Chapter 294: Chapter 294

"It seems Brother Zizhan has been quite carefree these years out in the world! Truly worthy of being the 'True Refined Scholar' admired by scholars and adored by countless young maidens!"

This "True Refined Scholar" comment carried rather profound implications.

Even someone as thick-skinned as Su Zizhan couldn't help feeling slightly embarrassed at this moment.

The reason was simple - ever since being appointed as an imperial inspector by the official two years ago, tasked with inspecting various construction projects on his behalf.

At that time, the official had specifically instructed him not to rush back with reports, but to thoroughly experience local customs and scenery, preferably documenting them in detail.

Initially, Su Zizhan hadn't understood the intention, until he visited a remote small county and discovered its exceptionally delicious sweet peaches. Locals told him that during spring, the miles of peach forests created absolutely breathtaking scenery.

Soon after, someone specially brought him peach wine brewed the previous year.

With fine food, excellent wine, and beautiful blossoms under the full moon - well, caught in the moment, Su Zizhan spontaneously composed a poem right then.

Yet who could have expected that within days, this poem appeared verbatim in newspapers distributed nationwide.

In short, with all these factors combined, the previously unknown Taohua County instantly became "trending." Coincidentally, new roads had recently been built there, and soon scholars and students came streaming in continuously.

This not only boosted peach sales, but the locally brewed peach blossom wine became wildly popular among scholars. Even some young maidens would occasionally sip a cup or two, claiming they wanted to experience the wine that had so captivated the talented Master Su!

Similar phenomena occurred with Dingzhou's West Wind wine, Ba Lin's Qiongchuan Waterfall, Mount Lu's cloud mist tea, Jiangbei's milk bricks, Yizhou's ten-mile maple forest, Yueyang Tower, and more...

Su Shi had always been generous with his brush, writing spontaneously as inspiration struck. At first he didn't think much of it, but even someone as carefree as him eventually noticed something after repeated occurrences.

Especially when returning from his travels, he happened to revisit one location and discovered that within just two years, the previously remote and impoverished small county now had every household living in new houses and wearing new clothes.

Moreover, with scholars and artists flocking there from everywhere, its reputation kept growing...

Meanwhile, due to his high exposure, clever writers occasionally rode his popularity wave with works like "Detective Stories of Su Zizhan," "Collection of Su Zizhan's Favorite Foods," "Su Zizhan Pleading for the People: Two or Three Incidents of Confronting Corrupt Officials," and various others.

These consistently achieved impressive sales figures.

Of course, there were also ridiculous ones like "The Complicated, Forbidden Love Story Between Master Su and a Certain Famous Courtesan."

Needless to say, after that publication, a certain courtesan saw her fame and value skyrocket overnight. In any case, amidst all these mixed true and false stories...

Su Shi himself unsurprisingly became the latest public sensation.

Eventually, everywhere he went and every delicacy he tasted attracted countless admirers who came to pay homage.

Coincidentally, the official's road construction projects had progressed quite smoothly by then, with local specialty trade and travel activities becoming increasingly frequent...

In short, by the time Su Shi himself realized what was happening, the situation was already firmly established.

The unfortunate part was that even his younger brother's recent letters had shifted from concerned warnings like "Elder brother, aren't you being somewhat too conspicuous? Don't forget the official's official business" to teasing questions like "Is that Guanxi roasted lamb leg really that delicious?"

Especially when facing his friend's teasing that clearly enjoyed watching the drama.

Fortunately, Su Zizhan had always been thick-skinned. After his brief embarrassment, he quickly relaxed, even happily sharing various amusing travel anecdotes with his friend while sipping tea.

Well, sigh, Zihou seems in low spirits right now, better share more cheerful stories...

Clearly reading his thoughts, Zhang Dun across from him paused briefly while holding his teacup.

With each harboring their own thoughts, the two chatted for another half-cup of tea time. As old friends reunited in harmonious atmosphere, Su Shi suddenly remembered something and abruptly asked:

"By the way, Brother Zihou, since the official is already pregnant, what about the child's father?"

"I haven't heard any news about the official getting married either!" he finally muttered quietly:

"Could it be that I've been away too long and my information is outdated? Or did the official only appoint some male consorts?"

Well, after all, she is the official - keeping a few male consorts in the rear palace would be quite normal.

Zhang Dun: "..." Slowly setting down his teacup, Zhang Zihou immediately looked up with a smile:

"Heh, it's quite late tonight, and my humble residence is really too shabby. I won't detain Brother Zizhan any longer today."

The next day, inside the palace

Flipping through the new quarterly account books sent by Madame Su, particularly noticing the multiplied numbers within, An Ning nodded with satisfaction.

Excellent. Indeed, celebrity effect and such things are extremely useful.

"Build roads before getting rich" is also quite effective!

See, the money spent earlier has now returned multiplied!

However, looking at the "Su Zizhan Poetry Collection" in her hand, An Ning couldn't help stroking her chin:

Undeniably, the poems in this volume were all excellent, that's true. But perhaps because she'd grown accustomed to the earlier ones, this collection - though by the same person - somehow felt like it had lost some of its distinctive flavor...

Even though it contained many poems praising her.

Sigh. Setting down the poetry volume, An Ning sighed inwardly. No wonder most timeless masterpieces by renowned poets emerged during times of frustration!

People, especially poets, really shouldn't have lives that are too smooth.

Should she manually increase the difficulty a bit?

Yet looking at Su Zizhan's carefree expression and his every movement radiating sunny, dashing youthfulness, she lightly coughed. The great demon king An Ning ultimately restrained her itching hands and instead smiled at the person before her:

"Very good, Minister Su's performance this time greatly pleases me..."

Glancing at his somewhat weathered face, An Ning felt a rare twinge of conscience.

Forget it, his journey has been arduous enough - better let Minister Su rest for a while.

Coincidentally, the Ministry of War has been quite short-handed lately.

Unaware he'd narrowly avoided calamity, Master Su smiled just as breezily: "The official's brilliant strategies and governance have created this harmonious prosperity."

"For your subject to witness such flourishing times is truly the greatest honor."

Honored, huh? Good that you feel honored. Rest assured, you talented scholar will have plenty more opportunities to witness flourishing times...

An Ning thought cheerfully to herself.

Days passed gradually. As An Ning's pregnancy advanced, daily morning court sessions were temporarily suspended.

By mid-May, another victory report arrived from the Western Xia battlefield. After capturing Ganzhou, and with An Ning continuously supplying gold coins and equipment, the army kept advancing triumphantly and had now reached the Western Xia capital...

Perhaps because recent happy events had been too concentrated, that night after handling memorials, just as An Ning prepared to rest, she suddenly felt wetness below...