Chapter 234: Loan

Ling Chu and Ning Chuyi were prepared for the possibility of finding no evidence.

After discovering the fire, Wei Feng and his men were the first to arrive, but they did not find any clues when they were trying to put out the fire.

The person who did it was very cautious. After pouring kerosene, nothing was left behind. The arrowhead must have been shot from a distance to start a fire.

The tail of the arrow was burned, leaving only an ordinary arrowhead.

Cao Hongxin looked unhappy. Although he took the arrowhead away for investigation, there was nothing special about it, so it was probably difficult to find any results.

The people nearby woke up because of the big noise at night.

The housekeeper of the Earl of Chengyi was near Ling Chu's house. Their housekeeper brought servants to check and found out that their courtyard wall was also poured with kerosene and burned a wall.

Although he was dissatisfied, he did not dare to say anything to Ling Chu when he saw that Commander Cao and Lord Ning were present. He only scolded the person who did it behind the scenes.

Although Cao Hongxin left with his men, he left a few people to patrol nearby to prevent the bad guys from coming back. The Chengyi Marquis's Mansion also sent a few guards to patrol the surroundings.

Ning Chuyi couldn't stay any longer, so he said a few words to be careful, and left with Wei Feng and the others.

But he secretly left two secret guards to guard Ling Chu's house.

The commander Cao and the Chengyi Marquis' Mansion both left guards. Ling Chu was not worried that the person behind the scenes would come back. He took the two maids back, locked the door and went to sleep.

The next day, Ling Chu took Xia Zhi straight to the pawnshop.

There were only two maids around her, which was not enough, so she had to add some more people.

In the pawnshop, she picked some good-looking ones and bought them.

As soon as she went out, a girl wearing patches on top of patches suddenly rushed towards Ling Chu and knelt down in front of her.

"Miss, please be kind, I beg you to buy me. I can cook, wash, and clean." As if she was afraid that Ling Chu would refuse, the girl kowtowed while begging.

Before Ling Chu could speak, the matchmaker who sent her out said impatiently, "Go, go, go, why are you here again? Leave quickly, or don't blame me for having someone drive you away."

The girl didn't leave, and kept begging, "Girl, my mother is dying of illness, please buy me, just fifty taels, I will definitely repay you in the future."

It turned out that she wanted to sell herself to save her mother, but she had just bought all the servants she needed at the matchmaker and didn't plan to buy another one.

Ling Chu saw that her forehead was red and swollen from the bump, and her heart softened. She said to Xia Zhi, "You take five taels and give her medicine."

As soon as she finished speaking, the matchmaker shook her head, "Girl, no, no."

Ling Chu looked at her in confusion.

Perhaps because he saw that Ling Chu had just bought someone at the matchmaker, the matchmaker hesitated for a while, looked around carefully, and then whispered to Ling Chu.

"Miss Ling, this girl's father likes gambling and lost all the family's money. He accidentally fell to his death after getting drunk a few days ago.

After his death, the girl's family found out that he had borrowed money from the Duke of Zhao's mansion before his death. Now the interest is compounded, and he owes several hundred taels.

The girl's family is now penniless, how can they pay back the money, so she has to sell herself. If you buy her back, her mother will come to your mansion every few days to ask for money.

This girl is filial and will definitely not watch her mother being forced to pay debts. She will have to ask you for help when the time comes. Usury is a bottomless pit. It's terrible to get involved."

Ling Chu's heart moved. She was worried about how to get back the concubine document from the Duke of Zhao's mansion. This might be a good opportunity.

In front of the matchmaker, Ling Chu didn't say anything. After thanking her, she took her people away.

After walking a distance and seeing that the matchmaker had gone back, she asked Xia Zhi to bring the girl over.

Seeing Ling Chu, the girl was overjoyed and knelt down to kowtow.

After Ling Chu asked Xia Zhi to help her up, she didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "Your father borrowed money from the Duke of Zhao's mansion at interest. Which Zhao family did it come from?"

Zhou Banqin didn't know why the girl in front of her asked about the interest. She was nervous, but she didn't dare to hide it.

"The one who lent the money was the Duke of Zhao's mansion, but it wasn't the Duke of Zhao, but the Duke's wife, Guo."

"Are you sure it was the Duke of Zhao's wife?"

Zhou Banqin nodded bitterly, "Yes, the one who came to my house to ask for money was the housekeeper of the Duke of Zhao's wife. When she saw that my family couldn't pay the debt, she asked my mother to sell me to a brothel.

My mother disagreed, and the housekeeper said that she was the housekeeper of the Duke of Zhao's wife and knew many wealthy families. She could introduce me to those wealthy families as a concubine, and ask for more betrothal gifts, so that the debt could be paid off."

However, Zhou Banqin's mother felt that the housekeeper was not a good person, and the family she introduced might not be a good family. She didn't want her daughter to be a concubine and be bullied by the main wife.

"Girl, actually my father has regretted it. He was lured into gambling. After borrowing money from a usurious institution, he realized that it was a bottomless pit. He has quit gambling and is working hard to make money to pay off his debts.

My father originally sold a jade pendant passed down from his ancestors, and my mother also sold the last dowry, but there was still a shortfall of 80 taels. Originally, they planned to borrow from relatives and return it to the wife of Duke Zhao when they had enough.

But I didn't expect that my father would pass away before the money was paid off."

After Zhou Banqin's father died, her mother fell ill again.

In order to save money to pay off the debt, her mother hastily buried her father, and even dared not see a doctor or buy medicine when she was sick.

Zhou Banqin had no choice but to think of selling herself.

Originally, she wanted to sell herself to a pawnshop, but the pawnshop owner somehow found out about her family and was worried that she would be implicated by her family after she was sold. She also thought that the price of fifty taels was too high and was unwilling to buy her.

Ling Chu asked Xia Zhi to buy Zhou Banqin with a hundred taels. "Fifty taels is your worth, and the other fifty taels will be considered as my loan to you, which will be deducted from your monthly salary in the future. In addition, give me the IOU for your family's loan, are you willing?"

Zhou Banqin was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly.

Ling Chu took Zhou Banqin to her home.

Originally, I thought Zhou Banqin's mother would be reluctant to sell her daughter, but in order to pay off the debt and support her two young sons, her mother agreed.

After receiving the contract of sale, giving the silver bill, and taking the IOU for the loan, Ling Chu returned home.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the door, the commander of the West City Military Division came to the door.

As soon as they met, Cao Hongxin couldn't wait to ask, "Miss Ling, do you have time now?"

Ling Chu didn't expect him to be so anxious, and couldn't help being curious, "Your family lost a very valuable item. Did you report it to the police?"

Cao Hongxin hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and said, "No."

Lost something but didn't report it to the police?

Seeing Ling Chu's surprise, Cao Hongxin couldn't help but smile bitterly, "To be honest, what was lost was my daughter's betrothal gift. The reason why I didn't report it to the police is because...it was probably done by my mother and my second brother..."

Since I started writing in May, I haven't taken a leave. I'm not in a good state recently and always feel very tired. Moreover, the author is a clumsy hand, typing very slowly, facing the computer every day, and my cervical spine has been hurting badly recently, and I feel dizzy.

I originally wanted to save some manuscripts and then burst out, but I haven't been able to save them, and I haven't been able to burst out. I'm really sorry.

This month's subscription is not ideal, a little frustrated.

Fortunately, there are still many book friends who accompany silently like good friends, and still insist on subscribing to, voting for and commenting on this book.

Your simple recognition is a great encouragement to me.

Thank you very much. Without your support, the author might have given up long ago.

ps: Recently, some book friends urged me to quickly solve the heroine's life experience, but things have to be solved step by step. I will try to speed up.

Thanks again to all the friends who support me. Thank you for being there!