A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

He Jinglan and An Qinghe both curiously came over to take a look.

He Jinglan looked at the densely packed thing and felt a strange chill. "What is this? It's disgusting."

Gu Xixi's expression was somewhat unpleasant. "Locust eggs that are about to hatch."

He Jinglan was a wealthy heiress, and An Qinghe was a fruit tree grower. Although neither of them had ever seen locusts in person,

But they also knew about the locusts' notorious reputation.

For a moment, all three of them turned serious.

Gu Xixi lowered her head and continued to examine the wheat seedlings.

Without needing to be explicitly stated, He Jinglan and An Qinghe naturally knew what to do at this time and followed along to search for locust eggs.

"There are some here! Lots of them, almost every single one has them!"

"Same here."

Gu Xixi walked for a while, then stopped and said, "Let's go back now."

An Qing was surprised, "Not watching anymore?"

As Gu Xixi walked quickly outside, she said, "No need to look, that's enough."

An Qinghe had never seen Gu Xixi look like this before, and pressed her for details, "Are these locust eggs very serious?"

He knew that locusts would destroy the entire crop, but he didn't understand whether these few eggs in front of him could really cause a locust plague in the future.

Gu Xixi's voice was a little tense, "At this density per square meter, not only will the area around Beijing suffer a complete crop failure this summer, but other surrounding counties will also inevitably be affected."

An Qinghe's heart jumped. "That's a locust plague! We're doomed! This is no small matter!"

He Jinglan was well-versed in literature and naturally understood the severity of locust plagues.

She trusted Gu Xixi's judgment, and despite her anxiety, she was able to maintain a calm and rational mind.

"Xixi, you said you're going back now, so you must have already figured out what to do, right?"

"If there's anything I can do to help, just tell me, and I'll do my best to help."

An Qinghe nodded frantically, "Yes, yes, and me too!"

Gu Xixi looked at He Jinglan and said, "Take me to see Mu Nanzhao."

The two looked at each other, and He Jinglan solemnly said, "Okay."

An Qinghe opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing, and simply strode ahead to clear the way.

Even though he and Mu Nanzhao were at odds, he had to admit in his heart that Mu Nanzhao was truly capable.

Especially when faced with matters of principle, to be jealous and selfish is not the behavior of a good man.

At the palace, Mu Nanzhao and He Jinghui walked out of the palace gate.

The colleagues he encountered along the way all had smiles on their faces and offered their congratulations.

He Jinghui smiled and returned the greeting to everyone.

Finally, they boarded the He family's carriage.

He Jinghui's smile vanished instantly, as if he had just eaten a whole bitter melon raw, and he hung his head and sighed.

Mu Nanzhao said calmly, "Cheer up. Getting promoted two ranks in such a short time is something most people would beg for."

He Jinghui peeked through the curtains to make sure no one else was listening before saying, "This good fortune is for you, do you want it?"

"Minister of Revenue, yes, a second-rank official. He already has enough miscellaneous matters to manage when he enters the cabinet for discussions, and now he also has to deal with the mess left by the previous officials, bad debts, and holes that can't be plugged. Don't you know how little money is left in the national treasury?"

"Letting me fill this vacancy, to put it nicely, is because His Majesty has newly appointed me and entrusted me with this important task in a time of crisis."

"To put it bluntly, isn't it just that I was given a burden that no one else was willing to take on?"

Mu Nanzhao picked up a book from the tea table and flipped through it casually. "It's not that no one is willing to take on the task, it's that no one is capable of shouldering this burden."

"Didn't you see just now? There were still a few people whose eyes were practically burning red."

He Jinglan scoffed contemptuously, "He's nothing but a fool obsessed with officialdom, all he can see is the position of Minister."

"They only see the thief eating, but don't know the thief gets beaten."

"Moreover, the late Empress Dowager's faction left behind so many messy accounts. As the Minister of Personnel, Old Man Fan has three generations of family members serving as officials in the court. He must be involved in it."

"The reason I've appointed you as Minister of Revenue is also to keep the Fan family in check and to put them in a low position."

He Jinghui leaned back, wailing, "I understand the pros and cons you're talking about, but who asked me? Before, it was physically exhausting, and now it's mentally exhausting too. Are you trying to kill me?!"

Mu Nanzhao glanced at it and continued flipping through the book.

He Jinghui sat up and looked at him. "This is the latest volume of 'Red Leaves Romance' that Jinglan asked me to buy. Don't you never read these kinds of books?"

Mu Nanzhao didn't look up. "Hmm, just browsing out of boredom."

He Jinghui nodded casually, turned around and poured himself a cup of tea.

As he drank, he suddenly realized something, "Mu Nanzhao!! So it was you who recommended me?!"

Mu Nanzhao reacted calmly, and sighed, "I thought you would have noticed sooner."

"What a waste of our years of friendship."

He Jinghui rushed over, indignant and resentful, "How dare you mention our years of acquaintance now?"

"How could you betray your own brother like this?!"

Mu Nanzhao frowned at the noise, put down his book, and said, "The reason I didn't tell you was because of an emergency."

“Your He family has always wanted the position of Minister of Revenue. You know that better than anyone else.”

"With the position of Minister about to fall into the hands of your uncle, if I don't use some underhanded tactics, do you think you can hold onto your position as head of the family in a few days?"

"The He family must be firmly in your hands; this is an understanding we've had for a long time."

He Jinghui fell silent.

He was originally the legitimate heir of the He family, but his parents died early, leaving only him and his sister.

As He Jinghui grew up, he witnessed firsthand how his family was gradually devoured by others.

He Jinghui's father's power was once the backbone of the entire family.

After his death, the Ho family immediately turned their attention to other sons who had the opportunity to become officials.

At that time, Ho King-fai was still young and could only grow up through his own efforts.

He tried his best to protect his sister, shielding her from the cold stares and mistreatment from his relatives.

I know that He Jinghui has met Mu Nanzhao.

Mu Nanzhao saw He Jinghui's deepest, suppressed ambition at a glance.

"Isn't it just that the He family doesn't take you seriously?"

"Just make them listen to you from now on, and they'll have no choice but to respect you, won't that solve the problem?"

At that time, He Jinghui also vaguely sensed that Mu Nanzhao seemed to have something broader in his eyes.

Thus, he befriended Mu Nanzhao, following him and traveling with him.

Recalling fragments of the past, He Jinghui felt as if he had been doused with cold water, and his vision cleared up.

"I was too slow to realize it."

Thinking they had gotten what they wanted, they forgot to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances.

Mu Nanzhao said, "As for you, I don't need to tell you, you should know how important it is to have the Ministry of Revenue in the hands of your own people in order to deal with Grand Secretary Fan and others."

"Privately speaking, it was His Majesty's idea to select the Minister of Revenue from the He family. I simply put you ahead of them."

He Jinghui looked at Mu Nanzhao and solemnly bowed, "To have such a dear friend is He Jinghui's good fortune. He has saved me from the brink of disaster."

Mu Nanzhao stared at him for a moment, then suddenly turned his gaze away with a look of disgust.

"Stop being so fake, it looks awful."

He Jinghui's temples throbbed with anger, and he gritted his teeth, "Mu Nanzhao, don't push your luck!"

The Regent's Palace was not far from the Imperial Palace, and they arrived at the gate in no time.

Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, the waiting butler quickly stepped forward and whispered a few words by the window.