Princess Promotion

Fu Hongxuan chose Li Hanlin not for any other reason, but purely from the perspective of the position of quartermaster, Li Hanlin was indeed more suitable than Minister Liu.

This time the army is heading towards the western border. After all, Li Hanlin is from the Western Zhou Dynasty and knows the road conditions and situations in various places better than Minister Liu.

Moreover, Fu Hongxuan had heard a little about Li Hanlin's reputation for integrity, and since this person was recommended by the court officials, he must have some ability.

This is just like when you want to buy local specialties, is it better to ask locals to find out if they can buy authentic and cheap ones, or to buy according to the recommendations in a book?

Of course, if you are unlucky and meet a local who tries to rip you off, you can only blame yourself for your bad luck.

Fu Yuanyuan couldn't understand why Yao Chuguang did this. Even if Li Hanlin was not Yao Chuguang's candidate, he shouldn't humiliate a good official who worked diligently for the people in this way.

Countless speculations suddenly emerged in Fu Yuanyuan's mind. Could it be that Li Hanlin was not the candidate in Yao Chuguang's mind, and her brother did not make the right choice, so she was using this method to warn her brother.

But Fu Yuanyuan couldn't just ignore it anyway, so she mustered up the courage to speak up and stop him: "Your Majesty, this... this is probably inappropriate, right?"

Yao Chuguang turned his head and looked at Fu Yuanyuan, who tilted his head to think for a moment, and unexpectedly agreed: "Indeed."

Fu Yuanyuan didn't expect Yao Chuguang to be so easy to talk to. Her heart relaxed a little when she heard Yao Chuguang instruct Bai Yehan, "You go and keep an eye on it. If someone gets nosy and lets Li Hanlin get away, that won't work."

Fu Yuanyuan couldn't believe her ears. Is this what she meant?

Lin'er saw Bai Yehan easily take out a handkerchief from his arms, cover his face, then turn around and walk out.

As they approached the door, Yao Chuguang added, "First, spend some money to ask the waiter for two coarse cloth shirts to cover your clothes. There are no robbers wearing silk and satin these days."

Now Lin'er understood why Bai Yehan and Li Yinhan were so familiar with the tricks they had done along the way, such as picking doors and breaking into them.

Li Yinhan moved quickly and decisively, his figure weaving through the crowd and soon approaching Li Hanlin.

With lightning speed, a knife came from behind and chopped Li Hanlin's neck cleanly. Li Hanlin's body instantly went limp and he fainted.

Bai Yehan, who had been waiting nearby, stepped forward to support him, lifted Li Hanlin's arm and placed it on his shoulder, then quickly walked towards the alley next to him.

Li Yinhan and Bai Yehan cooperated well with each other. From a distance, it looked like Li Hanlin was walking and suddenly tripped by something. Bai Yehan stepped forward to help him, and then the two of them walked into the alley.

Li Yinhan grabbed Li Hanlin's purse with one hand and stripped him naked in an instant.

Soon the two men returned to the restaurant's private room with a full load and put Li Hanlin's wallet and clothes on the table.

Yao Chuguang was slightly satisfied. She picked up her purse with her slender fingers and turned to Fu Hongxuan, smiling and asking, "How much silver do you have on you today?"

Fu Hongxuan stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "Twenty taels of silver, what's wrong?"

Yao Chuguang chuckled twice: "For reference, you are the only one who can be considered poor here."

Fu Hongxuan was choked for a moment and had no words to say.

After Yao Chuguang finished speaking, he poured out the silver money in his purse and counted it. There were twenty-six taels of silver and a few copper coins.

Yao Chuguang said in a playful tone, "Wow! It seems that Li Hanlin is richer than General Fu!"

After hearing this, Fu Yuanyuan said indifferently, "It's just an extra six taels of silver. Nowadays, let alone officials appointed by the court, even some ordinary wealthy businessmen have more than a hundred taels of silver on them."

This amount of silver was not enough for a noble lady like Fu Yuanyuan to receive a reward from her servants, so she naturally didn't think it was a big deal for Li Hanlin, an official appointed by the imperial court, to carry some silver on him.

Some people even thought that Li Hanlin was indeed an honest official, as he only had this little money on him.

Yao Chuguang put down her purse, picked up the shoes calmly and looked at them carefully.

Fu Yuanyuan stood aside, watching Yao Chuguang's actions, and couldn't help but frown slightly.

I subconsciously held my breath and felt a little uncomfortable.

Although Fu Yuanyuan was born into a military family, she was exposed to elegant things in her daily life, such as music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and songs. She had never observed men's shoes and smelly socks at such a close distance.

Yao Chuguang put down his shoes, then picked up his socks nonchalantly and twisted them lightly with his fingers.

Seeing this, Fu Yuanyuan couldn't help but frown slightly. It was really indecent and inappropriate. How could she look at and touch a man's private parts? It was so disrespectful.

Yao Chuguang ignored Fu Yuanyuan's strange expression and searched the clothes carefully.

After checking all the clothes, Yao Chuguang curled up the corner of his mouth in a sneer.

Yao Chuguang walked to the washbasin next to her and washed her hands carefully. Seeing this, Fu Hongxuan stepped forward and handed his handkerchief to Yao Chuguang.

Yao Chuguang looked up at Fu Hongxuan unexpectedly, but didn't say anything. She took the handkerchief and wiped her hands.

Yao Chuguang said calmly without hesitation, "Let Minister Liu be appointed as the quartermaster!"

Fu Hongxuan wasn't too surprised and nodded to indicate that he had no objection.

Fu Yuanyuan was puzzled. Why did they suddenly choose Minister Liu?

Brother, didn’t you just think highly of Li Hanlin? Why did you compromise without fighting for it?

Fu Hongxuan naturally saw Fu Yuanyuan's confusion and reluctance, and explained with a sigh: "Yuanyuan, take a close look at the soles of these shoes."

Fu Yuanyuan endured the discomfort and carefully picked up the pair of patched shoes. She looked at the soles and saw that they were covered in dust and mud.

Fu Yuanyuan looked at Fu Hongxuan for help, but she really couldn't see anything unusual.

Fu Hongxuan knew that this was indeed a bit difficult for Fu Yuanyuan. Fu Yuanyuan had been living a life of luxury since childhood, so she naturally subconsciously compared his living standard with his.

Fu Hongxuan walked over, picked up the shoes, pointed at the worn edges of the soles and said, "The wear on the soles of these shoes is very shallow. Logically, they should not have been worn many times."

Fu Yuanyuan instantly understood what Fu Hongxuan meant. How could the upper of a pair of shoes that had only been worn a few times and had little wear on the soles be worn out?

Fu Hongxuan used his fingers to tear off the patch on the surface of the shoe, revealing the inner shoe surface, which was indeed intact.

Then Fu Hongxuan picked up the socks and said, "You've seen all kinds of silks and satins since you were a child. What kind of material is this?"

Fu Yuanyuan touched it and immediately knew that it was Yunjin, a piece of which was worth over a hundred taels of silver.

Fu Hongxuan didn't need to say anything now. Fu Yuanyuan picked up the patched jacket. Although it was patched on the outside, the inside was intact.

This shows that although Li Hanlin was from a wealthy family and could afford to wear silk and satin, he was greedy for fame and cheated, deliberately patching up his intact shoes and clothes.

Fu Yuanyuan realized how wrong she had just been. She stood there in panic, her face flushed, her head lowered, not daring to look at anyone.

Seeing Fu Yuanyuan's cowardly look, Fu Hongxuan sighed helplessly, walked over and pulled Fu Yuanyuan to the side to wash her hands.

Li Yinhan raised his hand and asked Yao Chuguang with a look of curiosity: "Achu, why do you think there is something wrong with Li Hanlin?"

Li Yinhan’s idea was very simple. If Yao Chuguang had suspected Li Hanlin from the beginning, she would not have asked him to take off his clothes to verify.

Yao Chuguang said slowly, "It's a simple truth: good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. Li Hanlin has a reputation for being honest, but he has no outstanding achievements. Where does his reputation come from?"

To use Yao Chuguang's words from his previous life, this Li Hanlin is just a fake and empty person who is only doing face-saving projects.

Nowadays, real honest officials who do not follow the crowd are ostracized, not sought after. Unless they are saints with real abilities, or have strong backing.

Of course, Yao Chuguang was just suspicious, so he was testing her today.

As expected, those who can claim to be honest officials are basically seeking fame and reputation, or they are beasts in human form.

No decent person can be praised every day, unless they spend money to hire someone to act.