Xu Mingzhi thought his words had worked, so he quickly continued, "Mother, nowadays our food, drink and daily necessities all depend on Marquis Ningyuan. Now that the court has ordered him to return the silver to the Ministry of Revenue, he can only come to us for help."
“Mother, Marquis Ningyuan said that if I don’t hand over the money within the specified period, it will cost me my life.”
As he finished speaking, he simply knelt down on the ground with a thud.
"Mother, I am your own son. Do you really not care whether I live or die?"
Cui Rou was already moved when he said this.
Looking at Xu Mingzhi kneeling on the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face, she felt an indescribable pang of heartache.
She gritted her teeth.
Since she had also supported Xu Yuehuai, it wouldn't be a big deal for him to contribute some money.
“Right now, A-Yue has probably gone to the palace again. Even if I wanted to go to her to ask for some money, I have nowhere to go right now.” Cui Rou shook her head. “Unless you have another way.”
Xu Mingzhi had been waiting for these words from her.
“Mother, she founded Tianxiang Tower. As her family, we naturally have the right to manage it. Just take me in, and I'll handle the rest.” He couldn’t stop bluffing. “Mother, as long as you don’t say anything, in Xu Yuehuai’s heart, you will still be the best mother.”
Cui Rou was soft-hearted and loved her son the most, so she naturally nodded and agreed.
...
Xu Mingzhi had just left when Marquis Ningyuan waited for a while before also leaving. He went directly to the residence of the Prefect of the Capital.
After all, he couldn't handle this himself.
"Your Excellency's arrival is an honor; please forgive me for not greeting you sooner." Upon hearing the servant's report, the Prefect of the Capital hurriedly ran to the door to greet him.
"It's alright, I don't come here unless I need something. Today I have something to ask of you, brother," Marquis Ningyuan said with a wave of his hand, a stark contrast to his usual demeanor.
"My lord, please just give the order. I will do my utmost to fulfill it. You flatter me by asking for such a favor." The Prefect of the Capital replied with a smile, but inwardly he was sweating bullets. After all, there was only one person in the capital who could make the Marquis of Ningyuan speak so politely.
"Actually, it's nothing major. There's a new fried chicken shop that just opened in the city, right? You know I love poultry, so I can't stand seeing this kind of thing happen. That's why I'd like to ask you to step in and shut this fried chicken shop down. That shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?" Marquis Ningyuan waved his hand and said casually, but the reason he gave was so lame that even the Prefect of the Capital didn't believe his explanation.
“My lord, this matter is probably quite difficult. You know that this fried chicken shop is nominally a branch of Tianxianglou, and the person behind Tianxianglou is someone I can’t afford to offend. If an investigation is launched, I’m afraid I’ll be in deep trouble.” Upon hearing this, the Prefect of the Capital swallowed hard and then truthfully explained his predicament.
Marquis Ningyuan picked at his ear, not wanting to hear any of this. Instead, he took out a 10,000-tael silver note from his pocket, placed it on the table, and said, "This is the deposit. After the matter is settled, there will be ten times the amount of silver notes waiting for you."
The Prefect of the Capital stared intently at the silver notes on the table. This was almost a year's salary for him. He might not earn that much money even if he worked hard all year. Now, all he had to do was nod and the money would be his, not to mention the tenfold amount that followed.
He couldn't help but want to nod, but fearing he might earn the money but not live to spend it, he forcibly stopped himself from nodding and pushed the silver notes back to Marquis Ningyuan, saying, "My lord, this isn't about the money. I really can't do this. Please leave."
"Alright." Marquis Ningyuan agreed and then put away the silver notes on the table.
The Prefect of the Capital had not expected that the Marquis of Ningyuan would be so easy to talk to today, but his next words chilled him to the bone.
"Fine, since you insist on refusing to listen to reason, then I won't be polite with you anymore." Marquis Ningyuan sneered, then pulled something out of his pocket and threw it on the table. The Prefect of the Capital took a closer look and saw that it was a dagger. Cold sweat immediately broke out on his back.
"My lord, what's wrong?" the Prefect of the Capital asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Go or die, the choice is yours," said Marquis Ningyuan calmly, then closed his eyes and ignored him.
The Prefect of the Capital was caught in a great dilemma. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Someone, prepare the sedan chair. Come with me to that newly opened fried chicken shop!"
"A wise man submits to circumstances." Upon hearing this, Marquis Ningyuan opened his eyes, patted the face of the Prefect of the Capital, and then walked out on his own. As for the ten thousand taels of silver, he didn't mention it at all. He had played the trick of getting something for nothing with incredible skill.
The Prefect of the Capital had no choice but to swallow his anger and bear it.
Soon, the Prefect of the Capital arrived at Third Sister's fried chicken shop.
He steeled himself and ordered his men to move the people in line aside before straightening his clothes and walking into the shop to ask, "Who is in charge?"
"It's me, sir. Has something happened?" Third Sister hurried over, led the person to the table, poured a cup of tea, and then asked.
"We received a report that your shop's permits are incomplete, so we're just going through the motions to check. Please show us your business license. It won't take you long. Once the investigation is complete, you can continue doing business," said the Prefect of Jingzhao politely.
Upon hearing this, Third Sister breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly instructed Zhao Ping to bring the license. Zhao Ping agreed and quickly went to find it.
"Please wait a moment, sir. We've already gone to look for it and will bring it back soon," Third Sister said with a forced smile.
However, after searching thoroughly, he couldn't find even a single fragment, so he had no choice but to reluctantly inform Third Sister.
"What did you say?" Third Sister was utterly shocked upon hearing this. She then searched around on her own, but still couldn't find it.
The commotion outside was naturally heard by Qi Guze, who was hiding in Tianxiang Tower.
He had always known about San Niang's abilities, so he hadn't thought of helping her. But when he saw the group of people looking dizzy and disoriented in the fried chicken shop, he realized that they were in trouble.
Moreover, nine times out of ten it's related to the business license.
Sure enough, as he continued listening, he heard Zhao Ping muttering "license" under his breath.
Qi Guze's brow twitched, and he had a general idea of what was going on. He quickly called Zhou Wan over.
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