While Su Wen was absorbed in the state of his springtime, Xue Meng was standing in the courtyard of the Xue family's residence.
There was a man sitting in front of him.
"That Su Wen actually agreed?"
"He agreed, but he wants our Xue family's gold mine!"
Xue Meng reported truthfully.
The man sneered and said, "He has quite a big appetite, just like that father of his! He's not afraid of choking to death either. You did well in this matter. You weren't blinded by beauty and came back in time to report. Only then will I have the chance to set up a trap. This time, whether you win or lose, you've done a great service!"
Xue Meng was slightly hesitant. "If we lose, would our Xue Clan's gold mine really be given to that kid?"
A smile appeared on the man's face. "If Su Wen can really bring out a lot of treasures in this competition, I don't believe that His Majesty will turn a blind eye to Su Changqing's extravagance and Su Wen's high profile. When that time comes, your uncle will lead people to rile up the royal court."
"As long as he can defeat Su Changqing, your uncle will have a chance to take another step forward and become the prime minister. When that time comes, what's a gold mine? Furthermore, how can Su Wen win the Xue family's wealth?"
The person who spoke was Xue Meng's father, Xue Shanhe.
In reality, after Xue Meng went to talk to Su Wen, he immediately returned home to report and receive Xue Shanhe's instructions.
Anger, provocation, competing through wealth. Everything was a trap set up by his father for the Su family.
From Xue Shanhe's point of view, the Su family was not comparable to the Xue family. With the Xue family's assets supporting them, it was reasonable for them to fork out any amount of wealth. However, what about Su Wen? He was competing with Xue Meng for wealth, but how was he going to explain the amount of money he had taken out?
Hence, as long as Su Wen agreed, Su Changqing would be implicated no matter what.
His true target was Su Changqing!
After the first snowfall of the year, the capital looked like it had been cleansed and purified.
A carriage slowly entered the capital through the main gates.
Yan Luoying lifted the curtain. The last time she came to the capital, she was still a child.
In the blink of an eye, more than ten years had passed. She had finally returned.
"Uncle Zhou, I remember there's a
"Alright!" The man driving the carriage responded.
He was Yan Ze's personal guard and had watched Yan Luoying grow up. This time, he accompanied her to return to the capital.
The wonton stall was still the same wonton stall a decade ago.
The boss was a woman in her forties with soft facial features.
Yan Luoying got out of the car and asked Old Zhou to order two bowls of wonton.
However, after she took a sip of the soup and ate the wonton, Yan Luoying was rather disappointed.
She did not have many memories in the capital. This place could be considered a place where the taste lingered in her memory. Every time she recalled it, she only remembered that Yan Ze always praised the wonton for being delicious and told her to eat more. Now that she really ate it, it did not seem to be that delicious.
She couldn't help but say, "In my memory, Father always brought me here. After so many years, I've already forgotten the taste. However, now that I'm eating it again, the taste is really just ordinary."
Old Zhou smiled. "It has always been like this. It's just that your father was lusting for the lady boss's body back then, so he always brought you here to eat. He wanted to get closer to her. But before he could confess, he was transferred to the border and never returned."
Yan Luoying came to an abrupt realization.
Looked at the woman who had almost become her stepmother, Yan Luoying shook her head helplessly. "With his status, why does my father have to go through so much trouble just to get a woman?"
However, she also knew that although Yan Ze was arrogant and burly, he was very cautious when it came to matters between men and women.
Even now, he has yet to remarry.
Old Zhou sighed. "Your father is a sentimental person."
The two of them ate the rest of the wontons silently. They both knew that it was unknown when they would meet again after this farewell.
"Have you heard? Last night, Prime Minister Su Changqing's son, Su Wen, threw a huge sum of money at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and slept with the head courtesan Cui Yumian. He spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in one night!"
"Tch, you think that's all? That Young Master Su even gifted a spirit artifact in the shape of a hairpin that His Majesty bestowed upon him to Cui Yumian. That was something His Majesty gave him to present to his future wife."
"Truly, a young man's youth is wasted if he's not flirtatious. I heard that Cui Yumian is extremely beautiful."
"Do you even need to ask? That's the Head of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion! For the past three years, she has only spoken to people and never had any physical contact with any men. Even so, there are countless men who still want to meet her."
Old Zhou looked at Yan Luoying and saw that she was frowning. Although she was still eating with her head lowered, it was obvious that her attention had been affected by the discussion.
"Miss, these are all rumors that typically spread through the city. There's no need to take it seriously," Mr. Zhou said.
Yan Luoying was expressionless. She raised her head and said, "There's no smoke without fire. Why aren't there rumors about others? Besides, does Uncle Zhou think that these rumors are fake?"
Old Zhou remained silent.
It was obvious that Yan Luoying was in a bad mood.
Although Su Wen was famous for being a playboy, Yan Luoying had never interacted with him and did not understand him. Hence, she still had some hope in her heart.
In the end, she had just entered the capital and heard such rumors. How could she be in a good mood?
Unfortunately, the rumors continued to spread.
"Last night, Miss Cui directly chose Young Master Su in the second round. I heard that Young Master Xue Meng prepared over a million taels of silver to compete with Young Master Su, but in the end, he didn't have the chance to do so. The two of them had a quarrel and agreed to compete through wealth in 10 days!"
"Really? There's such a thing?"
"Isn't that so? The two of them said that in addition to gold and silver, whoever appears with more extravagance and rarer treasures will win!"
"The Xue family is a world-renowned business! Can Su Wen win?"
"World-renowned business? What good is a business? Young Master Su's father, Su Changqing, is the head of all the officials in the Great Zhou Dynasty. How many benefits does he get just daily? In my opinion, I'm afraid Young Master Su will still win."
"That's true. Everyone says that Su Changqing is a corrupt official and a crafty minister. I think he must have benefited a lot."
"What do you think? How much does a county magistrate earn every year? Not to mention the prime minister?"
Yan Luoying listened to the surrounding customers' discussion quietly.
To these commoners, it was just a joke for them to discuss in their free time.
However, Yan Luoying sensed that something was wrong.
"Uncle Zhou, all of these happened last night. How could it be known by the streets so quickly? I think someone must have spread this news on purpose," Yan Luoying said calmly.
Old Zhou knew that his Miss had always been smart and wouldn't jump the gun without thinking. He asked in confusion, "Then who would release such news?"
Yan Luoying smiled and said, "It's probably Su Changqing's political enemy. The more this matter spreads, the more Su Changqing has to answer to His Majesty."
At this point, she shook her head and sighed. "This Su Wen is really insensible. Isn't such a high-profile action just inviting trouble to himself? Even if he wins the battle of wealth, I'm afraid His Majesty won't feel good about it."