Chapter 34
Fan Changyu was puzzled and asked, "Why would the government tell lies?"
Xie Zheng frowned slightly, thinking that she had lived in this small place since she was born, and the highest official she had met was the county magistrate. He was more tolerant of her naivety and stupidity at this moment.
Her parents may have taught her many lifelong principles of how to behave in society, but they never told her about the intrigues in the officialdom.
He explained to her patiently, which was rare, and even gave an example: "Just like when your uncle wanted to seize your family's real estate, he went to the teacher. There were storms in the officialdom of a small county government. Going up, to the state government and the court, the relationships there would only be more complicated. Political parties, colleagues, in-laws, teachers and students... Behind every official, there is a big network of power. Some cases involve the interests of senior officials above. What seems to be an unjust case of the lower-class people has actually become a fight between senior officials."
Fan Changyu frowned and thought for a long time before saying, "You mean, the death of my parents might also be related to the interests of many high-ranking officials?"
There was a hint of surprise in Xie Zheng's eyes, but she was not stupid.
He lowered his eyes and said, "I am just giving an example. Maybe the government only told half the truth, or maybe it was all lies. None of this is important. What is important is that the government gave you a false truth. What will you do?"
This question was indeed beyond Fan Changyu's cognition. In the hearts of ordinary people, officials are the heaven of the people. One corrupt official is enough to make the people complain. After listening to Xie Zheng's words, she suddenly felt that those officials did not seem to be all upright and honest.
If all the officials in Dayin's bureaucracy protect each other, then what's above their heads is not the sky, but a net that wraps them tightly.
Fan Changyu was confused for a moment, but soon his eyes became firm again: "When Mr. Fan went to Master He to plot against my family property, I wanted to go and find a higher official than Master He to ask for help. The highest official in Qingping County is the county magistrate, and the county magistrate and Master He are in the same boat. I couldn't count on the county magistrate, so I thought of kidnapping my uncle."
"No matter how powerful the officialdom of the Dayin Dynasty is, it's nothing more than more people in office. If I know a high-ranking official, I would probably ask the high-ranking official in the prefecture for help in my uncle's case. If Fan Da also finds the highest-ranking official in the prefecture, I will seek justice from the officials in the capital if I have connections. In the end, this level of relationship will only lead to the emperor."
"The highest official in Qingping County was the county magistrate, and the highest official in Dayin Dynasty was the emperor. There is no difference between the two in seeking redress for injustice. In the end, what is used to prove right or wrong is still evidence and iron laws."
She looked at Xie Zheng with clear and fearless eyes: "No matter what my parents' death is related to, I will investigate it. There is nothing to be afraid of in the Dayin officialdom network with tens of millions of connections."
Xie Zheng was really surprised that she could say such a thing.
He asked, “How do you check?”
Fan Changyu looked at Changning who was still playing in the snow in the yard: "I am not afraid of danger, but Changning is still too young. If the people who killed my parents pay attention to my sister and me again, I can't guarantee that I can protect Changning. So before that, I will send Changning to a safe place first."
Xie Zheng showed his appreciation: "And then?"
Fan Changyu said: "If I were a man, I might choose to take the imperial examination or the military examination to enter the officialdom, and personally investigate the matter related to the death of my parents. But I am just a girl, I can't enter the officialdom, and I don't know anyone who is a high-ranking official. The only way left is probably that money can make the devil go."
Xie Zheng held his forehead with one hand and said, "It's a good idea, but it sounds like it will take a long time. The money you can get those high officials to grind for you is not a small amount."
Fan Changyu choked slightly and said, "This is the only way I can think of right now. In the drama, women dress up as men to take the imperial examinations. I don't have the brains for studying, and I don't have a brother's identity that I can use to impersonate him. Unless..."
She shook her head and said, "Should I sponsor a few more poor scholars? I'll see if I'm lucky enough to sponsor a conscientious one. When he gets into government after high school, I'll have connections in government, and it will be much easier to find out the cause of my parents' death, right?"
This time it was Xie Zheng's turn to choke. He raised his eyelids and said sarcastically, "What if you meet someone like your ex-fiancé again?"
Fan Changyu found that this person had become a little strange recently, and he liked to talk about Song Yan all the time.
She asked, "How can we not mention him during the New Year?"
Xie Zheng glanced at her sideways, pursed his lips and said nothing, as if his bad temper had come up again.
Fan Changyu muttered: "You think I'm not unlucky enough..."
Xie Zheng had good hearing, so he heard the muttering. The corners of his originally straight mouth suddenly curled up, and he said, "You can wait for your parents' case."
Fan Changyu was confused: "What do you mean?"
Xie Zheng said: "If there are too many things involved in the death of your parents, there are people in the officialdom who want to uncover the truth, and there are also people who want to get to the bottom of it. What you need to do now is to protect yourself and your sister, and wait for those who want to uncover the truth to come to you."
Fan Changyu said: "But I know nothing about my parents' past. Even if they come to me, they can't get what they want from me."
Xie Zheng thought that as long as she could pry open He Jingyuan's mouth, the truth about her parents' death would come to light.
However, if Wei Yan knew that he was not dead, he would kill him again even at the cost of the entire Qingping County and even Jizhou. Revealing his identity before the outcome is settled would only bring disaster.
He said, "You underestimate the officialdom. Someone will come looking for you."
Fan Changyu was still confused and struggled for a while. He thought Xie Zheng was probably comforting himself, so he didn't think about it and just said, "I feel more and more that reading more books can make people smarter. Yanzheng, you read a lot, so you are smart."
Xie Zheng had heard all kinds of compliments. When it came to praising people, no other literati in the world would want to say more flattering words. However, he had never taken those compliments seriously. At this moment, her straightforward and simple word "smart" made him feel a little strange.
He corrected her, "Reading a lot doesn't make you smart. Reading makes you wise, broadens your horizons, and helps you know when to advance and when to retreat. Your vision is no longer shallow, and that's enough for you to deal with people and things."
Fan Changyu nodded: "My mother said the same thing before, but unfortunately I was ignorant at that time. Asking me to study was like rushing a pig out of the pen during the Spring Festival. Now it's too late for me to study."
She now really felt that studying was useful. Not to mention anything else, when Fan Da wanted to seize her family property before, Yan Zheng didn't even have to use any shady tricks. She could think of using legal means to win the lawsuit.
If I were more knowledgeable, maybe I could sell pork in different ways.
She originally thought that cucumber with sugar was just cucumber with sugar. But when she was helping to make brined pork in Yixianglou, she found out that cucumber with sugar was called "Green Dragon Lying in the Snow" in Yixianglou. The name of the dish became more elegant, and the price of the dish also doubled.
Fan Changyu remembered that when he came back, he seemed to be learning to read in Changning, so he said shamelessly: "If you have time, can you teach me to read some books? It won't take up too much of your time. Just tell me what to learn, and I will read it myself. If I don't understand it, I will ask you for help."
Xie Zheng raised his eyes calmly, quite surprised by her idea, and then asked: "What books have you read?"
Fan Changyu thought for a moment and said, "I know all of the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Names, and Thousand Character Classic."
After saying this, Xie Zheng's face darkened.
Fan Changyu was afraid that he would find it troublesome to teach him, so he said, "I have read some of the Analects and Imperial Academy."
Xie Zheng said in a faint voice: "Is it University?"
Fan Changyu was so embarrassed that he wanted to find a place to hide, so he confessed: "I just flipped through these two books when I was reading Song Yan. I couldn't understand the books, but he treasured them like they were something, so I returned them to him. I didn't have the nerve to ask him what the articles in them were about."
After telling the truth, Fan Changyu felt a chill all over his body.
She looked at Xie Zheng, only to find that his handsome face was now smelly and cold.
Fan Changyu didn't understand.
Xie Zheng's words were almost icy: "Since you have already studied The Analects and The Great Learning, you can read Mencius next."
Fan Changyu looked confused. Did she mean that she had learned it?
She clearly said that she only glanced through it and didn't even understand its meaning.
Not only that, during lunch, she also noticed that Xie Zheng changed the headband back to his original one.
Fan Changyu didn't know what had offended him. He coughed lightly at the dinner table and asked, "I plan to take some bacon to the county town to sell this afternoon, and also take a piece of bacon to Captain Wang to pay New Year's greetings. Do you have anything to buy?"
The man who had been "not talking while eating" finally said, "I've run out of paper. I wrote Spring Festival couplets yesterday and my ink is also gone. I'm going to buy some paper and ink. The paper needs to be five-foot-long, clean-skinned paper, and the ink needs to be pine-smoke Hui ink."
Fan Changyu was confused after hearing this. "What is Xuan? What is Mo?"
Xie Zheng frowned slightly and said, "Forget it, I'll go buy it myself."
Fan Changyu felt that he was a little cold and indifferent. Thinking that his injury had not yet fully healed, he asked another question: "I will go back this afternoon to hire a bullock cart. Will you come with me?"
When Chang Ning heard this, he started clapping his hands on the table: "Chang Ning wants to join them too!"
The two, one big and one small, stared at Xie Zheng. Xie Zheng was silent for a moment, and finally said, "Then let's go together."
Changning was so excited about catching up with the gathering that he just ran around the yard, and instead of running around, he chased Aunt Zhao's dog out of the yard and ran to the entrance of the alley.
Fan Changyu wanted to go to the county town to sell bacon today. It was not a sudden impulse. In previous years, her father would also take time out on this day to pull a cart of bacon to the county town to sell.
Families who are visiting relatives and friends, if they have not prepared New Year gifts in advance, and the meat market is closed during these two days, will mostly buy their gifts from roadside vendors.
Arriving at the county seat, Fan Changyu very experiencedly parked the ox cart on the main street in front of the county school.
There are many students coming and going here, and many families rent houses nearby in order to take care of their sons who are studying.
When students went to pay New Year's greetings to their teachers, they usually couldn't afford tea or wine, which were also very expensive, so buying a piece of bacon was the most appropriate gift for the New Year.
As soon as Fan Changyu set up the stall, she did a lot of business. Xie Zheng wanted to go to the bookstore, but Changning kept looking around and asked Fan Changyu eagerly: "Sister, can I go with my brother-in-law to watch the flower drum performance?"
Fan Changyu said: "Your brother-in-law doesn't go to watch Huagu."
Changning looked at Xie Zheng eagerly.
Xie Zheng glanced at Fan Changyu, who had only sold a small portion of the bacon, and said, "Wait until your sister has finished selling, and then we can go together."
Fan Changyu estimated that it would take some time to sell all the bacon he brought, so he said, "It's still early for me to close the stall. If you're not in a hurry to buy paper and ink, please help me take Changning around. She's just very curious. After a round, she won't make any noise anymore."
Xie Zheng nodded.
After hearing what Fan Changyu said, Changning pulled Xie Zheng's sleeve and walked in front excitedly, as energetic as a calf.
Xie Zheng felt the force of his sleeve being pulled, and thought that if this child had not been weak since birth, she might become as fierce as her sister in the future.
Perhaps because the county was holding a lantern festival this year, most of the students in the county school did not return home, and the streets were bustling. The more than 20 strips of bacon that Fan Changyu brought were sold out half an hour earlier than she expected.
When she was packing up her stall, Xie Zheng just happened to come back with Chang Ning who had just finished shopping nearby.
Changning held a candied haws in his left hand and a colorful windmill in his right hand. His face was covered with syrup from eating so much.
Fan Changyu looked quite helpless and said to Xie Zheng, "Just get used to her."
Chang Ning smiled and narrowed her eyes: "Brother-in-law also bought a string of candied haws for my sister."
Fan Changyu said: "I am not a child, why should I eat candied haws..."
Before she could finish her words, a candied haws was handed to her.
Xie Zheng said calmly, "Your sister said she would buy one for you, too."
Fan Changyu wanted to say no, but when he saw that he still had one in his hand, he thought that he seemed to like sweets, and now that he hadn't taken the medicine, he would be embarrassed to eat it openly, so he pulled him along. It was not easy to refuse, so he reached out and took it and said "thank you".
Fan Changyu ate in the same way as Changning, eating one candied haws in one mouthful, with his eyes narrowed and his cheeks puffed out like a hamster.
After Fan Changyu finished eating one, he saw Xie Zheng still holding the string of candied haws in his hand and asked curiously, "Why don't you eat it?"
Xie Zheng moved his eyes away from the sugar-coated crumbs at the corner of her mouth, glanced hesitantly at the candied haws in his hand, and bit off half of it.
The sugar coating on the outside is sweet, and the hawthorn inside is slightly sour. When you chew it, it tastes sour and sweet, which is quite a unique flavor.
Chang Ning, who had bitten off another candied haws, looked at the scene and smiled from ear to ear. She was really smart. She asked her brother-in-law to buy one for each of them. Sure enough, her elder sister stopped scolding her.
There are not only vendors selling things at this street corner, but also county school students who set up a stall to paint for people because their family is poor.
The family of three eating candied haws at the opposite corner of the street was really an eye-catcher. The man was extraordinarily handsome, the woman was as smiling as a flower, and even the child they brought with them was very cute.
The scholar glanced over there several times and drew quickly on the paper.
After Fan Changyu finished eating the candied haws, he packed up his things and was about to take Xie Zheng to buy paper and ink, but he saw his expression suddenly falter and he strode towards the opposite street.
Fan Changyu glanced over there and found that there was only a scholar setting up a stall to sell calligraphy and paintings.
Fearing that something might happen, Fan Changyu hurriedly took Changning with him and asked, "Where are you going?"
Just as the scholar finished the last stroke, a big hand suddenly reached out from the side and snatched the painting away.
The man who was standing at the opposite corner eating candied haws had come up to him without him noticing. He grabbed his collar and said with a frighteningly cold face, "Who asked you to draw this?"
The scholar was so oppressed that he could not speak clearly and stammered, "I... I just saw that you and your family of three were so beautiful that I couldn't help but paint. If I offend you, please forgive me."
At this time, Fan Changyu also rushed over with Changning. Seeing that he was about to beat someone up in the street, he quickly pulled away his hand that was grabbing the scholar's collar and asked, "What are you doing?"
Xie Zheng said nothing, but lowered his eyes to look at the painting in his hand.
The scholar's brushwork is average, but the painting excels in that the figures are extremely lifelike.
In the painting, Fan Changyu was eating a candied haws with his eyes narrowed, his gaze just falling on her face, as if he was paying attention to her every move. Changning was in front of him, biting a candied haws and looking back at the two of them, also smiling with his teeth showing, and a mischievous look in his eyes and eyebrows.
When Fan Changyu saw the painting, he was also surprised and asked the scholar, "Did you paint us?"
The scholar was really afraid of the fierce man next to the cute young lady, so he nodded quickly and said a bunch of nice things without paying: "Madam and you are a perfect match, with talent and beauty. Even the little girl is so cute. If Madam likes it, this painting will be my New Year gift to you two. I wish you and your son a happy life, and may you have another little boy next year."
Fan Changyu almost broke the candied haws skewer in his mouth.
The author has something to say:
The little couple is about to separate, please give them more candy first~
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