Seeing that Pei Yanzhi still ignored him and was only walking outside, Yao Zhijie quickly grabbed him and stared at him, asking, "Seriously, are you in such a hurry to go back to visit your sick cousin, or your Miss Jiang?"

"Read the book."

"...?"

"I need to prepare for the imperial examinations."

"Are you kidding me? You still need to study? There's nothing in the Four Books and Five Classics that you don't know. Come on, let's have a drink. It's been so long since we drank together."

In the end, Pei Yanzhi was forcibly dragged to the tavern by Yao Zhijie.

As soon as the strong liquor was served, he couldn't resist drinking a bowl.

"It smells so good."

"Of course, this is the most authentic baijiu from the North, without any added water."

The boss, sporting a goatee, said with pride that he recognized Yao Zhijie and quickly gave him a plate of boiled peanuts in salt water.

"Sir, this isn't your first time here, is it? This plate of peanuts is a gift from me. Thank you for your patronage."

"Hahaha, then I'll accept it without hesitation."

Yao Zhijie didn't refuse. He even had a drink with the boss before chatting and drinking with Pei Yanzhi.

Pei Yanzhi's left hand injury has now fully healed, but he hasn't drunk much.

Yao Zhijie, on the other hand, drank bowl after bowl until the chill dissipated.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, Yao Zhijie gazed at the desolate world and the heavy snow falling from the sky.

After a long silence, he suddenly spoke.

"What are your plans regarding what I told you last time?"

"...What is it?"

"What about handing over your daughter, Ms. Jiang, or divorcing her?"

Holding a wine cup, leaning against a pillar, Yao Zhijie looked at him with a surprised expression, his voice trailing off.

"No way, you're not telling me you didn't take it to heart at all? I don't believe you didn't notice that these merchants were falsifying accounts with the help of those aristocratic families and court officials."

“They disregard the law and regulations, and outwardly comply but inwardly defy it. We were just looking for an excuse to take action against them, and now they've come to us on their own. Perfect.”

Upon hearing Pei Yanzhi's words, Yao Zhijie's wine cup fell to the ground with a "clatter." Noticing that the other drinkers were looking over, he quickly bowed and apologized, then lowered his voice.

"Didn't you just make an example of them? Did you also send people to investigate who was behind them?"

“Of course, I’m eating the king’s food and sharing his worries. They’re obstructing the new tax, so I’ll not only collect the tax, but also expose those who’ve been playing tricks behind the scenes,” Pei Yanzhi said matter-of-factly.

"..."

Yao Zhijie looked at him in disbelief.

"You're insane!"

"You're really crazy!"

"You've already offended a lot of people since you were in charge of commercial taxes. Now that they're plotting against you behind your back, just pretend you didn't see it. Anyway, once you make an example of them, they'll be scared and the taxes will naturally come in. Then you'll be able to explain yourself to His Majesty."

"If you really find out who's behind you, you'll offend even more people."

"Leave a way out for everything, so you can meet again in the future. You can't possibly not understand such a simple principle, can you?"

"We're all officials in the same court, why go to such lengths to kill each other? Even if we have to kill them all, we should promote ourselves first before we start killing them!"

"Yes, how can I get up if they don't come down?"

Pei Yanzhi gave a cruel smile, glancing at Yao Zhijie, "The fastest way to get promoted is to pull down those above you, step on them, and use them as stepping stones, isn't it?"

As he spoke, he casually brushed the snow off his sleeve.

They spoke casually, as if discussing something unimportant.

Yao Zhijie almost broke apart.

Are you that ruthless, bro?

My understanding of you was too superficial before.

Waaaaah~~

Scary~~

Swallowing hard, Yao Zhijie continued, "What do you plan to do about the Crown Prince's investigation into your wife? Those who should be brought down must be brought down, but those we can't afford to offend, we still can't afford to offend!"

His words did indeed cause Pei Yanzhi to fall silent for a while.

Yao Zhijie stared intently at him, and finally he uttered two words.

"We'll see."

"..."

!

We'll talk about it later.

If you had even half the ruthlessness you showed just now, you would have already pushed your wife out to appease the public anger.

With his brows furrowed, Yao Zhijie felt that even the wine didn't taste good anymore.

The next day was the grand opening ceremony.

Early in the morning, Yao Zhijie entered the side hall to wait for the court session.

He had offended many people because of the commercial tax, and no one greeted him, so he found a corner to sit in.

He ate half a steamed bun with a gloomy expression, and thinking about his conversation with Pei Yanzhi last night, he couldn't help but sigh deeply.

"You still know how to sigh? You didn't think about the consequences when you rushed forward." His father, Minister Yao, looked at him with a sneer.

"..."

No, Dad, do you think I'm sighing because no one is on my side?

I'm doing this because of my brother's divorce from his wife.

Yao Zhijie grumbled to himself, but he didn't dare tell his father about it, since it was a secret that Jiang Shuwan was the mastermind behind the commercial tax.

Just then, Pei Yanzhi entered, dressed in a sky-blue official robe, a style that everyone disliked and officials avoided at all costs.

“Pei…”

As Yao Zhijie raised his hand to greet him, he saw Pei Yanzhi bump into a civil official.

"Ah, my jade pendant! This is a family heirloom bestowed upon my family by the late emperor! Give me back my jade pendant!"

"Lord Liu, it was you who bumped into us..."

"Nonsense! How could I have hit you? You're the one who hit me and broke my jade pendant, and you won't admit it! Everyone, come and judge for yourselves! Give me back my jade pendant..."

A group of people immediately surrounded the side hall, and Yao Zhijie squeezed in as well.

He pushed through the crowd and looked at the jade pendant that had been smashed to pieces on the ground. It was indeed an old object bestowed by the emperor.

"Hey, isn't this Lord Liu, the Junior Master of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices? Why is Lord Liu here trying to extort money instead of preparing for the spring sacrifices?"

As he spoke, Yao Zhijie stepped forward.

"Who are you calling a scammer? He's the one who hit me, everyone saw it."

"Yes, we all saw it."

"Young Master Pei, it's not that we're taking advantage of our age, but you were the one who broke the jade pendant. Everyone saw it. Would we, your seniors, possibly wrong you?"

"Yes, yes, we all saw it. Does Lord Pei have the courage to drastically reform the new taxes, but not even the courage to admit his mistake?"

"I don't ask for much. As long as we're colleagues, I just need Lord Pei to apologize to me and give me an exact replica."

Upon hearing what Shaoqing of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices said, Yao Zhijie almost laughed in anger.

He looked at the crowd that had gathered around him. Some people were indifferent to his affairs, some had ill intentions and were eager to watch the drama unfold, and some even became witnesses for the other side.

Deliberately making things difficult.

They came prepared.

They even made use of the jade pendant bestowed upon them by the late emperor.

That's really generous.

Looking at their side, they were completely unprepared, the other side had so many witnesses, and his father wasn't there either. What were they to do, isolated and helpless?

Thinking of this, Yao Zhijie felt a chill in his heart. Where could he find an identical jade pendant bestowed by the late emperor?