?61: Chapter 54: The Attack of Hou Jue 61: Chapter 54: The Attack of Hou Jue “The Jinyiwei you brought, he, he…”

    After swallowing hard, Li Kuan gripped Zhou Li’s hand tightly.

    The face of the Prefect, who had always been composed and meticulous, showed a look of “terror” for the first time:

    “He’s sick, he’s sick!”

    Li Kuan was not corrupt himself, but that did not mean he was oblivious to the ways of the world.

    Thus, upon learning that the two Jinyiwei were heading to his residence, he prepared six taels of silver, intending to present them as a gesture of good faith.

    Standing at the entrance of the County Government Office, Li Kuan greeted the young man and the middle-aged Jinyiwei with a smile and approached them.

    Then…

    “You, a distinguished Prefect, still have patches on your clothing, what image does that present?”

    Looking at Li Kuan, whose robe hem was mended with patches, Lord Qianhu furrowed his brows and rebuked, “The Prefect is a ninth rank official appointed by The Imperial Court, graced with Dragon Tiger Qi, so why do you bow and scrape upon seeing me?

    Where is your dignity?”

    What about your mother?

    Li Kuan nearly let loose a curse.

    A measly ninth rank official like myself, trying to show off a front with you, a Jinyiwei Thousand Household?

    Why not have Emperor Lao Deng bow down to me as well?

    Since it’s a crime that would get my whole family executed either way, I might as well have a blast before I die.

    “Lord Qianhu jests.

    I’m merely a ninth rank county official; I have an eighty-year-old mother and a three-year-old child at home.

    Our living expenses are not small, and the salary is just enough to get by, so I don’t pay much attention to these minor details,” Li Kuan said, not missing a beat.

    Then, to Li Kuan’s shock, Lord Qianhu took out ten taels of silver.

    “Then you’d better get yourself properly outfitted, so others won’t think our great Da Ming officials have to wear patched clothes, which would undermine your dignity.”

    Trembling as he took out ten taels of silver, Li Kuan looked at Zhou Li with tear-filled eyes:

    “Young Brother Zhou Li, this is the first time in my life that I’ve received silver from a Jinyiwei, and from a Thousand Household at that.

    I’m scared.

    The money is all here, I didn’t dare to spend it, not even a copper coin.”

    Zhou Li fell silent.

    Tang Wan scratched his cheek, and Tao Yao looked oddly, seemingly stifling a laugh.

    Then, Li Kuan, with tears streaming down his face, recounted all the extremely strange behaviors of the Thousand Household.

    Things like “If there is something lacking in this County Government Office, I’ll carry a couple of logs to fix it up” “This chair leg is a bit loose, let me tighten it for you” “I will buy a bucket of paint to freshen up the walls, lest the common people fail to see your majesty” “I will teach you how to write notices for public display” “You’re clumsy, you don’t know how to grind?

    Let me do it!”

    This wasn’t just frightening.

    It was torment.

    It was psychological pressure.

    You have to understand, the usual things a Jinyiwei says are “There might be room for two more in your family’s ancestral tomb” “Your legs seem a bit stiff, let’s see if they can be made to bend” “I’ll get some gold juice to pour down your throat, see if that makes you talk” “I will demonstrate how one hundred and eighty acupuncture points being shocked can cause a person to lose control and die”.

    Who knew whether what this Thousand Household said was some kind of code?

    Li Kuan was terrified that after doing all these things, this smiling Jinyiwei would affectionately chop him to death, then hang his head from the newly repaired rafters, and use his blood to repaint the County Government Office, finally stamping a “guilty as charged” verdict on the notice for public exhibition.

    My fate is sealed!

    Seeing the terror in Li Kuan’s face and reflecting on the Thousand Household’s actions, Zhou Li shuddered, while Tang Wan could no longer eat.

    He sat beside them, pale and queasy, on the verge of vomiting.

    Tao Yao, on the other hand, had turned her back to Zhou Li and the others.

    Her shoulders trembled slightly, and her laughter, delicate like the sound of small silver bells, filtered through her fingers.

    “This…”

    Zhou Li was at a loss for words and after a brief silence, he sighed and said to the expectant Li Kuan:

    “Let’s go, I’ll accompany you.”

    “Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay…”

    Li Kuan nodded vigorously, eager for Zhou Li to carry him on his back to the County Government Office right then and there.

    Tang Wan, who had been cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks and had soaked them in water, was about to ask when she heard Zhou Li say:

    “You come with me.”

    “Understood.”

    The mealworm, who had failed to finish washing the dishes, looked regretfully at the bowl and chopsticks in the sink, then obediently followed behind Zhou Li.

    After greeting Tao Yao, they all left Wherever Pass together.

    Watching the departing figures of Zhou Li and the others, Tao Yao’s eyes, warm and lustrous like bright jade, slightly narrowed, and a meaningful smile appeared on her lips.

    The County Government Office of Beiliang was located to the east of the city, not off the beaten path, but not at the center either.

    Due to Prefect Li Kuan’s dislike for luxury, ever since the abacus case was stripped clean, there had been no more decorations inside, leaving only an empty and spacious hall.

    However, at this moment, inside the County Government Office, there was a man with a sturdy upper body, naked save for the bright red Jinyiwei uniform tied around his waist like a belt, energetically carrying wood, endlessly repairing various objects around the office.

    On his determined and broad square face, there was only the simple smile and resilience of a laboring man.

    Seeing the eye-watering scene before her, Tang Wan’s face turned pale, but to not waste the hard-earned delicious food, she swallowed her saliva, turned her head away, and didn’t want to watch anymore.

    “You don’t say, it actually looks quite professional.”

    Watching the Qianhu lift a hundred-pound log and leap up, casually splitting the wood in two to fit it into a hole in the roof, Zhou Li exclaimed in wonder,

    “That’s indeed some impressive skill there.”

    “Young Brother Zhou Li, please help me.”

    Like an ant on a hot pan, Li Kuan pleaded urgently,

    “A Jinyiwei from outside helping me repair the County Government Office, if this gets out, what will the common people think of me?

    How will the Ministry of Revenue view me?

    How will the governor look at me?

    And what if I actually get promoted because of this?”

    Actually, Zhou Li could hear that Li Kuan wasn’t so much afraid of the help with repairing the office, he was mainly afraid that after the office was repaired, the next thing to be fixed would be Li Kuan’s grave.

    After all, the word Jinyiwei in officialdom was like digging ditches in a dry latrine—it meant death.

    Err, err.

    Zhou Li’s mouth twitched for a moment, and after lamenting that Beiliang truly was a place of outstanding people, he stepped forward and patted the Qianhu on the shoulder, saying,

    “Lord Qianhu, are you fixing the house?

    Where is Guo Baihu?”

    “Oh, Young Friend Zhou Li.”

    Seeing Zhou Li, the Qianhu’s smile grew even more radiant,

    “I’m here helping Mister Li Kuan repair the County Government Office.

    Sigh, I misjudged Mister Li Kuan.

    He isn’t ineffective, he’s just unable to act.

    This County Government Office of Beiliang City is indeed too impoverished.

    They can’t even afford the notice paper sold by The Imperial Court.

    I found this to be detrimental to the dignity of Da Ming, so I gave Guo Baihu some silver to buy the notice paper.”

    After finishing his words, the Qianhu patted off the sawdust from his hands and smiled at Li Kuan, who was tremblingly looking at Zhou Li and Tang Wan for help. Sёarch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    “That’s how he is.”

    Zhou Li patted the shoulder of Li Kuan, comforting him,

    “Try to understand him.

    The Qianhu suffers from a ‘Saintly Male Disease’.

    The symptoms are mainly a love for helping others, and taking the Jinyiwei oath seriously, no malice, really no malice.”

    Smiling bitterly, and upon learning that the Jinyiwei wasn’t there to serve him his last meal, Li Kuan finally breathed a sigh of relief and resignedly said to Zhou Li,

    “Young Brother Zhou Li, you gave me quite the scare with your sudden return and then presented me with such a surprise.

    You, you,”

    “Reporting to the lord.”

    Just after the misunderstanding was cleared up, a familiar guard rushed in all flustered.

    Li Kuan quickly supported him, asking,

    “What’s the matter?

    Why such panic?”

    “The city gate, there’s another Jinyiwei.”

    After catching his breath, the soldier looked oddly at the curious Qianhu nearby, then turning to Li Kuan, he said,

    “The Jinyiwei has sharp ears and a monkey’s cheek, thin and frail.

    He’s causing a commotion at the city gate wanting to enter.

    He claims to be a Jinyiwei, but he has no waist token, quite strange.”

    “Did you ask for his name?”

    Facing Li Kuan’s inquiry, the soldier caught his breath, thought for a moment, then hurriedly said, “I asked, I asked, he said his surname is Hou, named…”

    “Hou Jue!”