Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 535 Take action
Zhu Qiuqi smiled without commenting. He picked up the chopsticks, picked up a dish and put it in his mouth to chew. After taking two bites, he raised his eyebrows and pointed at the dish he had just eaten with his chopsticks and said, "This bear paw is well cooked and braised very well."

"This is made by the Shandong cuisine chef in my house. It's fine as long as you like it. If you think it's good, I will arrange another one tomorrow?" Fan Sanbo said with a smile.

"There is no need to make further arrangements. Bear paws are good, but you can't eat too much. You have to be careful about your appetite. The so-called greed for more but not for less is the way to keep healthy."

"Your Excellency is right." Fan Sanbo agreed. He was just thinking about the meaning of Zhu Qiuqi's words. Before he could figure it out, he heard Zhu Qiuqi continue: "If my guess is correct, this bear paw comes from Liaodong, right?"

"Your Excellency's guess..." Fan Sanbo was about to say that Zhu Qiuqi's guess was right, this bear paw came from Liaodong. Liaodong is a cold and harsh region, and it is for this reason that the bear paws from Liaodong are different from those from other places. The meat is thick and delicious, and the price is high, and it is called the best.

But just halfway through, Fan Sanbo swallowed the rest of his words, looking a little embarrassed, not knowing how to explain. After all, Liaodong is now in the hands of Jiannu, and Liaodong bear paws cannot be obtained without Jiannu's channels. The Fan family is just a merchant family, so how could Liaodong bear paws appear in the family banquet?
"Hahaha!" Seeing Fan Sanbo stunned and not knowing how to answer for a moment, Zhu Qiuqi burst into laughter. He pointed at the bear paw dish with chopsticks and said meaningfully, "I've heard for a long time that the Fan family is good at business. Not only do they have many businesses in Ming Dynasty, they also often go to the grasslands in the north to trade. I originally thought it was just a lie, but I didn't expect that they can get not only the grasslands, but also the rare things in Liaodong. The Fan family is indeed a wealthy merchant family. It really lives up to its reputation."

Fan Sanbo's forehead was covered with sweat, and he cursed himself for being careless. If he had known this would happen, he should not have prepared this dish. Why did he have to use this dish to entertain the distinguished guest? Now, the other party could tell at a glance that the bear paw came from Liaodong. How could he explain this?

Fan Sanbo's brain raced, and he laughed and said, "Your Excellency's words make me feel very terrified. The Fan family did have business with Mongolia in the early years, but that was because the court allowed normal trade between the two sides. Now my father's business in Zhangjiakou also has Mongolians coming to trade, and this is also permitted by the court."

"As for the bear paws, they were actually collected from the Mongols. You should know that the Mongols do not like to eat these, but it is different in our Ming Dynasty. It is natural that the Mongols who often come to our Ming Dynasty for trade send some to us after knowing about it. As for where the Mongols got them from, I don't know. Maybe the Mongols exchanged them from Liaodong. What do you think, sir?"

"Hahaha, that's quite true." Zhu Qiuqi didn't expect Fan Sanbo's brain to work quickly, and he made up a plausible excuse in a moment. But Zhu Qiuqi didn't want to let him go, and asked back as soon as he finished laughing: "But I heard that your Fan family has had many dealings with the Jian Nu privately, and even traded with the Jian Nu privately with the criminal official Yuan Chonghuan's brother Yuan Chongyu, and made a lot of money?"

"Not long ago, the court punished the criminal Yuan Chonghuan. One of his crimes was stealing rice from the market. Don't you know that? I also heard that not long after Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned, his brother Yuan Chongyu in Liaodong disappeared. The Fan family has cooperated with Yuan Chongyu for many years. I wonder where Yuan Chongyu is now?"

"This... this..." Fan Sanbo broke out in a cold sweat. He didn't expect that the other party would reveal the true identity of the Fan family in just one sentence. The other party was right. The Fan family not only smuggled, but also assisted the enemy. In particular, they established a good trade cooperation with the Jian Nu in the cooperation with Yuan Chongyu, and secretly transported a large amount of materials from the Ming Dynasty to Liaodong.

The Fan family made a lot of money by relying on this trade route. After Yuan Chonghuan got into trouble, Yuan Chongyu ran away again. The Fan family took over Yuan Chongyu's channel and became the largest smuggler to Liaodong.

These are the secrets of the Fan family, secrets that only a few core members of the Fan family know. But how did Zhu Qiuqi know about it? Could it be that everyone in the world already knows the secrets of the Fan family? This is impossible!

Facing Zhu Qiuqi's rebuke, Fan Sanbo naturally did not dare to admit it. He immediately shook his head like a rattle and denied it flatly, saying that the Fan family was just an ordinary merchant family and had always abided by the law. Not to mention that it was impossible for them to trade privately with the Jiannu, even their business with the Mongols was done in accordance with the rules.

As for Yuan Chonghuan and Yuan Chongyu, they cannot be acknowledged. Who in the world does not know Yuan Chonghuan's crimes? If it were not for Yuan Chonghuan's killing of Mao Wenlong, selling grain to the enemy, and even "inviting the enemy to invade", how could the Ming Dynasty have the Ji Si Incident?

After the Ji Si Incident, the capital area of ​​the Ming Dynasty was reduced to a scorched earth. Even those areas in northern Zhili that were not affected by the war suffered heavy losses. As for the common people, countless of them died in the war, and hundreds of thousands were abducted by the Jiannu.

Faced with such a tragedy, the common people hated Yuan Chonghuan to the core. Otherwise, when Yuan Chonghuan was being tortured to death, countless people would have willingly paid money to buy a piece of Yuan Chonghuan's meat to eat to vent their anger. If the news of the Fan family's collusion with Yuan Chonghuan spread, even if the court did not investigate, the Fan family's reputation in the Ming Dynasty would be completely ruined, and it would be even more impossible for anyone to cooperate with the Fan family in business.

Seeing that Fan Sanbo denied it flatly, Zhu Qiuqi was too lazy to argue with him. He said these words just to scare Fan Sanbo and delay time.

Seeing the sky gradually darken, it was past the hour of Xu. Nowadays, ordinary people basically work from sunrise to sunset. The hour of Xu is between 7pm and 9pm. During this time, the sky is completely dark. In order to save candles or lamp oil, people basically prepare to rest. Only wealthy families like the Fan family will still light the lights. Even so, not all of the Fan family courtyards are lit. Except for the several courtyards of the main branch of the Fan family, the rest of the courtyards are lit with faint candlelight. In the room where they were drinking, Fan Sanbo had already asked people to light candles and oil lamps, which was not affected at all.

It was about time, and Zhu Qiuqi knew what was going on. He inadvertently glanced at Liu Bo who was standing beside him, and Liu Bo nodded in understanding.

"It's getting late, and I have to travel tomorrow. Today I would like to thank the Third Young Master for his hospitality. I will keep in mind the promise you made just now. Please write a letter and ask your father to give me a reply as soon as possible." Zhu Qiuqi put down the chopsticks in his hand, smiled faintly and said this.

Fan Sanbo was delighted. He thought that since the other party had said so, the matter just now was over. The other party's real intention was to hit his Fan family, just to get more money. If that was the case, it would be easy to say. I think his father Fan Yongdou would not refuse. Besides, it would also be good for the Fan family to make friends with Zhu Qiuqi. If the provincial governor was brought into the Fan family camp, it would be worth it even if it cost more. After all, it would be good for the Fan family's future business.

Fan Sanbo immediately patted his chest and assured Zhu Qiuqi that he would do it as soon as possible. As for the promised 3,000 taels of silver and 200 dan of grain, he would arrange it immediately, and when Zhu Qiuqi set off tomorrow, he would present the silver with both hands. As for the grain, since it was inconvenient to carry it, he asked Zhu Qiuqi to tell him the address, and he would send someone to deliver it directly.

Zhu Qiuqi was very happy to hear this and nodded his approval. For the first time, he even raised the wine cup in his hand and said he wanted to toast Fan San with a glass to express his gratitude.

This attitude made Fan Sanbo even happier. He thought that the other party's softening attitude was a good thing, and he could even take the initiative to toast. It seemed that future cooperation could be expected!
He stood up with a smile to show respect, raised his hand and drank the wine in his glass. Zhu Qiuqi also raised the wine cup to his lips and was about to drink, but he didn't know whether he was drunk or his hand slipped, he didn't hold the wine cup, and it fell to the ground with a plop.

"Ouch..." Zhu Qiuqi was subconsciously startled. Fan Sanbo was afraid that the wine would spill on Zhu Qiuqi and stain his clothes, so he hurriedly lowered his head to look. But before he could see clearly, there was suddenly another person beside him, and then a hard thing was pressed against his waist.

"Don't move! Don't shout! Be careful for your life!" Liu Bo's cold voice came to his ears. Fan Sanbo's body trembled slightly. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Liu Bo was holding a dagger in his hand. The dagger flashing with cold light was directly against his waist. He felt a slight pain through his robe.

"This... why is this? Don't joke..." Fan San forced a smile and said.

"Who is kidding you!" Liu Bo said coldly, "If you want to die, just listen to me! Otherwise, I will not be polite!"

"My lord..." Fan Sanbo had no idea what was going on. He thought he had said something wrong and offended Zhu Qiuqi. He looked up at Zhu Qiuqi, but Zhu Qiuqi didn't have the elegant demeanor he had before. In the flickering candlelight, Zhu Qiuqi looked like he was smiling, and said to Fan Sanbo leisurely, "Fan Laosan, if you want to live, be obedient. Otherwise, I will kill you with a knife. I won't be polite!"

"I...a villain..." Fan Sanbo was terrified. Suddenly, a light bulb flashed in his mind and he thought of a possibility. Although this possibility was a bit unbelievable, the more he thought about it, the more scared he became, because Zhu Qiuqi and Liu Bo were no longer the same as the provincial governor and the royal guards just now. They looked fierce and strong, and they were clearly two murderers!

Without waiting for Fan Sanbo to come to his senses, Liu Bo pulled Fan Sanbo and turned around, saying that the master had drunk too much and that there was no need for Master Fan Sanbo to send anything else. Zhu Qiuqi also muttered something and stood up shakily. The two of them sandwiched Fan Sanbo in the middle and walked straight out of the house.

The three men were drinking, and there was a maid serving them in the room. However, because they were talking, the maid was some distance away from them. In addition, it was already dark, and the maid stood there with her head down and did not pay attention to what was happening. When she heard the noise and looked up, Zhu Qiuqi and Liu Bo, who were controlling Fan Sanbo, had already arrived in front of them.

The maid was about to ask something, but before she could say anything, Zhu Qiuqi, who was standing next to Fan Sanbo, suddenly moved and took a step forward. Before the maid could say anything, Zhu Qiuqi flipped his right hand and a dagger appeared. The dagger flashed with a cold light and went towards the maid's neck. The maid had no time to react at all, and her neck was cut by the sharp dagger. Blood oozed out instantly. The maid covered her neck with both hands, her eyes widened, and she couldn't utter a word. She fell directly to the ground, struggled for a few times, and didn't move again.

(End of this chapter)