She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

It's important to understand that while the Zhu and Kong families weren't exactly sworn enemies, their relationship had always been tense, with almost no communication or interaction for many years. For the Zhu family's steward to actually kneel before the Kong family's third master was an unprecedented event, naturally causing a huge uproar and sparking much discussion.

Some people believe that Steward Liu may have committed an unforgivable mistake, which is why he took such an extreme action; others speculate that Master Kong must have some important leverage over the Zhu family, otherwise how could he force the dignified steward of the Zhu family to kneel down in public?

In short, all sorts of rumors are rampant and opinions are divided.

When the Kong family learned of this, their faces were filled with pride. They praised Third Master Kong for his ability to make the arrogant and domineering steward of the Zhu family kneel before him!

This undoubtedly made them feel that their family's prestige had been greatly enhanced, and they were extremely happy.

However, in stark contrast to the Kong family's smugness, the Zhu family members turned extremely pale upon hearing the news, as if they had been slapped hard across the face, their faces burning with pain.

They felt incredibly ashamed and angry, because this incident not only disgraced the Zhu family but also severely damaged the dignity of the entire clan.

This matter even alarmed the Zhu family patriarch, who had long been indifferent to worldly affairs.

He flew into a rage and immediately summoned Zhu Linyuan to his side, demanding to know what had happened and why this situation had occurred.

Faced with the old man's questioning, Zhu Linyuan looked puzzled. He didn't understand why Steward Liu would suddenly kneel down to Master Kong.

They had no choice but to call Steward Liu over and have him explain to the old man in person.

Manager Liu inwardly groaned. He had thought he had gotten away with it without anyone noticing, but now it had become a city-wide scandal, even alarming the Zhu family patriarch.

He knew he was in big trouble and had to find a way to clarify the facts quickly, otherwise not only would his reputation be damaged, but it could also have a negative impact on the Zhu family.

Manager Liu walked nervously to the old man and knelt down with a thud, bowing his head and remaining silent.

Zhu Linyuan couldn't help but ask, "Manager Liu, say something! Are those rumors outside true? Why did you kneel before Confucius?"

Steward Liu took a deep breath and said truthfully, "Sir, this matter is entirely the fault of Lanxiang and her daughter. If they hadn't broken their promise and sold the honey to the Kong family, why would I have had to kneel before Kong Laosan..."

"What? Your honey came from the Kong family? Didn't you say you bought it from the deep mountains? Liu Sheng, is there a single word of truth left in your mouth?!"

Zhu Linyuan was furious upon hearing this and pointed at Steward Liu, angrily rebuking him.

"My lord, you demanded that I find top-quality honey within three days, but I've searched all the surrounding villages and haven't found any. I was worried you'd be angry, so I came up with this plan. But unfortunately, that Kong Laosan initially refused to sell to me, so I had no choice but to... I had to kneel before him..."

Upon hearing this, the old man was so angry that his beard trembled. "Foolish! How could you bring shame upon the entire Zhu family for your own selfish desires!"

Zhu Linyuan was also very angry: "If you can't buy it, don't you know to tell me the truth? You know what kind of relationship my Zhu family has with the Kong family. Now that things have come to this, how can my Zhu family maintain its standing in this town?"

"Master, I had no choice. No matter what, I managed to buy the honey for you!" Steward Liu murmured.

The old man's anger hadn't subsided after hearing Steward Liu's explanation. Pointing at Zhu Linyuan, he ordered, "Yuan'er, Liu Sheng's actions this time have severely damaged the reputation of our Zhu family. We absolutely cannot tolerate this. Also, that mother and daughter he just mentioned need to be taught a lesson. Anyone who dares to oppose our Zhu family will pay the price!"

"Father, I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and give you an explanation."

Zhu Linyuan glared angrily at Steward Liu, his heart filled with disappointment.

He knew that Steward Liu's actions had seriously damaged the Zhu family's reputation and that measures had to be taken to resolve the issue.

However, before punishing him, he felt he had to personally investigate the truth of the matter, because at this point, he no longer dared to believe what Steward Liu had said.

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Linyuan decided to personally go and ask Lanxiang and her daughter why they suddenly sold the honey to the Kong family instead of him.

If it's their fault, there will be plenty of opportunities to deal with them later.

The next day, Zhu Linyuan did not tell anyone and went directly to Xiaoyao Village in a carriage.

Upon entering the village, he inquired with the villagers and quickly found Lanxiang's house.

Lanxiang and Shenman were just about to go up the mountain to collect herbs when they were surprised to see that it was Master Zhu.

"Master Zhu, what brings you here in person? Please come inside and sit down!" Lanxiang greeted him.

"No need!" Zhu Linyuan said with a stern face, questioning Lanxiang, "Why did you sell the honey to the Kong family but not to my Zhu family?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Man's expression immediately turned sour.

“Master Zhu, the honey belongs to our family. We can sell it to whomever we want. Why do we need your permission?”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant that our two companies were working together perfectly well, so why did you suddenly change buyers? Do you know that I’ve been waiting for your honey all this time…”

“If Master Zhu really wants to know the reason, then I will tell you the truth. The reason we sold the honey to the Kong family is because they bought our village’s silk a while ago, which helped us a lot!” Shen Man said.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Linyuan frowned. "All those wild silkworm silks of yours were later collected by the Kong family?"

“That’s right. What Master Zhu doesn’t like, Boss Kong takes a liking to at first glance,” Shen Man replied bluntly.

Zhu Linyuan was completely bewildered: "I don't like it? I haven't seen your goods either..."

Shen Man and Lan Xiang exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves that it was indeed Manager Liu who was behind this.

"The first time we brought silk to Manager Liu, he said that our silk was too dark in color and too stiff, and that our trading company would not accept it."

After our processing, the color and texture of the silk improved. We contacted Manager Liu again, and after examining it, he said the quality was good and met your company's purchasing requirements. However, you were away on a business trip to the prefectural city for the next two days, so we could only set a price after you returned and examined it.

But the third time we went to him, he told us that we were not satisfied with our silk and did not agree to buy it. Just when we were at our wits' end about what to do with the silk, Aunt Kong helped us.”

Shen Man told Zhu Linyuan the whole story.