novelraw Chapter 549 - 548: Rift Between Father-in-law and Son-in-law
Chapter 549 - 548: Rift Between Father-in-law and Son-in-law
This time when Liu Yueyao arrived, Zhu Yu had just helped Lu Qing change his medicine, clean his body, and put on a clean robe. At this moment, Lu Qing was pulling her to sit on his lap, with a cup of pre-cooled fragrant tea being fed directly to her lips.
Originally, this wasn’t much of a problem, but Liu Yueyao’s sudden visit made Zhu Yu feel somewhat embarrassed. She quickly glared at Lu Qing with feigned annoyance, hurriedly stood up, and moved aside to sit on a stool.
Liu Yueyao also didn’t expect to come at such a wrong time. She was stunned for a moment, then smiled gently and bowed to the two of them: "Sir, Madam, it seems I have come at a bit of an inconvenient time."
"Since you’re here, have a seat." The expression on Lu Qing’s face had already returned to his usual calm, though a hint of blush yet to fade from his cheeks betrayed a momentary embarrassment.
Liu Yueyao was holding a thick stack of ledgers in her arms and gently placed them on the table,
"Sir, these are the accounts from recent times, including those from the Yunyin Pavilion, as well as from the farms below. Please have a look." Liu Yueyao took one from the top and pushed the rest in front of Lu Qing, then handed the one she took to Zhu Yu, "Madam, this is from that person named Wang Shan, who, according to the previous agreement, sends Mr. Zhu a share every ten days. Each time it varies, but every payment is recorded in the ledger. Please have a look as well."
Lu Qing was already skillfully flipping through the ledger at hand, and Zhu Yu nodded, taking the book from Liu Yueyao and flipping through it roughly.
She was inherently impatient with tedious and meticulous tasks like bookkeeping, finding it bothersome even to look at them. However, this account book was recorded clearly and was easy to understand, so she didn’t feel much of a headache looking at it.
Wang Shan was someone she inadvertently helped, a farmer, when she had just married Lu Qing. At that time, Lu Qing used the excuse of ancestral worship to trick her out of the Capital to investigate a case in Qingshui County.
Back then, Wang Shan’s family was on the brink of desperation, with their children nearly starving to death. At that time, Lu Qing, under the name of Zhu Yu, "Mr. Zhu," gave Wang Shan an ingot of gold, letting him revive his ancestral business, opening a brewery with the gold counting as Zhu Yu’s investment.
Although Zhu Yu remembered this matter, after that, many other things that required her attention and energy came up, and she almost forgot about Wang Shan sending money to her.
Unexpectedly, Wang Shan turned out to be an honest and straightforward person. Not only did he send Zhu Yu’s share to the Yunyin Pavilion every ten days, but he also wrote a note explaining the revenue status of his brewery in detail, making sure that the share he gave to Zhu Yu was more rather than less, showing no signs of ingratitude.
Moreover, from the ever-increasing share and the fact that he could now send an apprentice over to deliver the money, it wasn’t hard to guess that his brewery was doing quite well.
"It seems Wang Shan is also living a good life now." After flipping through the account, Zhu Yu felt a bit emotional. She looked up to see Lu Qing had already placed the other ledgers brought by Liu Yueyao aside, and handed over the one in her hand, "Judging by the share he delivers now every ten days, his brewery’s scale and business should be quite impressive."
Lu Qing took it and looked over, nodding as he did, "It seems the grain shortage in Congzhou has been alleviated. Come next year, in spring, farmers will obediently plant grains according to the flowering and grass tax provisions, and the previous problems will no longer exist."
Zhu Yu knowingly nodded.
So that’s how it is.
How could this fox do anything purely out of good will?
Originally, it was true that Lu Qing helped the honest Wang Shan out of his plight, but it was clear that his motive wasn’t just because of Wang Shan’s miserable circumstances.
Wang Shan was honest, upright, not someone who schemes or cheats, plus he had good brewing skills.
So investing in his brewery, on the one hand, solved his family’s livelihood problems, and on the other hand, delivering money to the Yunyin Pavilion every ten days allowed Liu Yueyao’s side to monitor any signs of county magistrates in Qingshui County reviving their tyrannical practices.
More importantly, brewing requires grain. If the farmers in Congzhou, or even nearby Runzhou, were still being incited to give up grain planting for flowers and grass, Wang Shan’s brewery business would also face challenges and stagnate, let alone develop.
Now at least it can be confirmed that Runzhou’s grain reserves are quite substantial, not only supporting local needs but also aiding the previously famine-stricken Congzhou next door.
Furthermore, the collusion between officials and merchants and market monopolization in Qingshui County has been eradicated without any signs of resurgence.
After reviewing the recent accounts, Lu Qing chatted with Liu Yueyao about the events in the Capital.
"While we’ve been away, have there been any interesting happenings in the Capital?" he asked.
Liu Yueyao waved the group fan leisurely, "While Sir and Madam have been away from the Capital, there have been quite a few lively happenings there.
Many officials have been transferred; originally, nearly half of the positions were held by Duke Yan’s faction. With recent operations, these individuals were shuffled around, and now among the key officials, Duke Yan’s people are eight out of ten."
"Oh? Did the Ministry of Personnel petition the Holy Emperor for approval?" Lu Qing’s expression was rather intriguing, "That’s interesting..."
"There’s another interesting thing, which I guess Sir might find intriguing.
I heard Duke Yan wanted to transfer Minister of Public Works Bai Qihong to the Ministry of War. The Holy Emperor approved, but as soon as Bai Qihong returned to the Capital and attended the court, his first act was to kneel and beg the Holy Emperor to retract the order, saying he enjoyed working at the Ministry of Industry, repairing canals, and building bridges to benefit the people. He had no interest in the Ministry of War and feared he’d become a useless figurehead there due to his inexperience.
The Holy Emperor, seeing his sincerity, was not angered and decided to respect his choice, rescinding the command and not forcing him.
Duke Yan, sick at home that day, did not attend the court session. By the time he received the news, the decree was issued, and he couldn’t rush to the palace to plead with the Holy Emperor to change his mind.
Afterward, Duke Yan was furious, chastised Bai Qihong harshly at his home, and even drove his second daughter along with him out, forbidding them from ever stepping into the Duke Yan Mansion again.
Since then, everyone knew that Bai Qihong had fallen out with his father-in-law. Before leaving the Capital, when Bai Qihong last attended the court, he found himself lacking any colleagues willing to talk to him."