Duke of Zhenguan

"Young Master Lin has arrived!"

Upon arriving at the Yan family home, the butler was as enthusiastic as ever, but Lin Chuan looked somewhat uncomfortable.

Yan Shigu and Yan Xiangshi had not yet finished their shifts. As usual, Lin Chuan first went to pay his respects to Yan Xiangshi's wife before going to the main hall in the front yard with Yan Xiangshi's son, Yan Wencheng.

After sitting with Yan Wencheng for a while, Lin Chuan sensed that Yan Wencheng's attitude was completely different from before, and he was obviously much closer to him.

She knew Yan Wencheng had definitely misunderstood, but she didn't know how to explain or apologize.

Just as he hesitated about how to speak, Yan Liu Niangzi arrived at the front yard with Er Ya, and bowed to Lin Chuan with a somewhat unnatural expression:

"Greetings, Brother Lin!"

Er Ya also lowered her head and shouted:

"Brother!"

Lin Chuan glanced at Er Ya, who had her head down, and awkwardly returned the greeting by bowing to Yan Liu Niangzi.

"Greetings, Sixth Sister!"

Yan Wencheng looked at the two of them, a strange smile appearing on his face, and said:

"Xiao Liu, your grandfather and the others might not be off duty for a while. Why don't you take Xiao Chuan for a walk first..."

"yes!"

Yan Liu Niangzi nodded in agreement, then curtsied to Lin Chuan and said softly:

"Brother Lin, this way please!"

The brother and sister followed Sixth Sister out of the main hall, through two moon gates, and arrived at an exquisite little pavilion between the front yard and the central courtyard.

Upon entering the pavilion, Yan Liu Niangzi suddenly whispered to Er Ya:

"Er Ya, your brother and I have something to discuss..."

Er Ya, who was about to apologize, paused for a moment, agreed, turned around, and ran out of the pavilion, quickly disappearing from their sight.

Looking at the serene and gentle Yan Liu Niangzi before him, Lin Chuan opened his mouth, his words of explanation changing repeatedly in his mind. In the end, he bowed deeply to Yan Liu Niangzi with a serious expression and apologized:

"Sixth Sister, I'm so sorry!"

Yan Liu Niangzi slightly turned aside to avoid Lin Chuan and asked softly:

"Has the marriage between Brother Lin and Madam Cheng been arranged?"

Lin Chuan nodded awkwardly.

Yan Liu Niangzi nodded, remained silent for a long time, and then said softly:

"The day before yesterday, Grandpa was telling Grandpa that once Brother Lin returns, he'll probably come to our house to propose marriage!"

His tone was tinged with bitterness and regret.

"I'm sorry!"

At this point, any explanation would be futile, and Lin Chuan could only remain silent once again, bowing deeply to Yan Liu Niangzi in apology.

"I don't blame Brother Lin!" Yan Liu Niangzi said softly.

"Er Ya is young and doesn't understand, and I didn't explain things clearly..."

Lin Chuan had barely managed to offer two dry explanations when Yan Liu Niangzi interrupted him, asking softly:

"In Brother Lin's eyes, would I really settle down for the rest of my life based on a few bars of soap or a few bottles of perfume?"

This sentence contained too many meanings. Lin Chuan was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously shook his head.

A blush crept across Yan Liu Niangzi's face, but she suppressed her shyness and looked at Lin Chuan earnestly, saying:

"I just want to ask you, brother, if you hadn't formed a marriage alliance with the Cheng family, would you have been willing to marry me?"

Lin Chuan nodded.

Lady Yan asked again:

"If I were to abandon my identity and enter the Lin family, would my brother betray me?"

Lin Chuan remained silent for a long time, not answering Yan Liu Niangzi's question, but instead cupped his hands and said:

"I am deeply grateful for Sixth Lady's kindness, but I do not wish for her to suffer any injustice!"

Yan Liu Niangzi stared intently at Lin Chuan and asked again:

"Will my brother betray me?"

Lin Chuan stared intently at Yan Liu Niangzi, as if he could see the burning and heavy feelings of a young girl reflected in her dark, inky eyes, and softly replied:

"Won't!"

Upon hearing Lin Chuan's answer, Yan Liu Niangzi smiled brightly and said softly:

"In that case, Brother Shi shouldn't be thinking about how to apologize, but rather how to plead with Grandfather and Father!"

Lin Chuan was speechless, and forced a bitter smile.

Putting aside the questions of Yan Xiangshi and Yan Wencheng, if Cheng Yaojin and Cheng Churou found out that he was engaged to Cheng Churou while also flirting with Yan Liu Niangzi, would he still be able to save his leg?

As if by telepathy, Yan Liu Niangzi turned her head and asked softly:

"Brother, are you thinking of Madam Cheng?"

"I'm wondering if I can save my leg!" Lin Chuan sighed.

"If Madam Cheng really breaks your leg, I will take care of you!" Yan Liu Niangzi said with a mischievous grin.

Just as Lin Chuan was about to speak, he saw Er Ya peeking out furtively from the moon gate in the distance, so he waved to her, signaling her to come over.

Er Ya walked over quickly and whispered to Lin Chuan:

"Brother, Master Yan and Master Yan have returned..."

Lin Chuan nodded and said to Er Ya with a serious expression:

"Don't say a word for a moment, understand?"

Er Ya nodded obediently.

The three returned to the front yard, and after meeting Yan Shigu and Yan Xiangshi, Yan Liu Niangzi took Er Ya to the central courtyard.

Lin Chuan spent some time catching up with Yan Shigu and Yan Xiangshi, and the meal was also prepared.

After the meal, the servants brought in hot tea. Lin Chuan took a couple of sips, but before he could speak, Yan Shigu said with a smile:

"When you left so suddenly, Xiao Chuan, Xiang Shi and I wondered what had happened. We never imagined you could turn poisonous salt into top-quality refined salt!"

"Grandpa Yan, you know about this too?" Lin Chuan asked in surprise.

"After the court assembly today, His Majesty summoned us to a side hall and said that because of your work of turning poisonous salt into high-quality refined salt, most of the salt shops in Chang'an have been closed down during this period!"

If your mother hadn't sent salt over, the Yan family would have almost run out of salt!

I was wondering why His Majesty remained so unmoved, doing nothing except procuring salt from all over the country to bring into Chang'an, just watching those people stir up trouble!

"It seems that His Majesty intends to teach those people a lesson, just like last time!" Yan Shigu sighed softly.

"In my opinion, those people disregard the lives of ordinary people and should be killed as a warning to others!" Yan Xiangshi sneered.

"Killing them is easy, but silencing public opinion is difficult!" Yan Shigu sighed softly.

"Lord Yan, given His Majesty's temperament, once this storm passes, someone will definitely lose their head!" Lin Chuan said with certainty.

"You are not even a child at the time. Although Your Majesty's actions are not in accordance with the right path, since what you did was not done in the open, it has no impact on the emperor's reputation."

"Once we've broken their spirit, we'll deal with them fairly and squarely!" Yan Shigu said.

"It's just that the common people have suffered. In just over a month, how many people have died from eating poisonous salt..." Yan Xiangshi sighed softly.

Yan Shigu remained silent for a moment, then said softly:

"The Right Guard has transported hundreds of thousands of catties of salt back from Liangzhou one after another. They have already been transported to various counties around the capital without anyone noticing. During the afternoon meeting, His Majesty sent people to various places and ordered them to open their granaries and sell salt immediately!"

Several new salt shops will open in Chang'an tomorrow morning!

The method used to solve the food problem was exactly the same as last time, except that last time it was a fair and square conspiracy, while this time it was a surprise attack, giving those powerful families no time to react.

The same pit was dug twice; those powerful families probably never imagined they would fall into the same pit twice.