On the way back from the Jingzhao Prefecture Office, Wu Yao was extremely angry!
Who the hell was that prefect of Jingzhao, Cui Yanzhi?
How dare he detain their young master!
What was even more outrageous was that the guards of the Jingzhao Prefecture Office refused to let them in. They weren't even allowed to see the young master!
They also said that their young master had beaten someone in the bustling market, which was considered provoking trouble. According to the laws of the Great Sheng Dynasty, he would be sentenced to twenty strokes of the cane and one year of exile!
The two guards looked extremely disdainful. The way they looked at them was as if they were looking at some stray cats and dogs, only snorting through their noses.
Finally, it was Li Wanming who said that she was the daughter of the General of the Pacifying the North. Only then did their expressions soften a bit, and they revealed a little information, saying that this matter was not easy to handle, and that they had offended someone they shouldn't have.
Li Wanming thought for a long time but still couldn't figure out who Xiao Jingnan could have offended just by going to buy glutinous rice.
She wanted to ask more, but the guard got impatient and kept shooing them away, saying that the Jingzhao Prefecture Office was not a vegetable market, and not just anyone could come.
Li Wanming had no choice but to smile apologetically and slip them two strings of cash, asking them to take care of Xiao Jingnan and not let him suffer in prison.
On the way back, Wu Yao was filled with indignation. Grinding his teeth, he whispered, "They really judge people by their appearance!"
"Those bastards in the Jingzhao Prefecture Office clearly made things difficult for us because of our low status now! Humph, when I lead an army in the future, I'll raze their yamen to the ground and see if they can still swagger around!"
Lu Ping hissed and reminded him to keep his voice down. Then he pointed at Li Wanming in front of them, indicating not to let her hear.
Unlike Wu Yao's anger, Lu Ping seemed a bit worried.
Just now at the entrance of the Jingzhao Prefecture Office, Li Wanming had revealed her identity, but the attitude of the guards at the door hadn't changed much.
This could only mean that they knew the person they had detained was the son - in - law of the General of the Pacifying the North, and they had even guessed that Li Wanming would come...
Although Li Rusong's official rank wasn't high, he was a rising star promoted just two years ago.
The prefect of Jingzhao, Cui Yanzhi, would rather offend him than release Xiao Jingnan. There must be a reason behind this.
Xiao Jingnan's current public identity was a poor scholar from Langya, a husband captured by Li Wanming under the imperial edict, a son of a peasant... What could make the forces behind this take action?
Unless they had discovered the young master's true identity and wanted to kill him!
Thinking of the complicated situation in the Prince Ning's Mansion and the increasingly intense power struggle between the emperor and the empress dowager, Lu Ping couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.
Although the Prince Ning's Mansion claimed to be neutral and seemed to be courted by both the emperor and the empress dowager, the political struggles in the court were so unpredictable that no one knew what would happen next, especially with that crazy woman, the princess.
After returning to Pingkangfang, Lu Ping immediately said to Wu Yao, "You stay here with cousin - in - law and see what Miss Liu has found out. I'll be back soon!"
After saying that, he rushed towards Qinghui Hall in a hurry.
In Luoxuexuan, Liu Yiyi was already waiting in the yard.
Seeing Li Wanming come in, she immediately stepped forward and said anxiously, "I asked my father to inquire. He said that it was Wei Chengbiao, the deputy head of the Thirteen - Guilds, who was causing trouble for you!"
"Wei Chengbiao is the biggest wine merchant in the capital. Most of the restaurants and inns in the capital buy their wine from him!"
"I guess he saw that your business has been doing well recently and you didn't pay your respects to him, so he took the opportunity to create trouble and pick on you!"
Liu Yiyi spoke very quickly, her words coming out in a rush. Even fine beads of sweat had oozed out on her forehead, showing how anxious she was.
As she spoke, she stamped her feet in懊恼 and said, "It's all my fault! I should have reminded you earlier that there are guilds for various industries in the capital."
"But I thought your wine shop was just a small one, and since Wanming is the daughter of a general, there should be no problem. Who would have thought..."
Liu's father had been doing business in the capital for many years and was familiar with all the ins and outs of these industries.
However, the Liu family's business wasn't large, and they only had a membership in the cloth guild. They were no match for the big shots like the heads and deputy heads of the Thirteen - Guilds.
Regarding Li Wanming's matter this time, he had to ask an old acquaintance in the guild to find out a bit of the situation.
Wu Yao asked, "What do you mean by 'paying respects to the head'?"
Liu Yiyi said, "For a newly opened business, they have to go to the guild of the industry first to pay their respects to the head. Only after getting permission can they start their business. To put it simply, it's about paying money for peace."
"So, without their permission, ordinary people can't do business?" Wu Yao gasped in surprise.
"Not only can't they do business?"
Liu Yiyi said, "Prices, locations, and purchase channels... all these things have to be approved by them."
"However, they usually only care about those big shops and never bother with small businesses. I don't know what's going on this time. They actually started to make things difficult for Wanming's small wine shop."
As she spoke, she became even more self - reproachful. "If I had known this, I really should have reminded you earlier to pay your respects to Wei Chengbiao!"
Wu Yao got angry. "Why should we pay our respects to him! He's just a deputy head of a guild. Not only is he domineering, but we also have to pay our respects to him? Is there any law in this world?"
Li Wanming suddenly asked, "Does this Deputy Head Wei know that we are going to supply wine for Princess Chengping's flower - viewing banquet?"
"Yes."
Liu Yiyi nodded. "I heard from my father that originally, the wine for the Princess Chengping's Mansion was supplied by his Zuihuazhuang. When you replaced them for the flower - viewing banquet, he must have gotten the news a long time ago!"
Li Wanming frowned and said slowly, "There's something wrong with this matter."
"He clearly knows that we are supplying wine for the princess, but he still takes the risk of offending the princess to cause trouble for us... Even if he's not afraid of offending my father, is he not afraid of offending the princess either?"
"Moreover, according to Chuntao, just after Li Qinggang finished fighting with them, the officers and soldiers of the Jingzhao Prefecture Office rushed in."
"But Changyi Fang is in the outer city. It's at least an hour's journey from the Jingzhao Prefecture Office. Even if someone saw it and reported it to the authorities immediately, they couldn't have arrived so quickly!"
"Unless..." Her expression became even more solemn. "The Jingzhao Prefecture Office had already decided to send troops!"
Hearing her say this, Liu Yiyi's expression also changed. "Do you mean that someone colluded with the Jingzhao Prefecture Office to deliberately target you?"
Chuntao was so scared that her voice trembled. "M - Miss... W - Who would go to such great lengths as to mobilize an official as high - ranking as the prefect of the Jingzhao Prefecture Office to target us?"
Li Wanming couldn't figure it out either.
The Li family's wine shop was just a small one, with three shabby tile - roofed houses and a narrow yard. It was so insignificant. Who could they have offended?
Liu Yiyi grabbed her arm and said anxiously, "Wanming, now Uncle Li and Aunt Li are in the military camp on the outskirts of the capital and can't come back. Do you think... Should we ask Princess Chengping for help?"
Li Wanming sighed deeply. "Even if my parents weren't in the military camp, they couldn't help either."
The other side clearly already knew that she was the daughter of Li Rusong, but they still didn't let them off.
As for Princess Chengping...
"What should we say to the princess? That my father - in - law might have been the gatekeeper of her sister - in - law's family, or that we are the wine suppliers for her flower - viewing banquet?"
This relationship seemed so distant...
"Moreover, since Wei Chengbiao has been supplying wine to the princess's mansion, he must have known our relationship with the princess a long time ago."
Li Wanming said with a bitter smile. "Maybe he knows too well that we actually have nothing to do with the princess, so he's so arrogant..."
"Why is there no connection?"
The Prince of Ning walked in from outside the door, smiling. "Maybe I really was a gatekeeper for the family of the Princess of Ning!"