“Your Majesty, I did indeed conceal some information from you. Qihuai County is not poor at all; in fact, it can be said to be the richest county in the entire Daqing Dynasty.”

"But Magistrate Tang Huan is not human!"

"Ever since the economy of Qihuai County started to develop... well, the word 'economy' was invented by Tang Huan, referring to the level of commercial development, he began to create obstacles for officials and wealthy merchants throughout Yingzhou, to the point that everyone had something on their hands."

At this point, Xie Wu looked heartbroken.

"Although I am honest and upright and have never committed any crimes, and am not afraid of his threats, many of my clansmen and friends have fallen into his hands. In order to protect my clansmen and friends, I have no choice but to go along with him!"

"This traitor deserves to die!"

Actually, even without him saying it, Wu Lanxi could guess the reason.

A dignified prefect was completely manipulated by a mere county magistrate, who controlled his every word and action.

What could be the reason?

They must have been caught red-handed, and with enough evidence to get them killed.

As for his claim of being incorruptible, Wu Lanxi would have to be out of her mind to believe it.

These days, it's easier to find a three-legged toad than an incorruptible minister.

"Xie Wu, even if you find many reasons, it cannot change the fact that you deceived the emperor. From this day forward, you are demoted to a commoner and sent back to your own territory to reflect on your actions."

Such a crime should, by all accounts, be punishable by death.

but……

Given that Wu Lanxi intends to give Tang Huan an important position.

If he had just killed Xie Wu, and then immediately summoned Tang Huan to the capital, it would be too embarrassing.

She still left herself a way out.

If Tang Huan performs well, or if it is later found that Xie Wu did indeed have merits and hard work, he can still be reinstated to his original position.

Xie Wu was surprised to find himself alive. He immediately expressed his gratitude profusely and left the Imperial Study on his knees.

As soon as he left, Lin Wan'er couldn't help but say, "This Tang Huan is really capable; he actually managed to force a dignified prefect into this state."

Wu Lanxi smiled slightly: "If he didn't even have this much ability, how could I dare to let him enter the capital?"

These ministers in the capital are all wolves and tigers.

Upon discovering Tang Huan's extraordinary abilities, they would undoubtedly be on high alert and would surely try to skin him alive.

She was willing to protect him.

But you can't protect him all the time.

Most of the time, he still has to rely on himself to protect himself.

In the days that followed, Wu Lanxi learned about the disaster situation in Kuizhou and Youzhou while having Lin Wan'er sell white sugar.

Although the disaster troubled her, Wu Lanxi was still in a very good mood as she saw large sums of money coming in every day.

However, while she was in a beautiful mood, Choi In-seo was in a rather ugly one.

After acquiring thirty-seven boxes of white sugar, he finally discovered the secret behind it.

"This jade is a damn fake!"

In the study, Cui Renshi was repeatedly handling the jade jar when he accidentally dropped it on the ground.

He turned pale with fright, only to see the jade jar bounce several times before finally lying neatly on the ground, completely unharmed.

"..."

Whose jade can withstand being dropped and broken?

If he still can't tell it's a fake, does he even have a brain?

So he overturned the table and started cursing.

At that moment, his son, Cui Yuanzhao, arrived at the door of the study.

A few days ago, he smashed up a brothel and caused trouble, and was punished with confinement and copying books.

With the help of the maid and page, he finally finished copying the book and came to receive his punishment with a thick stack of papers.

As soon as I reached the door, I heard a string of curses coming from inside.

"That damn grocery store, they dared to cheat me!"

"What exactly is this thing? It has the exact same color and texture as jade, but it can't be broken... Hmm, thinking about it carefully, since it looks exactly like jade and is even more durable, shouldn't this thing be more valuable than jade?"

"But it's not jade! A few fakes, a little sugar, and this box, and they're selling it for a hundred taels of silver? They're ripping me off!"

You should know that he didn't just buy one or two boxes.

It was thirty-seven boxes!

That means it cost a full three thousand seven hundred taels of silver.

Nearly four thousand taels of silver were spent on just a few pounds of white sugar, a few dozen boxes, and fake jade.

How could he not be angry?

White sugar tastes novel at first, but if sugar is always added to tea, it gets cloying after a short while.

The box and the jade could have justified the price, but it turns out even the jade was fake.

Isn't this a scam?

Bang!

He kicked open the study door, ready to confront the people at the grocery store.

To his utter dismay, he opened the door to find his good-for-nothing son standing there like a turtle with his neck hunched over, which only fueled his rage.

"You have no proper posture, neither standing nor sitting. What did your teacher teach you?"

Seeing that his father was in a bad mood, Cui Yuanzhao didn't dare to talk back, so he cleverly chose to change the subject: "Dad, which grocery store dares to cheat you? I'll smash it up for you."

Normally, Cui Renshi would have kicked him long ago upon hearing this.

But now, he was incredibly happy.

That shabby general store dared to cheat him, so they had to send their good-for-nothing son to cause him trouble, otherwise he wouldn't know how powerful they were.

"Good son, hurry up! It's that general store in the west of the city that sells white sugar. You can find it if you ask around. The jade boxes they sell for white sugar are all fake!"

"Find their manager and make them return the money to me, or else make sure they can't stay in the capital!"

Upon hearing this, Cui Yuanzhao chuckled and said, "No problem, Dad, just you wait and see!"

Normally, Cui Yuanzhao would do this kind of thing secretly.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!