Outside the county government's meeting hall, the courtyard is spacious and planted with many flowers and trees. Servants clean it every day, but they can't sweep away all the falling yellow leaves, and the corridors are covered with fallen leaves everywhere.
Next to the rockery, Huang Yichun was so nervous that his lips turned pale and sweat broke out on his forehead. He was in a panic and suddenly took out an old letter from his sleeve, completely changing his usual calm and even lukewarm demeanor.
Jiang Yushu was caught off guard. Seeing the man's ruthless, gritted teeth as he reached into his sleeve, she felt as if he were pulling out a weapon. What was he planning? A dagger? Assassinating the magistrate?
In a split second, she was in a state of uncertainty and instinctively fearful, and she quickly stepped back to avoid it. Unexpectedly, she stepped on a stone, her body tilted and staggered, and she cried out in surprise:
"ah--"
Suddenly, the attendants who were counting the persimmons around the tree heard it. Zou Gui, a trusted servant, was startled and ran away, saying as he ran, "Oh no! It's the lady's voice."
"What happened?" Cuimei was surprised and uneasy.
The other two were guards and ran even faster. "Let's go and see for ourselves!"
In a blink of an eye, the followers rushed over, only to see:
"This rockery has been weathered by the sun and rain for a long time, and small stones often roll down. If you step on them, your shoes will slip. Be careful, sir." Huang Yichun had already hidden the old letter. He turned sideways to face the magistrate's entourage, forcing himself to remain calm and asking with concern, "Did you sprain your ankle?"
Superiors and subordinates face each other, three to five meters apart.
Jiang Yushu lowered her head, stamped her shoes, and shook her head, "It's okay."
"Madam!" Cuimei ran over and asked, "What happened just now? We were so scared."
Jiang Yushu acted as if nothing had happened, fiddling with a pebble with the tip of her shoe as she explained, "It's nothing. I just accidentally stepped on this little rock and nearly fell. Luckily I managed to steady myself."
The master and servant looked at each other. Cuimei felt suspicious and said, "That was a close call! What's wrong with the person in charge of cleaning? He didn't even clean the garden properly."
Jiang Yushu waved her hand. "These are things that have weathered and fallen off the rockery. They can't be swept away. It's okay, I'm not injured." She raised her hand and said, "Master Huang, regarding the fundraising appeal, what are your specific thoughts?"
Huang Yichun clenched his fists nervously in his robe sleeves and replied, "I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work."
"Tell me about it." Jiang Yushu gave a look, Cuimei understood, and called her companions to follow from a distance.
A Short Time · The Other Side of the Rockery
Jiang Yushu looked around, stopped, frowned, and asked, "You put away that thing just now before I could even see it clearly. What on earth was it that made you so panicked?"
"Yes, yes..." Huang Yichun mustered up his courage, "A letter."
"A letter? What letter?" Jiang Yushu's mind raced. She stared intently into the man's eyes and asked tentatively, "Written to me? To the magistrate? A letter of accusation?"
Huang Yichun was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly. "Your Excellency is wise! However, this letter has nothing to do with accusations. It was written by □□ to the adulterer, and it eventually fell into the hands of this humble official. It's a long story. But in short, this letter can be used as evidence to report those with bad behavior and punish the adulterer for adultery."
Jiang Yushu carefully observed the other person's expression, "Who is that? And who is her adulterer?"
"□□ is dead. She died when the enemy soldiers massacred the city." Huang Yichun glanced around and whispered, "But the adulterer is still alive and unharmed, even richer and more powerful than before."
Jiang Yushu was confused. "Tell me first, who are those two?"
"□□'s surname is Lai, and her given name is 'Xiao'e'."
"Lai Xiao'e? I don't know her." Jiang Yushu said patiently, "Who is the adulterer?"
Huang Yichun gritted his teeth and said, "Li Qigong."
"What?"
Jiang Yushu asked in surprise, "You mean... Li Qigong? The Yamen Dianshi, Li Qigong?"
"Yes! It's him!" Huang Yichun gritted his teeth, completely giving up. "That guy is shameless and lustful, despicable and insidious. He took the initiative to seduce County Magistrate Han's wife and then abandoned her."
Jiang Yushu was stunned and asked in shock, "Han Zhixian? Han Zhongping?"
Huang Yichun nodded and said with regret: "Han Zhixian was a good official, but it's a pity that he died young due to his talent being taken away by heaven."
Jiang Yushu calmed herself down and said slowly, "You mentioned Lai Xiao'e, but I don't know her. But if you're talking about 'Han Lai', I've seen her in biographies of heroes and martyrs, and she left a deep impression on me. According to the biography, Mrs. Han was dignified and virtuous, and she loved her husband dearly. Even when the enemy was about to break through the city gates, she couldn't bear to leave and risked her life to go out and look for her husband—"
"Alas, that is absolutely not true!"
"A woman who is unfaithful to her husband's virtues is not worthy of being called 'Mrs. Han', let alone appearing in the biography of heroes and martyrs!"
Huang Yichun was deeply disgusted and revealed, "Back then, the fighting was frequent. Two days before the city fell, the people began to flee. County Magistrate Han urged his wife to take the children and leave. □□ pretended to be reluctant to leave her husband, but in reality, she couldn't bear to leave her adulterer. She wrote letters after letters, actively proposing to elope."
Jiang Yushu was shocked again, in disbelief. "A married woman, a mother of several children, wants to elope with an adulterer? Even if the couple is not harmonious, how could she be willing to abandon her own flesh and blood?"
"She has a vicious heart. I guess she wouldn't let go of anything except her adulterer."
Huang Yichun endured for years, living in fear day and night. Unable to bear it any longer, he sighed, "In the end, it was all one-sided. Li Qigong had no intention of staying with her forever, and he fled with his family in time. She didn't receive a response from the adulterer, only to be butchered by the enemy soldiers. She deserved death, but her children were left with nothing. Magistrate Han was even more pitiful. Not only was he cuckolded, but he also had no descendants."
Jiang Yushu frowned, paced back and forth, thought for a moment, and said seriously: "This is a serious matter involving the reputation of the wife of a hero. Without solid evidence, no one would dare to believe it. Instead, they would accuse you of slandering Madam Han."
"I understand." Huang Yichun's official robes were drenched in sweat, but he gradually calmed down, his voice no longer trembling with nervousness. Outnumbered and powerless, he chose to turn to the female official and whispered, "In fact, I have more than one letter, and I also have witnesses."
"oh?"
The Dianshi was despicable, and Jiang Yushu, as the county magistrate, was naturally uneasy. She was full of doubts and was about to ask in detail when a voice suddenly rang out from behind the rockery:
"Hey, what do you mean by that?"
At this moment, behind the rockery
Coincidentally, Li Qigong and Wen Xiyi stopped next to the rockery.
Wen Xi got angry and said, "Just say what you want to say, don't beat around the bush!"
"Shh!" Li Qigong said with a dark face, "Keep your voice down. Be careful, there are ears on the other side of the wall."
Jiang Yushu and Huang Yichun immediately stopped talking and tried to listen carefully when the guards nearby shouted, "What are you talking about?"
"Who's behind?"
Li Qigong and Wen Xi quickly regained their composure and hurried out to take a look:
Facing the rockery, Jiang Yushu said gently, "There are no rules for this, nor should there be any. They can donate as much as they like, and it will all be considered good deeds and their names can be engraved on the monument of merit."
Huang Yichun turned his back to the rockery and said, "I have no idea what to do right now. I'm afraid I won't be able to raise much money in a short period of time."
"That's fine." Jiang Yushu encouraged him, "The government is calling for charity. There's no deadline for this. Take your time and try to raise enough money for the main structure of the school before we start discussing construction."
"I understand."
Jiang Yushu secretly took a deep breath, raised her eyes, looked across, and asked calmly, "What are you two talking about?"
Wen Xi had already put on a smile, trotted over, and replied respectfully, "I have some official business to discuss with the Registrar."
Li Qigong spoke and acted politely, reminding them, "Since you two are discussing fundraising, why don't you sit down in the hall and talk? It's windy and cold in the garden, so be careful not to catch a cold."
Huang Yichun returned to his dull demeanor, "It's not winter yet, it's not cold."
Jiang Yushu remained calm and composed. "I've been sitting all day and my back aches. I'm going to walk around the garden to get some fresh air and stretch my muscles."
"Alas, you work too hard every day. Official duties are important, but you also have to take care of your health." Wen Xi's face was full of concern.
Jiang Yushu nodded with a smile.
The four of them each had their own thoughts and chatted for a few words in a seemingly harmonious manner, but then dispersed after a while. The three subordinates watched the magistrate return to his study, then left the garden together and went to work on their own.
Jiang Yushu walked back to the study and thought to herself: Although I heard that the chief clerk was addicted to alcohol and the registrar was lustful, I never expected that he would dare to extend his lustful claws to County Magistrate Han's wife?
Committing adultery with the magistrate's wife is simply too lustful!
Is this true or false? Han Lai was already massacred by the enemy soldiers, leaving no witnesses.
She thought to herself: Huang Yichun is timid and cautious. Since he dared to report it, he must have a reason to do so. He will definitely tell me the details.
However, since then, Huang Yichun has not found an opportunity to report in detail.
Jiang Yushu waited in confusion, observing the situation cautiously without asking or urging.
After the autumn harvest, in early November, snow began to fall on the border and the temperature dropped sharply.
As a new official, Jiang Yushu was not familiar with the many things she had to deal with and was often very busy, working late into the night to handle official business.
That evening, it was snowing lightly and the sky was gloomy.
Jiang Yushu returned exhausted to the back court and was surprised to hear the maid report: "Madam, the Second Master is back! Also, Instructor Jing wants to see you, saying he has something important to discuss, and the Second Master is entertaining him."
Her half-bloomed smile froze, and she untied her cloak and asked in surprise, "Master Jing?"
"Yes." The maid took the cloak, hesitated, and cautiously said, "The Second Master brought him in. He's drinking tea in the living room. The old man seemed... unhappy. We are terrified, wondering how we might have neglected him."
"Why are you so scared? It has nothing to do with you." The old man had some opinions about the county magistrate.
Jiang Yushu took off her snow cap, her nose red from the cold, and asked with concern, "Where's Xiaoyan?"
"The girl is having dinner."
"Didn't the little girl cry this morning?"
The maid laughed happily, "She hasn't cried once! Our girl is getting better and better."
Jiang Yushu nodded with satisfaction, walked towards the living room, and said with a smile, "It's strange that Teacher Jing is willing to come and see me? What a rare guest. I'll go and take a look!"
At the same time, Li Mansion
The doors and windows of the small hall were tightly closed, the aroma of wine filled the red clay stove, the dishes were plentiful, and the brother-in-law and the uncle were drinking together for the umpteenth time.
But this time, it was far less harmonious than before.
Wen Xi was half drunk, his face flushed and his neck thick. He held the wine glass and said impatiently: "I know! I know!"
"I'm telling you, could you please stop dwelling on that account book? It happened years ago, it's such a mess, who's going to pursue it?"
Li Qigong was irritated. "Isn't Jiang Yushu investigating right now? Humph, if you hadn't been careless and left evidence, why would I be so worried?"
"Blame me, yes, it's all my fault! A thousand mistakes, all my fault, okay?" Wen Xi had been holding it in for a long time, using alcohol to vent his anger, and asked sarcastically, "But you always claim to be smarter than me, so why couldn't you stop it back then? Could it be that you clearly saw it, but you just watched your brother-in-law make a mistake?"
Li Qigong's face changed, and he slammed the table in anger. "What do you mean? Over the years, you've made countless mistakes, big and small, and every time I helped clean up the mess. That year's tax and grain accounts were almost botched. Fortunately, Sun Jie was eager to be transferred, so he chose to play dumb. Otherwise, the Li family would have been ruined by you!"
The brother-in-law had a dark face and was angry, which scared my brother-in-law so much that he trembled all over, shrank his neck, and his drunkenness disappeared.
Wen Xi sniffed, but ultimately didn't dare to anger the other person too much. He lowered his head and poured the wine to apologize, muttering, "If you have something to say, just talk it over nicely. Why are you so angry?"
Li Qigong snorted coldly, his tone firm, and he ordered without room for objection: "In short, we share the same fate. I will not harm my brother-in-law. You listen to me. No matter what, you must refuse the task tomorrow and ask Jiang Yushu to find someone else to manage the workshop, so that you don't get into trouble again."
"How can that be possible?"
"I've already taken on the responsibility and started working!" Wen Xi glared anxiously and patted his chest, saying, "Don't worry, I will be careful and will never make the same mistake again!"
Li Qigong was extremely impatient. He stood up suddenly, looked down from above, and asked, "So it sounds like you're not willing to listen to my advice?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
