Chapter 174 Taking Xue Baoqin as a Concubine

"So, the Ziwei Chamber of Commerce is on the minds of others?"

In the Xue Mansion, Lin Chen raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard Xue Ke talk about the recent situation.

According to what Xue Ke said.

During this period of time, there have been many unfamiliar faces wandering around the workshop.

It is obvious that their purpose is not simple.

"My lord, you don't know that several people who claim to be Heshen's retainers have offered 200,000 taels of silver to buy the production methods of icing sugar and refined salt." Xue Ke said this with an angry look on his face.

Just kidding.

It is no exaggeration to say that the business of icing sugar and refined salt is making a fortune every day.

A mere 200,000 taels of silver is no different from sending beggars.

If Xue Ke was just an ordinary businessman, he might have surrendered.

After all, that is the powerful Minister of Revenue Heshen!

He has countless followers in the court and is deeply trusted by the current emperor.

Such an existence is naturally not something Xue Ke dares to resist.

However,

Those guys who claimed to be Heshen's retainers were all driven out by Xue Ke without mercy.

The reason was very simple.

Xue Ke knew who was behind him!

That was the supreme emperor of Li Tang!

Lin Chen nodded without comment after hearing this.

It seems that Xue Ke invited him here not because he was worried about the wolves surrounding the capital.

Then what was the reason?

"Lord Lin, what is your impression of my sister?" Xue Ke asked tentatively.

Yes.

Xue Ke knew that he could get a connection with the royal family thanks to the military officer in front of him!

And everyone can see that he was promoted to a fourth-rank military officer so quickly and was in charge of 50,000 Yulin Guards, which shows that he is favored by the emperor.

Among the military officers in the capital now, Lin Chen seems to be competing with Zhao Kuangyin, the Minister of War!

Of course, smart people who can understand the current situation know very well that this is a move by Li Zhao, the newly ascended emperor, to gather military power.

After all, if the more than 100,000 Beijing troops cannot be controlled by the emperor, anyone will be uneasy.

This is not it.

In order to highlight the status of the Yulin Guard, the emperor even placed its station in the royal forest garden!

Great honor!

"Xue Baoqin?"

Lin Chen, who didn't know what Xue Ke was thinking, just suddenly popped up this name in his mind.

Lin Chen only knew that in the original book, she was a brilliant woman who looked no less beautiful than Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai.

But he remembered that Xue Baoqin had already made an engagement with the son of a civil official in the capital a few years ago?

Indeed.

Xue Ke used this excuse to perfunctorily deal with Jia Mu at that time.

However, what Lin Chen didn't know was that.

The civil official who was engaged to Xue Baoqin was now afraid of Xue Ke and his sister.

After the Imperial Censor surnamed Mei learned that Xue Ke was the manager of Ziwei Chamber of Commerce, he did not have a good face when facing the Xue brothers and sisters who came to ask about the marriage.

It was not that the Imperial Censor surnamed Mei was aloof and looked down on the daughters of merchants.

It was simply that Imperial Censor Mei learned that Ziwei Chamber of Commerce had been targeted by many powerful people.

If he married Xue Baoqin, wouldn’t he become a thorn in the eyes of these bigwigs?

It also made people mistakenly think that the relationship between the Mei family and the Xue family was very good.

When the Xue family was suppressed by the powerful, the Mei family would definitely be implicated!

In this way.

The Mei family, who only invited Xue Ke to drink a cup of tea that day and then drove him away, showed a very clear attitude.

That is, they did not intend to get involved with Xue Baoqin. As for the marriage?

Just pretend that they didn’t know.

The Mei family even sent people to publicize this matter in the capital.

They said that the Mei family was still a scholarly family and would not deal with merchants who were full of the smell of money.

This made Xue Ke very angry!

Lin Chen heard this, a strange look flashed in his eyes, he really didn't know about this.

The Mei family didn't break off the engagement, it was simply making enemies.

Of course.

The Mei family may think that they are a sixth-rank imperial censor, and they may be able to climb up in the future.

How could they be afraid of Xue Ke's resentment?

"What does Shopkeeper Xue mean?"

"My sister has admired General Lin for a long time, and is willing to serve the general."

Xue Ke said the words he had prepared long ago, and his tone was still a little cautious.

The implication.

He planned to let Xue Baoqin marry into the Lin Mansion as a concubine.

Lin Chen was stunned when he heard this.

Good guy.

He and Xue Baoqin had not met many times, so the so-called admiration was more of an excuse.

On second thought.

Xue Ke did it right, it meant to get closer to Lin Chen.

The daughter of a merchant really had no face in front of the powerful in ancient times.

Just like in the original book, Aunt Xue wanted to marry her daughter to Jia Baoyu, but Mrs. Wang was not satisfied at all.

In the final analysis, she looked down on the daughter of a merchant and felt that her status was not worthy of him.

Xue Ke saw Lin Chen hesitated and did not agree immediately, but he breathed a sigh of relief.

Because Lin Chen did not refuse, it meant that there was a chance for this matter!

Immediately, Xue Ke called Xue Baoqin.

As soon as the voice fell, Lin Chen saw a gentle girl coming out from behind the screen.

Lin Chen's eyes fell on her, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Compared with Qin Keqing, this beautiful girl in front of him was only slightly inferior, and her elegant temperament like red plum added a little color to her.

Xue Baoqin naturally knew her brother's plan.

In addition, the previous move of the Mei family to cancel the engagement made the girl in front of her have a little more sadness between her eyebrows.

However.

Under Lin Chen's gaze, Xue Baoqin still forced herself to cheer up and bowed.

Lin Chen did not speak, but fell into some kind of deep thought.

Xue Ke was shocked when he saw this. Could it be that Lin Chenjia looked down on his sister?

Of course, the next sentence made Xue Ke feel relieved.

"Is this the sister of Shopkeeper Xue? She is really outstanding." Lin Chen's tone was full of appreciation.

Xue Baoqin heard this, and her beautiful eyes fell on the ghost-faced general in front of her.

She didn't have many impressions of Lin Chen, but they were all quite deep.

She knew that the man in front of her was a great general who was invincible on the battlefield.

People all say that warriors are vulgar.

However, in Lin Chen in front of her, Xue Baoqin did not see a trace of vulgarity, only an inexplicable temperament.

In this case, the matter is simple.

Lin Chen definitely did not intend to refuse.

After discussion, Xue Baoqin would find a good day to marry into the Lin Mansion.

Lin Chen, who declined Xue Ke's invitation to the banquet, saw that it was getting late, so he said goodbye and left.

For the nobles in ancient times, taking concubines was not a big deal.

It was nothing more than a few words of envy when outsiders knew about it.

You should know that Jia She had concubines in his room.

Of course.

In order to save Xue Ke's face, he also needed to make Xue Baoqin's marriage to the Lin Mansion a little more ceremonial.

Back to the Lin Mansion.

The mansion had prepared meals.

Now that the Lin Mansion has many maids and servants, it is a little more lively.

"Sister Wei, your hair is so beautiful!"

Li Shishi couldn't help but touch it gently, and the touch was like black jade.

It can be seen that Li Shishi had established a good relationship with Wei Zifu just half a day after arriving at the Lin Mansion.

As for the other one...