Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Just as Zeng Qian was about to leave, Shen Lang's voice rang out behind him.

“Prefect Zeng, I’ve gone to great lengths to treat you to a meal, and you’re not even going to give me that much face? Fine, then let’s just sign this agreement.”

Upon hearing this, Zeng Qian turned around and looked at the agreement on the dining table, his brows furrowing.

"what is this?"

Shen Lang picked up a piece of roast goose, slowly put it in his mouth, and chewed for a while.

"It's nothing, just the land under your name forty miles west of the city, the ancestral home of the former dynasty's disgraced official Wang Yuan. Sign it quickly."

"What did you say?!"

Zeng Qian was incredulous and snatched the agreement to examine it closely.

After reading the contents of the transfer agreement above, I couldn't help but laugh in anger.

"Shen Lang, are you kidding me?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang put down his chopsticks and then took out a piece of mud and placed it in front of him.

"Please make a signature and put your fingerprint on this document, Lord Zeng. It would be best not to put this humble servant in a difficult position."

"Hahaha."

Zeng Qian couldn't help but laugh.

“I didn’t sell it to that guy surnamed Mu who offered me 200,000 taels of silver a few days ago, but you want me to transfer it to you for free?”

"It's not being transferred to me, it's being transferred to Her Majesty the current Empress."

Shen Lang corrected his statement.

"Hmph, this is the property of my Zeng family. Even His Majesty cannot seize it by force!"

Zeng Qian rebuked him sternly.

"Don't think I don't know that you lowly commoners are trying to rise to the top and be on equal footing with us by winning the emperor's favor."

Let me tell you, that's impossible, don't even think about it! A commoner is a commoner.

Even if one manages to curry favor with the royal family, at heart one remains a commoner, a status that can never be changed, generation after generation.

Shen Lang's expression changed slightly. At this moment, Yang Xiong, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, also said, "Alright, Commander Shen, you must be sincere if you want to do this kind of thing. Your methods of pleasing His Majesty are not advisable."

Wei Donghai, the Left Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, said in a threatening tone: "Commander Shen, I must remind you that threatening a fourth-rank official of the court and engaging in forced buying and selling are serious crimes."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang smiled slightly.

He was too lazy to reason with them and simply took out a communication jade slip from his pocket.

"Where have you been?"

A moment later, the jade tablet shook slightly, and Su Yun's voice came through.

"Commander Shen, as you instructed, I have brought Old Master Zeng to the top of Tianqiong Mountain. The old man is enjoying the scenery now."

Upon hearing this, the three of them immediately narrowed their eyes.

Zeng Qian was especially excited.

Shen Lang glanced at Zeng Qian and continued to ask, "How is the old man?"

"That's great. My long-held wish to visit Tianqiong Mountain has finally come true."

"Let the old man say a few words."

"Ok."

A moment later, another slightly aged voice came from inside the jade register: "Is that Commander Shen?"

Shen Lang: "Grandpa, how do you feel? Are you satisfied?"

"I'm very satisfied. I've always wanted to visit Tianqiong Mountain, but my son always disagreed."

He said the mountain was too high and he was worried I'd fall. Haha, I'm not as fragile as he thinks.

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Zeng Qian could no longer contain himself and rushed to the jade tablet, asking loudly, "Father, who told you to go to Tianqiong Mountain?"

Why didn't you contact me before you left? What did I tell you? Don't wander off! Why don't you ever listen?

"Hmph, you won't let me go anywhere. I'm about to suffocate from staying in the manor every day. If I told you, would you let me go out?"

"This place is wonderful; the mountains are beautiful, the water is beautiful, the scenery is beautiful, I can even see the clouds."

"What? Clouds? Dad, where are you?!"

Zeng Qian suddenly realized something, and as he spoke, he looked at Shen Lang with a shocked expression.

Shen Lang, however, was drinking his soup with a smile on his face.

"We're almost at the highest peak of Tianqiong Mountain. There's nothing under my feet. If it weren't for Miss Su supporting me, I would have fallen down long ago. Okay, I won't talk to you anymore. We'll be at the top of the mountain soon."

After saying that, the jade tablet fell silent.

Zeng Qian put down the jade tablet and shouted directly at Shen Lang, "What exactly do you want to do by taking my father to Tianqiong Mountain?"

Shen Lang calmly replied, "You're such an unfilial son! Your father only wanted to visit Tianqiong Mountain, and you wouldn't even let him."

Then this humble servant can only do his filial duty by taking him hiking. Of course, after all, he's not my biological father.

"If I accidentally slip and cause a disaster, I won't be responsible."

"You dare to threaten me?"

"hehe."

Shen Lang smiled innocently, but his finger kept tapping on the jade tablet.

"Lord Zeng, whether your father can return safely today depends on your cooperation."

Shen Lang gradually wiped the smile off his face.

"Don't think I don't know what methods you used to obtain the ancestral land of Wang Yuan. I have a hundred ways to deal with you, this is just one of them."

If you think the auction house's head has nothing to do with you, Zeng Qian, then pretend I said nothing.

Zeng Qian's heart tightened; Shen Lang's words had made himself very clear.

Once this gets out, my future will be completely ruined.

After careful consideration, he whispered, "Alright, I can transfer Wang Yuan's ancestral land to you, but I can't guarantee whether you can keep it."

Shen Lang did not reply, but simply made a gesture indicating that Zeng Qian could sign and affix his seal.

Zeng Qian felt extremely humiliated as he pressed his fingerprint on the agreement and wrote his name.

After glancing over and confirming that everything was alright, Shen Lang immediately put on a smile: "Lord Zeng, don't look so worried."

"I just noticed that your father is too lonely at home. The old man should go out more often, ah, hahaha..."

Looking at Shen Lang's smug face, Zeng Qian really wanted to slap him.

At this moment, Wei Donghai spoke up: "Commander Shen, you have openly threatened officials of the court. I will definitely impeach you before His Majesty and hand you over to the Ministry of Personnel for a thorough investigation."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Lang took out another jade slip for transmitting sound: "Lord Wei is indeed a model of impartiality and incorruptibility for the Minister of Justice. I hope that you will uphold justice and enforce the law impartially."

After saying that, he tapped the jade tablet lightly: "Master Chen, where are you?"

"Is that Master Shen? He's already at the entrance of Jade Corridor Garden as you instructed. Damn, this girl is gorgeous, and that dim-witted fatso too..."

Tsk tsk tsk, one sold to a brothel, the other to a gay brothel. Cultivate them for a few years, and they're sure to make a fortune! Hahaha.

Upon hearing this, Wei Donghai frowned slightly.

The Jade Corridor Pavilion is his maternal family's property; his daughter and son are there today.

Is it...

"Master Shen, the siblings have gone out. Can we move now? Meow, I've never seen the children of an official so close in my entire life."

Wei Donghai suddenly lunged forward in front of the imperial edict, shouting at the top of his lungs, "I'm warning you, if you dare to touch a single hair on my son's or daughter's head, I will kill you! Do you hear me? I will fucking kill you!"

"Who the hell are you? How dare you threaten me?"

"If you dare to lay a finger on them, I will kill you!"

"Why are you yelling so loudly? Just because you have a loud voice doesn't mean you're anything special! Believe me, I'll make sure you're holding a grandson by next year!"

"Stop it!!!"

Wei Donghai roared and looked up at the calm Shen Lang: "What exactly do you want to do!"

Shen Lang: "It's very simple. Your Wei family owns four mines outside the capital: two coal mines and two iron mines. Sell all the output from these mines to His Majesty at 40% below market price."

"Of course, you'll have to pay on credit first. And keeping all that slag is a waste; take it all to the Wang family ancestral land and I'll handle it. You don't need to worry about it."

Wei Donghai gritted his teeth: "Aren't you afraid I'll impeach you before His Majesty?"

"hehe."

Shen Lang sneered, then called out in a deep voice into the jade tablet, "Master Chen, I have something else to tell you!"

Not only is Lord Wei's daughter attractive, but his wife is also quite beautiful. Would you like to consider that mistress?

"Really? Thank you for the honor, Mr. Shen. I'll go take a look right away."

"No, I promise, I promise, I'll agree to anything, please don't harm my family, please, Lord Shen, I'll do whatever you ask!"

Wei Donghai finally gave in. He owed his success to his wife's family. If anything happened to his wife and daughter, he would have no future.

"Humph."

Shen Lang smiled dismissively, then took out the procurement agreement and had Wei Donghai sign and affix his fingerprint to it.