"What is this old fox up to?" Qi Sichen frowned when he heard the words from the little eunuch.
After thinking for a moment, he put down the endless stream of memorials in his hands and followed them.
He had already planned that when the old prime minister Lin Yanping returned, he would definitely deal with Lin Weiming. Whether he scolded him or wrote a memorial to scold him in a carefree manner, it didn't matter; it would all be under his control.
But he didn't expect that old guy Lin Yanping wouldn't play by the rules!
He actually wanted to go see Lin Wanyue directly!
That won't do.
What if this old man bullies his goddaughter?
Qi Sichen got up and dealt with Lin Yanping himself, not intending to leave it to Lin Weiming.
"Then, then you have to pay a thousand taels of silver, otherwise it won't do!" But before he even got over there, Lin Weiming had already frowned and quoted a high price.
He deliberately set a high price to make things difficult for Lin Yanping, hoping that the old prime minister would back down.
"Oh." But to his surprise, Lin Yanping still agreed at the door. "It's alright. I don't have that much silver on me right now. I'll have my servant go home to get it later. Could you let me go back with you to see her first?"
"Of course not! You haven't even received the money yet, the deal isn't done." Lin Weiming immediately refused.
"..." Lin Yanping didn't press the matter. "Okay, then wait a moment, I'll have someone bring it over now."
After saying that, he immediately ordered the attendant who was with him to go back and get the silver.
The attendant, who had served him for many years, had never seen his old prime minister so generous, willing to spend a thousand taels of silver to have a fortune teller of unknown background.
But having received the order, he dared not say much in front of outsiders and immediately accepted the command.
A moment later, Qi Sichen finally came over and said to Lin Yanping, "Prime Minister, where did you go this time? I heard you didn't even bring your wife along, just enjoying yourself all by yourself? His Majesty and I have been missing you terribly back in the capital!"
Lin Yanping bowed to Qi Sichen and said calmly, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness and His Majesty."
"Prime Minister, I know you are a conservative man, but that child is, after all, my goddaughter. It wouldn't be excessive to bestow upon her the title of princess. Please, for my sake, be lenient and don't hold this against me," Qi Sichen said, unusually speaking softly.
Unexpectedly, both Lin Yanping and Lin Weiming showed somewhat surprised expressions.
This made Qi Sichen glance at Lin Weiming a few more times. If it weren't for Lin Yanping's presence, he probably would have asked him directly.
Lin Yanping cleared his throat twice and said, "Your Highness, those are just trivial matters. A true man doesn't concern himself with trifles, so I naturally won't dwell on the matter of the little princess's investiture. Please don't take it to heart, Your Highness."
He had never caused any trouble for the Lin family, so there was no question of him showing them any leniency.
However, Qi Sichen's petty mind overshadowed his noble intentions.
Qi Sichen felt somewhat embarrassed after realizing this, and casually asked Lin Weiming, "Why didn't you go home after court today? Why are you chatting with the old prime minister here?"
"There's nothing I can do. Someone insisted on giving me money, and I can't refuse," Lin Weiming replied, shrugging.
"..." Qi Sichen almost choked on his own by Lin Weiming's shameless answer, and rolled his eyes fiercely.
He was so worried about the national budget that his hair was almost falling out, but he became smug and even complained that someone was giving him money!
In just a short while, the attendant that Lin Yanping had sent to get the silver hurriedly returned with a thousand taels of silver notes.
"Sir, the silver notes have been brought!" The attendant hurriedly handed the silver notes to Lin Yanping.
Lin Yanping handed it to Lin Weiming without even looking at it, saying, "You can count them."
"No need for that. Since you're in such a hurry, let's get in the carriage together." Lin Weiming tucked the silver notes into his pocket.
His kind-hearted daughter saved up all the money she had earned from fortune telling. She used it to buy some thick cotton cloth outside the city and distributed it to the poor people living there so they could get through the winter.
However, because Lin Wanyue is still young, even though she is already better at making money than her father at such a young age, the task of distributing cotton-padded clothes was still entrusted to Lin Weiming.
When Lin Wanyue spoke of it, she was quite convinced that it would help Lin Weiming improve his ability to handle official duties, and the rest of the Lin family thought it was a good idea.
Lin Weiming also felt that going to work outside the city was much better than staying at home all day memorizing books. The truly useful things cannot be learned by simply memorizing a few books at home, especially the principles of being an official, which can never be written in books.
Now that he had another thousand taels of silver in hand, Lin Weiming was sitting in the carriage thinking about how to buy cheap and good cotton fabric, and how to distribute it outside the city as fairly as possible so as not to cause trouble and fight over it.
Seeing that he had agreed, Lin Yanping naturally followed and got into the Lin family's carriage.
Qi Sichen hesitated for a moment, really worried about the official duties he hadn't finished, and only told Lin Weiming, "Don't let Wanwan get tired. If she wants to come to the palace to play, just call her over anytime."
These words were also meant to imply that Lin Yanping might change his mind and cause trouble for Lin Wanyue, and that Lin Weiming could send her to the palace for refuge at any time.
He wasn't sure if Lin Weiming had understood, but he heard a voice from inside the carriage: "Since he's not coming, why don't you hurry back? You're freezing to death out here!"
As soon as the coachman agreed, the horse galloped forward at full speed.
All that remained was a pile of dust and Qi Sichen standing in the distance, his face grim.
...
The two men stared at each other the whole way, neither of them, both surnamed Lin, uttering a word.
Upon arriving at the Lin family's gate, Lin Weiming immediately jumped off the carriage, leaving only the elderly and frail Lin Yanping still on it.
The coachman was much more sensible than his master. He respectfully brought over the ladder and spoke up for him, saying, "Your Excellency, my master is just a bit too lively, but he didn't mean any disrespect. I'll help you down."
"It's alright." Lin Yanping's legs were still quite nimble, and he didn't need the coachman's help to get down on his own.
Lin Weiming ran into the house and saw his mother feeding the chickens in the yard. He quickly asked, "Mother, where is Wanwan? Someone has brought silver again, this time it's a thousand taels! Look! This is the first time I've ever seen a thousand tael silver note. It's definitely much bigger than other silver notes, quite impressive."
"Keep your voice down, Wanwan isn't awake yet, don't wake her up." Liu Junlan scattered the leftover rice in her hand in the yard, and a group of plump hens immediately rushed over.
It was the first time she had ever seen a thousand-tael silver note, so she went over and casually asked, "Which lord gave this? Such a large sum?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
