Chapter 52

Fifty-two, Where Did My Big Merit Go?

Magistrate Ouyang Rong came again to this ancient Merit Tower in the clouds.

Before the water control was successful, he actually didn't want to set foot here.

And at the beginning, Magistrate Ouyang Rong didn't intend to redeem this new merit. He didn't lack anything at the moment, and the water control progress was considered smooth. He just wanted to save up enough ten thousand merit points to redeem that big merit in the Pure Land Underground Palace that might send him home. There was no need to waste merit points to redeem anything else.

But unfortunately, the new merit triggered inexplicably on the Dragon Boat Festival had been reminding him in his ears, accompanied by the slight humming of the merit bell.

It was just like a phone vibrating and humming on the table after the sound was turned off—and it was one from his girlfriend.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong deliberately dragged it out for two days without paying attention to it, but it was still humming and humming. The merit bell with purple energy churning in his mind persistently reminded him: You dead ghost, it's time to answer the "girlfriend's call."

Answer your sister.

You're clinging to me, right?

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was helpless.

Either fearing that the new merit would block the redemption of the old merit, or wanting to verify the power of the merit bell.

It just so happened that the overall situation outside was temporarily settled for the time being. Tonight, he took the time to enter the Merit Tower in his sea of consciousness again.

It was the same old place, the boundless white mist, the banned little wooden fish, oh, and the merit bell that jumped like a vibrator in three gears above.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong first glanced at the line of blue-gold clerical script above the little wooden fish:

【Merit: 9361】

"Almost there."

His expression softened slightly, and he looked up at the ancient bell that was unwilling to be lonely and wanted to attract the owner's interest. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.

You weren't like this before. You were very cold and aloof, motionless. Even if I tried my best to strike you once, you wouldn't even make a sound. Why are you trembling like this now? Do you want your owner to satisfy you?

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at the dark purple energy slowly overflowing from the bell body with a strange expression, and reached out to grab it. The purple energy was formless and imageless, but immediately, a divine message from an unknown source surged in his heart.

Uh, as long as one thousand merit points can satisfy you?

"So it's so easy to satisfy you now..."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong sighed, "I still like the way you ignored me before. Then... let's restore it."

Seeming to feel the command, the line of blue-gold clerical script below shone brightly. The original merit value dropped rapidly from "9361" to "8361". At the same time, a cluster of light of the same color flew out from the blue-gold clerical script, transformed into a vivid "swimming carp," and shot toward the merit bell!

This time, the "swimming carp" was no longer bounced back, but exploded into a gorgeous firework. At the same time, the merit bell stopped all trembling... It rang.

Clang~

This was the first time the merit bell had rung.

It was also the first merit redeemed.

The bell sound in his ears was not loud, but it was dull and melodious, as if it had penetrated time, penetrated space, and spread into the boundless void.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong stood in the clean white space inside the tower, waiting expectantly for a while, until the bell sound lingering in his ears faded away, before he looked around in a daze.

The Merit Tower returned to silence.

The little wooden fish, the blue-gold clerical script, and the merit bell... all returned to their original state, and it was the eternal tranquility again.

He waited for a long while, and it was still quiet.

"Is it redeemed in reality?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong pondered and muttered, turned and left the Merit Tower, and returned to reality.

In the back room of the study in Meiluyuan, on the pitch-black bed, the young magistrate supported himself with both hands, hugged the quilt and sat up, curiously looking left and right.

The room was quiet, with only the chirping of insects in the courtyard, drilling in through the cracks of the window, making it appear even quieter.

"Uh, why does it feel like nothing has changed."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong frowned suspiciously, lifted the quilt and got out of bed to pace around:

Opening the window for a while, pushing the courtyard gate for a while, and even running to the gate of the big mansion in the middle of the night to look around, which made Madam Zhen and others wake up in the middle of the night out of curiosity to look, and even ask if my dear son had made an appointment with some young lady to climb the wall and meet in the middle of the night.

"..."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong made excuses, and before dawn, he returned to his room full of doubts.

Where is my merit, where did my big merit go? Where did it go?

However, after this difficult night ended, the morning ended, the morning ended, the afternoon ended... the whole day ended, and Magistrate Ouyang Rong finally stopped doubting.

Be confident, remove the "feeling," there is really no change at all!

On the second day, for the morning shift, the young magistrate was expressionless as he stepped into the gate of the county office,

"Senior Brother... why do you have such dark circles under your eyes?" The waiting Xiao Shimei asked curiously.

"No, it's nothing." He shook his head, "I'm fine."

Just cheated out of one thousand merit points by a scumbag bell...

Wait, is it planning to cheat another ten thousand another day!?

Magistrate Ouyang Rong suddenly felt bored.

"My dear son, has the price of rice dropped a lot? Wasn't it twenty coins per dou before the Dragon Boat Festival?"

"Seems... so."

The person dragged out to shop was not interested today, but the beautiful woman walking beside him didn't seem to notice, continuing to smile and talk:

"Tsk tsk, this twelve coins per dou is really cheap. Fortunately, I didn't buy it before the Dragon Boat Festival."

The Silla maid following behind the beautiful woman and the handsome young man said happily:

"Madam, the current price of rice changes every day!"

"Oh?"

"I heard that every morning when the East Market opens, there are people selling grain at low prices. One dou of rice is only five coins."

"There's such a good thing? Could it be old grain sold cheaply?"

"No, it's top-quality white rice."

Banxi shook her head and added: "But I heard that this 'five-coin rice' is only sold for one hour every morning, and each household is limited to 7.5 liters per day. Now many people go to squat for rice every day."

"It looks like charity, but the method is indeed powerful."

Madam Zhen nodded and smiled knowingly: "No wonder the price of rice in these grain shops has dropped, changing every day."

"Madam, should we also let the servants go and squat tomorrow?"

Madam Zhen was too lazy to even turn her head:

"What kind of family are we? Do we have no dignity to line up and grab rice? Besides, my dear son is a magistrate of a county, how can he compete with the people for profit? Let it be for the common people who need it."

Banxi was stunned: "Oh oh, Madam is still the one who considers things comprehensively and manages the family generously!"

Under the black gauze hat covering her face, Madam Zhen shook her head lightly. In her heart, her evaluation of the Silla maid behind her, besides "admiring the strong but timid, clever but indecisive," added "seeing small profits and forgetting great righteousness."

But thinking about it carefully, a foreign slave who ran from the East to admire the King's transformation, and hadn't read any books, it was normal for her to have short hair and short knowledge. Could she expect her to be knowledgeable and understand great righteousness? She wasn't some fallen princess of Goguryeo in a romance...

So it was fine as long as she was well-behaved, good-looking, and had a graceful figure, because the most critical thing was to please the male master.

This was also the lowest standard in Madam Zhen's heart. It was enough to please my dear son.

It's just a pity that her precious my dear son's hobby seemed a bit remote. Besides, he was cold and indifferent to the maids in the house, polite and courteous... Isn't this just not liking them? If he liked them, why would he need to be polite? Just "bullyable" would be enough.

Madam Zhen became more and more determined about the necessity of today's West Market trip.

She said casually: "The price changes every day, so don't buy too much. Let's just take five dou of rice back to Meiluyuan today, and come back to buy more when we finish eating."

Banxi didn't know that she had been deducted points again, but was happy because she could go shopping with the young master she hadn't seen for many days.

"Alright, Young Master, Madam, please wait a moment."

Banxi nodded hurriedly and took the rice shop clerk inside to count the rice.

Leaving Madam Zhen, Magistrate Ouyang Rong, and Liu Ashan waiting at the door.

This rice shop was located not far from the archway in the West Market. The street next to it was bustling with traffic in the morning, very lively, and still immersed in the festive atmosphere of the Dragon Boat Festival.

This Dragon Boat Festival was not just held for one day, but lasted for half a month, with the whole city celebrating. Even Madam Zhen, a widow who had always lived in seclusion, wore a hat and black gauze, and brought maids and servants out to watch the dragon boat race and grab my dear son to go shopping.

Originally, on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, Madam Zhen wanted to call Magistrate Ouyang Rong to go shopping together, and later called Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang to call him over.

However, the young magistrate who loved the people like his own children was busy working overtime even on the holiday, organizing the Dragon Boat Festival, and let the Xiao Shimei refuse him.

Later, Magistrate Ouyang Rong was busy showing concern for the outside grain merchants like Wang Caozhi... after a lot of tossing, today was finally considered a leisure time, and he was caught by his aunt.

At the moment, from the East Market all the way to the West Market, it was almost all Madam Zhen and Banxi talking.

Liu Ashan was an old taciturn person, and it was normal not to speak, while Magistrate Ouyang Rong seemed to be in a bad mood, his face a bit... lifeless.

Madam Zhen and Banxi and other maids were actually observing his expression carefully in the open and in secret all the way.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong might not know that as the only male and pillar of the family, any change in his expression could affect the cloudy and sunny atmosphere of the family.

Outside the rice shop, Madam Zhen lifted the black gauze with her fingers, revealing a pair of charming phoenix eyes, her gaze fixed on him without blinking.

The hat she wore was made of soap gauze, with a wide brim, and thin silk hanging down from the brim to the neck to cover her face, also known as "shallow dew." This item was very popular among noble women and young ladies in the Great Zhou, and was often worn when going out on the street.

At the moment, Madam Zhen wore this light and thin black gauze material, which was quite good-looking, consistent with the identity of a widow, and had the temperament of a widow, especially standing with Magistrate Ouyang Rong, who was in a long white robe and gentle as jade, attracting a lot of attention from pedestrians on the street.

The woman asked in a low voice: "Is my dear son tired from shopping?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded truthfully: "A little, but it doesn't matter. You all have fun, I'm casual, just happen to come out for a walk and relax."

Madam Zhen sighed, her expression very distressed. She lifted the black gauze, used two fingers to pad a red handkerchief with the fragrance of gardenia flowers, and touched the dark bags under Magistrate Ouyang Rong's eyes. The latter helplessly leaned back to dodge.

"The county office is busy, you should let the servants do more. Isn't it for them to work by paying them salary? My dear son is dedicated to the public, but you don't have to do everything yourself. You are the one who works with your mind, let them work with their strength..."

The aunt nagged, Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded obediently, responding with his mouth, but in fact, the aunt nagged a lot, but didn't say anything to the point at all, passing by like wind in his ears.

Because she didn't know the specific situation, the suggestions given were either because of this or that, and he couldn't adopt them. And if Magistrate Ouyang Rong wanted to explain his thoughts and considerations to Madam Zhen in detail, it wouldn't be very practical, and he didn't have such patience.

What to do? Regarding this kind of family concern, Magistrate Ouyang Rong only realized one formula for the time being: calm and peaceful, don't argue.

"Hmph, every time you nod your head diligently, with an honest face, but when I look back, nothing has changed at all. Are you treating your aunt like a little girl?"

Madam Zhen was annoyed and ground her teeth, poking Magistrate Ouyang Rong's shoulder with her index finger.

The latter smiled without saying a word.

At this time, Banxi brought the clerk carrying the rice out of the door.

"How much?" Madam Zhen asked casually.

"Thank you for your patronage, sixty coins."

The rice shop clerk put down the rice bag and reported a number with a full face of smiles. Banxi went to take out her purse, and Magistrate Ouyang Rong reached into his bosom, took out some spare money, and handed it over a step faster.

He turned his head and smiled at the curious Madam Zhen:

"The ten Guan Guan of money Aunt gave last time, except for the banquet at Yuanming Tower and the redemption money for Ashan, just happened to have sixty coins left... just used it all up, comfortable."

Madam Zhen couldn't help but laugh, "So my dear son is so good at managing the family. Fine, my dear son pays for this rice money, and the money for later will be paid by Aunt."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong, who was preparing to bend down to carry the rice, was stunned, "What money later?"

Madam Zhen didn't answer, turned her head and signaled to the tall, thin man with a headband covering his forehead behind her by tilting her chin.

Liu Ashan immediately stepped forward and carried the bulging rice bag containing five dou of rice.

"Aunt, Ashan is not a servant in our house, he is a free man."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong frowned and blocked, Madam Zhen smiled and nodded.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong reached out to take the rice, but Liu Ashan stubbornly refused to let go.

Madam Zhen suddenly asked: "Why didn't my dear son sleep the night before last, and went out to toss?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong wanted to speak, but this was not a question she gave, it was a fill-in-the-blank question.

Madam Zhen nodded with a firm face, asking and answering herself:

"It must be that the long night is long, and the empty room is lonely. Let's go, we must pick a warm-bed maid to take back today. My dear son promised last time."

"..." Magistrate Ouyang Rong.

Aunt's map of Yan is getting shorter and shorter.

(Big chapter, a bit late... now there are two chapters every day. Also, brothers, don't wait for the next chapter, go to bed early, read it when you get up tomorrow... can't outlast little Rong, woo woo woo)

(End of chapter)