The strongest warrior of the Great Qian Dynasty

Lin'an City.

Xuanwu Street, paved with bluestone, is bustling with people and lined with shops on both sides, creating a vibrant and prosperous scene.

Shuiyun Pavilion.

Upon assuming his new post, Li Qingshan immediately began to learn the details as soon as he arrived at the store.

After all, this concerned his life, so he dared not be careless.

The servant Wu Ziming dared not conceal the truth, otherwise he would be implicated and punished.

He explained everything in detail.

Three days ago, a well-dressed young man named Chen Liang came to the shop, pawned a Five-Leaf Fetal Fruit, and took away five thousand taels of silver.

That evening, the former shopkeeper, Wang Yuanfeng, discovered that the fetal essence fruit was counterfeit.

On the first day of each month, the Marquis of Changning's mansion would conduct an audit of the accounts of each of its businesses. According to the Marquis's family rules, the manager of any business that suffered a monthly loss of more than two thousand would be beaten to death.

And tomorrow is the first day of the fifth lunar month!

Wang Yuanfeng, a fellow townsman and confidant of Wang Biao, has now been transferred away.

After figuring out the whole story, Li Qingshan realized something was wrong.

"It's really tough to get by without connections."

Li Qingshan shook his head and sighed.

Now the blame has fallen on my head?

"How do we break this?"

It seemed like a dead end no matter how you looked at it, and Li Qingshan frowned as he pondered.

Or... should I use that fake product to scam other shops?

After a long silence, Li Qingshan shook his head.

According to Wu Ziming, the former manager, Wang Yuanfeng, had also considered this idea, but as the manager, if he sold counterfeit goods, Shuiyun Pavilion would inevitably go bankrupt, and he would only suffer a more miserable fate.

Grass!

I'm supposed to take the blame for that bastard Wang Yuanfeng's mess?

"You son of a bitch, Wang Biao, you just wait!"

Li Qingshan cursed under his breath and ordered, "Ziming, go and bring over that Five-Leaf Embryo Fruit and the pledge contract."

Wu Ziming nodded hurriedly, bowing and scraping, "Manager, please give me your orders!"

Not long after.

Wu Ziming jogged over and retrieved the pledge contract and a long, rectangular black wooden box.

Li Qingshan carefully opened the black wooden box.

Inside the box, lined with red cloth, was a complete five-leafed fetal fruit plant.

It is about a foot long, and its roots are still intact.

Five leaves grow on the stem, lush and green, and at the top hangs a red fruit, round and plump, very similar in shape and size to a cherry.

There's only one difference.

Within this red fruit, spiritual energy is contained, with seven-colored spiritual light flowing around it; it is clearly extraordinary.

The fruit of the fetal plant has three leaves, and five leaves are considered a treasure.

This five-leaf treasure is considered a top-grade item even among fourth-rank treasures, and its value is no less than seven thousand taels of silver.

Li Qingshan picked up the fake Five-Leaf Fetal Fruit and examined it carefully, and couldn't help but marvel at it.

"This is so fake, it looks too real."

As the manager of Shuiyun Pavilion, those qualified to collect treasures are naturally all experts in appraising them.

Especially for such precious items involving life and death, Wang Yuanfeng would inevitably undergo repeated authentication processes.

"Someone who could fool the expert appraisers of Shuiyun Pavilion must be extraordinary!"

Li Qingshan frowned, suddenly realizing something.

Forgery techniques!

"Ah, if only it were the art of creating reality."

Li Qingshan muttered to himself, "If I could make a real one, wouldn't that make up for the deficit?"

He put the fake back into the black wooden box, closed the lid, and sighed with a melancholy expression.

Shaking his head, Li Qingshan unfolded the pledge contract.

I, Chen Liang, pledge the Five-Leaf Embryo Fruit to Shuiyun Pavilion for 5,000 taels of silver for one month. I will repay 7,000 taels of silver upon maturity. If I redeem it early, the principal and interest will remain the same. If I fail to redeem it by the due date, the Five-Leaf Embryo Fruit will belong to Shuiyun Pavilion.

[By Qin Ligong, manager of Tianyi Pavilion, this contract was concluded on the 27th day of the fourth month of the thirteenth year of the Taikang era.]

The interest for one month is two thousand taels!

The temptation is undeniably great.

"He's blinded by greed."

In his despair, Li Qingshan felt a pang of emotion.

This is not Wang Yuanfeng's fault. According to the regulations of the Marquis of Changning's mansion, for a business like Shuiyun Pavilion, if the annual profit exceeds one thousand taels of silver, the excess profit is split 50/50 with the manager.

"After making up for the losses, I can earn at least a thousand taels!"

Li Qingshan rallied his spirits; danger and opportunity coexisted, and he wanted to give it a shot.

"Go, make me a cup of bitter tea."

"Yes, shopkeeper."

Wu Ziming nimbly ran off and brewed a pot of bitter tea for Li Qingshan.

The tea was a deep yellow color and had a delicate, pleasant aroma.

After taking a sip, Li Qingshan felt a bitter taste at first, followed by a sweet aftertaste, and his mind became clearer.

He took out paper and pen.

Wu Ziming was asked to describe in detail the entire process of Wang Yuanfeng obtaining the counterfeit goods and then discovering them, and then write it down on paper.

No detail is overlooked!

After finishing writing, Li Qingshan carefully reviewed the text twice more, and couldn't help but squint his eyes.

"Something feels off about this... It seems like a trap. Has Wang Yuanfeng been set up and tricked?"

Li Qingshan picked up the paper and carefully reviewed the events.

Four days ago, in the afternoon, Qin Ligong, the manager of Tianyi Pavilion, invited Wang Yuanfeng to have tea and listen to storytelling together.

soon.

Dressed in fine clothes and carrying a black wooden box, Chen Liang appeared at the next table in the library, looking wary and behaving strangely.

This caught Wang Yuanfeng's attention.

Qin Ligong sipped his tea, pointed at Chen Liang with the finger holding the teacup, and said to Wang Yuanfeng in a low voice, "This guy definitely has something good."

The next day.

Chen Liang carried the wooden box to Shuiyun Pavilion and pledged the Five-Leaf Fetal Essence Fruit.

At a normal interest rate, with a pledge period of one month, the value of the pledged property should be around one-tenth of its value.

Chen Liang claimed he needed the money urgently, so he doubled the interest and offered to find a middleman to act as a witness.

The first middleman that Wang Yuanfeng thought of was naturally Qin Ligong.

One reason is Qin Ligong's status; he is also the manager of the Changning Marquis's mansion.

Secondly, Wang Yuanfeng and Qin Ligong have known each other for over ten years and get along quite well. They often drink tea and listen to storytelling together, as they share similar interests.

The two often sighed to each other, wondering when they would be able to save enough money to buy a decent martial arts manual.

But the first thing Wang Yuanfeng asked Chen Liang was whether to sell or not.

If you were to buy it, the price would be around seven thousand taels of silver, based on pawn prices.

Wang Yuanfeng was confident that if he sold them slowly, he could earn around ten thousand taels of silver and make even more money.

Chen Liang resolutely refused to sell, opting only to pledge the property.

Left with no other option, Wang Yuanfeng had to ask Qin Ligong to act as a middleman and witness, and the two parties signed a pledge agreement.

That night, Wang Yuanfeng was so excited that he thought he had won a fortune. He couldn't help but look at the treasure again and was surprised to find a wisp of purple aura emanating from the red fruit.

Even if the Five-Leaf Embryo Fruit were to release seven-colored spiritual light, it should release seven-colored spiritual energy, not purple energy.

Wang Yuanfeng then confirmed that it was a counterfeit product.

Why won't Chen Liang sell?

"Instead of pledging five thousand taels of silver and running away, wouldn't we make more money by selling it?"

Li Qingshan frowned and fell into deep thought.

Did Chen Liang himself not know that this Five-Leaf Fetal Fruit was fake?

"If that happens, I will surely die."

At this thought, Li Qingshan was filled with rage. He clenched his fist into a hammer and slammed it down on the counter with a loud bang, making the counter tremble.

He died unjustly!

Even if Chen Liang returns as scheduled next month and redeems the counterfeit goods with the money, what's the use?

I was beaten to death back then!