Chapter 580 The Long Road to the Capital
Uncle De’s words completely angered Zhao Paner.

It would have been fine if he didn't mention money, but he actually wanted to send her away with eighty taels of gold. Did he think that Zhao Pan'er was a beggar?

Zhao Pan'er just raised her hand and with a bang, the gold ingots flew out and rolled all over the ground.

"Oh, what does this mean, Madam Zhao?" Uncle De hurriedly picked up the gold ingots scattered on the ground, while secretly cursing Zhao Pan'er for being ungrateful.

Zhao Pan'er is really greedy. She is not satisfied with eighty taels of gold.

"If you want to talk about money, then we will settle the bill for you today!" Zhao Pan'er said coldly:

"When Ouyang Xu failed in the imperial examination, he fell into the water and nearly lost his life when he was stranded in Hangzhou. I saved him, didn't I?"

"So how much is his life worth?"

"This, this~!" Uncle De stammered and was speechless.

"Also, when he first drifted here, he was at most a first-rate citizen, and had no qualifications to take the imperial examination in Liangzhe. It was my Zhao Pan'er who bought him land, so that he could register as a citizen here and take the examination in Liangzhe again!"

"How much is this worth?"

"Ah, this~!" At this time, cold sweat began to appear on Uncle De's forehead.

"And more~!"

"How come there's more?" Uncle De interrupted with a curl of his lips. According to what Zhao Pan'er said, their young master couldn't pay off the above debts alone. If he continued, his young master would never be able to pay it off in his lifetime.

Zhao Paner glanced at Uncle De and continued:

"Of course I have. Have you two, master and servant, spent no money on food, clothing and other expenses in the past three years? Didn't you buy books, pens, paper and inkstones for Ouyang Xu cost any money?"

"Ah?" At this point, Zhao Pan'er angrily scolded: "Can you calculate for me how much money this is?"

For a moment, Uncle De was sweating profusely due to Zhao Pan'er's scolding. He stammered and couldn't utter a word.

After thinking about it, Uncle De still advised:

"Madam Zhao, my son has passed the imperial examination and has a different status than before. He has also paid 80 taels of gold. It would be better for us to go our separate ways. Why are you forcing me?"

Uncle De originally just wanted to persuade Zhao Paner again, but he didn't expect that what he said would add fuel to the fire.

"Ha~, I'm forcing you!" Zhao Pan'er sneered and said, "You want the Tongxin Pei, right?"

"Go back and tell Ouyang Xu to bring five hundred taels of gold in exchange, and return the Night Banquet painting that he took from me, and I will give him the Tongxin pendant!"

"Otherwise, I will make him unable to continue his career as the third place in the imperial examination!" Zhao Pan'er said in an unquestionable tone.

Uncle De felt helpless when he heard this. He was really afraid that Zhao Pan'er would go to Beijing and ruin Ouyang Xu's good fortune, so he took his huge sum of eighty taels of gold and left in disgrace.

······
"Pa pa pa~!" Watching Uncle De leave, Lin Hao clapped his hands and walked out of the teahouse with a smile, then gave a thumbs up and praised:

"Mrs. Zhao is so domineering!"

"Hmph!" Zhao Pan'er glanced at Lin Hao and groaned:
"You can laugh at me if you want. Yes, I admit that it was me, Zhao Pan'er, who was blind and fell for this hypocrite, Ouyang Xu, okay?"

When Zhao Pan'er saw Lin Hao's smiling face, she thought that Lin Hao came to laugh at her.

"Ms. Zhao, you've misunderstood. I'm not here to laugh at you!" Lin Hao quickly explained.

"Look at yourself in the mirror. The corners of your mouth have stretched to the back of your head. And you still say you are not here to make fun of me?"

"Madam Zhao, you really misunderstood me. I am smiling because I am happy!" Lin Hao said with a smile.

"Are you so happy to see that Ouyang Xu broke off my engagement?" Zhao Pan'er almost squeezed out these words from between her teeth.

"Of course I'm happy~!" Before Lin Hao finished speaking, Zhao Pan'er's fist hit Lin Hao, and Lin Hao begged for mercy while enjoying it:

"No, don't do it, just listen to me first!"

"You say!" Zhao Pan'er seemed to realize her own recklessness, and quickly followed Lin Hao's words and returned to her cold appearance.

"In fact, for you, seeing Ouyang Xu's true face as soon as possible is a happy thing, isn't it?"

"Think about it, if you wait until you marry Ouyang Xu before you discover her true face, that would be truly tragic, wouldn't it?"

"It seems to make some sense!" Zhao Pan'er thought about it seriously and felt that it was indeed the truth.

Now that she has seen Ouyang Xu's true face, all she has lost is some money. But if she waits until after they get married, her entire life will be ruined at Ouyang Xu's hands.

"Pan'er~, Pan'er~!" At this moment, Sun Sanniang suddenly ran over breathlessly. Before she saw Zhao Pan'er, she shouted loudly:

"Pan'er Pan'er, something terrible has happened. Zifang, Zifang~!"

When Sun Sanniang heard about Fu Zifang, she thought something had happened to her son, so she quickly asked:

"What happened to Zifang?"

"Zifang is fine!" Sun Sanniang said breathlessly:
"Zifang saw Yinzhang's sister leaving the city on a boat with the man surnamed Zhou, and they brought dozens of boxes of various sizes on the boat. I suspect Yinzhang eloped with the man surnamed Zhou!"

"Elope?" Zhao Pan'er's face changed immediately after hearing this, and then she quickly said:
"If the people from the Music Bureau knew about this, she would be beaten with a stick. How dare she say this?"

"That silly girl is so heartless. She must have been instigated by Zhou!" said Sun Sanniang.

"When did Zifang see them leaving the city?" Zhao Pan'er asked quickly.

"About half an hour ago!" Sun Sanniang said quickly.

"Half an hour?" Zhao Pan'er said seriously:
"No, I have to go get the seal back. I hope I can catch up with it, otherwise it will be terrible!"

"We've already walked for half an hour, you can't catch up!" Lin Hao said at this time.

"I have to chase him even if I can't catch him!" After saying this, Zhao Pan'er hurried to the ferry, rented a boat and went after Song Yinzhang.

But just as Lin Hao said, Zhao Pan'er's efforts were in vain, and in the end she didn't even see Song Yinzhang.

Sure enough, an hour later, Zhao Pan'er returned empty-handed.

Seeing Zhao Pan'er coming back, Sun Sanniang hurried forward and asked:
"Pan'er, have you caught up with Yin Zhang?"

"No!" Zhao Paner frowned and shook her head.

"It doesn't matter if you didn't catch up!" Sun Sanniang comforted her:
"Isn't that Zhou from Huaiyang? Anyway, the monk can run away but the temple cannot. At worst, we can just go to Huaiyang!"

"If he really was from Huaiyang, I wouldn't be so anxious to chase him!" Zhao Pan'er explained:
"I went to the fur shop yesterday to ask, and there is no such person as Zhou She among the merchants who often go to Huaiyang."

"I was planning to call Yin Zhang over today and tell her about this, but I didn't expect this silly girl to elope with someone!" Zhao Pan'er looked angry.

"What should we do?" Sun Sanniang was also panicked when she heard this.

Hearing what Zhao Paner said, it was obvious that Zhou She was a liar. Yin Zhang was fooled by that liar Zhou She, so it was obvious what his fate would be!
In the worst case, you may even lose your life.

And the worst thing was that even if Song Yinzhang managed to escape Zhou She's clutches, she had no way to report to the authorities because Song Yinzhang himself had escaped from the Jiaofangsi secretly.

In order to sue Zhou She, the government must first charge Song Yinzhang with the crime of fleeing privately.

"The only solution now is to use our connections to speak to the people in the Music Camp and ask them not to report the matter of usurping children to the Jiaofang Division.

"But what connections can you use?" asked Sun Sanniang.

Zhao Pan'er thought for a moment and said, "Yang Yunpan and I have some friendship!"

"Yang Yunpan?" Sun Sanniang said not very optimistically:

"He just came here to drink tea a few times and bought a few paintings from you. Would he take such a big risk to speak up for you?"

"I can't care about so many things!" Zhao Pan'er said somewhat disappointedly:
"After all, the only person I can get close to is Yang Yunpan!"

"For the sake of the introduction, I have to give it a try no matter if it works or not. Doesn't he like painting? At worst, I can just give him a few more paintings."

"Cough cough~!" At this time Lin Hao suddenly coughed and cleared his throat.

It’s okay for Sun Sanniang, but Zhao Pan’er already knew that he was a marquis, yet she turned a blind eye to him!
His Marquis Jing'an was right here, but instead of asking him for help, he went to find Yang Zhiyuan, a small official of the sixth rank.

However, Zhao Pan'er glanced at Lin Hao and said, "Why are you coughing? Is there something wrong with your throat?"

You dare to talk to me like this, then Lin Hao said speechlessly:

"It seems that I am a higher official than Yang Zhiyuan!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Pan'er looked at Sun Sanniang and said, "Yes, how could they forget about this old man?"
Zhao Pan'er immediately showed a flattering look on her face and said:
"Then can you help ask for a favor for Sister Yin Zhang?"

"I have no relationship with her, why should I help her?" Lin Hao looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, then glanced at Zhao Pan'er and said:
"Of course, if someone asks me~!"

Zhao Pan'er's heart moved, and she did the opposite:
"Why are you talking nonsense if I can't help you?" She knew that Lin Hao wanted her to please him. As long as she promised Lin Hao that he would help her, many things would become much simpler.

But compared to trying to please Lin Hao, Zhao Pan'er would rather give gifts to Yang Zhiyuan, so that she doesn't have to be inferior to Lin Hao, even though Lin Hao's status is higher than hers.

Seeing that Zhao Pan'er really didn't want him to help, he said calmly:
"You don't have to go look for Yang Zhiyuan. He will definitely not help you now!"

After hearing Lin Hao's words, Zhao Pan'er frowned and asked:

"How do you know they won't help?"

"How can a dead man help you?" Lin Hao said calmly.

"Dead?" Zhao Pan'er was shocked and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"It means exactly what it says!" Lin Hao shook his head and said:
"I'm afraid you don't know yet, but last night a group of criminals broke into Yang Zhiyuan's house and killed everyone they saw. The entire Yang Mansion was wiped out!"

Zhao Pan'er was shocked when she heard this. She didn't expect that Yang Zhiyuan's entire family would be wiped out. She was a little at a loss and didn't know what to do for a moment!
When Lin Hao saw this, he took out an envelope from his arms, handed it to Zhao Pan'er and said:
"This letter in my hand records all the information about Zhou She!"

Zhao Pan'er bit her lip, then turned to Sun Sanniang and said:

"Sanniang, go back and watch Zifang study first. Leave sister Yinzhang's affairs to me!"

After hearing what Zhao Pan'er said, Sun Sanniang suddenly realized something.

So she looked at Lin Hao, then winked at Zhao Pan'er, and a bold guess suddenly popped up in her mind.

There must be something going on between these two people, otherwise why couldn't they say it to her face and why did they have to send her away?
So before Sun Sanniang left, she reminded Zhao Pan'er:
"Okay, I'll go back first, but Pan'er, don't forget, you're going to be a Jinshi's wife soon!"

As a good sister, she couldn't just watch Zhao Pan'er go astray, right?
But Sun Sanniang didn't notice that when Zhao Pan'er heard the words "Jinshi's wife", her face changed again and again.

Now that Ouyang Xu has sent someone to cancel the engagement, she is still acting like a fool as the wife of a successful scholar, but she can't blame it on Sun Sanniang.

After Sun Sanniang left, Zhao Pan'er said with a serious face:

"Tell me, what do you want in exchange for helping me?"

However, Lin Hao answered the question irrelevantly:

"Do you know why Yang Zhiyuan's family was wiped out?"

After hearing what Lin Hao said, Zhao Pan'er couldn't help but frown. She felt that Lin Hao would not say these to her for no reason~!

Since you asked, it means that the murder of Yang Zhiyuan's family might have something to do with you?

But what does this have to do with her?

Wait, it occurred to me that Lin Hao came here for Ye Xiatu.

Also, before, people from the Imperial City Bureau had appeared in her tea shop. If she guessed correctly, that group of people from the Imperial City Bureau should have come for the Night Banquet Picture.

Could it be~, thinking of this, Zhao Paner said in horror:

"Is it because of the Night Banquet?"

"Smart!" Lin Hao nodded to express his praise, and then said seriously:

"Because of the fake banquet painting you gave to Yang Zhiyuan, the Yang family was destroyed!"

Looking at Zhao Paner's expression, Lin Hao continued:
"A fake painting can bring disaster upon your entire family, but the real one is in your possession. You can imagine how dangerous you are now!"

"So, I can help you find Zhou She and rescue Song Yinzhang, and even help her get out of the music industry."

"But you have to come back to Beijing with me. I am worried about you staying alone in Qiantang County."

Zhao Pan'er was just about to speak up and go to Beijing with Lin Hao to find Ouyang Xu, but after hearing what Lin Hao said, she immediately shut up and started to think.

"Okay, I promise you!" Zhao Pan'er hesitated for a moment and agreed to Lin Hao's request. She even felt a little touched by Lin Hao's request.

After all, Lin Hao let her go to Beijing out of protection for her, so as to prevent her from following in Yang Zhiyuan's footsteps.

But what Zhao Pan'er didn't know was that Lin Hao's words were just a lie to her. It was true that Yang Zhiyuan's family was wiped out, but this matter had nothing to do with the Night Banquet.

Yang Zhiyuan's entire family was killed simply because Zheng Qingtian was afraid that his private shipping business would be exposed, so he killed them to silence them.

"This is Zhou She's information!"

Lin Hao handed the envelope to Zhao Paner:

"Take your time to read it. After you're done, go home and pack your belongings. I'm going to say hello to the people at Leying now. We'll set off tonight!"

"Leaving tonight?" Zhao Pan'er blinked. Why was this guy more anxious than her?
So Zhao Paner asked curiously:

"Are you leaving in a bit too hasty?"

"Aren't you worried that if you go too late, your good sister Song Yinzhang will suffer at the hands of Zhou She?" Lin Hao said.

"Zhou She is after money. He will not do anything to Yin Zhang until all his money is swindled away by Zhou She!"

Zhao Pan'er was naturally worried about Yin Zhang's safety, but she felt relieved after reading the information handed over by Lin Hao.

Zhou She was a complete liar. He was trying to use Song Yinzhang's money to pay off his gambling debts. He would not touch Song Yinzhang easily before he got all the money.

Song Yinzhang is the best pipa player in Jiangnan. Every time he performs at the residence of dignitaries, he will receive a large reward. So this girl has plenty of money and will definitely not be in danger in the short term.

Zhao Pan'er put away Zhou She's information, paused and continued:

"Besides, letting Yin Zhang suffer a little at Zhou She's hands is not necessarily a bad thing!"

"This guy was protected too well since he was young, so he was easily deceived by Zhou She!"

"I believe that after this lesson, I'll see if she will trust others again in the future!"

In fact, what Zhao Paner said does make some sense. A naive person like Song Yinzhang needs to fall hard before he understands what a sinister human heart is.

Of course, the more suffering Song Yinzhang suffers at Zhou She's hands, the better the effect of Lin Hao's heroic rescue will be.

So, since Zhao Pan'er said so, Lin Hao naturally no longer objected and could only silently mourn for Song Yinzhang in his heart for a moment.

Because Lin Hao would not have wasted so many days before meeting Song Yinzhang as in the original plot.

Therefore, he specifically asked Lin Zhi to instruct Zhou She to let Song Yinzhang suffer more, so that she would know what a sinister human heart is.

Of course, Zhou She must not touch Song Yinzhang's body, which Lin Hao prepared for himself. If anyone dares to touch his woman, Lin Hao will kill all his clans.

Then Lin Hao asked: "So when do you want to leave?"

"Tomorrow!" Zhao Pan'er thought for a moment and said:

"I have something else to tell Sanniang, and I have a lot of luggage, so I can't prepare it until tomorrow morning at the earliest!"

Although Zhao Pan'er said that she wanted to make Song Yinzhang suffer, she did not dare to delay too long. If something unexpected happened, how could she be worthy of Song Yinzhang's dead sister?
"Okay, then let's do it tomorrow!" Lin Hao naturally had no objection.

next day
I saw several horse-drawn carriages parked in front of Zhao's Tea Shop, and the carriages were filled with seven or eight boxes of various sizes.

Unlike the original plot, in this plot, Zhao Pan'er left in a hurry.

On the other hand, because of the burden of Gu Qianfan, she didn't dare to be too ostentatious, so she just took a few sets of clothes and some cash and set off.

But now she is going to Beijing with Lin Hao, and Lin Hao is not wanted, so she naturally doesn't have to worry so much.

So she basically took all her belongings with her. As for why she took everything with her and why she looked like she had no intention of coming back, only she herself knew.

"Is Shopkeeper Zhao going on a long journey?"

"Oh, Manager Zhao, now that you're gone, where can we go to drink such good tea and eat such delicious fruits in the future?"

"Manager Zhao, are you going to open this teahouse or not? If not, you can sell it to me. The price is negotiable."

Some guests who came to drink tea, seeing Zhao Pan'er's family moving, couldn't help but ask.

When Zhao Pan'er saw that the luggage was almost packed, she said to everyone:
"I'm going to the capital. It's hard to say whether I'll be back or not!"

"But don't worry, the tea shop is still open. Although you can't drink the tea I brewed for the time being, you can still eat the fruits made by Sanniang!"

Zhao Pan'er answered them one by one with a smile.

After a while, Lin Hao came out of the teahouse. Looking at the boxes of various sizes on the carriage, he couldn't help but sigh that Zhao Pan'er was really rich.

You have to know that this money was saved by Zhao Paner herself from selling tea. It has to be said that she is a woman who knows how to manage the household.

(End of this chapter)