Three days later, Qiandu City, Taipingfang, Nanhe Lane, and Tianfu Restaurant.
Tianfu Restaurant can be called the first floor of Nanhe Lane!
No matter the taste of the dishes or the attentive service, everyone is amazed and it is widely praised in the industry.
Over time, it became a place for scholars to gather in their spare time.
At this time, there were five people sitting on the seats near the window.
Two of them were indeed dressed as scholars.
The other three seemed a bit nondescript.
It looks like...a martial artist pretending to be a scholar.
Among these five people, the ones dressed as scholars are naturally Zhang Han and Li Changkong.
As for the remaining three, they are Zhu Ben, Jia Taisui and the prince Liu Yu who sneaked out of the palace.
Why did you sneak out of the palace to discuss matters? It's very simple, money!
This gathering of five people is related to their investment, involving a lot of money, hundreds of thousands of taels!
There are many people in the palace, what if some eunuch and maid heard about it, reported it to Emperor Jingxing, and reported it to them?
When it comes to money, the four people except Li Changkong are a little cautious.
The money this time was really too much.
They also raised it by "exerting their own means". If they lost it, they would probably burst into tears.
In this state of mind, the four of them became extremely nervous.
Liu Yu even looked around from time to time. Everyone he saw now looked like gangsters, trying to rush up and steal the banknotes in his arms.
"Have you all thought about it? Do you really want to invest?" Among them, only Li Changkong was still there, drinking tea calmly.
"You couldn't have thought more clearly. If you have money, you won't be a bastard." Zhu Ben smiled and took the lead in taking out his belongings.
Snap, ten ten thousand taels of silver notes were placed neatly on the table, attracting everyone's attention.
Good guy, these 10,000 taels of silver notes are almost the highest denomination issued by Daqian. There are ten of them in one hand. Has this guy robbed the bank?
"Why are you looking at me? I definitely earned this money legally without stealing or robbing." Seeing everyone looking at him, Zhu Ben couldn't help but become a little anxious and hurriedly spoke to defend himself.
At this moment, a group of scholars at the next table were talking loudly and exchanging their experiences in recent days.
"Everyone, have you heard? The Yangcheng Marquis Mansion has been stolen!"
"All the treasures in the house, large and small, were stolen by thieves. Even the two purple Davidia trees at the door were not spared."
"Ah? Davidia involucrata is a rare tree. It is old and has intricate roots, luxuriant branches and a well-developed root system."
"It takes several adult men to surround him to fully embrace his torso."
"What kind of background does this thief have that he can even steal such a big purple involucrata from the Yangcheng Hou Mansion?"
"It is said that there is a thief in the Yangzhou area. He claims that there is nothing in the world that he cannot steal. Could it be this person?"
"Thief Saint? Isn't that in Yangzhou? Could it be that he has already arrived in Qiandu? You have to close the doors and windows to sleep that night."
Listening to the discussion at the next table, everyone turned their attention to Zhu Ben again.
"Tsk tsk tsk, Thief Saint, I didn't expect Brother Zhu to have such a name." Zhang Han said jokingly.
"I won't even let go of the purple involucrata. I'm really crazy!" Jia Taisui chimed in.
"No matter how powerful this Thief Saint is, I'm afraid he can't compare to a domestic thief like you, Lao Zhu!" Prince Liu Yu patted Zhu Ben on the shoulder and teased him most fiercely.
Zhu Ben's face turned red when he heard this, and he hesitated and muttered something: "If you take your own things without asking whether you are taking them, they are not stolen."
"How can this matter between my son and me be called stealing?"
But in the end, under the sharp and contemptuous gazes of everyone, he lowered his head and muttered in defense: "Not all of these 100,000 taels of silver belong to the family. At least 10,000 taels of silver are from me."
But even so, he was still greeted with only contempt from everyone.
Zhu Ben suddenly wanted to eat the group of scholars at the next table. With such a fuss, how could he show his holiness in front of others in a small group in the future?
"Brother Zhang, what about you?" Seeing Zhu Ben's appearance, Li Changkong smiled and changed the subject, thus giving him a chance.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Han took out twelve banknotes from his arms with a normal expression, all with a face value of 10,000 taels.
Li Changkong saw this and nodded slightly.
Duke Dingguo is the only duke who has been awarded a title for his military exploits, and has repeatedly received favors from the emperor. In terms of family wealth, it is still much richer than that of the Marquis of Yangcheng.
"As a scholar, you must be upright. Brother Zhu, I hope you can be an upright person in the future." Zhang Han's tone was not loud, but the words he said were like a knife inserted into Zhu Ben's heart, making him breathless and filled with grief and anger. Want to die!
My toes clawed at the ground like crazy, hoping to find a gap in the ground so I could get in.
It's over, it's over, it's over completely. From now on, don't even think about appearing as a saint in front of people.
However, just when Zhu Ben was ashamed and wanted to die.
The voices of the group of scholars came from the next table again.
"If you ask me, this Yangzhou Thief Saint is more than just a Yangzhou Thief Saint. I'm afraid it's not an exaggeration to call him a Daqian Thief Saint!"
"Why do you say that?"
"You still don't know that recently, not only items from the Wulinghou Mansion have appeared on the black market, but also items from the Duke Dingguo Mansion!"
“And more, more expensive!”
"Hiss! Duke Dingguo is the only duke who has been awarded the title for his military exploits. His strength is unfathomable!"
"This thief is actually able to sneak into Duke Dingguo's mansion and steal. His stealing skills are probably superb!"
"It's more than that! According to rumors, Duke Dingguo was given a gift from the Holy Emperor, and the gold-threaded clothes he always wore close to his body were stolen by this Thief Saint!"
"In the end, he was bought on the black market for tens of thousands of taels of silver."
"Hiss! That's awesome! To be able to steal Duke Dingguo's personal clothes, this thief's martial arts cultivation has probably reached the realm of transformation!"
"Perhaps, even Lord Dingguo is no match for him!"
"It's awesome, it's really awesome!"
Listening to the voices coming from the next table, everyone's eyes gradually moved from Zhu Ben to Zhang Han.
"I didn't expect it, I didn't expect that Lao Zhang, you are usually decent, but at the critical moment, you are even more sinister than Lao Zhu!"
"That gold-threaded garment was given to Duke Ding by my father, how dare you sell it!" Liu Yu's voice was full of teasing.
Zhu Ben jumped up and screamed, pointing at Zhang Han's nose and yelling: "Upright? Do you call this upright? Your tricks are worse than mine!"
"Hey, scholars should have a clear conscience. Since this is my family's wealth, I have taken it and used it, so why should I be ashamed of it?"
"Of course it's upright!"
Zhang Han looked calm and said it as a matter of course.
Everyone's mouths twitched when they heard this. After a while, they all exhaled: "Scholars are different, they have a very good heart!"