Chapter 295 Looking for Chen San
As soon as the You hour arrived, the Ministry of Revenue became unusually bustling.
Officials walked out of the office in twos and threes and went to Lord Lu's residence to celebrate his birthday. Everyone came off duty on time today, and they all had happy faces.
The head of the Cangbu Division was followed by two subordinates, holding two baskets in their hands, and saw Min Yuan from afar.
"Lord Min." The head of the warehouse department came over very naturally, walked forward beside Min Yuan, and looked behind Min Yuan, "Hey, Lord Min will not go to the Minister's Mansion to celebrate his birthday empty-handed, right?"
As he said this, he asked his subordinates to open the basket as if to show off. There were actually more than a dozen palm-sized blue crabs in it, trying to crawl out with their claws and teeth bared.
"Hey, this is the 'July Gold' that I got with great difficulty. Most crabs just start to grow in this season, but the 'July Gold' has already grown to this size, full of roe and yellow.
"Master Min, if you don't have anything prepared, we have been friends for so many years, how about I give you two to show off? It would be uncultured of you to go empty-handed, wouldn't it?"
Min Yuan glanced at the basket. The market price of "July Gold" was extremely high, one crab costing two taels of silver. It was exclusively for the princes and nobles who wanted to eat crabs in this season. Ordinary people simply could not afford it.
Min Yuan and Cangbu Si had always been at odds with each other. Hearing that the other party was deliberately showing off in front of him, if it were usual, he would have responded with a sarcastic retort. But today, he had something on his mind and really didn't have the time to argue with him.
The head of the Cangbu Division followed Min Yuan for a long distance, but felt bored when he saw that he was ignored by Min Yuan.
At this time, people from Jinbu Si also caught up. Jinbu Si and Cangbu Si had a good relationship, and the two leaders began to walk side by side.
"Have you asked what gift he prepared?" The head of the Jinbu Division raised his chin and pointed at Min Yuan's back in front of him.
The head of the Cangbu Division shook his head and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "But I found a way to ask someone and they said that a female official from their Duzhi Division was asked to sing a song for the Minister. I saw that he had nothing in his hands just now, so it must be true."
The head of the Jinbu Division showed disdain on his face, "Bah, despicable!"
Then he continued, "But what if the Minister really buys into this?"
The head of the Cangbu Division sneered, "Don't worry, I asked someone to secretly listen in a few times. That woman's singing is really...tsk tsk tsk tsk, if it really goes on stage, Lord Min will probably regret it!"
The head of the Jinbu Division laughed twice, "But could it be a trick, deliberately put on for us to see?"
"She is just a last-minute crammer who knows nothing about singing. I really hope she can go up and show off to the Ministry of Finance."
The two walked away talking and laughing.
…
Min Yuan walked absentmindedly towards the Minister's Mansion. He only responded perfunctorily to the greetings along the way until Zhao Shengping caught up with him.
"How is it? Have you found the person?" Min Yuan asked nervously as soon as he saw Zhao Shengping.
Zhao Shengping barely caught his breath, "No, I didn't find him. There was no one in the government office, and I didn't see him in the two nearby streets either."
Min Yuan's face became even uglier.
Ever since what happened yesterday, he would never dare to let Qiao Youyou show up in public at the Minister's birthday banquet today. After all, in addition to the people from the Ministry of Revenue, there will also be some guests with special identities attending the birthday banquet.
Early this morning, he asked Zhao Shengping to inform Qiao Youyou that the show was cancelled. But he was still uneasy, and after thinking it over, he decided to just let Qiao Youyou not come to the birthday party.
After finishing his shift, he wanted to find a few people to look after Qiao Youyou, but she had left the Ministry of Revenue at some point and he couldn't find her anywhere.
This Qiao Youyou is a natural disaster. She suddenly disappeared at this time. There must be something wrong!
Seeing that Min Yuan looked unhappy, Zhao Shengping asked him what was wrong.
Min Yuan shook his head and forced himself to calm down.
Fortunately, Ning Xiang and I went to meet His Royal Highness Prince Qi yesterday. Given His Royal Highness Prince Qi's capabilities, nothing should go wrong.
…
Zhu Lan didn't even have time to change out of his official uniform as he hurried to the calligraphy and painting shop that Qiao Youyou mentioned.
It was just the evening hour and the streets were bustling, but the door of this calligraphy and painting shop was closed.
Zhu Lan's face darkened. He walked up and knocked on the door, but no one answered.
She saw a pancake vendor at the door of the calligraphy and painting shop and went up to ask.
"Yes, I'm here every day. This calligraphy and painting shop is usually open at this time, but I don't know what happened today. It has been closed all day. Maybe Chen San has something urgent to do!"
Zhu Lan had a bad feeling and asked the vendor if he had noticed anything unusual nearby.
The vendor shook his head and said no.
Zhu Lan stood at the door of the calligraphy and painting shop with his brows furrowed, intending to continue asking people nearby to see if he could find out the whereabouts of Chen San.
The vendor suddenly turned around and added, "I remember now. Chen San seems to have an older brother named Chen Da. He lives in the farm in the north of the city. We used to be from the same village! He might be with his brother."
Zhu Lan asked a few more detailed questions and had an idea in mind. He was about to rush to the north of the city when he suddenly heard a voice behind him calling him "Zhu editor".
Zhu Lan turned around and recognized the other person as the guard who delivered the message from the palace.
"Editor Zhu, I have been looking for you for a long time." The guard bowed to Zhu Lan, "Your Majesty has something to ask about the recent revision of the book. Please follow me into the palace immediately."
"Your Majesty, do you want to see me now?"
"That's right. Mr. Dong from the Hanlin Academy has arrived. His Majesty and Scholar Dong are waiting for you. Please set off immediately."
The emperor urgently summoned Zhu Lan, so he could only ride the guards' horses into the palace and could not delay.
She galloped all the way, feeling anxious. Riding a horse was not allowed in the palace, and Zhu Lan had just dismounted when she arrived at the palace gate when she ran into many colleagues who had just finished their duties at the Hanlin Academy.
"Qingyan!" Zhu Lan saw Zhu Qingyan walking in the crowd while reading a book with his head down.
Zhu Qingyan put down the book, looked up and walked towards her, "Zhu Lan? What's your reply..."
Zhu Lan spoke quickly and told Zhu Qingyan the address of Chen San's brother that he had inquired about, and asked her to look for Chen San. If she found him, she should immediately bring him to the Minister's Mansion.
Zhu Qingyan raised his eyebrows and felt a little proud. He didn't expect that she would actually ask him for something, so he snorted.
"Well, since you've asked me for help, I'll help you reluctantly."
"This matter is urgent..."
"Okay." Zhu Qingyan took the reins directly from Zhu Lan, "I'm a better rider than you."
That was taught by Ajing.
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