He patted Chen Nan's shoulder and said earnestly, "No matter what you do, this official will support you."
"If you encounter anything you can't solve, you can send me a message."
"Even if I can't solve it."
"I can also find someone else to help."
The position of Prefect of Guangling Prefecture might not seem very impressive.
But it governed one-fifth of the Underworld.
It controlled the lives and deaths of hundreds of millions of citizens.
His power was still considerable.
Chen Nan was overjoyed.
Now both the conservative and radical factions regarded him as one of their own.
If he encountered any trouble, wouldn't it be easy to resolve?
Also.
Those unseen members of the Anti-Heaven Cult also obeyed his every word.
It seemed that...
He already had an absolute foothold in the Underworld.
Chen Nan bid farewell to Yuan Zun and headed towards the county yamen.
He had originally wanted to invite Yuan Zun to lunch with him.
It was just a matter of words to go to the county yamen.
It wouldn't delay lunch.
But Yuan Zun refused.
He said he had no appetite.
He didn't want to eat.
Chen Nan almost burst out laughing when he heard this.
It would be strange if you did have an appetite.
You probably won't have any appetite today.
Or for some time to come.
At the same time.
The Ma family.
Ma Jun looked at his father and couldn't help but ask, "Father, will Chen Nan really discover that pill?"
"If he doesn't discover it."
"Or pretends not to have noticed anything."
"Won't our Ma family lose out big time?"
A Soul Gathering Pill worth five million taels of gold.
Even for the Ma family, it was an astronomical sum.
Ma Sanyuan said dismissively, "Chen Nan has an excellent reputation among the people of Tongcheng."
"I heard that even when he goes out to eat, if someone gives him an extra dish, he still insists on paying."
"What does this tell you?"
"He is an upright person."
"If he sees the pill hidden in the cabbage."
"How could he remain indifferent?"
"He will surely understand our Ma family's intentions."
"And even show some consideration."
Ma Jun said with a worried expression, "I'm just afraid that Chen Nan is truly an incorruptible person."
"What if he sees that Soul Gathering Pill and has someone send it back to us?"
"If that really happens, we definitely won't be able to win him over and make him useful to our Ma family."
Ma Sanyuan was also worried about this.
Chen Nan was of great significance to the Ma family.
If they could win him over, the Ma family would profit handsomely in Tongcheng.
Conversely.
If they couldn't win Chen Nan over, they would face great difficulties.
Puff!
Without any warning.
An arrow flew from somewhere and struck the doorframe outside.
Making a dull thud.
Ma Sanyuan and his son were startled.
Thinking they were under attack.
"Father, there's a letter on it." Ma Jun noticed a letter on the arrow, immediately took it down, and handed it to his father.
Ma Sanyuan laughed heartily after reading it, "I knew it would be like this!" He then handed the letter to his son.
Ma Jun frowned slightly after reading it, and looked at his father in confusion, "Who wrote this? Why inform us that Chen Nan is going to Hua Jian Fu to eat tonight?"
Ma Sanyuan smiled and asked, "Who in Tongcheng today has the archery skill to shoot an arrow from outside the mansion and hit the doorframe?"
"Guo Yu?" Ma Jun immediately thought of Guo Yu.
He deeply admired that guy's archery skills.
Ma Sanyuan chuckled and took a sip of tea, "Yes, in Tongcheng, only that fellow named Guo Yu has such archery skills."
"However, he has already pledged his allegiance to Chen Nan."
"And this letter was written by that Guo Yu."
"Chen Nan wants to invite us to Hua Jian Fu for dinner."
Ma Jun looked utterly bewildered, "If he invites us to dinner, why use this method? Wouldn't it be more sincere to send someone to invite us directly?"
"This is where you lack understanding!" Ma Sanyuan said, "Chen Nan wants to have his cake and eat it too!"
Ma Jun humbly asked, "Your son doesn't understand, please enlighten me, father."
Ma Sanyuan said, "Actually, we were overthinking it before. Chen Nan might be an upright person, but this side of him is only limited to ordinary people."
"To put it bluntly, he has two faces."
"His true face is hypocrisy and greed."
"In fact, he could have invited us to Hua Jian Fu for dinner."
"But why didn't he do so?"
Ma Jun couldn't help but ask, "Is he afraid that if the common people know about this, they will be disappointed in him and say he is colluding with our Ma family?"
The Ma family had just risen.
Especially after the incident of cheating in the assessment.
It had further angered the people of Tongcheng.
To put it bluntly.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them rats in the street.
Ma Jun had this much self-awareness.
"Exactly!" Ma Sanyuan showed a look of satisfaction. "If I'm not mistaken, when Chen Nan saw that Soul Gathering Pill, his mind must have been buzzing."
"Blinded by our Ma family's wealth!"
"Because ordinary people can't afford such a thing."
"Even if the penicillin he cultivated is expensive."
"But to earn five million taels of gold in Tongcheng."
"It would take at least several hundred years."
"He wants to cooperate with our Ma family."
"But he is afraid of his reputation being affected."
"For this reason, he had someone inform us of his whereabouts tonight."
"Think about it."
"If he invited us to dinner, the common people would surely gossip when they found out."
"But if it's an accidental encounter?"
"Will the common people think the same way?"
"Although it's both eating."
"But an accidental encounter and a formal invitation give rise to two completely different sentiments!"
Ma Jun was greatly shocked after hearing this, "I never expected that Chen Nan would be so cunning, not at all as simple as he appears on the surface."
A hint of disdain flashed in Ma Sanyuan's eyes, "Even if he is very cunning, I can still play him in the palm of my hand!"
"Doesn't he just love money?"
"What does our Ma family lack the most?"
"Isn't it money?"
"If he wants money, we'll satisfy him."
------
On the other side.
Chen Nan also arrived at the Tongcheng County Yamen.
Han Zongyuan was handling official duties.
Overwhelmed with work.
Seeing Chen Nan arrive, he beckoned him over, "You've come at the right time. The construction of the shipping terminal is imminent. Help me consider which family should be entrusted with the task of building the terminal."
"This matter must be handled properly, otherwise the common people will have opinions."
Apart from the newly rising Ma family.
The four great families of Tongcheng had all donated money and supplies before the flood broke out.
Therefore.
Han Zongyuan was also troubled by this matter.
Because if this matter was not handled well, it would surely lead to gossip.
After all, the four great families had contributed a lot of money before.
Now that there was good news.
They must be considered.
Otherwise, the common people would surely be disheartened.
But who to give this project to had stumped him.
Chen Nan cleared his throat and said somewhat awkwardly, "How about giving this project to my ex-wife?"