Chapter 4: This Wealthy Ximen Is Clearly Super Strong, But Excessively Cautious

While Zhang Jie was still striving to make progress, trying to sharpen his spear before the battle, even if it wasn't fast, it would still shine,

a conversation about him also started in the five-entry mansion of the wealthy Ximen.

Dressed in gorgeous silk clothes, with a handsome face and extraordinary appearance,

but with a lecherous look flashing in his eyes from time to time, Ximen Qing sat high in the upper seat.

Standing in front of him was his personal servant Dai An, who often delivered messages and ran errands for him.

After a while, Ximen Qing, who was drinking tea leisurely, put down his teacup and asked slowly:

"Dai An, has that person been arranged?"

Dai An bowed slightly and replied:

"Reporting to Father, everything has been arranged.

He will definitely not say a word related to Father!"

"Hmm, that's best."

Hearing this answer, Ximen Qing nodded with satisfaction.

At the same time, he was also accustomed to Dai An's address of "Father."

In the Ximen family, as the highest authority of the family, Ximen Qing,

his wives, concubines, maids, servants, etc., all respectfully addressed him as "Father" to show respect and obedience.

In addition, in some intimate or specific situations, such as during sexual intercourse,

his wives and concubines would also address him with more intimate terms like "Dada."

"Hmph!

I heard that the little rabbit has been appearing frequently these days to stabilize people's hearts?"

Thinking of the dilemma he was in now, Ximen Qing could not help but snort coldly,

and a look of worry flashed across his face from time to time.

As Ximen Qing's personal servant, Dai An naturally knew who the little rabbit he was talking about was and what he was worried about:

"Father, our previous actions have already caused the old ginseng from Changbai Mountain that Zhang Jie often eats to be out of stock.

That Zhang Jie has been hanging on to his life entirely by these medicinal materials that greatly replenish his vitality over the years.

Now that he is missing the crucial ginseng, he will probably die before long.

Father, you don't need to worry."

Hearing Dai An's words, the look of worry on Ximen Qing's face dissipated a little, and he secretly cheered himself up in his heart:

"That Zhang Jie is just another Hua Zixu, not worth worrying about."

He had previously used the method of dragging to drag Hua Zixu to death,

and took all of Hua Zixu's property and his wife Li Pinger into his own pocket.

Now he is just repeating the same trick on Zhang Jie.

"Sigh!

I never thought that Zhang Jie would be a genuine imperial examination prodigy,

who obtained the fame of a scholar in one exam.

If I had known this, I shouldn't have done that."

Ximen Qing's words were filled with undisguised regret.

He only considered that Zhang Dahu had been dead for three years, and the prestige he should have had had long since dissipated,

and his only son Zhang Jie was a sickly person who didn't know when he would die.

That's why he tried every means to annex the Zhang family's property, so as to increase his wealth.

As a result, who knew that Zhang Jie was an imperial examination expert who obtained the fame of a scholar in one exam.

Looking at his ease, if he takes a few more exams, the fame of a provincial graduate should be within reach.

Even the imperial scholar who is on the golden list, Zhang Jie probably has a chance to look up to.

And by then, he would really be a carp turning into a dragon and flying into the sky!

Every time Ximen Qing thought of this, he regretted it:

He shouldn't have deliberately leaked the whereabouts of the Zhang family's caravan to the bandits outside the city because he coveted the Zhang family's property.

What he just asked Dai An to do was to "handle" the servant who passed the message,

so as not to let this news reach Zhang Jie's ears and trigger a conflict between the Zhang family and his Ximen family.

Of course, the handling here is not physically handling the servant,

but spending a sum of money to send the servant to a remote place where Zhang Jie would definitely not find him.

For one thing, although the Great Song has slaves, the law stipulates that masters cannot kill slaves at will.

If a master kills a slave without authorization, he will face severe criminal punishment.

If a master kills a hired slave who has committed a fault, it will be compared to the crime of beating a slave to death, and the crime will be increased by one degree, which can be sentenced to death.

If a hired slave without fault is killed without reason, it will be discussed according to the crime of reducing the crime of an ordinary person by one degree, that is, sentenced to exile for 3,000 miles.

If a slave whose hired period is less than five years is killed, it will be judged according to the crime of ordinary people, and the murderer will be sentenced to strangulation.

The government will also inspect the death of slaves to prevent masters from killing slaves privately.

If it is discovered that a master has killed a slave privately, he will be held criminally responsible according to law.

Secondly, although he, the wealthy Ximen, walks sideways in this Yanggu County,

killing one or two slaves is not impossible to handle, but it is also very troublesome.

And he cannot kill slaves at will, Dai An, Lai Wang, Lai Bao, and others are all his slaves,

if he kills people at will, it will inevitably arouse the public anger of other slaves.

And this servant is his absolute confidant, and it was not easy to cultivate him,

otherwise he would not dare to let this servant participate in such things.

After this storm passes, he plans to transfer this servant back,

after all, he doesn't have many such useful servants in his hands.

"Father, the courtyard examination is in the county town, so Zhang Jie can naturally not leave the county town.

But the provincial examination must be in the provincial capital Jinan, so Zhang Jie must leave the city no matter what.

By then, we only need to pass the news to Wang Chuang and others, and I think Wang Chuang doesn't mind doing another job.

And that Zhang Jie, not to mention dying in Wang Chuang's hands, with his sickly body,

will probably die of fright if he is a little scared."

Dai An, who understood Ximen Qing's thoughts, came up with a poisonous plan to borrow a knife to kill someone.

Wang Chuang is the leader of the bandits who robbed the Zhang family's caravan before.

"Hmm~"

Ximen Qing thought for a moment and said: "This plan is very good.

Even if Zhang Jie doesn't die in Wang Chuang's hands and barely picks up a life,

he definitely can't participate in the provincial examination, otherwise he will definitely die in the examination hall!"

The provincial examination includes subjects such as poetry, classics, theory, and policy, and it takes three full days to take the exam.

Even a strong candidate will have his mind exhausted after three days, and there is no lack of those who get sick.

With Zhang Jie's weak body, after being intimidated,

and finally entering the examination hall, he will probably die directly in the examination hall!

"Even if Zhang Jie doesn't die, as long as it is delayed for a few more years,

even if he passes the provincial graduate or even the imperial scholar exam, I won't be afraid!"

Ximen Qing thought of the servant Lai Bao whom he sent to Bianjing to give gifts to Prime Minister Cai, and a great confidence rose in his heart.

As long as he can establish a relationship with Prime Minister Cai, who is powerful in the imperial court, let alone a small Zhang Jie,

even Shi Shi Wenbin, the county magistrate of Yanggu County, must follow the lead of his wealthy Ximen!

For Prime Minister Cai, what is a provincial graduate, what is an imperial scholar,

it is not as precious as a green-haired turtle in the Jin Shuihe (Jin Shuihe is a river in Bianliang City,

mainly used for urban water supply and drainage)!

"Dai An, you let Lu Hua and Zhang Sheng carry forward their skills of grass snake and street mouse, and watch Zhang Jie for me.

Even the entry and exit of a fly must be recorded and reported to me."

Ximen Qing, who had made up his mind, instructed Dai An.

Lu Hua, the grass snake, and Zhang Sheng, the street mouse, are the rascals (commonly known as local hooligans) he usually supports,

who once framed Jiang Zhushan together, making him beaten to the point of skin and flesh, and then forced him to take silver.

At the same time, the two are also his eyes and ears in the market,

and every move in this Yanggu County is collected in the ears of his wealthy Ximen.

"Yes, Father!"

Dai An replied firmly.

Although he is a slave, his binding with Ximen Qing is so deep that it can be called glory and loss together.

This matter is of great importance, so he cannot be careless.

After sending Dai An away, Ximen Qing, thinking that it is not safe to just rely on Lai Bao to curry favor with Prime Minister Cai, called another servant Lai Wang.

"Lai Wang, go to the brick factory and invite Eunuch Liu and Eunuch Xue to the banquet."

"Yes, Father."

Although he didn't know why the wealthy Ximen suddenly wanted to hold a banquet,

Lai Wang, who had always followed the orders of the wealthy Ximen, obeyed and left.

"Hmm, three preparations should be enough, right?"

Looking at Lai Wang's departing back, Ximen Qing's eyes gradually became deep.

Although Eunuch Liu and Eunuch Xue are just eunuchs in the Linqing brick factory,

their ranking is far inferior to Prime Minister Cai's first-rank Grand Tutor,

first-rank Right Servant, and second-rank Gate Servant,

but the two were sent by the current emperor from the palace to be responsible for burning official bricks,

and they are big figures who can reach the emperor's ears like Prime Minister Cai.

It is precisely because of the implicit protection of these two eunuchs that he, Ximen Qing, can walk sideways in this Yanggu County.

As for whether County Magistrate Shi Shi Wenbin has any opinions?

Not to mention that the rank of the seventh-rank Shi Shi Wenbin is not as good as the two eunuchs Liu and Xue.

Just the status of a eunuch as the emperor's slave makes County Magistrate Wen dare not act rashly.

A seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's gate, let alone the slave of the most noble person in the world?

Don't you know the principle that a eunuch is three ranks higher than an official?

Eunuch: "In the palace, you call me eunuch, eunuch, I don't pick your reason.

Out of this palace gate, what should you call me?"

Outer court official: "Godfather!"

"Hmm~

It's not enough to just invite Eunuch Liu and Eunuch Xue, we also need a few people to liven up the atmosphere."

Ximen Qing thought that just Eunuch Liu and Eunuch Xue were not lively enough,

and could not show his sincerity and style as the wealthy Ximen, so he called another servant:

"Ping An, go and invite Ying Bojue and Xie Xida to the Ximen mansion for a banquet tonight."

Ying Bojue is his number one idler, eloquent and flattering,

often eating, drinking, and having fun with him, and doing his best to flatter him in all aspects of his life.

Xie Xida is the descendant of the guard thousand-household official of Qinghe County,

idle, good at playing balloons, and gambling,

every day without business, specializing in eating some romantic meals in the three courtyards.

With these two people who are proficient in eating, drinking, and having fun, and debauchery, it will definitely make Eunuch Liu and Eunuch Xue return satisfied.

"Understood, Father."

Ping An, who is responsible for some chores in the Ximen family, obeyed and left.

"It seems like something is missing."

Ximen Qing, who had arranged for several servants, touched his chin.

Suddenly, he who loves meat and has been singing songs with Li Pinger every night recently realized:

"Still missing a few girls to warm up the scene!"

Although Eunuch Xue and Eunuch Liu lacked a few parts of a man,

the desires in their hearts did not lack a bit,

or rather, precisely because they lacked parts under their crotches, their desires were more intense and distorted.

Not only do they have wives and concubines in their outer residences outside the palace,

but they must also have girls to accompany them every time they drink.

Ximen Qing immediately asked another servant to go to the

brothels in the city to invite a few young ladies who are open and know how to play...

If Zhang Jie knew that the wealthy Ximen had thought of so many tricks to deal with him, he would definitely sigh:

"This wealthy Ximen is clearly super strong, but excessively cautious." ===== CHAPTER 5 =====