The man in a hurry was none other than Xu Zeyuan.
Many people in the capital knew that Prime Minister Sima had promoted him. If these people saw him coming to a banquet hosted by Shen Qingshan, there would surely be a lot of gossips. Concealing his identity was the most appropriate way.
Xu Zeyuan entered the private room and took off his cloak. He had no respect for this former prime minister at all. "Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Shen."
A flash of dissatisfaction crossed Shen Qingshan's eyes. After he stepped down as the prime minister, people would address him as Lord Shen, Elder Shen, or at least Senior. It was rare for him to meet someone like Xu Zeyuan who didn't give him any face.
Although he was no longer the prime minister, it didn't mean that the Shen family had no influence in the court!
Thinking of the news from the Ministry of Personnel that the emperor had sent someone to inquire about Xu Zeyuan's background, Shen Qingshan managed to suppress his dissatisfaction. At the same time, he felt secretly delighted. Shen Haiyan was still useful to some extent for getting this good news in advance.
Shen Qingshan originally intended to win over Xu Zeyuan, but after seeing him today, he changed his mind.
Rather than trying to win him over, it would be better to destroy him. If the Shen family couldn't get his support, Sima Bai shouldn't be able to use him either!
The ruthless thought flashed by in an instant. Shen Qingshan said amiably, "I heard that Lord Xu impressed the emperor greatly during your述职 in the capital this time. Your future is bound to be bright!"
Xu Zeyuan was taken aback for a moment, then said happily, "Really?"
Shen Qingshan personally poured tea for him. "Really."
Xu Zeyuan was nearly forty years old. Even with Prime Minister Sima's support, his official career had been full of ups and downs because he never won the emperor's favor.
Now that he got this good news, his attitude towards Shen Qingshan became much more amiable. He took the West Lake Longjing tea flattered and started chatting with Shen Qingshan.
Next door in another private room, Old Man Gu was pressing his whole body against the wall, trying his best to overhear. He vaguely heard something about the emperor's favor, embezzlement during disaster relief, and the case in the south of the Yangtze River...
It was not until he heard the door of the next room open that Old Man Gu straightened up. "Tsk, so it turns out that Shen Qingshan is just trying to find someone to take the blame. I thought there would be some real drama."
In the year when the emperor first ascended the throne, there was a flood. The whole country had mobilized to provide disaster relief, but most of the money had been embezzled by corrupt officials. There were even some daring people spreading rumors that the heavens were dissatisfied with the emperor and had sent down such a punishment.
The rumors spread like wildfire. There was even an assassination attempt in the palace. The queen took a sword for the emperor, not only miscarrying but also hurting her health. It took several years for her to recover.
Since the emperor's foundation was still weak at that time and the officials protected each other, after much investigation, only a few scapegoats were caught. This incident had always been a thorn in the emperor's heart.
Old Man Gu stroked his white beard and murmured, "I thought Shen Qingshan would be more honest after all these years.没想到啊, he's still so vicious."
"Who does he want to shift the blame to? Someone who was an official in the court more than a decade ago and was most hated by Shen Qingshan... It's so easy to guess. It should be Sima Bai."
"Tsk tsk tsk, the political struggle in the court is really terrifying!"
Old Man Gu sighed with emotion. Suddenly, he remembered that the waiter had left out one piece of gossip. He quickly ran to the main hall.
The waiter was wiping the tables when he saw Old Man Gu pick up a rag and start wiping the tables with him. "What did you mean before when you mentioned something about swapping the dragon for a phoenix and the female marquis? What's the story?"
"Hey, old sir, you've come to the right person." The waiter blurted out. He first looked around. Seeing that Yan Mingli wasn't in the Drunken Melody Tower, he summoned up his courage to start chatting.
"Actually, the protagonist of this story is someone we all know. It's the mistress of the Drunken Melody Tower, your granddaughter - in - law."
Old Man Gu was startled. He wiped the table even more vigorously. "You mean Mingli's fiancée, Chen Miaochun?"
...
While Old Man Gu was catching up on the capital's gossips, Yan Mingli was taking Shen Baozhu around to collect rents.
He was holding a small notebook just like Shen Heqing's, but instead of poems and strategies, it recorded the rent collection situation of each household.
Yan Mingli bent down and pointed to a line in the notebook. "The rent for several nearby shops is collected once every three months, but only the Shanjiji Pharmacy pays rent once a month."
"The pharmacy is owned by Doctor Qian. Don't be misled by his surname. He is the least money - minded person. When he meets poor and pitiful patients, he not only waives the consultation fee but also sells the medicinal herbs at a much lower price."
"Because Doctor Qian is so kind - hearted, his income often falls short of his expenses. If we collect the rent once every three months, he may not be able to afford it."
The Dragon King: [So that's how it is.]
Yan Mingli put the small notebook into his sleeve and led Shen Baozhu into the pharmacy. "Doctor Qian, it's time to collect the rent."
Inside the pharmacy, a middle - aged man in a white robe was organizing the medicinal herbs. When he heard Yan Mingli's voice, he was first taken aback, then stepped forward nervously. He flattered, "Sir, you're here? Can I postpone the rent for a few days? Just a couple of days. I'll pay it as soon as I receive the consultation fees."
Yan Mingli frowned. "Everyone else pays the rent three months in advance, but you keep procrastinating. It's bad enough that you pay the rent monthly, but you're always late. Once or twice is okay, but now it's getting out of hand..."
"I know it's my fault, but I just used the consultation fees from a few days ago to buy medicinal herbs. There's really no money in the pharmacy. Once I receive the consultation fees in the next few days, I'll send them to the Drunken Melody Tower right away. Please give me another chance." In fact, Doctor Qian had prepared the rent a few days ago, but yesterday the family that had always supplied herbs to the Shanjiji Pharmacy had an emergency. They brought a batch of herbs on short notice. In order to help them, Doctor Qian not only bought all the herbs but also lent them some silver.
Doctor Qian's attitude was very sincere. Yan Mingli was willing to give in, but he couldn't show it easily.
Yan Mingli casually picked up a processed medicinal herb from the pharmacy and stuffed it into Shen Baozhu's hand. "This medicinal herb must be quite valuable, right?"
"It's not worth much. Miss can just play with it, play with it." Doctor Qian even took two more medicinal herbs and handed them to Shen Baozhu.
Shen Baozhu looked up at Yan Mingli. At his signal, she reached out and took the herbs.
For the sake of the medicinal herbs, Yan Mingli reluctantly agreed to Doctor Qian's plea. But before leaving, he kicked the wooden door of the pharmacy.
After walking some distance, when Yan Mingli took out the small notebook, Shen Baozhu asked curiously, "Why did you change your attitude just now?"
Yan Mingli waved the small notebook. "Of course it's because the rules cannot be broken. If I agreed so easily, other tenants would follow suit."
"So I had to pretend to be angry. When I couldn't get the rent, I took the pharmacy's medicinal herbs and kicked the door. Then others would just sigh about how unlucky the Shanjiji Pharmacy was to have such an unreasonable landlord like me, rather than criticizing Doctor Qian for repeatedly delaying the rent."
The Dragon King: [Suddenly I don't think Yan Mingli is a fool. He's quite smart.]
The Dragon King: [Indeed. The medicinal herbs aren't worth much, and the door wasn't even damaged. In the end, Yan Mingli still agreed to let Doctor Qian pay the rent late.]
Lin Yu: [Can Baozhu open your hand so that I can take a closer look at the medicinal herbs?]
The medicinal herbs that were not considered valuable by the Dragon King made Lin Yu so excited that he stood up.
Shen Baozhu obediently did as she was told. She glanced at Yan Mingli who was flipping through the notebook. The next second, the medicinal herbs in her hand suddenly disappeared. "Baozhu gives the medicinal herbs to Brother Lin Yu so that you can take a closer look!"