Invited to Sit, but Refusing

After confirming that Peng Shulan had gone to invite Xu Hanxian, Yin Yunze moved an entire table covered with dishes into this room.

This time, Yin Yunze even brought the hotel's tables and chairs with him.

Considering Xu Hanxian as an official appointed by the imperial court and his good reputation, Yin Yunze decided against making any underhanded moves in front of him to avoid making things worse.

Moreover, Yin Yunze has already offered two million catties of grain as a bargaining chip. If even that fails to persuade Xu Hanxian, those Illusion Technique tricks will likely be unable to change the overall situation.

While Yin Yunze waited quietly, on the other side, a man dressed in official robes, with delicate features but heavy black circumference, and around thirty years old, was throwing a tantrum in the room.

"Where the hell has that bastard Peng Shulan gone! Does he want to quit? He may not want this head constable position, but plenty of others do! He actually..."

As soon as she approached, Peng Shulan heard Xu Hanxian's furious curses.

His expression froze for a moment, but quickly, Peng Shulan put on a joyful smile.

"Great news! Great news!" Rushing into the room, ignoring the previous curses, Peng Shulan shouted Xu Hanxian could lash out, "Grandpa! It's a piece of great news! The people of Qingling County are saved!"

"What did you say?"

Peng Shulan's preemptive move caught Xu Hanxian off guard.

"I say, our Qingling County is saved!" Peng Shulan pressed his advantage, laughing loudly, "Isn't this great news!"

Hearing Peng Shulan's confident assertion, Xu Hanxian forgot his anger and hurriedly asked, "What great news is this? That it can save the people of an entire county? Peng Shulan, tell me the truth immediately, or I will not spare you!"

Seeing that the matter had been diverted, Peng Shulan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Grandpa, I met a big grain merchant yesterday. I've been busy since yesterday until just now, and I finally convinced him to sell us grain at a low price!"

In a sense, what Peng Shulan said wasn't wrong.

Although he had never actually seen the five million catties of grain, Peng Shulan was naturally willing to believe it based on Yin Yunze's behavior of handing over two valuable glass beads without batting an eye, and therefore spoke with great confidence.

"Grain merchants? Just some grain merchants from out of town..." Hearing Peng Shulan say this, Xu Hanxian lost much of his interest. "Distant water can't quench immediate thirst! Even if they were willing to sell, how many kilograms could they sell? Even if the price were lower, how low could it be?"

As an official, Xu Hanxian well aware of how difficult it was to transport grain. Basically, several times the amount of grain would be consumed on the way.

Therefore, the more you give away, the greater the consumption will be. And because the consumption is greater, the price will naturally not be low.

Furthermore, as an official appointed by the imperial court, Xu Hanxian looked down on merchants who were only interested in profit. The opportunistic behavior of the grain merchants in the city over the past few months only made Xu Hanxian despise them from the bottom of his heart.

Xu Hanxian was somewhat dismissive of the fact that Peng Shulan had only brought in a grain merchant.

"That grain merchant said he can offer that price!"

Peng Shulan knew Xu Hanxian's temperament, so she didn't argue. Instead, she pretended to be mysterious and held up two fingers to Xu Hanxian.

"Two hundred thousand catties?" Looking at Peng Shulan's fingers, Xu Hanxian said thoughtfully, "If it were two hundred thousand catties, it might be enough to save them..."

Before Xu Hanxian finish speaking, Peng Shulan rudely interrupted, "No, sir! It's not 200,000 jin, it's 2 million jin! That grain merchant can supply Qingling County with 2 million jin of grain!"

"What! Two million catties!?" Upon hearing this number, Xu Hanxian stood up, looked at Peng Shulan, and shouted, "Constable Peng, do you know that deceiving this official is..."

It's no wonder Xu Hanxian lost his composure. In this year of famine, the people's demands are actually very low; they just want to avoid starvation. These two million catties of grain should be enough to maintain stability for at least another two to three months.

"Grandpa, how could I dare to lie to you about something like this!" Seeing Xu Hanxian's excited appearance, Peng Shulan then became mysterious again. "Grandpa, do you know how many coins the grain merchant is planning to give us per pound of grain?"

As he asked the question, Peng Shulan had already extended five fingers on his hand.

"Fifty coins, huh..." Xu Hanxian looked at Peng Shulan's fingers.

Compared to those unscrupulous merchants, this price is already quite low.

However, 100,000 taels of silver was an astronomical figure for the finances of Qingling County.

"Grandpa, you're confused!" Peng Shulan sneered at Xu Hanxian openly, secretly pleased. He continued, "If it were fifty coins, what's so great about that! The grain merchant offered five coins a pound!"

"Five, five coins?" Upon Xu Hanxian sat back down in his chair, pinched himself, and then hurriedly asked, "You didn't misread it? I didn't mishear either? Is it really five coins a pound of grain?"

If it's five coins, then it would only cost ten thousand taels of silver.

Although this number is still considerable, Qingling County's finances can handle it.

Moreover, since it was ultimately sold to the common people, at five coins per pound, the county government wouldn't even need to pay for it.

"It really is five copper coins a pound," Peng Shulan confirmed again, but then added, "However, that grain might be slightly different from the rice and flour we usually eat!"

"I know, don't worry." Hearing Peng Shulan say this, Xu Hanxian felt even more at ease.

If the grain were truly without any problems, and could still be sold at such a low price, Xu Hanxian would feel uneasy.

At that time, whether it was rotten rice or moldy rice, as long as it wouldn't kill someone, it was a life-saving food!

"Brother Peng, if this succeeds, I will remember your great contribution!" Looking at Peng Shulan, Xu Hanxian said anxiously, "Alright, enough of this small talk. Where is this great philanthropist? Quickly, please, no, quickly take me to see him!"

"Don't worry, sir, I've already invited them! The grain merchant is currently inside the county government office and has even prepared a banquet to entertain you!"

Seeing that the matter was settled, Peng Shulan quickly led the way. "Sir, please follow me!"

Seeing Peng Shulan say this, Xu Hanxian stopped putting on airs and quickly followed her to the vacant house.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Yin Yunze quickly checked everything again to make sure there were no mistakes before standing at the door.

Seeing the handsome but weary-looking man in official robes following behind Peng Shulan, Yin Yunze realized that this was probably Xu Hanxian, the magistrate of Qingling County.

After Xu Hanxian Yin Yunze bowed respectfully to him and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, "Lord Xu, this humble subject, Green Hill Yi Yun of Qingqiu, has been waiting for you for a long time."

Meanwhile, as soon as Peng Shulan and Xu Hanxian entered, they were greeted by a rich aroma of food. Then, they saw a round table that was much larger than an ordinary table.

On the round table were more than a dozen different dishes, including seafood that could not be found anywhere inland.

What surprised the two even more was that the upper part of the huge round table was actually made of a large piece of transparent glass.

Using priceless glass as a tabletop—what a grand gesture!

Just this one table, this one delicious meal—I wonder how much money it must have cost.

Even Xu Hanxian was somewhat shocked.

Seeing that the two seemed not to have heard his greeting, Yin Yunze took another step closer and continued to bow, saying, "Lord Xu, it's an honor to meet you! Please take a seat! Constable Peng, you may also take a seat!"

"Yes, thank you, Young Master Qingqiu!" In Peng Shulan's eyes, this was a refined young man in his early twenties inviting the two of them.

However, Xu Hanxian did not sit down despite Yin Yunze's politeness, but instead frowned.

After sizing up Yin Yunze, Xu Hanxian turned to Peng Shulan and questioned, "What Young Master Qingqiu? Isn't this a little girl who's only a few years older than Yue'er? Peng Shulan! Who is this little girl? What about the grain merchant you mentioned?!"