Chapter 671 Dinner with colleagues!

"Lord Murong, you are being too modest..."

Chen Jingyu looked at Murong Lun meaningfully and said:

"Everyone in the court knows the relationship between you, Lord Murong, and Governor Lu. You two are close friends. Although you are not brothers, you are better than brothers. Lu Jianchao, who was involved in the Ministry of Revenue silver case, has already been imprisoned and is about to be beheaded along with his entire clan!
“If it weren’t for you, Lord Murong, actively working for him and using your connections to overturn his conviction, Lu Jianchao would not only be dead, but his three clans would also be implicated. How could there be the glorious Governor Lu of Jiangnan today?

"It's not an exaggeration to say that this kind of favor is like a rebirth, right? And everyone in the court knows that Governor Lu is a person who values ​​friendship the most. I believe that as long as Lord Murong speaks up, this matter will be easily accomplished!"

Listening to Chen Jingyu's words, the smile on Murong Lun's face gradually faded. After a moment, he said to Chen Jingyu:
"Master Chen, do you remember what I said to you in Rongcheng that day?"

"Keep a line in everything you do so that we can meet you in the future!"

After he finished speaking, Murong Lun took out an unsealed letter and a booklet from the drawer of his desk and handed them to Chen Jingyu.

Seeing this, Chen Jingyu hesitated for a moment, then picked up the unsealed letter and took out the letter paper inside to read it carefully. After glancing at the content, his heart sank suddenly. He secretly sighed in his heart that Murong Lun was worthy of the nickname "Ghostly Schemer", as he had already prepared everything...

Putting down the letter that Murong Lun wrote to Lu Jianchao, Chen Jingyu first looked at the booklet, then looked at Murong Lun. Although he didn't know what was in the booklet, his intuition told him that it might not be something good!

Seeing Chen Jingyu's hesitation, Murong Lun gave him a meaningful smile. Chen Jingyu finally made up his mind and picked up the booklet to check it out.

The booklet had about seven or eight pages, but Chen Jingyu had only read two pages. His expression suddenly became very excited. He immediately put down the booklet in his hand and looked at Murong Lun with a gloomy look.

Seeing this, Murong Lun smiled and said leisurely:

"Mr. Chen, it is human nature to seek benefits and avoid harm. I can understand you! But there is an old saying, if you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself!"

Facing Murong Lun's warning, Chen Jingyu did not show any appreciation, but continued to speak gloomily:

"Murong Lun, you should understand that the Prime Minister does not really trust you. Do you think that you and Murong Yuliang's little trick can be hidden from everyone?"

Seeing Chen Jingyu's true intentions revealed, Murong Lun smiled calmly and said:

"Master Chen, you must be joking. I am very self-aware. My little trick is not worthy of being shown in a high-class place, let alone being hidden from the Prime Minister. I just want to silence the gossips of people like you, Master Chen!"

Chen Jingyu's face became even gloomier when he heard this. Seeing this, Murong Lun picked up the teacup and took another sip before saying calmly:

"Master Chen, why don't you wait till the end before making a decision!"

Chen Jingyu hesitated for a moment after hearing this but continued reading. After a moment, he found the answer at the end of the booklet and his eyes became surprised...

After hesitating for a while, he looked up at Murong Lun and said:
"Master Murong, what do you mean by this?"

Murong Lun smiled and replied:
"I'd like to make friends with you, Master Chen, and I'd also like to ask you to do me a small favor!"

"What's the deal?"

Chen Jingyu continued to ask:
Facing Chen Jingyu's gaze, Murong Lun calmly said a name.

"Yue Heng!"

Hearing this name, Chen Jingyu seemed to understand something. After thinking for a moment, he said:
"With your means, Lord Murong, and the power of the Murong family, wouldn't it be easy to kill him?"

Facing Chen Jingyu's question, Murong Lun smiled calmly and said:

"Master Chen, didn't you just say that? The Prime Minister doesn't trust me very much, so there are still many constraints for me to do it myself. So I would like to trouble you, Master Chen, to solve this matter for me. What do you think, Master Chen?"

Chen Jingyu did not give an immediate answer upon hearing this, but thought quickly in her heart. Although the reason given by Murong Lun was logical, could it not be done by herself? Was Murong Lun, the scheming strategist, setting a trap for her?
But if I don't agree to Murong Lun's request, things will be very troublesome based on the things in the booklet! '

After thinking for a whole cup of tea, Chen Jingyu finally made a decision. He gritted his teeth and said to Murong Lun:
"I did this!"

Hearing Chen Jingyu's answer, Murong Lun smiled and nodded and said:

“Thank you very much for your help, Lord Chen…”

Chen Jingyu looked a little complicated when he heard this. The next second he seemed to have thought of something and immediately said to Murong Lun:
"Lord Murong, although you were able to plot against Chen Jingyu, you completely miscalculated on that matter. She has been killed by the Fengwu Army!"

After Chen Jingyu finished speaking, she didn't wait for Murong Lun to reply. She turned around and left without any hesitation.

Although Chen Jingyu did not mention any names, Murong Lun knew what she was referring to, and he immediately fell into silence. Murong Lun was not surprised by her death. After all, the Fengwu Army had developed to this extent, and they were not just there to eat and do nothing. From the moment she carried out this mission, she was already a dead person in Murong Lun's eyes. What Murong Lun really cared about was the word "miscalculated" from Chen Jingyu's mouth.

He had been planning this carefully for several months and felt that everything was foolproof and that he would be able to get the An family, a poor family, to give up their position.

Although he didn't know what happened yet, if what Chen Jingyu said was true, he seemed to have underestimated Ye Mingsheng!

Murong Lun couldn't help but feel a headache when he thought of this. If it was just the An family, a poor family, he wouldn't need to be so cautious. He could just use a little trick to make them live in a state of despair, but once the matter was linked to Ye Mingsheng, it would become very troublesome. After all, Ye Mingsheng was a hero of his generation, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Even Murong Lun could only test Ye Mingsheng's bottom line and the bargaining chips in his hand little by little.
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Although it was already past the coldest time of the year, heavy snow was still falling in Yijing City, and the north wind was sweeping everything away!
Even in this freezing cold weather, Chenji Restaurant on Mingxuan Street in Yijing City is still crowded with diners.

Looking at the mutton floating in the copper pot, Zhang Xiu's eyes immediately lit up. He quickly picked up a piece of mutton with chopsticks and then put it into the fragrant sauce. When every part of the mutton was coated with the sauce, Zhang Xiu put it into his mouth and devoured it with a look of enjoyment on his face!

He brewed it. It’s so fucking nice to eat hotpot on a snowy day!

Their Marshal Ye is not only good at fighting, but he is also knowledgeable about food. He is worthy of being compared with the Qin Emperor and Han Wudi in the storyteller's words!

It was no secret that the Governor's Mansion was eating hot pot, and many high-ranking families of the Fengwu Army followed suit. However, because it involved Ye Mingsheng, the major restaurants in Yijing had some concerns, fearing that Ye Mingsheng would dislike them and bring unwarranted disaster upon them, so they have been slow to launch the hot pot product.

Until a month ago, this Chenji Restaurant opened on Mingxuan Street. Its main product is hot pot. Once it was launched, the business was very popular. From high-ranking officials to peddlers, everyone likes to eat hot pot in winter!

In addition to local people in Yijing, people from other places in Hebei and Henan also came here to taste the hot pot. For a while, the newly opened Chenji Restaurant was bustling with people, making a lot of money every day, and the business was booming. After eating once, everyone wanted to eat it a second time...
Seeing that Chenji Restaurant's business was so hot, various other restaurants followed suit and launched the hot pot product. From an objective point of view, this did have a certain impact on Chenji Restaurant's business, diverting a lot of time. However, Chenji Restaurant still maintained its leading position among various restaurants by relying on its secret soup base and sauces!
Precisely because Chenji Restaurant is very famous, Zhang Xiu and his colleagues Li Junshan and Cao Run also wanted to take a look at the hot pot and taste what it tastes like. However, they had to wait for several days before they were able to enter Chenji Restaurant.

"This hot pot is really delicious, but Chen's Restaurant is really stupid and doesn't give us any face! Now we have offended the city defense and taxation authorities. I wonder what they will do in the future!"

Zhang Xiu's colleague, Li Junshan, who was also a deputy director of the Provincial Administration Department, muttered in dissatisfaction under the influence of alcohol:

Because the business of Chenji Restaurant is very prosperous, the seats are usually booked out five or six days in advance, and Li Junshan, Zhang Xiu and Cao Run feel that they are officials of the Provincial Government, not ordinary people, so they want to use their connections to jump the queue and eat at Chenji Restaurant...
However, just when the three of them thought that this was a trivial matter, what they did not expect was that Chen Ji Restaurant simply ignored them. Just when the three of them were very indignant, they realized that not only did the three of them fail to jump the queue, but even the experience of the Governor was rejected by Chen Ji Restaurant!

After knowing the news, although the three of them were a little angry and didn't want to come to Chen's Restaurant, they couldn't resist the temptation of delicious food, and finally waited in line for five days before entering the restaurant.

Hearing Li Junshan say this, Cao Run on the side advised:
"Brother Li, you've had too much to drink, be careful with your words!"

Seeing Cao Run's cautious look, Li Junshan said curiously:

"Brother Cao, you are so cautious. Could it be that this Chenji Restaurant is really famous? I know that the owner of this Chenji Restaurant, Chen Qingshu, has some relationship with the Feng family. In the past, the Feng family's brand was still useful, but now Ji Yu is our Marshal Ye. The Feng family is in a difficult situation and can hardly save themselves!"

At this point, Li Junshan seemed to have thought of something. He patted Zhang Xiu, who was eating meat, and said:

"Brother Zhang, you work at the tax office, so you must be the most informed! Do you have any news to share with me?"

Hearing Li Junshan's question, Zhang Xiu hesitated for a moment, took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth, then spoke in a low voice:
“Brother, I don’t know anything else, but one thing is certain, there must be someone behind this Chen’s Restaurant…”

Li Junshan immediately became interested when this was said, while Cao Run just smiled without saying anything. Zhang Xiu did not keep him in suspense and continued:

"This Chen's Restaurant is so prosperous, so naturally it has taken away the jobs of its competitors. Those big restaurants have been strictly supervised by the Chief Secretary. After a good beating, although they dare not act as recklessly as before, they are still not easy to deal with. I heard that they were originally planning to take action against Chen's Restaurant, but the matter was later left unresolved!"

Hearing Zhang Xiu say this, Cao Run's expression became meaningful, and the words "Come and ask me" were almost written on his face!

Li Junshan did not let him wait any longer. He poured him a glass of white wine and continued to ask:

"Brother Cao, if you know who is the backer of this Chen's Restaurant, don't hide it!"

In response to Li Junshan's question, Cao Run pretended to be reserved for a while, and then said very mysteriously:
"In today's Yijing, who else do you think has such great power?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Xiu and Li reacted. Zhang Xiu pointed his finger to the sky, and Cao Run nodded seriously.

Seeing that the three of them were silent for a while, Li Junshan was the first to break the silence. He clinked his wine glass with Zhang Xiu and asked:
"This Chen's Restaurant is so prosperous that it must have several thousand taels of silver a month. According to the rules of your tax department, you must pay a lot of silver, right?"

Zhang Xiu nodded and said:

"Of course it is certain. Our Marshal Ye is really meticulous about taxation and will not tolerate any sand in his eyes. Just last month, there was a man named Ye Junsheng in the Ye family. This man and Marshal Ye are brothers within the fifth degree of mourning! Tell me, is this relationship close? Is it strong?"

“Several large shops and businesses valued this relationship and gave shares to Ye Junsheng and let Ye Junsheng put his name on the business in an attempt to evade taxes. Brother Li, Brother Cao, what do you think happened to this matter in the end?”

(End of this chapter)