Chapter 66: Encounter

Wasn’t that obvious?!

Of course he knew to look for grain seeds!

But this person wouldn’t let him look for his dad, and he didn’t care. The other county magistrates would think Ren Zilin was just some nobody. How was he supposed to find grain seeds?

He was a proper young master. Why did he have to come to this godforsaken place to be a lousy county magistrate? Who was he doing this for?

Angry as he was, Ren Zilin thought for a moment and quickly wrote a letter back to the capital, inquiring about how many grain seeds each county had exchanged this year, to see which counties he could use his connections to get some from.

Then he thought of Wei Feng, who was far away in the Zhao Kingdom. He immediately wrote another letter, found Songbai, and asked him to send a message to Wei Feng to see if he could get one or two thousand *jin* of grain seeds from the Zhao Kingdom.

And the Jin Kingdom, the Yan Kingdom! He wrote two more letters and had people send them to the people over there, asking them to find a way to get some grain seeds for him.

After doing all this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But before he could fully relax, Assistant Magistrate knocked on the door and walked in with an ingratiating smile: “County Magistrate, do you know how many grain seeds Futai County has for the commoners to exchange this year? There are rumors on the street that a merchant returned from the capital and saw a notice posted by the Ministry of Revenue. They found out that our Futai County didn’t exchange for any high-yielding grain seeds from the Zhao Kingdom this year, but all the other counties did. Many commoners are coming to inquire. This isn’t true, is it?”

Ren Zilin’s face changed: “It spread that quickly?”

Upon hearing this, Assistant Magistrate’s face changed, and then he became anxious: “Sir, this isn’t true, is it? This could cost people their lives!”

Ren Zilin pinched the bridge of his nose: “I’ll find a way to deal with this. You can go out now!”

Assistant Magistrate went out, looking worried, but after he left, his worried expression vanished instantly.

He left the county yamen and rode away in a carriage.

Haha, the new county magistrate had messed up so badly, but he could soon benefit the commoners with the oil-saving lamps and gain tremendous merit!

He had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before he would be promoted and wouldn’t have to be constantly overshadowed.

He had really had enough of being a frustrated assistant magistrate!

After Assistant Magistrate left, Ren Zilin looked at Chu Tiankuo: “The whole county of Futai wouldn’t have heard about this, right?”

Chu Tiankuo didn’t speak.

When Prime Minister Liang made a move, it was always swift, accurate, and ruthless, leaving no room for reaction or any trace!

Back then, his maternal grandfather’s family was exterminated overnight, his mother was imprisoned in the Cold Palace, and his elder sister was forced into a marriage alliance. Weren’t all of these incidents swift, ruthless, and accurate?

Right now, only the commoners in the city probably knew, but by tomorrow, the entire county of Futai would know.

By then, commoners would definitely come knocking on their door.

Seeing Chu Tiankuo’s silence, Ren Zilin became even more afraid. He stood up anxiously: “I’m going out to see who the hell is spreading the rumors.”

~

Shen Xingnong was walking on the main street of the county town when she heard many commoners discussing the grain seed exchange. She knew from the original owner’s memory that there was indeed such a thing, but each household could only get one *jin* of the Zhao Kingdom’s high-yielding grain seeds.

One *jin* of wheat seeds wasn’t even enough to plant one *mu* of land. It wasn’t very useful, but it was already the hope of all the commoners.

Shen Xingnong went to the bookstore first.

An hour later, she went to the grain shop to buy grain seeds with ten taels of silver as a down payment.

Before she even reached the grain shop, she saw many people queuing to buy wheat seeds.

The people in the queue were discussing: “Shopkeeper, wasn’t the wheat seed twenty copper coins per *jin*? How come it’s become twenty-five copper coins per *jin*?”

“Yes, I bought it yesterday for twenty copper coins per *jin*.”

“The price has gone up today. Are you buying or not? If you don’t buy today, it might be even more expensive tomorrow! Don’t blame me for not reminding you.” The grain shop owner replied loudly.

Are you kidding me? Early this morning, there were rumors that the county magistrate of Futai County didn’t exchange for any high-yielding grain seeds from the Zhao Kingdom for the commoners this year. Wasn’t he taking this opportunity to raise the price and make a fortune?

Although he didn’t know if it was true, more people were coming to buy grain seeds, so he decisively raised the price.

Making more money for a day was a day’s worth.

Ren Zilin and Chu Tiankuo were walking on the street and happened to come here. Hearing these words, they were furious. “Black-hearted profiteer! I’ll issue an official document right away to forbid price gouging on grain seeds!”

Along the way, Ren Zilin found that many shops selling grain seeds had raised their prices!

Chu Tiankuo didn’t speak. Merchants valued profit, and there was no law against raising prices. It was inevitable.

He looked around and happened to see a familiar small figure. He walked over.

Ren Zilin also saw her and followed: “Junior Sister, you know about it too?”

Had the news spread to the villages below so quickly?

Shen Xingnong was puzzled: “Know about what?”

✿✿✿

Ren Zilin asked: “You’re not here to buy grain seeds?”

Shen Xingnong nodded: “Yes.”

“Then you must know. Otherwise, why would you be in such a hurry to buy grain seeds?” Ren Zilin was a little troubled. The Liang family’s dark hand really reached every corner of the Chu Kingdom!

Shen Xingnong: “…”

Where was she in a hurry?

Chu Tiankuo said: “Let’s find a place to talk.”

So the three of them went to Welcome Inn.

At this time, across from Welcome Inn, a carriage stopped in front of the restaurant. Shen Hanyu got out of the carriage.

Shen Nan, who was driving the carriage, stared at Welcome Inn across the street.

Shen Dong couldn’t help but ask: “What are you looking at?”

Shen Nan didn’t answer him. He said to Shen Hanyu, who had just gotten out of the carriage: “Master, Miss Shen.”

Miss Shen was actually walking with those two people, and they seemed familiar with each other.

Those two people were the ones Master hated to the core!

Hearing this, Shen Hanyu turned his head and looked over. He saw the three of them enter Welcome Inn together.

Surprise flashed across his eyes.

Chu Tiankuo and Ren Zilin were actually protecting her in the middle. What was going on?

Shen Dong widened his eyes upon hearing this: “Is Miss Shen the woman who made Master sign that unequal cooperation agreement?”

Wasn’t one of the two people beside her the owner behind Welcome Inn?

Master opened a restaurant to compete with Welcome Inn.

Could it be that the girl was a spy sent by Welcome Inn?

Shen Dong looked anxiously at Shen Hanyu: “Welcome Inn is really cunning. Knowing that we opened a restaurant here, they immediately sent a chef over and cheated us out of half of our profits. Master, we absolutely cannot trust that Miss Shen! She must be a spy sent by Chu Tiankuo. We can’t use her recipes anymore!”

“I know what I’m doing. When will the chef arrive?” Shen Hanyu withdrew his gaze and walked into Welcome Guest Restaurant, gently fanning himself with his folding fan.

Shen Nan: “It will take another half a month.”

Shen Dong glared at his younger brother!

It was all his fault for not stopping it back then!

“As soon as possible!”

~

There were four private rooms on the top floor of Welcome Inn.

One was for Chu Tiankuo’s exclusive use, one was for Ren Zilin’s exclusive use, and the remaining two were for external guests.

After Shen Xingnong entered the private room, Chu Tiankuo stopped Ren Zilin, who wanted to follow her: “Didn’t you say you wanted to issue an official document to forbid merchants from price gouging on grain seeds? Go!”

Ren Zilin: “No hurry. It can wait.”

He had a feeling that what they were about to say was very important!

Chu Tiankuo looked at him and said calmly: “Now.”

Ren Zilin: “…”

Ren Zilin walked away, muttering: “Too evil! I’m going to tell Zhang Ruohua that you’re having a secret meeting with another woman here! I’ll tell my sister to stop obstructing that witch from looking for you! I’ll also tell Zishan that you’re here…”

~

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