Late at night, in an attic in the inner courtyard of the Zhen family's mansion, a woman in her twenties was gracefully savoring fragrant tea in the pavilion, and there were many servants beside her taking care of the pavilion.

At this time, a young man with a handsome appearance came in, Zhen Yan, the second son of Zhen Yi, the head of the Zhen family.

As soon as Zhen Yan entered the pavilion, he held a tribute and said to the woman sitting on the head: "Stepmother, Yan has found out that the person who came to visit today is the group of thieves who plundered the food and grass of aristocratic families in Julu County not long ago."

The woman leaning on the chair to taste tea took a sip of the tea, put down the tea cup, wiped her lips with a handkerchief, and said softly: "Oh, are these thieves coming to Wuji? Why are they visiting my Zhen Mansion?"

"Stepmother, according to the person who submitted the famous post, she wanted to raise food to help the victims." Zhen Yan said.

" Raise grain... Those thieves want to buy the grain from my Zhen family?" The woman turned her head and looked at Zhen Yan and said.

"That's it. Stepmother, Yan heard that the stepmother agreed to see them tomorrow. Is it..." Zhen Yan secretly glanced at the woman before continuing, "Want to send them away?"

"No need, since I came to pay my respects, I would be a guest. Besides, I have promised to see them. Isn't it rude to refuse now? And I also want to see who is so capable that he almost overturned the entire Julu County scholarly family." The woman said.

"But stepmother, my father is not here. If my Zhen Mansion sees these people and is known to other aristocratic families, it is inevitable that they will cause trouble. Moreover, these people are thieves. If they are put in, they are afraid that the mansion will not be safe. It would be better not to see them."

The woman glanced at Zhen Yan with an anxious look and said kindly: "Yan'er, although you are already a filial and honest person and well-read poetry, you rarely involve human feelings and worldly affairs. My Zhen family is a large clan in Jizhou. Those people are thieves in Julu, but they may not necessarily be in Wuji. They will come in from the back door tomorrow as long as the people in the mansion don't say it, how can outsiders know it? Besides, even if they know it, it doesn't matter. You have also seen their people today. These people are very considerate and will not cause any trouble. Even if there is trouble, their little ones will not cause any trouble in my Zhen's mansion. Yan'er doesn't have to worry."

"Since my mother said this, she was just following her orders." Seeing the woman's firm expression, Zhen Yan could only nod helplessly and said.

Seeing that Zhen Yan was not continuing to get entangled, the woman said, "Well, Yan'er, thanks to you in the mansion this month, otherwise there would be many strange people coming in to make trouble in Zhen's mansion. These strange people are always a problem. It is not a solution to surround the mansion like this. Yan'er, you have a way to drive these strange people away."

"I've thought of some solutions, and I'll be able to let these strange people leave on their own soon."

...

Early in the morning, Yang Tao left the inn and came to the back door of Zhen’s mansion, waiting quietly. Since he was going to Zhen’s mansion, Yang Tao only brought Di Qiu and Changshan with him, and the others stayed in the inn to rest.

After waiting for a while at the back door of Zhen Mansion, the back door slowly opened. A middle-aged man walked out of it. The man who talked with Di Qiu at the gate of Zhen Mansion yesterday.

"Brother Di, you are here." After opening the door, the man saw Yang Tao and the other two, he greeted Di Qiu and asked Di Qiu: "By the way, who are these two?"

"Butler Ji, this is the old lord Jianghe, and this great man is my subordinate Changshan." Di Qiu introduced Yang Tao and Changshan to Ji Xi, and then said to Yang Tao: "My lord, this is Ji Xi, the general manager of the Zhen family's foreign government."

Yang Tao clasped his fists to Ji Xi and said, "It turns out it's General Manager Ji. The boy is polite."

"Haha, Mr. Jiang doesn't have to be too polite. Mr. Jiang is already waiting in the lobby. Mr. Jiang will follow me." Ji Xi waved his hand, then smiled and made a gesture of invitation, asking Yang Tao to go first.

Yang Tao immediately said as soon as he saw it, "Mr. Ji, please ask me first. I don't recognize the way, so I have to ask Mr. Ji to lead the way?"

"Young Master Jiang, please ask me first. The lady has given me a special explanation. If you want the young master to go first, as for leading the way, I am by my side who can guide you. You should go first, don't make me embarrassed!"

Yang Tao was a little confused when he heard Ji Xi's words. When he saw Ji Xi still maintaining the invitation posture, he did not refuse and walked in front. Ji Xi followed Yang Tao and guided Yang Tao.

With Ji Xi leading the way, Yang Tao traveled in Zhen Mansion for more than half an hour, and he was almost transferred to the hall before he arrived at the hall. The mansion looked big enough outside, and the road inside was endless. If Ji Xi had not led the way, Yang Tao might not have found the hall even if he came in, and he might be lost in it.

When he arrived outside the lobby, Yang Tao stopped. It was not because Yang Tao wanted to stop, but because Ji Xi called it. Then Ji Xi said he wanted to go in and inform his wife. The wife agreed that Yang Tao and others could only go in.

"There are so many rules in this ancient wealthy family." Yang Tao couldn't help but mutter in his heart. He had been walking in the mansion for more than half an hour. He was already a little thirsty. Not to mention the tea, he had to wait outside. I didn't know that the drought in Jizhou is severe now and the weather is so hot. Just after half an hour walking in the mansion, he was already sweating profusely. However, Yang Tao still did not do anything randomly. After all, this trip can be said to be a plea for people. "I hope these crimes I have suffered are worth it." Yang Tao could only comfort himself in his heart and let Ji Xi go in.

But it took more than three hours to wait. Yang Tao was waiting outside the door, but Ji Xi didn't see him coming out. Looking at the tall building with vermilion paint in front of him, Yang Tao felt angry. He didn't know what the Zhen family meant. But for the sake of food, Yang Tao could not force himself to break in before the Zhen family made a statement. He could only stare at the two vermilion gates outside in the scorching sun.

At this time, the elderly Di Qiu could no longer hold on, and Yang Tao could only help Di Qiu to rest under the tree, but this was not a solution. The Zhen family didn't know what it meant, and no one came out of the lobby. An hour later, Yang Tao saw that the hall door of the Zhen family was still not open, and Di Qiu could no longer hold on and fainted. Yang Tao could only help Di Qiu and left the Zhen family sadly.

When I returned to the inn, I invited a doctor to come to see me in the city. I felt relieved when I learned that Di Qiu was not seriously injured.

Yang Tao and Changshan sat in Di Qiu's room and took care of Di Qiu. After taking medicine for Di Qiu, they sat at the table to rest.

After pouring a cup of tea, Yang Tao slowly tasted the bitterness of the tea. Yang Tao, who usually doesn’t like to drink tea and doesn’t understand tea, drank a cup after experiencing the day, and tasted a little of the tea.

"Bang!" With a sound, Changshan beside him slammed the teacup in his hand on the table. The tea in the cup splashed the entire table, and the cup was almost smashed by Changshan. Yang Tao saw Changshan's angry look and said, "Changshan, stop being angry, it's not worth it."

"Lord, I'm so angry. The Zhen family is so angry. They leave us outside to silence the sun, but they drink and eat meat inside, and make Old Man Di faint. Lord, I can't swallow this tone. Let me lead someone to destroy the Zhen family!" Changshan became more and more excited as he spoke. He immediately stood up and clasped his fists and asked Yang Tao for his order.

Yang Tao shook his head and said, "No."

“Why?”

"We were going to ask others to sell us food. They just refused if they didn't see each other. There was nothing wrong with it. As for the old man's heat stroke, it was just an accident. And now the old man has nothing to do. Let's just end this matter." Yang Tao said calmly.

"So that's it?"

"Yes." After Yang Tao said that, he picked up the teacup and slowly tasted the bitterness of the tea.

"I..."

"Cough cough cough..." Just as Changshan was about to say something, a sudden cough came over. Changshan immediately stopped talking, and Yang Tao also came to the bed and looked at the old man and said, "Old man, are you awake. Are you better?"

"Ahem, lord, it's all old man, who delayed the lord's business, lord's cough..." Di Qiu said with a look of shame on his pale face.

"Don't blame yourself. The Zhen family sincerely does not sell grain, even if the old man and I wait there for a day, they will not buy grain for us." Yang Tao comforted Di Qiu, and saw that Di Qiu had to say something, he shook his head and said, "Old man, I know what you are going to say. To be honest, I did think about making a big fuss at the Zhen family at that time, but after coming back, calm down and think about it carefully. I knew that what happened today was not entirely the Zhen family's fault, so I didn't want to pursue it. You can rest with confidence, please rest!"

"That's good." Di Qiu breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Yang Tao's gentleness.

At this time, a soldier walked in from outside the house and reported: "Lord, the butler of the Zhen family came to the inn to find the lord and was waiting in the lord's public room."

"What? The Zhen family dares to come, I want to turn him..." Changshan immediately shouted loudly and was about to leave the door. However, after being stopped by Yang Tao, Yang Tao glared at Changshan and let him stay in the room, and then took the soldiers to see Ji Xi. However, when Changshan saw Yang Tao leave, he quietly followed.

When he came to the room, Yang Tao saw Ji Xi sitting at the table and drinking tea. After seeing Yang Tao, he said with a smile on his face, "Young Master Jiang, don't be fine."

Yang Tao ignored Ji Xi, went straight to the table and sat down, poured a glass of water and took a sip and said, "Butler Ji, we seem to have met before, you should be very clear about whether you are sick or not."

"Haha, I'm sorry, Mrs. Jiang, my wife has something to do and she went out. It made Mrs. Jiang wait outside the hall for a long time. I feel sorry for me!" Ji Xi continued to reimburse her smile while explaining.

Yang Tao still said with a stern face: "Mrs. Can't you notify me if you are not here?"

"This...this...oh, by the way, I went to chase the wife, and forgot to notify Mr. Jiang for a while." Ji Xi finished speaking after hesitating. Yang Tao put down the teacup and waved his hand and said, "Well, I understand, you can leave."

"Hehe... Brother Jiang believes it." Ji Xi said with a dry smile.

When Yang Tao saw that he was still staying here, he immediately raised his face and said, "I said why don't you leave yet? Do you want me to invite you out? The person comes..."

"Hey hey hey, don't!" Ji Xi saw Yang Tao asking someone to drive him away, and hurriedly said, "Young Master Jiang, this time I came here, it was my wife who asked me to ask you to go to the mansion from the back door again tomorrow morning."

Ji Xi's words made Yang Tao frown and said nothing, but Ji Xi's words happened to be heard by Changshan who was rushed outside the door. He ran in, grabbed Ji Xi's collar and lifted him up and cursed: "What, you bastard, you cheated us once and then you will cheat us for the second time! You want us to be happy only if you are lying down, Zhen's family, who is your dog, isn't it!"

"Big Man...Big Man, please spare your life, not what you said. Afterwards, the lady knew that Mr. Di had heatstroke and was very sad. She immediately sent a villain to send a lot of medicinal materials. This time, she would not have happened if Mr. Jiang was invited to do it..." Ji Xi said tremblingly while holding Changshan's hands tightly, for fear that he would be helpless if Changshan tried to force him.

Yang Tao saw a pile of medicinal materials on the table, thought about Ji Xi's words carefully and said, "Changshan, let General Manager Ji go. As for going to the Zhen family again, I will consider it."

"Hmph!" Changshan snorted hatefully when he heard Yang Tao's orders and pushed Ji Xi away. Ji Xi took a while to stand firm. After standing firm, he immediately said: "Young Master Jiang, you must go..."

Before Ji Xi could finish his words, Yang Tao waved his hand and said nothing. When Ji Xi wanted to say anything else, Changshan was dragged out of the door.

At night, Yang Tao learned that Di Qiu was fine, so he came to Di Qiu's room and told Di Qiu what Ji Xi said during the day. Yang Tao said, "Old man, I wonder what you think of the Zhen family's invitation this time."

Di Qiu pondered for a while and said, "Lord, are you going to the Zhen family again?"

"That's right, I do want to go to the Zhen family again. Although the Zhen family did something bad before, in order to raise enough food, it is okay to go there again." Yang Tao said.

"Lord, what if the Zhen family still deliberately makes things difficult for this time?"

Yang Tao thought for a while and said, "Then leave this Wuji and find the next one as soon as possible. We can wait, but the victims can't afford to wait. Even if the Zhen family will sell us food, I will not wait any longer."

"The lord's words are reasonable, I agree with the lord's actions."

"Since the old man agrees, I will take Changshan to Zhen Mansion tomorrow. If the old man is in poor health, please stay in the inn to rest." Yang Tao said to Di Qiu.

"Everything is decided by the lord!"

...

The next day, Yang Tao brought Changshan to the back door of Zhen Mansion, and Ji Xi was already waiting at the back door. After seeing Yang Tao and others arrive, he greeted him from afar and said, "Young Master Jiang, you are here. The villain has been waiting for you for a long time here. Let's go to the mansion with the villain!"

"Okay, let's go." Yang Tao said to Changshan behind him, looked at Ji Xi, and then walked towards Zhen's mansion first. Changshan and Ji Xi followed Yang Tao into Zhen's mansion together.
Chapter completed!