Chapter 354 Roasted Pork Bun
Shen Mingjiao and the others waited for a while, and sat down at a corner of the lobby by the window. Gu Danxue ordered a table of the restaurant's signature dishes,
Soon, the dishes were served one after another. Shen Mingjiao looked at a plate the size of a washbasin placed in the center, this should be the roasted meat bun that Gu Danxue mentioned.
There is a circle of baked golden pancakes on the edge of the plate, and a few cooked minced vegetables are placed in the middle. The fried crispy meat with green vegetables can easily arouse people's appetite.
Gu Danxue picked up a pancake, brushed some sauce on it, dug out two tablespoons of minced meat, added two slices of green vegetables as decoration, and handed it to Shen Mingjiao:
"Try it, ma'am, it's delicious."
Shen Mingjiao thanked and took it, looking at the meat that owed the sauce, hesitant.
Gu Danxue smiled and said, "This meat looks fat, but it doesn't taste greasy at all."
Shen Mingjiao tentatively took a bite, her eyes lit up, and she kept saying "delicious",
It is indeed as Gu Danxue said, the oil in the fat meat has been removed, and it is served with sauce and crispy pancakes, and it feels crunchy, soft and fragrant after one bite.
After the words fell, Ming took a spoon and scooped up a large spoonful of meat and put it in his mouth.
Shen Mingjiao persuaded her: "Don't just eat meat, pancakes are also quite delicious."
Ming doesn’t care, for carnivores, no matter how delicious the cake is, it can’t be turned into meat.
A group of several people ate their mouths full of greasy food. Shen Mingjiao had a small appetite, so she was full after eating two.
Gu Danxue put down her chopsticks, and sitting opposite her was Fuguang. She quickly noticed that this girl is really good at eating! Obviously, the movement of holding the chopsticks is very elegant, but at the same time, he has already eaten eight buns.
Gu Danxue admires and envies this very much. I envy how she can eat so fast and still be so elegant and beautiful?
If she has this ability, she won't have to be hungry at some large banquets.
Seeing that she was almost done eating, Shen Mingjiao stood up: "Eat first, I'll go change."
Gu Danxue said: "I will go with my wife!"
Shen Mingjiao held down her gesture of getting up: "No, it may take a while, let Fuguang accompany me there."
Gu Danxue thought she had some inconvenient personal business, so she didn't insist.
It wasn't until the two left that Ming realized that changing clothes meant going to the toilet. She looked at Gu Danxue and sighed: "You noble girls are so reserved!"
After finishing speaking, she continued to hold the meat with her chopsticks, but suddenly felt a probing gaze from behind her. She put down her chopsticks and turned her head warily. I saw a middle-aged woman in plain clothes sitting at the table behind her, followed by a young woman in thin clothes.
Seeing her looking at her unkindly, the two of them recoiled in fright, and the young girl's face was so pale that she was about to cry.
If it is an ordinary person, maybe you will feel that you are overthinking. Ke Ming has been licking blood all year round, and has always been keen on the eyes of others. With that scrutiny just now, it is impossible for the other party to be just ordinary people.
Ming squinted his eyes, thinking in his heart, could it be the enemy she made unintentionally in the past!
But she felt that something was wrong, and suddenly recalled the phrase "a noble lady" she said just now.
…
Shen Mingjiao came out of the lobby, and did not go to Gong's room, but came to the private room on the second floor from a hidden staircase in the backyard.
Xu Junwei's term of office expires and he will be transferred elsewhere soon. So today I invited officials of all sizes from Xianyang County to the inn for a talk. Xu Junwei has been in office for three years, and he is usually very popular, so for today's treat, almost all the famous officials from Xianyang County came.
Shen Mingjiao heard the news, and she planned to take this opportunity to interrogate these officials in Xianyang County.
She chose the No. 1 Tianzi room on the innermost side, pushed the door and walked in. Fu Guang didn't ask anything, just silently followed behind her.
The officials who were drinking in the box heard the door opening and thought it was the waiter serving the food. After seeing Shen Mingjiao's attire clearly, a middle-aged man with a rigid face in the center frowned and said:
"Go out, there is no need for a singer here?" Obviously he took Shen Mingjiao as a busker in a restaurant.
Shen Mingjiao didn't explain either. Standing in front of the window, he snapped his fingers at everyone, causing everyone at the table to look at him.
Facing her beautiful eyes with heavy makeup, everyone's eyes became dull, only the old-fashioned man in the middle struggled for a moment.
Shen Mingjiao withdrew her gaze, and at the same time, Fu Guang had silently locked the door.
Shen Mingjiao began to ask one by one:
"Do you know that the governor of Xianyang is the prince's man..."
"Who is the master behind you..."
"What's in Qishan..."
Ask multiple questions in a row, but get nothing. Shen Mingjiao rubbed her forehead, she couldn't help feeling a little discouraged, that is to say, there was no one from the prince here.
Fu Guang said quietly: "Sister Gillian can ask in another direction."
Shen Mingjiao thought for a while and asked Hu Juncheng, who was the highest official:
"What do you think of Xianyang County Sheriff? What inhumane secrets does he have?"
Hu Juncheng replied with a dull expression: "Performance is not bad, but in private, he looks good, and his private life is chaotic..."
Shen Mingjiao asked several people in succession, and got similar answers. It can be seen that on the surface, Xianyang County Sheriff is indeed a good official. As for the private affairs, as long as he does not rob civilian women, it is not a big deal for men.
She didn't give up, and continued to ask with a headache. The other party was a chief recorder and a seventh-rank official. He said:
"That's a hypocrite. He usually pretends to be upright, but secretly accepts bribes and steals a lot of money..."
"The owner of Fushun Restaurant, the shopkeeper of Yangji Rice Shop, the shopkeeper of Qizhen Pavilion..."
He was talking about the most profitable commercial firms in Xianyang City,
"How did you know?"
"I heard from the accountant of Shunfu Restaurant who was drunk and said that he saw their owner packed a box of silver bills and sent them to the Sheriff's Mansion. He is a hypocrite..."
This lord obviously has a deep grudge against the Xianyang prefect. Even if he is unconscious, he can't stop the resentment in his words.
Shen Mingjiao twitched the corner of her mouth, "Is there anything else, besides this, is there anything else?"
It is said that when the water is clear, there will be no fish, and there are not many officials in the Great Xia Kingdom who are truly clean-sleeved. As long as you don't talk about the common people, and accept some filial piety from merchants and gentry in private, as long as it's not too much, the court will turn a blind eye.
Thinking of this, she was taken aback. Now that money is mentioned, how did the prince get the money to raise private soldiers secretly?
This is not a small amount of money. From ancient times to the present, wars and soldiers are the most costly.
You know, the battle between Daxia and Beidi seven years ago almost emptied the national treasury, and it took nearly two years to recover.
As the crown prince, it is impossible for the prince to openly accept bribes. For a moment, she thought of the owner of Jinxiufang, Ye Chen, the son of the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River, the person who rescued Su Qing,
Thinking about it now, the master behind Ye Chen should be the crown prince, that's why he saved Su Qing.
Is there a possibility that the merchants who sent the money to the Xianyang County Sheriff are actually the prince's people, and the money donated is not a bribe, but the Xianyang County Sheriff used it to help raise private soldiers.
Scholars, farmers, businessmen, merchants have a very low status nowadays. It would be too easy for the prince to use some humble merchants for his own use.
She secretly made a note, and planned to go back and ask people to check which merchants usually get close to the Xianyang County Sheriff.
At this time, the chief secretary Ji Shi continued: "The governor of Xianyang is still in collusion with bandits."
Shen Mingjiao raised her head in surprise: "Tell me specifically?"
"It was said by Xiaohong, the maid beside Xinniang. Xinniang was originally my fiancée, but he was deceived by some sweet words. If you don't take revenge, you are not a gentleman!
Xiaohong said that she saw a man with a particularly fierce scar face sneaking away from his study room, and according to Xiaohong's description, that man was exactly the same as the person in a wanted portrait of a bandit that was backlogged by the government..."
Shen Mingjiao: "..." Your feelings are all based on imagination, and you don't see what people look like, but this can be regarded as an investigation direction.
…
More than a quarter of an hour later, Shen Mingjiao returned to the lobby. Seeing that her face was pale, Gu Danxue couldn't help but asked worriedly: "Ma'am, what's wrong?"
Shen Mingjiao said casually: "It's okay, my stomach feels a little uncomfortable."
Gu Danxue thought it was menstruation, so she immediately ordered a soup that nourishes qi and blood.
Shen Mingjiao knew she had misunderstood, but she couldn't explain it, but she was using her brain too much, and eating some soup roots that nourished qi and blood seemed to be just right.
Bid farewell to Gu Danxue, and the group returned to Xianyang County Governor's Mansion,
When the carriage was approaching the door, I saw two women, one old and one young, standing at the door of the mansion from a distance. When I got closer, I saw that the two were dressed plainly, but they didn't look like ordinary people.
Ming saw the two of them, raised his eyebrows, and told Shen Mingjiao who was in the inn just now, eager to try: "Do you want me to help catch the two?"
Shen Mingjiao waved his hand: "Don't use it first, let's see it."
Those two people obviously saw them too, the woman turned her head and glanced at Shen Mingjiao, seeing her attire, the inquiry in her eyes faded slightly, and she lowered her eyes gently in an instant.
Not long after, the housekeeper was invited over. He glanced at the woman and said in a low voice, "I don't know why this lady is looking for this old man?"
The woman glanced at Shen Mingjiao and the group, and said in a low voice: "Can I borrow one to talk."
The housekeeper frowned: "I've never met you, ma'am, if you have anything to say, just say it!"
The woman was not annoyed when she saw him like this, and said flatly: "Young lady is not talented, she just happens to be proficient in a thing or two about adults' diseases."
The housekeeper suddenly raised his head, "Ma'am, you should think about it. My lord has been in a bad mood recently. If Madam is not sure, go back as soon as possible!"
Nowadays, adults' illness is an open secret. The butler only thought that the two of them were here to try their luck for some money.
The woman was unmoved, and still looked at him calmly: "Please ask the housekeeper to lead the way."
Seeing this, the butler didn't persuade him any more, and summoned a servant to take the two of them to the adult's study.
After all, the lord has ordered before that anyone who comes to look for him, no matter who they are, must take them to the study.
The butler automatically understood that he was trying his luck to find a good doctor. Just as he passed by, the girl following behind turned her head.
When the housekeeper saw the girl's face, he took a step back in shock, and immediately regained his composure, only looking at the two with meaningful eyes.
Yun Shu looked at Shen Mingjiao, as if she was asking, does Madam not care?
Shen Mingjiao didn't say a word, this was something they expected before, but they didn't expect that it was such two people who came to see the Xianyang County Sheriff first.
Wait until the two walked away, Shen Mingjiao walked up to the butler, took out a piece of silver from her purse and handed it over:
"Butler, when you saw that girl just now, your expression was obviously wrong. Is there something wrong with that girl?"
Seeing her mentioning the resentment in the girl's tone, the butler immediately understood that she was afraid of being spoiled by the girl, squeezed the money in his hand, and immediately said with a smile:
"Young lady, don't worry, that girl's appearance is six or seven percent similar to the late wife of the family."
Shen Mingjiao waved the butler away, and led the man to the study at a fast pace.
(end of this chapter)