Chapter 19: What is the purpose of the late night visit?

Cheng Xianzhi found out their backgrounds from several porters, and it was exactly as Lu Tingwan had guessed that day in Zhichunli. They were porters commonly used by merchants, and their work was provided by merchants in the flower market. One of the merchants, named Sun Gui, was one of the owners of Xiangyun Pavilion. Further investigation revealed that this person was the second in command of the Chamber of Commerce.

Cheng Xianzhi had to use a lot of torture to pry this little information out of him.

But Lu Tingwan guessed most of it right based on his speculation.

Han Zhou sat in the Cheng Mansion's study, thoroughly investigating Sun Gui's background. "Sir, although Sun Gui is the vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, he can be said to have a very powerful influence in the business of Kyoto. He has many businesses, but everything that can make money has his name on it. In recent years, the flower business and house rental business in Kyoto have grown rapidly, and the profits are so high that it is not an exaggeration to say that he makes a fortune every day."

"So Sun Gui teamed up with the flower market merchants to suppress the farmers, and then sold the buildings to wealthy foreign merchants through the hands of Fang Ya, making a profit."

Cheng Xianzhi bent over his desk and read the files carefully, responding from time to time.

"With such a large-scale operation, can a businessman cover up Kyoto for several years?"

Han Zhou said: "Just as you expected, there is someone else behind this person."

Cheng Xianzhi slowly raised his head, leisurely twirled the jade ring on his thumb, and said in a melodious voice, "Have you found out?"

"He's definitely related to the Ministry of Revenue." Han Zhou stared at him. "The man who lives on Changqing Street, Luo Yunchu, known as Mr. Luo, is the nephew of the Minister of Revenue."

"The nephew of the Minister of Revenue, Kong Fan?" Cheng Xianzhi chuckled. "Luo Yunchu?"

"Luo Yunchu grew up freely in his mother's home, and was adopted into his maternal uncle's family, taking his mother's surname. Not many people know him. The fact that he became famous in Changqing Street and Fenglin Lane in Kyoto is partly due to Minister Kong."

When he questioned Luo Yunchu before, he didn't find out this level, and the information Lu Tingwan got back must have been partly learned from Luo Yunchu. Since Lu Tingwan has a close relationship with Luo Yunchu, does she know about his identity?

Cheng Xianzhi seemed to remember something and stood up to leave.

Before Han Zhou could even try to stop him, Cang Shu outside the study reminded him, "Sir, are you going out so late?"

"Um."

"Today is the fifteenth day. Someone from Yingyue Pavilion came to ask when you will be there." Cangshu was afraid that he would forget, so Gongsun Xue came to ask several times.

He paused for a moment and continued walking: "I'm going out to do something. Please see Mr. Han Zhou off for me. I'll come back later and go to Yingyue Pavilion."

The night wind blew leaves, and the maple trees moved rustlingly. Lu Tingwan sat at her desk, fiddling with beads. Zhichunli's business was growing bigger and bigger, and she had to manage the accounts, the business, and the purchasing all by herself. She did everything herself, and sometimes she felt overwhelmed.

Occasionally, important tasks would be assigned to Feng Xin, and accounting was also taught, but Feng Xin was a slow learner and had his own considerations on some details. Lu Tingwan felt that it didn't matter if he was a slow learner, as being able to think was a good thing.

An entire summer day unfolds amidst the chirping of cicadas in the Kyoto night.

A cool breeze broke through the windowsill, blowing up the papers on the desk. She was concentrating on her studies when suddenly there was a startling noise outside the window. The window frame was damaged by a hard object and stones rolled into the house. Lu Tingwan stood up to check and another stone fell in. Fortunately, she dodged quickly.

The windows on the first floor were also smashed. The people who had been causing trouble in Zhichunli in recent days came from where the weapons that had fallen into Zhichunli came from.

This was to warn her, Lu Tingwan, to restrain her edge. The sound of the night watchman outside the street entered Fenglin Lane, and the noise downstairs had just disappeared.

Lu Tingwan went downstairs, lit a candle, and carefully checked the damaged items. The windows on the first floor were closed tightly, and only the outer door was smashed. Fortunately, there was no damage inside.

The window on the second floor was open, allowing the stone to roll in. After confirming that nothing was wrong, he went upstairs to clean up. The fallen porcelain bottles were broken all over the floor. There will be more such things in the future. If we want to stop it, we have to solve it from the root.

Her heart was filled with heavy emotions. She patiently cleaned up the mess in the house, put away the accounts on the table, closed the window and prepared to return to Cheng's house.

The window was suddenly blown open by the wind. Lu Tingwan was startled, thinking that the group was waiting here. "Who? If you dare to take another step..."

"What's the matter?" A low voice broke into his ears. Lu Tingwan glanced sideways and saw a man in black standing under the windowsill. He hadn't broken into the house at night for a long time. Why did he come today?

"Yes, Lord Han?" Lu Tingwan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Shopkeeper Jiang, why are you still in Zhichunli so late?" He waited until Lu Tingwan could see him clearly before he came closer and found an empty seat in front of the desk to sit down. He glanced at the broken porcelain vases all over the floor of the study and the stones moved to the corner, and seemed to understand something.

"Lord Han?" Lu Tingwan said respectfully, "I wonder why Lord Han is visiting so late at night?"

Cheng Xianzhi glanced at her, a smile on his lips. "I received some letters tonight, and I wanted to ask Shopkeeper Jiang for advice. I wonder if you could help me with some of my questions?"

"Lord Han has great magical powers and can command the Imperial Guards. Why do you need me to explain things to you? This is really embarrassing for me."

"The clues that Manager Jiang gave me before seemed to have concealed something I didn't know, so I came here specially to ask for clarification, so as to avoid misunderstanding you and delaying our subsequent cooperation." He picked up an account book and flipped through it casually.

"Please explain clearly, sir."

"You have a close relationship with Luo Yunchu. Is he half the boss of your Zhichunli?"

"Luo Yunchu and I rented the shop. Initially, I was short of rent, so I asked Mr. Luo to deduct the rent with the future profits of Zhichunli. That's why there is a saying that he is half the owner of Zhichunli." Lu Tingwan explained in detail.

"Oh? Then do you know who Luo Yunchu is?"

Lu Tingwan didn't understand what this meant, "Isn't Luo Yunchu the same as Luo Yunchu?"

"You really don't know?" Cheng Xianzhi asked, "Minister of Revenue Kong Fan, do you know?"

"I've heard of this person."

"Luo Yunchu and he are uncle and nephew. The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of property taxes, and Luo Yunchu is the landlord of Changqing Street and Fenglin Lane. Do you think that Luo Yunchu can dominate these two streets? Is there any secret help from Kong Fan?"

Lu Tingwan was so flustered that he couldn't hide his panic: "Sir, I really don't know. I'm just a shop owner. How can I know about the shady operations behind this?"

"Besides, this is a matter concerning human life. How can I be allowed to speculate without any evidence? If Luo Yunchu is related to the Minister of Revenue Kong Fan, you can investigate this matter. Why are you asking me so late at night?"

Cheng Xianzhi smiled faintly, "You asked me to release those farmers from the Criminal Justice Department earlier, hoping that they wouldn't be oppressed by merchants. This year, Zhichunli opened up a sales channel for them. What about the future?"

Lu Tingwan just felt that this person was too cunning and she couldn't guess his intentions, so she didn't want to investigate the matter in depth and wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. But now it seems that Luo Yunchu is also involved in the game?

"How do you determine that those people are related to the Chamber of Commerce?" Cheng Xianzhi asked.

Lu Tingwan was stunned at first, but regained his composure after a moment. "It's just observation and speculation, but there's no real evidence. If I want real evidence, I'll have to rely on you, sir."

"Then you might have guessed that this Chamber of Commerce member is related to the Ministry of Revenue?"

She absolutely didn't believe that the people from the Chamber of Commerce could cover up the situation on their own without any officials mediating and opening up a channel.

"What did Lord Han find out?" Lu Tingwan said cautiously, "Actually, I don't want to know. Lord, you don't have to tell me everything."

"Want to play it safe, Shopkeeper Jiang?" That delicate face was cunning. "But it's too late."

"That man's name is Sun Gui," Cheng Xianzhi stared at him and explained to her, "He's from the Chamber of Commerce and has the backing of Kong Fan, the Minister of Revenue."

"My Lord, do you want to use me to find out information about Kong Fan's dealings with the Chamber of Commerce from Luo Yunchu?"

"Manager Jiang is indeed a smart man. I haven't said anything yet, but you said it." This was the purpose of Cheng Xianzhi's trip, indeed, but it was not the most important thing.

Lu Tingwan didn't want to agree. Cheng Xianzhi wanted to drag her into the game. Although she could get more information, it was enough to pass it on to the Queen Mother and get away with it.

As for Luo Yunchu, she wasn't sure if he was among them. If so, how would she cope? After further consideration, she decided to hide her identity from him. Everyone has had this experience.

Seeing that she looked hesitant and Cheng Xianzhi did not give in, she couldn't refuse this.

Outside, the night was dark and full-mooned. Cheng Xianzhi suddenly remembered something important and changed the subject, "Can I have a bottle of your Zhichunli Rejuvenating Cream?"

"Huh?" The man who was immersed in difficulty suddenly twitched his mouth, thinking he had heard it wrong.

Cheng Xianzhi concealed his embarrassment. He had never bought anything for a woman before. "I'll pay for it with money."

Lu Tingwan turned her back, pursed her lips and smiled secretly. After relaxing, she became bolder. "Master Han, are you trying to please the young lady?"

Cheng Xianzhi cleared his throat. For the first time, Lu Tingwan saw a look on his face that was not as cold as usual. She was at a loss for words for a moment.

Not long after, Lu Tingwan brought over a bottle of rejuvenating cream and handed it over, "Consider it my filial piety to you, sir."

Cheng Xianzhi didn't want it for nothing. He put some silver on her desk and went out through the window again.

Lu Tingwan looked at the silver buttocks, with a mixed feeling in his mind.

Moonlight enveloped the imperial city, the wind blew through Maple Forest Alley, the stalls were all closed, and midnight was quiet and silent.

Cheng Xianzhi entered the mansion and headed towards Yingyue Pavilion. Outside the back door of the Cheng mansion, a slender man dressed in men's clothes hid himself in darkness and disappeared stealthily into the night.

Gongsun Xue had not yet checked into bed. She was still wearing a thin red nightgown embroidered with mandarin ducks, leaning on the chaise longue, waiting for someone.

The voice of the maid outside the house greeting startled everyone, and they arrived.

Gongsun Xue walked briskly to greet him, her cold face blending with the moonlight. Seeing that he was holding a box in his hand, her eyes and brows were gentle, which made Gongsun Xue flattered.

"Master, the Master is back."

"Yeah." Cheng Xianzhi smiled at her and walked straight into the inner room. He poured himself a cup of tea and drank it before saying, "I should be here at midnight. I went to the Six Ministries for some urgent business. I passed by Zhichunli and brought you a bottle of rejuvenating cream. It's very popular in Kyoto these days."

"It's so late, isn't Zhichunli still open?" Gongsun Xue happily took the box.

"We're closed, so I asked the shopkeeper to keep it. Don't you like it?" Cheng Xianzhi didn't want to ask her more questions.

Gongsun Xue hurriedly explained, "I like it. Xue'er likes it. As long as it's a gift from the Lord, Xue'er likes it."

"Yeah." Cheng Xianzhi said nothing more and went into the bathroom to take a shower. When he came out, he saw Gongsun Xue was still awake.

In the past, every time he entered the clean room, he would not come out for a long time, and Gongsun Xue could not wait and fell asleep.

She had not yet checked into bed tonight. She saw a graceful figure in front of the dressing table. The lid of an exquisite porcelain jar was opened. She dipped a small amount of rejuvenating cream on her cheeks and then gently spread it. Hearing the movement behind her, she turned around again. The light engraved on her body was as beautiful as a blazing flame.

Before the person came close, Cheng Xianzhi smelled a strange fragrance, and the discomfort made him frown.

"My Lord, does it look good?" Gongsun Xue stroked her cheek, shy and charming.

Cheng Xianzhi just glanced at it and said perfunctorily, "Yeah."

His gaze was fixed on the window, not lingering on her for too long. The smell was pungent, and he didn't like it.

"It's getting late, Xue'er, go to bed." They would argue with each other every month. He suppressed his inner unhappiness but kept a pleasant expression on his face, showing no emotion.

Gongsun Xue immersed herself in his gentleness, hoping that her husband would one day stay with her. Cheng Xianzhi's fluctuating distance made her increasingly lose confidence. She had tried every possible method, and even the most unspeakable ones were beyond her reach. She had never heard of a man with such great willpower.

After Gongsun Xue got on the bed, Cheng Xianzhi had just sat down and hadn't even taken off his boots when Cang Shu's voice came from outside the room: "Master, has the master gone to bed?"

Gongsun Xue also half-supported herself as she listened to the noise. Cheng Xianzhi jumped up swiftly and asked, "What's going on?"

"There's an urgent message from the Ministry of Justice, asking you to go."

He pretended to be embarrassed and sighed deeply: "Alas."

"Master, are you going out again?" Gongsun Xue pulled a corner of his sleeve, her eyes full of reluctance.

"The Ministry of Justice sent a letter so late. If it wasn't something important, they wouldn't have come to my house to call me. I'm sorry, Xue'er." Cheng Xianzhi put on his coat, fastened his waist belt, and didn't let Gongsun Xue touch him.

"Once this case is settled, I will definitely take the time to spend time with you." He gave Gongsun Xue a reassurance before leaving.

Gongsun Xue watched him leave the room, leaving her alone in the empty room, under the lonely moon.

Her heart felt bitter and her eyes were filled with tears. The happiest time for her to see him was when he came from the Zhongshuling Mansion and asked her father to marry him.