Back in the carriage, Xiao Jingnan saw Li Wanming glaring at him angrily.
She had drunk quite a bit of wine today, and her cheeks were flushed. At this moment, with anger surging, her big, bright eyes were wide open. Instead of looking fierce, she looked rather cute and innocent.
Xiao Jingnan found it amusing. It was as if there was a little drunk cat sitting opposite him, its back arched and fur fluffed up.
"I know you think I didn't side with you," Xiao Jingnan said.
Li Wanming could no longer hold back her anger. She stared at him and let out a tirade:
"Is this just about which side to take? Can't you see that she wanted to kill me!
"Deceiving the emperor is a serious crime. It could even lead to the execution of the entire family and the nine - clan extermination!
"Lu Songyuan specifically chose today, the day when General Feng was hosting a banquet for his colleagues, to come here. She just wanted to pin this crime on me so that I couldn't get rid of it!
"Fortunately, Yiyi reminded me and I had already obtained the liquor license. Otherwise, not only me, but maybe the entire Li family would have been implicated because of me!"
"Since we've come to this..." Xiao Jingnan dusted off his robe hem and asked leisurely, "May I ask, my lady, how did you obtain that liquor license? As far as I know, it usually takes two years to get one."
"This..."
Li Wanming was momentarily at a loss for words. Then, she became even more furious. "Stop changing the subject! We're talking about your problem now!"
"Alas, poor me, racking my brains and thinking only about my lady's academy. I didn't expect that my lady would doubt me so much and even be so fierce to me. It's really heart - breaking... sniff sniff..."
Xiao Jingnan pretended to cry.
General Li and General Shi didn't have any connections among the civil officials.
It was easy to guess who Li Wanming had asked to obtain the liquor license.
On the one hand, Xiao Jingnan was angry that she didn't tell him. On the other hand, he was a bit jealous. Under his intense performance, a crystal tear actually rolled down his cheek.
Li Wanming's full - blown anger was suddenly stuck in her throat and she couldn't let it out...
She was stunned for a moment, then sat back and whispered angrily, "Stop doing these useless things. Quickly explain to me why you were currying favor with Lu Songyuan."
Xiao Jingnan looked up. "Does my lady think I was currying favor with her?"
"Otherwise?"
Li Wanming half - opened her mouth, not knowing how to respond to him.
"Then that's right!"
Xiao Jingnan's tears disappeared in an instant. He stretched a big yawn:
"She is the daughter of the grand tutor, while I'm just a son of a humble farmer. When I see such a noble lady, it's natural for me to feel nervous and awkward. So it's not wrong for me to lower my stance a bit."
"But..."
Li Wanming felt that he was full of fallacies, but didn't know how to refute him.
Instead, Xiao Jingnan placed his hands on his knees, straightened up, and said seriously, "My lady, you know that the grand tutor is one of the Three Dukes. But do you know what his specific duties are?"
Li Wanming was suddenly stumped.
The Three Dukes were the Grand Preceptor, the Grand Tutor, and the Grand Protector.
In this dynasty, there were no Grand Preceptor and Grand Protector, so there was only Grand Tutor Lu.
Li Wanming only knew that Grand Tutor Lu and Fang Zhī's father, Chief Scribe Fang, were both first - rank high - ranking officials. People in the court also called them prime ministers, namely Prime Minister Lu and Prime Minister Fang.
Although they had the same rank, the Lu family had produced Three Dukes for four generations. They were the most prestigious family in the prosperous dynasty except for the Cheng family of Langya. So in terms of power, Grand Tutor Lu was slightly superior to Prime Minister Fang.
However, Li Wanming didn't know what his specific duties were...
Mainly, such high - ranking and powerful officials were too far away from her.
"What are the Three Dukes? They are the prime ministers of the Son of Heaven," Xiao Jingnan clasped his hands behind his head, leaned against the carriage, and said softly, "The Grand Tutor is in charge of military and political affairs, assists the Son of Heaven, holds a gold seal and purple ribbon, and is in charge of the academic administration of the whole country. The crown prince should pay the respects of a disciple to him."
"My lady wants to open an academy. You can't bypass the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial Academy, and the Hanlin Academy. Coincidentally, all these departments are under the jurisdiction of the Grand Tutor."
"Grand Tutor Lu is very busy. He may not have the time to care about the opening of a small academy. However, if my lady's academy can get his approval, all the formalities will surely go smoothly and no one will dare to stop them."
Li Wanming hesitated. "If we can get his approval, that would be great... But will he approve?"
"Whether he approves or not is not important. It's enough if his daughter approves."
Xiao Jingnan put down his hands and his eyes were bright.
"All the civil and military officials in the court know that Grand Tutor Lu has high hopes for his daughter and wants to push her to become the queen. So as long as Lu Songyuan approves, in the eyes of everyone, it represents the meaning of Grand Tutor Lu."
"Will she approve?"
Li Wanming still didn't believe it.
"We've had such a conflict. Will she help me?"
Although Li Wanming had never really understood why Lu Songyuan targeted her, the malice on that woman was really hard to hide.
Li Wanming could very accurately sense her disgust.
Xiao Jingnan coaxed patiently, "My lady, do you think Miss Lu is a smart person or a stupid one?"
Li Wanming snorted. "If it comes to harming others, she is much smarter and more ruthless than Sun Miaoqing and Guo Xinyue."
If it weren't for Lu Songyuan's wrong information today, she really wouldn't have been able to get out of this. Maybe she would really have been thrown into jail!
But her narrow victory today was just a fluke. It didn't mean that Lu Songyuan was stupid.
In the capital, the practice of starting business first and then going through the formalities was not only in the wine - brewing industry, but almost all industries did it this way.
No one would have thought that Li Wanming, a country girl who had just arrived in the capital, would know how to plan ahead and spend a lot of effort to go through the formalities before opening the store...
"The smarter a person is, the more they value interests," Xiao Jingnan picked up the small carved copper kettle that had been kept warm beside him, poured a cup of hot tea for Li Wanming, and then said, "She miscalculated today and lost a lot of face in the general's mansion. If Grand Tutor Lu knew about it, he would surely scold her."
"I helped her save face. In a way, I did her a favor. So she promised me that she would come to the ribbon - cutting ceremony when my lady's academy opens."
"Invite her to the ribbon - cutting ceremony?"
Li Wanming got anxious as soon as she heard this. "Why should I invite her?"
Xiao Jingnan raised one eyebrow. "Why not? In terms of status, she is the daughter of the grand tutor; in terms of learning, she is a top student of the Zangshan Academy..."
"In terms of character, she is a venomous woman; in terms of intelligence, she is my defeated opponent!"
Li Wanming angrily interrupted him.
Xiao Jingnan couldn't help but smile. "Yes, yes, yes. My lady turned defeat into victory twice and survived in a desperate situation. It's really a cause for celebration. You can't be underestimated... But, my lady, in terms of being flexible and adaptable, you are not as good as Miss Lu and Miss Guo."
Before Li Wanming could pounce on him, he quickly added, "Of course! Being two - faced and hypocritical is wrong!"
"Sometimes, in order to achieve our goals, we can make a little detour."
Li Wanming was good at everything, but she was just too straightforward.
With such a personality, if she entered the prince's mansion in the future and officially stepped into the social circle of the noble ladies in the capital, she was likely to suffer a great loss.
The stronger it is, the easier it is to be humiliated; the too - rigid will easily break.
He must teach her this truth as soon as possible.
Li Wanming thought for a while, then finally asked reluctantly, "Just invite her to the ribbon - cutting ceremony?"
Xiao Jingnan smiled. "Yes, I guarantee it."
"Just by inviting her to the ribbon - cutting ceremony, my academy can open?"
"Don't worry, my lady. The officials in the Ministry of Rites, the Hanlin Academy, and the Imperial Academy are all smart people. They won't take the risk of offending Grand Tutor Lu."
Li Wanming lowered her head and thought for a long time, then said, "Okay. For the sake of the academy, I'll reluctantly agree to invite her to the ribbon - cutting ceremony."
Xiao Jingnan whispered with a smile, "My lady is brilliant."