Chapter 152

One hundred fifty-nine, Finishing Touches and Inventory

Leaving the Gu Yue Sword Shop.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong and his group returned to Luming Street in a grand procession.

Perhaps because he was in a good mood today, or perhaps to ease the awkwardness of ignoring Shen Shen Xisheng when buying pancakes for his senior brother earlier, or perhaps to provide some benefits for his senior brother.

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang paid out of her own pocket to treat everyone to breakfast.

For this early morning raid on the Gu Yue Sword Shop, everyone had gathered under Magistrate Ouyang Rong's lead before dawn, and almost all of them had come on empty stomachs.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, except for those from wealthy families, most people only ate two meals a day, so breakfast appeared particularly important.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong had just eaten a bowl of scallion noodle soup with an old craftsman at the sword shop's morning market, so he wasn't hungry.

But hearing his junior sister mention it, he looked at Yan Beside Yan Liulang and the others, and immediately felt a bit embarrassed.

So, upon hearing his junior sister's suggestion, the group's carriage procession stopped in front of a popular breakfast shop in the bustling East Market, not far from Luming Street.

However, Shen Shen Xisheng seemed to have some other matters, so he smilingly declined the "worthy niece's" treat and returned to Luming Street first.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to tease: "It seems Uncle Shen is not destined to eat the worthy niece's sugar-oil pancakes."

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang's face turned slightly red.

On the other side, Yan Beside Yan Liulang and the others were not at all polite about Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang's generosity.

In any case, the knowledgeable people in the county government office all knew that for this Chen Jun Xie Secretary who was disguised as a man, this was just a small amount of money; could it possibly eat the Chen Jun Chen Jun Xie clan into poverty?

Thus, Yan Beside Yan Liulang and the others exchanged meaningful glances with Magistrate Ouyang Rong, then turned and began to eat heartily.

Only Magistrate Ouyang Rong and Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang were left alone.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong couldn't help but look at his junior sister more, always feeling that since the ribbon-cutting ceremony, his junior sister seemed to have changed; for instance… she was more attentive and sensible, and more capable of handling things.

She had started to fill in the gaps for him, her senior brother.

"Is Xiao Shimei not going to eat a little?"

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang shook her head.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong stood by the carriage with his hands in his sleeves and turned to explain:

"I don't know why, but Magistrate Shen has delayed his itinerary for these past few days and is still staying in Longcheng, so I invited him to come along this morning."

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang nodded and glanced at her senior brother.

The latter also looked at her and asked curiously:

"When I returned to the Meilu Garden last time, I saw people under Magistrate Shen entering and leaving the Su residence. Is Magistrate Shen, like the Master, an old friend of the Su family head, having studied together in Chang'an in the past?"

After a pause, he laughed:

"Could Su Bo be some retired great Confucian? I am truly ill-informed."

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang examined her senior brother's expression and said calmly:

"Why doesn't Ru Shixiong ask Uncle Shen directly, or ask Su Bo directly?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong smiled and didn't pursue the topic.

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang bit her lip and asked:

"This surprise raid search can be considered a fruitless return. Is Ru Shixiong not disappointed at all?"

"I was mentally prepared. But the affairs of this world are unpredictable; who can say they are always foolproof?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong shook his head gently, his expression as usual, as if stating an ordinary matter:

"Moreover, the Liu clan has already been castrated and can no longer stir up any major waves. I have already led by example, and from now on, the commoners and gentry of Longcheng County will never let the Liu clan ride on their heads again to act tyrannically.

"Unless there is outside help from heaven, but that is outside the scope of normal discussion."

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang asked curiously: "Castrated?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded:

"The residual influence and power that the Liu clan accumulated in Longcheng County for over a decade have already been completely destroyed by the public trial of the whole county. All the commoners in the county have seen that the so-called Liu clan and Master Liu are not omnipotent or invincible myths.

"Liu Liu Ziwen is also a mortal; he can also be judged by the county government, and he can also be stabbed to death by other mortals. All the previous events were just high walls built of fear, which collapse at a single push.

"I have already taught everyone the methods of struggle hand-in-hand."

Speaking of this, Magistrate Ouyang Rong sighed and turned to say earnestly:

"Xiao Shimei, the situation you saw these past two days where the Liu clan was shouted at by everyone and had their land divided, was just the fruit falling when ripe after being castrated. The commoners of the whole county no longer fear the Liu clan; this is the reason for the Liu clan's collapse."

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang stared into his eyes and added: "This is also the result Ru Shixiong wanted."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong smiled.

"However, evil must still be eradicated completely. The case of the Lady Yuzhi female immortal must be investigated clearly; we cannot let the Liu clan, which is very likely the mastermind, go unpunished."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded, "That goes without saying." He added: "But for now, my focus and that of the Longcheng County government must be on flood control."

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang pursed her lips, her gaze fixed on the man opposite her:

"So Ru Shixiong has always been very clear about what he is doing."

Hua Xuanji, she said firmly: "Then leave these minor finishing tasks to me."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong seemed to recall something and said in a daze: "Right, come back to Meilu Garden with me; I have a piece of criminal evidence to hand over to you."

"Criminal evidence?" Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang was stunned. After greeting Yan Beside Yan Liulang and the others, a short while later, Magistrate Ouyang Rong brought Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang back to Meilu Garden. In the study of the Plum Forest Courtyard, he took out an object and handed it to Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang.

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang bowed her head and looked at the small blue cloth porcelain bottle in her hand, which was somewhat similar to the "scent bottle" found on Liu Liu Ziwen during the public trial.

She couldn't help but ask: "This is…"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong thought for a moment and recounted the events of the ribbon-cutting ceremony that day in detail.

"This object should be some kind of poison; it counts as criminal evidence. Xiao Shimei, take it and study it to see if you can discover any evidence beneficial to solving the case."

Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang's expression was thoughtful; she nodded and flipped her hand to put away the porcelain bottle.

The two chatted for a while longer, and Chen Jun Xie Chen Jun Xie Lingjiang took the Plum Forest path to return to the Yilan Pavilion first.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong watched her leave, then turned and closed the door.

He came to the desk.

He took off several items from his waist and bosom, one after another.

A short while later.

On the table lay a white sandalwood jade-handled knife.

A moonlight longsword that had dropped after Liu Liu Ziwen's death.

A smooth bead that looked like stone but not stone, like jade but not jade.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong turned his head to look in the direction of the Longcheng County government office, where an official seal lay quietly in the main hall.

These should be all the important items he had on him in this world.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and stared for a while.

He reached out his hand.

Thus, a rather strange scene occurred in front of the desk.

One moment he moved the white sandalwood jade-handled knife into his bosom, the next he moved the moonlight longsword to the side, and then he pushed the night-luminescent pearl diagonally forward…

Magistrate Ouyang Rong's expression was thoughtful.

He seemed to be considering some kind of distribution and ownership of them…

For a long time, he raised his head and looked around at the empty study and the empty Meilu Garden.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was lost in a daze.

A murmuring voice drifted by the table:

"Since coming down the mountain, it's finally almost over… Once we get through the last rise of this plum rain season, I can prepare to go home…"

The man at the table had an expression that was hard to tell whether it was happy or sad.

It was more like a look of melancholy.

Not long after, Magistrate Ouyang Rong closed his eyes and entered the Merit Tower, which he hadn't visited for a long time.

The ancient little tower stood on the clouds of his heart, its top shining brilliantly under the ten thousand rays of light.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong walked into the tower.

He glanced at the bell and the wooden fish that had been silent for a long time.

Hua Xuanji, he turned his gaze toward the place he cared about most.

【Merit: 14,288】

Magistrate Ouyang Rong remembered that the original merit value was "12,081."

After this wave of public trials, dismantling the Liu clan, and assisting in Liu Liu Ziwen's death, and other operations, his merit value had increased by nearly 2,200 points.

Looking at it this way, merit value is still relatively difficult to increase; after all, occasionally encountering an unknown blessing requires wasting several thousand…

It seems the Liu clan doesn't count as much of a villain; they aren't enough for him to farm… Magistrate Ouyang Rong laughed.

However, the Di Gong Sluice had just been completed, and the Zhe Yi Channel was not yet fully operational, so the things he had been busy with these days hadn't fully manifested as merit value yet; he still needed to wait quietly for a period of time for it to ferment.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze.

He didn't pay too much attention to it.

In fact, since his merit value exceeded 10,000, merit value to him was just a string of numbers.

He was just slightly curious now whether he could break through 20,000 merit points before returning, to make it a round number…

Magistrate Ouyang Rong laughed at himself.

He turned and left the Merit Tower.

Opening his eyes, he was in the study.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong, preparing to get up and go out, covered his mouth and yawned.

For some reason, his sleep had been very deep these past few nights…

(PS: The next chapter is at twelve o'clock at night, for sure! I'll write a bit of what you brothers might want to see!)

By the way, taking advantage of the guide, I'll recommend a good brother's immortal cultivation seedling, "The White Snake Immortal in the World." The author is handsome and the book is good. The most important thing is that he updates explosively every day. He is a player who drinks 10,000 words like water. Damn, Xiao Rong is jealous to the point of splitting!

(End of chapter)

Recent transcoding is severe, giving us more motivation to update faster. Please move your little hand to exit reading mode. Thank you.