Chapter 1317: Chapter 1314: Meeting

Meanwhile, Master Zhong had just walked out of the front hall when he bumped into the housekeeper coming his way.

“Master, a letter has been delivered.”

Master Zhong lowered his head and, recognizing the familiar paper of the envelope, his pupils shrank. He snatched it angrily and demanded, “Who delivered this!”

The housekeeper, not expecting such a strong reaction, replied timidly, “It was a beggar.”

“Go, bring that beggar back here,” Master Zhong ordered fiercely, his chest heaving with anger.

The housekeeper promptly nodded, “This servant is on it,” he said as he hurried out.

Master Zhong did not leave either; he stood in the courtyard and opened the envelope.

Inside the envelope was only one sentence, “Tomorrow before noon, place the silver under the old locust tree on Locust Tree Street. No need to meet.”

Master Zhong frowned, previously he had found it strange that the other party had wanted to meet his son, since they should want to conceal their identity.

Yet now, within half a day, the other party had changed their mind.

Master Zhong was not a fool; on the contrary, the more urgent the matter, the calmer his mind became, sensing that everything happened for a reason.

With this thought, he suddenly wondered if the other party wanted to confirm something with his son?

Master Zhong tore up the letter and strode out.

Master Zhong went directly to see Zhang Tongzhi.

Zhang Tongzhi and Master Zhong had a good relationship. Both were clever men–Zhong Family’s business was substantial and supported the Zhang Family financially, while the Zhang Family, in turn, gave their backing to the Zhong Family.

Thus, the two families had a mutually beneficial relationship, especially now that Zhong Yan had passed the scholar examination and become a Government-sponsored Student.

If Zhong Yan, his nephew, could just perform a little better and pass the first place in the examination or even the imperial examination, the Zhong Family would turn their fortunes around, and the Zhang Family would also rise with the tide.

Therefore, when Zhang Tongzhi saw Master Zhong approaching, he welcomed him into the hall with a beaming smile and ordered the servants to prepare tea.

“Elder Brother Zhang, there’s something I need to discuss with you. Let’s go to the study,” Master Zhong said, frowning, clearly troubled.

Zhang Tongzhi was older than Master Zhong. As his uncle, his thoughts ran deeper. Hearing this, he simply nodded and led him into the study.

After the servants had served the tea, Zhang Tongzhi dismissed everyone from the room, and soon, only the two of them were left.

Zhang Tongzhi passed him a cup of tea and, after taking a slow sip, asked, “What’s the matter?”

“This is about Yan’er, that wayward boy making a mistake!” Master Zhong was still somewhat angry as he swiftly explained the situation.

Zhang Tongzhi gripped his teacup tightly, his expression turning grim after listening.

“How could this be? I know Yan’er’s capabilities; he could have passed as a scholar without cheating!” Zhang Tongzhi frowned. “Did you ask Yan’er where he heard about buying the papers?”

Zhang Tongzhi’s immediate reaction was that there was something fishy going on.

“I asked him. He heard it from idle scholars talking, but because of this, someone took advantage of the opportunity and approached him early in the morning,” Master Zhong tried to calm down, adding in a thick voice, “I have tested the Instructing Official; aside from Zhong Yan, no one else had the same answer, proving that he was the only one with those papers.”

“If it were for making silver, why wouldn’t the other party sell more copies?” Master Zhong thought this was the strangest part. “Elder Brother, what do you think? Is there anything going on at the yamen recently?”

Zhang Tongzhi shook his head, “No, there hasn’t been any conflict at the yamen recently.”