Prime Minister

Chapter 188, Section 187: [Jimin Hall]

Fan Dongyang was known for his decisive and efficient work style. The very next day, he led a group of shrewd and capable subordinates to investigate the Lianghuai salt case.

From the evidence of Xu Guanlan and Liu Fu's crimes, to the methods used by Xue Huai and Shi Daoan, and the subsequent interrogation records, Fan Dongyang did not overlook any crucial details and would frequently compare the information with relevant officials.

Xue Huai was also busy, working with Huang Chong to promote salt administration reform while dealing with the vacancies in government officials and county officials with Tan Mingguang.

At the same time, the Lianghuai Salt Merchants Association was officially established. With Xue Huai's approval, Qiao Wangshan was elected as the first president, Shen Bingwen as the vice president, and fifteen salt merchants who passed the qualification review became members.

The Salt Commission was primarily responsible for conveying the policies of the Salt Transport Office and the Salt Law Commissioner to all salt merchants, mediating disputes and conflicts among salt merchants that did not involve violations of the law, and advocating for the rights and interests of salt merchants in accordance with the regulations of the imperial court. However, it had no right to interfere with the specific operations of the salt merchants.

Such a well-established and clearly defined industry association was a novelty at the time. No one understood Xue Huai's true intentions. Even Shen Bingwen only felt that Xue Huai wanted to check and balance the power of the Salt Transport Bureau and prevent the rampant collusion between officials and merchants that had occurred in the past.

Xue Huai gave this explanation to others, including to Fan Dongyang, but he had other plans in mind.

The Salt Council is just the first step. He will use his time in charge of Yangzhou to make the Salt Council more standardized and orderly. Once the salt merchants have tasted the benefits of technical assistance, asset mobility, and policy support through the Salt Council, they will naturally want more.

In today's world, only Xue Huai can understand their predicament and continue to establish other emerging orders outside of the Salt Council to meet the needs of these wealthy merchants.

Xue Huai wasn't in a hurry; he was still young and had plenty of time to wait for the tender shoots to grow strong.

By early November, Fan Dongyang had largely completed the case review and found no obvious irregularities. Minor issues were naturally overlooked. In addition, the stolen silver had been recast, and the confiscated land deeds, house deeds, and precious jade artifacts had been sold with the support of wealthy merchants in Lianghuai.

Fan Dongyang then found Xue Huai and confirmed that the execution of the death row inmates would take place three days later, on the ninth day of the eleventh month. He would then set off for the capital on the tenth day of the eleventh month.

Xue Huai naturally had no objection to this.

The following morning, an ordinary-looking carriage with a spacious interior arrived outside Shen Garden.

"Brother Huai".

Shen Qingluan was wearing a light pink winter outfit today. The silver fur trim around the neckline made her skin look even whiter. Her hair was styled in cute and playful double buns, and a kingfisher feather butterfly hairpin added a touch of nobility.

"sit."

Xue Huai greeted him with a smile.

Besides him and Shen Qingluan, there were also Moyun and Yun'er in the carriage. The two maids seemed a little awkward, especially Yun'er, who was seeing Xue Huai in casual clothes for the first time today, unlike the previous times when he visited Shen Garden in official robes.

She discovered that after temporarily shedding the prestige brought by his official position, Xue Huai was like a refined gentleman, especially his handsome and otherworldly face, which was in no way inferior to her young mistress.

Shen Qingluan felt the same way, but she needed to restrain herself in front of the maids and not be too direct. She only used her big, round eyes to occasionally scrutinize Xue Huai's face.

"Qingluan, besides Fuchun Residence, where else would you like to go today?"

Xue Huai's gentle voice broke the silence in the carriage.

As early as last year, when Shen Qingluan went to the capital alone, she mentioned to Xue Huai the double sesame shortbread from Fuchunju in Yangzhou. It was one of her most vivid and cherished memories from her childhood. Later, on the eve of the turmoil in Xinghua County, she also said that she hoped to revisit the place with Xue Huai in the future.

At present, there is only a thin veil separating the two. Xue Huai made his attitude clear at Shen Garden that day, and Shen Bingwen's decision added some luster to the marriage. From then on, there were no major obstacles for Xue Huai and Shen Qingluan.

A few days ago, he sent two letters to the capital. One was to ask Shen Wang to help smooth the donation of Guangtai Company, and the other was to Cui Shi to inform his mother of his thoughts. If Cui Shi had no objections, the Xue family could start arranging the marriage proposal.

Under these circumstances, Xue Huai was naturally willing to grant Shen Qingluan some of her small wishes.

Shen Qingluan smiled and said, "Brother Huai, it would be great if you could accompany me to Fuchun Residence once. You're so busy with official duties, it's not good to take too long."

"Not really."

Xue Huai shook his head and said frankly, "After General Fan arrived in Yangzhou, I worked non-stop for almost half a month. I need to stop and rest. Besides, several major events have been successfully implemented, so I don't need to keep an eye on things all the time."

"Ah."

Shen Qingluan responded, then thought for a moment and said, "No, I heard from my father that there are still many remaining criminals who haven't been caught. Your safety is the most important thing."

Xue Huai smiled slightly.

Two days later would be the day of Xu Guanlan and the others' death. At this time, Yangzhou City was heavily fortified with troops, with the canal army, Yangzhou Guard, Jing'an Division, patrol office and government officials setting up checkpoints in layers to prevent any unexpected situations from occurring.

Under Wu Changling's personal arrangement, not to mention the remnants of those salt smugglers, even if a large army were to invade, Yangzhou City would still not be thrown into turmoil.

Xue Huai gave a brief explanation, then said, "Let's go to Fuchun Residence first, and then I'll accompany you to stroll around the city. If you come across anything you like, I'll pay for it all today."

Before leaving the capital, Cui gave him 10,000 taels of silver notes, which he had hardly used, so he had plenty of confidence.

Shen Qingluan smiled and said, "Brother Huai's kindness is too much for me to refuse!"

For Shen Qingluan, the next half day was full of surprises. She and Xue Huai went to Fuchunju and tasted the double sesame shortbread she had been longing for, which tasted exactly like the one she remembered.

Listening to the hustle and bustle of the city, the two walked across the Twenty-Four Bridges paved with bluestone, wandering aimlessly without any preoccupations or concern for human nature. They chatted about fragmented memories from more than ten years ago, gradually piecing together a complete picture.

That was the beginning of fate, and also the source of deep affection.

"Brother Huai, I'm really happy today."

Shen Qingluan walked beside Xue Huai, followed by Mo Yun and Yun'er. Jiang Sheng and the others kept a proper distance. Xue Huai's guards and the men sent by Shen Bingwen to protect Shen Qingluan were also hidden in the shadows.

Xue Huai turned his head and saw that the girl's smooth forehead was covered with a few beads of sweat, and her cheeks were flushed.

He asked with concern, "Are you tired?"

"I'm not tired."

Shen Qingluan shook her head slightly and glanced back. Seeing the two maids talking in hushed tones, she whispered to Xue Huai, "As long as I can travel with Brother Huai, I won't feel tired no matter how long it takes."

Xue Huai couldn't help but chuckle.

This shows how much Shen Bingwen and his wife doted on Shen Qingluan. If they hadn't taken such good care of her from childhood, they would never have been able to raise Shen Qingluan to have such a seemingly delicate but actually straightforward personality.

Just then, a commotion broke out ahead, and Jiang Sheng and Qi Qingshi quickly walked a few steps and appeared in front of Xue Huai.

Xue Huai looked up and saw a group of people bowing and thanking a house not far away, so he asked Jiang Sheng to go and find out.

"Young master, there is a pharmacy called Jimintang ahead. For the past few months, they have been helping the poor people in the city with their medical care. They only charge very little for consultation and medicine, so the people have spread the word and many people come here every day to seek medical treatment and medicine."

Jiang Sheng, who had left in a hurry but returned, came to Xue Huai and briefly explained the situation.

"Jimintang?"

Shen Qingluan, who was standing next to her, pondered and said, "I think I've heard of it. This pharmacy appeared a couple of years ago and has always had a good reputation for doing good deeds. Last year, during the flood, they donated a batch of medicinal herbs to the government and also provided free medical treatment to the affected people."

Xue Huai nodded slightly.

Suddenly, a young doctor named Cui Shiqi popped into his mind.

It seems that the person in charge of Jimintang is quite similar to Cui Shiqi.

Jiang Sheng glanced ahead and then whispered to Xue Huai, "Young Master, I heard from some people that a female doctor came to the Jimintang clinic a little over a month ago. Although she is not very old, her medical skills are extremely profound, even more so than some of the old doctors. No matter what kind of difficult or complicated illness the people seek her treatment for, she can almost always cure it, or at least alleviate their symptoms and reduce their suffering."

"A goddess-level doctor? That's amazing!"

Shen Qingluan immediately became interested.

Xue Huai knew that this girl was very curious, and besides, his jurisdiction had produced a positive example of the Jimintang, which helped people in distress. It wouldn't hurt to take a look for himself, so he instructed, "Moyun and Yun'er, go back to the carriage. Jiang Sheng, take a few people and come with us to take a look."

The group followed the instructions and soon arrived outside Jimin Hall.

Contrary to their expectations, Jimintang was not divided into inner and outer sections. Upon entering the gate, there was a spacious courtyard with a canopy over it to shelter people from the wind and rain. People seeking medical treatment lined up in an orderly manner, and several doctors sat behind their desks to diagnose them. Afterward, they would write out prescriptions and hand them to the servants standing to the side. The servants would either immediately arrange for the medicine to be decocted or wrap up the herbs for the people to take home.

"Thank you so much, doctor! This old man kowtows to you!"

An incredibly excited, aged voice rang out.

Xue Huai and Shen Qingluan stood at the back of the crowd and looked toward the source of the sound. They saw an old man in simple clothes about to kneel down and kowtow in front of an ordinary table. A servant quickly helped him up. Behind the table sat a woman whose face was obscured by a veil.

"Is she the legendary doctor?"

Shen Qingluan spoke in a low voice, and at that moment the doctor seemed to sense something and looked up at her.

Their eyes met.

The young woman's eyes held a compassionate quality, much like her tireless dedication to treating the sick for over a month. Yet, for some reason, Shen Qingluan sensed a chill in her gaze.

In this slightly chilly winter, even though the young woman was clearly doing good deeds to help the people, Shen Qingluan felt uneasy.

This is her intuition.

The next moment, the young lady had already looked away, seemingly unaware of Xue Huai beside Shen Qingluan from beginning to end.

(End of this chapter)