The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

Lord Xue returned late and reeked of alcohol; he collapsed onto the bed as soon as he touched it.

Madam Fang was a very suspicious person. She carefully sniffed Lord Xue's clothes for a long time.

He felt somewhat relieved not to smell any woman's cosmetics, but he still needed to ask his attendant again to be completely at ease.

Madam Fang stepped out of the house and asked Lord Xue's two attendants, "Master, you didn't see any women today, did you?"

The portly attendant replied confidently, "Madam, the lord did not see any women today, but he did see a man who is very important to Lord Xue—"

He had made his point so clear, but the lady waved her hand to interrupt him, saying, "I was talking about women."

The thin attendant hesitated to speak, but the lady only suspected women and was wary of them at all times. Little did she know that her master was gay.

Even he, who had followed the master for many years, only discovered this fact today. The master had hidden it so well before.

No wonder other officials had three wives and four concubines, but this master never took a concubine and was never seduced by women. It turns out that the master always preferred men.

The old man not only held onto the goatee's hand, stroking it gently, but he also kissed the goatee's ear.

Waaah, this is so unrefined!

At this moment, Lord Xue woke up inside the room.

He stumbled out of the restroom, leaning against the wall, muttering, "Pingfan, eat—"

I thought they were still drinking.

The fat servant felt so embarrassed he wanted to bang his head against the wall.

It seems Lord Xue really likes that goatee; he's still talking about it to this day.

When Madam Fang heard Lord Xue say he wanted to eat, she assumed he was hungry and asked, "Master, what would you like to eat?"

Lord Xue replied, "I want to eat noodles."

Fang quickly sent her fat attendant to tell the kitchen to make noodles.

As a result, the kitchen made more than twenty different kinds of noodles, but none of them satisfied Lord Xue. The cook was so exhausted that she quit her job.

In the middle of the night, Madam Xue heard Lord Xue talking in his sleep, saying he was eating noodles.

I was particularly puzzled as to what kind of noodles the master was so concerned about!

On the other side, Hu Pingfan was staying up all night writing materials, putting down everything that happened in Jincheng and Quancheng on paper.

Miss Su is too busy, and discussing these matters in person might interfere with her important business. Therefore, I am writing this down so that Miss Su can read it at her leisure when she has time.

In addition, he decided to find some books on workshop management to read, since Miss Su was going to entrust him with the management of the bakery, and he had to learn management experience properly.

The next day, after finishing his morning court session, Lord Xue immediately went to Gu's Teahouse to find Hu Pingfan.

Moreover, he brought a thousand taels of silver from home.

Hu Pingfan hadn't slept all night and his eyes were bloodshot, just in time for the teahouse to be empty before it was full this morning.

He then took a book on workshop management and sat in the lobby to study it.

Fortunately, Miss Su brought out another type of pancake for him to taste.

Today's dish is dry noodles with braised beef flavor.

Hu Pingfan had just picked up his chopsticks and hadn't even started eating when Lord Xue arrived.

Lord Xue ran up to Hu Pingfan and asked, "It smells so good, it must have been made by Miss Su again, right?"

Seeing Hu Pingfan nod, he quickly stepped forward, snatched Hu Pingfan's chopsticks, and forcefully stuffed a thousand taels of silver into Hu Pingfan's arms.

Thinking that he had to spend money to please Hu Pingfan, he thought that if Hu Pingfan received any more delicious food from Miss Su in the future, he would remember to save some for him.

"Brother Hu, here's the money, but I have only one condition: we'll split it in half. Let's agree on this beforehand, half for each of us, so you absolutely mustn't try to take advantage of me."

Lord Xue originally wanted the waiter to bring another bowl so he could divide the food into two portions before eating.

Seeing that Hu Pingfan had already started eating, he quickly picked up his chopsticks and started grabbing them too.

Two attendants, one fat and one thin, stood outside the teahouse, able to clearly see the scene inside.

The two men exchanged a glance, both understanding perfectly well that the master genuinely liked the goatee.

Not only did he stuff a thousand taels into the goatee's arms, but the two of them also shared a bowl of noodles.

Ordinary people wouldn't share a bowl of food with someone else; that's something only very close people would do.

Alas, the poor lady was still wary of women.

On the other side, Su Qianqian was shocked after reading Hu Pingfan's account of what happened in Jincheng and Quancheng.

He accepted the tea offered by the Crown Prince and casually stuffed a stack of papers into the Crown Prince's hand.

Although Su Qianqian didn't want to get involved in the affairs of the imperial court, the magistrate of Quancheng County had gone too far, leaving the people with no way to survive. So she decided to help as much as she could within her capabilities.

Before she transmigrated, she had a deep memory of a certain passage: "I can read the classics, but I can't help those who are wronged. I am the one who feels pity, I am the one who is powerless, and I am the one who stands idly by."

Gong Yu happened to be the inspector, which was perfect for handling these matters.

"Brother Gong, take a look at these. These are Hu Pingfan's personal experiences on his journey from the border."

Gong Yu was furious after reading it.

The magistrates of Jincheng and Quancheng are truly despicable! They finally managed to eat such delicious noodles, but their good mood was ruined. They are truly infuriating!

"Rest assured, I will request His Majesty's permission to depart for Jinan today."

Gong Yu was about to go to the palace to discuss the matters of Quancheng and Jincheng when Su Qianqian stopped him.

He packed some freshly made instant noodles in three different flavors into a food box. "Brother Gong, please take these. It's never a bad thing to be polite to so many people. His Majesty will be even more amiable towards you if he eats your food."

Giving food as a gift is the best way to maintain a relationship. Even between father and son, it is necessary to maintain a relationship, let alone Gong Yu and Emperor Qi Jing, who are only cousins.

Half an hour later, in the imperial study of the palace.

Emperor Qi Jing ate noodles while looking at a stack of documents that Gong Yu had brought him.

After finishing reading, he slammed his fist on the table, startling the eunuch Fu who was serving him.

"Eunuch Fu, immediately send someone to summon ministers of the fifth rank and above to the Xuanwu Hall for a meeting."

Even Prime Minister Feng, who had a broken leg, was among them.

When the ministers entered the Xuanwu Hall, they were filled with apprehension.

They guessed that His Majesty's urgent summons of them at midday must be for some extremely urgent matter.

Emperor Qi Jing stood up from his dragon throne with a cold face and said bluntly, "I summoned you here today to hold you accountable. The Prince of Huainan almost used Longyou as a route to attack the capital, and so many of you were completely unaware of it. What use are you to me?"

"If it weren't for Miss Su's subordinates discovering this, perhaps the Prince of Huainan would already be on the verge of attacking the capital."

Everyone else was standing, but Prime Minister Feng, who had a broken leg, was sitting.

But this did not stop him from speaking, "Your Majesty, Miss Su no longer holds military power, yet she is secretly inquiring about matters in Quancheng and Jincheng. She must be harboring ulterior motives and plotting something sinister."

Emperor Qi Jing descended the steps and threw a thick stack of papers at Prime Minister Feng. "Prime Minister Feng, I summoned you here to resolve the problem, but all you want to do is punish the person who raised the problem."