Because the Marquis was also a master of facial expressions, Zhou Shuren did not see what the Marquis was thinking; otherwise, it would be heartbreaking!

Zhou Shuren bowed and said, “Zhizhou of Lizhou City, Zhou Shuren, greets the Marquis.”

The Marquis said with a smile on his face, “I have heard that Zhōu dàrén is highly valued by the Emperor. Today I see that it is indeed well-deserved. Zhōu dàrén, please take a seat.”

Zhou Shuren smiled falsely, “I have also heard that the Marquis is both good in civil and military. I am honored to meet him today.”

The two smiled at each other, as if they were good friends who could chat!

As for what he truly thought, Zhou Shuren sneered inwardly. So much for being moderate—he clearly wasn’t someone easy to deal with. Zhou had deliberately brought up the official rank, and the Marquis had smoothly followed up by mentioning the Emperor. Just look at that fake smile on his face.

The Marquis thought in his heart that outsiders said he was mediocre and incompetent, but in Zhōu dàrén’s mouth, he was both civil and military. He squinted his eyes. This was not flattery, and he always felt that there was something else behind his words.

He met Zhou Shuren, firstly to test Zhou Shuren, secondly, Zheyu paid attention to Zhou Shuren very much. So, he also wanted to see what kind of person Zhou Shuren was and whether he could be used by him.

Lately, Zhéyú had been making constant moves, continuously dividing the Marquis residence’s network of connections. His act of mediocrity had been for the Emperor’s eyes, but after playing the part for so long, even most of his close aides believed he was incompetent. Now that he had an outstanding heir—a shìzǐ even the Emperor acknowledged—many people had begun to align themselves with Zhéyú.

Even though some clever people knew that the Emperor was drawing Zhéyú in just to divide the Hóu residence’s power, no one was truly foolish. Everyone understood that the Emperor disliked the Hóu residence and was deeply afraid of being dragged down with them. Now that Zhéyú had gained the Emperor’s recognition, people saw him as a promising path to follow.

Zhou Shuren was drinking tea, and the tea of the Marquis’ Mansion was no worse than that of the palace. Once again, the Marquis’ Mansion was full of money, and he looked at the Marquis’ Mansion as if it were gold, not to mention the Emperor. The Emperor could shamelessly take over his house, which showed that the Emperor was really short of money!

The Marquis asked with a smile, “Zhōu dàrén has been drinking tea, but do you like the Marquis’s tea?”

Zhou Shuren put down his teacup and said, “The tea in the Marquis’s residence was in no way inferior to that of the Imperial palace—I really liked it. Forgive me if this sounds amusing, but I was truly awe-struck when I arrived at the Marquis’s mansion just now. Not only was the estate vast, but it was also incomparably magnificent, even more so than the Imperial Palace. Ah, that was a slip of the tongue.”

With that, Zhou Shuren hurriedly picked up his teacup and drank. He didn’t say anything else. “Let him experience it yourself.” He summoned him today and tried to intimidate him. He really treated him like a clay man. He already had the confidence.

The Marquis tightened his grip on the teacup. What was this slip of the tongue? It was clearly intentional. It was the same as saying that the Marquis’s mansion had more money than the Imperial Palace. The Marquis’s mansion had many spies, and Zhou Shuren’s words would surely reach the Emperor’s ears. Zhou Shuren was not only sly and ruthless, but his status had changed, and so had his attitude towards the Marquis’s mansion. No wonder Zheyu was so frustrated.

This person was too cunning. Even if he wanted to use him, he wouldn’t dare.

Zhou Shuren glanced at the servants in the yard. Should he say anything else?

The Marquis coughed, “How can the Marquis’ Mansion be as exaggerated as Lord Zhou said?”

Zhou Shuren, “No exaggeration, no exaggeration, the Marquis’ Mansion does have silver and money, a lot of silver and money, and the teacups for drinking tea are all antiques. I am not exaggerating at all, Marquis, I am a sincere person.”

Marquis, “…”

Shut up!

Zhou Shuren put down the teacup, very shy, “The Marquis’s tea is top-notch. I drank a lot of it. It’s really delicious. It’s a pity that my family has accumulated wealth bit by bit. I can’t afford this kind of top-notch tea even if I want to buy it. No, it should be this kind of tea that I can’t buy even if I want to buy it. It’s worthy of being in the Marquis’ Mansion. Thank you for your hospitality today.”

The Marquis chuckled, “Today I was just curious about who Zhōu dàrén is. It’s getting late, so I won’t entertain you any longer.”

Zhou Shuren thought to himself, How stingy! He was far inferior to his son. His son exuded the aura of being a local tycoon, and he was hoping he could get some tea for free!

Zhou Shuren stood up and said, “I’m leaving now.”

The Marquis didn’t want to look at Zhou Shuren anymore. “See you out.”

Zhou Shuren curled his lips. He really had a lot to say, but the Marquis couldn’t stand it after just a few words. It seemed that the situation in the Marquis’ Mansion was not good now. Zhou Shuren couldn’t help but look up at the sky. There was probably more than one knife above the Marquis’ Mansion! Zhou Shuren left the Marquis’ Mansion and got nothing. He thought he could get something back.

He sighed and got on the carriage and said, “Go home.” Before Zhulan returned home, Zhou Shuren had already returned and was recording something in the house. Zhulan asked, “When did you come back?”

Zhou Shuren put down his pen and said, “I came back a long time ago. What did you and Chang Lian buy?”

Zhulan put down the box. “I bought some fabric, snacks, and other things. This box contains jewelry for the women in the family. This one’s for the eldest daughter, a pair of jade bracelets. Do you think they look good?”

Zhou Shuren observed the considerable amount of jewelry in the box. Zhulan’s purchasing power was strong, and her earning prowess was even greater. “Very good,” he said.

Zhulan closed the box and sat at her desk, writing down the names of the jewelry items, as Chang Lian wouldn’t be able to remember them all.

As she wrote, Zhulan asked, “What did the Marquis say?”

“He didn’t say much, and then he sent me away,” Zhou Shuren replied.

Zhulan said, “If it were me, I would have sent you away, too.” Then she smiled. Zhou Shuren had a sense of propriety. He spoke only to the Emperor’s knowledge and hadn’t crossed the Marquis’s line. He had shown himself to be a tough opponent, and the Marquisate wouldn’t easily provoke him. After all, Zhou Shuren was currently favored by the Emperor, and the Marquisate wouldn’t dare take any action. Zhulan felt relieved.

Inside the palace, the Emperor listened to his eunuch imitating Zhou Shuren’s words. After a long silence, he turned to the Crown Prince and said, “Yao Wenqi has become stingy. He’s not as generous as his son. Look at our Zhōu dàrén, he even shamelessly praised the tea, but he didn’t even get a single leaf.”

The Crown Prince smiled inwardly. Zhōu dàrén’s shamelessness was indeed comparable to his father’s. “Yao Zheyu is indeed a rare, generous man.”

He liked the generosity of all, especially when they offered to be his father’s sword, and even attacked the power of the Marquis’ Mansion.

The Emperor said to the Eunuch Liu beside him, “Have someone send my new tea to the Zhou Mansion. You tell Zhōu dàrén to forget it and go!”

He had just acquired three houses and was a little embarrassed. It was better not to scare people.

The Crown Prince had been with his father since he was a child. Although he didn’t know him very well, he knew that Zhōu dàrén had really caught his father’s eye.

The Emperor waited for Eunuch Liu to leave and said, “You can go down too.”

The Crown Prince lowered his head and said, “Yes.”

The Emperor waited for the Crown Prince to leave; his face fell, and he kept muttering about Yao Wenqi. Yao Zheyu’s big move really dug up something interesting.

At the Zhou family, Eunuch Liu personally delivered tea. Zhou Shuren looked at the tea box and said, “Fortunately, we don’t have many servants in our family, otherwise I really wouldn’t know who the Emperor’s people are.”

Zhulan rolled her eyes inwardly, “That’s because you are not of high enough rank now. When you reach a high rank, you will be no less. This is a good reminder for us to be careful with our words in the future.”

“Indeed, we should be careful with our words.”

In the past, they would talk about some modern things in casual conversation, but they couldn’t talk about them anymore in the future.

(End of this chapter)

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