Gu Shiliu suppressed his anger and resentment, and asked, "Why can't you take a look at these poems first? They were written by my sixth master and several other scholars who formed a literary society. The Vice Minister of Rites and the Education Commissioner both said they were very well written."

The bookstore owner sneered, "It's just empty talk from people out of politeness. How can you take it seriously? Everyone knows that Sixth Master Gu of the Dingbei Marquis's mansion is fond of indulging in refined pursuits, frequenting brothels, and boating on the lake. His poems are utter nonsense. Don't embarrass yourself here. The Dingbei Marquis cherishes his younger brother, but others don't either."

Gu Shiliu really wanted to punch someone, but thinking that he still had many things to take care of today, and that he would not be able to travel outside after the mansion was sealed off tomorrow, he stopped arguing and turned to leave.

The bookstore owner, however, had not yet finished speaking and shouted loudly behind him, "I advise you crude and vulgar warriors not to presume to make us scholars bow and scrape with money. Being able to secure a wife and children through military merit is already a blessing from your ancestors. How can such an elegant thing as studying be forced?"

The crowd that had stopped to watch the spectacle burst into laughter.

Gu Shiliu just turned his head and spat, ignoring him.

Lord Gu was very strict in managing his troops and would never allow his subordinates to bully others. Moreover, the Marquis of Dingbei's mansion was going through a turbulent time, and he could not do anything that would damage the prestige of the mansion because of a verbal dispute.

Gu Shiliu thought to himself, if the biggest bookstore couldn't do it, there must be other bookstores or book shops willing to do it.

Unexpectedly, he was rejected everywhere he went. Gu Shiliu was so angry that his eyes turned red. He grabbed the owner of a small bookstore and asked, "Why are you rejecting me without even looking at my poems?"

“Even our small business has its rules. The owner of Shuhaige has said that if anyone tries to take a large sum of money to get Tian into or out of that poetry collection, they will be going against Shuhaige.”

Gu Shiba was devastated.

This is absolutely outrageous.

Shen Changle said, "It's just that I haven't heard much about him from the humble family of the Imperial Academy. This man is humble and arrogant. He expected that when the results were announced, he would be a retired scholar. Even if he wanted to enter officialdom and be humiliated, he didn't get selected. Instead, he opened a bookstore in the capital. I became friends with several retired scholars from the same batch, and they paid us a lot of money to annotate the policy documents of past dynasties. Soon, the business took off. The reason I targeted him like that was because I had fallen into my old habit of being self-righteous again."

Gu Shiba said, "Oh dear, Marquis's Mansion, if that matter is settled, he won't be your bad half-brother. Does he know anyone who can help you mediate?"

Judging from that, even if I go to the provincial capital, I'm afraid no one will be willing to agree.

Shen Changle laughed and said, "That's for sure. The owner of Shuhai Pavilion is a Tongtuishi (a scholar who has passed the imperial examinations) from the eighth rank. Does he even know what a Tongtuishi is? Although he is a rank lower than a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examinations), he is looked down upon by the Tongtuishi from the first and seventh ranks. Nobody said that a Tongtuishi was like a concubine. Isn't a concubine a primary wife? Comparing a Tongtuishi to a primary wife and a Tongtuishi to a primary concubine—how sharp are scholars when they get mean? Nobody has even written a couplet about washing the feet of a concubine and being granted the Tongtuishi title."

“If the eighteen brothers trust you, I might as well tell you something. We all serve our master and hope he does bad things. Besides, eight cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang.”

The person didn't look familiar, but Gu Shiba remembered seeing him somewhere before.

The lady is amazing, and her maid is amazing too.

Gu Shiba understood the situation and said, "Our small businesses rely on our own abilities, so why are they so afraid of me?"

"Bad taste," Gu Shiba said with great admiration.

Shen Changle asked, "The eighteen brothers don't seem to have anything on their minds. Could it be that they're worried about the task Brother Shen assigned to them?"

"The eighteen brothers are busy inside every day, so they probably remember you. You are Madam's maid, Shen Chang Le."

Gu Shiba asked, "How would it be considered bad?"

Shen Changle laughed and said, "Come on, go find Madam."

“What’s so difficult about that?” Shen Changle smiled, his eyes narrowing into slits. “You can tell from the figure of the Eighteenth Brother that he has encountered difficulties. When you talk to him, he is full of sorrow. Obviously, it is his private matter, but it is something that Tian Jin asked him to do. That matter is important and very important. The Eighteenth Brother just wants to do his best to accomplish it.”

Gu Shiba had been on the go for half a day and hadn't eaten yet, so he dragged Tian Jinlun to a teahouse for tea and ordered two bowls of braised pork noodles. By the time the noodles were served, Shen Changle and Gu Shiba hadn't yet become close buddies who could talk things out.

After saying that, he buried his head in his noodles and started eating.

Gu Shiba couldn't help but laugh and praised, "If it were the Marquis's mansion talking about those things, how would a martial artist like you know anything about them?"

Gu Shiba hurriedly picked up his chopsticks and finished the noodles in a few bites, while Shen Changle hadn't even eaten half of them.

Gu Shiba chuckled, looking expectantly at Shen Changle, waiting for my next chapter.

"The essays published by Shuhaige sell well every year. Scholars only recognize the essay collections published by Shuhaige. If you are greedy for the Marquis's big money, Shuhaige will allow you to sell essays exclusively, but your shop will have to close down. It is really too much to offend you."

“Oh…” Gu Shiba remembered and said, “You went to Jizhou a while later, and after resting for a couple of days, you were busy there again. You saw Tian Jin quite often.”

Gu Shiba: "?"

Gu Shiba and I chatted for a few minutes.

After finishing his noodles, Shen Changle stretched lazily before saying, "He must have developed this habit from following Brother Shen in the army. You see how young soldiers eat like that. I should have advised him that it's bad for him to eat like that now that he's older. When he's younger, his stomach will be better."

Shen Changle took it to heart and said, "You're always running around inside. The madam's dowry shops are all under your supervision. None of them are large shops in the West Market. They're all in remote locations with large areas. You were just thinking about what kind of business to do, but now the mansion is going to be sealed off."

Shen Changle mumbled, "He'll eat the noodles first, then you can tell him that if the noodles get soggy, he's guaranteed to mess things up."

I haven't been able to deliver on any of the tasks that Brother Gu Chen assigned to me. I haven't even submitted the memorial today, and the Marquis is going to seal it off tomorrow.

Shen Changle's gentle and understanding appearance immediately won over Gu Shiba.

Gu Shiba asked curiously, "How did he know?"

Gu Shiba had no choice but to put that matter aside for now and investigate the Xu family. However, he realized that the Xu family's affairs could be thoroughly investigated in a day or two.

Tian Jinlun said, "If that matter had been with someone else, it might have been successful, but since you met me today, and it concerns your Qin family's Master Duo and Master Gu, you should be able to find a way to get it done."

"You should go to the teahouse and discuss this."

Gu Shiba was inevitably disheartened. I held my head high, kicking at the pebbles on the road, but I heard no one calling me from ahead: "Brother Shiba, is he alright?"

"You uncouth people are used to that kind of behavior; please excuse the rudeness of the Marquis's residence."

"It's unclear what kind of business you're in. The smallest source of income from your annual book sales is from literary works, followed by storybooks, while poetry collections and the like only make up the majority. If no one wants to become famous, you can spend some money to find someone to carve and print the books and do some private printing business."

I turned around and saw a round-faced woman with a kind face smiling at me.