That Is All I Have to Say

Upon Xu Hanxian's words, Peng Shulan immediately fell silent, lowered her head, and stopped talking, only munching away.

Yin Yunze tapped his fingers lightly on the table, lost in thought.

Peng Shulan's current identity is complicated. On the surface, he is Xu Hanxian's man, but in reality, he is Yin Yunze's man.

And at this dining table, he could also be seen as a third person, besides Yin Yunze and Xu Hanxian.

Therefore, if Xu Hanxian is willing to back down after Peng Shulan's initiative, it would undoubtedly be a good way out.

But Xu Hanxian not only didn't accept this way out, but instead interrupted Peng Shulan without hesitation.

Clearly, in Xu Hanxian's view, Peng Shulan's initiative in speaking first weakened his momentum.

Compared to discussing business, Yin Yunze felt that Xu Hanxian was more sulking!

Feeling uncomfortable about being controlled by a fox spirit?

Seeing this, Yin Yunze once again understood what Peng Shulan meant by Xu Hanxian's pedantry.

Having discovered that Xu Hanxian a pedantic person, Yin Yunze decided not to bother arguing with him.

Take out a flask of wine from the real world, and as you uncork it, a rich aroma of wine wafts out.

Yin Yunze took out a cup, filled it to the brim, and presented it to Xu Hanxian, saying softly, "Lord Xu, I apologize for my oversight! How can we have food without wine? I have a pot of fine wine here, and I've heard that you are a connoisseur of wine. Would you please have a taste?"

Seeing this somewhat familiar scene, Peng Shulan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

After smelling the aroma of the wine, Xu Hanxian no longer adhered to the rule of not speaking while eating or sleeping.

His Adam's apple bobbed, Xu Hanxian said reluctantly, "Drinking leads to trouble! Let's not drink today..."

"What brings you here today that makes my two million catties of grain even more important?" Seeing Xu Hanxian's attitude, Yin Yunze swirled the liquid in his cup and sighed, "Lord Xu, do you perhaps look down on me, thinking that this fox from Qingqiu is not worthy of a drink from you?"

"..."

Hearing Yin Yunze's words and smelling the aroma of wine so close at hand, Xu Hanxian no longer resist and took the wine cup. "Then I shall respectfully accept your offer!"

He was more knowledgeable about wine than Peng Shulan, and instead of gulping it down, he took a small sip.

Immediately, Xu Hanxian's face lit up with joy, and he exclaimed, "Fine wine! Fine wine indeed!"

Seeing that catering to his preferences had worked, Yin Yunze casually said, "Since Lord Xu likes it, we'll send him a few more jars later."

"This... this isn't necessary." After hesitating for a moment, Xu Hanxian resisted his urge to drink, "My wife forbids me from overindulging."

"If your wife can't be seen, then there's nothing to worry about."

Without giving Xu Hanxian a chance to be polite, Yin Yunze changed the subject to business. "Such a trivial matter, Lord Xu need not concern himself with it. Lord Xu, please continue to discuss with me the matter of the disaster relief grain!"

Constable Peng has already spoken to Lord Xu; on my side, a pound of grain can be as low as five coins. Furthermore, if Lord Xu agrees to one condition, I can give him one coin as a bonus!

Don't underestimate the small amount of profit; it represents a total of two million catties.

That translates to two million cash, or two thousand taels of silver. For a county magistrate, this was an enormous sum.

However, faced with this tempting profit, Xu Hanxian did not appear particularly happy; instead, he stopped drinking.

The enormous profits suggest that Yin Yunze's ambitions are far from small.

After a moment of silence, Xu Hanxian looked at Yin Yunze and asked, "What are the conditions?"

Looking directly into Xu Hanxian's eyes, Yin Yunze said casually, "Actually, the condition is very simple. I just hope that you, sir, can convey to the people that these two million catties of grain were bestowed upon us by you, sir... by Green Hill Yi Yun!"

In Yin Yunze's view, this was really not an excessive request.

If you look at it another way, it's just like a sponsor advertising at some events—a perfectly normal thing.

"Absurd!" Upon hearing Yin Yunze's words, Xu Hanxian angrily retorted, "You... you are greatly underestimating me! How could I possibly compromise the dignity of the court for the benefit of one person!"

A drought struck, and the imperial court was unable to allocate grain to save the people; instead, they needed a fox spirit to provide relief...

If word gets out, what will the people of Qingling County think of the imperial court? What will they think of Magistrate Xu Hanxian?

"Lord Xu, you are mistaken! Compared to the people saying that the grain for the disaster relief should come from us, wouldn't it be even more disgraceful for the court if we couldn't produce the grain? Lord Xu should understand the relative importance and urgency of these two matters."

Seeing Xu Hanxian's attitude, Yin Yunze thought that he hadn't explained things well enough, and that talking about profit had touched a nerve with Xu Hanxian as a scholar.

After patiently refuting Xu Hanxian's statement on the basis of righteousness, Yin Yunze then turned his attention to the issue of profit, but in a different phrasing. "Since Lord Xu says he is not acting for personal gain, then we will not discuss private interests."

I admire your integrity, sir, and wish to offer an additional 2 coins. I will only accept 3 coins per pound of grain. Whether this 2-coin discount is directly passed on to the people or used for future bridge and road repairs, it will be a benevolent act that the people will remember!

This time, Yin Yunze had analyzed the situation very clearly from Xu Hanxian's perspective.

Upon hearing Yin Yunze's words, Xu Hanxian's expression showed a hint of hesitation.

However, in the end, Yin Yunze saw Xu Hanxian slowly but firmly shake his head and say, "Flirting is indeed bewitching! The people are important, but the dignity of the court cannot be compromised! No matter how eloquently you speak, I will not compromise the dignity of the court to help you succeed!"

"The majesty of the imperial court?"

Looking at Xu Hanxian, Yin Yunze couldn't help but sneer, "Is this worthless imperial prestige more important than the tens of thousands of people under your rule? The people have only lost their lives! The imperial court has lost a very important amount of face in this matter!"

Xu Hanxian shifted in response to Yin Yunze's sarcasm. "Nonsense! I am the magistrate of this place! I care more about the people than you do! Do you know how sleepless I've been these past few days..."

"Really? I don't believe it."

To be honest, Yin Yunze really wanted to make that sarcastic remark. But after thinking about it, he decided against doing something so pointless.

Having realized that Xu Hanxian could be considered a good official, but only to a limited extent, and that he didn't prioritize the people, Yin Yunze stopped arguing.

Looking at Xu Hanxian, Yin Yunze brought up another, more important matter that Xu Hanxian needed to find a solution to.

"Lord Xu, do you know the origin of this drought?"

Xu Hanxian, who was in a bad mood, was taken aback by the sudden question.

"Qingqiu, Miss, do you know?"

It was Peng Shulan who first pressed for answers on behalf of Xu Hanxian.

Seeing that the atmosphere between the two seemed to be getting tense, Peng Shulan didn't dare to really interrupt, so he could only play the straight man in these trivial matters.

Before Peng Shulan Xu Hanxian react, Yin Yunze immediately revealed, "You should know about the Tomb of Prince Jing outside Qingling County, right? The Prince Jing corpse inside the Tomb of Prince Jing has remained uncorrupted for hundreds of years, but it has transformed into Drought Demon! And the drought here is caused by that transformed Prince Jing!"

Some reckless tomb raiders dug up the Tomb of Prince Jing, causing Drought Demon to appear. Fortunately, a master intervened and temporarily trapped the Drought Demon within the Tomb of Prince Jing. Otherwise, things would likely be very different now.

"How so."

Upon hearing this, Peng Shulan immediately believed it and couldn't help but feel horrified.

"Spreading rumors and misleading the public!"

Upon hearing Yin Yunze's words, Xu Hanxian seemed to have guessed Yin Yunze's intention and shook his head, saying, "Are you still going to say that only you can eliminate the Drought Demon? If you want me to take action, you need to agree to your conditions? There is no record of Prince Jing of Qingling County becoming a demon in the records of the Supernatural Pursuit Bureau of this dynasty!"

"I will not deal with that Drought Demon!" Yin Yunze naturally wouldn't agree to such a thankless task that was beyond his capabilities, and shook his head, saying, "If you don't believe me, sir, send someone to investigate..."

"Even Constable Peng couldn't escape your Illusion Technique, so what can anyone else do?"

Looking at Yin Yunze, Xu Hanxian seemed to have found a weakness. He changed his tone and said confidently, "Clear Creek Fox Immortal, you should give up on that idea! I will never agree to your condition. How about I raise the price by two coins, and buy your grain for seven coins per catty? What do you say?"

"Oh!"

Looking at Xu Hanxian, Yin Yunze was not angry; instead, he couldn't help but smile.

So, you still care more than I do!