sjar Chapter 321 Towards the Golden Palace (25)
Chapter 321 Towards the Golden Palace (25)
Yan Zhen was not short of money; he bought a large house in a prime location, just steps away from the capital.
Xue Lin saved himself the time of commuting early in the morning, and he was even picked up by a carriage when he went to his shift. It was already bright outside when he slowly got dressed and appeared in front of Yan Zhen.
"Sister."
Yan Zhen looked up and saw Xue Lin in front of him wearing a green round-necked official robe with wide sleeves, a rhinoceros horn belt around his waist, and black leather boots. This outfit made him look tall and slender, with a noble and refined air.
Yan Zhen was quite satisfied with the minor official he had paid to support, and beckoned to him.
Xue Lin approached, and Yan Zhen handed him the porcelain jar on the table: "Give this to your superior and tell him that the Cao family can refine high-purity salt. Ask him to report this to His Majesty."
When Xue Lin opened the porcelain jar, he saw that it contained white crystalline substances, as clean and free of impurities as snow.
He dipped his finger in the mixture and tasted it on the tip of his tongue; it had no sour or bitter taste.
Xue Lin's eyes lit up slightly.
He knew exactly what this jar of salt represented.
The salt-making technology in Daji was underdeveloped, and the refined salt contained impurities, resulting in a sour and bitter taste. Dishes seasoned with salt also inevitably had a sour and bitter taste.
Even so, salt, as an indispensable part of daily life, was very expensive in this era and was strictly controlled by the imperial court.
If this jar of clean, impurity-free salt were reported to the imperial court, it would surely attract their attention.
Xue Lin asked, "Sister, what do you want to exchange it for?"
Yan Zhen said, "The qualifications to become a royal merchant."
After Xue Lin left with the salt, Yan Zhen changed his clothes and set off for Jin Yu Lou.
-
Fifteen minutes before noon, Yan Zhen entered the Zhenxiu Pavilion, and a waiter immediately came forward to lead her to a private room on the second floor.
Pushing open the door to the private room, Xie Zhao was already sitting at the table by the window. Upon seeing her, he smiled slightly and gestured for her to sit: "Sit."
Yan Zhen had the steward and maids who had come with her wait outside the door, and entered the private room alone. She calmly sat down opposite Xie Zhao and asked, "May I ask what brings Lord Xie to summon me here?"
Xie Zhao picked up the wine pot and poured wine into the cup in front of her.
"Before answering your question, I have a question to ask you."
"Please speak, Lord Xie."
"Should I call you Manager Cao, or should I call you—Luo Yun?"
Yan Zhen's expression remained unchanged: "Lord Xie, I don't know what you're talking about."
Xie Zhao put down the wine pot, took out an envelope from his sleeve, and pushed it in front of Yan Zhen.
Yan Zhen didn't move: "What is this?"
"You'll know when you open it and take a look."
Yan Zhen frowned: "This humble woman is illiterate."
Xie Zhao paused for a moment, then cut to the chase: "This is evidence of Cao He's fabricated identity. Three years ago, you spent money in Ningzhou City to bribe an old farmer to vouch for you and obtain a travel permit to Yinzhou—Luoyun. Did you know that fabricating an identity to obtain a travel permit is a serious crime?"
Yan Zhen's expression changed.
Her reaction pleased Xie Zhao, who tapped the envelope lightly with his finger: "Go ahead and speak."
Yan Zhen was silent for a moment: "What did you say?"
"Tell me what happened in the past three years, why you became the richest man in Yinzhou, and what you want to do in the capital."
Yan Zhen frowned, feigning hesitation. After a long while, he sighed in resignation and said, "It has nothing to do with you. You have started a family in the capital, and I have married someone else in Yinzhou. From now on, we will go our separate ways and treat each other as strangers. I will forget what happened thirteen years ago."
Xie Zhao's eyes turned slightly cold: "Really?"
Just as Yan Zhen was about to nod, Xie Zhao suddenly slammed his hand on the table.
With a loud "clang," the wine in the glass splashed out, and Yan Zhen also pretended to be startled.
"If you truly wanted to go your separate ways with me, you wouldn't have let Xue Lin take the imperial examinations, you wouldn't have traveled all the way from Yinzhou to the capital, and you certainly wouldn't have appeared at Wanlin Garden that day! Luo Yun, you don't actually think your little tricks can fool me, do you?"
Yan Zhen's pupils contracted slightly, his hand on the table clenched into a fist, his gaze fixed on him, his lips trembling slightly, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Xie Zhao saw her expression and narrowed his eyes.
That's right, this is the Luo Yun he knows.
He's tongue-tied and can't react to unexpected situations, so he just stares at the other person with this stupid look.
The familiar feeling gave Xie Zhao a sense of control. He toned down his sharp aura, leaned back in his chair, and looked coldly at Yan Zhen: "Still unwilling to confess honestly?"
Yan Zhen remained silent.
"Then let me guess," Xie Zhao said. "You're doing this because you're unwilling to accept it, right? That's why you went to such lengths to implicate Xue Lin, the top scholar, and then went to great lengths to come to the capital, only to appear before me and then refuse to admit your identity. Luo Yun, I never knew you had such deep thoughts..."
"So what?" Yan Zhen suddenly interrupted him.
Xie Zhao frowned: "What?"
"Shouldn't I be resentful?" Yan Zhen stared straight at him, her voice trembling but clear and strong. "I married you at fifteen, managed the household and served my mother-in-law, risked my life to give birth to your two children. Every bite of food you ate while you were studying, every stitch of clothing you wore, was earned by me through hard work digging in the fields! In the end, you became the top scholar and a person of high status, and the first thing you did was send someone to kill me! Xie Zhao, tell me, shouldn't I be resentful?"
Xie Zhao was taken aback, a hint of unease flashing in his eyes.
"If I hadn't overheard the guards and the coachman talking and learned that you planned to kill me on the way, I would be a skeleton abandoned in the wilderness by now!"
Yan Zhen's eyes were sharp as knives, filled with intense resentment. "And what about you? You married the daughter of a third-rank official in the capital, live in a spacious mansion, make my child call another woman 'Mother,' and even tell the world that you have never married and that my child is the child of your deceased brother... Xie Zhao, what goes around comes around. You are so ruthless, are you really not afraid of retribution?"
Xie Zhao's eyes darkened: "Luo Yun, you've shown your true colors."
Yan Zhen sneered: "I am indeed unwilling. Why is it that you, who have done so many bad things, can still hold a high position and have a good reputation, while I have paid so much, but I can only hide and change my identity to survive!"
Xie Zhao knew the main event was about to begin, and he coldly questioned, "What do you want to do?"
Instead of answering, Yan Zhen asked, "What do you think I should do?"
Xie Zhao sneered: "Luo Yun, don't think you can rest easy just because Xue Lin passed the imperial examination with top honors. I've investigated. You have no foundation in the capital, and your connections are pitifully weak. If you make a single mistake, not only will no one be able to protect you, but you'll also implicate Xue Lin! My family, on the other hand, are high-ranking officials of the third rank. Guess which is easier: to demote a newly appointed Hanlin scholar who makes a mistake, or to make the so-called richest man in Yinzhou disappear from the capital without a trace?"
Yan Zhen was stunned, his gaze fixed on him.
Xie Zhao calmly replied, "So what if you're the richest man in Yinzhou? How dare you, a lowly merchant, fight against an official?"