Chapter 135: Two Offices in Conflict (Begging for Monthly Tickets)

Xu Yuan gave a sheepish smile: "How could I have deliberately shaken you off?"

Lang Xiao Ba was merely stating his stance; yesterday, out of pique, he hadn't followed, and as a result, Xu Yuan and the other two hadn't returned all night!

Zhu Sili gave Lang Xiao Ba a thorough scolding.

Actually, when Lang Xiao Ba returned yesterday, Zhu Sili knew about it and hadn't ordered Lang Xiao Ba to follow the four again.

Strictly speaking, the responsibility was split half and half between Lang Xiao Ba and Zhu Sili.

But how would Lang Xiao Ba dare to argue with the Inspector about the division of responsibility?

So today he pulled this move: if you don't let me follow anymore, you're forcing me to my death.

Xu Yuan pushed his sword back and handed over the breakfast: "Have you eaten? You and Yu Yunhang eat some together."

Lang Xiao Ba hadn't eaten; he took it and was just about to open it when Xu Yuan suddenly turned to Fu Jingyu and said: "Have you heard of a Dan Xiu recipe where a single pill can turn a person into a medicine beast?"

Fu Jingyu was a sincere gentleman; he nodded seriously and began discussing: "I know. This recipe truly goes against the harmony of heaven. The Dan Xiu who first researched this recipe was truly insane."

Lang Xiao Ba was speechless.

Do you actually want me to eat it, or not?

Out of pique, Lang Xiao Ba stuffed the entire breakfast into Yu Yunhang's hands.

"Your subordinate is not hungry!"

Yu Yunhang chuckled secretly, took it, and enjoyed it alone: "These buns are good. The meat filling is half fat and half lean, chopped finely, mixed with scallion whites, so fragrant it's dripping oil..."

It made Lang Xiao Ba's nostrils puff out hot air in anger.

"Alright, let's go in first." Xu Yuan said: "I wonder if the Zancheng Office found any useful clues yesterday?"

Today, only Zhu Sili was in the office; Lin Zijin was still nowhere to be seen.

Zhu Sili treated Xu Yuan with a strictly official attitude today: "Last night, the entire office was filled with righteous indignation. The Captains spontaneously patrolled at night, destroying a total of thirty-one evil spirits..."

Zhu Sili summarized the figures, but Xu Yuan still asked: "Are there any clues to the case?"

"No further discoveries yet."

"Where is Lord Lin? Is he still busy with other official duties?"

"This Inspector does not know!"

"Are the scenes of the previous cases still preserved? We'll go take a look."

"They were all cleaned up before nightfall."

Xu Yuan waved his hand: "Forget it. We'll go find clues ourselves."

Zhu Sili did not stop them.

Xu Yuan and the others came out. Just after leaving the main gate of the Zancheng Office and not walking far down the street, they saw two groups confronting and arguing at the crossroads ahead.

The larger group consisted of Captains from the Qhui Si.

Xu Yuan saw it was still "acquaintances," the squad Zhou Leizi and the others were in last night.

The smaller group had only two people; they were also wearing uniforms, but not from the Qhui Si, rather from the Shanhe Si.

The two rode horses, their expressions cold and arrogant, pointing and gesturing at the Qhui Si Captains with their whips.

Zhou Leizi, whose temper was fiery and could not endure it, broke free from the Jianxiao's grip, rushed forward, and tried to grab the whip to drag the man off: "You rotten cowards, bullying us Qhui Si now?"

The whip turned deftly, and the tip lashed Zhou Leizi's wrist.

Crack!

Zhou Leizi clutched his wrist and let out a wail of agony; his wrist visibly swelled up rapidly!

The Jianxiao's face changed drastically; he stepped forward and angrily said: "We are all serving the court. You spoke insolently first, and now you strike so viciously. Do you really think the Qhui Si has no one?"

The one who injured him was large and fat, obviously a Wu Xiu.

Fu Jingyu whispered to Xu Yuan: "Judging by their official robes, these two are Jianxiao from the Shanhe Si."

The organization of the Shanhe Si is roughly the same as the Qhui Si.

"You Qhui Si have people, then go drag out that evil spirit in the city. If you can't do it, we Shanhe Si will intervene!"

"You dare!" The Jianxiao flew into a rage.

The three Zhu Sanya dealing with strange matters already disliked each other; open and covert struggles were not few.

If the Zancheng Office failed to catch the evil spirit and the Shanhe Si intervened, it would truly be a loss of face.

In the future, the Zancheng Office would not only be unable to hold its head up before the Shanhe Si in the city, but even within the Qhui Si, it would be drowned by the spittle of other offices.

The fat Jianxiao of the Shanhe Si turned his horse and sneered: "This is not up to you! For several months, you still haven't caught that thing. Hmm, is it that you really can't catch it, or that you don't want to catch it?"

"You lie!" The Jianxiao, furious, spat out a golden pellet. He aimed at the opponent's horse leg, not daring to injure the person directly.

Striking the horse leg allowed for an excuse afterwards: he couldn't stand the Shanhe Si people strutting arrogantly on horseback.

There was still room for maneuver.

If he truly struck a person, it would be a street brawl between the Shanhe Si and the Qhui Si, with extremely bad consequences; at the very least, he would be stripped of his Jianxiao post.

The fat Jianxiao of the Shanhe Si let out a cold, mocking laugh.

The golden pellet flew with a swoosh; a layer of white light lit up on the horse's body, and with a puff, it bounced the golden pellet back!

Floating above the saddle was a calligraphy sheet with three imposing characters in Wei Bei script: Bu Po Yi (Unbroken Robe).

The Jianxiao was an eighth-rank Dan Xiu, yet the golden pellet could not break through this sheet!

The sheet was at least written by an eighth-rank Wen Xiu.

Previously, when Xu Yuan saw the Qhui Si Captains with ninth-rank "Teng Yun" (Soaring Cloud) and "Cheng Feng" (Riding Wind) sheets on their horse legs, he thought the Qhui Si was wealthy and powerful; now, compared to the Shanhe Si... it was like a country bumpkin landlord meeting an old noble from Fucheng.

The Canal Office was indeed the wealthiest in the entire Huang Ming!

Beside Xu Yuan, Fu Jingyu had already strode forward: since this matter was encountered, how could they ignore it?

"The Shanhe Si's duty is only to ensure the flow of the canal. Apart from that, they have no right to intervene in any evil spirit matters.

Now, regarding the cases in the city, as long as our Qhui Si has not formally sent official documents to the Shanhe Si requesting assistance, you have no right to interfere!"

Fu Jingyu's method of intervening was to seriously clarify the scope of authority between the two parties.

The portly Inspector had already noticed Xu Yuan's group and, of course, seen the official robe of a Deputy Inspector on Xu Yuan.

"As long as it concerns the Grand Canal, my Shanhe Office can manage it!" the portly Captain remained arrogantly seated on his horse, lightly tapping his whip, displaying a rather condescending posture.

"How does this case hinder the operation of the Grand Canal?" Fu Jingyu asked seriously.

The portly Inspector did not answer, but pointed his whip at Xu Yuan and Fu Jingyu: "You are the ones from the Southern Office, right? Give you another three days. If you still cannot catch that thing, my Shanhe Office will take over!"

What this master says, he does!

If you do not believe it, then slack off during these three days and see whether, in the end, this master can snatch this case from your hands!"

After speaking, he snorted coldly again, clamped his legs against the horse's flanks: "Giddyup!"

As soon as the horse moved, a "Bang!" exploded in their ears, startling the two horses into neighing, rearing up, and frantically jumping in place, nearly throwing the two Shanhe Office Inspectors off, before galloping away recklessly!

This explosion was, of course, caused by Xu Yuan using a pill core made of gunpowder.

Xu Yuan temporarily used Fu Zhong Huo to separate a grain-of-rice-sized pill core.

He slightly infused it with some core characteristics, secretly controlled it to move along the ground, then rose to lie in wait by the horse's ear.

It was like setting off a large firecracker; actually, it had no killing power.

(End of this chapter)