“You’ve got a new tax official?” Ye Xiaoxian was surprised.

  The subordinate said, “Please sign here and in the future, when we collect your taxes, you just need to hand in two taels of silver.”


  “Right, I see!” said Ye Xiaoxian.

  When she went back to the backyard, Ye Xiaoxian read the document carefully and she had a hunch that it must have been Xiao Baoshan who did this. She just did not know how he had done it. This man could always surprise her……

  Ye Xiaoxian just breathed a sigh a relief but Sister Xiang of “Junlai” was not pleased. Her tax used to be two taels of sliver per month but now it had been increased to four taels.

  The new tax official went to find her but she found an excuse, saying that her hand hurt and she could not sign the document. She then turned to the chief of the government office.

  The chief was also utterly exhausted from overwork.

  The superior all of a sudden sent someone to investigate, claiming that there was some problem with the calculation of taxes in their town. Although the royal government regarded agriculture as being more important than commercial business and had business owners paying more taxes than farmers, still, there were rules in the government. They should charge the proper amount of taxes instead of abusing their authority.

  Also, the subordinate sent by the superior had evidence. He showed the evidence to the chief. A small restaurant was charged nine taels of silver while a hotel was only charged two taels. Now it seemed to be correct.

  The chief looked at it and the hotel mentioned was none other than Junlai Hotel.

  Back then, it was he who approved that Sister Xiang could only pay two taels of silver for their taxes.

  The subordinate also added, “Now that the political situation of the royal government is not stable, several of the royal princes are fighting over the emperor’s position. Each of them is thinking hard about revealing the faults of the others. In that case, they can attack each other in front of the emperor. The land where we live is in the charge of Prince Jing. If other princes realize such a thing is happening in Prince Jing’s district, they will tend to take this matter as an example and exaggerate its influence in the royal government.”


  “Yes, yes. I understand.” The chief said rather nervously.

  “If so, you should straighten things out carefully,” said the subordinate.

  The chief certainly would straighten things out carefully, wouldn’t he?

  He removed Fang Shanding from office, hired a new tax official and investigated the tax books thoroughly to check if there was any more inappropriate content. Once he found any discrepancies, he would correct them immediately.

  When Sister Xiang came, the chief was still not available, so Sister Xiang went back and returned there again at night.

  The chief was having dinner at that time. He guessed that Sister Xiang had come to discuss her taxes. He did not want to see her at first but finally did not have the heart to ignore her, so he met her right away.

  “Sir, it’s so late and you’re just having dinner?” Sister Xiang sounded dearly sorry.

  When the chief saw Sister Xiang, his heart softened immediately. He had no family in Qinghe. All his assistants and guards were men, so there was not a single one around who cared about him.

  “Mhmm, I was just eating. I was so busy today that I feel dizzy. Have you eaten?” asked the chief.

  Sister Xiang then put on a sad puppy look. “I didn’t really. How can I have the appetite? Today a new tax official showed up out of blue saying that my hotel needs to pay four taels a month in tax. Sir, you’ve promised me, haven’t you? You said that my hotel was an exception and I could only pay two taels of silver per month.”


  The chief then became a bit excited. When he spoke he kept spitting out bits of rice. “You’ve paid two taels a month for two years already. Think about it. How much money have you saved already? Now my superior has sent someone to investigate. You know Fang Shanding, right? I’ve already dismissed him. What else do you want me to do?”


  Sister Xiang had several grains of rice on her face but she did not have the time to wipe them off. She just asked with confusion, “Even Fang Shanding was dismissed? It’s that serious?”


  “That’s right, so I can’t think about your matter now!”


  “Sir, so now……”


  “I’m being worked to death now. Don’t you see that I didn’t have dinner until now?” said the chief sulkily.

  “Well……well then, let’s not talk about it until the trouble is solved. Sigh, doing business right now is so difficult. Competitors are everywhere. I’m just a woman with no one to turn to and my situation is extremely difficult……” While talking, tears began to roll down her face. She looked disappointed.

  The chief could not refuse this the most.

  The reason he liked Sister Xiang was because she was independent, had her own mind and was determined. In such an era it was rare to see a woman who would dare to run a business and also be successful with it.

  Sister Xiang was at least far better than his wife who was like a fierce female tiger. All this female tiger did was tell him off. Once she went outside she would become meek. She also just knew to ask him for money and held a tight grip on the family expenses. She could in no way be compared with the seductive Sister Xiang.

  “Who says you have no one to turn to? You still have me, don’t you?” said the chief.

  “Sir, do you really care about me?” asked Sister Xiang.

  “If I didn’t care about you, why would I have let you in this late? Your hotel is suspected of tax evasion yet I’m still with you. I’m risking a lot too!”


  Sister Xiang knew best when to compromise and stop being too headstrong. As the chief put it like this she should not continue to push him on the matter.

  “Sir, you must be exhausted today. Shall I rub your forehead for you. It can help you to relax,” said Sister Xiang.

  “You’re so considerate. If only everyone else was as considerate as you and wouldn’t cause any trouble for me.” The chief looked at Sister Xiang, feeling very protective of her and then wiped the rice off for her.

  Sister Xiang asked the chief to lie down and she started to massage his temples.

  When the chief was completely relaxed, Sister Xiang asked, “Sir, but why did the superior suddenly send someone to investigate the whole thing? Where did they get the evidence?”


  The chief closed his eyes and enjoyed the massage while speaking. “I guess it must be someone against us who went to inform them.”


  “Who?” asked Sister Xiang.

  “It’s either someone who hates Fang Shanding or who benefits from this matter.”


  Sister Xiang asked, “Who would benefit?”


  “Dozens of people. The most obvious one is the one who cooked for us days ago. The name is……The Xiaos something……”


  “The Xiaos’ Cuisine?”


  “That’s right. Their taxes have been decreased from nine to two taels. I wonder how she provoked Fang Shanding to raise their taxes that high. It would have been strange if such a thing didn’t draw the superior’s attention.”


  Sister Xiang pondered on it and said, “Sir, I know how that Miss Ye provoked Fang Shanding.”


  “Oh? How is that?” asked the chief.

  “Ah, well, what else could it be except those matters between men and women.” Sister Xiang smiled faintly and her eyes were rolling up and down……

  The next day.

  Sister Xiang went to the west area of the town. She had inquired and found out that Fang Shanding lived around there. When she arrived, it took no time for her to find where The Fangs were located.

  It was a pretty smart house and one could see the luxuriantly green trees from outside. Even the lanterns hung at the gate were made of the finest paper.

  Even though Fang Shanding did not work for the government he still had earnings. He had fields and shops and would not die of hunger.

  Sister Xiang knocked on the door and before long someone came to open it. They seemed to be the servant.

  After another while a woman came out carrying a child. When she saw Sister Xiang, she asked her with some confusion, “Who might you be?”


  “I’m the manager of Junlai Hotel. I came here to have a word with Lord Fang.”


  The woman’s face became grave. “He’s not a lord anymore. Please don’t say this.”


  “This is your little son, right? Ah, so adorable.” Sister Xiang looked at the toddler wrapped in blankets. She also teased him.

  Sister Xiang did not have a child herself, so once she saw a baby she always could not help touching them.

  “Thank you.” The woman stepped back and then went in to call Fang Shanding.

  Fang Shanding had perhaps drunk a bit and smelled very strong. When he saw Sister Xiang, he said flippantly, “Why aren’t you with the chief? Why are you looking for me?”


  “Can you talk properly?” asked Sister Xiang. “If you can’t, I’ll go now and you can find me when you’re sober.”


  Fang Shanding stopped her. “If you have something to say just say it. Don’t keep me in suspense.”


  Sister Xiang said, “Nothing big. I just wanted to ask you why someone took your evidence?”


  “How should I know?” said Fang Shanding.

  He had been dismissed quite suddenly. The reason chief gave him was due to twisting the law to suit his own purposes. He knew very clearly what he had done. In all these years he had earned a lot of unlawful money in that position. Therefore, he dared not ask about the details.

  He counted himself lucky for not being thrown in jail, so how he could dare to ask so much.

  Sister Xiang said, “I’ve asked the chief. There must be someone who has informed the superior against you. The informant is the benefactor in this case and the biggest benefactor is The Xiaos’ Cuisine. They needed to pay nine taels of silver but now they only need to pay two taels. If I were them. I would’ve be an informant too.”


  “So you mean Miss Ye is the informant?” asked Fang Shanding.

  Sister Xiang smiled mysteriously. “I didn’t say that it’s definite. Figure it out yourself.”


  Sister Xiang turned around and left after she had finished talking.

  Fang Shanding stood there for a long time. Perhaps this matter did have something to do with Ye Xiaoxian……

  Fang Shanding still had some acquaintances in town. He firstly asked someone to investigate if Ye Xiaoxian had gone to the provincial city recently. They somehow understood that Xiao Baoshan had gone to the provincial city and had stayed there for two days. After he had gone back, the superior had then sent someone over.

  Humph, it seemed that Ye Xiaoxian must indeed be involved in this matter……

  At dusk Fang Shanding went to Ye Xiaoxian’s restaurant and specially asked Li Hongmei to call Ye Xiaoxian over.

  Li Hongmei went to the kitchen to find Ye Xiaoxian and asked Ye Xiaoxian to quickly leave via the back door in case Fang Shanding picked on her.

  Ye Xiaoxian thought for a while and then shook her head. “Ma, even if I can avoid him today, I may not avoid him tomorrow. As he wants to see me, he will always find a way. I didn’t do anything immoral and am not afraid of him causing trouble for me.”


  “Little Ye……” Li Hongmei thought, “Why Little Ye is so stubborn now? She dares to see anyone and deals with everything by herself.”


  Ye Xiaoxian calmly went up to the booth on the second floor. When she saw Fang Shanding she smiled briefly. “It turns out that Lord Fang has come? Lord Fang, is it that our dishes are not to your liking so you called me over?”


  Fang Shanding looked at Ye Xiaoxian coldly and then said in disgust, “You’re so good at acting dumb.”


  “Acting dumb? I don’t understand. Lord Fang, please enlighten me.”


  “You clearly know that I was removed from the office and you still call me Lord. Are you not acting dumb?”


  “Ah? Sir, you’ve been dismissed? My goodness, is it that you’ve done something evil and others have found out?” Ye Xiaoxian looked surprised and sympathetic.

  Fang Shanding was left speechless. In fury he gripped the cup tightly in his hand.