Jing Zhe's answer immediately drew unanimous eye-rolls and disdainful "tsk"s from the three women.

Jing Zhe didn't feel embarrassed and continued, "Madam Feng is ultimately a businesswoman. After I revealed my identity, even if she had the intention, she didn't have the guts to make those kinds of demands. So, she started negotiating prices with me."

"So, in the end you agreed to the price she asked for?"

"Yes, it wasn't a high price anyway, so I agreed."

"Fifteen thousand taels isn't high?"

At this moment, Qingqiu blurted out her name.

"Fifteen thousand taels?"

Pei Yunxi and Lin Wan'er were stunned when they heard this, while Qingqiu realized she had spoken out of turn and her face turned red. She could only look to Jing Zhe for help, but Jing Zhe shrugged and said helplessly that he could not help her.

Pei Yunxi and Lin Wan'er reacted quickly and knew what was going on. Lin Wan'er crossed her arms and said, "Oh, Third Sister, you still say you didn't lie? You still say you didn't contact him? You even know exactly how much he negotiated in business. Do you think Fourth Sister and I are fools?"

"This...that..."

Qingqiu stammered. Although she was used to telling small lies thanks to Jing Zhe's influence, she was really at a loss when it came to dealing with this unexpected situation.

"Fourth Sister, Seventh Sister, do you think it's possible that Third Sister happened to be passing by the Feng Family Restaurant, and I happened to be near the window of the private room she was walking by, the window happened to be open, and I happened to be speaking very loudly, so..."

"Who are you talking to all this time? What, does Third Sister think we're fools, but you think we're fools too?"

"..."

After being glared at by Pei Yunxi, Jing Zhe immediately surrendered and stopped talking.

Subsequently, Qingqiu, whose affair was exposed, was inevitably subjected to a barrage of criticism from Pei Yunxi and Lin Wan'er. Although she was the third sister of the two, because she was in the wrong, Qingqiu, who was being lectured by the two, could not stand up for herself at all. Instead, she lowered her head, twisted her hands, and looked no different from a little girl who had done something wrong.

As for Jing Zhe, perhaps because Qing Qiu took the blame for him, or perhaps because everyone felt that he was just making a habit of lying, no one thought of teaching him a lesson, and he was happy to be left alone.

Originally, Jing Zhe planned to buy some things after leaving Feng Family Restaurant and then visit Qingyun Sect with Qingqiu. However, things changed, and Qingqiu was "captured" by Pei Yunxi and Lin Wan'er and taken back to the Lin family. Jing Zhe had no choice but to follow.

The two women chattered on and on all the way to the Lin family's gate, and Jing Zhe even felt a little sorry for Qingqiu.

"Fourth Sister, Seventh Sister, this... can't be that bad, can it?"

The two women immediately turned around, their sharp eyes landing directly on Jing Zhe. "What, are you going to stand up for Third Sister?"

"..."

Jing Zhe glanced at Qing Qiu, then at the furious Pei Yunxi and Lin Wan'er. Under Qing Qiu's hopeful gaze, Jing Zhe lowered his head and said, "Um... I just wanted to ask, if you two sisters have nothing else to do, I'll go ahead and get back to work?"

Jing Zhe felt it best not to get involved in this war between the three women, lest he get caught in the crossfire. They were very close sisters and would probably get along well with each other in private, so... he decided to leave it at that!

"Go quickly!"

"It's in the way here!"

"..."

...

After being scolded by Pei Yunxi and Lin Wan'er, Jing Zhe went straight back to the street.

He originally wanted to go to the Feng family to meet the wealthy Feng, so as to give Madam Feng and Magistrate Xu a surprise—the more you don't want me to meet the wealthy Feng, the more I'll go to meet him!

The two men came up with so many reasons to stop him, but Jing Zhe didn't believe it was really because they were kind-hearted. They must have some secret. However, after thinking about it, he decided to go to the yamen first.

After all, although the guarantee was written, the Feng Family Restaurant still did not belong to him until the money was paid. The most urgent thing now was to get the money.

Upon arriving at the yamen, Jing Zhe went straight inside.

The constable, who had been dozing off at the door, suddenly perked up: "What are you doing?"

The constables guarding the gate never had the chance to attend the Peach Blossom Poetry Gathering, so they never saw Jing Zhe.

"How dare you! This is President Jing!"

Before Jing Zhe could speak, a constable passing by the door saw him and immediately ran out.

"Open your dog eyes and take a good look! This is President Jing from Jingzhou. How dare you stop him?"

Although he was cursing, he was actually trying to defuse the situation, and the two constables guarding the gate immediately became respectful.

Jing Zhe was not angry, and asked directly, "Is Prefect Xu here?"

"Reporting to Chief Jing, our Prefect is here. Should I go and fetch Prefect Xu?"

Jing Zhe thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "No need, I didn't come here to see him."

"..."

The constable was speechless. Why are you asking about Magistrate Xu instead of Magistrate Xu? Besides, if you come to the yamen and don't look for Magistrate Xu, are you looking for a criminal?

"Oh, right, take me to the prison now. I'm going to see those monks we arrested from Peach Blossom Temple today."

Jing Zhe said.

"The prison?"

"What, it's not okay?"

"No... Magistrate Xu just happened to be in jail too..."

"..."

...

Master Kongjing, the former abbot of Peach Blossom Temple, was a childhood friend of Prefect Xu and an old friend. He was not a monk before and even had a family. However, his family suffered a misfortune, and his wife and children passed away one after another. That's why he became a monk and went to Peach Blossom Temple to become an ordinary monk.

Wherever there are people, there is a social dynamic, and temples are no exception.

Although Master Kongjing was old, he joined the temple late and inevitably suffered from exclusion and bullying. Later, when he learned that his childhood friend had become the governor of Jiangling, he came up with an idea.

Thanks to his relationship with Prefect Xu, mainly by giving Prefect Xu a lot of money and making promises, the two hit it off and he became the abbot of Peach Blossom Temple. He also dismissed all the monks who had bullied him before and replaced them with his own people.

Subsequently, they focused on making Peach Blossom Temple bigger and stronger.

Over the years, Master Kongjing gave Magistrate Xu more and more incense money, so the two developed a deeper "friendship". Seeing Master Kongjing arrested, Magistrate Xu was also uncomfortable, because no one would support him anymore.

However, he wasn't actually too worried.

He felt that the reason Jing Zhe made things so difficult for Master Kongjing was because he felt he had been extorted for incense money and lost face. He was a young man, and with such a high official position, he was naturally very concerned about his reputation, which was understandable.

Furthermore, Jing Zhe is also a greedy person, and he also wanted to take this opportunity to ask for more money. Now that he has gotten more than a thousand taels of silver from Master Kongjing, he must be satisfied.

So all they had to do was detain Master Kongjing for a few days, and then release them once Jing Zhe left Jiangling. However, Prefect Xu was still quite cautious, and he planned to give Master Kongjing a few more instructions.

————