This son-in-law is wicked in a good way!

"Your subject has a memorial to present!"

A man on the left stepped forward, bowed to the Empress, and spoke.

"Your Majesty, I, Guan Tianyou, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, hereby report that the night watchman has overstepped his authority and arbitrarily obstructed the Ministry of Justice's judgment. I beseech Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"

The Empress's gaze swept down to the red-clad Grand Eunuch Guo Sanbao on the right.

Guo Sanbao hurriedly stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, this case is closely related to the case of the son of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel who forcibly abducted a woman. The cases have been combined and are within the scope of the Night Watch's duties. There is no overstepping of authority."

The Empress said calmly, "Since the cases have been combined, this case will be handed over to the Night's Watch."

Guan Tianyou's expression changed: "Your Majesty..."

"My mind is made up, Lord Guan, there is no need for further words."

"Yes..." Guan Tianyou shook his head unwillingly and rejoined the ranks, glancing at Sun Guihua before doing so.

Sun Guihua stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, I, your humble servant, have accused the Night Watchman of being arrogant and domineering. Based solely on one side of the story, he has unjustly imprisoned my son, and we do not know whether he is alive or dead."

The Empress looked at Guo Sanbao again.

Guo Sanbao remained completely calm.

"Your Majesty, someone has accused Lord Sun's son. The night watchmen were merely arresting criminals according to the law; there was no arrogance or overbearing behavior involved. Lord Zhang's accusations are pure slander."

Sun Guihua sneered, "If what Lord Dian said is true, if your Night Watch can't produce evidence within a year, you'll lock my son up for a year?"

Guo Sanbao understood that Sun Guihua, that old fox, wasn't impeaching him, but rather forcing him to give a deadline.

"Your Majesty, if there is no evidence to prove that Young Master Sun committed a crime after three days, the night watchman will release him."

Zhang Ping'an, this is all the help our family can give you.

The Empress looked at Sun Guihua: "Lord Sun, do you have any objections to this deadline?"

"Your Majesty, I have no objection. I hope that Your Excellency will keep your word three days from now." Sun Guihua stepped forward.

The brief confrontation came to an end.

In this round, the Night's Watch was clearly on the defensive.

Suzaku Street.

Zhang Ping'an and Lao Wang conducted their visits separately.

He had no hope for such a visit.

In ancient times, without surveillance, the difficulty of solving cases increased hundreds or even thousands of times, especially major cases involving high-ranking officials as the masterminds.

However, Zhang Ping'an had another purpose: he wanted to find sales channels for the storybooks.

Soon, he passed a shop called Lao Bi Zhai.

"Young lady, Master Canyang has just arrived with a new storybook, only three taels of silver. Would you like to come in and take a look?"

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man in his thirties, thin and wiry, with a somewhat sleazy appearance.

Only after Zhang Ping'an walked over did he begin to promote his product to the pedestrians on the street.

Zhang Ping'an paused, stepped back, and stared curiously at the shopkeeper, asking a question.

"Shopkeeper, you said you sell storybooks here?"

Upon seeing Zhang Ping'an's striking black bird-patterned robes, the shopkeeper immediately put on a smile, though it was somewhat forced.

"Sir, do you also enjoy reading storybooks? Come and take a look in the shop. If you like any of them, I'll give them to you."

Zhang Ping'an didn't say anything, but put his hand on the hilt of his knife and walked into the shop.

This old pen shop primarily sells pens, but such shops usually also deal in other things.

After all, the Four Treasures of the Study are inseparable, and the shop has a full range of writing implements such as brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

On the bookshelf directly opposite the entrance, there was a row of very conspicuous storybooks.

Zhang Ping'an casually picked up a storybook called "The Great Swordsman" and started reading.

Blanch!

After reading the first chapter, I didn't want to read any more.

It's a straightforward story with no engaging plot, and to make matters worse, there aren't even any punctuation marks. It's just a huge, dark chapter filled with text, which would probably drive anyone with trypophobia crazy.

It seems that Brother Lu Han was right; the book he has is indeed a high-quality one. At least it has paragraphs and punctuation marks, so it's easy to read.

I read a few more books, and they were all pretty much the same.

"Shopkeeper, how much are these storybooks?" Zhang Ping'an was more confident in his writing.

The shopkeeper truthfully replied: "The top row is two taels of silver per book, the bottom row is one tael of silver, and the more famous books, such as those by Master Canyang, are three taels of silver per book."

Zhang Ping'an nodded and took out the completed manuscript from his pocket.

"Shopkeeper, I've written two drafts of a storybook, and I'd like to sell them here. Would you mind giving them your feedback?"

The shopkeeper was taken aback, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes, but he quickly hid it.

"With your status, sir, why would you need to write any storybooks?"

"Take a look first," Zhang Ping'an said sternly.

"Alright, alright!" Seeing that Zhang Ping'an was a little angry, the shopkeeper didn't dare to say anything more and immediately flipped through the storybook.

However, the shopkeeper simply did not believe that a mere clerk could write any interesting stories.

But when you see the opening line: "Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs."

Immediately, I became interested.

It seems... kind of interesting.

As he continued reading, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up.

Especially when he first saw cultivators, it was like discovering the door to a new world, and he couldn't stop.

Zhang Ping'an smiled with satisfaction, and without disturbing him, simply watched him quietly from the side.

Finally, a quarter of an hour later, the shopkeeper finished reading both drafts.

Then, he closed his eyes and savored the moment. Only then did he remember that there was an official waiting beside him, and he hurriedly apologized to Zhang Ping'an with a flustered expression.

"My lord, please forgive me. Your story is so well-written that I was completely engrossed in reading it. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Zhang Ping'an understood that when online novels from later generations appeared in this era, they would definitely have a powerful spiritual impact on the people of this era.

"How did the shopkeeper feel?"

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! In all my years, this is the most wonderful storybook I've ever read!"

"If you can maintain this level of quality, I'm almost certain that your reputation will immediately surpass that of the currently popular Master Canyang, making you a rising star in the world of storytelling!"

"Don't worry, these are just the beginning. What follows will only get more exciting."

If he were to see the Six Meridians Martial Arts Tournament or the Daoist Divine Sword Thunder Control Technique, the shopkeeper would probably immediately kneel down and kowtow to him.

"If I put my storybooks in your shop for sale, do you have the channels to sell them?" This was the question Zhang Ping'an was most concerned about.

The shopkeeper was immediately overjoyed: "Sir, I certainly have the channels. If you are willing to let me sell them, I will only take a minimum profit of 10%."

"If you don't believe me, sir, feel free to ask other shops. In the trade, the profit split is usually 30/70, and for newcomers, it's even less than 50/50."

"I dare not make money off the officials; I only need a 10% profit to break even."

Zhang Ping'an didn't believe him at all. Even if there was only a 10% profit, the quality of his stories would be enough to make the shopkeeper a fortune.

"Then wouldn't you be at a loss?" Zhang Ping'an glanced at him sideways.

"It is my honor to serve the officials, and I don't care about losing a little money."

"Alright, I'll sell these storybooks with you from now on. Just tell me the specific procedures."

Judging from the shopkeeper's eloquence, Zhang Ping'an thought it was worth a try to cooperate.

"Sir, there's really no procedure. Just update ten chapters a month, and bind them into a book for sale. As for the price, you can set it yourself."

"What price do you think we should set?" Zhang Ping'an was not familiar with the market.

"Let's set it at ten taels for now. After all, you're not famous yet. Once you become well-known, the price will double."

What the hell!

Zhang Ping'an was overjoyed. He had only wanted five taels, but the shopkeeper had asked for several times that amount.