Unlimited Resources: Raising a Minister with a Space Supermarket

Chapter 569 - 501: Illegitimate Son of the Kou Family?

Yu Xiaolian passionately gave a big bowl of motivational talk to the workers at the cement factory.

She announced that the wages for other workers would increase from the original fifteen coins a day to twenty coins a day.

This news made all the laborers very happy, and they smiled earnestly and expressed their gratitude to Yu Xiaolian.

In reality, those who come to work as laborers in the cement factory are mostly from the poorest families or those who have never traveled far. If they knew that outside the Linzhou area, fifteen coins a day does not even suffice for hard labor, they might not be so grateful and satisfied right now.

As the weather warmed up, Su Jingchen once again started the major project of road construction.

Yu Xiaolian, on the other hand, would occasionally visit the Red Sausage Factory, and the female workers there also had their wages raised, from the original ten coins to fifteen coins.

Besides overseeing the Red Sausage Factory, Yu Xiaolian also took time to guide some farmers who had received chili seeds on how to plant peppers, keeping both of them busy, and only in the evening did they have time to chat for a while.

However, this busy yet harmonious life was soon disrupted by the Imperial Envoy sent by Jun Tingye.

As soon as the Imperial Envoy Fu Qionglin arrived in Linzhou, his first stop was Deyang Town.

Stone lacquer is wealth, and the Emperor values it highly.

Therefore, the first thing Fu Qionglin did was to investigate how much of this stone lacquer there is and how long it can be extracted.

Upon learning that the stone lacquer continuously emerged from underground, Fu Qionglin was very pleased.

Only one point was unfavorable; the extraction area was too narrow, and the amount of stone lacquer that could be obtained daily was very limited. But as long as the place kept producing, it was worth the court sending people specifically to guard and extract it.

Jun Mobai felt a great sense of relief when he discovered that the Imperial Envoy was Lv Maolin.

Lv Maolin, one of their own!

It’s just that the Emperor might have considered that a single envoy might not handle everything, so he had the underlying intention of sending two people.

The other Imperial Envoy was none other than Fu Qionglin, who had always been politically at odds with Lv Maolin.

Lv Maolin, the half-brother of Lv Imperial Concubine, and the uncle of Prince Jin.

Fu Qionglin, father of Fu Zihan, and father-in-law of Prince Jin.

Logically, one is the uncle of Prince Jin and the other the father-in-law; they should be working together, but they do the opposite.

Lv Maolin believes that Fu Qionglin is not truly intent on assisting his nephew and thinks Fu Qionglin married off his daughter to Prince Jin under duress.

The reason was to place Fu Zihan as a spy for the Emperor in Prince Jin Mansion.

Moreover, not only was Fu Zihan unwilling to marry Prince Jin back in the day, but even Fu Qionglin openly opposed this marriage, until Fu Yi secretly spoke to the former Emperor to finally bring the two together.

In Lv Maolin’s eyes, both Fu Zihan and her father were pawns planted by the former Emperor, anticipating Jun Tingye when he was still Crown Prince.

The two have been at odds all the way from Jinzhou to Linzhou, without any respite.

Thus, when Lv Maolin saw Jun Mobai, he immediately pulled Jun Mobai aside for a private conversation.

"Have Prince Jin’s private soldiers in Linzhou been settled?"

Jun Mobai reluctantly had to tell him about the dispersal of the private soldiers.

"What? How could they be disbanded?"

"I didn’t know who the Emperor would send. If it turned out to be someone uncompromising, and they discovered the private soldiers, I feared causing an overwhelming disaster for little royal uncle."

Initially, when Su Jingchen suggested disbanding the private soldiers, he was opposed, knowing how difficult it had been to maintain these over ten thousand private soldiers, a quiet accumulation over seven or eight years entailing an enormous investment of wealth and effort.

But now that his health had deteriorated, he truly lacked the strength to worry about the matter of private soldiers. The best way, as Su Jingchen suggested, was to hide the soldiers among the people and gather them when Prince Jin needed them.

"It’s easy to send them back, but hard to gather them again. This Su Jingchen..." Lv Maolin said with a sullen face, "Have you been tricked by him?"

Jun Mobai’s expression changed abruptly, "What do you mean?"

"This person was appointed as the champion by the new Emperor, with no ties to you and Prince Jin. Do you think he sincerely wishes to help Prince Jin achieve greatness?" He certainly didn’t believe it.

Jun Mobai waved his hand, "You only know half of the story!"

Seeing Lv Maolin eager to hear more, Jun Mobai whispered to him about Su Jingchen’s background.

This time Lv Maolin was truly shocked, "You say he is Kou Maonian’s grandson? The illegitimate child Kou Shihuai fathered outside in those wild days?"

Jun Mobai nodded; when Su Jingchen had voluntarily disclosed his family background, he too was as taken aback as Lv Maolin.

"So your intention is... Su Jingchen doesn’t plan to recognize his ancestry, and intends to use our hands to deal with Loyal and Righteous Marquis Mansion?" At this moment, Lv Maolin’s suspicion of Su Jingchen subsided somewhat.

If Su Jingchen wished to take revenge on the Kou Family for the wrongful death of his mother, his choice to align with them made a lot more sense.

Even though Loyal and Righteous Marquis Mansion seemed to be in decline, the former Emperor had bestowed upon them the Death Exemption Token. So even if the third generation Marquis Kou Siyu was somewhat unreliable, the protection of the Death Exemption Token safeguarded the entire family, leaving Su Jingchen with no means to shake the mansion.

Jun Mobai said, "I promised him that once Prince Jin’s major enterprise succeeded, he could deal with Loyal and Righteous Marquis Mansion as he saw fit..."

"This... Su Jingchen is truly as remarkable as the rumors outside?"

All along the journey, he heard tales of Su Jingchen confounding the Hu army without deploying a single soldier.

The closer they got to Northern Land, the more Su Jingchen was deified by the common people, and Lv Maolin had come listening to such stories all the way.

Though he had listened, he doubted Su Jingchen possessed such capability.

On his way, Lv Maolin labeled Su Jingchen as one who spent money to create a reputation, attempting to forge a good official image.

It wasn’t until he heard Jun Mobai’s affirmation of Su Jingchen that Lv Maolin realized Su Jingchen was a true talent.

In literature, he won the champion; in martial arts, he could confront enemies on the battlefield!

Lv Maolin was somewhat eager to meet Su Jingchen.

Though he had seen Su Jingchen before, at that time, the newly crowned champion was not worthy of his company. He had merely scrutinized him from afar without taking the young champion seriously.

"Now that the issue with the private soldiers is resolved, the only remaining matter is the negotiation with Hu army envoys." Lv Maolin said solemnly.

Jun Mobai said, "This issue, Lord Su has also devised a perfect strategy!"

"Oh?" Lv Maolin raised an eyebrow.

Jun Mobai said, "I wonder if uncle still remembers, I once had an aide named Qi Yunfan, skilled in poisons and antidotes."