TGCFNM -Chapter 228 Wan Xing Has Arrived

White funeral paper money drifted down through the air. A small mound of earth sat among a cluster of graves, utterly unremarkable.

Chu Ling placed a bundle of wildflowers she had picked in front of the grave mound, then slowly rose and bowed deeply.

“Miss Zhou, may you have a safe journey. May your wishes be fulfilled in your next life.”

Wan Sanjin, Su He, and the others also bowed in unison, seeing Madam Qi off on her final journey.

After descending the mountain, Wan Sanjin asked curiously, “My lord, how do you know what Madam Qi’s wish will be in her next life?”

Chu Ling sighed. “With such bad luck in this life, her wish in the next must surely be to stay far away from the Qi family.”

Wan Sanjin suddenly understood. “That makes sense.”

“Is your elder brother arriving today?” Chu Ling asked.

Wan Sanjin nodded. “He should be here around today.”

Chu Ling let out a breath of relief. “Good. I’m waiting for your brother to add another spark to the fire.”

Wan Sanjin couldn’t help but laugh. “With my brother’s methods, my lord, you can rest assured.”

Chu Ling indeed felt reassured. With Wan Xing here, she could save herself quite a bit of trouble. But for now, her top priority was resolving the issue of the commoners’ farmland.

After Prefect Zhao fell from power, some land had been reclaimed by the people of Dongle City. Later, after Qi Shizhao took his own life, even more fertile fields were returned. Yet a large portion of the land still remained in the hands of the great aristocratic families.

Without land, the commoners were as good as having their throats gripped by those families—allowed to live or forced to die at their whim.

Chu Ling frowned slightly and looked at the others. “The matter of the farmland is still unresolved.”

Zhang Dong shared his findings. “My lord, after drinking with a few constables and making inquiries, I learned that most of Dongle City’s farmland was gradually purchased after collateral branches of the noble families moved in.”

Wan Sanjin clasped his hands behind his back and lowered his brows slightly. “To be honest, the noble families have money. If they pay to buy land, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that.”

Chu Ling neither agreed nor disagreed. “It’s normal to buy land if you have money. I won’t interfere in fair transactions. What I want to intervene in are the unfair ones.”

Su He looked at her sternly. “Every household must have some unfair dealings. How can you possibly deal with all of them, my lord?”

Chu Ling stopped walking. The weeds at her feet bent in the wind, brushing against her calves. Her gaze, however, was fixed on the official road at the foot of the mountain. Just then, a caravan sped past, and she suddenly thought of a brilliant idea.

“Master Wan, your elder brother has arrived.”

Wan Sanjin also looked down. The banner embroidered with the gilded character “Wan” fluttered conspicuously in the wind. This time, his elder brother had brought quite a number of men—it seemed he truly intended to make a grand move.

Chu Ling curved her lips into a smile. “Now that your brother is here, let’s head back to the city and give him a proper welcome feast.”

Wan Sanjin was just about to agree when he suddenly sensed something amiss. “My lord… are you plotting something?”

“How could I? What would I possibly be plotting?” Chu Ling denied it outright, then waved her hand and signaled for everyone to head down the mountain.

After descending, they boarded the carriage. Zhang Dong urged Zhuifeng forward, trotting lightly toward the city.

When they reached the city gates, Chu Ling asked Zhang Dong to halt briefly. She lifted the curtain and called out to Qinglong, “Lord Jiang Wu! Lord Jiang Wu!”

Qinglong’s face was taut as he strode over. “What is it?”

“This letter—please deliver it to Prince Rui.” Chu Ling took the letter from her sleeve and handed it over directly, lowering her voice as she added, “Top secret. No negligence.”

Qinglong frowned and tucked the letter into his sleeve.

Chu Ling smiled with satisfaction and lowered her voice again. “Qinglong, don’t forget—you owe me silver. I’m your creditor.”

Qinglong’s brows shot up. “Of course I know! I will definitely pay it back!”

Chu Ling nodded with a faint curl of her lips. “That’s good then.” With that, she told Zhang Dong to drive the carriage into the city.

When Wan Sanjin saw Chu Ling lower the curtain and sit back down—still wearing that mysterious smile—he couldn’t help asking curiously, “Sir, what did you do this time?”

Chu Ling spread her hands, looking innocent. “I didn’t do anything.”

Su He shook his head. “No, that expression of yours means you definitely did something.”

Chu Ling crossed her legs and revealed a cryptic smile. “Naturally… I did a good deed.”

Ghost Scholar chuckled from the side. “A good deed indeed. You handed Qinglong a big ‘achievement’—it’s just that he doesn’t quite realize it himself.”

Chu Ling’s smile grew even more smug. She leaned leisurely against the carriage wall and casually lifted the curtain to glance outside—only to pause mid-motion.

“Advisor Wan, your elder brother seems to be surrounded by quite a few parties.”

Wan Sanjin let out an “Ah?” and also lifted the curtain to look. After a glance, he sat back down at ease. “Sir, it’s all business matters. My elder brother can handle it himself.”

Chu Ling peeked once more. When she saw the spring-breeze smile on Wan Xing’s face, she couldn’t help shrinking her neck slightly before turning back to Wan Sanjin. “Your brother looks completely fine.”

Wan Sanjin hummed matter-of-factly. What trouble could such a small scene possibly cause?

“Zhang Dong, let’s head back to the yamen first,” Chu Ling instructed.

Zhang Dong acknowledged. As they passed by Wan Xing, he gave a slight nod in greeting before driving on toward the government office.

Wan Xing smiled faintly at the departing carriage. When he turned back, the men who had just looked fierce as wolves immediately changed their expressions.

They exchanged glances before pushing out a representative to ask, “Young Master Wan, are you familiar with the people from the yamen?”

Wan Xing smiled and nodded. “My younger brother serves as an advisor there.”

The crowd suddenly understood—so that wealthy-looking advisor was Wan Xing’s younger brother! No wonder a mere advisor had so much money.

Wait—

Didn’t that mean the magistrate had a very close relationship with the Wan family?

“Since your younger brother serves as Advisor to Magistrate Chu, why didn’t you inform us earlier? Had you said so, we would’ve gone outside the city to welcome you,” one man said in a somewhat fawning tone.

Steward Zhu, standing to the side, found it rather amusing. How did their faces change so quickly?

Had Magistrate Chu been intimidating people again recently?

Wan Xing’s gaze shifted slightly as he grasped the key to the situation.

“You jest. You are all elders—how could I trouble you to welcome me? Actually, aside from visiting my younger brother, I’ve also come to take over some shops Magistrate Chu passed to me. I hear they were gifted to the magistrate by a certain Miss Cheng. The magistrate knows little about business matters, so he thought it best to transfer them to me. The profits will then be distributed to the common people,” Wan Xing explained with a smile.

Everyone instantly understood: so that was the case.

After the incident involving Miss Cheng, the Si family had truly suffered heavy losses. They wouldn’t recover for at least three to five years.

Wan Xing observed their expressions and then suggested, “The last time I came to Dongle City was several years ago. It has changed so much that I hardly know how to take over those shops. Fortunately, before coming, I arranged for a banquet at the restaurant. Would you elders be willing to share a table with me and have a drink while we discuss matters?”

“Of course.”

“Yes, let’s have a drink.”

“Let’s go.”

With a warm smile, Wan Xing made a courteous gesture of invitation.