hen's head pastry chef leave the palace and work at my snack shop I'll double his salary, how about it"The Emperor couldn't help but laugh again, poking the chubby girl's nose. "Your adoptive father a..."What are you yelling about The master is sick!" Liu, the head shopkeeper, couldn't help but grab the attendant and whisper harshly.

The head manager shook off the shopkeeper's hand, jumping anxiously. "Shopkeeper Liu, what are you doing here Quickly, I need to see the master! Something terrible has happened, the ship sank, and all the goods were stolen! It's over, everything is over!"

Liu Zhanggui was taken aback, and suddenly remembered that his family had previously partnered with others to transport a shipload of valuable goods back from the south. There were fine silks, spices, medicinal herbs, and so on.

They were residents of the four seas, and on their shopping list were also two rare and precious condiments.

Could this be the ship sinking

Liu Guanchang finally changed his complexion!

Perhaps the sound of movement was heard inside the house, Wang Fu helped Wang Yuanwai walk out.

Mr. Wang's face turned ashen, his lips were blue. He was so panicked that his eyes had turned red. "Wang Gui," he exclaimed, "What on earth is going on Tell me!"

That's Wang Gui's steward, he knelt down with a thud and choked out, "Master, we transported goods from the south and were just two hundred li away from home, but some pirates appeared out of nowhere. They boarded our ship in the middle of the night and captured us all."

"Our cargo was stolen, and our ship was wrecked. Luckily, the pirates didn't harm us… Later, we were rescued by a passing merchant vessel and went to report the incident to the local magistrate, but the official said those pirates were experts and there was no chance of recovering the goods!"

"You, you all… Could it be that Heaven itself is going to destroy King Xinqiu"

Wang Yuanwai was so angry that his heart ached, and he spat out another mouthful of blood before collapsing to the ground.

Liu Zhuangui and Wang Guizi rushed forward together, both terrified.

The mistress of the house was also out, and there wasn't even a steward. Wang Fu then called for a young attendant to invite a doctor.

Liu Zhanggui and Wang Gui did not want to stay in the room watching their master change his clothes, so they left.

"Liu Zhàngguī pulled Wang Guì over and asked, "If I'm not mistaken, that cargo on the ship isn't just from our family, is it"

Wang Gui nodded vigorously, almost shedding tears.

“Our family only has five thousand taels of goods. The remaining fifteen thousand taels belong to others. We were supposed to take turns going south, and this time it was our turn to buy and escort the goods. We also signed an agreement beforehand that if the goods are damaged, our family will have to compensate at 80%.”

Liu Zhanggui listened for a long time, unable to speak. His heart trembled with fear.

This time, not only did the Wang family lose 5,000 taels, but they also had to pay out 10,000 taels of silver!

The Wang family has suffered a terrible misfortune. Today's commotion ruined the Four Seas Inn's reputation, and it will certainly never be able to reopen.

Now that I've spent so much, almost 20,000 taels have gone in at once.

Worse still, the host's illness is so severe, it's almost terminal.

Could it be that the Wang family is about to fall

What are they, these slaves, to do

At this moment, the maid had already invited the doctor back. Wang Fu hurriedly led him inside.

Wang Gui hadn't said anything yet, but Liu Zhanggui frowned.

This doctor surnamed Sun, he was a well-known figure, and his medical skills were among the best in the city.

But this person has a flaw, they are outspoken and have loose lips, unable to keep secrets.

Who would be willing to have a disease and have it known by outsiders the very next day

Therefore, few people in town were willing to see him for treatment on a daily basis, unless it was a serious case with no other options, like Wang Yuanwai's...

After a long while, Dr. Sun came out and asked, "Find a quiet place for me to write the prescription so that the medicine boy can go back and fetch the herbs as soon as possible."

Liu Zhanggui and Wang Gui hurriedly led him into the side room. After the ink and paper were prepared, the young apprentice took the prescription and ran off.

"Doctor Sun, I don't understand this prescription. Can you tell me, how is our master doing When might he get better There are some business matters at home that need his attention."

Dr. Sun glared and angrily rebuked, "People are about to die, and you only now think of treatment! You want the patient to be lively and well right away, how is that possible I'm a doctor, not a celestial being! Besides, what were you doing all those years ago If this illness had been diagnosed five or six years earlier, it wouldn't have dragged on to this point!"

Wang Gui opened his mouth to retort, but he was stopped by Liu Zhanggui.

Liu Zhanguan arranged tea and refreshments for Dr. Sun, then pulled Wang Gui out.

"Brother, you stay here and keep watch. I'm going back to the tavern to take care of something. Someone at the Si Hai Ju got food poisoning and nearly died. It caused quite a commotion. The owner can't be bothered with this, so I need to go investigate."

"Oh, there's such a thing..."

Wang Guitun felt that something was amiss, he didn't want to stay.

But at this time, Wang Fu came out holding a small box and said, "Manager Gui, please take care of the master. He needs to boil and drink medicine. The master has given me some errands to attend to immediately."

Liu Zhanggui took the opportunity to leave with Wang Fu, Wang Gui had no choice but to stay behind.

Liu Zhanggui sent Wang Fu off, looking back at the gate of Wang's courtyard from afar, his expression was complicated.

The Wang family was wealthy, and over the years they had called upon countless physicians. But Dr. Sun just now said that the master's headache had been dragged on for so long that it was now life-threatening…

The matter was too complicated for him to handle, both unwillingly and fearfully.

Now, in such a turbulent situation, the most important thing is to retreat safely!

He took a deep breath and turned to leave...

When he returned, the sun was already setting. A crowd of idlers had gathered in front of Wang's house, whispering and gossiping from time to time, which made Liu the shopkeeper uneasy.

He hurried forward and asked, “What happened”

When a neighbor spotted Liu the merchant, they said, “You better go in and have a look. It’s said that Wang the Officer is seriously ill, and people are coming to collect debts!”

Liu Zhuanggui's face darkened. As soon as he entered the outer courtyard, he saw a chair placed under the eaves of the corridor. Wang Yuanwai was slumped on it, his face pale and lifeless.

Two groups of people stood opposite him. One group were merchants who usually befriended the Wang family, and the other group were the shopkeepers from his own stores.

Several shopkeepers discreetly beckoned him over.

At this time, the few friendly merchants spoke up, "Brother Wang, it's really not us being unkind. To be honest, every family is struggling right now."

"That's right, Brother Wang. We agreed that whoever shipped goods by boat would be responsible for it. We had several trips without any problems, but your family encountered pirates this time."

"This time our family bought five thousand ounces of goods, according to the contract, Wang lao di still owes me four thousand ounces. So I lost one thousand ounces! I'm just sitting at home and disaster has struck from the sky, who can I turn to for justice!"

"Me too, I was waiting for this new batch of goods in the shop. It's too late to send someone to find them now. Not only did I lose money, but I also missed the peak season before winter."

The crowd buzzed with complaints, everyone sounding as if the sky was falling.

Wang Yiwai waved his hand, signaling the crowd to be quiet, then looked at Wang Fu.

Wang Fuchuan stepped forward, holding a box in his hands.

Mr. Wang opened it and took out a stack of silver notes. All the creditors' eyes lit up at once.

As stipulated in the contract, everyone soon received their due compensation.

Although we suffered some losses, it's still better than nothing.

Having encountered bandits and with Wang, the magistrate's brother, seriously ill again, even if they refused to admit fault or compensate, there was nothing they could really do about it.

Unexpectedly, Wang Yuanwai was so readily agreeable, which made everyone a bit embarrassed.

After all, we've been getting along for many years before this, otherwise we couldn't have partnered up to go south and buy goods together. didn't come forward to help, but also didn't say a word of fairness, instead looking at Huang San'er with some sympathy.He felt increasingly cold. Speaking publicly, he said: "Today, while everyone i...