Looking up at the sky until his neck felt a little stiff, Jing Zhe finally lowered his head.
He sighed, as if he had lost something, and felt a little sad.
She couldn't help but mutter, "This silly fairy, can't she even say goodbye? She has no feelings at all."
Then he looked into the distance and said softly.
Goodbye, see you next time.
He then took out the sky-blue token. On the back of the character "Qing" was the character "Qiu". He had seen it earlier. Even a fool could tell that this was not a standard token, but a unique token belonging to Qingqiu herself.
Seeing Qingqiu's silly appearance, he inexplicably wanted to tease her, but he didn't expect her to be so thin-skinned and easily teased, not giving the emotionally rich Jing Zhe a chance to express his feelings of parting.
But she's right. If we're meant to meet, we'll meet again. I even got her sign, so there's bound to be more opportunities to meet in the future, right?
Jing Zhe stuffed the token into his clothes and put it away. It was getting late, so he didn't linger and started walking back.
The unexpected situation of being intercepted by Wu De did not affect his mood; on the contrary, he was quite pleased.
He was still regretting that he had only fined Wu Yong such a small amount of silver (two thousand taels of silver was indeed not much for a corrupt prefect in the capital), and he was resentful.
But if you take someone's money, you're obligated to do so. No matter how much, you've already taken it. Besides, you promised Wu Yong that this matter would be over. If you were to make a fuss about it again, it would indeed be a bit unreasonable.
Wu De's appearance at this moment was more timely than a timely rain, giving him a reason to deliver a fatal blow to Wu Yong!
Prefect Wu, this is not my fault. You can only blame your unfortunate son!
...
Jing Zhe returned to the Zhang family home with a smile, only to find the courtyard brightly lit. They weren't working overtime to make strong liquor, but rather waiting for him.
Actually, Zhang Xuexian breathed a sigh of relief when Hanhan came back alone, especially after hearing Hanhan say that Jing Zhe had asked him to come back first, he felt even more reassured.
After all, he was someone who could do royal business with Emperor An. How much of a threat could a mere prefect's son pose to him?
However, his wife and daughter were extremely worried and wouldn't listen to his advice. They stood in the courtyard, staring anxiously at the gate, waiting for Jing Zhe to return.
The moment Jing Zhe entered, the two women standing next to Zhang Xuexian changed their expressions from worry to joy and immediately went to greet him. He, who had just been "embracing two women," was now suddenly alone.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Xuexian felt a lump in his throat.
It's understandable that his own daughter ran away, but why did his wife run away with her?
The look in her eyes as she gazed at Jing Zhe was filled with envy and jealousy…
"Ah Kun, are you alright?"
Madam Zhang approached Jing Zhe and examined him from all angles for a moment.
"Auntie, do I look like something's wrong?"
Jing Zhe smiled, and after speaking, he turned around once.
"I told you long ago, Ah Kun is a lucky guy. Han Han even said so when he came back. How could anything happen to him?"
Zhang Xuexian stepped forward and asked again, "Have you eaten?"
"No, I was provided with lunch, but I was in a hurry to leave for dinner and forgot to eat. It's a bit of a shame, since the food at the government office is quite good!"
"..."
After he finished speaking, everyone was speechless.
Most people would be badly injured or even killed if they went to the yamen (government office), but he was actually thinking about the food inside!
"In that case, hurry inside! Your aunt has already prepared the meal; it will get cold if you don't eat soon!"
With Zhang Xuexian's extensive business experience, he had many questions to ask, but with Madam Zhang and Zhang Xiaoyu present, he didn't say much. Instead, he invited Jing Zhe into the house under the pretext of having a meal.
...
After finishing their meal, everyone went back to their rooms.
Having slept in the yamen all afternoon, Jing Zhe was full of energy. After entering the room, he placed the several plaques he had collected on the table.
The black one was given to me by my fifth sister, Liu Jinghong; the gold one was a gift from Emperor An; and the sky-blue one was a gift from Qingqiu. For someone who loves to show off, these brands are simply powerful tools.
Especially after testing the power of the gold medal today, the moment it was taken out almost scared Wu Yong out of his wits, forcing him to pay Wu Yong two thousand taels of silver. He became even more enamored with these medals.
"Clang clang!"
There was a knock at the door. Jing Zhe asked as he tidied up the nameplate, "Who is it?"
"Ah Kun, it's me!"
Zhang Xuexian's voice came from outside.
Jing Zhe went over and opened the door, smiling, "Uncle, you've come at just the right time! I was just about to go find you!"
"Oh? What does Ah Kun want with me?"
Jing Zhe rummaged inside his clothes for a while, then took out the two thousand taels of silver notes he had just extorted from Wu Yong and handed them over.
“Uncle, because of the mistaken sealing of the strong liquor today, which delayed our business, Prefect Wu felt very sorry and gave us two thousand taels of silver as compensation. Please accept it, Uncle!”
Jing Zhe didn't want it, and Zhang Xuexian dared not accept it either.
As a native of Jingzhou, he knew Wu Yong's ways very well. He was greedy and would even try to squeeze every last drop out of ordinary people. Why would he take the initiative to compensate?
This only shows that Jing Zhe used the gold medal, and Wu Yong was so wary of it that he thought of spending money to avoid trouble.
He waved his hand with a smile, "Ah Kun, we haven't even opened for business yet, how could there be any loss? This silver is probably a gift from Prefect Wu!"
Jing Zhe shook his head: "Uncle, there's no need to be afraid. If I'm not mistaken, Wu Yong is also one of Su Xinping's men. The Zhang family's winery was once so prestigious, but it was framed by Su Xinping. The money they lost must have been more than two thousand taels of silver, right?"
Most of this money ended up in their pockets; it originally belonged to Uncle, so isn't it only right that he return it? Uncle, please accept it; it'll also help pay off the outstanding debts you still owe!"
In order to deal with Su Xinping's fake orders, Zhang Xuexian had bought a lot of grain and wine jars on credit. However, some of them were his old friends and he was not in a hurry to ask them to pay him back.
But the fact that the debt was not repaid was always a worry for Jing Zhe. He had heard Zhang Xiaoyu talk about it in private, so he thought of giving him the money.
Zhang Xuexian hesitated for a moment, then finally made up his mind and reached out to take the silver note.
But his expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "Ah Kun, your uncle has thought about it for a long time. If I were to continue running the Zhang family distillery, I'm afraid I would never be able to make it famous throughout the country. But selling spirits is much easier!"
"Whether it's manufacturing the spirits, the marketing strategies, or even turning the spirits into a royal business, it was all your doing. Your uncle feels truly guilty about it!"
"So, what does Uncle mean..."
"Why don't you become a shareholder in Zhang's Winery?"
Zhang Xuexian said excitedly, "Making strong liquor was originally your idea. I just found someone to help with the processing. Nephew, if you invest in Zhang's Distillery, we can split the profits 30/70... oh no, 20/80! I'll take 20% and you take 80%, how about that?"
But Jing Zhe did not agree, and shook his head with a smile.
————
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