Chapter 72: No Tax Evasion Allowed! A Conspiracy in the Inn (For the Alliance Leader)

"Did you rest well last night, my husband?"

Xie Qingwu was watering flowers in the courtyard; seeing Pei Shaoqing return, she swept a glance at him and asked indifferently.

Dressed in a white skirt with a light gauze overlay, she looked ethereal and refined, like a fairy wandering among the flowers.

Even the beauty of a hundred flowers in bloom could not compare to a ten-thousandth of her.

"Barely, I suppose." Pei Shaoqing was not in high spirits.

Why do amphibious creatures spend most of their time in the water? It shows that the water route is more comfortable.

Xie Qingwu looked up, "Not fully satisfied?"

"She is having her monthly period," Pei Shaoqing said.

Xie Qingwu blinked, "Then you..."

"I opened her eyes to a new world," Pei Shaoqing replied.

Xie Qingwu's red lips parted slightly; she never expected that what Pei Shaoqing failed to achieve with her had been realized with Zhao Zhilan. Blushing, she spat, "Shameless and lewd."

"Not that I favor the chrysanthemum among flowers, but flowers drift and water flows on its own; one kind of lovesickness, two places of idle sorrow." Pei Shaoqing sighed, reciting a line of poetry to express his helplessness.

He didn't want it to be this way either, but there was no other choice.

Xie Qingwu rolled her eyes, "You just love to find ways to torment people, and then act all pretentious after you've had your fill of comfort."

"My Lord! My Lord!" Li Jiangjun came running over, its voice like a cuckoo weeping blood, throwing itself forward to hug Pei Shaoqing's leg, "Your subject has been wronged, my Lord!"

"What is it? Get down first." Pei Shaoqing kicked his leg repeatedly, trying to shake Li Jiangjun off.

But Li Jiangjun held onto his leg for dear life, refusing to let go, and repeated through tears, "Your subject has been wronged!"

"Then tell me, how have you been wronged?" Pei Shaoqing bent down and forcibly pried it off his leg.

Li Jiangjun stood up on its hind legs, pacing back and forth on the spot while gnashing its teeth, "Your subject was ordered by you, my Lord, to search for Broken-Intestine Grass and Soul-Guiding Flower. The Broken-Intestine Grass has been found, but the Soul-Guiding Flower has remained elusive.

Finally, last night, the scouts I dispatched discovered a large patch of Soul-Guiding Flowers in a remote, uninhabited area. I led my subordinates there to harvest them for you, my Lord, but I never expected a ferocious wild boar to jump out and fight us for them.

Although the strength between the enemy and us was vastly different, under my brilliant leadership, the soldiers of the Cat Battalion fought bravely and repelled the pig, but that pig summoned a person!"

At this point, Li Jiangjun was so angry that its chubby cheeks puffed up, and it said indignantly:

"Ever since I began following you, my Lord, I have long disregarded life and death. I intended to fight to the end, but in order to preserve my useful body to repay your great kindness, I was forced to lead my subordinates in a strategic retreat. My Lord, you must seek justice for me!"

"That patch of flowers was likely planted by someone, and the wild boar was responsible for guarding the field. Li Jiangjun, you failed to steal the flowers and now you're trying to shift the blame?" Xie Qingwu's eyes were sharp as torches.

"How can it be called stealing when it comes to cats!" Li Jiangjun stiffened its neck and said righteously, "I am not a human, so I am not bound by moral laws. Besides, the Soul-Guiding Flower requires the yin energy of corpses as fertilizer; who knows how many people that person killed to grow such a large patch."

"Li Jiangjun's words make sense." Pei Shaoqing immediately expressed his agreement and snorted coldly, "Under the vast heaven, all is the King's land; within the borders, all are the King's subjects. Not to mention how many people that person killed for fertilizer, he opened up a medicinal field in Tongzhou—did he pay taxes to the County Government?"

"My Lord, he certainly did not! That ghostly place is full of cliffs and precipices with rugged mountain paths; how could the people from the County Government go there to collect taxes?" Li Jiangjun said immediately.

Pei Shaoqing said indifferently, "After breakfast, I will go to the County Government to get a warrant from Old Wang and take men to collect his taxes, and while I'm at it, I'll confiscate the proceeds from his illegal land reclamation and cultivation. Li Jiangjun, you will lead the way."

"Yes! My Lord!" Li Jiangjun was overjoyed.

Xie Qingwu sighed helplessly; this master and pet were truly cut from the same cloth—neither was any good.

On the other side, Liu Yuheng, dressed in a goose-yellow long dress, came to Zhao Zhilan's room and raised her hand to knock on the door.

"Knock, knock, knock! Lan'er, it's me."

"Please come in, Master's wife," Zhao Zhilan said.

Liu Yuheng pushed the door open and turned pale at the sight of the mess on the floor. Seeing Zhao Zhilan still lying on the bed looking physically incapacitated, her heart trembled even more.

"Lan'er, you... did you give it to him?"

Zhao Zhilan blushed, nodding first, then shaking her head.

Liu Yuheng was anxious to death, "What is this nodding and shaking? Did you give it to him or not?"

"I gave him the back," Zhao Zhilan said, her voice as thin as a mosquito's.

"The back?" Liu Yuheng was stunned, her eyes somewhat blank, as this touched upon a blind spot in her knowledge.

Zhao Zhilan's face turned as red as blood and she said no more.

"You don't mean..." Liu Yuheng finally realized, staring at Zhao Zhilan with wide eyes.

Zhao, feeling extremely ashamed, responded with a, "Mm."

Seeing her admit it, Liu Yuheng was dumbfounded, her face flushed red, both shocked and embarrassed, stammering, "How could you... you two... this is truly absurd!"

Pei Shaoqing had constantly been enriching her knowledge.

Before entering the Pei Mansion.

She had never imagined that this was even possible.

Zhao Zhilan had described Pei Shaoqing to her as a man of extraordinary character, and with her own disciple being so delicate and petite, Liu Yuheng could hardly imagine the scene.

Zhao Zhilan kept her head down, too ashamed to speak.

"Sigh, at least your purity was preserved," Liu Yuheng could only comfort herself this way, looking at her disciple covered in red marks with heartache, "How do you feel?"

"Not bad," Zhao Zhilan's voice was very small.

Liu Yuheng glared at her, "Who cares about that? I am asking if you are still in pain."

"Mm." Zhao Zhilan blushed and nodded.

Liu Yuheng instructed softly, "Then Lan'er, you should rest well; don't walk around today."

"Mm." Zhao Zhilan nodded obediently.

Liu Yuheng sighed and turned to leave.

However, did it really feel not bad?

During breakfast, she kept glancing at Pei Shaoqing from time to time, unable to imagine that this man, who looked like a refined gentleman, could be so rough and lewd in bed.

"Madam," Pei Shaoqing called out to her.

Liu Yuheng thought she had been caught peeking and her eyes drifted, "What are your orders, Young Master?"

"Accompany me out later." Pei Shaoqing was unsure of the strength of the person who grew the Soul-Guiding Flowers, so for safety's sake, he had to bring Madam Gongsun along to feel at ease.

Liu Yuheng replied softly, "This concubine obeys."

After the meal, Pei Shaoqing first went to the County Government.

"Young Master Pei, you have been coming to my County Government quite frequently lately," Wang Xianling said unhurriedly.

"I only come when I have official business," Pei Shaoqing replied, then added, "I observe that you look a bit haggard, Old Wang. Did you not sleep well last night? Could it be that you went to steal someone's wife and got blocked at the door?"

"You're the one stealing someone's wife," Wang Xianling retorted, then said irritably, "Just say what you came here for; this official has a lot to do today."

He indeed had not slept well last night; after all, the white moonlight, the Yaoguang Saintess, had gone missing on his turf, her life or death unknown, so how could he sleep soundly?

The killing of the Kaiyang Saint Child had already dealt a major blow to the prestige of the Holy Sect, and if news of the Yaoguang Saintess's disappearance spread, it would undoubtedly be even more disadvantageous to the Holy Sect.

"Give me a tax collection warrant; this official is going into the mountains to help you collect taxes," Pei Shaoqing stated his purpose.

Wang Xianling raised an eyebrow, "Collect whose taxes?"

It was not even time for the autumn tax collection yet.

"It's like this..." There was no need to hide the matter of the Soul-Guiding Flower, so Pei Shaoqing told the truth directly.

Wang Xianling was speechless after hearing it all and said unpleasantly, "People are living in seclusion in the mountains, reclaiming land and farming properly, and you go to rob them—is that appropriate?"

Even when people hide in the mountains, they cannot escape a corrupt official like you.

"Wang Xianling, watch your language!" Pei Shaoqing's expression turned stern, his tone grew heavy, and he said in a deep voice, "In what capacity are you saying this? Don't forget you are an official of Great Zhou; one who eats the ruler's salary should share the ruler's worries."

"These fellows who call it living in seclusion in the mountains occupy the imperial court's land but pay absolutely no taxes; they are the parasites of the court! If everyone follows their example, who will the court collect taxes from in the future? Where will the military expenditures come from? Where will our salaries come from?"

"This situation must be cracked down upon! We must let them know that as long as they are still in Great Zhou, they cannot escape paying taxes; this is the duty of every commoner!"

Pei Shaoqing was impassioned and righteous; once he had the strength in the future, he would not only collect taxes from hermits living in the mountains but also from the major sects!

"Fine, fine, I'll give you the warrant," Wang Xianling shook his head and added, "But let's be clear beforehand: I want ten percent of those Soul-Guiding Flowers."

He could not just put in the effort without getting any benefits.

"Easy, easy," Pei Shaoqing's face broke into a smile again, and he stood up and cupped his hands, "I shall take my leave first."

Returning to the Jing'an Guard Hundred-Household Office, he immediately gathered his troops and, led by Li Jiangjun, went into the mountains to collect taxes.

……………………………

At the same time, inside an inn in Tongzhou City, four men were whispering in a secret plot.

"It has been confirmed: Li Si and the other four had successfully kidnapped the three Sanyin Nu, but they were caught up by the Jing'an Guard while taking shelter from the rain in a ruined temple outside the city. All five were beheaded on the spot, and the three Sanyin Nu have each returned to their homes."

One of the men, who was shorter and looked honest and simple, said coldly with a gloomy face.

"Those five had quite a backbone; facing the encirclement of the Jing'an Guard, they actually chose death over surrender," another thin, middle-aged man with a small mustache sighed.

A fat youth dressed in brocade like a rich man's son was noncommittal, "It's not that they had a backbone; they feared the master's power and were afraid of implicating their families, which is why they didn't dare surrender to the Jing'an Guard."

"The dead are to be respected; let's not have such emotional talk," said the leading middle-aged man, who was fair-skinned and beardless, looking like a weak scholar, "Only three more are needed, and the forty-nine Sanyin Nu will be complete. As long as we bring these three back, we will have performed a great service."

"I just saw a large number of Jing'an Guard riding out of the city; if we are going to act, now is the best opportunity," the short middle-aged man reminded.

The other two looked at the middle-aged man dressed like a scholar, waiting for him to make a decision.

The middle-aged scholar pondered for a moment, and after a long while, his eyes gradually became firm, saying, "The Jing'an Guard has left the city; we cannot miss this opportunity. No need for too much preparation; we will force our way into the residence to kidnap the people and then withdraw quickly."

Often, the simpler and more brutal, the more effective.

(End of this chapter)