Chapter 183: Master Shen

"My Lord! My Lord! The Supreme Court Justice has brought people to our house! Are they here to kidnap someone?!"

Zong Yongzhao was holding a cup of tea and was about to drink it, but when he heard this, he didn't even bother to drink it. He put down the cup and stood up. He was so agile that it was completely unlike himself.

"You said Shen Zigeng is here?! What is he doing here? I'm going to meet him."

What did the Dali Temple Minister want to do by visiting the Ministry of Justice for no reason?

Shen Yuan stood outside the Ministry of Justice with his father. The clerks inside were trembling with fear, but they stared at them responsibly, fearing that the father and daughter from the Dali Temple would set the Ministry of Justice on fire if they were not kept a close eye on them.

"Dad, can't we bring a few more people? The people from the Ministry of Justice won't beat us, right?"

Shen Yun was calm and composed. "They are useless. If they dare to make a move, Dad will just lie down and tell them off. Don't worry, it will just be a quarrel."

Not long after, Zong Yongzhao came out, followed by several people from the Ministry of Justice.

"Mr. Shen, are you free again at the Dali Temple? You actually have time to come to our Ministry of Justice today?"

"Humph, I really don't care about your territory. It's just that the emperor asked you to learn how to draw the portraits of prisoners. And after all, we are officials in the same court, so it's my duty to teach you. It's all for the people. Hurry up and get your painters ready."

Shen Yuan stood obediently beside her father. She had never seen her father speak like this in her life...

Zong Yongzhao had almost forgotten about this matter, but when Shen Yun mentioned it today, he remembered it. Although he was still quite dissatisfied, the emperor had spoken and they had no choice but to obey.

It's unacceptable to give a good face to the Dali Temple Minister. Zong Yongzhao snorted coldly, and he snorted so hard that the flesh on his face trembled.

"Let the painter handle the painter's business. You, the Minister of Justice, have too much free time to come to my house for such a small matter."

Shen Yun stepped aside and pointed, "This is my daughter, didn't you forget? The Dali Temple Minister naturally doesn't need to send a painter, isn't it natural for a father to send his daughter? You Ministry of Justice, I dare not let her come alone. Oh... I almost forgot, you don't have a daughter, you won't understand even if I tell you."

After all, Master Zong was an elder. When Shen Yuan saw her father introducing her, she still bowed obediently and said, "Hello, Master Zong."

Facing Shen Yuan, Zong Yongzhao's expression softened a lot. He nodded to her and turned to Shen Yun and said, "Your daughter is much more likable than you. She has been sent away. Shen Siqing should go back, right? Our Ministry of Justice is not a place where people are eaten. Our Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple are not on good terms, so I will not bully the little girl."

"Dad, you go back. I'll go back to the Dali Temple by myself after I'm done."

After all, she is now a member of the Dali Temple. Even if she is just a small painter, she has official duties to attend to. How could she go out on "business trips" and bring her father with her?

Shen Yun also thought of this, and gently told his daughter, "Okay, even if they don't dare to bully you, come back and have dinner after you finish your work."

"Master Shen, come in. Shen Siqing, you can leave now."

Shen Yuan waved to her father and entered the gate of the Ministry of Justice. Zong Yongzhao stared at Shen Yuan with a sullen face, but Shen Yuan was a brave girl and did not show any shyness coming here alone. When Minister Zong stared at her, she looked back.

"Hey! I remember your name is Shen Yuan?"

Shen Yuan replied with a smile, "Yes, sir." In her opinion, Lord Zong was white and plump, and he was not scary no matter how gloomy his face was.

"Well, don't worry. We won't implicate others in the feud between the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple." Zong Yongzhao looked him up and down, and said, "We won't anger the kids either."

"Oh, okay, thank you, Master Zong."

As we were walking, someone came up to us and said, "Sir, our two painters are ready."

"Well, you can take this painter Shen over there so that our people can learn well."

Shen Yuan brought his family with him, so he didn't have to prepare anything. He just followed them.

The two painters from the Ministry of Justice had pretty good painting skills, but they had never been exposed to charcoal painting before. When Shen Yuan taught them, they learned very carefully and did not look down on her just because she was a little girl.

As it was getting close to noon, Shen Yuan stopped talking and put away his things. He said to the two of them, "That's all for today. You guys practice first, and I'll talk about the rest next time."

After she drew it last time, she went back and thought about it herself. For example, the light would make the face look different depending on which direction it came from. It was not necessary to do all these just to draw a suspect, but she thought it was interesting and wanted to give it a try.

Before going back, Shen Yuan made a special trip to see Lord Zong.

"You're leaving now? You're not going to stay for dinner? The food in our Ministry of Justice is better than that in the Dali Temple."

Shen Yuan thought that seeing you like this, he knew that the food in the Ministry of Justice must be pretty good!

"Thank you, sir, but I won't need it."

"Hmph, if you don't want to eat, forget it. I'll have someone send you back to the Dali Temple."

This time Shen Yuan did not refuse and thanked him obediently.

When Shen Yun saw his daughter coming back, his first words were, "How was it? Did the people from the Ministry of Justice give you any trouble?"

"Of course not. Master Zong invited me to have dinner with him."

"We in the Dali Temple don't eat the food of the Ministry of Justice. Go to the small kitchen at the back and I'll have someone cook for you."

"Does this count as using public power for personal gain?"

Shen Yun chuckled, "You are quite considerate. Dad paid for it out of his own pocket, so it can't be considered selfish."

It's not just the Dali Temple, other government offices can do this too. If you want to eat something different one day, you can pay the kitchen to make it for you.

But on weekdays, few people do this. It's just a lunch, and it doesn't matter what you eat. Salaries don't come from the wind.

"Okay, then let's have lunch together. And Mr. Xie, I'll go call him!" Shen Yuan said while looking at her father.

"Go if you want to, and watch what I do."

She had been to the Dali Temple several times and didn't need anyone to lead her. She already knew where Xie Hui's duty room was, but she had never been there before.

The door of the duty room was closed. Shen Yuan knocked on the door and pushed it open when he heard someone say "come in".

When Xie Hui saw that the person who came was Shen Yuan, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he quickly stood up, "Manman, you're back. I heard from my uncle this morning that you went to the Ministry of Justice."

"Well, I just came back. I came to ask you to have lunch with me and my father later." Shen Yuan looked at the case files on his desk and said, "I just want to tell you. You go ahead and do your work. I'm going to leave first."

Xie Hui's duty room looked similar to her father's, except that the duty room of the Dali Temple Minister was still larger than that of the Shaoqing.

"I'll be done soon here too. Are you tired this morning? Why don't you go inside and take a rest?"

Shen Yuan refused solemnly, "What are you talking about, Master Xie? I am now a painter in the Dali Temple. How can I rest here with you, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple? This is not good."

Xie Hui said softly, "I didn't think about it enough. See you at noon, Painter Shen."

——Zongdaren Small Theater

After Master Zong returned home, he called his son ×3.

Mr. Zong: What did you do today?

Xiao Zong 1: I went to a poetry reading with some classmates.

Mr. Zong: What poetry gathering? Who is there at that poetry gathering? Wouldn’t it be better for you to stay at home and give me a granddaughter?

Xiao Zong 1: Dad… I’m not… married yet.

Xiao Zong 2: Dad, I will try my best to give birth to grandchildren.

Xiao Zong 3: Dad, your grandson is not even a year old yet... It's not okay to favor sons over daughters, and it's not okay to favor daughters over sons either, Dad.