Chapter 106 Having More Children My family fortune is vast; one child isn't enough…

Zhuang Ziyang's two short letters caused quite a stir in the court the following day.

Sure enough, the Minister of Revenue immediately began to recommend Zhang Youdao for his many merits during his tenure as an official in Songshan Town, and to recommend him for the position of Vice Minister of Revenue.

Very well, a salt transport commissioner, a third-rank official, can jump to the position of vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue by pulling some strings, which is a second-rank official.

Zhuang Ziyang snorted through his nose.

Officials immediately came out to refute the Minister of Revenue, and one after another, people stood up, as if they had all planned it together.

The Minister of Revenue was isolated and helpless at the morning court session, besieged by the court officials and forced to retreat step by step. Fortunately, he received a few words of support from Lord Ji, which prevented him from being too embarrassed.

But Zhang Youdao's path to promotion as Vice Minister of Revenue was completely blocked. He was only assigned a lateral transfer to the position of Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, a third-rank official position that was a powerful post in Songshan Town, but it was not enough in the capital.

Furthermore, Madam Zhang had given a gift to the Minister's wife that day, and had heard that the Chaoyang Teahouse in the capital was quite popular, and that the teahouse had a particularly unique flavor.

The next day, he came to Miaoxiang Tea House with Madam Ji. The servants in the house would come to the tea house after receiving the news.

After ordering tea, the two sisters leaned against the window and chatted idly. Both were married and had children, and their conversation consisted mainly of subtle boasting and mutual flattery.

The days they spent together enjoying the company of their parents gradually became a bond, binding them together by the fate of their families. Yet, it could no longer make them as close as they once were.

"Sister, you're living a very glamorous life these days." Madam Zhang glanced at the waiter, seemingly somewhat displeased that the tea hadn't been served yet.

"The capital is full of storms and waves; how can it compare to my sister's leisurely life in Jiangnan?" Madam Ji covered her face slightly, her words revealing whether she genuinely envied her sister's comfortable life or was subtly criticizing her brother-in-law's incompetence.

Madam Zhang coughed softly, interrupting her conversation. "Why is the tea taking so long? Really!" she said, glancing out the window at the street. The sound of horses' hooves approached from afar, drawing their attention.

After the carriage came to a stop, Chen Junbo got out and hugged Li Yang again. The two chatted and laughed as they entered the teahouse, and neither of them noticed the person in the upstairs window.

"Why is the Zhuang family's carriage here? This young lady looks familiar," Madam Ji remarked casually, seemingly unconcerned.

"Sister, you have such a bad memory. This young lady is the young mistress of the Chen family whom we met at the temple yesterday." Madam Zhang hurriedly reminded her, and couldn't help but wonder why Chen Junbai and Li Yang would come to this teahouse in the Zhuang family's carriage.

Just as the two were feeling lost, the waiter brought in tea. Madam Zhang had no appetite for the tea and was still lost in thought. Her sister, Madam Ji, urged her, "Try it quickly. The tea here is special; I doubt you've ever had it in Songshan Town."

Madam Zhang laughed and said, "Sister, you're really something. This Songshan Town is so rich, what kind of tea haven't you tried?"

Even so, it didn't dampen my spirits, and I picked up my cup to drink tea.

this!

Madam Zhang immediately recognized it as the 'Kuilong Pearl'.

"What does this tea mean, sister?"

"Isn't it unique?" Mrs. Ji was still showing off.

Madam Zhang frowned deeply. She couldn't possibly fail to recognize it; this tea was clearly 'Kui Long Zhu'. If the tea here was 'Kui Long Zhu', then this teahouse…

"Sister, who owns this teahouse?"

Seeing her startled reaction, Madam Ji couldn't help but give her an even colder look. This younger sister had only been away from the capital for a few years, yet she already acted like she'd never seen the world. "She's a tea lady from Jiangnan."

What a charming tea lady from Jiangnan! If she isn't Chen Junbai's wife, then who is she?

No wonder that girl stopped coming after she ignored her a few times. Madam Zhang figured this out and felt that she had been tricked by that girl. She slammed her hand on the table in anger.

"What a brilliant feint!"

Mrs. Ji was startled by her. "What's wrong with you?"

Madam Zhang composed herself and said, "Sister, do you remember when I mentioned the 'Kuilong Pearl' to you?"

"Of course I remember," Madam Ji said, raising an eyebrow.

Madam Zhang: "This tea is 'Kuilongzhu'! The people who got off the carriage just now were Chen Junbai, a salt merchant from Jiangnan, and his wife Liyang."

Mrs. Ji was greatly surprised upon hearing this.

"These two were causing trouble for Zhang Youdao over the Yu Liyin matter, so I cut off that girl's tea sales to teach her a lesson. Who knew that girl would come twice and then disappear? It turns out she came to the capital to sell tea on her own." Madam Zhang said, her nose crooked with anger. "Good, good, what a shrewd girl!"

Mrs. Ji still couldn't believe it. "You're saying that the people who got off the Zhuang family's carriage just now were Mr. and Mrs. Chen Junbai?"

"Absolutely true!"

At this moment, a maid from the Ji household ran in from outside the door and whispered in Madam Ji's ear, causing Madam Ji's expression to change immediately.

She looked at Madam Zhang for a long time before sighing and saying, "Zhang Youdao's next appointment is set; he will be in the capital."

Madam Zhang was overjoyed upon hearing this, "That's wonderful, thank you, sister."

"Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices".

Those four words struck him like a thunderbolt: "What? Not the Vice Minister of Revenue?"

"What are you yelling about!" Madam Ji was also in a bind upon hearing the news. "Think carefully about whether your Lord Zhang has offended anyone. Today, the Minister of Revenue was besieged at the morning court for trying to get him nominated. He only knows how to pull strings, but he doesn't know how to clean up his mess. What trouble has he gotten himself into all day long?"

As her sister's words became increasingly offensive, Madam Zhang could only endure it.

"By the way, you said that salt merchant had a grudge against your family?" Madam Ji suddenly asked.

"yes."

Madam Ji snorted coldly, "Hmph, that's right. Those who besieged the Vice Minister of Revenue at court this morning were all Zhuang Xiang's protégés. I think this salt merchant is more capable than Zhang Youdao."

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves, got up, and was about to leave.

Madam Zhang quickly followed.

The people the two sisters were discussing were currently holed up in their room, chatting idly.

Li Yang asked urgently, "Chen Junbo, what exactly did you say to my mother that day?"

After the banquet today, her mother took her hand and led her into the room, talking for a long time, telling her to live a good life with her son-in-law.

When did these two become so intimate that they even called each other "son-in-law"?

Li Yang reasonably suspects that Chen Junbai has used a curse on her mother.

The man stood with his back to the window, chuckling softly without answering.

That day, he made a pact with his mother-in-law that if he ever wronged his wife, she would transfer all of the Chen family's assets to Liyang's name and tell him to get out of the Chen residence.

Miss Zhuang, of course, did not believe it.

He said at the time, "I will only marry Zhaozhao in this life. If she leaves me, I will have no more children. What use is this family business to me?"

The next day, a contract was drawn up and sent to the Zhuang family.

Li Yang urged, "Chen Junbo, are you going to talk or not?"

He smiled and said, "I told my mother that I would only have children with you to inherit our entire family business."

Li Yang was dumbfounded. How could this person be so shameless? "What nonsense are you spouting in broad daylight?"

“You know, my family has many businesses, one child might not be enough, we should work harder.” Chen Junbo smiled sideways.

"You really said that to my mother?" Li Yang couldn't help but believe it a little. Ever since this man came to the capital, he had been speaking in a rather wicked and frivolous way.

The young couple were fooling around in their room, but other people's rooms might not be so lively.

At the Ji residence, Lord Ji, having been upset during the day, was also furious upon seeing Madam Ji's younger sister. After the morning court session, he went straight to Madam Ji's room and did not see her until almost dinner time.

Madam Ji lost a lot of face in front of her sister, and all her anger was directed at Madam Zhang.

Madam Zhang was thoroughly scolded by her sister. All the maids and servants in the room walked to the door with blank expressions, but the door could not stop her sister's screams.

She was both angry and full of sarcasm. "Sister, no matter how domineering you are, you can only lash out at me. If you're so capable, go to the concubine's room and drag your brother-in-law out!"

After this mental adjustment, I didn't feel that side of my face was burning anymore.

After calming down her sister and carefully considering the matter, the two quickly concluded that Zhang Youdao's misfortune was definitely related to the two people from Songshan Town.

However, the two men couldn't find any connection between Zhuang Xiang and the other man. After much deliberation, they concluded that Zhuang Xiang had deliberately recruited the tea lady to improve his reputation, since all the waiters in the capital now knew about the tea lady's drought relief efforts.

The two found this reasoning quite reasonable. "Hmph, Zhuang Ziyang wants to gain fame. This is no simple matter. I heard the master mention that Consort Li has tried to win over the Zhuang family several times, but the old man just can't seem to get to the bottom of it."

As Madam Ji said this, she sent a servant to her concubine's room to fetch her husband, saying, "This matter concerns Prime Minister Zhuang."

Madam Zhang couldn't tell whether her sister had truly gone to ask her brother-in-law for something of great importance, or simply that it was something so important that she had to ask him for help.

Lord Ji had been invited, and after listening to Madam Ji's words, he found them quite reasonable. He then instructed the two to prepare to enter the palace the next day to pay their respects to Consort Li.

The communication between Lady Ji and her elder sister was clearly very efficient. The next day, Lady Ji and Lady Zhang received a summons from Consort Li to bring their sister-in-law from their maternal family to the palace.

"Are you saying that this Mrs. Chen, the wife of General Manager Chen, is the Tea Lady that's all the talk about on the streets these days?" Consort Li asked, glancing at Madam Zhang's rambling and wiping the dust off her fingernails.

If my younger brother hadn't been so playful and ruined his reputation, he wouldn't have ended up with this family of in-laws. Fortunately, my sister-in-law is somewhat capable; she hasn't caused any trouble in recent years. But why are her sisters so nagging?

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty has excellent eyesight." Madam Zhang was taken aback and responded cautiously.

Consort Li continued fiddling with her nails and didn't reply, only giving a soft "hmm".

Madam Zhang pursed her lips and looked to her sister for help.

Seeing that her sister was truly unable to lift her head, Lady Ji quickly chimed in, "Your Majesty, that's not all." She rose and took a few steps closer, saying, "This couple also got in through Lord Zhuang's connections."

Consort Li: "Zhuang Ziyang?"

His gaze was fixed on Mrs. Ji's face, clearly showing great interest.

Lady Ji: "Your Majesty, that's right."

Consort Li narrowed her eyes, pondered for a moment, then glared at Madam Zhang and said, "Why are you offending the salt merchants when you should be serving as officials in Songshan Town?"

Over the years, Consort Li has been paving the way for the Fourth Prince, extending olive branches to many court officials. However, Zhuang Ziyang is a tough nut to crack, but fortunately, Prime Minister Zhuang is not like the Second Prince, so they have temporarily put him on hold.

Now that salt merchant couple has gotten in through Zhuang Ziyang's connections, and since this couple has both been enemies with Zhang Youdao, wouldn't that push Zhuang Ziyang to the opposite side?

Thinking about it this way, she felt even more that Zhang Youdao's family was incredibly stupid.

Madam Zhang's knees buckled, and she knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, please understand! I have been wronged!" She cried out, but seeing that Consort Li's expression remained unchanged, she changed the subject, saying, "Zhang Youdao only thought that the surplus silver could help Your Majesty and the Fourth Prince, so... who would have thought that Chen Junbai and Lin Yihuai were in cahoots!"

She was at her wit's end. Seeing that Consort Li was blaming her, she could only think that by giving up some money she could save the Zhang family.

Consort Li listened to her nonsense and sneered, "It's all just money anyway. You shallow-minded people. The most important thing now is the future of this dynasty. Can you help me? And can you help the Fourth Prince?"

After a scolding, she finally agreed, "You may all go back now. I am aware of this matter."

The two took their leave, and a man dressed in a dark green long robe emerged from the inner room. He had a small mole at the corner of his upturned eye and looked remarkably like Consort Li, exuding charm and allure.

Consort Li: "What do you think?"

The man said, “Mother, since Zhuang Ziyang is involved, we cannot take this lightly. However, there is one thing I don’t understand: when did Zhuang Ziyang get involved with the salt merchants of Jiangnan? As far as I know, the salt commissioner Lin Yihuai is not Zhuang Ziyang’s protégé.”

Consort Li: "Zhao'er is right."

The man was none other than the fourth prince, Li Zhao. Because of his appearance, which resembled that of Consort Li, he was the most handsome among all the princes. He was also quick-witted and was usually favored by Emperor Qing.

Li Zhao: "Mother, please don't disturb me. I will go to the Zhuang residence to find out what's going on."

Consort Li: "There is one more thing that I need you to do personally."

After receiving his instructions, Li Zhao strode out the door.