After ten years of accompanying me in my studies, the entire court begged me to shut up.

Yang Tinghe has been having some troubles lately.

For some reason, the people around him looked at him strangely.

He wondered to himself, could it be workplace bullying?

I haven't bothered anyone during this time...

When I was off duty, I saw Liu Jian and quickly went to greet him.

"Lord Liu!"

"Um!"

Liu Jian gave a casual hum, which was his way of greeting him.

Yang Tinghe caught up with him and asked, "Lord Liu, is something troubling you?"

As Liu Jian walked, he said, "The Hejian area has been hit by floods recently, and we've been busy with disaster relief every day."

Yang Tinghe finally found a topic to talk about, and said, "I've heard that many disaster victims are flocking to the capital?"

Liu Jian nodded and said, "His Majesty has already issued an edict ordering all counties in Shuntian Prefecture to open soup kitchens to provide relief to the disaster victims, but there are too many victims, and winter is approaching. What can we do..."

Yang Tinghe said, "Lord Liu is deeply concerned about the country and its people; I admire him greatly!"

Liu Jian glanced at him again, somewhat impatiently asking, "What's the matter, Yang Shaozhan?"

Yang Tinghe smiled ingratiatingly and said, "This humble official isn't too busy lately. Let me see if there's anything I can do to help you, Lord Liu..."

Liu Jian waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "Forget about helping, just lower the fee and we'll be eternally grateful!"

Yang Tinghe was immediately puzzled and asked, "Taking money? Taking money for what?"

Liu Jian stopped and looked at Yang Tinghe with a disdainful expression.

Yang Tinghe dropped the pretense and said directly, "Lord Liu, to be honest, I've recently been subjected to a lot of disdain from my colleagues. However, I really don't understand what I've done wrong?"

Liu Jian asked, "You didn't know about the biogas digester being built at the Crown Prince's residence?"

Yang Tinghe paused for a moment, then said, "I know! My family was the first to build one. However, although I work in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the construction of the biogas digester was actually handled by Zuo Chunfang, and I didn't get involved."

Liu Jian said, "You didn't know about the money being collected?"

"What money? My biogas digester has been repaired at home, it didn't cost any money!"

"Of course you didn't spend any money, but you didn't know that your good son came up with the idea of ​​having Li Chun lead the Imperial Guards to collect money from each household?"

"Huh? Is that so?"

Yang Tinghe finally understood why he had been bullied in the workplace.

"Go ask your son yourself!"

Liu Jian shook his head, left a single sentence, and strode away.

Yang Tinghe found the root of the problem and rushed home.

As soon as he entered the house, he was about to ask Yang Shen for clarification when he realized something was wrong.

The mahogany eight-immortal table in the main room is gone, replaced by a square elm table with mottled paint.

He wondered if he had entered the wrong room, paused for a moment, and looked around.

The celadon vase on the bookshelf was gone, as were the Wu-style landscape paintings hanging on the wall. Even the huanghuali armchair he often sat in had been replaced with an ordinary rattan chair.

"Come on, come on!"

"Master, you're back!"

The housekeeper, Laifu, hurried over with a cup of tea.

Yang Tinghe looked down and saw that the tea tray contained coarse pottery teacups with a dull gray glaze, a far cry from the purple clay teapots he usually used.

"What... what's going on?"

Laifu looked distressed and whispered, "Young Master... Young Master sold all the valuables in the house."

Yang Tinghe's eyes widened: "What did you say?"

Lai Fu truthfully replied, "While you were on duty, the young master contacted the largest brokerage firm in the capital and sold all the valuable furniture in the house, as well as the few paintings and calligraphy pieces you treasured."

Yang Tinghe asked incredulously, "Sold them all?"

Laifu nodded and said, "That set of Yixing teapots has also been sold."

"My burl pot!"

Yang Tinghe felt a pang in his heart; it was his favorite set of teapots.

"Where is the young master?"

"He just went out again, and this old servant doesn't know where he went."

"Why didn't you stop her?"

"We can't stop them!"

Lai Fu looked aggrieved and said, "Young Master said it was an important matter, and that it was a task assigned by His Highness the Crown Prince. How could this old servant dare to stop him..."

Yang Tinghe was so angry his beard trembled: "Where's Second Master? Why didn't he stop him?"

"Second Master has been very busy lately, leaving early and returning late every day, and you can't see him all day long."

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the door.

"Yang Tinghe! You come out here!"

A gruff voice rang out; it was Li Jin, the Earl of Xiangcheng. He stormed in, looking furious.

Yang Tinghe quickly stood up to greet him: "Lord Xiangcheng? What brings you here...?"

Li Jin entered the main room and was about to speak when she glanced around and froze.

"Yang Shaozhan, how come your residence is so...shabby?"

Yang Tinghe blushed, feeling uneasy, and could only say, "Lord Xiangcheng, you flatter me. Please have a seat."

Laifu quickly moved a stool over; it was just an ordinary rattan chair, without even a cushion.

Li Jin sat down, picked up the rough earthenware teacup, looked at it, and then put it down: "You're too frugal. You can't even afford a decent cup?"

Yang Tinghe, feeling frustrated, forced a smile and asked, "What important matter brings the Earl of Xiangcheng to your residence today?"

Li Jin then remembered the important matter and slammed his hand on the table, causing the elm wood square table to wobble.

"I'm here to settle accounts with you! Give me my money back!"

"Money? What money?"

Yang Tinghe was taken aback and said, "I haven't heard of any money being charged to your household for repairing the biogas digester..."

"It's not a biogas digester!"

Li Jin waved his hands repeatedly and said, "Don't play dumb with me! This morning, your son Yang Shen tricked my son Li Chun into selling three thousand acres of fertile land outside the city! That's our ancestral land, so hurry up and return the money to me!"

Yang Tinghe's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly steadied himself on the table.

"Laifu! Quickly go to my bedroom and bring me that sandalwood box from the bedside table!"

Lai Fu responded and left, returning shortly afterward with an empty box in his arms.

"Sir, the box... is empty."

Yang Tinghe took the box, and sure enough, the house deeds and land deeds were all gone.

His legs went weak, and he slumped into the wicker chair, feeling utterly hopeless.

"It's all over, all over, my life savings..."

Seeing this, Li Jin frowned and said, "Yang Shaozhan, don't act in front of me! Pay up! I heard it was sold for a full ten thousand taels of silver, that's no small sum!"

Yang Tinghe's eyes were vacant as he muttered, "My field deeds, my land deeds, they're all gone..."

Lai Fu whispered from the side, "Lord Xiangcheng, please calm down. The young master has sold off all of the master's land deeds, all his valuable furniture, calligraphy and paintings, and even his most cherished set of purple clay teapots."

Upon hearing this, Li Jin's eyes widened.

He looked around the room again: the simple table and chairs, the rough pottery teacups…

I thought Yang Tinghe was stingy, but it turns out his son confiscated his family's wealth?

From this perspective, it seems that my spendthrift son only sold three thousand acres of land, which is not the worst.

Li Jin's expression softened slightly, and she coughed, "Um... Yang Shaozhan, don't be too anxious. He's just a kid, young and impetuous, and doesn't think things through. Just redeem the things later."

"Father, I'm back!"

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P.S.: This is a trial run for my new book, I hope you'll all support it!!

I'm walking on thin ice with this book; do you think I can ever reach the other side?