He looked puzzled. "What on earth would I have feared Miss Cui knowing in the past?"
Crying and shouting, he chased after Pei Zhaolin and pleaded pitifully, "This Golden Jade Workshop usually opens after sunset... Sir, you know very well that it's quite inconvenient for me to be out late due to my family situation."
On normal days, if he returned home even a little late, he would have to kneel on an abacus and sleep in the study!
If he really went to the Golden Jade Workshop...
Huang Zuoshi didn't even dare to think about it. "Sir Pei, you've always understood my situation. How about we change the time? If Miss Cui finds out about this, it won't be easy for you to explain when you get home either, right?"
Pei Zhaolin stopped in his tracks as he was about to walk out.
He looked puzzled. "What on earth would I have feared Miss Cui knowing in the past?"
Huang Zuoshi thought he was still being stubborn. He let out a scoff and straightened his back a bit. Then he began counting on his fingers as if reciting a treasure list.
"Sir, there's no need to be stubborn in front of me... Let's not go too far back. Just think about the beginning of this year!"
"Who was it that showed off the hand warmer made by Miss Cui by walking around the entire Censorate three times?"
"Who was it that grabbed those young lads like A Hu and asked them how to make a girl happy? And what was the result? Well, even three cobblers couldn't figure it out."
"Who spent a fortune to please Miss Cui but failed? And who once rode a thousand miles at night for Miss Cui..."
"Oh, I almost forgot the most important thing. I wonder which lord was so afraid that Miss Cui would get angry and leave that his tears were falling non - stop."
Pei Zhaolin suddenly turned around, which really gave Huang Zuoshi a big scare.
Then Huang Zuoshi quickly reacted and said familiarly, "Don't get angry again. You just told me to talk about all these things!"
Pei Zhaolin's eyes flickered, and the fingertips hidden in his sleeves trembled slightly at these words.
The words of refutation were on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't say them.
Pei Zhaolin quickly averted his gaze. "If I don't see you after sunset tomorrow."
He paused for a moment and then said in the calmest tone the most terrifying words, "You'll have your salary deducted for a year."
Huang Zuoshi: "!!!"
He didn't want to work anymore!!!
The next day, after sunset.
The vermilion lacquered plaque of the Golden Jade Workshop was even more eye - catching in the night. The sound of silk and bamboo instruments, the lascivious music, came from under the vermilion tassels.
Huang Zuoshi was using his folding fan to wave away the lingering incense smoke. He had a sharp - tongued smile on his face, but now he lowered his voice.
"Sir, we're here to investigate a case. Don't look so 'unapproachable' on your face. The girls really dare not come close!"
Pei Zhaolin waved his hand to fend off the approaching girl, making her stumble in vain.
Huang Zuoshi quickly took out a silver note from his sleeve and coaxed the girl from the Golden Jade Workshop gently, "May I ask if Young Master Yan is here?"
The girl's face suddenly changed. Then she turned around and sized the two of them up and down. After a while, she said coquettishly, "Please follow me, sirs."
---
The real owner of the Golden Jade Workshop, Yan Liangwen, known as the "stingy guy", was on the sixth floor, listening to music behind a curtain and counting money.
He took a sip of the flower wine fed by the girl in his arms and continued counting money without even lifting his eyelids when he heard the news. "Looking for me? I'm busy! If they're not here to drink or find girls, tell them to leave early."
The girl who came to report was Yunniang, the madam of the Golden Jade Workshop.
Yunniang let out a coquettish sound. "I thought the younger gentleman looked familiar just now. Now I remember. Isn't he Sir Pei from the Censorate!"
"Sir Pei has a cold and aloof personality. He's really hard to serve."
"Master, are you really so heartless and willing to let me bear his wrath?"
Yan Liangwen stood up and put his arm around Yunniang's shoulder. He questioned, "You mean Pei Zhaolin is here?"
Yunniang's eyes were full of charm. She asked in confusion, "Master, do you know this Sir Pei well?"
Yan Liangwen squinted his eyes and thought for a moment. He didn't answer her. "Send Peony to serve them. I'll come later."
"Yes."
---
The top courtesan Peony was wearing a rouge - colored silk dress. She held a gilded jadeite wine pot and gracefully knelt in front of Pei Zhaolin.
She said softly, "Sir, please have some wine."
Peony secretly twirled her fingertips, and the wine surface rippled. The powder of the sleeping drug all sank to the bottom of the cup.
Seeing that Pei Zhaolin remained unmoved, she shyly slipped half an inch of the silk skirt off her shoulder and held the wine cup a bit closer. Her voice was charming. "Sir, do you not like this wine?"
She had been in the Golden Jade Workshop for a long time and didn't believe there was really a true gentleman who came here not for beauty!
"Sir?"
The only answer Peony got was silence.
Peony gently bit her red lips. This time, she directly used her lips to pass the wine. In full view of everyone, her eyes were full of charm.
Pei Zhaolin only said eight words from beginning to end: "If your hand moves half an inch closer, it will be chopped off."
His voice was not loud, but it was like ice mixed with snowflakes.
Peony's fingertips trembled, and she was so scared that she almost dropped the wine pot.
The wine pot crashed to the ground and shattered into pieces.
Peony quickly backed away. "Sir, please calm down."
---
"Sir Pei, are you here to cause trouble in my Golden Jade Workshop?"
Yan Liangwen, who had been sitting behind the screen and drinking wine comfortably, immediately showed up when he saw the broken item.
Without even looking at Pei Zhaolin, he looked at the porcelain fragments on the ground with a heart - broken expression. "I spent five hundred taels on this. Sir Pei, have you thought about how to compensate me?"
As he finished speaking, twenty secret guards hiding behind the screen silently drew their swords.
In front of the screen, Pei Zhaolin just gently pushed the horizontal wooden bar forward and slowly scanned the screen.
He didn't care at all, as if looking at a clown. "In three incense sticks' time, I want all the account books of Concubine Rong's opera stage construction and the list of court officials who embezzled silver."
"Otherwise, the signboard of the Golden Jade Workshop will be hung at the city gate tomorrow morning—nailed on with your golden nanmu coffin."
Huang Zuoshi was stunned. He had planned to take things slowly, but why did their sir come out and play his cards openly like this?!
Seeing that the situation was not right.
Huang Zuoshi immediately let out a groan and rushed over. He used his sleeve to wipe the non - existent wine stains and kept saying auspicious words.
"Breaking things brings good luck and wealth! Young Master Yan, please don't be angry. Our sir has a cleanliness fetish and can't stand other people's mouths. Well, I'll drink for him."
He took a gulp of the wine in the cup and didn't forget about Peony.
He calmly stuffed a five - hundred - tael silver note into Peony's hand. "I'm sorry to have scared you, girl. Go buy some expensive rouge!"
After doing all this, Huang Zuoshi then smiled amiably at Yan Liangwen. "I was rude today. Naturally, I'll double the payment for this welcome wine."
"Young Master Yan may not know that our sir always handles things very strictly. If we don't accomplish today's task, once our sir gets angry, it won't look good for us all as court officials, right?"
Yan Liangwen squinted his eyes and carefully sized Huang Zuoshi up and down.
Suddenly, Yan Liangwen laughed and raised his hand to stop the secret guards behind the screen who were about to take action.
"Sir Pei has quite a big mouth. But the Golden Jade Workshop is a business. It always—"
He flicked his fingertips, and a gold leaf shot towards Pei Zhaolin's forehead like lightning.
Pei Zhaolin didn't dodge. When the gold leaf was three inches away from him, Huang Zuoshi, who was standing behind him, suddenly stepped forward and caught it with his teeth.
"Oh, Young Master Yan, you really don't listen to advice!"
"Our sir is shy," Huang Zuoshi said vaguely while chewing the gold leaf, "but his teeth are very strong. If you throw another one, he might really bite."
After saying that, he spat the gold leaf into his hand, carefully wiped it, and then stuffed it back into his sleeve with a big smile. He didn't mind it at all.