The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 485

As the manager of Zuixianlou, Zhou Chu has repeatedly increased Sun Qiang's monthly salary over the past year, and now Sun Qiang's monthly salary has reached two hundred taels of silver.

However, these were still minor expenses for Sun Qiang; the real money came from his customers.

Many customers who come to Zuixianlou Restaurant are looking for favors, but not everyone who wants a favor has connections. As the manager of Zuixianlou Restaurant, and with Zhou Chu behind it, Sun Qiang naturally has connections with many high-ranking officials and nobles, or at the very least, he has good relationships with the stewards of those officials.

People who want to find connections but can't find them will come to Sun Qiang and ask him to help them make connections. If they want Sun Qiang to help them make connections, they will naturally have to pay him a fee, which is the main source of Sun Qiang's income.

Of course, Sun Qiang had already told Zhou Chu about this, and Zhou Chu had given his tacit approval. At the same time, Sun Qiang would record every relationship he introduced.

The Drunken Immortal Pavilion is completely different now than when it was first established. Although both are used for intelligence gathering, Zhou Chu used to gather intelligence to target officials. Now, with the Embroidered Uniform Guard in hand, as well as countless undercover agents and Rongmen disciples, he doesn't need the Drunken Immortal Pavilion to gather intelligence to investigate any official.

Moreover, if anyone who enters Zuixianlou gets into trouble, who would dare to come to Zuixianlou in the long run? The fact that Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, is behind Zuixianlou is not exactly a secret.

Nowadays, Zuixianlou gathers intelligence primarily to prevent unforeseen events from occurring, and there is absolutely no connection between entering or leaving Zuixianlou and whether or not something will happen.

Many officials even felt that Zuixianlou was safer because it was backed by Zhou Chu.

Therefore, Zuixianlou's business has been thriving for a long time, and Sun Qiang has also made a fortune. Sun Qiang received many benefits, but he dared not keep them all to himself. He would give 70% of them to Chunlan and let Chunlan store them in the Zhou family's treasury.

Sun Qiang didn't tell Zhou Chu this, but Chunlan did. Zhou Chu was very pleased with his uncle's actions. The point wasn't the money itself, but that Sun Qiang's actions showed that although he loved money, he could control his greed, and that Zhou Chu was always the priority in everything.

Who wouldn't like someone like that? Who wouldn't feel comfortable using such a person?

Although Sun Qiang said he didn't want these things, Wang Mu was always shrewd. He could refuse his cousin's gifts, but he couldn't refuse to give them to him.

"What are you saying? I've heard that you have connections everywhere. You can easily introduce wealthy businessmen to high-ranking officials, and they'll be grateful. What I'm doing is nothing. You must accept this."

Wang Mu said with a determined expression.

Upon hearing this, Sun Qiang looked helplessly at the items in Wang Mu's hands. They were all valuable items, which Sun Qiang could easily recognize at a glance.

"Cousin, tell me what it is. If I can help you, I'll accept it. If I can't, take these things and find another way."

Sun Qiang didn't give a definitive answer. Although in Sun Qiang's opinion, how big of a problem could his cousin have? As long as he was willing to ask, Zhou Chu would definitely take care of it with a wave of his hand.

But Sun Qiang knew even better that his cousin Wang Mu had always been fiercely opposed to evil. Although Sun Qiang knew his cousin Wang Mu well, he had never done anything that would anger heaven and man. Even when he was a slave trader, although he was more ruthless than Sun Qiang, he would never murder for money.

But since they hadn't been in contact for ten years, Sun Qiang didn't know what trouble the father and son had gotten into or what they had done, so he didn't give a definitive answer.

"Oh, to be honest, it's all my fault for being confused for a moment."

Wang Mu said with frustration.

.....

After listening to Wang Mu's words, Sun Qiang understood that these two were worried that this matter would affect their Wang family.

Logically speaking, the fact that the Northern Garrison Command was making such a big fuss suggests that the matter was no small thing. Should we continue the investigation? In Sun Qiang's opinion, there was no need for that. After all, among the officials in the capital, Sun Qiang knew of countless people who had gotten in through his connections.

If all of them are investigated and punished, then this imperial examination might as well not be held at all.

Moreover, this incident occurred before the imperial examinations. Although these scholars had all used connections, they had not actually committed any fraud. Sun Qiang felt that these scholars would most likely not be thoroughly investigated.

However, Sun Qiang also knew that not investigating thoroughly did not mean not investigating at all. With so many people openly using connections, a few unlucky ones had to be found to make an example of them.

Therefore, Sun Qiang couldn't guarantee that his cousin would be alright.

However, since Wang Mu had found Sun Qiang, Sun Qiang felt that he could probably help him with this matter, since it wasn't a big deal. But whether he could actually do it or not, he would have to ask Zhou Chu's opinion first.

"On the sixth day, go to the young master's place and talk to him about this matter to see what his opinion is."

Sun Qiang looked at Chu Liu and said.

In front of others, Sun Qiang would address Zhou Chu as "Young Master," just like he did on Chu Liu. Only when the two of them were alone would Sun Qiang call Zhou Chu "Weighing Instrument."

When Chu Liu heard this, he nodded. He had heard Wang Mu's words from the side and relayed them to Zhou Chu without any difficulty.

After leaving on the sixth day of the lunar month, Wang Mu and his son looked at Sun Qiang with puzzled expressions.

"Young Master is?"

Wang Mu hesitated for a moment.

“If the young master says he can handle this matter, then there’s no problem. If he says he can’t, then no one in the entire capital will dare to help you.”

Sun Qiang looked at Wang Mu and said meaningfully.

Previously, Sun Qiang did not know what Wang Mu and his son wanted from him and would have told them to find another way. But now that he knew it was about this matter, as long as Zhou Chu did not agree, no one in the entire capital would dare to help Wang Mu and his son.

After all, the fact that the investigation of officials was carried out so ostentatiously meant that Sun Qiang knew very well that his cousin was behind it all.

Sun Qiang had a lot of information at Zuixianlou, and he could analyze some of it himself. Needless to say, just looking at the Northern Garrison Command, he knew who was behind this matter.

Upon hearing this, Wang Mu and his son felt a chill run down their spines, instantly realizing that the young master Sun Qiang spoke of was probably a very powerful figure with connections to the heavens. They were immediately filled with trepidation and dared not ask any more questions.

They were unsure of what the young master Sun Qiang thought of their situation, and felt as uneasy as prisoners awaiting trial.

Fortunately, the Zhou residence was not far from the Drunken Spring Pavilion, and he returned quickly on the sixth day.

"The young master said you should take them to his home to talk."

On the sixth day of the lunar month, he came to Sun Qiang and said.

Upon hearing this, Sun Qiang immediately smiled. Since Zhou Chu had said so, it meant that he had agreed to the matter. If Zhou Chu didn't want to get involved, there would have been no need for him to say this.

What Sun Qiang didn't understand was that the matter of Wang Mu and his son was just a trivial matter for his cousin, something that could be resolved with a single sentence. Why was he taking it so seriously?

"This matter has a chance of success. Come with me."

Sun Qiang looked at Wang Mu and his son and said.

Upon hearing this, Wang Mu and his son Wang Ying were overjoyed.

Wang Mu hurriedly placed the items in his hands on the counter.

Sun Qiang didn't even glance at those things before walking out of Zuixianlou first, with Wang Mu and his son hurriedly following behind.

On the sixth day, Chu Liu put away the items on the counter. When Sun Qiang of Zuixianlou was not around, Chu Liu was always in charge.