He casually asked, "I wonder what kind of business Uncle Wu and my brother-in-law's family are doing?"
Wu Xingwang glanced at the four members of the Su family, and his expression turned serious.
“Salt!” he uttered slowly.
The four members of the Su family gasped in shock. They were well-versed in classical Chinese literature and knew the laws of the country by heart.
Su Kunliang quickly lowered his voice and said, "Old Wu, reselling smuggled salt without authorization is a capital offense!"
Wu Xingwang laughed heartily, "Master Su, who cares about this nowadays? Even if they did, the imperial court's reach couldn't extend that far. How could your father-in-law not know that?"
Su Kunliang remained silent.
"Is this salt made in your Longtan again?" Su Yunzhi asked.
Wu Xingwang said, "We have a salt field in Longtan that produces hundreds of thousands of kilograms of salt per month."
He was already numb. In the short span of half a year, the Su family was still searching for connections and forming marriage alliances to barely gain a foothold in Cangwu County.
Meanwhile, Yun Mo and Lin Yinan had already cultivated two seasons of high-yield rice, recovered Xihe County, and taken in many refugees to establish factories and salt fields.
Leaving them by more than just a few streets is a matter of fact.
He even began to doubt whether they were still human, otherwise how could the difference between them be so great?
How did they manage to do that?
Su Yunzhi was completely baffled and became increasingly curious, really wanting to see for herself.
The group chatted for a long time until the alcohol took effect, at which point Wu Xingwang, supported by Wu Yuan and Wu Peng, left the Su family home.
"When are you going back?" Su Yunzhi asked Wu Yuan after personally escorting them back to the inn.
"You want to come with us to Longtan?"
Wu Yuan didn't answer but asked a question in return, and Su Yunzhi could immediately guess what he was thinking.
"Is Anan alright?" After holding back for a long time, he finally mustered up the courage to ask about her situation.
Wu Yuan pursed his lips, looking at him with a half-smile, "She gave birth to a daughter, and both mother and daughter are safe!"
If Yun Mo knew that he still cared about Lin Yinan, he would probably chase after him to Cangwu County with a knife to kill him.
With the mother and daughter safe and sound, Su Yunzhi felt relieved. A slight smile appeared on his thin face, as if a clear spring had been poured into his parched heart, and he was no longer as dejected as before.
Wu Yuan thought to himself, "What a terrible thing to do!" This man was learned, good-looking, and from a good family. He couldn't understand why he would give up the whole sea of flowers for just one flower.
However, he had disliked Yun Mo for a long time, but he couldn't beat him in a fight, so he was happy to let Su Yunzhi make things difficult for him.
Wu Yuan reached out and patted Su Yunzhi on the shoulder, his smile somewhat malicious.
"Don't worry, Brother Su. We will stay here for a while longer. We will let you know before we set off."
"Thank you very much, Brother Wu!" Su Yunzhi bowed and expressed his sincere gratitude.
Watching Su Yunzhi's departing figure, Wu Xingwang sighed and entered the inn.
This scene at the entrance of the inn was witnessed by the Deng family steward, who had come looking for the father and son.
Wu Yuan followed behind and suddenly realized how tall his father's back was. If it weren't for his father's discerning eye, their family would have been devoured to the bone in the south.
Wu Xingwang held onto the handrail as he went upstairs, and Wu Yuan quickly went to help him.
"Dad, are you really sure you want to sell the goods to the Deng family?"
"Hmm, let's go with the Deng family."
“But the things Su Yunru did back then…” Wu Yuan still felt disgusted.
Wu Xingwang's facial muscles twitched, and he sneered, "Things are different now. Judging from her willingness to marry into the Deng family and bring benefits to her brothers, she's not such a brainless person."
"What if the city lord finds out?" Wu Yuan asked, somewhat worried.
"The city lord's magnanimity is beyond that of ordinary people; she would never care about such trivial matters."
The father and son had just closed the door, preparing to discuss the details of their visit to the Deng family the next day, when there was a knock on the door.
The visitor was the steward of the Deng family. He bowed respectfully to the two of them and said, "Master is too busy to attend to you two today. He has not been able to entertain you properly. He specifically asked me to apologize to you."
"No need for formalities, sir. Today is the day your young master is getting married, and we are the ones who have disturbed you."
Wu Xingwang was a smart man and did not put on an arrogant attitude because of what the other party said.
"Mr. Wu, I just saw our young mistress's brother with you. May I ask if you two know each other?" the manager asked with a smile.
As the alcohol took effect, Wu Xingwang laughed loudly, "We know each other. We traveled south together all the way, so our friendship is naturally deep."
"It's like a flood washing away the Dragon King's temple. I never expected we were all family. Mr. Wu, please get some rest. I'll come to see you again tomorrow."
Seeing that he was drunk, the steward wisely refrained from disturbing him further, as he needed to hurry back and tell the master the good news.
When Su Yunzhi returned to the Su family home, the servants were cleaning up the mess left by the guests, and a commotion was coming from the direction of the study.
Su Kunliang was drunk and went on a rampage in his study. He threw the books on the bookshelf, which he considered as precious as his own lives, onto the ground one by one. As if he was still not satisfied, he even stomped on them a few times.
"Master, what are you doing?"
Zhu Jinhui followed behind him. He threw one book, and she picked it up. She would wipe the dust off the book with a handkerchief and hand it to her three sons who were following behind.
Su Kunliang got tired of throwing things, plopped down on the ground, picked up the wine jug in his hand, and gulped down the wine.
"My dear wife! It's my fault for being so useless, causing you so much suffering!"
"I'm sorry to you, I'm sorry to our son, I'm a useless father!"
"I feel even more sorry for Ru'er, who is a frail woman and has to support the entire Su family."
"The world is heartless! Scholars are useless!"
Su Yunzhi strode into the study, came to Su Kunliang's side, and snatched the wine pot from his hand.
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