thank you!"
Zou Hong bowed and turned around to leave. Wang Jian looked at Zou Hong and his entourage in surprise as they walked away and found Sanyuan Restaurant. Who were they?
Sure enough, walking along the road for a mile, Zou Hong saw Sanyuan Restaurant at a glance. The reason why he saw it at a glance was that this Sanyuan Restaurant was exactly the same as the Sanyuan Restaurant in Taiyuan City. Even the store plaques were the same, and even the signatures were the same.
It's the same, both are inscriptions by Prime Minister Zhang Dun, but this plaque is obviously a replica, and the original is in the Sanyuan Restaurant in Taiyuan City.
Zou Hong shook his head. At the beginning of the year, he came to him to buy back the plaque. It turned out that the original proprietor had already faked it.
The restaurant had already opened, and several waiters were cleaning in the lobby. A waiter came up to us and said with a smile: "The restaurant does not serve breakfast. You have to go to the opposite side to have breakfast."
Zou Hong looked back and saw that there was a Hanji steamed bun shop across the street. It was steaming hot and crowded with people buying breakfast. It seemed like it could still be dine-in.
Zou Hong said to several of his men: "You go have breakfast first and leave me alone!"
Several men led the donkey over, and Zou Hong clasped his fists at the waiter and said, "I came from Taiyuan City. I have something urgent to do with your proprietor. Just tell him that someone is coming from Taiyuan Sanyuan Restaurant."
The waiter's face suddenly changed and he ran away. He was heard shouting from a distance, "Proprietor, the debt collector you fear most is here."
Not long after, a tall and thin middle-aged man came out, it was the proprietor Yan Changli. He had come to see Zou Hong at the beginning of the year, and he quickly clasped his fists and saluted: "It turns out that shopkeeper Zou is here, come in quickly!"
The two came to the backyard and sat down in the shopkeeper's room. Yan Changli poured him tea again and asked, "Why is shopkeeper Zou here alone?"
"There are a few other guys who are having breakfast opposite."
"Ah! I asked why no guests came for breakfast. It turns out that these waiters were lazy and drove away the guests."
Yan Changli was really annoyed and said: "I will take care of them later."
"Your restaurant also provides breakfast?"
"No, we can provide dine-in service! There are so many small breakfast shops around. Whatever the customers want to eat, the waiter can help buy it. What I want is the customers!"
Zou Hong secretly praised Yan Changli for his business skills, and said calmly: "I came here this time to talk to Boss Yan about something, so I will tell him frankly!"
Yan Changli was really nervous and said: "Let's discuss whether it's about the restaurant's signboard! We can pay for it."
"It's not the brand of the restaurant, you misunderstood."
Zou Hong took out a waist badge and put it on the table. "This is my identity certificate. I am actually an official of the Intelligence Department of the Western Army. I was ordered to open a restaurant in Taiyuan to collect intelligence."
"Ah!" Yan Changli stood up in fright, and quickly bowed and said: "I don't know, please forgive me, Mr. Zou!"
"Sit down. I don't blame you for anything. I just want to help you. You are lucky. Our county king is very concerned about your affairs."
"Prince?" Yan Changli was a little confused.
"It's the county prince Chen Qing. You know, you mentioned his name last time and hoped that he would go to Taiyuan quickly and lower the prices."
Yan Changli was terrified. Fortunately, he didn't say anything bad about the prince last time, otherwise he would have been doomed.
"You mean, the prince pays attention to me?"
"To be precise, the county king is concerned about your case."
Zou Hong stood up and closed the door, then came back and sat down, lowering his voice and saying: "If the county prince wants to deal with Zhang Yang, he needs to investigate several major cases, and the case of occupying Sanyuan Restaurant is one of them."
Yan Changli was very timid and afraid of getting into trouble. He was so shocked that he waved his hands repeatedly, "Master Zou, please let me go! I am a humble person who cannot afford to offend the Zhang family!"
Zou Hong's face sank, "The prince wanted to avenge you, but you stepped back. Aren't you afraid of offending the prince?"
"Ah! I don't dare! I don't dare!"
Zou Hong tempted him again: "Think about how tragic your son's death was. Don't you want to avenge him? Let him die in peace. Also, don't you want to take the Sanyuan Restaurant back? That is your ancestral property!"
Your grandfather’s life’s work.”
Yan Changli shed tears in his eyes and said in a choked voice: "Why don't I want to avenge my son? I even dream of killing that evil thief!"
"The Zhang family has done many evil things. It's not that they won't take revenge. The time has not yet come. Now is your chance to take revenge. Mr. Yan, be brave. Your son is watching you in heaven!"
Yan Changli wiped away his tears and said, "You said just now, can I still get Sanyuan Restaurant back?"
"Of course, my mission is over. Sanyuan Restaurant is of no use to us anymore. If we kill the Zhang family, the restaurant will of course return to its original owner. You don't have to pay a penny. The money we spent to buy the restaurant will be returned to the Zhang family."
Yan Changli nodded, "Tell me what you need me to do?"
Zou Hong took a stack of white paper, picked up his pen, dipped it in ink and said: "Let's start from the beginning, the beginning and end of occupying Sanyuan Restaurant."
"It's actually not complicated. About three years ago, Zhang Yang's youngest son Zhang Tie sent someone to see me and said he wanted to buy my Sanyuan Restaurant. Of course I refused. How could I sell my ancestral business? He later sent someone to see me three times.
, each time the price was lower than the last, and the last price was a penny. I felt bad, so I begged him not to do anything in the restaurant again, and I was willing to give him a thousand dollars as compensation.
He didn't say anything. Then two days later, my son disappeared. Two days later, his men came into the store with my son's head and said that the restaurant must be handed over before dark, otherwise my two will be next.
Grandson, I will be next to wipe out the Yan family.
I was so frightened that I quickly handed over the title deed and store deed of the restaurant to his men, begging them to spare my grandson."
"Then what?" Zou Hong asked through gritted teeth.
Yan Changli wiped away his tears and said: "Then it didn't work out. Zhang Tie said that I promised to give him 30,000 guan as compensation, so I had to ask Mr. Wang."
"Wang Lianqing?"
"Yes! It was him. I begged him to help mediate. My father had some friendship with him, and he agreed. In the end, the Zhang family let me go for Wang Daguan's sake, and then I gave Zhang Tie four thousand guan as compensation.
, because Zhang Tie came to see me four times and gave him a loss of face four times and paid him a thousand guan each time."
"go on!"
"Then this matter will be over. Mr. Wang Daguan asked me, my old wife, and our two grandsons to move to Wenshui County."
"Wait a minute, you're not from Wenshui County?"
"No, I am from Yangqu County, because Wang Zhixian of Wenshui County is the son of Wang Daguan, and he is currently the magistrate of Wenshui County. If the Zhang family finds trouble again, Wang Zhixian can help me."
"Will the Zhang family cause trouble for you again?"
"Zhang Tie can't do it anymore, but all of his men are thugs and gangsters. Sanyuan Restaurant has been open for decades, and I have some savings. I'm afraid those thugs won't let me, a timid sheep, go."
Zou Hong nodded and asked again: "Who killed your son? I mean the person who actually did it."
Yan Changli gritted his teeth and said: "The man who carried my son's head to the door should be one of them. His name is Ge Wu, everyone calls him Fifth Brother. He is one of Zhang Tie's trusted killers. He has done countless evil things.
"
At this moment, a waiter came outside and said, "Proprietor, Wang Zhixian is here and wants to see you!"