Chapter 116: A double edged sword 4 (1/2)

Mu restaurant, Ningzhuo

Mu Chen gave them a half now and gestured Inside, ”please go in, the Mu Family's representatives are waiting”.

”Thanks” the couple replied and walked past him. Lu Yaozhu took the lead while Su Liya followed closely.

There were two people seated on one end of the table as they came in, one was a woman while the other was a male. They were familiar with the attractive young man seated next to the young woman dressed in green. The young man looked up grinning as they walked in, when Wu Yao asked him to accompany him to meet a new ally, he never expected the new ally to turn out to be the governor and his wife.

He caught Wu Yao's eye and smiled. His little Yao Yao has been keeping secrets from him and big ones at that. He didn't know what game his Yao Yao was playing but it seem like it would be interesting.

The surprise of seeing a young lady as opposed to the already greying old master Wu could compare to the surprise of seeing a familiar face seated next to the unfamiliar young lady. Lu Yaozhu paired but continued forward, ”Magistrate Li! What a pleasant surprise”.

Li Sichan watched the governor and his wife take a seat opposite them, ”You too governor”.

Magistrates Li Sichan was the youngest magistrate in the history of Ningzhuo and the third son of the Li family. The Li family was a new noble family that was formally a merchant family that dealt in ice and iced produce trade.

(New Noble family as the name implies are families that only recently received noble titles due to the contribution of certain members of the family. A new noble family usually get their titles from the Emperor, either from successful political appointments of members of the family or from their daughters marrying into the palace as consorts)

Ningzhuo is one of the coldest regions in northern Wei and is known for its cold weather which is why trading in ice was once of the most successful businesses in these parts. Ningzhuo was northern Wei's biggest supplier of ice and the Li family are one of the merchant families in the trade.

The Li family was a mid-level merchant family but was promoted to a fourth-ranked family during the previous generation after the head of the family, Old master Li Hong earned the highest scores in the Imperial examination in the entire northern region.

Li Hong was made the censor of Ningzhuo, a fourth-ranked official in charge of the northern region. Li Sichan like his grandfather was the highest scorer in the imperial examination and was made the magistrate of Ningzhuo. Li Sichan was known to be fair and just in his job and unlike the other local officials wasn't corrupt. He never abused his power and was regarded as a protegee.

The young lady seated on the other side of the table finally spoke, ”Thanks for coming over governor Lu, Your Highness. I trust that you didn't face any difficulty on your way here?”

Lu Yaozhu was the one who answered, ”No we didn't. I wasn't expecting to run into someone other than old master Wu. You are?”

”I failed to introduce myself, I apologise. I am Wu Yao, the Eldest master's niece. The Eldest master couldn't make the journey, If you don't mind, I will be representing him”.

”That is perfectly understandable young mistress Wu, I trust the eldest master's judgement.

Wu Yao didn't notice any insincerity in Lu Yaozhu or his wife but to be safer, she decided to drag their conversation a little. ”They say that trust is built from sharing a meal. Governor and your Highness, please let us have a meal together”

”Okay”

Wu Yao rang the bell by the side and Mu Chen came in to take their orders. Wu Yao asked the couple if they had any dietary restrictions before ordering a set of hot dishes. Hot and spicy dishes combined with warm wines were more preferable in the winter because they warmed the body and chased away the chill.