Chapter 22

Twenty-two, "Hypocrite"

"Miss, Miss, look quickly, look quickly, there are so many people outside, it's the new magistrate handling cases on the street!

"Miss, that young lady Xie is there too.

"Miss, the new magistrate seems to be trying that third young master of the Liu family, great, I want to see his buttocks bloom..."

"Alright, stop peeking." A cold, clear voice finally replied, the tone once again indifferent:

"Be careful of falling off the wall again, and having your own buttocks bloom first."

"But, Miss, the new magistrate has already made the Liu family's third young master's buttocks bloom, wow, young lady Xie is so fierce."

"Keep your voice down."

"Oh... but Miss, this new magistrate gentleman is indeed quite handsome, last time I was too far away to see clearly before he fell into the water. He is worthy of being the top scholar of the Apricot Garden Banquet."

"Just a vase of the literati's pure stream."

"But a vase is also pleasing to the eye, it's quite nice placed there."

"A vase, used by the literati to show off their status, used by emperors to whitewash their virtuous names, used by historians to decorate history, used by the common people to comfort themselves, and now even used by a little maid like you to please the eyes. It seems quite nice, the only drawback is that it shatters as soon as it falls, and it is of no benefit to truly major affairs."

"Hmm, I don't understand... but Miss reads so many books. This should count as a compliment, right."

"It counts."

"Hey Miss, this magistrate gentleman said he came to Longcheng to do only one thing, but disaster relief, flood control, and justice, aren't these three things? Hmm, could it be that this servant counted wrong."

"It's not that you counted wrong."

"That's what this servant said, hehe, I counted on my fingers, how could I be wrong."

"You just don't have the brains."

"......

"Miss, why do you look completely uninterested, last time the new magistrate took office, didn't you take this servant to watch early?"

"The quality can be seen at a glance, why waste time watching again."

"Then... what quality did Miss see?"

Under the eaves, the young lady in red lowered her eyes to flip through a book, seemingly recalling the matter of that relative being impeached, a cold sneer appeared on her pink lips and white teeth:

"Hypocrite."

"Madam, our Longcheng is an ancient county.

"It is one of the ancient counties established since the First Emperor implemented the commandery-county system.

"Three hundred years ago, the famous scholar Tao Qian of the Eastern Jin Dynasty served as the county magistrate here for eighty-one days, so Tao Qian is also known as Tao Longcheng."

"Why only eighty-one days?"

"Eighty-one days is already giving us face, I heard he served in other official positions for even shorter periods, and our Longcheng magistrate was his last term, it has quite a commemorative significance."

"I really don't understand these famous scholars. Why resign for no reason."

"The county annals record that it seems to be something about not bowing for five pecks of rice, so he resigned, hung up his seal, and returned home, but he also left behind many poems and beautiful stories. Madam, please look at this plum blossom forest behind the residence, it is said that when Tao Qian was the magistrate, he released a pair of sika deer here, and later they lived in love and multiplied to this day, and there are already many sika deer inhabiting the mountains and forests of Longcheng."

"Two deer at the beginning, can they give birth to so many?" Madam Zhen's tone was suspicious.

"Ahem, who knows, maybe they attracted some outside deer later, it's all possible, Madam just listen to it as a beautiful story, no need to be serious."

Yan Wuxu quietly breathed a sigh of relief, bringing a woman to tour the residence is really not his specialty, especially bringing a sharp-tongued beautiful woman like the Magistrate's aunt, he estimated that only the Magistrate could suppress her.

Not long ago, the court session at the government office gate ended successfully, and the Magistrate went with Assistant Magistrate Diao and the others to check the disaster relief situation, leaving him to pick up Madam Zhen and go to the new residence prepared by the government officials for the Magistrate's family to settle in.

Because of the last flood, many buildings of the already dilapidated government office were washed down, and the water source was also polluted, so for now, the government office can only hold simple public meetings, and the main hall and flower hall of the government office are uninhabitable.

So Assistant Magistrate Diao and the others found a new residence for the magistrate on Luming Street near the government office, it is said that it was voluntarily offered by a wealthy person nearby who heard that the government office was in trouble.

Although the courtyard is not large, it is elegant and quiet, and the Magistrate brought very few accompanying people when he took office, only adding a staff member, Xie Lingjiang, so it is not crowded to live in.

"Madam, please look, this four-entry courtyard arranged for you, elegantly named Plum Deer Garden, is right on Luming Street, very close to the government office, it is very convenient for the Magistrate to work and eat every day."

Yan Wuxu thought for a while, and then smiled to find something to say: "Speaking of which, the names of the streets and residences in our Longcheng are quite elegant, all related to famous people and elegant events, such as the Yuanming Tower and Yuanming Street on the West Market side, the Di Gong Street near my humble home, and the Di Gong Sluice that blocks the water. Perhaps after the Magistrate is promoted, our Longcheng commoners will also leave names to commemorate him."

"This Tao Qian, Tao Yuanming, I have heard of him, but which Di Gong does this refer to?"

Yan Wuxu's expression was somewhat proud, "It is that Master Di in the imperial court, when he served as prime minister in his early years, he was demoted by the Empress from Luoyang to our Longcheng to serve as the county magistrate, the great flood at that time was cured by him, and the Di Gong Sluice was also first built by him, when he left, the commoners of Longcheng were reluctant to let him go, sending him off for ten miles with ten thousand people's umbrellas, and later built a shrine for him."

The lady in the long skirt who was directing the servants and cooks to move things turned her head and said: "Why does it feel like those who come to Dragon City to be the county magistrate don't encounter anything good. My dear son was also demoted while being promoted, sigh."

"......" Yan Wuxu was left not knowing how to respond, so he had to say: "Madam, set your heart at ease, look at Master Di, didn't he also sing all the way back to the imperial court later, as long as he is 'simple in the Empress's heart'."

"That's true too."

Madam Zhen nodded, then reached out and pointed to the depths of Plum Deer Garden, "Someone, go and tidy up the room in the innermost part, from now on this room will be dear son's study, it is right next to this plum blossom forest in the back garden, quiet and secluded, suitable for reading."

Yan Wuxu took a look and casually reminded: "This plum blossom forest seems to connect to the wealthy family next door who offered the residence, Madam should manage the servants below well, it would be bad if they accidentally entered it on weekdays."

"Got it."

On the other side, at the entrance of Plum Deer Garden, Ouyang Rong, who had met with Assistant Magistrate Diao to hand over work, was temporarily free, and brought Xie Lingjiang back to familiarize themselves with the new residence.

"Brother Lingjiang, are you sure you won't live together? I'll have my aunt tidy up a courtyard."

"No, I won't trouble your aunt." Xie Lingjiang hesitated slightly, looked around and said: "There is a family of an elder, not far away, I can stay there."

Ouyang Rong didn't care, nodded, said goodbye, and prepared to enter the door.

Behind him, Xie Lingjiang suddenly said: "Brother Lianghan."

"Hmm?"

"Today's case... handled beautifully."

"Just repeating what others have said."

"No, you have that kind of 'Qi'. Father once said that words are only the appearance, and the 'Qi' on a Confucian scholar is the foundation."

"'Qi'?"

"I stayed behind because I also wanted to find a certain 'Qi'."

"Is it the Qi of Haoran Zhengqi (noble spirit)?" Ouyang Rong tried to understand.

"It is and it isn't." It is the Qi of a Qi Refiner, Xie Lingjiang was a bit melancholy, "It is harder than that. It was the Qi at that moment when Brother Lianghan stood high and called out in public, it was fleeting, but I still saw it, but I don't understand it."

No wonder when he loudly said "only handle one thing" in public just now, the usually rigid and cold junior sister suddenly turned her head and stared straight at him... Ouyang Rong solved some of his confusion.

"Is that so."

Ouyang Rong really wanted to ask if it could be his handsomeness leaking out, but thought it shouldn't be, the junior sister is just "muscular in the chest", not brainless.

"I'll take it as Brother Lingjiang's compliment. There will be plenty of time in the future, if you see it again next time, you can remind me, I am also curious about this Qi." He smiled.

Xie Lingjiang nodded.

Asked again:

"Seeing it all the way down the mountain today, refugees, bullies, public security... the disaster situation in this Longcheng... I just saw you and Assistant Magistrate Diao seemingly arguing in the room?"

"Just a tiny difference in the concept of disaster relief."

"Does Brother Lianghan have a good strategy?"

"Can't call it a good strategy, just a medium strategy, but it's better than the current inferior strategy."

"What is the medium strategy?"

Under the bright sunlight in front of the door, the shadow of the young magistrate preparing to enter the door paused, seemingly hesitating for a while, left four words, and entered without looking back.

"Work-for-relief."

"Work... for-relief?" Xie Lingjiang stopped in place and chewed on it for a while, still couldn't understand, stood there and basked in the sun for a while, and still turned and left.

It's just that Ouyang Rong, who returned to Plum Deer Garden to eat at this time, didn't know that his junior sister didn't go far after leaving the gate of Plum Deer Garden, she just walked ten steps south along the long street, and then calmly turned into the huge mansion next door with the "Su Residence" plaque.

Xie Lingjiang was dressed in men's clothing, wearing a crown and a sword, with a long bow slung across her back, walked into a private boudoir garden where plum blossoms were blooming as if no one was around, and directly asked the young lady in red lying on the side under the eaves:

"Sister Su, what is the deep meaning of work-for-relief?"