All the members are good people, only the host is a pervert

The rain in Yangzhou in March is as fine as needles, making people's skin itchy.

Lin Ruan stood under the eaves of the deputy envoy's residence, looking at the crabapple tree in the yard that had just sprouted new buds.

Raindrops trickled down the eaves, creating tiny splashes at her feet. She reached out to catch a few drops, her fingertips feeling slightly cold.

"Sir, the invitation from the Salt Transport Commissioner has arrived." The personal maid Zhezhi came over with a gold-embossed invitation in both hands, her voice very low.

Lin Ruan took the post and gently stroked the gold-stamped lines with his fingertips.

The invitation was written on the finest cloud-patterned paper, and the scent of ink was mixed with a faint hint of ambergris - this was a spice specially supplied to the royal family, but now it appeared on the invitation of the Yangzhou salt merchant.

"Prepare the sedan chair," Lin Ruan said calmly, handing the invitation to Zhezhi. "Tell Madam that she doesn't have to wait for me for dinner tonight."

"Yes, my lord."

"Lord Censor Lin has arrived—"

With a long shout, the sedan chair stopped in front of the residence of salt merchant Li Jinzhi.

The vermilion lacquered door slowly opened, revealing a corridor covered with a red carpet.

Lin Ruan straightened the collar of his official uniform and stepped in.

The banquet hall was brightly lit, and dozens of officials and salt merchants dressed in gorgeous clothes had already taken their seats.

Seeing Lin Ruan come in, everyone stood up and saluted. Salt Transport Commissioner Zhou Minzhi stepped forward quickly, his face full of smiles: "Lord Lin is willing to honor me. It is really an honor for our humble home!"

Lin Ruan smiled slightly and glanced at everyone in the hall.

These were all prominent figures in Yangzhou—officials from the Salt Transport Commissioner's Office, owners of major salt companies, and even a few retired officials from the capital.

The smiles on their faces were just right, but their eyes were filled with scrutiny and calculation.

"Mr. Zhou, you are too polite." Lin Ruan bowed in return. "I have just arrived in Yangzhou. I should have paid my respects to you all as soon as possible."

After the pleasantries, Lin Ruan was ushered to the seat of honor. After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere at the table gradually became lively.

Li Jinzhi clapped her hands, and the candlelight in the hall suddenly dimmed. A clear sound of a zither came from behind the screen, followed by the sound of a bell.

"Today I have specially prepared a small gift for Lord Lin. I hope you will accept it." Li Jinzhi leaned close to Lin Ruan, with a hint of ambiguity in her voice.

A figure appeared from behind the screen, causing Lin Ruan's pupils to shrink slightly.

He was a young boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a dress of almost transparent gauze and walking barefoot on the scarlet carpet.

His feet were extremely small and wrapped in plain white cotton. Every step he took felt like he was walking on the edge of a knife, yet he still forced himself to appear light.

The boy had a handsome face, but there was a sense of sadness between his eyebrows and eyes.

"This is Yingge, a top-notch bird I've raised for ten years," Li Jinzhi proudly introduced. "She's proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, especially these feet—"

"Three-inch golden lotus, a treasure cultivated with ten thousand taels of silver!"

Yangzhou is famous not only for its bland food, but also for its priceless figurines: the Yangzhou Skinny Horse.

The dancing man is just such a skinny horse, with a plaything name, Yingge.

The bound feet, hidden from view and wrapped in layers, were already covered with scars. The eldest lady had spread a layer of broken porcelain pieces under the corridor, saying she wanted to help Grandma check whether the golden lotus she had bought for ten thousand taels of silver was worth it.

But even though it hurt, he could only wrap his feet tightly with a long piece of coarse cotton cloth and, at his grandmother's instruction, dance in front of the hall with his already scarred feet.

A beautiful boy between five and eight years old was bought from the countryside for ten taels of silver. His feet were first broken into three-inch golden lotus and then he was slowly nursed back to health.

Day after day, he studied music, chess, calligraphy, painting, phoenix singing and dancing, the Four Books and Five Classics, and business and housekeeping.

She uses various precious medicinal herbs to maintain her flawless skin as white as jade, and eats half a bowl of porridge every day to develop a slender waist that can be held in one hand.

It took several years to produce "high-quality porcelain" that could only be bought with ten thousand taels of silver, and then sold it to the salt merchants' mansions.

The unluckiest, not chosen by the salt merchants, would be forced to solicit customers naked at the entrances of brothels. Those with even less success would have scalding irons pressed against their bodies. The luckiest were even sent to the late emperor's harem, becoming honored attendants.

Most skinny horses have neither good nor bad luck. They are molested by salt merchants, tortured by maids, and then sent to officials' mansions. When the officials leave, they are sold to brothels.

Lin Ruan didn't like such skinny horses. It wasn't that she couldn't stand suffering, she simply didn't like the deformed and ugly aesthetic of the three-inch golden lotus.

She flatly refused, "I don't like men with bound feet."

The big salt merchant didn't think there was anything wrong with these words.

Who was Lin Ruan? A twenty-seven-year-old deputy envoy of the Fourth Rank Censorate, a daughter of a Duke, a cousin of the current emperor, and in the emperor's good graces, how could she possibly let herself be wronged?

After three rounds of drinking, the guests were all happy, and Lin Ruan returned to the deputy historian's house drunk.

As usual, Xu Jinshu was waiting outside the courtyard gate with a lantern for Lin Ruan to return.

"My wife came back by herself?" Xu Jinshu came forward and said with a smile.

He also received a post today, and the words from those people implied that his wife was likely to bring back a toy from outside today.

I haven't seen the person yet, but I have heard a lot of comforting words.

Lin Ruan laughed and said, "If you leave with excitement and return with satisfaction, you won't be lonely."

At least after this incident, the salt merchants and the provincial government can relax a little and let the truth show.

It wasn’t a wasted trip.

Before seeing the fox's tail revealed, Lin Ruan first experienced what it meant to "money can make you powerful."

Less than half a month later, a red envelope containing a hundred thousand taels of silver, euphemistically called "Yangxu Silver", was sent to the Deputy Historian's Mansion, along with another "Yingge".

The same flawless white skin, slender waist, and pitiful features. The only difference was a pair of slender feet wrapped in white gauze.

It was wrapped, but not completely, only about 30 percent.

Lin Ruan thought of this sentence inexplicably.

This time she accepted the "gift" which was actually a handle, but in the evening another secret memorial was sent to the capital from the Deputy Historian's Mansion.

The officials and salt merchants of Yangzhou Prefecture naturally did not know what Lin Ruan was doing. They only knew that accepting the skinny horse was also a token of their loyalty.

This high-ranking daughter of the Duke's family, the Emperor's cousin, and the young and successful Deputy Censor will probably not interfere in their affairs any longer.

After all, everyone knows that courtesy comes first, and then force.

That, that skinny horse's name is Qingque, another name that sounds like a toy.

Xu Jinshu knew that it was difficult for a skinny horse to get pregnant, but under the anxiety day after day, thinking of the skinny maid of the late emperor who gave birth to two sons and a daughter, he still asked Zhu'er to put a contraceptive drug in Qingque's food.

After handing the medicine to Zhu'er, Xu Jinshu sat on a stool, looking at his blurry self in the bronze mirror. In a trance, he almost forgot that he was only twenty years old this year.

But he felt old.

Lin Ruan felt that she was very young. Perhaps power was the best medical beauty for a person, regardless of era or gender.

She stayed in her study until very late every day, enthusiastically sorting out the information the system had given her, trying to connect the history of salt merchants she had learned with this dynasty. When she tired of thinking, she would flip through the electronic account book the system had recorded for her.

The system was also very happy. It gradually got rid of those businesses that could not be put on the table. It disguised itself as a medicinal material merchant and traveled all over the country.

As for the source of medicinal herbs? Selling those herbs that have been planted over and over again but are not used and take up space in the space can not only make money but also make room for Lin Ruan's space.

Most importantly, it can go anywhere!

The system's interest in going out continued year after year, and it took Lin Ruan less than three months to go from working hard to lying down.

This is not her fault, it is just that the system is so useful that everything and everyone in this world is under its surveillance.

We can only blame Qingque. His entire person and personality hit Lin Ruan's sore spot.

Alone and delicate, I swallow my tears with a frail frame, my heart aching. In the morning, I face the mirror, putting on a forced face, yet a deep sob wails. At night, how can I dispel my sorrow, thinking of the joys of my childhood? But I can only give my gentle heart to others' careless thoughts.

It's a tragedy, created for you and destroyed by you.

And there is another tragedy of this kind in the Deputy Historian's Mansion, which is located in a secluded area.

Lin Ruan raised her eyebrows and looked at Xu Jinshu, who was holding a lantern in the distance and slowly walking towards her.