Chapter 43: The Thoughts of the Young Lord

"Look, young minister. I waited in line for two days and finally bought you this Yiran candy. This is the secret of Master Zhang. Even the Emperor praised the good Yiran candy. Please try it."

A student of the Imperial College who wanted to get in touch with the Little Prime Minister and who had no shame in calling himself a villain, fawned in front of Yan Shifan.

Yan Shifan lay comfortably on the chaise longue, surrounded by several beautiful maidens, who carefully massaged his shoulders and legs. He looked very comfortable.

Yan Shifan snorted, "It's just a can of candy. If it was really the secret of Master Zhang, why would it be sold so ostentatiously in the busy streets? But it's true that the emperor has tasted it. Bring it up."

Although Yan Shifan belittled it, he still wanted to taste what the Yiran candy that the emperor had tasted was like, to see if it could compare with his own special snowflake candy.

The flattering student held the Yiran candy in his hands with both hands and gave it to the maidservant of the Yan residence who was standing beside him. The maidservant then carefully presented the Yiran candy to Yan Shifan.

Yan Shifan stretched out his chubby little hand and took the small and exquisite bottle of Yiran candy from the maid. He looked at the exquisite packaging of Yiran candy and commented, "It's so fancy."

Then Yan Shifan pulled out the cork of the Yiran candy, looked at the snow-white sugar grains inside, and commented: "There's something there."

The maid at the side promptly handed over a small silver spoon. Yan Shifan took some sugar from the sugar jar with the silver spoon, then took a taste. His eyes lit up instantly. This sugar was sweeter than any he had eaten before.

Yan Shifan couldn't help but praise at this time: "Not bad, there is something to it."

The fawning student was delighted when he heard Yan Shifan's praise. He had spent nearly fifteen taels of silver to buy this bottle of Yiran candy.

Yiran Sugar now supplies between one hundred and two hundred bottles a day. In order to buy this sugar, many people queue up at the door of Yiran Sugar all night long, waiting for the store to open.

Therefore, under such a hot situation, the only way to buy Yiran sugar is to pay a higher price.

Therefore, with the continuous price increase, a bottle of Yiran sugar now sells for a sky-high price of fifteen taels of silver.

So much so that the saying "one ounce of Yiran is worth one ounce of gold" began to spread in the market.

This statement may sound exaggerated, but it is true.

So these days, not only Zhu Zaigui was happy, but even Meng Chong was so happy that he grinned. He never expected that his own prince was so powerful that he actually sold the Yiran candy at a sky-high price!

Yan Shifan asked, "Well, what do you think?"

Yan Shifan scooped another spoonful of Yiran candy and put it in his mouth to taste it. A fat man like him could not resist the temptation of sweets. So after tasting the sweetness of Yiran candy, he couldn't stop and couldn't help eating it mouthful by mouthful.

After hearing what Yan Shifan said, the student was also overjoyed. He rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "I want to serve as a county magistrate in a certain place to benefit the people."

Yan Shifan laughed immediately. "You, a student, actually want to be a county magistrate? Do you know how popular a position is now? Those scholars who are sitting on the bench in the Hanlin Academy are so crazy that they want to be appointed as a county magistrate."

The student said, "I know I can't be compared with the proud students of the Hanlin Academy, but I have a sincere heart for the young master, which those Hanlin scholars have never had." Yan Shifan said indifferently, "How much is a sincere heart worth? There are at least 800 people waiting to see me outside the door. You say you are sincere, but aren't they sincere?"

The student wiped the sweat off his forehead awkwardly, and quickly took out a thick stack of silver notes and deeds from his sleeve and held it up, saying, "My student Meng Lang, please calm down, young master. This is a small token of my gratitude, I hope you won't despise it."

When Yan Shifan saw the thick stack of silver bills and land deeds being held up, he did not ask anyone to collect them immediately.

Yan Shifan said, "I am not an unreasonable person. The money you give me is not to honor me, but to pave the way for your own business. As for how far and how good this road can be, it depends on how courageous you are. So I cannot accept this money."

The student got anxious when he heard this, "Young Master, please don't abandon me. I am truly sincere."

Yan Shifan held his hands and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? I haven't finished what I'm saying yet. If you don't even have the calmness and patience to be an official, how can you manage the people for the court in the future?"

The student wiped his sweat off his forehead and quickly replied, "Young Master, you are right. I am ignorant."

Yan Shifan scooped another spoonful of sugar and put it in his mouth. He immediately felt a sweetness in his heart, and his mood naturally became very good.

Yan Shifan reminded him, "There is an antique shop next to my house. If you think you deserve any antique, go buy one and send it to me for my comments."

After hearing what Yan Shifan said, the student seemed to understand something in an instant. He kowtowed and said, "Thank you for your guidance, young master."

Yan Shifan waved his hand and said, "Go ahead, don't waste time here."

The student bowed again and said, "Yes, yes, I will go right away."

After Yan Shifan sent the student away, he looked at the Yiran candy in his hand. The small bottle of Yiran candy was almost empty.

Yan Shifan said to the servant beside him: "Go find the shopkeeper of Yiran Tang. I want to meet him so that he can come to my house to deliver the candies in person in the future."

After saying this, Yan Shifan couldn't help but complain: "This candy tastes so much better than pickles. I don't know what the old man is thinking. He actually likes to eat Liuxinju's pickles."

The Liuxinju mentioned by Yan Shifan is the famous Liubiju in later generations, which is also one of Yan Song's few hobbies. When Yan Song has nothing to do, he would eat the pickles from Liuxinju. The owner of Liuxinju would come to Yan Song's house at a fixed time every month to deliver a few jars of the best pickles for Yan Song to eat.

But every time the boss of Liuxinju asked Yan Song to write the name of the store, Yan Song always refused. This made Yan Shifan unable to understand what the old man was thinking.
Since you like it so much, and he has been giving it to you for so many years, what's wrong with rewarding him with a few words?
Maybe it can be considered a good story.

Unfortunately, Yan Song just didn't want to do that.

This time, Yan Shifan also tasted his favorite good things. He felt that he would be much more generous than his father. As long as the shopkeeper of Yiran Tang was sensible and willing to cooperate, he would write a couplet for Yiran Tang without hesitation, asking it to become the property of the Yan family and be protected by the Yan family from then on.

After hearing Yan Shifan's instructions, the servant beside him immediately replied, "Yes, I will do it right away."

(End of this chapter)

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