Chapter 239: Girls
Early in the morning, many people gathered at the gate of the newly appointed Minister of War's residence, blocking the entrance tightly and making a lot of noise.
After listening to the report from the housekeeper, Shen Yunbai frowned and went to the gate of the mansion. When those people saw him, they immediately surrounded him and talked at once.
"Sir Shen, you are a good official who speaks for the people. You must make the decision for me."
"And me, Lord Shen, you must help me, otherwise I will not survive."
"Shut up." The servant of the Shen Mansion shouted loudly, but he was weak and powerless. The voices of the people drowned him out and they were all busy complaining to Shen Yunbai.
"Everyone says that Lord Shen is a very good official. You must not stand idly by and do nothing. You must speak up for us poor people."
"Stop arguing and talk slowly. I will definitely help as long as I can." Shen Yunbai raised his voice, and only then did the chattering crowd quiet down for a while.
"Speak one by one. If there is any injustice, I will report it to the emperor and redress your grievances."
"Okay, let me speak first," a middle-aged woman squeezed out, "I live in a farm outside the capital, and my family relies on a pig to make a living. Who knew that my pig was suddenly lost the night before, and suddenly appeared in the yard of Lao Wang's house next door last night."
"I went to ask for it, but they refused to give it to me and insisted that it was their own udon. The county government also didn't care. Lord Shen, please help me find my udon. It is the lifeblood of my family."
"How dare you." The servant stared in disbelief, "Who is my master? How dare you lose a donkey..."
"Wait, there's me, there's me, it's my turn." A thin and short young man came to the front.
"My mother spent two taels of silver to buy me a beautiful wife, but she ran away just after the wedding night. The man who sold her to my mother also disappeared. I suspect it was a marriage fraud. Sir, you have to help me. Two taels of silver is my family's life savings."
"When your wife is missing, instead of reporting to the authorities and asking them to help find her, what's the point of asking my master? My master is the Minister of War, not someone who can help you with miscellaneous matters." The servant was extremely angry.
"Why didn't you report it? I've been reporting it for five years, but the authorities haven't been able to find the man and won't return my money."
The servant was so angry that his eyes were about to burst into flames. It’s been five years? Let the adults find him a wife.
But those people didn't give him time to finish his grudges. The next one hurriedly told his grievances, "And me, sir. My wife raised ten old hens that laid eggs. That day, the door was not closed properly, and the hens ran to the neighbor's yard. When I went to take them back, they had been killed by that family and stewed into chicken soup."
"She also said that as long as it is in his house, it belongs to him. What kind of logic is that? My wife said that she would not let me sleep in the house unless I got the chicken back. Sir, you must speak a fair word for me."
“…”
Shen Yunbai maintained a calm expression, but his hands were clenched tightly in his sleeves. He listened to the trivial things that were unbearable to hear and watched the mouths that kept opening and closing.
"What are you talking about? Are you crazy? Your wife was slept with by your mistress's elder brother. What does it have to do with my master? Why should my master marry you a new one?"
The servant was so dumbfounded that his lungs were about to explode.
"Just wait for me."
"Just wait for me."
The only thing left in Shen Yunbai's mind was what Shen Anan said that day at Shen's house. She asked him to wait for her! ! !
These people in front of the door are the price he pays for his meddling and kindness.
"Shut up." Shen Yunbai shouted coldly, but those people were talking excitedly at the moment, so how could they listen to him? They seemed not to hear what Shen Yunbai said and shared their gossip with people nearby.
And smile at the people next to you.
Shen Yunbai's face turned cold, and he immediately raised his voice and emphasized his tone, "Everyone listen to me, I am an official in the Ministry of War, and I have a lot of things to take care of. You can go to the government office to file a complaint about these trivial matters."
"Hey, what do you mean by trivial matters?"
"Don't leave, Lord Shen, you can't leave. We are still counting on you to save our lives."
Everyone spoke up at the same time, clamoring to stop him from leaving. Shen Yunbai was about to step into the mansion, but he had to temporarily pull his legs back and look at everyone.
"Sir Shen, everyone says you are a good official who speaks for the people and is upright. How can you be so cold and indifferent and abandon us?"
"That's right, what do you mean by trivial matters? The two taels of silver for buying a wife is the life savings of my parents."
"Yes, the bull in my house is also the most valuable thing in my family. My whole family relies on the copper coins earned from working for other families to make a living."
"That's right. When my wife married me, she brought a dowry of ten taels of silver. Now she is in a relationship with my mistress's brother. Should she also take the silver to his home? That would be like asking for my life. This is a matter of life and death."
All those noises and messes were giving Shen Yunbai a headache.
"We are all ordinary farmers and common people. For you officials, as long as the sky doesn't fall, it's not a big deal. For us, this is enough. We are about to starve to death."
"Yes, everyone says you are a good official, but you can say such heartless and cold words. It shows that all crows are evil. What do you mean by pleading for the people and being upright? Pah."
"Hey, you are such an unruly woman. Where are you from? I..."
"What are you saying? You want to use your power to overpower me and kill me," the country woman was best at throwing tantrums. Upon hearing this, she immediately slapped her thigh and cried.
"Everyone, listen carefully. If anything happens to me, it's because of this Shen guy. Everyone, please help me sue him at the government office."
Someone sneered, "If a citizen sues an official, he will have to roll over the nail board. Who will help you sue?"
The woman choked and said with her hands on her waist, "How unjust! He clearly wants to keep us poor people alive. I think the rumors that he is a good official are just rumors. He is…he is…seeking fame and reputation. Yes, he is seeking fame and reputation."
Shen Yunbai was a refined scholar, so how could he have such a sharp tongue to argue with a group of unreasonable people? His face was extremely ugly.
"Everyone, listen to me. Your case should be handled by the local government. It is not within my jurisdiction."
"If the government would take care of it, we would still come to you."
"That's right."
The servant could no longer bear it, "The government office doesn't care about Chen's bad deeds, and you bring them to the Shangshu Mansion to complain about them."
Shen Yunbai said, "I am an official, so I must first take care of the government affairs of the court. If I am asked to take care of everything, how can I handle it?"
"Come on, stop talking. You just despise us for not having status, power, or money. Even if we help you, we can't help you."
"Go, go, go, everyone, get out of here," the servant ordered the palace soldiers to start driving people away.
Shen Yunbai knew that it was impossible to reason with those illiterate people, and he didn't want to bother with them anymore.
"Lord Shen just said," a light and extremely pleasant voice suddenly sounded from behind the crowd. The noisy discussions immediately quieted down and everyone turned to look.
"You're only willing to take care of cases involving human lives, right?"
The girl in a peach pink gauze skirt walked up the steps gracefully, like a lotus emerging from water.
Her temperament was gorgeous and gentle, giving people an extremely demure feeling, but at this moment her eyes were red and she was staring straight at Shen Yunbai.
The woman's makeup, dress, and hairpin and ring style gave Shen Yunbai an extremely familiar feeling.
"Is there a murder case involving the girl?"
"That's right. I am a girl from Zuichunlou on the next street. I want to seek justice for my sister who was abused to death."
"Zuichunlou, isn't that a brothel?" A man whispered in the crowd.
"Isn't it? No wonder her waist is twisting so coquettishly and her face is tearful. It turns out she is engaging in sexual activities."
A pair of disgusting eyes were almost glued to the girl, and the words spoken were even more unbearable to hear.
The women in brothels were extremely lowly, and countless of them were tortured to death by customers with special fetishes. How could they all be handed over to the government?
Besides, anyone who has the courage to do such a thing would not be afraid of the life or death of a brothel girl.
Shen Yunbai knew that the person this girl was going to sue was definitely not a simple person.
"My sister is dead and two people are dead. In such a horrific murder case, Lord Shen may be like those dog officials, thinking that my status as a prostitute is low and I am not even qualified to go to court."
The girl stared at Shen Yunbai with despair and anger in her eyes.
In the corridor diagonally opposite the Shen Mansion, not far away, two figures were hiding there and peeking.
"Look carefully, the person standing above is Shen Yunbai, the Minister of War."
"I see it clearly," Qingyue nodded and said with embarrassment, "Master Qingfeng, the other party is the Minister of War. I'm afraid... I can't imitate him."
"You don't have to worry about it. Just follow the princess's orders." Qingfeng narrowed his eyes and watched the Shen family invite the girl into the mansion, and immediately took Qingyue away.
——
Shen Anan raised the corners of his lips after listening to Qingfeng's report.
When it comes to causing trouble for others, she is no less detrimental.
Qingfeng told the story of the girl in Zuichunlou again.
"What peach powder?" Shen Anan looked confused.
"Tao Fen is the girl from Zui Chun Lou. All the girls in their building are named after colors. That Tao Fen girl is the one who went to look for Shen Yun Bai to make the decision today."
"Isn't it the princess you found?"
"It's not me." Shen Anan frowned.
Qingfeng scratched his head. "Maybe she got in accidentally. My subordinates went to inquire about it. It seems that she was seeking justice for a prostitute who was good friends with her. The prostitute fell in love with her patron and got pregnant. She died suddenly under the Huihe Bridge."
Huihe Bridge? The bridge where the eldest brother rescued Duan Yingying earlier.
"Well, as long as it has nothing to do with us, don't pay attention to it. Just make people pay attention to it and don't let them have any ideas and throw dirty water on us."
"Yes." Qingfeng left Wutong Garden.
Shen Anan then ordered Mo Xiang to go to the front yard to see Qing Yue and bring him some clothes, "Tell him that these clothes are prepared by me with reference to Shen Yunbai, and he should wear them in the future."
"He also saw someone today, and he will start practicing from now on."
Qing Yue received the clothes sent by Mo Xiang and put them on immediately, "Thank the Fourth Prince's wife for me."
Mo Xiang looked at him in surprise, "Your voice..."
It's surprisingly similar to Shen Yunbai. If you're not very familiar with him, you can't tell the difference at all.
"Voiceover." Qingyue smiled embarrassedly. As long as he heard the man's voice, he could imitate it about 50% of the time.
"Do all you actors have this skill?"
"Yes, but those who are talented have great attainments, while those who are not talented can only make a living."
"Which one are you?"
Qingyue thought for a moment and said, "I guess he has some talent."
Other actors’ ventriloquism is only able to change their voices, but his ventriloquism is able to imitate.
Mo Xiang was amazed, "You have such skills, you must work hard with the prince's wife, it's better than being an actor in the theater."
Qing Yue smiled and nodded, "Miss, you are right. I will definitely try my best to satisfy the princess."
Xiao Yuan came back a little late today.
Just then, she heard Mo Xiang praising Qing Yue, and she replied calmly, "Such an excellent man, how about marrying you to him?"
Mo Xiang shuddered and her face turned pale, "Master, your servant, your servant..."
"Okay," Shen Anan glared at Xiao Yuan, "What nonsense, you scared her."
Xiao Yuan snorted coldly, "What are you standing there for? Why don't you get out? You have no sense at all."
Mo Xiang retreated immediately with a wrinkled face and closed the door tightly.
"Why are you scaring her for no reason?"
Xiao Yuan took off his outer robe and hung it on the shelf, then sat down beside Shen Anan, his body naturally half-tilted, lying on her legs.
"I didn't scare her. The next time I hear her praising another man in front of you, I will marry her."
When Mo Xiang outside the door heard this, she shuddered, bit her lips tightly, and looked full of regret.
How could she forget that her son-in-law is a jealous person?
Qing'an, who was standing by, glanced at her and the corners of his mouth rose silently.
"What are you laughing at? Is it funny?"
“……” Qing’an turned his head to glance at the aggressive Mo Xiang and remained silent.
"Why don't you say anything? Do you think I'm unreasonable?" Mo Xiang was shocked and scared, and had a lot of anger but no place to vent.
Qing'an walked down the stairs silently and took two steps away from her.
A good man does not fight with a woman. Besides, she has the support of the prince's wife, so he cannot win. As for his master, he has never stood up on his own since the prince's wife came into the family, so he can't be relied upon.
Qing'an adheres to the idea that if you can't get anything good, just stay away from it.
Seeing that he was avoiding her like a giant insect, Mo Xiang became even angrier, "You sissy, you'll never get a wife in your life."
After saying that, he was about to leave angrily. Qing'an's face darkened, "Stop."
He reached out and grabbed Mo Xiang's wrist, "Tell me clearly, where did I act like a woman?"
"You...you you you..." Mo Xiang blushed and pointed at his hand. Qing An finally reacted and quickly let go of his hand, apologizing awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean it."
"Shameless." Mo Xiang cursed angrily and ran away sniffing.
She also heard Shen Anan coaxing Xiao Yuan and talking about those opera girls, so she said it casually, and didn't expect Qing'an to mind so much.
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