Time flew by, and within a month and a half, the capital’s public opinion was in turmoil.

Fang Zheng moved incredibly fast.

The day after leaving Mingluan Palace, he purchased a large plot of land outside the city.

Then he began recruiting people in Banshan District to build the factory.

With many people participating and its proximity to the capital, news that the textile factory would only hire female workers naturally couldn’t be kept secret.

Within days, the news spread throughout the city.

The common people discussed it heatedly.

Women weaving clothes was natural and unproblematic.

But hiring female workers on such a large scale was quite unusual!

Who was so bold! What did they want with so many women? Were they trying to build a harem?

Many conservatives angrily denounced this as immoral and a sign of societal decay.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before the Northern Rong envoy’s visit to the capital became the new hot topic.

The public, who had just started to nibble on one melon, quickly moved on to an even bigger one.

During this time, Fang Zheng would often change into common clothes and stroll the streets with Zhang Biao.

He had no particular business; he just wanted to hear what topics the people were discussing.

He hadn’t seen Li Yuanzhao for over a month, not knowing what he was up to.

But that was fine; it gave him some peace and quiet.

This day was like any other.

Fang Zheng bought two large meat buns in the district, leaned against a wall, and listened to a news reader reciting the newspaper to the public.

Places with news readers were often bustling with activity.

Now that newspapers had been in circulation for a while, not only illiterate commoners but even many scholars would gather to join in the excitement.

After all, melons are tastier when eaten together! What’s the point of eating alone?

Fang Zheng wasn’t interested in the content the news reader was reciting.

He already knew the content a day in advance.

Many of the filler articles were even written by him when he felt the urge to write.

What he cared about wasn’t the content of the newspaper.

He listened as the news reader finished, and as usual, the surrounding crowd began to chatter and discuss.

“Hey! Did you know the Northern Rong people don’t like to bathe?”

“So what if they don’t bathe? Who bathes every day?”

“The Northern Rong never bathe in their entire lives!”

“That’s impressive!”

This isn’t what I want to hear!

Fang Zheng ate his bun expressionlessly, while the other bun in his hand was being squeezed so hard the filling was about to burst out.

Zhang Biao, quick to react, scooped out the filling that was about to squeeze out and stuffed it into his mouth.

Although the atmosphere in Banshan District had improved, the common people were still poor.

After all, it had only been less than a year, and there was still a long way to go.

It was already considered diligent if the common people bathed once a month!

It seemed there was still much work to be done…

He pricked up his ears to continue listening.

“Tch! Not bathing is nothing. I have some big news you definitely don’t know.”

“Quick, tell us!”

The onlookers wore expressions of great anticipation.

“The Northern Rong people love to swap wives, every family does it!”

“Oh my heavens! They’re quite perverse over there!”

The crowd was extremely excited!

Someone exclaimed emotionally, “Is that true? Don’t lie!”

Fang Zheng secretly shouted, “Of course it’s true! Have you ever heard of brothels on the grasslands?”

Everyone suddenly realized!

They had heard that most of the Northern Rong lived on the grasslands, but they’d never heard of brothels there!

That’s right! If every family swaps wives, why would they need brothels?

It must be true then!

Many people were so excited their faces turned red, their minds filled with indescribable fantasies.

But then they remembered that the Northern Rong never bathed in their entire lives.

Their excitement instantly deflated.

The discussion in the crowd continued.

“Nonsense! Absolute nonsense!”

“I have the real news. The Northern Rong actually prefer to mate with donkeys!”

“Bullshit! Who keeps donkeys on the grasslands? Have you lost your mind?”

“If not donkeys, then it must be small horses…”

The crowd burst into laughter, but suddenly someone asked in confusion, “Wait, where is all this news about the Northern Rong coming from?”

“How do you all know this?”

The few people who had been speaking in the crowd revealed mysterious smiles.

One of them squeezed into the crowd, and people couldn’t help but gather around.

They heard him say in a low voice, “This is a big secret!”

“Let me tell you, I got this news from a newspaper boy.”

“This morning when the newspaper boy was selling papers, a piece of paper fell out of his bag, and it had all this written on it!”

“Oh? You also picked it up from a newspaper boy?”

“Me too!”

“We haven’t been fooled, have we?”

Suddenly, someone in the crowd said, “It can’t be fake!”

“Let me tell you, when I was coming here, I saw many reporters searching for something on the street. When I got closer, I heard that some top-secret manuscripts had been stolen from the newspaper office!”

“They said the content absolutely couldn’t be leaked, or it would affect diplomatic relations with the Northern Rong!”

“If it’s not found immediately, it could lead to disaster!”

So it was true! Everyone’s eyes lit up!

The crowd immediately burst into exclamations of surprise, then excitedly looked at those around them, communicating their joy through their eyes.

Incredible!

The Northern Rong not bathing, swapping wives, mating with small horses – I now know all these state secrets!

If I don’t go out and show off a bit, can I even call myself a person?!

…

Soon after, the crowd dispersed, leaving only Fang Zheng and Zhang Biao behind.

This time Fang Zheng was satisfied; the effect had been achieved.

For over a month, he had been tirelessly smearing the Northern Rong.

He had lost count of how many waves of rumors he had spread.

But this morning, hearing that the Northern Rong envoy was about to arrive, he personally came out to smear them one last time.

He estimated that by tonight, the news would reach Emperor Jing’s ears again.

After all, His Majesty was a man who cared about face.

After hearing so many rumors… I don’t believe he would still agree to any ridiculous political marriage!

Even if he considered a political marriage, he’d have to consider public opinion, right?

Although the matter of a political marriage was just something he had imagined and hadn’t actually happened yet.

But it still wasn’t acceptable!

I, Fang Zheng, must nip this danger in the bud!

Of course, the mysterious news “leaked” by the newspaper boys was all pre-arranged by him.

The reputation of the Banshan Newspaper couldn’t be ruined, and they couldn’t blatantly smear the Northern Rong.

So he had to resort to these underhanded tactics, using small tricks to let the public spread the rumors spontaneously.

Fortunately, from what he had observed so far, the effect was excellent.

Those old fogies in the court couldn’t find any evidence against him either.

Emperor Jing naturally knew what was going on.

But what could he do about it?

At most, he could reprimand Fang Zheng privately.

At worst, Fang Zheng would have to write a few more flattering articles.

Everything was within his expectations! It was absolutely foolproof!

This round… he had won before the battle even started!

After thinking for a while and feeling he hadn’t missed anything,

Fang Zheng took a satisfied bite of his bun.

“What the hell! Where’s my filling!?”

…

At the post station in Hengjiang City.

The Northern Rong delegation of over a hundred people had already arrived!

There were dozens of boxes of gold, silver, and jewels alone, not to mention other precious Northern Rong treasures.

Leading them was a bald man in his thirties.

He was dressed in gold and silver, incredibly luxurious.

But what caught people’s attention even more than the gold and silver ornaments was the giant of a man beside him!

Even sitting down, he was taller than the monk.

His broad, sturdy build made it seem like he could fit two monks inside him!

The giant held a leg of lamb in his hand, tearing off a large strip of meat with one bite.

Meat juices and grease flew everywhere.

After chewing just a couple of times, he swallowed it whole, his eating manner extremely unrestrained!

The giant looked at the monk and spoke, his voice like muffled thunder, “National Preceptor Paba, how much longer until we arrive?”