Fu Xiaoguan withdrew his gaze and shook his head, but Dong Shulan listened with great joy.
The merchant surnamed Xu actually recited two poems from "Song of Pity the Peasants," then sighed, "Our emperor truly cares about the people of the world. Old Zhuo, your family still owns the most land in Nanping County. Tell me, do you understand the suffering of the farmers as well as our emperor does?"
The landlord surnamed Zhuo might be from the Zhuo family. Fu Xiaoguan took a closer look at him. He was in his forties or fifties, dressed in simple clothes.
"Don't tease me, I'm not qualified to compare myself to Your Majesty... My uncle once wrote to me, repeatedly urging me to treat the tenant farmers better, because our emperor was once a small landlord."
"We are truly blessed by the Emperor. Fu Wudai's rice seeds are truly exceptional. The rice has already been grafted, and the grains are noticeably fuller than in previous years. It's estimated that a yield of 600 to 700 kilograms per mu won't be a problem."
“…”
Dong Shulan's face was full of pride, and she whispered, "They are praising you."
Fu Xiaoguan touched his nose embarrassedly and said, "I can't help it. This is what happens when you have great abilities."
Ning Siyan felt that she was a little embarrassed. She looked at Bei Wangchuan with her eyes and nose, and her nose was watching her heart, but she was also vigilantly sensing the changes around her.
A clay pot was brought over, and the waiter opened the round lid in the middle of the table and lit the charcoal fire underneath. It was a little hot, but it was still much better than eating hot pot on hot days in his previous life.
"Young man, what is the first pot in the world?" Fu Xiaoguan asked curiously.
The second brother laughed and said, "We are second, no one dares to claim first!"
Fu Xiaoguan's eyes widened immediately, and he yawned like a toad, what a loud tone!
"Look, if you don't believe me, wait until the pot starts to boil and you can taste the soup and you will know."
Just as Fu Xiaoguan and others were waiting patiently, another group of people came to the door of the restaurant.
Fu Xiaoguan hadn't noticed at first, but the bustling noise suddenly died down. Then he heard a clear voice: "Manager Li, I heard someone's in my private room?"
Fu Xiaoguan looked back and saw the shopkeeper nodding and bowing to a young man in brocade clothes and saying, "Master Pan, you didn't make a reservation today. I thought you wouldn't come. There are diners in the private room... How about you, Master Pan, please stay here for a while..."
Before Shopkeeper Li finished his words, Fu Xiaoguan saw the rosy-lipped and white-toothed Master Pan slap Shopkeeper Li in the face with a "pa!"
"You bastard! How dare you sell this room reserved for me to someone else? Do you even know who I'm hosting tonight?"
He stared fiercely at the shopkeeper Li, who was covering his face. "This is the young master of our Wuyuan Prefecture. Now go up and clean up my private room immediately! Otherwise, I will shut down your shop tomorrow!"
Fu Xiaoguan frowned. Chen Yang, the governor of Wuyuan Prefecture, was on the death list, but who was this young man with such a big tone?
Ning Siyan looked at Fu Xiaoguan, who shook his head.
Shopkeeper Li seemed extremely frightened after hearing the young man's words. He nodded hurriedly and said, "I'll go right away. Master Pan, please wait a moment."
"roll!"
Shopkeeper Li quickly ran upstairs, and then Fu Xiaoguan heard the young man yell, "What are you looking at? Haven't you seen how arrogant I am? If you keep looking at me, I'll kick all of you out!"
Almost all the diners here were locals from Nanping County. They seemed to know the young man. After hearing what he said, they all looked away, eating and drinking, but no one spoke.
It was the son of the prefect who spoke up, "Mr. Pan, you are quite good. You are much more impressive than me!"
"How can I compare with Master Chen? Our place is full of small fish and shrimps. This is not Wuyuan City."
"Ah... Since last year, my father has been keeping a tight rein on me. Those days of glory are gone. I've been feeling suffocated for a year, and it's killing me. The reason I came to Nanping County this time... I'll tell you tomorrow."
"By the way..." The young man surnamed Chen looked at the young man surnamed Pan, "You should also restrain yourself recently. I heard that His Majesty left the Six Prefectures of Beixiao on an incognito visit and no one knows where he went. If he comes here, it won't be good for your father."
Master Pan sneered, raised his eyebrows and said, "Do you think our emperor is ill?"
Ning Siyan's sword was about to fly out, but was pressed back by Fu Xiaoguan. He smiled and shook his head at Ning Siyan, "Listen."
"Guanyun City, with three thousand beauties in the imperial harem, how carefree and happy are their lives? If you weren't sick, why would you be running around? In this scorching heat, wouldn't it be beautiful to just stay in the harem and enjoy it?"
Young Master Chen looked up and whispered, "Brother Pan, be careful with your words!"
"Don't worry, this is Nanping County. The Wu Dynasty is so vast, it's no coincidence that the emperor would come to such a small place. By the way, Master Chen, you said...your sister-in-law asked you to go to Nanping Temple to worship?"
"Yeah, isn't it said that the Bodhisattva in Nanping Temple is very powerful?"
"Okay, I'll take you to Nanping Temple to worship tomorrow. I'll also go burn some incense while I'm there. My father doesn't seem to be in a good mood lately."
Not long after, a diner hurried down from the second floor and sat down at the seat next to Fu Xiaoguan.
Shopkeeper Li politely welcomed the group of young people to the second floor, and the atmosphere in the lobby became relaxed again.
"Brother, who is that young man?" Fu Xiaoguan turned around and asked a middle-aged man who had just come down from the second floor.
"Young man, are you from out of town?"
Fu Xiaoguan nodded. The old man sighed, peered over again, and then leaned over and whispered, "Pan Qi, the son of the Nanping County Magistrate, is a tyrant in Nanping. Don't be curious, or you'll get into trouble and have nowhere to complain."
Is there such a situation?
Fu Xiaoguan was very puzzled.
"How dare the son of a mere county magistrate commit such a crime?"
"Hush... the county magistrate is quite important! Our county magistrate is a close confidant of the prefect. Tell me, where can we go to seek redress for our grievances if we are wronged? A nest of rats and snakes is full of them. If we are not careful, we could lose our lives!"
"Oh...thanks, bro."
"No thanks, little brother, you don't know. This Pan guy used to be even more arrogant. If it were before, he would have brought the yamen runners to beat us out! Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, he has restrained himself a lot since last year. Alas... It's a pity that Your Majesty is far away in Guanyun City, and he doesn't know! Otherwise, he would have dealt with these corrupt officials!"
Another person at the table chimed in, "I heard that Your Majesty dealt with a whole bunch of corrupt officials in Siyang County. It would be great if he could come to Nanping County."
Fu Xiaoguan grinned, "Maybe he will really come."
"Alas, your majesty is also a human being. The Wu Dynasty is so big, how can he take care of everything? Just bear with it for now. With your majesty here, these evil people will get their retribution sooner or later."
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