Just as Chief Secretary Xie had predicted, Prince Wen's trip to Xinliang was indeed postponed again and again.

While waiting for Manager Mu and the others, Qi Chenglang finally rushed back without stopping. After presenting the secret letter to Gu Yuzhi, he tilted his head back and drank three bowls of tea in a row before he felt like he had come back to life.

He casually wiped his mouth and tossed the bowl to a servant: "Your Highness, the Emperor has already captured Zhang Si, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Justice is trying to pry information out of him about Li Ji Trading Company's purchase of salt permits."

Gu Yuzhi tilted his head and thought for a moment before realizing that the matter of Li Ji Trading Company purchasing salt permits must have been handled by this person named Zhang Si.

The fact that my elder brother arrested him means that this person must be a big bad guy!

Gu Yuzhi snorted loudly, and a gust of cold wind carrying a strange smell suddenly blew in. Gu Yuzhi felt a tickle on his nose and sneezed several times in a row.

He quickly wrapped the white fox fur cloak tighter around himself, burying his face in it, and said in a muffled voice, "Master Xie, close the door quickly, close the door quickly."

Oh no, oh no! If Judge Qin finds out I sneezed, he'll definitely force me to take my medicine!

Even though Prince Wen is older and more mature, he is still extremely afraid of Chief Secretary Xie's black medicine.

Just as Xie Changshi was about to speak, his nose twitched slightly. He glanced at the innocent-looking Guard Qi beside him, sighed deeply, and carefully moved to the side. He said in a low voice, "Your Highness, the sun is shining brightly in the courtyard, and the plum blossoms are in bloom. It's the perfect time to admire the flowers. Why don't we go and enjoy them?"

The plum blossoms in the courtyard were planted by Granny Xu after the snow melted this year. They are located next to the small garden in the backyard, and there are only four of them.

Since winter began in northern Mobei this year, those plum trees have become bare. Gu Yuzhi thought that Granny Xu had bought the wrong variety, but a few days ago, the bare branches were covered with flower buds.

Gu Yuzhi was eagerly anticipating the plum blossoms blooming when he heard what Xie Changshi said. His eyes lit up, and he jumped off the chair and headed for the door, not even caring whether his sneezing meant he had caught a cold and needed to take medicine.

After leaving the council hall, he suddenly remembered: "Guard Qi, continue, has Zhang Si confessed yet?"

Guard Qi exchanged a somewhat resentful glance with Chief Secretary Xie, the meaning clear: Why did you interrupt me? Don't you know I'm tired? I want to rest, not admire some plum blossoms!

Chief Secretary Xie sighed softly, fanned his nose with his hand, and then made a vomiting motion.

With a look of terror in his eyes, Guard Qi slowed his pace under Chief Secretary Xie's calm gaze, falling several steps behind the young prince before leisurely following behind.

People's hearts have truly deteriorated to this point!

He traveled across mountains and rivers, covering thousands of miles, day and night, almost breaking the legs of his Akhal-Teke horse to bring back the latest news, but he didn't expect that Chief Secretary Xie would be more concerned about him not having taken a bath!

Saying she wanted to go outside to admire the flowers was clearly just a way of complaining that he hadn't had time to change his clothes.

Qi Chenglang's eyes were full of condemnation, but when he was under the plum tree, he couldn't help but think of how the little prince had sneezed earlier. He stood downwind as if to accept his fate: "When I returned, I hadn't heard the news of Zhang Si's confession yet, but the Ministry of Justice found a lot of silver in Zhang Si's house. This matter has caused quite a stir in the capital, and the people are all talking about it."

The fact that it sparked discussion among the people meant that the amount of silver and money Zhang Si's family had collected was enormous; otherwise, it wouldn't have caused such a sensation.

This is the second time in the year since the emperor ascended the throne that he has ordered the Ministry of Justice to confiscate a person's property.

Qi Chenglang scratched his head and chuckled, "When I met with Minister Su, I asked him about this matter..."

He deliberately lowered his voice: "Vice Minister Su said that the Minister of Revenue has been walking with a brisk pace these past two days, saying that Zhang Si's family's money has made up for a lot of the Ministry of Revenue's deficit."

The previous emperor passed away that year, and the new emperor ascended the throne. The ceremony for establishing the empress was held one after another, which indeed cost the Ministry of Revenue a lot of money.

Gao Shengliang had previously submitted a memorial proposing to replenish the national treasury with salt permits, but according to reliable sources, the emperor suppressed the memorial.

Seeing the smile in the young prince's eyes, Gu Yuzhi continued, "Your Highness, I have another piece of good news. Minister Su has given me a clear reply, saying that as long as all procedures of the Mobei Merchant Guild are in compliance with regulations, the Mobei Salt Certificates will not fall into the hands of other merchants."

"Minister Su?"

Gu Yuzhi was hopping around trying to reach a blooming plum blossom, because Teacher Shu had said that if this plum blossom were placed in a vase on the table, it would make the whole room feel more vibrant.

He didn't understand what it meant to make a room feel alive, but he had recently been learning to paint from Xie Changshi, and he wanted to paint this plum blossom and send it to his mother along with dried flowers.

He wanted his mother to know what he was like in the Northern Desert, and he also wanted his mother to know more about the Northern Desert, so that when he came of age and brought his mother over, she wouldn't be too unfamiliar with the Northern Desert.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yuzhi looked at Qi Chenglang and asked, "Guard Qi, you've seen Minister Su? Is he in charge of the salt permits?"

He rolled his big eyes, clapped his hands with a chuckle, and said, "That's great, we don't have to worry about Li's Trading Company anymore."

The news recently spread by the guards in the manor is that Li Yanping has finished checking the accounts and is now ordering various shops to raise money, and the money shops in Changzhou are no longer able to exchange money.

When he takes the silver to the capital, haha, he'll find out he's not qualified to buy salt permits. He'll definitely be so angry he'll vomit blood!

Manager Wen, beaming with joy, said, "Your Highness, I estimate that once the salt permit matter is resolved, Li's Trading Company should have little chance to cause trouble for the Wen family."

Gu Yuzhi's eyes widened: "Why?"

Wasn't it precisely because they didn't want Li's Trading Company to vent all their hatred on Wen's Trading Company that they formed the trading guild?

Why did Li Ji Trading Company suddenly stop having the opportunity to cause them trouble?

Wen Xiuzhu waved his fan, his eyes narrowing with laughter: "Because I didn't know, Li Ji Trading Company's backer in the capital has fallen."

If it weren't for the secret letter the young prince wrote to the emperor, which caught the emperor's attention, Zhang Si, the official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, would not have been exposed.

Zhang Si used to be in charge of the specific matters of salt permits. Even if the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue saw the Wen family business and guessed something, he would only ask Zhang Si to give some share, instead of cutting off the future path of the Li family business like this!

Wen Xiuzhu previously strongly disagreed with His Highness telling the Emperor everything, saying that serving the Emperor was like serving a tiger. As a former imperial merchant, Wen Xiuzhu felt this particularly keenly.

Because of the system, his initial goal was to make the young prince extremely wealthy, thus completing his mission and smoothly moving on to the next task.

But after spending so much time together, Wen Xiuzhu admitted that his heart had been warmed by the young prince, and his concern for the young prince was heartfelt. So his goal became to make the young prince secretly become extremely wealthy.

Having too much money will arouse the jealousy of others, and even a prince cannot avoid it!