Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Zheng Qiao, clutching his card, also chimed in, sneering, "What else could it be but teasing? Who can be fooled by these little tricks? Look at how smug he is, dragging out a new weapon and then pretending to be coy."

"Yeah, we all know he's teasing us. But not having the full set of cards is driving me crazy," someone said.

"Exactly! Who says it isn't? I'm only missing a dozen or so, and I haven't gotten a single gold card. It's keeping me up at night."

"Hey, aren't you collecting them for your grandson?"

"Keeps my grandson up at night."

Listening to the crowd's discussion, Li Yansong stroked his beard and casually remarked, "Actually... it's not like there aren't any gold cards."

"What? There are gold cards?"

Everyone around him perked up, tiptoeing closer to Li Yansong and forming a circle around him.

"Master Li, you have one? Let us take a look."

"I haven't heard of them being sold anywhere."

"Hey, who said there wasn't any nepotism?"

Seeing that he had become the center of attention, Li Yansong couldn't help but feel a little smug. He glanced at the crowd and said, "You want to see it? You also want to know where this old man got this gold card?"

"We do!" A strong curiosity shone in everyone's eyes.

"Alright, then this old man will open your eyes today. But let's get one thing straight: I have no relationship with Fang Zheng, so don't make fun of me about it anymore," Li Yansong said.

"Yes, yes, yes! We all know, Master Li. Hurry up!"

Li Yansong leisurely smiled and took out a golden card from his pocket!

Gold is too soft, so to prevent it from deforming, it was embedded in jade.

It was purely handmade, and the jade card holder was covered with delicate patterns.

The Jade-Inlaid Golden Brocade Guard Card appeared in the world, and everyone was amazed.

"So this is what a gold card looks like! It can be considered a treasure in itself!"

"Oh my, the craftsmanship is so exquisite! This is... Tianji Star? (Star of Wisdom)"

"Quick, look at the story written on the back!"

The crowd drew closer and closer, and Li Yansong quickly put away the gold card. "This tells the story of Meng Ru, the Tianji Star, who lived a hard life in the mountains since childhood, disconnected from the outside world. To improve the lives of his neighbors, he built a tunnel through the mountain. A wise man mocked him, but he remained true to his original intention and eventually opened the passage. This is called Meng Ru Drilling Through the Mountain!"

Someone exclaimed, "This man has such great perseverance and is so selfless, he deserves the ranking of Tianji Star! It's a pity that such a person is serving as a soldier under Fang Zheng."

"Why didn't he move out?"

"Hard to leave his homeland."

"Master Li, let us see it again. Why did you take it back? Don't be so stingy!"

Guo Tianyang quietly leaned over, his hands in his sleeves, constantly rubbing something, feeling puzzled.

How could there be two Tianji Stars? Are there duplicates of the gold card?

Li Yansong turned to the side and said anxiously, "Don't look! What if you break it? There's only one of these on the market!"

Zhang Dongxiang teased, "Look at how stingy you are! Where did you buy it? I'll go buy one too."

Li Yansong sighed. "Alright, alright! There's only one of these. You act like you're so generous. This card was a gift when you bought a clock at the newly opened clock shop in the city."

"That's not right! I bought one too, spent five thousand taels, and no one gave me anything! I'm going to find them!" An angry onlooker said on the spot.

Li Yansong continued, "Five thousand taels? Only the one that costs nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine taels comes with it!"

"No one told me when I bought it, but they'll give it to you if you buy it!"

Zheng Qiao suddenly shuddered and slapped his thigh. "Oh no! I bought the one for seven thousand five hundred taels, and it didn't come with anything! Didn't I lose out then!"

"Master Li, you're really rich! I remember the hands on that ten thousand tael clock are made of pure gold, right!"

Hearing this, Li Yansong became unhappy. "Hey, don't shout so loudly! This old man also spent a lot of money to buy it. That's ten thousand taels! I used the entire family's savings to buy this one, and I'm keeping it as an heirloom!"

"Tell me, isn't that pocket watch that Fang Zheng gave us a good thing? Who can live without it now?"

"I can't live my life without looking at the watch now. I want to buy a few for the younger generation, but there aren't any for sale on the market."

"I thought the five thousand tael one was too light and didn't feel good. I gritted my teeth and bought the most expensive one, so it would look good in the ancestral hall, right?"

Everyone nodded, and someone beat their chest in regret, saying, "If I had known, I would have gritted my teeth and bought the most expensive one. The expensive one is much heavier than the others, and the materials are much more solid! It's really penny wise, pound foolish!"

"That's right. What if the gold card you get is the Tiankui Star? Wouldn't that be like saving a thousand taels? Even if it's not the Tiankui Star, it's still worth a few hundred taels! Damn it, why did they hide it?"

"How long ago did you buy it? Their shopkeeper said they'll refund it within three days. Hurry up and get a refund."

"I can't get a refund! I bought it seven days ago!"

Zheng Qiao suddenly spread his arms and shouted, "Wait! Wait! Why does this sound wronger and wronger the more I listen!"

"Why do you think Fang Zheng gave us pocket watches in the first place? He suddenly became so generous. Isn't he just waiting for us here?"

"He made us use the pocket watch so we can't live without it, and then he opened some kind of clock shop that only sells clocks and not pocket watches."

"Then he came up with the Brocade Guard Star Card. Only buying the most expensive clock gives you a gold card. This is all a conspiracy!"

The crowd collectively fell silent.

Damn! That makes sense!

This is like an old lady wearing cotton pants, one layer after another! He got us all in!

That bastard, we thought he had suffered a disaster and turned over a new leaf! We didn't expect that he unknowingly scraped the entire court!

The crowd pondered for a long time, feeling a little uneasy. Suddenly, someone broke the silence. "He's good! Fang Zheng is too cunning!"

"Isn't he just waiting for us to fall into his trap?"

"I'm not buying it! We won't use his things anymore! We won't buy anything from Taoyuan County!"

"This isn't a conspiracy, it's simply an open plot! Now that we don't have a pocket watch, we always feel like something is missing? What if it breaks one day? Will you guys not buy it when he sells them again in the future?"

As soon as these words came out, the crowd fell silent again.

That's right, we can't live without the pocket watch now... The previous timekeeping methods were too crude.

If we planned our lives as roughly as before, we would be a step behind others in everything.

Moreover, the court has already adapted to using hours and minutes to plan time. If you don't use it, you won't be able to keep up with others.

"How do you think this thing was made? Is it only Taoyuan County that can make this thing? Why don't we find some skilled craftsmen to take it apart and study it? I don't think it's anything mysterious!"

"I can't bear to. Lord Dong, your family is rich, why don't you take one apart and try it?"

"My family isn't rich, forget it."

"No! I can't swallow this! Let's shame him to his face. Let's all go together!" The more everyone thought about it, the more they felt cheated, and Zhang Dongxiang suddenly stood up, indignant.

"Alright! Let's go together! Let's shame him!"

......