Chapter 170 3/3

If it weren’t for Li Qingzhi, I could definitely have taken first place!

Right now, he doesn’t ask for anything else, just hopes that in next year’s provincial exam, Du Yongning won’t be so audacious and reckless.

When Du Yongning was reading, more and more people in Jiang’an Province were reading this book, and some had even read it carefully from cover to cover.

“Many refugees from Yuxi Prefecture fled to our Jiang’an Province. At that time, I was unhappy because the government had to spend money to settle these people, but now… they were truly pitiful.”

“That Li Zhao was also pitiful, to be executed with his entire family.”

“I don’t know what that commissioner was thinking, actually not thoroughly investigating the matter!”

“I heard… that commissioner was affiliated with King Jin.”

…

In Jiang’an Province, after people read “Records of Fleeing from Famine” and “Strategies for Managing Water,” they couldn’t help but lament Li Zhao, especially in the capital.

“Records of Fleeing from Famine” is quite long. At first, many people just flipped through it quickly and didn’t finish reading it.

But after a few days, the first batch of people who got the book had already finished reading it. At the same time, in many places in the capital, storytellers began to read this book to people.

Ordinary folks don’t really like to listen to tragedies, but once they start… tragedies grip them even more, and they can’t forget them for a long time after listening.

“The people of Yuxi Prefecture were truly pitiful!”

“The Yuxi County magistrate was the same.”

“It’s not easy for anyone…”

…

Ordinary people only talked about the stories inside the book, but the scholars thought deeper.

As they chatted, they would inevitably talk about King Jin.

Time quickly passed to the nineteenth of November.

There will be a grand court session tomorrow, and at that time… the court ministers will definitely bring up what happened six years ago!

Mù the shopkeeper was very excited, as was Cháng Duān.

They both wanted to see King Jin’s misfortune!

Mù the shopkeeper continued to urge his subordinates to handle various matters and spread the evil deeds that King Jin had done. As for Cháng Duān, he sent an invitation to the head of the Shen family, inviting him to Qingyun Restaurant for dinner.

They will be eating his own special “Qingyun Banquet.”

The head of the Shen family is named Shen Zhīlán, and he has a younger brother named Shen Yùshù.

Their father hoped that his two sons would be like the Chinese idiom “a blooming orchid and a jade tree.”

But the head of the Shen family has never really liked his own name. This name just doesn’t suit him.

You see, the head of the Shen family has had a round face since he was a child, and has never been thin, and he’s not good at studying. These years… he’s even lost his hair!

He feels like he doesn’t deserve such a name as “Orchid.”

But he’s stuck with it, there’s nothing he can do!

Upon receiving Dùan Jìn’s invitation, the head of the Shen family was very excited.

Everyone knows that Dùan Jìn is not like ordinary cooks; he’s a favorite of Lǚ Qìngxǐ. Lǚ Qìngxǐ loves his cooking so much that no one dares to force him to cook.

There are very few people who can eat Dùan Jìn’s Qingyun Banquet, but as long as they can… they can boast about it for a long time!

Shen Zhīlán shared this good news with his wife.

Mrs. Shen was indifferent.

Since she came to the capital, she had been browsing for calligraphy and paintings in various shops in the capital and had found quite a few good things.

She preferred to stay at home and look at calligraphy and paintings rather than go out to eat.

Shen Zhīlán coaxed his wife, “I heard that the Qingyun Liquor at Qingyun Restaurant is the best strong liquor in the world. Don’t you want to taste it? And the spicy dishes at Qingyun Restaurant…”

His wife didn’t like alcohol much, but she loved to try various new things.

Mrs. Shen perked up when she heard about Qingyun Restaurant: “Qingyun Restaurant sounds interesting… It wouldn’t hurt to go take a look!”

That night, Shen Zhīlán took his wife out to Qingyun Restaurant.

At the same time, in a garden in the outskirts of the capital, the head of the Qián family received the information his subordinates had investigated about Shen Zhīlán.

The Qián family used to be a wealthy merchant in a small county.

In their county, the Qián family was one of the wealthiest merchants, but because the county where the Qián family was located was not prosperous, the Qián family’s property was only as much as Wú Báichuān’s, far less than the Shen family’s, and not even comparable to Zhū Qián’s.

At that time, the head of the Qián family hadn’t thought about going out to make a name for himself; he thought it was fine to stay in their own county.

But then his brother-in-law had the misfortune of being killed by people associated with King Jin. It was said that King Jin even planned to eradicate their entire family… so he followed Duke Yān.

Without the tranquility of their former life, the head of the Qián family was initially uncomfortable, but as time went by… he made a thriving business.

With the support of Duke Yān, doing business was really easy! Duke Yān even arranged for him to obtain some mines and arranged for people to dig them!

The head of the Qián family now manages more businesses than the Shen family.

But the money earned from the industries under his control mostly goes to Duke Yān. Although the Qián family itself has more money than before, compared to the Shen family, it’s unclear how much less they have.

Duke Yān has always kept the head of the Qián family hidden in the shadows, so the head of the Qián family rarely appears in public, and not many people know about him.

But now… he plans to make contact with Shen Zhīlán.

He has already found out that “Records of Fleeing from Famine” was brought to the capital by Shen Zhīlán, who might know Dūsan.

The head of the Qián family has already read both “Records of Unjust Cases” and “Records of Fleeing from Famine,” and now he really wants to meet Dūsan.