Chapter 436: Meeting Lu Yiner Again
Shen Wanxiong seemed to have figured out Zhu Lan's temperament, and the banquet he prepared was not luxurious, but so normal that it was somewhat out of tune with the decoration in Wangyue Tower.
Zhu Lan did not refuse. The four of them talked and laughed during the table, mostly about the customs and culture of Qingzhou, and naturally there was no lack of praise for Zhu Lan.
After having a good meal and a good drink, Shen Wanxiong asked Zhu Lan how he felt about his garden.
"This garden is full of ingenuity, it is truly amazing and enviable."
Hearing Zhu Lan mention the word "envy", Shen Wanxiong's eyes lit up and he looked at Shi Yuanzhong.
"To be honest with you, my lord, I have a large garden and many houses that are vacant. The government office is boring. If you don't mind, you may do me the honor of moving here to live."
"Lord Li, this is not very kind. Although the conditions in the government office are poor and there are still many snakes, insects, rats and ants, with the imperial envoy here, we officials have a backbone!" said Shi Yuanzhong.
"Besides, the Imperial Envoy is a woman, it would be inconvenient for her to live with you."
"Yes, yes, I was inconsiderate."
Shen Wanxiong thought about it, and then said that he had several other houses in the city, which were warm in winter and cool in summer. If Zhu Lan and the others liked, they could move in at any time.
Zhu Lan listened to the two people singing the same tune and was about to refuse, but suddenly he had an idea.
He and Zhu Qingyan lived in the government office, surrounded by Shi Yuanzhong's men, which made it very inconvenient for them to do things.
It would be better to take this opportunity to get out of Shi Yuanzhong's sight and see what Shen Wanxiong is planning.
"I have always loved gardens and landscapes, so please ask Master Shen to find a house with better scenery.
Of course, we won’t stay there for free, we will pay for it according to the market rent.”
"Haha, the Imperial Envoy is honest and upright. I really admire him from the bottom of my heart." Shen Wanxiong smiled and poured wine for Zhu Lan, without any intention of refusing her money.
"Yes, yes, the Imperial Envoy is truly a role model for us officials."
"With a high-ranking official like you in Daliang, why should the people worry about not being able to live and work in peace and contentment?"
Shi Yuanzhong and Li Moxu raised their glasses to toast Lan again, and there was laughter and joy everywhere.
…
When Lu Yiner walked on the street, she always felt that someone was following her secretly.
But every time I looked back, I couldn't see anything.
She was wearing a light pink cloak, and beneath the fluffy hood, her beautiful eyes flashed with a hint of hatred.
Aren’t these guys squatting outside my house enough? Now they are following me even when I go out!
She was furious, but there was nothing she could do but quicken her pace.
When passing through an alley, she clearly heard footsteps approaching behind her, and her heart suddenly became nervous.
If they were Shi Yuanzhong's men, they would at most follow me secretly and would not dare to do anything to me... Could it be that I met a bad guy?
Just as Lu Yiner thought of this, she felt someone grabbing her arm. She wanted to scream, but her mouth was covered.
"Yin'er, it's me!"
Zhu Qingyan pulled off her veil and spoke to her in a low voice.
The two hadn't seen each other for many years and both looked very different.
There was still fear in Lu Yiner's eyes, and it took her a long time to recognize him.
"...Qingyan?"
Zhu Qingyan let her go. Lu Yiner was full of confusion and was about to speak when she was interrupted by Zhu Qingyan.
"This is not the place to talk, follow me."
The two found a secluded place and made sure that no one was following them before they felt comfortable talking.
The situation was urgent and neither of them had time to exchange pleasantries.
After asking, Zhu Qingyan found out that Lu Feng was indeed pretending to be sick.
"The prefect Shi Yuanzhong colluded with Shen Wanxiong to commit crimes in Qingzhou. My father, as the magistrate, tried to stop them many times, but he was no match for the other officials in Qingzhou who colluded with each other and did evil things.
In the end, my father had no choice but to stay home on the pretext of being sick and not go to the government office to handle affairs.”
Lu Yiner grabbed Zhu Qingyan's hand and said anxiously:
"I heard that an imperial envoy was coming these days. My father couldn't go out, so he asked me to find a way to send the news out. I didn't expect that it would be you. This is really great."
Zhu Qingyan asked: "Didn't they say there were many starving people in Qingzhou? But we haven't seen any since we entered the city."
"Shi Yuanzhong made preparations in advance and asked the county magistrate named Miao to move all the hungry people away, but no one knows where they are hiding.
By the way, Qingyan, they don't know about our relationship yet, right?"
Zhu Qingyan shook his head and said that he had come to visit last night, but found that someone was following him outside, so he left first.
Lu Yiner breathed a sigh of relief, "Fortunately you didn't show up."
"Since you came to Qingzhou, those people have been watching us even more closely. Now they even dare to blatantly search outsiders who enter or leave my house."
Zhu Qingyan did not expect that the Qingzhou prefect would be so bold. She frowned and said in a serious tone:
"Yin'er, listen to me. I'm afraid we won't be able to stay in Qingzhou for much longer. We have a difficult matter right now and only you can help."
Lu Yiner looked into her eyes with a firm gaze.
"Just tell me. No matter how difficult it is, I will find a way to do it."
…
Zhu Lan and Shi Yuanzhong and their group came out of Chen's house. She revealed that she and Zhu Qingyan planned to stay in Qingzhou for another four or five days.
Hearing this, Shi Yuanzhong and the others all looked relieved.
Zhu Lan was going to temporarily move to the vacant mansion outside of Shen Wanxiong. Shen Wanxiong wanted to take her there personally, but Zhu Lan said no, she wanted to walk around by herself, so she left first.
Li Moxu said that he had some official business to hand over to Shi Yuanzhong, and returned to the government office with him, and Shen Wanxiong followed.
The three of them asked the servants to leave and then sat together again.
Shi Yuanzhong breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried that she would have to stay for another ten days or half a month. Now it seems that I was worrying too much. As long as we can hold on for a few days and not reveal any loopholes, we can rest assured."
Shen Wanxiong, however, was calm and composed.
"Even if she really wants to stay for another ten days or half a month, we don't have to worry. We have our own ways to deal with it."
"Mr. Shen, are you bragging?" Li Moxu glanced at him and smiled bitterly.
"You haven't given away any money or houses today, so where do you get such confidence?"
"Of course I know those are useless." Shen Wanxiong smiled in an unfathomable way.
Shi Yuanzhong and Li Moxu looked at each other, neither of them knowing what he was up to.
A gleam of light flashed in Shen Wanxiong’s smiling eyes.
"She thinks she has dodged our tricks, so she will definitely let her guard down now.
Little did I know that what I just showed you was just a cover, the real program I prepared for the Imperial Envoy was—
This is just the beginning.”
(PS. I updated late today due to something else, sorry, I will update earlier tomorrow~!)
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