Chapter 57: Between the world and the people, he ultimately chose…
As the weather warmed up and the south experienced more rain, flies buzzed around, causing annoyance. That night, Hengbo was hunched over his desk, looking at the homework assigned by Shen Guitang, but he couldn't help but catch the flying insects around him, unable to concentrate.
Shen Guitang sighed, found a palm-leaf fan somewhere, sat down next to her, and slowly began to fan herself. "She's just like a cat."
Hengbo squinted and enjoyed Shen Guitang's service with a sense of contentment, no longer caring about his rude remarks.
Just then, a soft knock sounded at the door. If the room hadn't been so quiet, it would have been easily overlooked.
Hei Feng was placed in the servants' room, but this was not due to the force with which he knocked on the door. Heng Bo frowned slightly, as if asking Shen Guitang what the current situation was.
Shen Guitang smiled and shook his head at her, indicating that she was alright. He continued fanning himself and called out, "It's getting late, who's outside?"
The person knocking hesitated for a moment before finally responding timidly: "Lord Li was worried that you might feel unwell after drinking, so he specially ordered me to bring you some soup to help you sober up."
The incoming female voice was soft and gentle, as melodious and pleasant as the warbling of a nightingale; just a few words were enough to stir one's heart.
"Since it is Lord Li's kind offer, Gui Tang will not refuse."
As he finished speaking, the door creaked open from the outside, and a figure draped in a thin veil came into their view. The woman had a graceful figure and a charming but not seductive face, but what was most endearing were her innocent and bewildered eyes, like those of a doe.
She stepped lightly into the room, then turned and slowly closed the wooden door. Her gaze swept across a certain spot outside the door as she lowered her eyes, before she gave a shy smile.
However, as soon as the wooden door closed, the beauty was still the same beauty, but her temperament became completely different.
Her previously hesitant gaze gradually turned cold and resolute, and her graceful steps became light and agile. Only her voice remained as soft and charming as before: "My lord, is there anything else I can do for you?"
Hengbo glanced at the woman kneeling on one knee before him, then at Shen Guitang beside him who showed no surprise, and immediately realized that this person must be the spy he had planted in Prefect Li's house. He just hadn't expected that his reach would extend so far.
“Young master,” Meiji lowered her voice, “your subordinate Luodai will obey your orders.”
Shen Guitang didn't waste any words. "Tell me all the information you've gathered in Quzhou over the years, in as much detail as possible."
"yes."
Seeing that Shen Guitang didn't try to avoid her, Hengbo sat and listened. Of course, she didn't believe she was after the little bit of coolness Shen Guitang was fanning her with.
"Li Jian has a penchant for collecting beautiful women. In the past ten years, the pavilion has placed four people in the prefect's mansion. The first three were sent away by Li Jian through personal connections, while I entered the prefect's mansion three years ago. In my first year, I learned etiquette and dance with the other selected women. In my second year, I was allowed to attend various banquets. Recently, Li Jian has occasionally summoned me to serve him alone."
“Li Jian is adept at interpersonal relationships. Over the years, he has maintained connections with major merchants in Quzhou, various county magistrates, and even many scholars and officials. As for those who were unwilling to be recruited by him,” Luo Dai paused slightly before continuing, “the merchants were robbed by Japanese pirates, the county magistrates were ostracized and framed by their colleagues, and the scholars and officials disappeared without a trace…”
"Quzhou has now become a one-man show for the Li family. Young master, I dare to ask you to gather more men to protect yourself."
Li Jian had effectively secured Quzhou, preventing the government from placing too many people inside. Their journey was already fraught with danger, and if they were to confront the Japanese pirates, their situation would become extremely difficult.
Shen Guitang, however, was not particularly worried. “It’s alright. We didn’t bring any knives. We can use someone else to do the dirty work.” The people Ji Heng had planted among these officials were probably just the tip of the iceberg. A local tyrant had emerged in Quzhou. Let’s see if this tyrant can tolerate it.
"Besides, I'm not here to kill anyone," Shen Guitang said calmly. "Let's talk about the Japanese pirates."
“In recent years, the Japanese pirates have become increasingly rampant, and the taxes levied on the people have been rising year after year. It is likely that the tributes from the counties below have all ended up in the pockets of the Japanese pirates. Moreover, the Japanese are difficult to distinguish from the people of Jin, and it is likely that many of them have already infiltrated the government offices and the inner court. Li Jian has a favorite concubine named Guixiang. Although she tries her best to hide it,,” Luo Dai said softly, “I know that she is a Japanese.”
“She leaves the prefect’s mansion on the fifteenth of every month and usually doesn’t return for two or three days. She is always accompanied by skilled guards when she goes out. To avoid alerting her, our people dare not follow her too closely. We only know that she went to Sui County.”
"Sui County?" Shen Guitang pulled out a map of Quzhou from the table. Sui County was located in the central part of Quzhou, and was one of the few inland areas of Quzhou. But apart from that, it was hard to see anything special about it.
“It is indeed Sui County,” Luo Dai thought with some doubt. “Because Sui County is not near the river or the sea, the local people cannot make a living by water and are mostly farmers. Therefore, Sui County is considered the poorest county in Quzhou.”
Why did Guixiang go to the poorest county? Did Li Jian send her there, or did she go on her own?
They had too little information at the moment, and Shen Guitang knew that they could not rush things, so he instructed: "Continue to keep an eye on Guixiang's whereabouts. If she goes out this month despite the flood, notify Heifeng immediately."
"Yes, young master."
...
Luo Dai, no, now Mei Ji Mei Hua, tiptoed out and closed the door for the person inside. But before she even reached her own quarters, she was summoned by Li Jian's men.
Li Jian looked somewhat displeased: "Why are you back so early?"
Upon hearing this, Meihua, tears welling up before she could speak, said, "Master."
After all, she was a beauty he had painstakingly nurtured. Seeing her pitiful state, Li Jian softened his tone: "Why are you crying? If you can follow Lord Shen, it will be a good future for you. Tell me what happened."
Mei Hua sobbed, "I...I did enter Lord Shen's room, but there was another woman in the room besides Lord Shen."
Li Jian knew that Shen Guitang had brought his fiancée, Cui Cui, to Quzhou, but since the two were not yet married, he ordered his servants to arrange two rooms for them. How could the two be so shameless and inseparable?
"But since his fiancée was there, why did he allow you to go in and stay for so long?" Moreover, at the banquet, Shen Guitang clearly ignored all the other beauties, but he glanced at Meihua a few more times, which didn't seem unintentional.
When Li Jian asked her about this, Mei Hua, with clear tears still clinging to her delicate face, looked embarrassed. "I thought that Lord Shen was interested in me, but who knew," she raised her jade arms, where a pair of red jade bracelets made her fair and tender skin even more alluring, "that he actually took a fancy to these bracelets of mine!"
“He said my bracelet looked great on Cui Cui, and asked me where I got it, saying he wanted to buy a pair for Cui Cui as well.”
Li Jian was speechless after hearing this, but Qiu Yun, who was sitting next to him, was not surprised at all, and even had a sense of destiny that it was indeed so.
"As for why he kept me there for so long," Meihua said, feeling both aggrieved and angry, "My lord, you don't know, that Lord Shen is truly shameless. When I entered the room, he was actually reading those kinds of books with that woman named Cui Cui, with the lamp lit!"
Seeing the beauty's face flushed red, whether from embarrassment or anger, the experienced Li Jian knew perfectly well what the "that kind of book" she was referring to was.
He coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment, but then the beauty said, "This has nothing to do with plum blossoms, but he really went too far! He was afraid that Cui Cui would be bitten by mosquitoes, so when the two of them were reading those kinds of books, he made me stand behind them and fan them until they were ready to go to sleep before letting me out."
Unable to bear the humiliation any longer, Meihua suddenly threw herself onto Li Jian's lap: "Master! Meihua has never suffered such humiliation before. You must do justice for Meihua!"
Li Jian looked at the beautiful woman on his lap, her face streaked with tears, and was truly at his wit's end. Who would have thought that Shen Guitang would be like this, and that His Majesty could have really misjudged her?
While Li Jian was comforting the beauty, Qiu Yun unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Shen Guitang had still shown him some leniency. After all, he had only suffered the consequences of his own actions, and even now, recalling those love stories between him and Cuicui, he found them quite interesting.
Good, good!
The next day, Shen Guitang was quite surprised to find Zhang Mutou loitering outside his door when he opened it. This Zhang was known for his aversion to socializing and for his consistently unfriendly attitude towards Shen Guitang and Hengbo due to their behavior on the ship.
However, Shen Guitang did not dislike this kind of person. He stepped forward and asked politely, "Lord Zhang, are you waiting for me?"
Zhang Mutou was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back when he was suddenly called to a stop and froze. He turned around, his thick, somewhat fierce eyebrows furrowed in a knot, and his weathered face, etched with the marks of time, which made him look a little unapproachable, was also full of sorrow.
His gray hair was disheveled by the rain, and was still tangled up, with water dripping into his lapel.
"Lord Shen, I went to check last night. If the rain doesn't stop, the dike will surely collapse within two days."
Shen Guitang nodded, this was within his expectations, "So, Lord Zhang, what do you intend to do?"
Zhang Mutou raised his hand to wipe the rain off his face, and Shen Guitang then noticed that his fingers were full of mud and sand.
"Lord Shen, the situation in Quzhou is so perilous that our few men are far from sufficient. I have a letter here; take it back to the capital immediately and present it to His Majesty."
He must have already reported the situation to Li Jian, hoping he would petition for help, but was refused. Of course, Li Jian would refuse; Quzhou harbored so many unspeakable secrets, how could he allow it to be exposed to the public again?
Li Jian had selfish motives, so he dared not. Ji Heng had taboos, so he could not.
"But why me?" Shen Guitang chuckled. "Lord Zhang shouldn't be so old that he can't take a boat."
Hearing his disrespectful words, Zhang Mutou was so angry that he glared and his beard bristled. "I told you to go, so go! What use are you here? Take your little wife back now and stop getting in my way."
Shen Guitang exposed his words: "I appreciate Lord Zhang's kindness. However, I am not the kind of person who is afraid of death. Instead of wasting time here, let's go to the riverbank and see how we can stop the water."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade him, Zhang Mutou flicked his sleeves and left first, still muttering to himself, "Who's being kind? I'm just looking out for the bigger picture!"
Shen Guitang followed leisurely behind him, but her heart sank. Ji Heng was determined to go all the way to the bitter end, not shedding a tear until he reached the coffin. But were all the people of this city destined to perish for a secret...?
Meanwhile, inside the palace.
Amidst the wafting fragrance of sandalwood incense, Ji Heng stared intently at a letter before him, his brow furrowed in disapproval.
This is an urgent message sent back by the secret guards who accompanied Qiu Yun to Quzhou.
"Has the situation in Quzhou become this dire?" Ji Heng crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it into the incense burner beside him, his expression unreadable. "Chen Ping, do you think I should send someone there now?"
Having spent so many years in the palace, how could Eunuch Chen not know Ji Heng's secretive attitude towards Quzhou? He smiled ingratiatingly and said, "This servant is dull-witted, how could I know these things? But this servant knows that His Majesty, no matter what, is doing it all for the sake of the people of this world."
Ji Heng's expression was playful: "The world? The people?"
"No rush, let's wait a bit longer. If the rain insists on falling, let Li Yu go and provide disaster relief."
Between the world and the people, he ultimately chose the world.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-03-13 23:43:54 and 2024-03-16 23:09:55!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Karen (20 bottles); Fubao Duanduan (good luck all the way) and Haha (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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