Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

Zhang Jingwei widened his eyes and scolded Douya angrily: "You little girl, how can you be so disrespectful and unruly! If you come in like this again next time, I will teach you a lesson! Remember, you must knock on the door before entering in the future, do you hear me?" Although he spoke harshly, Zhang Jingwei finally slowed down his tone and taught her in a slightly gentler tone.

After a brief pause, Zhang Jingwei suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "By the way, what did you rush over to tell me just now? Who was looking for whom?"

Douya blinked her bright eyes and answered crisply, "It was an uncle named Mo Lang, and he brought quite a few followers with him. As soon as they entered the house, they started clamoring for my son-in-law!"

When Zhang Jingwei heard this, his brows furrowed slightly, and he muttered to himself, "Mo Lang? Could he be the father of that kid Mo Kuang? No, I have to go out and see what's going on." As he said that, he suddenly sat up from the bed.

However, at that moment, there was a dull thud as Zhang Jingwei's forehead slammed hard against the bed frame. It turned out that this bed was meticulously crafted by Liang Dahai, with a specially designed frame at the top for hanging a mosquito net to protect against bites. But for some reason, Liang Dahai seemed to have gotten the dimensions wrong, so even someone as tall as Zhang Jingwei, standing over 6 feet tall, would have hit his head if he wasn't careful. Such an incident was only a matter of time.

"Ah! Oh my god!" Zhang Jingwei clutched his hands tightly against his forehead, letting out a howl like a pig being slaughtered, the sound resounding through the air. Then, bean-sized tears rolled down his cheeks. Seeing this, Huangfu Ling, watching from the side, felt incredibly distressed and quickly reached out to untie the bandage wrapped around Zhang Jingwei's head to check on the injury.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Jingwei stopped Huangfu Ling's hand and said through gritted teeth: "Don't touch me, just leave it like this, this is the effect I want."

……

In the living room, Zhang Liu was dealing with Mo Lang.

Mo Lang looked at Zhang Liu and couldn't help but sigh, "Master Liu, look at your legs and feet. They seem to be much worse than before!" Zhang Liu smiled slightly and said slowly, "Alas, time is merciless. My old bones are really not as good as when I was young!"

Mo Lang quickly responded, "Sixth Master, please don't say that. You've always been blessed! Now that you're by the young master's side, taking good care of him, we, the old members of the Zhang family, feel much more at ease when we do our work. We can all let go and work hard!"

Zhang Liu said sincerely, "I only hope I can serve the young master for a few more years. The old master was very kind to me in the past, and the young master has been raised under my nose since he was a child. I will do my best for the Zhang family and devote myself to it!"

Just as Zhang Liu and Mo Lang were chatting, Zhang Jingwei slowly walked out, supported by Mu Tou. Mo Lang quickly stood up and said with a smile, "Master! Look, do you still remember me?"

Zhang Jingwei took a closer look and then responded with a smile, "Uncle Mo, how could I not remember you!"

Mo Lang breathed a sigh of relief, then got straight to the point: "Young Master, if that's the case, then I won't beat around the bush any more. My son has committed a crime, and as a father, I simply have no excuses to offer. I've come here today to implore you to show some mercy, spare him, and give him a chance to live, and also give our Salt Gang a chance to survive!"

After hearing this, Zhang Jingwei's lips curled up slightly, and he asked with a half-smile, "Uncle Mo, what are you talking about? I never intended to take your son's life, but... as the saying goes, debts must be repaid. That bet between us was notarized by the government, and now he owes me a full 11.6 million strings of cash! Uncle Mo, are you visiting me this time just to pay off his debt?"

Mo Lang said to the young master in front of him with a bitter face, "Young Master, the Salt Gang's business has been getting increasingly difficult in recent years, with profits declining. I've mobilized all the payment for goods from various branches, and the total is only a mere two million strings of cash. If it were more, I really wouldn't be able to help. Young Master, please be discerning! As for my good-for-nothing and rebellious son, I know him well. How could he have the guts to do such a thing? There must be someone behind the scenes instigating him!"

Zhang Jingwei, sitting on a chair, covered his forehead and groaned in pain, "Humph! I don't care who ordered him to do that. I just care about my head... Ouch... Hiss! It still hurts so much!"

After hearing this, Mo Lang kowtowed several more times and continued to beg, "Young Master, I was just an ordinary salt merchant back then. If I hadn't been fortunate enough to be appreciated and promoted by my boss, how could I have become the leader of the Salt Gang today. It's a pity that my sons are either physically disabled or have intellectual problems, and only Mo Kuang is relatively normal. So this time I specially gave him one million strings of cash. My original intention was just to hope that he could contribute to your expansion plan, young master, and also to let him perform well in front of you and leave a good impression. Who would have expected that it would backfire and lead to such serious consequences!" As he spoke, Mo Lang still knelt on the ground and refused to get up, begging Zhang Jingwei to show mercy and let Mo Kuang go.

Seeing this, Zhang Jingwei sighed helplessly, waved his hand and said, "Uncle Mo, you should stand up and talk first. Well, let's put this matter aside for now and let me think about how to deal with it."

Mo Lang said with deep fear, "Young Master, you are truly magnanimous! I will definitely discipline my good-for-nothing son and make him kowtow to you respectfully and apologize!"

Zhang Jingwei's face was solemn. He stared at Mo Lang intently and said slowly, "I have something important to ask you. Your Salt Gang is the largest gang in the North. How could you have been in such a deficit?"

Mo Lang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly replied, "Young Master, this is all because of the recent plummet in salt prices! Salt has become worthless, so naturally, those salt merchants are no longer willing to buy from us, the Salt Gang."

Zhang Jingwei frowned slightly and asked, "If salt is worthless, then no one will dare to take the risk of smuggling salt?"

Mo Lang nodded repeatedly in agreement, "Young Master, you're right. That's exactly the truth! It's true that few people are willing to take the risk of smuggling."

Zhang Jingwei nodded thoughtfully and continued to ask, "Then why did the price of salt suddenly plummet so drastically?"

Mo Lang gritted his teeth and said indignantly, "All this is because of that Li Zaizhi! He spread the salt-making formula among the people. His actions have simply violated the bottom line of every salt merchant and our entire salt gang! I already offered a reward of ten thousand gold for his whereabouts two months ago."

When Zhang Jingwei heard this, he exclaimed as if he had suddenly realized something: "Oh, so that's how it is..."