Chapter 171 2/2

Mrs. Shen’s eyes lit up, “Could you please let me have a look?”

The innkeeper took out a painting and showed it to Mrs. Shen. After seeing it, she exclaimed, “It’s actually an authentic work by Zhou Dao!”

After speaking, Mrs. Shen couldn’t help but admire it without paying attention to anything else.

However, Shen Zhilan looked at the innkeeper warily. Being overly friendly without any ulterior motive was either naive or deceitful; what did this man want?

The innkeeper didn’t know what Shen Zhilan was thinking. He looked at Shen Zhilan and bowed, “Shopkeeper Shen, I’ve long admired you! I am the owner of the Yulong Trading Company.”

Shen Zhilan was surprised.

The Yulong Trading Company had suddenly expanded in recent years and was rumored to have a strong background. The owner of the Yulong Trading Company had always been very mysterious.

If this person was truly the owner of the Yulong Trading Company, then he wasn’t here for his wife but for him!

Shen Zhilan smiled, “So you’re the owner of the Yulong Trading Company, I’ve heard of you before!”

The two of them chatted and exchanged names. Then Shen Zhilan learned that the man in front of him, who had a scholarly air about him, was named Qian Fugui.

Shen Zhilan, with a round belly and a bald head, looked at Qian Fugui, who was handsome and well-built, and suddenly felt a sense of sympathy.

Qian Fugui’s name wasn’t a pseudonym; it was his real name.

The Qian family were merchants, and Qian Fugui’s father hadn’t read many books himself, so he simply chose names he liked for his children.

As a result, the eldest son was named Qian Fugui, the second child, a daughter, was named Qian Meiren, and the third child was named Qian Fufu.

Although the names of the Qian family members were plain, they were indeed good-looking. Qian Fugui had been a handsome child since he was young, and he grew up to be a dashing young man.

He had also studied books and passed the imperial examination as a child.

But he couldn’t bear the hardship of studying and didn’t enjoy it, so he didn’t continue.

His talent in studying was far inferior to his brother-in-law, who only passed the provincial examination in his thirties. If he had chosen to study, he might not have even passed the provincial examination by now… He was grateful that he had given up this path early.

Especially after his brother-in-law was beheaded. Qian Fugui intended to befriend Shen Zhilan, so he chatted happily with him. As they chatted, he mentioned that he wanted to do business in the south and wanted to travel south with the Shen family’s fleet.

Qian Fugui’s business was quite large, but his business was not in the capital.

King Yan was very cautious and always wanted him to develop outside. He only came to the capital twice a year to deliver money to King Yan before leaving.

And he did intend to do business in the south; that was a fact.

King Jin had some business in the south… King Yan wanted him to go and seize that business.

As for why he wanted to travel with the Shen family’s fleet, it was naturally to meet that Dusan.

This person portrayed his brother-in-law so well; perhaps he was his brother-in-law’s friend!

His sister had a total of three sons and two daughters, four of whom were confirmed to be gone, but his eldest niece, Li Zhuxing, might still be alive.

After the Li family had an accident, his eldest niece was driven out by her husband’s family… Was it possible that she had fled to the south?

Li Qingzhi didn’t know that his uncle was planning to go south to find his sister.

He also didn’t know that, in the eyes of many people, the original owner was as dead as dead could be.

After the original owner fled, the envoy arranged for people to catch him.

The people of Yuxian County actually liked Li Zhao, the county magistrate. They were dissatisfied with the envoy for saying he would provide disaster relief but didn’t do anything.

The envoy was very displeased.

The envoy searched everywhere for the original owner, and the people of Yuxian County told him that the original owner had been washed away by the flood.

Several villagers claimed to have seen the original owner being washed away, and the envoy believed them and didn’t continue to search—the envoy didn’t care about Li Zhi, who was just a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy.

At this moment, Li Qingzhi was interviewing people who wanted to become teachers at his school.

Among these people, there were a few he knew, and Yao Zhenfu was one of them.

But most of the people he didn’t know. At this moment, the person who was lavishing praise on him was someone he didn’t know.

“Mr. Li, there has never been anyone as intelligent as you in Chongcheng County for hundreds of years…,” the man in his twenties flattered incessantly, his face full of obsequiousness.