As the saying goes, you have to get up where you fell. After Li Qi left Feiyan Village with Zhang Chuang and Xiao Man, he rushed back to Jincheng as soon as possible.
Since the last incident, Jincheng has returned to its usual appearance. In addition, the weather has gradually warmed up, and there is an endless stream of businessmen coming and going.
Jincheng is the most important transportation hub in the west of Daxia, and there are many merchants coming and going every year. This is why there are so many brothels in Jincheng.
Li Qi brought a bamboo hat with him, and after entering the city, he went directly to Cuihong Tower.
The Cuihong Building was deserted, and a sleepy turtle slave stood at the door.
After Li Qi and the others entered, the turtle slave didn't even notice, and still leaned against the door beam and dozed off.
I am convinced that I can fall asleep even while standing.
After entering, Li Qi scanned around and found that everything smelled familiar, but why was there not even half a human figure?
"We're here!" Li Qi shouted at the top of his lungs.
After a while, Mother Liu's head popped up from the second floor: "What are you shouting for? It's sunny..."
When she saw it was Li Qi, her pupils shrank: "My boss?!"
"Mother Liu!"
Mother Liu hurriedly ran downstairs. She was so excited that she burst into tears as soon as she arrived in front of Li Qi: "My boss, you are finally back..."
"Why are there no guests?" Li Qi asked.
Liu's mother sighed and explained that after they were arrested by the court, Cuihonglou closed its doors, and many girls were later released and changed jobs.
It just opened in the past few days, so business is very bleak.
Li Qi had thought before that if the people from the imperial court captured Huang Yunrou and could not find the child, they would definitely evacuate Jincheng, and the people in Cuihong Mansion would also be released by then, but he did not expect that Cuihong Mansion would become like this.
"Just change jobs." Li Qi said, turning to look at Zhang Chuang and Xiao Man, "You guys go back to the backyard to rest first, and I'll have a chat with Mother Liu."
After finding a private room, Li Qi sat on the grand master's chair, and Mother Liu made him a pot of tea.
"The girls have all quit, have you collected the ransom?" Li Qi asked.
Mother Liu nodded and said, "I got it all."
As she said that, she quickly took out a ledger and handed it to Li Qi. Just as he was looking at the ledger, Liu's mother brought over a small wooden box from nowhere.
After opening the wooden box with the key, there were all banknotes inside.
Obviously these are the girls' ransom.
Li Qi closed the account book and asked, "How much money is there?"
"When I go back to my employer, I have more than two thousand taels."
"Will Cuihonglou have to pay taxes next month?"
"Well, people from the Yamen have already come to urge you."
Li Qi nodded and took out a thousand taels from the box: "Take these, the five hundred taels are for you, and you can give the rest to those who are still here with us."
Mother Liu was stunned: "My boss..."
"I know you have suffered during this period. I will never treat anyone badly when working under me. Now that I'm back, I will figure out the rest." Li Qi said.
Mother Liu's eyes turned red, and she looked like she wanted to kneel down and kowtow to Li Qi.
Five hundred taels is not a small amount. Mother Liu has never made so much money after working in Cuihonglou for so many years. The boss just gave it to her, and kowtowing was nothing.
It's not that Li Qi thinks he has too much money, but he is not very short of money now. After all, Lu Jinshuang gave him one hundred taels of gold tickets before, and he has not touched the money yet.
According to Daxia's gold and silver exchange ratio, these one hundred taels of gold can be exchanged for about three thousand taels.
This money should be enough to bring Cuihonglou back to life.
After resting in Cuihonglou for two days, Li Qi went to find Jincheng squad leader Fu Pingwen.
The main reason why Li Qi didn't go to the prefect directly was because he knew that his hands were tight now, and if he went there empty-handed, it might be self-defeating.
As the saying goes, if the people below have taken care of themselves, won’t it be easy to meet the King of Hell?
When I met Fu Pingwen, I was not at Cuihong Building, but at a tavern.
This tavern was also the place where Li Qi and Fu Pingwen had a drink last time. When they visited their old place again, the two of them could say that everything was in perfect harmony.
"Brother Fu!" Li Qi said politely, cupping his fists.
"Brother Li Xian!"
The two sat down, and Fu Pingwen wisely did not ask where Li Qi had been during this time.
After all, Li Qi was wanted by a bad person before. Although there was a warrant, only the person involved knew some of the details.
Fu Pingwen thought that there must be something going on between Li Qi, the prefect, and the bad guys. He didn't want to ask or know.
"I went out of town during this period, and I really missed Brother Fu. No, I came to see you as soon as I came back." Li Qi poured a glass of wine for Fu Pingwen.
"What are you talking about, dear brother? During your absence, you have wanted to harm me, big brother."
Fu Pingwen raised his glass as he spoke: "This is a glass for my dear brother!"
Nowadays, Li Qi's drinking capacity has been greatly improved in Feiyan Village. Now, it is no exaggeration to say that he can only hold up but not get drunk.
"Brother, I came to you today for two things."
"Oh?" Fu Pingwen rolled his eyes and said, "I wonder if I can help you with anything, dear brother?"
"The first thing I want to do is to visit you, brother." Li Qi smiled and took out a one-hundred-tael silver note and handed it over.
Fu Pingwen was also stunned when he saw so much silver.
How much money does he make for his first year of work? Only twenty or thirty taels.
Li Qi gave him one hundred taels as soon as he made a move, and he immediately hesitated.
He didn't know what Li Qi wanted him to do to make him willing to spend so much money.
Seeing that Fu Pingwen was indifferent, Li Qi directly stuffed the banknote over: "The second thing is about the tax payment at Cuihong Mansion..."
Before he could finish his words, Fu Pingwen hurriedly handed the banknote back: "Brother, what's the relationship between us? Do you still need to spend money? It's just that as a brother, I don't know anything about paying taxes. Every year
The imperial court will send special personnel to collect taxes, if..."
"Brother, that's not what I meant. What I meant was that I want to pay the tax on Cuihong Building in advance."
"Pay taxes in advance?"
"yes."
Li Qi smiled and said: "I don't know if this talisman conforms to the rules..."
"It's a good thing to pay taxes in advance. How could it be against the rules?" Fu Pingwen glanced at the one hundred taels of silver notes in Li Qi's hand.
Li Qi didn't hesitate and stuffed the banknote over directly: "Then this matter will bother you. After paying the tax, I would like to invite you and the brothers below you to come to Cuihong Mansion for a drink. All expenses will be paid to me.
."
Fu Pingwen couldn't figure out what kind of medicine Li Qi was selling in his gourd, but at least this guy didn't let him do anything embarrassing so far, and his liking for him instantly doubled.
"It's easy to talk, it's easy to talk! My dear brother is so generous, I am ashamed to be an elder brother..."
With that said, Fu Pingwen stuffed the banknote into his arms without anyone noticing, and picked up a glass of wine: "I'll drink this glass of wine first as a token of respect!"