After picking up a lucky girl, all the beasts line up to come to your door

Sang Ye put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "What gifts did the county magistrate send?"

The attendant said, "They are all food, drinks and children's toys."

"I estimate that it would cost several dozen taels of silver to buy it."

"The gift the county magistrate gave is neither expensive nor cheap. It is within the range that he can afford."

Sang Ye hummed, "Since it's a gift from the county magistrate to Prince Zheng, you should accept it."

The follower responded and retreated.

"Why would Mr. Sang accept it?" Mu Pingping didn't understand. "I thought Mr. Sang wouldn't accept it."

Sang Ye held the water cup and patiently explained, "It's very simple. Accepting it doesn't mean that the county magistrate will be let off. This is a strategy."

"We need to investigate the county magistrate's case, so we need to make him let his guard down."

"Now that we have accepted the gift, the county magistrate will think that his matter is over and will feel a little relieved."

"As for what to do with these gifts, that's our business."

Mu Pingping accepted the advice and bowed to him, "Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Sang."

It’s really good to go out and walk around. You can learn a lot of things that you can’t learn in the Imperial College.

Sang Ye waved his hand and said, "You haven't been exposed to it much before. When you are exposed to it more, you will understand these things."

"Just like the interactions between the major families in Rongdu, apart from those who are sincere in their interactions, most of the interactions are motivated by profit."

"Even marriages are like this. They are done for considerable profit, not for genuine friendship with a certain family."

Zheng Xingguang scoffed, "Mr. Sang, you should say that most families are like this, and only a few families are sincere in their interactions."

Sang Ye naturally understood that he hated this, "Prince Zheng, you have to understand that interests are one of the most stable relationships in this world."

"If it were you, would you help a person or even an entire family for no reason when there is no profit to be made?"

He added, "Besides, as long as it's not a matter of right or wrong, what does it matter?"

Zheng Xingguang puffed up his cheeks, put down his chopsticks, and sat there angrily. He just hated this kind of thing.

Sang Ye smiled helplessly. Given Prince Zheng's status and position, no one would dare to say anything to him even if he threw a tantrum.

However, this does not work for more than 90% of people.

"Mr. Sang, why is interest one of the most stable relationships?" Mu Pingping asked.

Sang Ye said, "Take your family's business as an example."

"Everyone makes money, will it damage the relationship between the two parties?"

Mu Pingping said, "No."

"This is a relationship of interest. Because both parties stand to gain, they will focus on maintaining the relationship and won't want to damage it."

"So that's it."

Seeing that Mu Pingping understood, Sang Ye didn't mention it anymore. What he didn't say was that interests are also one of the most unstable relationships.

When the interests are too great or when there are some problems with the interests, irreconcilable contradictions will occur.

I'll talk to Mu Pingping when I have the chance.

……

Rongdu, Mu family.

When Zhu saw Mu Laodi and his two sons coming back, she asked, "Have you been to see the house?"

Father Mu took the bowl of water handed to him by his eldest daughter-in-law and drank from it. "I've seen it, it's really good."

"Prince Zheng is right. Let's buy a bigger house now. Once Pingping and his family get married and have children, we won't have to buy another house."

Zhu slapped her thigh, "That's what I thought."

"Old man, I'm going to buy this house tomorrow?"

Father Mu hummed, "Let's buy it, so we can do some repairs."

"This house is big, so we need to find someone to repair it."

"Spend what you need to spend, don't save this little bit."

Zhu responded and then immediately talked about Zhuangzi, "My second son's wife and I went to buy some chickens, ducks, geese and piglets today."

"I plan to send it to the farm tomorrow to be raised."

"Baby is not at home, so my second son's wife and I decided to stay at the farm for a few days and get the pigsty ready first."

Father Mu had no objection, "Take a servant with you, he can help you if anything happens."

"Also, tell the housekeeper to hurry up and buy a few servants to manage the chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs."

"Zhuangzi is too far from here. It's too inconvenient for us to go back and forth."

Ever since his last visit to Zhuangzi, he understood what Pingping said: going back and forth was a waste of time.

He has so much time, it would be great if he could help out in the shop, there's no need to waste it.

Zhu took note of this and said, "I'll talk to the housekeeper about it later."

Several people returned to the dining room to eat.

"Baby..." Zhu just started to speak, then she remembered that her granddaughter was out and sighed.

"When my baby is not at home, I feel like the house is empty and I don't even have an appetite for food."

The Muniuniu children exchanged glances with each other and silently reduced their presence.

The baby is not at home, so they'd better behave themselves, otherwise they will eat stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat.

They don't want to eat fried pork with bamboo shoots.

Mu Laodie and his companions were also in a bad mood.

"I don't know where the baby is. She's such a small child."

"I'm worried the baby won't eat well. Riding in a carriage is not pleasant."

"Alright, alright, let's eat."

Unlike the usual cheerful atmosphere at home, the atmosphere at home today is very depressing.

Muniuniu and his children finished their meal as quickly as they could in their lives, and then ran away.

If they didn't run away, they were afraid that their grandparents would scold them.

……

Imperial Palace, side hall of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Emperor Sheng was reading a letter sent by Zheng Xingguang.

It was said to be sent by Zheng Xingguang, but in fact it was a letter written by Sang Ye.

After reading the letter, Emperor Sheng asked Zhong Ling without even looking up, "How's the investigation going on with the water storage issue?"

Zhong Ling bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, we have investigated most of the case, but we still need some evidence."

Then he continued, "I found out that this matter is related to the Minister of Revenue."

"He's the younger brother of one of the Minister of Revenue's concubines. He's a dandy boy who doesn't do his job properly and has done a lot of bad things, but he's a smart guy."

"The Minister of Revenue's concubine dotes on her younger brother and has asked her husband for help many times."

"This man was out for a trip with his friends some time ago and accidentally discovered that some villages were short of water. Seeing how hot the weather was, he came up with this idea to the Minister of Revenue."

"The Minister of Revenue initially thought he was just fooling around, but after he sold a lot of water, he became interested."

Nowadays, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, and many places are short of water. Water is indispensable, so many people buy water.

Emperor Sheng placed the letter on the imperial desk and could not help but sneer, "I didn't know that the Minister of Revenue was so bold."

"No need to investigate further. Now, bring the imperial guards to surround the residence of the Minister of Revenue. Arrest and interrogate those who need to be arrested."

Zhong Ling asked, "Your Majesty, if the interrogation reveals involvement with other court officials, how should we proceed?"