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Chapter 548 The Rift Between Father-in-Law and Son-in-Law
When Liu Yueyao arrived this time, Zhu Yu had just helped Lu Qing change her dressing, wipe her body, and change her into a clean robe. At this moment, Lu Qing pulled her to sit on his lap, and a cup of fragrant tea that had been prepared in advance was fed directly to her lips.

Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but Liu Yueyao's sudden visit made Zhu Yu feel a little awkward. She quickly glared at Lu Qing reproachfully, hurriedly got up, moved to the side, and sat down on a stool.

Liu Yueyao hadn't expected to arrive at such an inopportune time. She paused for a moment, then smiled and curtsied to the two men: "Master, Madam, it seems I've come at a rather inopportune time."

"Since you're here, please have a seat." Lu Qing's expression had returned to its usual composure, only the faint blush on his cheeks betrayed his momentary embarrassment.

Liu Yueyao gently placed a thick stack of account books on the table.

"Master, these are the accounts for the past few days, including those from Yunyin Pavilion and the estates below. Please take a look." Liu Yueyao took down one of the top books, pushed the rest in front of Lu Qing, and then handed the one she had just taken down to Zhu Yu. "Madam, this is the account of that man named Wang Shan. According to the previous agreement, he sends a young shop assistant to give Master Zhu a gift of money on the last day of each ten-day period. Each time it is more or less, but every transaction is recorded. Please take a look as well."

Lu Qing had already expertly flipped through the account books in his hands, and Zhu Yu nodded, took the book from Liu Yueyao, and glanced through it.

She herself was not very patient with tedious and meticulous tasks like bookkeeping, and she didn't even have the patience to look at it. However, since Liu Yueyao remembered the ledger clearly and it was easy to understand, she didn't find it too much of a headache to look at.

Wang Shan was a farmer she unintentionally helped when she had just married Lu Qing and he tricked her out of the capital under the pretense of ancestral worship to investigate a case in Qingshui County.

At that time, the family was driven to the brink of despair, and the children were almost starving to death. At that time, Lu Qing, under the name of Zhu Yu, "Second Master Zhu," gave Wang Shan a silver ingot, instructing him to resume his family business, brew wine and open a winery in the future. The silver ingot was considered as Zhu Yu's investment.

Although Zhu Yu remembered this incident, she had so many other things to worry about and take care of afterward that she almost completely forgot about Wang Shan's offer to send her money.

Unexpectedly, Wang Shan was indeed an honest and upright person. Not only did he send Zhu Yu's share of money to Yunyin Pavilion every ten days, but he also wrote a note explaining the revenue of his winery in detail, ensuring that the share he gave to Zhu Yu was more than he expected, and that he had no intention of being ungrateful.

The ever-increasing amount of money he was giving as gifts, and the fact that he was even sending his young apprentice to deliver the money, made it easy to guess that his distillery was doing quite well.

“It seems Wang Shan is living a good life now.” Zhu Yu sighed after looking through the books. He looked up and saw that Lu Qing had already put aside the other account books that Liu Yueyao had brought. He handed over the one he was holding. “Judging from the money he sends every ten days, his winery must be doing very well.”

Lu Qing took a look and nodded: "It seems that the problem of food shortage in the state has been alleviated. Next year, when spring comes, the farmers will plant grain in accordance with the regulations of the flower and grass tax, and the previous problems will no longer exist."

Zhu Yu nodded knowingly.

It turned out to be the case.

She believes that this fox is incapable of doing anything purely simplistically!
It's true that Lu Qing helped the honest and simple Wang Shan financially back then, but it's clear that his motives weren't solely based on Wang Shan's dire situation. Wang Shan is kind, honest, and not the type to cheat or deceive; he also happens to have excellent brewing skills.

So, by funding his winery, they could solve the family's livelihood problem on the one hand, and deliver money to Yunyin Pavilion every ten days on the other, so that Liu Yueyao and her group could keep track of any signs of a resurgence of local magistrates abusing their power and acting like tyrants in the Qingshui County area.

More importantly, brewing wine requires grain. If farmers within the state's borders, and even in neighboring Runzhou, are still being encouraged to abandon grain cultivation and instead grow flowers and grasses, then Wangshan's winery business will likely struggle and find it difficult to improve, let alone develop.

What is certain now is that Runzhou has a considerable amount of grain reserves, enough not only to feed the local population but also to help the neighboring Congzhou, which was previously suffering from food shortages.

Furthermore, the previous collusion between officials and businessmen to bully and dominate the market in Qingshui County has been completely eliminated, and there is no sign of it resurfacing.

After reviewing the recent accounts, Lu Qing chatted with Liu Yueyao about things happening in the capital.

"While we were away, did anything interesting happen in the capital?" he asked.

Liu Yueyao casually waved the round fan in her hand: "While Master and Madam have been away from the capital, there have been quite a few exciting things happening in the city."

Many officials in the capital have been reassigned. Originally, if roughly half were controlled by the Duke of Yan's cronies, then after recent maneuvering, with those people being transferred here and there in a chaotic flurry, now eight out of ten officials in the capital who hold significant power are now the Duke of Yan's people.

"Oh? These were all petitions from the Ministry of Personnel to His Majesty for approval?" Lu Qing's expression was rather amused. "That's interesting..."

"There's another interesting story that I think you'll find interesting too."

Previously, I heard that the Duke of Yan wanted to transfer Bai Qihong, the Vice Minister of Works, to the Ministry of War, and the Emperor had agreed. However, Bai Qihong traveled a long way back to the capital, and the first thing he did upon arriving at court was to kneel and beg the Emperor to rescind the order. He said that he liked working in the Ministry of Works, repairing canals and building bridges to benefit the people, and that this was his ambition. He said that if he were transferred to the Ministry of War, he would become a figurehead who was just drawing a salary without working because he knew nothing about it.

Seeing his sincerity, the emperor was not angry and decided to respect his choice, withdraw his order, and not force him to comply.

Duke Yan was ill and did not attend court that day. By the time he received the news, the imperial edict had already been issued, and he could no longer go to the palace to beg the emperor to change his mind.

Afterwards, Duke Yan was furious. He berated Bai Qihong severely in his mansion and kicked him and his second daughter out of the house, forbidding them from ever setting foot in Duke Yan's mansion again.

After that, everyone knew that Bai Qihong had fallen out with his father-in-law. When Bai Qihong went to court again before leaving the capital, not a single colleague was willing to speak to him.