The people around were startled by them and quickly hid.
The boss came over with several waiters. He thought they were causing trouble. "You should go and find out first. How dare you try to blackmail me on my territory!"
"Who's blackmailing you?" Xue Miao'er looked at Ghost Lord in pain. This Ghost Lord usually showed no emotions at all. For him to be in such agony, he must have been poisoned. "He's in this state. He must be poisoned!"
"Well, you ate the food too. Why are you okay?" The boss stared at Xue Miao'er.
"I..." Xue Miao'er felt a bit lacking in confidence. It seemed that she was really fine.
Over there, Ghost Lord spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.
"I think you're just trying to blackmail me!" The boss didn't even look at Ghost Lord. "Arrest them and send them to the government!"
"Do you dare to say that there's nothing added to your food?" Yi Qing drew out a silver needle and looked at the boss.
"Why wouldn't I dare say so? If I added anything to the food, I'll close down my restaurant!" The boss declared confidently.
"Humph! You added a small amount of Ruyi grass to your food, which makes people like it more and more." Yi Qing said directly.
The people around looked at each other in surprise.
In Southern Border, the control of Ruyi grass was very strict. However, Southern Border was very suitable for growing Ruyi grass, and there was also wild Ruyi grass, so it was difficult to control.
"You're talking nonsense!" The boss got anxious.
The amount he used was very small. He just used it as a seasoning to improve the taste and it wouldn't affect people's health.
"You know very well in your heart whether I'm talking nonsense or not. It's not difficult to test it out."
The boss started to get scared. The good business of his restaurant relied on Ruyi grass. If people found out, his restaurant would definitely go out of business.
A hint of cruelty flashed in his eyes. "You're not from Southern Border, are you? You people from the Great Jin always come to snatch our Southern Borderers' business. You're framing me! Drive them out!"
The waiters around started to move, but the guards on their side quickly knocked them down.
The customers in the restaurant immediately fled when they saw the fight.
The boss turned around and tried to run, but was stopped by Hetai.
"Tell me, where did you get the Ruyi grass?" Yi Qing looked at the boss.
"I..." The boss's eyes flickered.
Hetai gently moved the sword in his hand and scratched the boss's skin.
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you. It's from the Red Smoke Pavilion. I only bought a little Ruyi grass. I heard that they can make Ruyi cakes." The boss said in a hurry.
"The Red Smoke Pavilion?" Yi Qing thought the name sounded a bit strange.
However, not everyone could buy Ruyi grass from the Red Smoke Pavilion. Only regular customers would be recommended to buy it.
Yi Qing settled Ghost Lord down.
"What's wrong with him exactly?" Xiao Jinghan didn't want Ghost Lord to die at this time.
"The Gu poison in his body was nourished by Ruyi grass. There was Ruyi grass in today's food, which made the Gu poison that I had suppressed become restless again. That's why he's like this."
"In that case, this Gu poison isn't completely useless. At least it makes people dare not touch Ruyi grass."
"No." Yi Qing thought Xiao Jinghan was too naive. "This Gu poison is used to kill people directly. It's just been suppressed."
"So what should we do now?"
"Let's go to the Red Smoke Pavilion first."
The Red Smoke Pavilion was a well - known money - burning den in Qingyao. It was opened by the city lord of Qingyao. The powerful and wealthy in Qingyao liked to go there, and businessmen also liked to go there to curry favor with the powerful.
As soon as Xiao Jinghan arrived at the entrance of the Red Smoke Pavilion, a group of women flocked towards him. With just a look from him, those women obediently stood still and didn't dare to make any more trouble.
Yi Qing felt a bit jealous seeing how popular Xiao Jinghan was. "I'm not bad - looking either." She looked at her men's clothing.
Xiao Jinghan smiled and led her inside.
It was even more lively inside. Some people were drunk and staggering, and some deliberately bumped into others.
According to the restaurant boss's confession, they were looking for a girl named Ruyi. It was Ruyi who sold the Ruyi grass to him.
"It's strange. Why are all the women here from the Great Jin?" Yi Qing felt strange as she walked in.
"What's so strange about that? There are many merchants from the Great Jin here. When they miss home, they naturally think of women from the Great Jin."
"You seem to know a lot about it." Yi Qing looked at Xiao Jinghan sarcastically.
Xiao Jinghan nudged Yi Qing. "The court exiles the families of convicted officials to the border every year."
Yi Qing knew about this too. She had stayed at the border.
"Are you two here for the first time? What kind of girls do you want?" The madam greeted them.
"Call all the girls here. We'll pick." Xiao Jinghan motioned to Hetai.
Hetai directly gave the madam a gold ingot.
"Sure thing!" The madam immediately got excited.
The two of them went into a spacious room. Yi Qing gently sniffed.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Jinghan knew she was a bit uncomfortable just by seeing her action.
"Ruyi cakes have been lit here." Yi Qing whispered.
Xiao Jinghan asked Hetai to open all the windows.
Not long after, the madam led a group of girls in. Most of them were from the Great Jin, and there were a few from Southern Border. Seeing Xiao Jinghan and Yi Qing's outstanding looks, their smiles became even sweeter.
"Report your names." Xiao Jinghan leaned against the table, closer to Yi Qing.
"My name is Yingying."
"My name is Tingting."
...
After they all reported their names, there was no Ruyi. Xiao Jinghan wondered if the restaurant boss had lied to them or if the boss had come to report to them in advance.
"What kind of names are these?" Yi Qing looked impatient. "There aren't any auspicious names. We businessmen like to have good omens." Yi Qing said boldly.
Xiao Jinghan looked at her proficient appearance and thought that she must have done such things a lot before.
"Hey, as long as you're happy, you can call them whatever you want." The madam quickly apologized with a smile.
"Are you kidding me? If there aren't good names, I won't be happy." Yi Qing pretended to be angry.
The madam rolled her eyes. "Speaking of auspicious names, we have a girl named Ruyi here. But she already has a customer today."
Xiao Jinghan put a gold ingot on the table.
"This isn't about the money. It's..." The madam looked embarrassed.
Xiao Jinghan put another gold ingot.
"Ruyi really can't get away."
Xiao Jinghan continued to put them.
"Sir, please don't make things difficult for me." The madam became even more embarrassed.
Yi Qing directly took one away.
This prodigal son, Xiao Jinghan. Did the money fall from the sky? How dare he spend it like this.
"Hey..." The madam got anxious when she saw Yi Qing take one away. "Sir, don't be in a hurry. I'll think of a way for you."
Yi Qing knew what was going on just by looking at the madam's expression and reached out to take another one.
The madam immediately pressed the gold ingots on the table. "I'll go and call Ruyi right away."
"That's more like it. No one does business and goes against money." Yi Qing tossed the gold ingot in her hand.
The madam's heart ached when she saw the gold ingot in Yi Qing's hand. She felt that she had lost a gold ingot today. "Well... the price of Miss Ruyi is a bit high."