Questioning

"No problem!" Peng Shulan said, picking up a piece of meat and putting it in his mouth while shaking his head. "What does the Lord Fox Immortal want to know? I will answer everything I know!"

"Hehe."

Having confirmed that Peng Shulan was truly drunk, Yin Yunze didn't rush to ask any questions. Instead, he took out two Illusion Character Talisman from his waist. As these two characters turned to ashes, Song Zhao and Song Ran swayed and slumped onto the table.

"Hey, what's wrong with you two? Are you drunk?"

The drunken Peng Shulan didn't notice anything amiss.

At this moment, another Illusion Character Talisman in Yin Yunze's hand also scattered on the ground, and Peng Shulan's eyes became increasingly glazed.

Seeing that Peng Shulan had already entered a hypnotic state, Yin Yunze became too lazy to continue pretending and asked directly, "I want to know, what is this magistrate's name, what kind of person is he, what are his hobbies, and has anything noteworthy happened in his family recently?"

Besides his main purpose of befriending Peng Shulan, Yin Yunze also wanted to extract information about the county magistrate from Peng Shulan at this banquet.

While in a conscious state, extracting this information from Peng Shulan would, regardless of the difficulty, certainly attract attention.

Although Yin Yunze's Illusion Technique had a hypnotic effect, it wasn't strong enough to directly manipulate a person's consciousness. Not to mention, after using Illusion Technique to extract information, there was still a possibility that Peng Shulan would realize what was happening afterward.

Letting a constable know about a fox spirit scheming against the county magistrate is hardly a wise choice.

Under the influence of alcohol, they were further induced by Illusion Technique hypnosis.

Without encountering other experts, the chances of being exposed are much smaller.

Although things had gone through many twists and turns, the trouble caused by the Tomb of Prince Jing was already giving Yin Yunze a headache, and he didn't want to provoke the government officials as well.

Yin Yunze gathered this intelligence primarily to ensure a smooth future alliance. If it were to cause displeasure and wariness in the other party, it would be counterproductive.

Under the combined effects of alcohol and Illusion Technique illusions, Peng Shulan indeed spoke frankly and without reservation, just as he had said.

"The county magistrate's surname is Xu, and his given name Hanxian... He's a good official, but sometimes he's too pedantic and inflexible, a real bookworm... He's a bit of a womanizer, but his wife is very formidable, so he doesn't even dare go to brothels... Also, the magistrate is a bit of a drinker, but his wife forbids him from drinking, so he doesn't dare to drink..."

The matter is that, just in the last few days, the old master's daughter fell ill. They've consulted several doctors, but none have been able to cure her... The madam even argued with the old master for a long time today because of this... Already overwhelmed by the drought, the old master simply decided to stay at the county government office..."

Listening to Peng Shulan rambling on about information he wouldn't normally reveal so easily, Yin Yunze couldn't help but nod; all his hard work hadn't been in vain.

Compared to Song Zhao's complete ignorance, Peng Shulan allowed Yin Yunze to paint a Xu Hanxian.

To summarize briefly:

He was a good official, but his abilities were average. He was fond of drinking and women, but dared not do so. He was constantly dealing with matters big and small. He was the third son in his family.

Originally, Xu Hanxian and his wife rented a room outside, instead of living in the official residence next to the yamen.

However, due to his daughter's illness these past few days, he was kicked out by his wife and returned to his official residence.

"Wait a minute?" While pondering, Yin Yunze suddenly realized something was amiss and quickly asked, "Young master? Or does the magistrate's family have two children?"

"No, there's only one!" Peng Shulan shook his head and said, "Grandpa's family only has one eight-year-old girl, but perhaps that granddaughter is a bit tomboyish and doesn't like us calling her 'Miss,' so we usually call her 'Little Master' to tease her!"

"It's not because the little girl is boyish and doesn't like being called 'Miss.' Perhaps this little girl is perceptive and has sensed her father's preference for boys, thinking that changing how she's addressed will change his mind!"

In ancient society, male preference was the norm, not to mention that Xu Hanxian a bookworm in Peng Shulan's eyes.

However, Yin Yunze had a premonition that negotiating with the county magistrate would not be so easy.

After a moment of silence, Yin Yunze glared fiercely at Song Zhao, who was fast asleep on the table.

They didn't know anything when asked, and the only useful information they provided was a misunderstanding.

Fortunately, he chose to befriend Peng Shulan; otherwise, based on the information provided by Song Zhao, he might have been led astray.

"By the way, I'd like to know, what does the county magistrate think of me?"

After learning about the county magistrate's situation, Yin Yunze also wanted to know how the county magistrate viewed him.

"Lord Fox Immortal, this... the magistrate isn't actually the kind of person who believes in ghosts and spirits." Even under hypnosis, Peng Shulan spoke somewhat haltingly, "The magistrate thinks you're just an ordinary Little Fox Immortal who just happened to get some food..."

Simply put, Xu Hanxian thought that Yin Yunze was just lucky to have found that batch of grain before.

Yin Yunze knew he had sold 100,000 jin of rice, but apart from Song Zhao, others might not have known that.

When the officials came to Song Zhao's door, he naturally wouldn't be so honest as to give a clear explanation.

Therefore, in reality, the officials could only estimate that there were tens of thousands of catties, but did not know the exact amount.

The thousand taels of gold were actually raised by Xu Hanxian he went to other counties to buy grain. After discovering Song Zhao's situation, he sent someone over to check on him.

Yin Yunze thought he was the main target, but in reality, he was the rabbit in the scheme of killing two birds with one stone.

People who possess different information often make incorrect judgments based on the information they have.

Clearly, Yin Yunze was overly nervous at the time because he was so shocked by the demand for 500,000 jin.

But in fact, after Yin Yunze gave away those 10,000 catties of rice for free, he stopped supplying the rice, which made Xu Hanxian feel that he had already emptied Yin Yunze's pockets.

With this in mind, Xu Hanxian hadn't bothered Yin Yunze for over a month. After all, could a Little Fox Immortal that had already been drained of its resources possibly conjure up food if he caused it further trouble?

This news was both good and bad for Yin Yunze.

The good thing is that Yin Yunze has had a relatively peaceful month or so, without being disturbed by the government.

The bad news is that Magistrate Xu Hanxian never took Yin Yunze seriously from beginning to end. In other words, it's highly likely that even if Yin Yunze invited him in the name of the fox spirit of Clear Creek Village, Xu Hanxian probably wouldn't take it too seriously.

Fortunately, having this information, Yin Yunze at least had a direction to prepare for dealing with the situation.

Having obtained the information he wanted, Yin Yunze stopped fussing and snapped his fingers to dispel Peng Shulan's Illusion Technique.

Peng Shulan was stunned for a moment, then mumbled, "Lord Fox Immortal, didn't you want to ask a question? Why haven't you asked yet?"

"When did I say I was confused?" Upon hearing Peng Shulan's words, Yin Yunze immediately denied it, saying, "Are you really drunk?"

"No, you didn't ask?" Peng Shulan shook his head and said with a grin, "Maybe I'm just a little drunk! Good wine! I can still drink!"

Swaying unsteadily, Peng Shulan drank the wine in his cup again.

After Peng Shulan finished his drink, Yin Yunze used another Illusion Character Talisman to send him into sleep.

Having obtained enough information, Yin Yunze was too lazy to wait for him to finish eating and drinking.

With a wave of his hand, Yin Yunze brought the leftover food on the table back to the real world.

After thinking for a moment, Yin Yunze rummaged through the inner room and found a few thick clothes to cover the three grown men, then left them alone.

Anyway, the weather isn't that cold now, so at least we don't have to worry about getting sick from the cold.

To be honest, Yin Yunze really didn't want to move those three drunkards.

After helping Zhao Wan wash up, Yin Yunze returned to the real world and began to think about his plans for dealing with Magistrate Xu Hanxian.