Delivering Meals (Repair)
In the yamen, Zhou Hanzhang was looking through the tax records of Yunshui County for the past six years.
At the desk to his left, Lu Tong was sitting there organizing data on population changes in recent years.
Suddenly there was a noise in the room. Zhou Hanzhang threw the document in his hand on the table, with uncontrollable anger in his eyes, which scared Lu Tong who was standing next to him.
He knew that the two previous county magistrates were corrupt, but he didn't expect him to be so greedy.
How dare they falsely report taxes and make a profit from it!
"Sir," Lu Tong immediately understood what Zhou Hanzhang was angry about. Although he had only been the county magistrate for a year, he knew a little bit. "Sir, please calm down. Now we should compile the evidence as soon as possible so that we can seek justice for the people of Yunshui County."
"This alone is not enough." Zhou Hanzhang picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip of tea, and said after he calmed down.
"After six years, there's no way this matter hasn't spread outside Nanhai County! Unless the wealthy merchants in the county and the state government are involved and helping to cover it up."
"So are we going to investigate the wealthy businessmen in the city now?" Lu Tong asked.
Zhou Hanzhang shook his head, lowering his gaze to the blood-stained document on the table. He said, "No, now is not the time to touch them. Let's take control of the power within the government first."
"Sir, there is a vacant position for a legal advisor next to you. Do you want to promote one from the county government or choose one from outside?"
Lu Tong asked, thinking of his master who died of illness a few months ago.
Zhou Hanzhang had already planned for this matter. According to the time, the letter he sent should have reached that person's hands.
"Sir, the lady is here!"
Shi'an had been guarding the door. When he saw Shi Yanqing walking in from the yard carrying a beautifully engraved food box, he turned around and reported to the inside of the house.
Inside the room, Zhou Hanzhang was stunned at first, then his expression softened and a smile appeared in his eyes.
He stood up and said to Lu Tong: "You go back first and come back in the afternoon."
"Then I'll take my leave first."
When Lu Tong got up and went out, Shi Yanqing was just walking to the door.
He bowed slightly to Shi Yanqing and showed respect to the county magistrate's wife in his heart.
Afterwards, only Zhou Hanzhang and Shi Yanqing were left in the room.
"Yanqing, why are you here?"
Zhou Hanzhang walked up to Shi Yanqing and took the food box from her hand. He felt a little happy: "Is this specially brought to me?"
This was the first time someone had brought him food; before, he could only watch his classmates being brought food by their families. However, it was clear that he was too happy now.
"Something happened this morning and I have a headache, so I came to discuss it with you." Shi Yanqing stated his purpose directly.
She followed Zhou Hanzhang into the tea room, sat on the futon cushion, and then helped take out the food from the wooden box.
When Zhou Hanzhang heard that he was not the one delivering the meal, he felt a little disappointed, but he quickly realized what Yanqing meant.
He asked worriedly, "Did something happen?"
Shi Yanqing did not hide many things and told them one by one.
"After you left in the morning, I also planned to go out and see if there was a suitable shop to rent. Later, due to some matters, I went to Xinglin Hall and bought a bottle of pills there. After returning home, I found that the pills contained rabbit worms."
Shi Yanqing paused as he spoke, then continued, "Rabbit worms are a type of witchcraft. They don't pose a life-threatening risk to humans, but excessive consumption can be addictive."
"Just like the Wushisan, a drug favored by the nobles in the previous dynasty, it is highly addictive."
Zhou Hanzhang hadn't expected his wife to discover witchcraft again while she was out. After hearing the whole story, he couldn't help but ask, "Can this addiction be alleviated?"
Shi Yanqing nodded: "Of course. But the antidote, purple spirit grass, is a secret medicine of witch doctors. I have never heard of it or seen it before."
Seeing Zhou Hanzhang frowning slightly after hearing this, Shi Yanqing said, "I have already written a letter to my uncle. He is knowledgeable and may know what the purple spirit grass looks like."
Zhou Hanzhang finally breathed a sigh of relief, but after a moment, he hesitated and asked, "We can't figure this out on our own. Yanqing, do you have any pills left?"
Shi Yanqing took out a porcelain-white medicine bottle from his waist pouch and placed it on the table: "This contains pills containing rabbit worms."
"Okay." Zhou Hanzhang put the medicine bottle away and explained, "I plan to tell Her Majesty the Empress about the witchcraft incident. This medicine bottle can serve as evidence. This way, Her Majesty won't think I'm talking nonsense."
Telling the empress would be a good idea, but when Shi Yanqing thought about the Zhou family being demoted, he couldn't help feeling confused. Could it be that the empress didn't really give up on the Zhou family?
Thinking this in her heart, she asked. After all, she was now half a member of the Zhou family, so Zhou Hanzhang would not deliberately lie about such a thing.
Zhou Hanzhang listened to her question and shook his head. "I don't know what Your Majesty is thinking. I'm just a small county magistrate now, and I don't have the authority to write memorials or letters directly to Your Majesty."
"My grandfather was once Your Majesty's tutor. After resigning from office, he became the dean of Qingshan Academy. I will send this letter to him first, and he will find a way to let Your Majesty know about this matter."
Shi Yanqing understood: "So that's how it is."
"Then I'll copy down the rabbit bug's record later and put it in the letter when I send it out."
Zhou Hanzhang: "Don't worry, it won't be too late to write it after I get home in the evening."
Hearing this, Shi Yanqing raised his eyes and glanced at him. Although his gaze was light, it carried an inexplicable pressure: "You just promised me yesterday that you wouldn't read at night, and now you want to go back home and write at night?"
"I'll just light a few more candles." Zhou Hanzhang touched the tip of his nose, avoiding the threatening gaze, and looked at the food on the table to change the subject. "All of these dishes today are my favorites, and I'm hungry now."
"Hmm, delicious!" Zhou Hanzhang picked up the four-happiness meatballs from the plate and took a bite. The fresh and fragrant taste instantly filled his mouth.
He ate while feeling emotional, and Yan Qing could only smile helplessly when he saw him.
"Okay, just eat quietly. Otherwise, you'll choke on your food again like last time."
Shi Yanqing took out the black plum soup from the bottom of the food box, handed it to Zhou Hanzhang, and motioned him to drink some.
"Last time, I choked on my food because Hangui patted me on the back." Zhou Hanzhang defended in a low voice.
Shi Yanqing just smiled and said nothing.
After a while, Zhou Hanzhang finished his meal.
He put the empty dishes back into the lunch box, took out a plain handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the table clean.
As he wiped it, he looked at Shi Yanqing and couldn't help asking, "Did you accidentally get your clothes dirty this morning?"
Shi Yanqing looked down at the chiffon sleeves embroidered with butterfly patterns on her arms. Instead of answering, she asked, "Doesn't this look good on me?"
"It looks good," Zhou Hanzhang answered without hesitation, "This dress looks great on you."
Shi Yanqing was satisfied, and she finally replied, "The outfit I wore this morning was too plain. I'm your wife, and this is my first time meeting your subordinates at the county government office. I should at least dress appropriately for my status. It's a sign of respect for you, me, and them."
Seeing Zhou Hanzhang's eyes flashing after hearing this, Shi Yanqing couldn't help but feel amused.
She remembered that she hadn't mentioned the matter of Steward Lin yet, so she straightened her expression and said, "There's one more thing I forgot to mention."
"This morning, Mr. Lin's housekeeper came to the mansion to deliver an invitation and also brought a gift. However, I only accepted the invitation and later refused the gift on the grounds that I couldn't make the decision for you."
Shi Yanqing asked tentatively, "You won't blame me for making the decision for you, right?"
It’s no wonder Shi Yanqing asked this, mainly because she and Zhou Hanzhang haven’t developed any feelings for each other yet, and there is only friendship between them at most.
Even if they sleep in the same bed, it's still friendship. For friends to do things for each other like this is already crossing the line.
Zhou Hanzhang didn't expect Shi Yanqing to ask this. In his opinion, from the moment Shi Yanqing tore up the divorce letter, she had become his wife.
Husband and wife should support and respect each other. Even if they had no feelings for each other at the beginning, they had been together for more than a month.
He already had feelings for her, but he couldn't express it yet.
"How can I blame you? You are the one who makes the decisions on all matters in the mansion. My affairs are naturally included as well." Zhou Hanzhang's words were full of affection.
Shi Yanqing didn't realize the meaning of this. Seeing that Zhou Hanzhang was not angry, she didn't care.
"It's almost time for me to go." Shi Yanqing looked at the shadows of the trees outside the window. Seeing that the shadows were getting longer than before, she stood up and said.
"I'll take you out." Zhou Hanzhang also stood up.
Shi Yanqing turned to look at him, and seeing that he looked tired, he refused: "Just let Shi'an take me."
"When I came in, I noticed that both you and County Magistrate Lu had drooping brows. There were so many documents on the desk. I'm afraid you started reading them as soon as you entered the yamen. And you even read them to the point of anger."
Seeing Zhou Hanzhang about to speak, Shi Yanqing immediately said, "Alright, alright. You really don't have to send me off. Take advantage of your lunch break to take a nap, otherwise you won't have energy in the afternoon."
"Then, let Shi'an take you back." Zhou Hanzhang finally uttered these words.
Shi Yanqing didn't refuse anymore, she nodded and agreed.
That's fine. She could go back and copy down the records about the rabbit worm and ask Shi'an to give it to Zhou Hanzhang.
After leaving the courtyard, Shi'an followed Shi Yanqing with a lunch box in his hand.
Along the way, we met many yamen runners wearing dark blue official uniforms and clerks wearing light red official uniforms.
Although they had never met the county magistrate's wife, they were well-informed. When they met her, Yan Qing clasped his hands together in front of his chest and bowed slightly.
When Shi Yanqing saw them, he nodded slightly and then quickly left the county government office.
…
"Madam, I have heard that Doctor Xu of Xinglin Hall is a very skilled doctor. Many infertile women have become pregnant after seeing him."
"Is this true?" Liu Anan was eating snacks. After hearing what her personal maid said, she asked anxiously.
The snack in his hand was crushed into pieces and fell onto the table.
The maid nodded affirmatively: "I have privately investigated several women. They all had been pregnant for four or five years, but they became pregnant after seeing Doctor Xu!"
"Great!" Liu Anan stood up happily. She turned around and waited until she calmed down a little before saying, "Let's talk about this after the master comes back. Go outside and ask about Doctor Xu."
"I ate a lot of different things to get pregnant, and I almost got sick. I need to tell the master about this, or he won't care about me anymore."
The maid obviously knew all this. She said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, Madam. I will investigate carefully."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
