In the clan's mansion, Zhou Chang and Zhou Qing looked at Ling Xin'an, their eyes almost wanting to burst into flames, but they couldn't.

After all, the biggest person in the clan is still the elder of the royal family. Appearing in front of Ling Xin'an at this time was Zhou Zefu, the fourth elder of the royal family, and said with a smile: "Master Marquis, you are here, I don't know what you are doing!"

Ling Xin'an said: "Fourth Elder, Ling came here just to collect a debt. Brother Zhou and the two have owed me Daoxianglou and Yuanweixuan for food and wine for a long time."

Zhou Zefu was shocked when he heard this: "It turns out that the Marquis is looking for them. Since they are also here now, the Marquis can do whatever he wants."

Ling Xin'an nodded: "Fourth Elder, where are the residences of the two brothers Zhou, but this Ling doesn't know."

"Oh, Lord Marquis, brother Zebao and I are not very close. Although they call me uncle in terms of seniority, they haven't been together for a long time. Chang'er, Qing'er, how is your father lately?" Zhou Zefu

Said slowly.

"Back to Fourth Elder, my father is very kind!" Zhou Chang said respectfully.

"I haven't seen him for a long time, and I don't know if his royal secrets have improved to a higher level! It's not good to be older. Many times, your understanding is not as good as that of young people. You guys, don't study the royal secrets well.

As for martial arts, you only need to eat, drink, and defecate every day. I want you to solve this matter on your own," Zhou Zefu said.

"..." Zhou Chang and Zhou Qing looked at Ling Xin'an with gloomy expressions, but had nothing to say.

It was a strange news that someone came to the Zongren Mansion to collect debts. It was also a scandal. Now the whole capital was circulating that the Zongren Mansion refused to pay for food, drinks and entertainment. At first, most people scoffed at it when they heard it:

"Isn't this normal? Whose restaurant has never been owed credit by these dignitaries, and I haven't seen many people take it back."

However, with the fermentation in the past few days, it has become clear that the civil and military officials of the Zhou Dynasty, relying on their status as imperial officials, did not provide money for food and accommodation, depriving the people of their economy.

In particular, the descendants of a group of officials led by Zong Renfu are even more arrogant and domineering. They often talk about the five evils in the capital. These are simply cancers, and the people dare to be angry but dare not speak out.

That's why the four elders showed up at the clan mansion today to entertain Ling Xin'an.

After all, he is the only marquis in the past hundred years.

Ling Xin'an's expression remained unchanged and she said to Zhou Zefu: "I really disturbed the Fourth Elder today. In that case, Fourth Elder, please bear with me if I have something to do next!"

Zhou Zefu stretched out his hand and said, "Master Hou, please excuse me."

Ling Xin'an looked at Brother Zhou Chang and said, "Brother Zhou, everyone is here. What do you two plan to do with this debt?"

Zhou Chang said: "Master Hou, can you grant me some grace?"

Ling Xin'an was surprised: "Brother Zhou, it has been more than two years. Besides, the two of you combined are not much, less than 30,000 taels, a mere 30,000 taels. To you, that's a drop in the bucket."

Zhou Changdao: "Master Hou, Mr. Zhou didn't know that Daoxianglou and Yuanweixuan were the properties of Mr. Hou, so he took the liberty of doing so. He will never be rude in the future."

Seeing Zhou Chang being so groveling, Ling Xin'an frowned slightly. Based on his understanding of the Zhou family members in the Zongren Mansion, except for those who faced the imperial palace, there were few people who would put down their bodies and submit to others for safety.

Ling Xin'an smiled and said: "As you say, don't hit the smiling person with your hand, Brother Zhou, you are making me very embarrassed!"

Zhou Chang smiled bitterly and said, "Money is really tight!"

"I'm tight too!" Ling Xin'an said: "I just moved back to the capital. Prices in the capital are high and consumption is expensive. My Lord Marquis's house is also very stretched!"

Zhou Chang said: "What about Lord Marquis?"

"How about this!" Ling Xin'an said: "I don't think there are many other things in the clan house, but there are quite a lot of these rare and exotic beasts, so I will capture a few and take them back as collateral. When the time comes, Brother Zhou will be loose.

Come and redeem it, that's all. When we do business, one of the things we pay attention to is opening the door with people in it. Now that we're here today, we can't leave empty-handed!"

Zhou Chang and Zhou Qing were stunned when they heard Ling Xin'an's words. Even Zhou Zefu almost spit out tea.

He coughed: "Master Hou, those in the Zongren Mansion are just for viewing, and they are not from Zhou Zebao's Mansion."

The two Zhou Chang brothers nodded in agreement.

"I know!" Ling Xin'an said: "I'm not saying that I want to use your money as a debt, but just to pay off the debt. If Brother Zhou doesn't have enough money for three to five years, what will Ling do? Brother Zhou has to feed a large family in a year.

, it’s not easy!”

Zhou Chang said: "Exactly, exactly!"

"That's it!" Ling Xin'an said: "So I will take a few birds and mounts and mortgage them for a period of time, and I will send them back when Brother Zhou comes."

Zhou Chang was startled, and then realized that he had fallen into Ling Xin'an's trap. Looking at him, his expression became increasingly ugly.

"I said, this clan's property is not something they can handle!" Zhou Zefu said.

"Ling knows that just because this is not Brother Zhou's property, he hopes that the clan's mansion will show some sincerity and make a mortgage. Otherwise, if this spreads out, the reputation of the clan's mansion will be bad, right, Fourth Elder."

Ling Xin'an smiled.

Zhou Zefu looked at Ling Xin'an and suddenly said with a smile: "Master Linghou, you and I are both from the capital, and we are both ministers of the Zhou Dynasty. We can't see you when you look up, so why do you have to be so persistent in doing things?"

Ling Xin'an sighed and said: "Fourth Elder, you don't know Ling's suffering. Ling originally thought that when he returned to the capital, he could start a small business and earn some pension money, and then buy a small farm in the suburbs when he was old.

It was such a simple wish to grow flowers and raise chickens, but when I returned to the capital, I discovered that so many people in this huge capital owed me money. Now I don’t even have the money to buy a foundation. Elder, what do you mean?

Tell me what should I do?"

The corners of Zhou Chang, Zhou Qing and Zhou Zefu's eyes twitched as they listened to Ling Xin'an's words and sneered in their eyes.

Zhou Zefu said: "Young people are ignorant and must learn a lesson."

Ling Xin'an shook her head and said: "Young people are ignorant, Ling can understand, but why should I pay for his lessons? I spent real money on it."

Zhou Zefu pondered for a while, then suddenly smiled and said: "I can't control the affairs of young people. Haha, Mr. Marquis, please help yourself. I am old and it is suitable for walking more!" After that, he stood up and walked out.

Ling Xin'an smiled and said: "Fourth Elder, walk slowly!"

After he left, Zhou Chang and Zhou Qing looked at Ling Xin'an, who said lightly: "Brother Zhou, what do you think?"

Without the fourth elder by his side, Zhou Chang said: "Master Hou, you don't need to behave like this. After all, the Zongren Mansion and the Ling Mansion can be considered colleagues who have contacts."

Hearing this, Ling Xin'an looked up at the eaves: "Brother Zhou, do you know why I asked you to pay back the money?"

Zhou Chang and Zhou Qing looked at him with doubts in their eyes, only to hear Ling Xin'an slowly say: "Because of you, you have offended my woman!"

…

On this day, the door of the Zongren Mansion was opened, and someone saw that Lord Ling was being sent out of the Zongren Mansion with great respect. He was escorted and carrying heavy objects with him. It was obvious that he had received a debt.

As soon as the news came out that the Zongren Mansion really owed money, Shuntian Prefecture Yin Huang Shaohua was completely shocked. More and more merchants, mainly merchants in restaurants, reported the case to him. Too many descendants of officials in the capital owed them money on credit.

Wine and food filled the city with resentment.

The culprit was Lord Ling. Lord Ling set an example to them. Anyone who owed money on credit must pay back, otherwise they would not be entertained!

As expected, many people who had debts in the past were politely rejected by the shopkeeper when they visited the previous restaurant again. Dear princes and gentlemen, please settle the credit account from a few days ago. If you don't settle, please ask the next restaurant.

In just half a month, in the entire capital, the descendants of officials who were accustomed to wiping their mouths after eating found that there was no place where they could eat and drink. Only then did they realize that eating, drinking and having fun cost gold and silver.

Ling Xin'an, on the other hand, kept sending the list of his foreign debts to one house after another. The court officials were shocked again. Ling Xin'an's debt list was like an imperial edict, for fear that it would fall into his own mansion.

It's not that they can't afford to repay, but that they can't afford to disgrace this person. That's why the court officials who received Ling Xin'an's debt note looked at Ling Shang with ugly expressions, including many of his colleagues who had always been good friends with Ling Shang.

.

In the backyard of Dazhou Palace, the queen listened to Eunuch Bai's words and said with a smile: "This kid is really messing around!"

"Your Majesty, if the Marquis does this, he will offend the clan!" Eunuch Bai said softly.

"Hmph, the clan's mansion is too comfortable. The refined salt issue has only been a few years ago. Are the younger generations now just trying to prey on the common people?" the queen said.

"That's what I taught you!" Eunuch Bai lowered his head and said.

"See Your Majesty!" A voice came from the door. Eunuch Bai quickly stood to one side and saluted: "See Your Majesty!"

The Emperor of Zhou Dynasty walked over quickly, sat next to the Queen, reached out to pick up the fruits on the table, and said lightly: "It is said that the descendants of Beijing officials eat and drink without spending money when going out?"

The queen said softly: "I heard that there is such a thing."

"Is that kid doing it?"

"Well, I went to the clan's mansion and asked for the money in person. After that, the merchants in the capital followed his example and refused to pay or entertain!" the queen said.

The Emperor of Zhou Dynasty was silent, and the entire palace was quiet except for the afternoon sun shining through. The Queen leaned lazily on her chair.

"Today, an official impeached him, saying that he was falsely accusing the official's family of owing foreign debts to his family. Only then did I know that this was the case!" Emperor Zhou said slowly.

The queen chuckled and said: "Your Majesty is busy with everything in the life of these playboys, so it's normal not to know about it. Didn't the Ai family just hear about it?"

"Are there any gangsters in the palace?" Emperor Zhou said slowly.

The Queen was startled, even she didn't expect it, while Eunuch Bai's expression had a slightly different expression.

At the Marquis's house, Ling Xin'an looked at the list in her hand with a solemn expression, as did Xia Xiaoyu and Ling Shuang, because they recognized the words on the list.

"Sir, are you exempted?" Ling Shuang thought for a while and asked.

"What if it gets spread by their bad friends?" Ling Xin'an pondered.

"I don't think so." Xia Xiaoyu said: "If you know your identity and take the initiative to tell it, wouldn't it be even more embarrassing?"

"No!" Ling Xin'an shook her head and said: "Xiao Yu, you are wrong. For these guys who only know how to eat, drink and have fun, if they are exempted, they will definitely publicize it so that they can show their abilities in front of those gang of friends.

.”
Chapter completed!