Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 242 The Hungry Wolf
As the year draws to a close, the plum blossoms in the plum garden are in full bloom. Thousands of them are blooming beautifully in the white snow. The touch of red adds so much vitality to this winter.

There is a brazier burning in the pavilion. Although it is hollow on all sides, it does not feel cold. Standing here, you can enjoy the snow, lake and plum blossom views in all directions.

Ning Zhijun, Su Hanmei and a group of women were entertaining the merchants who had collected donations in the pavilion. They gathered in groups of three or two, drinking tea around the stove.

"It's such a pity that Mr. Li has stopped writing."

"The most regrettable thing is that we still don't know who Mr. Li is."

Su Hanmei and her group of girls all like The West Chamber written by Li Xiachan. However, the author suddenly stopped writing last year. The most attractive group of people for The West Chamber is not men, but girls, especially girls like them who are seventeen or eighteen years old and are just beginning to fall in love.

Everyone hopes that Mr. Li can continue to write another love story, but unfortunately, no one knows Mr. Li.

"Speaking of which, the entire Shuntian Prefecture was able to help so many disaster victims this time. The merchants in Shuntian Prefecture are truly admirable."

Ning Zhijun said: "The current emperor has a thunderous hand. The court can mobilize so many merchants to work together to fight the disaster. To be able to do so, it is enough to show that there are masters in the court."

In the pavilions, people gathered in groups of two or three, each interested in different topics. Some were chatting about vernacular novels.

Some people are concerned about national affairs.

Ning Zhijun belongs to the latter. Although they also like storytelling, it is obvious that they are more concerned about their family and country. This group of Ming Dynasty women do not only like to write poetry.

Since Su Hanmei was overwhelmed by Ning Zhijun's talent last time, she no longer bothered about the title of the talented woman of the capital. She nodded and agreed, "Sister Ning is right. Merchants value profit. The court can quietly make so many merchants voluntarily provide disaster relief. How can this method not be shocking?"

Fortunately, there are not many merchants in the pavilion now, otherwise Miss Su would offend many people with her words.

What do you mean by merchants are profit-oriented? Aren't you trying to get money from Ming merchants to help with disaster relief? If merchants heard that you are eating your own food while smashing other people's pots, what would they think?
From their conversation, we can tell that these young ladies from powerful families still look down on businessmen from the bottom of their hearts, and their attitude towards businessmen can be revealed from an inadvertent sentence.

Chen Ce was a quiet person who did not argue over trivial matters. He just laughed it off when he heard Su Hanmei's words.

But when Zhu Houzhao heard this, he became interested and said mysteriously, "Miss, you are wrong."

Su Hanmei looked at Zhu Houzhao and asked in confusion: "Why?"

Zhu Houzhao asked, "Is there a possibility that the imperial court tactics you mentioned did not originate from the imperial court?"

Su Hanmei, Ning Zhijun and other women were slightly stunned, and asked suspiciously: "Isn't it from the court?"

Zhu Houzhao smiled and asked, "Who was the first to provide disaster relief?"

Ning Zhijun blurted out: "Shuntian Newspaper and Express... er."

She suddenly froze and looked at Chen Ce with a shocked expression.

Ning Zhijun was very smart. When Zhu Houzhao gave her a little hint, she reacted immediately and couldn't help but gasp!

Su Hanmei was a little confused at this time, and asked Ning Zhijun in a low voice: "Sister Ning, what's wrong?"

Several powerful ladies nearby also looked like curious babies, tilting their heads and gossiping.

Ning Zhijun took a deep breath and said, "There is another possibility. The court was pushed forward step by step only after realizing it late."

what?
After hearing these words, these women were shocked to no end. Was the imperial court being pushed forward step by step?

It is really unbelievable to say this.

Ning Zhijun glanced at Chen Ce, who was not very noticeable in the crowd. But even if he just stood there quietly, some women would glance at him from time to time.

Chen Ce was quiet and low-key, with the appearance of a modest gentleman, and a calm and languid air, which always attracted a group of women. Ning Zhijun nodded and said, "Have you ever thought that the first merchants to provide disaster relief were Shuntian Newspaper and Shuntian Express?"

"What if, I mean what if, the boss behind these two merchants deliberately provided disaster relief so that the court could see an opportunity, and that's why the court rewarded the boss behind the scenes to attract more merchants to provide disaster relief?"

Su Hanmei frowned and said, "This certainly shows that the owners of Shuntian Newspaper and Shuntian Express have good intentions, but it does not mean that his actions are forcing the court to reward him and thus attract more businessmen to join."

Su Hanmei tended to believe that this was an accident... If there really was someone so far-sighted that had planned out the entire thing before the disaster relief, and even took the imperial court into account, then this was truly outrageous!

Ning Zhijun did not argue, she nodded: "Well, this is also possible."

Regardless of whether others believe it or not, Ning Zhijun believes that this must be Chen Ce's trick!

She raised her eyes again and looked at Chen Ce in the crowd, and saw that Chen Ce was still sitting there quietly. He only smiled politely after seeing Ning Zhijun's gaze.

My future husband, what a great man he is in terms of vision, ambition and ability!
What kind of monster did my father miss?

If my father had not broken off the engagement, she would even dare to believe that with Chen Ce's means, he could have helped his father reach the high position of Minister!
If it weren't for Chen Ce, her father might still be a judge in Shuntian Prefecture.

Zhu Houzhao smiled contemptuously at this time, and said to Su Hanmei in a pretentious manner: "You are not as bold as this girl."

Zhu Houzhao did not know Ning Zhijun yet, nor did he know that Ning Zhijun was the wife that Chen Ce had broken off the engagement with.

"It's normal that you don't understand the above things, but girl, you have to be bolder! You have to be bolder in your ideas, too. Don't think that just because you can't do it, it means others can't do it either."

"There are so many powerful people in this world!"

Su Hanmei chuckled as a response to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao was very angry and asked, "Do you think the Li family they were talking about just now is a man or a woman?"

Su Hanmei said: "Of course it's a woman. I guess she's older and more experienced."

Zhu Houzhao pointed at Chen Ce and said, "What if I said it was my younger brother? He is the Mr. Li you are talking about?"

Chen Ce: “???”

Didn't I just tell you not to talk nonsense? Zhu Houzhao, you betrayed me, you deserve to die!

All the attention of the beautiful girls suddenly focused on Chen Ce.

It's him?

Most people don’t know Su Hanmei and Ning Zhijun. Compared to national affairs, they prefer The West Chamber and are more interested in it, especially the Mr. Li who has never appeared behind the scenes.

But no one expected that the person who could write such a delicate and emotional novel like The West Chamber with its twists and turns of plot would be a man?
Or is he a very handsome young man? !

Who can withstand this?

"Xiao Cui, I'll give you half an incense stick of time. I want to know everything about him!"

"Die'er, go and find out about this young man's identity, marriage, and residence."

"Xiu'er, let my father propose to me! I want to marry him!"

Words like these became more and more exaggerated, and the eyes of these women glowed green, as if Chen Ce was a little lamb and they were hungry wolves!
(End of this chapter)