After the system reminded her, Yan Shu remembered everything.

——This

Luo Zhixue was a classmate of her father, but he was a few years younger. He had some talent, but his family was relatively poor.

When her father had passed the imperial examination and was working in the county government, Luo Zhixue was preparing to go to Beijing to take the exam, but because he really couldn't afford it, he almost missed the exam time. Her father

was a righteous and honest man who couldn't bear to see his friends in trouble, so he secretly took out the 20 taels of silver that had been saved for a long time in the family to renovate the old house and lent it to him, so that he could take the spring exam smoothly.

Yan Shu still vaguely remembered the scene of that night. Her father gave money to this man under the pretext of taking her out to play. After receiving the money, this man burst into tears and vowed to repay them in such and such a way when he came back...

The next day, this man left with a plate. However, her mother found out that her father had borrowed money from others, and the two had a big quarrel.

Fortunately, not long after, the news of this man's passing the imperial examination came from the capital. Her father was naturally happy, thinking that his help was not in vain. Her mother was also happy, thinking that the twenty taels of silver could finally be returned, and the dilapidated old house could finally be rebuilt.

But after the imperial examination, this man did not even return home, but went directly to the neighboring Jihe County to serve as the county magistrate, and did not return a penny of the silver.

Seeing the old house leaking and damp, her mother became anxious again and urged her father to go to his house to ask for the money.

However, before her father could go, the Luo family moved their family to Jihe River overnight, leaving no copper coins behind.

As a result, her mother was naturally angry again, but her father still held on to some hope, thinking that the Luo family was just busy with government affairs and temporarily forgot about the money.

Until one day later, when her uncle was transporting food from another place to his home and passed by Jihe County where the man was, he was detained by the government for an unknown pass.

After hearing the news, the family was extremely anxious, and her father hurried to Jihe River, trying to find the man through the back door for the first time in his life to plead for mercy. But after waiting for three days, the Luo family did not see him at all.

Later, her father, who had been wronged by her, had to scrape together a fine of 20 taels of silver for her uncle and brought him back.

Since then, her father has been disappointed with this man named Luo.

Who knew that this man would rise higher and higher in rank, from a county official to a state official, and later entered the capital, and now he has become the deputy envoy of the Salt and Iron Department?

Yan Shu was furious. Isn't it that God is blind!!!

After listening to her memories in her heart, Yuwen Lan nodded silently. It seems that God is indeed a little blind in this matter.

I didn't expect that the deputy envoy of the Salt and Iron Department, who was carefully selected by the Ministry of Revenue, would be such a scum.

With such a bad character, I don't think he will do his job well. It seems that this matter needs to be considered again.

Just as she was thinking this, she saw Yan Shu, who was still furious in her heart, suddenly greeted the man with a friendly look -

"Isn't this Uncle Luo?" After

the voice fell, everyone in the palace was stunned.

What?

Who is Concubine Yi calling... "Uncle Luo"?

Is it the new deputy envoy of the Salt and Iron Department who just entered the palace to pay tribute to the emperor?

Of course, he is the only one with the surname Luo in the palace at this time, and everyone has clearly heard him introduce himself as Luo.

So for a moment, everyone cast their eyes on this person.

The Minister of Revenue, his superior, was also surprised. He looked at Luo Zhixue and then bowed to Yan Shu and said, "Does Concubine Yi know Lord Luo?"

Yan Shu smiled and said, "I think this Lord Luo looks very familiar. May I ask if Lord Luo is from Ande County, Qingzhou Prefecture? He was the county magistrate of Jihe County more than ten years ago?"

After saying this, the Minister of Revenue looked back at his new subordinate and said in surprise, "Is it really Lord Luo? You actually know Concubine Yi?"

Tsk tsk tsk, who doesn't know that Concubine Yi is the most favored nowadays, and who doesn't want to have a relationship with Concubine Yi? Who

didn't expect this person to be so low-key?

However, Luo Zhixue, the person involved at this time, was stiff all over and didn't want to admit it.

——Yes, of course he knows that the most favored concubine now is actually the daughter of his old acquaintance Li Huaizhi.

Of course he still remembered that he still owed the Li family twenty taels of silver...

After high school at that time, it was not that he had not thought about paying back the money, but he did not have much money at the beginning.

Thinking that he was a boy from a poor family and had to deal with all kinds of officialdom, it was still very difficult at first.

However, after he became successful and became rich, he was afraid that the Li family would get involved with him, so he simply ignored it.

He was thinking that with Li Huaizhi's rigid character, he would only be a small-time official in Ande for the rest of his life. He thought that even if his family had moved away, he would probably never meet the Li family again in this life.

Who knew that the Li family would have such a prosperous day?

However, no matter what the Li family is like, his career has to continue.

He finally made it all the way from that small place to the capital, and now he has become a close minister to the emperor. He originally didn't want to show up in front of Concubine Yi today, but his boss, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, had to pull him in to say hello, so he had to bite the bullet and come in.

He originally planned to say hello and leave quickly, but Concubine Yi recognized him at a glance.

At this time, he had to bite the bullet and say, "It is indeed the minister."

What should I do? Is this little girl going to expose the old things on the spot?

But just as he finished speaking, Concubine Yi smiled and said, "It's you. Weren't you and my father good friends? I remember you often came to my house for dinner when you were a child."

Luo Zhixue had to bite the bullet and smile, "That's right, your majesty has a good memory."

Yan Shu smiled and said, "It's not that I have a good memory, it's mainly because I have a particularly deep impression of you. I still remember that when you were going to Beijing to take the exam, you didn't ask for help, and it was my father who lent you twenty taels of silver. At that time, you excitedly told my father that you must repay us when you pass the exam, and you must give us a mansion and a lot of gold in return."

After these words came out, Luo Zhixue's face turned red like blood, and he was extremely embarrassed.

But at the same time, he was a little doubtful -

he didn't seem to have said anything about spending a fortune at the beginning...

However, how could he refute it now? He could only smile and nod, "Yes, that's true..."

Everyone saw it, but they all secretly clicked

their tongues - why did he look a little unsure?

Didn't you pay me back later?

Sure enough, Yan Shu said, "But I didn't see you again. I heard that you went to Jihe County next door to serve as the county magistrate. One time, my uncle was transporting grain from another place, and somehow he was detained in your Jihe. My father went to look for you but couldn't find you. I heard that you were very busy at that time. You must have devoted yourself to the court. Otherwise, how could we meet here today?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone tried to guess the hidden meaning -

it sounded like a story of ungratefulness and turning against one's friend.

And Luo Zhixue was about to die of embarrassment.

He could only say, "I am ashamed. After so many years, I have forgotten what happened at that time... Maybe I was not in Jihe at that time, so I did not meet with Zhongyibo."

However, the king had already grasped the key point. He immediately looked at Zhongyibo Li Huaizhi and asked, "Why was the grain detained?"

To be honest, Li Huaizhi did not want to pay attention to him today, but when the king asked, he could only stand up and say, "Your Majesty, my brother-in-law was transporting grain back to Ande's home from other places. Maybe the official who issued the pass was careless and wrote "粟" as "栗". My brother-in-law was also not well-educated and did not pay attention to it. When they arrived at Jihe, the local yamen runners detained my brother-in-law and the grain on the grounds that his pass did not match the goods, and said they would fine him 20 taels of silver."

"My father-in-law and Zhuo Jing were extremely worried, so I rushed to Ji River overnight. I thought it was just a misunderstanding and wanted to find Lord Luo to explain the situation, but Lord Luo was busy, and I stayed there for two days without seeing him."

At this point, everyone was very concerned, and even the Queen Mother couldn't help asking, "So what happened later?"

Li Huaizhi lowered his head and said, "I'm not afraid of the Queen Mother laughing at me, but I brought There was not much to say, so he had to pawn some of his valuables and ask local fellow villagers to scrape together 20 taels of silver to pay the fine and redeem his wife's brother and food. " The Queen

Mother sighed and said, "This is indeed a bit pitiful. The official wrote a wrong word and you deducted 20 taels of silver."

After the voice fell, everyone nodded, thinking that the family of the Earl of Loyalty was too unlucky.

But the king asked Luo Zhixue, "How long could twenty taels of silver support an ordinary family back then?"

Luo Zhixue dared not lie in front of everyone, and could only say honestly, "Your Majesty, twenty taels of silver can support an ordinary family of six for a year." As soon as she finished speaking

, Lady Zhu, the wife of the Earl of Loyalty, who was sitting next to Yan Shu, could not help but refute in her heart -

twenty taels of silver a year was the expense of a wealthy family. She, who had such an unfortunate husband, often saved money to help others, and sometimes only spent fifteen or sixteen taels a year.

At this time, the king said to the man surnamed Luo, "The official made a mistake in writing, but the government used this to embarrass the people and fined them one or even two years' expenses? Is this reasonable?"

After the words fell, many officials present were also sighing in their hearts -

indeed, the Jihe County government is not only rogue but also cruel, it is making money by exploiting the people!

Luo Zhixue immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. This law was formulated by the state government at that time. I have also advised my superiors, but my words are not taken seriously. Moreover, there were indeed some small yamen runners who were unkind and took advantage of their power to bully others. When I found out, I would severely punish them, but there were always things I could not take into account."

Of course, everyone understood that this matter had happened more than ten years ago, and it would not be so easy for the king to trace it back.

But... there is something waiting for Luo Zhixue right now, he still owes money to the Zhongyi Marquis's Mansion!

Just as he was thinking about this, he saw Luo Zhixue immediately bowed to Zhongyi Marquis Li Huaizhi, and said with a face full of shame, "Please accept my greeting, sir. I am really ashamed of you! Because of my busy work back then, I had always wanted to ask you to pay me back, but I never made it. Later, due to changes in my position, I was farther and farther away from my hometown, and I have not been able to come to you... In short, this is all my fault. Today I will definitely pay back all the money I owe you, and prepare a generous gift to thank you, sir. I hope you will not mind it."

He said this as if he really forgot to pay back the money because he had no choice, but no one at the scene believed it.

——The Li family has been living in their hometown for decades, and they haven’t moved to a new place. He wants to pay back the money, but he can’t?

What a joke!

Yan Shu also snorted in her heart. Can the twenty taels of silver from more than ten years ago be compared with the current situation? How much did their family lose when they lost forty taels of silver in succession?

She still remembers clearly that there was almost no meat in the family’s three meals a day for those two years. They only had tofu, green vegetables, or radish and pickled vegetables all day long. God knows how much she wanted to eat braised chicken at that time!!!

Tsk, that was when she was growing up. If it weren’t for the fact that those vegetarian and pickled vegetables had little nutrition, she might be half a head taller now!!!

Yuwen Lan, “…”

He actually made a little foodie who loved meat the most eat vegetarian food for so long. This Luo Zhixue really deserves to die!

Only then did he finally understand why she valued food the most now. It turned out that she owed too much back then.

He was furious and said to Luo, "You should not only pay back the money you owed to the Earl of Loyalty, but you should also relearn many life lessons. It is natural to repay debts. Not only are you ungrateful, but you also repay kindness with enmity. How have you slept well for the past ten years?"

Luo Zhixue was so ashamed that he could only kneel down and say, "I am ashamed and I know my crime."

Yuwen Lan ignored him and instructed the Minister of Revenue, "Reconsider the number of people for the position of Deputy Envoy of the Salt and Iron Department. Remember to keep your eyes open."

The Minister of Revenue replied timidly, glanced at Luo Zhixue, and signaled him to get out.

Standing for too long caused him to be scolded.

——You didn't even return the twenty taels of silver, how shameless.

Luo Zhixue could only respond with regret and regret, and retreated from the hall in disgrace.

~~

After this episode, the water music and dance on the lake had ended, and the important content of today's water play was about to begin.

The first event was the race, which was the swimming competition in later generations.

At this time, dozens of soldiers were ready to go on the big boat in the lake, and twenty people stood in this way in each round.

With the sound of gongs and drums, the whole audience held their breath and stared, and then the commander gave an order, and the twenty soldiers jumped into the water and rushed to the shore. For a

while, the sound of gongs and drums rang again, and the lake surface was splashing, and the soldiers were like fish swimming in the water freely, making the onlookers sigh.

Zhu couldn't help but whisper to her daughter, "It swims faster than a fish! This competition is great!"

Yan Shu smiled and said, "There will be something better to see later."

But she felt sorry in her heart - these soldiers were still wearing clothes. It would be better if they could wear swimming trunks like in later generations to show off their inverted triangle figures!

Yu Wenlan, who was caught off guard, said, "???"

She actually wanted to see other people's figures? ? ?

Isn't it enough to see him? ? ?

But what did she mean by "later generations"?

Could that be the source of her supernatural power?

Just as she was thinking this, she heard a cheer from the lake. It turned out that the first round of the competition had ended.

Then, the second round of soldiers went into the water.

This goes on for eight rounds, with three fastest players selected from each round for the final. The winners will receive a special bonus, which is very generous.

Of course, considering that the preliminary round has just ended, the soldiers' physical strength will be affected, so the final will be held in the afternoon.

But there is still an exciting competition next, which is to grab the golden bowl.

First, two teams of soldiers dressed in red and yellow clothes waited in the water. With the sound of gongs and drums, the commander threw a golden basin into the water, and then with an order, the two teams of soldiers rushed to grab it.

During the period, they cooperated with each other, and there were formations and tactics, either attacking or defending, which was very exciting to watch.

Yan Shu thought to herself, isn't this the water polo of later generations?

Tsk tsk, although the current scene is already very beautiful, it will be more interesting if these sturdy men also change into the neat little swimming trunks of the later generations, and show off their strong muscles and body shapes while competing!

Yu Wenlan, who was silently paying attention to her, "???"

The later generations again?

Could it be that the men there can be so shameless as to let outsiders see their bodies at will? It's

really scary!

Four consecutive Golden Bowl competitions ended, and the two best teams were selected to compete in the finals in the afternoon.

Just when everyone was still enjoying it, the beautiful water juggling began again.

With the sound of drums and flutes, a pleasure boat came into view. On the boat, people were playing with swords and sticks, performing beautiful and thrilling martial arts moves in coordination with the sound of gongs and drums, which was very exciting.

Zhu and the lady praised quietly, "How come they don't get seasick? We don't even dare to close our eyes when we take a boat."

Yan Shu smiled and said, "They are professional sailors. I don't know how many times they have been trained. They definitely won't get seasick. Besides, how can they fight if they get seasick?"

Zhu smiled and nodded, and then heard the lady say, "Mother, try the snacks on the table. The cooking skills of the kitchen are quite good."

Zhu responded and glanced at the table. She was surprised -

that plate of snacks that looked like a book was actually made of pancakes?

Tsk tsk, is there anyone in the palace who likes to eat this kind of thing?

She looked around the palace quietly, but saw that most people were concentrating on watching the acrobatics, and no one was eating. However, among the male guests on her husband's side, there was a middle-aged man in gorgeous clothes who was eating a pancake book with relish.

And he just ate it page by page...

Zhu thought to herself, doesn't it feel choking?

At least roll something up so that you can have something to chew...

Seeing the acrobatics on the pleasure boat ended, another small boat sailed into the water, and the most attractive water puppet show began.

There was a small colorful building on the boat, and there were three small doors under the building. With the sound of a quick gong and drum, the small door opened, and another smaller boat came out. There was a little puppet sitting on it, holding a fishing rod in his hand, with a fishing line tied to it, and the fishing line was hanging down into the water, as if he was fishing. The puppet

could even blink his eyes and sing. He sang for a while, and suddenly pulled the line, and actually caught a small live fish from the water, which was quite amazing.

For a moment, everyone was staring at it, even Lanyun and the other kids forgot to make a fuss and focused on watching.

The puppets caught five or six fishes in a row, filled their boats, and sailed back to the small colorful gate. Then, some more puppets came out of the colorful gate and began to perform the pre-arranged plays.

Such plays as Emperor Wen of Wei Raising an Army, Legend of the White Snake, Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, and Sun Xingzhe Trouble the Dragon Palace, one after another, made the audience exclaim, not to mention how wonderful it was. Even the empress dowager

smiled and nodded, saying, "Today's play is very well arranged, much better than before." As soon as

the voice fell, the official of the Taichang Temple who was accompanying her hurriedly said, "It was fortunate that Concubine Yi reminded us of this matter, so we were able to adjust the play in time." The empress

dowager nodded and looked at Yan Shu approvingly.

This girl is very talented in eating, drinking and having fun.

After the puppet show had performed three or four plays, it was time for lunch.

The lunch was set up in the palace, and it was mostly seafood from Jinming Lake.

There were steamed sea bass, braised fish head with sauce, pepper and salt shrimp, braised turtle, salt-baked crab, as well as cattail in milk soup, silver fish baked eggs, etc. Although they were not as luxurious as bear paws and deer tendons, they were very delicious.

Just when everyone was enjoying the food, another storyteller came on stage and started telling stories on a houseboat not far away.

What a coincidence, it was the storybook of Mr. Xiaoyao, and the first play was "The Talented Scholar and the Beautiful Lady".

This project was the first of its kind this year, and everyone immediately pricked up their ears to listen.

Of course, listening to a story does not interfere with eating, and it is even more enjoyable to listen while eating.

However, the Minister of Industry, Lord Lu, could not even take care of his meal, and he was so excited that he could not express it in words -

Oh my God, he could actually listen to the storybook of Master Xiaoyao in this occasion!

The Imperial Court is so good at arranging it!

They understand him!!!

As a die-hard fan, he certainly knew that "The Talented Man and the Beautiful Lady" was Master Xiaoyao's first storybook, and he had read it countless times.

But revisiting it with everyone in this occasion, coupled with the storyteller's interpretation, is of course a different kind of experience!

Of course, he was not the only one who was excited. Most of the people present were listening with great interest and empathizing with the twists and turns of the story.

When they heard that the courtesan generously donated money to help the scholar take the exam, they all praised her loyalty and loyalty.

When they heard that the scholar had passed the imperial examination but had heartlessly abandoned his former lover, they all shook their heads and showed disgust;

when the courtesan later worked hard to establish her own family business, they all nodded in praise of her;

and when her son entered the officialdom and was secretly harmed and bullied by the scholar, they were all furious.

Fortunately, in the end, they heard that evil was rewarded with evil, and everyone applauded and shouted, making the scene very lively.

Seeing this scene, Yan Shu was also very moved and relieved, and even her embarrassment was much better.

Seeing the end of the first story, while everyone was still interested, the storyteller began to tell the second story - "The Evil Woman's Clever Treatment of the Romantic Man".

But just as she started talking about the lady's husband's frequenting of brothels, she was suddenly interrupted.

"Forgive me for being blunt, but such a vulgar story is not suitable for such an occasion."

Everyone was stunned and looked over to see that the person who was speaking was an old man in his sixties with gray hair.

Yan Shu remembered that this person had been introduced during the audience just now. He seemed to be the former emperor's tutor, named Zhuang Kaicheng.

This person was once considered an assistant minister of the former emperor, but he no longer served in the court after Yuwen Lan ascended the throne.

Perhaps because of the old friendship with the former emperor, the Taichang Temple would invite a group of the former emperor's old ministers to watch the water show with the king every year to show the new emperor's sympathy.

Of course, most of them just followed to eat, drink and have fun, and that was enough for them to have fun.

Unexpectedly, this person actually stood up and said that the storybook was inappropriate.

Seeing this, Yuwen Lan asked, "Lord Zhuang, what do you think is vulgar about this storybook?"

But he heard the other party say, "Your Majesty has also heard that the woman in the storybook just now was from a brothel, so I thought it was inappropriate and wanted to be patient, but I didn't expect that this storybook mentioned brothels again. Such a dirty and filthy place frequently appears in the mouths of storytellers. Isn't it an insult to your majesty and the queen mother's ears? It is really offensive to morality and extremely inappropriate."

When these words came out, everyone was stunned.

- The word brothel cannot be heard?

This is a bit too picky!

Then, the old man Zhuang added, "I think the writer is too unprogressive. Since ancient times, there have been so many stories about heroes, justice, and filial piety between rulers and ministers, but he chose to write about stories that happened in brothels. It's really disgusting."

Yan Shu couldn't help but raise her eyebrows after he finished speaking.

What? This man actually said that she was disgusting?

Of course, everyone was surprised.

Doesn't this old man care about the world? Don't you know that the story of this free and easy gentleman is the most popular nowadays?

As a die-hard fan of Mr. Xiaoyao, the Minister of Works Lu Kaihe could not help but say, "Mr. Zhuang, what you said is wrong. If the author did not write about these stories, would these stories never have happened? If it is not said in this occasion, would brothels not exist in this world? The scholars, farmers, merchants and businessmen in the world are all your Majesty's subjects. Your Majesty sympathizes with the people and loves the people like his own children. Can't you listen to their stories?"

This rapid-fire questioning made the other party choke, and also made everyone say yes.

- Tsk, this Minister of Works usually looks serious and taciturn, but I didn't expect him to be so eloquent!

Yan Shu was also very moved, and thought that after the banquet, she would find a chance to give this die-hard fan of hers an autograph.

But at the same time, she was also curious in her heart.

What kind of moral role model is this old man surnamed Zhuang? Even writing a story about a brothel is considered despicable in his eyes?

But the system made a sound, [This person is despicable. He was born in a poor family, and his wife farmed and raised pigs to support him in the imperial examination. Unexpectedly, after he passed the imperial examination, he looked down on his wife from a peasant family and took a concubine in the capital. Since then, he has been appointed to various posts, only taking this beautiful concubine with him, claiming to be his legal wife, but leaving his first wife in his hometown and not mentioning her at all.]

Yan Shu, [Hehe.]

What happened today? These despicable people have taken the initiative to show their faces!