The daughter of a noble family is reborn, and she is doted on by her godmother.

"I, Old Qian, just look down on you scholars. Since Prefect Zhu came to our place by imperial decree, the court must recognize him. Why are you all so talkative?"

"Hey, Mr. Qian, how could you do this..."

Mr. Qian and Teacher Fu were exchanging words back and forth, and no one else could get a word in edgewise.

"Mother, should we speak up for Teacher Zhu? Teacher Zhu, she..."

Yun Qingjin asked Yun Yuke in a low voice.

“Boss Qian has plenty of firepower, no problem. Boss Qian alone can’t argue with those old scholars. If Boss Qian can’t hold on, then I will speak up for her.”

Yun Yuke knew why this Mr. Qian was taking the initiative to speak up for Zhu Ling.

This Mr. Qian only has one son. His eldest son is a businessman and doesn't like to study. The key thing is that he also has two daughters. Both of his daughters are very smart. When the Yun family first came, Mr. Qian brought his two daughters to the Yun family.

It's clear that Mr. Qian wanted his two daughters to learn to read and write.

It's even possible that she wanted her two daughters to participate in the women's imperial examinations as well.

Therefore, this prefect, who rose through the ranks of women in the imperial examinations, was naturally someone that Boss Qian wanted to win over.

"Mr. Qian, have you ever heard of the idiom 'armchair strategist'?"

"Mr. Qian, if you don't know, I can teach you..."

"Pah! You bunch of stubborn old fogies who care too much about saving face," Boss Qian said, not caring whether his behavior was vulgar or not. "Do you think I'm really uneducated? I know what you mean. 'Theoretical knowledge' is just a way of mocking those who have only read books but haven't practiced anything."

"Hey, hey, hey, how can you be so vulgar!"

"Alright, alright, everyone, please be quiet." Zhu Ling stopped the crowd. "I want to hear your opinions today, not to have you argue. Please be quiet."

Zhu Ling bowed to both sides.

"Thank you, Mr. Fu. I and several other scholars from the same period studied under our Imperial Preceptor, Master Fan, and assisted in handling matters related to the Six Ministries. I wonder if Mr. Fu is satisfied with this."

"The affairs of the Six Ministries?"

"Yes, the affairs of the Six Ministries."

Perhaps this statement temporarily silenced the people present, but some were still not entirely satisfied.

"Master Zhang, you also served in the capital before. What do you think of this new prefect?"

It's unclear who brought it up, but everyone's eyes turned to Master Zhang, the retired official from Beijing, who was sitting in a high position.

"Yes, Master Zhang used to be in the capital, so he must know more about the situation than we do."

This Master Zhang had been observing coldly from the sidelines, and during the chaos of the Zhang household, virtually no one participated in the discussion.

"Ah, I'm just a retired official now, spending my days at home enjoying my grandchildren, and I haven't been involved in the current political turmoil for a long time."

This Mr. Zhang spoke slowly and deliberately, and his words were generally not offensive.

Seeing that some people still wanted to persist, Master Zhang added another sentence.

"However, I do know some basic things. When the imperial court appoints people, the Ministry of Personnel always screens and reviews them repeatedly before assigning the Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) to various places. I remember when I was still in the capital, the Ministry of Personnel did this, right?"

"Just as Master Zhang said, the responsibilities of the six ministries have not changed." Zhu Ling bowed in the direction of the Zhang residence to show his respect.

"That's it then. Since His Majesty, the Imperial Preceptor, and the Ministry of Personnel have all approved of Prefect Zhu, that's fine. If we can't trust Prefect Zhu, can't we trust the imperial court?"

This statement was indeed a very useful excuse, immediately silencing those who questioned Zhu Ling.

With the guarantee from this retired official in Beijing, things became much easier afterward.

After the government announced the event was over, some people left immediately, while some merchants stayed to inquire.

The three people from the Yun family were not in a hurry to leave.

Xing Xiaoyu came over specifically to the Yun family's place.

"I see young lady Qingqing. Our Prefect Zhu has specially invited you over for a chat. A few days ago, he borrowed some writing brushes and ink from your residence and even asked your child to help carry the inkstone. Our Prefect Zhu specifically asked me to invite you to stay."

That's how it is. We're still outside, and the basic premise is that we don't know each other.

The only time we had any communication was during the last time we borrowed pen and ink.

The three from the Yun family were used to dealing with this situation. Basically, everyone was quite good at playing along.

At this moment, Mr. Qian, with his two daughters in front of Zhu Ling, just as Yun Yuke had predicted, wanted his daughters to also take the imperial examination route.

"Father, we have kept the Prefect waiting for too long. The Prefect has his own things to do."

When Mr. Qian's eldest daughter saw that the Yun family members had also arrived, she quietly reminded her overly excited father.

"Very well, Your Excellency, in short, in this Changgan City, I, Old Qian, will definitely be the first to support you. Don't worry, if anyone tries to make things difficult for you, just tell me, Old Qian!"

"Manager Qian is too kind. I am very grateful."

Finally, after several different merchants left, only a few constables from the government office remained to protect them. The people from the Yun family handed over the hairpins and some clothes they had prepared to Zhu Ling, which meant that they had officially acknowledged each other to outsiders and would no longer have to pretend not to know each other.

Although giving gifts to officials might be against the rules, the hairpins and clothes that Yunji gave were all very basic styles, and even if they were sold by Yunji, they wouldn't be worth much money.

Of course, the Yun family wouldn't really give others any leverage. When Yun Qingjin came over, the first thing she said was that these things were all pre-ordered by Zhu Ling, so no one could say anything bad about them.

Taking this opportunity, Yun Yuke could chat with Zhu Ling again, "So, Ling, do you think you need our help?"

"It's alright, don't worry. I've gotten a better understanding of the area around Changgan these past two days. Although some things are hard to accept, I have a general idea of ​​the situation and it's still under control."

"That's good."

"Oh, right, there's one more thing, Sister Yun. I want to know which of the extorted businessmen can be trusted. I need to make contact with them in advance."

"Mr. Qian, you met him today. He's quite shrewd. He's put in a lot of effort to ensure his two daughters' future success. He sent his eldest son out to gain experience, while keeping his two daughters by his side, afraid something might happen to them. Of course, he runs an antique shop, so he's in contact with all sorts of people, and it's hard to say what the future holds."

Afterwards, Yun Yuke poured out all the businessmen she had been dissatisfied with, along with her own corresponding opinions.

"That's about it, Ling. Be careful when using people. This is just my perspective, and it may not be correct," Yun Yuke cautiously instructed.

Zhu Ling said solemnly, "Thank you so much, Sister Yun. I've really had my eyes opened these past few days."

Yun Yuke was about to leave, but in the end she turned back and gave some more instructions.

“Ling, there are several gambling dens in Changgan City. I saw that you invited them here today. I guess they haven’t made any unusual moves for the time being. But you must be careful. I haven’t found out who is controlling these gambling dens yet, but I can confirm that the person behind them is in cahoots with the former prefect of Changgan.”