Chapter 684 Who are you to me? Why did I slap her? [Vote for a chance to win a prize during the seven-day National Day holiday!]
"stop."
"What is it, Aunt?"
"Are you coming back for lunch?"
"No, I can't come back."
"Is today a day off? Didn't you say a few days ago that you had half a day off and wanted to have dinner with me?"
"Something came up and I need to go to Xunyang Grottoes."
"It's Xunyang Grottoes again. Why are we going there every day? It feels like my husband is the busiest person in the whole of Xunyang. By the way, what are Yuan Huaimin and the others doing?"
In the inner courtyard of the Huaiye Lane residence, early in the morning, Ouyang Rong hurriedly put on his blue scholar's robe as he walked, and entered the dining hall. In front of Zhen Shuyuan, who was dressed with an elegant demeanor and was preparing to accompany her beloved nephew for a meal, he swallowed more than half a bowl of glutinous rice porridge. He then picked up a golden pancake from the table, put it in his mouth, and prepared to go out.
Zhen Shuyuan stopped him with an unfriendly expression, glancing sideways at him and asking a question. Her eyebrows furrowed.
“My lord, it’s not that I like to meddle, but sometimes you can’t do everything yourself. You have to delegate some tasks to your subordinates. You are the nominal highest-ranking official in Jiangzhou. How can you manage everything? Wouldn’t that exhaust you?”
The beautiful woman in the silk skirt earnestly said:
“We must be good at using people. Look at Auntie, our family is so big, the housework should be distributed to half of them. How can I do it all by myself? You agree, right? Anyway, no matter how busy we are, we won’t be so busy that we don’t even have time to eat. If we don’t have time for breakfast, we won’t have time for lunch, and we probably won’t have time for dinner either.”
Ouyang Rong took the pancake out of his mouth, looking a little embarrassed, and said:
"Actually, I didn't do much personally. Liu Lang and Huai Min were still doing the work. However, today is special. I made a last-minute promise to Lady Rong Zhen to go to Xunyang Grottoes to discuss an important matter with her, involving the Buddha statue, which is of great importance..."
"Alright, alright, no need to say anymore. It was that lady-in-waiting who made the appointment. I understand. A private meeting with her shouldn't be arranged by an outsider. No wonder you left in such a hurry, you're in such a rush, aren't you?"
The more Ouyang Rong listened, the more he felt that something was wrong with what he said:
"What private meeting? It was a serious business discussion. She said there was a special plan that needed to be discussed..."
Zhen Shuyuan gave a half-smile: "Mmm-hmm."
Ouyang Rong couldn't stand it anymore: "Auntie, you're really serious."
"Some people are serious, but some people may not be so serious. There's always one who's not serious."
"..."
Zhen Shuyuan's words were a bit convoluted.
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Rong frowned, opened his mouth as if to say something, but after a moment, he obediently closed it again, turned around and continued walking.
The beautiful woman in the long skirt, sitting in the hall, continued to shout with a stern face:
"I don't care, you have to come back for lunch. That's the deadline. You're discussing important matters with your so-called Lady Historian. The round trip, plus the time for the meeting, I've calculated. You left so early today, there's definitely enough time in the morning. Unless there's something fishy going on, like a secret rendezvous, if not, you have to come back for lunch, understand?"
After she finished speaking, she saw that Ouyang Rong had stopped obediently, picked up a piece of rice cake with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth and chewed it, and gave a soft hum.
Ouyang Rong hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
Zhen Shuyuan put down her chopsticks, gave him a warning look, and lowered her voice:
"I called Wanwan ahead of time, and she thought you had the morning off. If you leave now, she'll come later. I can only keep her here until lunchtime at the latest. You have to come back to see her, understand?"
"OK."
Without much hesitation, Ouyang Rong nodded and strode out the door.
...
Ouyang Rong left early, but did not go to Xunyang Grottoes immediately.
I first went to the Jiangzhou main hall.
Speaking of which, Ouyang Rong hasn't been to the Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor's Office for a while. All military and political documents are now being sent by the Prefectural Governor's Office Chief Secretary to the Jiangzhou Main Hall for review.
The powers of the Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor's Office and the Jiangzhou Grand Hall were different.
Because the governor of Jiangzhou held military and political power over the entire prefecture, he was essentially a smaller version of a regional governor. Military and political affairs, including those of the Jiangzhou military command, were first sent to the governor's office in Jiangzhou.
The Jiangzhou Grand Hall, under the actual leadership of the Deputy Chief Secretary of Jiangzhou, was in charge of the livelihood affairs of the city and several counties within Jiangzhou.
Inside the main hall of Jiangzhou, the first seat is the governor's office. However, the governor rarely comes here. For example, the deceased... no, the former governor of Jiangzhou who died a heroic death, Wang Lengran, rarely comes to the Jiangzhou main hall and spends all his time in the governor's mansion. This can be considered neglect of his duties.
After Ouyang Rong took over the position of acting governor of Jiangzhou, he reversed his actions and stopped going to the governor's office altogether, instead having his desk moved to the main hall of Jiangzhou.
Normally, all the military and political intelligence that was originally sent to the Jiangzhou Prefectural Governor's Office was sent to the Jiangzhou Main Hall instead.
Generally, the decision-making team of a prefecture is located wherever the governor is, with him at its core.
Actually, there should be another consideration here, a possibility that knowledgeable outsiders might think of:
This young prefect surnamed Ouyang comes from the Jiangzhou Grand Hall, where he has more of his loyal followers. Meanwhile, the Jiangzhou Prefectural Government still uses the personnel from Wang Lengran's time, and there may be his confidants who haven't been weeded out and are now hidden away...
Upon arriving at the main hall of Jiangzhou, Ouyang Rong found Yan Liulang.
"How's the investigation going? Is there anything that can be improved?"
As Yan Liulang handed over a case file, he smiled and reassured him:
"Your Excellency is overthinking this. You have always acted with integrity and your family background is impeccable. I never imagined that the Imperial Observatory might have any risk of failing the review."
Ouyang Rong nodded slowly.
He took the scroll from Yan Liulang and glanced at it.
This scroll, from the internal secret treasury of the Jiangzhou Grand Hall, records portraits of local officials and the results of past imperial censor assessments.
Only the Censorate and the Prefect of the State can access this information.
The scroll in his hand is one of them, belonging to Ouyang Rong.
Records of his conduct began when he became the magistrate of Longcheng County in Jiangzhou, and there is indeed no blemish on his record.
Disaster relief, flood control, offering auspicious omens... all of these earned him a "top-notch" rating in his year-end performance evaluation.
Now, he is commissioning a statue of Her Majesty the Empress, and has gained the favor of Lady Rongzhen, who holds the position of Her Majesty's personal envoy, and has repeatedly reported and praised it.
No wonder Wang Lengran, who was the governor at the time, couldn't find a way to attack him or stop his promotion.
However, the Control Yuan should have a more detailed case file about him.
In addition to the simple official career record in Ouyang Rong's possession, there are also scrolls introducing his family background and some detailed information about his life.
There might even be provincial-level imperial censors who would travel to his hometown of Nanlong to conduct on-site investigations to prevent impersonation...
Ouyang Rong put down the simplified file and stroked his chin.
The day before yesterday, Rong Zhen admitted that before he could reveal the secret defenses of the core of Xunyang Grottoes, a confidential investigation by the Imperial Observatory was required. In a sense, it was similar to the political vetting in his previous life, only more detailed.
The Imperial Observatory should have reviewed all of these files.
However, there is another procedure: send people to the places where he once served as an official, and solicit opinions about him from both the local government and the general public.
Alternatively, the envoys dispatched by the Imperial Observatory could directly conduct random checks on a few anonymous officials.
See if anyone reports him for embezzlement and bribery; of course, the whole process is kept secret.
If there are no serious stains, then the confidentiality check has been passed.
Overall, the supervisory system in the Zhou Dynasty's officialdom was quite mature.
After thinking for a moment and feeling that he hadn't missed anything, Ouyang Rong turned and left.
We arrived at Xunyang Grottoes.
"What? Lady Rong isn't here?"
Ouyang Rong looked at Wang Caozhi in front of him and asked with a frown.
"Yes, Sister Rong seemed to have something urgent to attend to this morning and left."
Where did you go?
"It seems they've returned to Xunyang City."
Ouyang Rong frowned and asked again:
"A few people went."
"It looks like a person and a horse."
"one person?"
Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment, shook his head, and left with a remark:
"What kind of nonsensical titles are these? I've said it so many times, just call me by my job title."
Wang Caozhi nodded: "Understood, good brother-in-law!"
"?"
Ouyang Rong ignored him, glanced at the sky and time, and decided to return to the city directly.
He looked somewhat puzzled throughout the journey.
Where could Rongzhen go by herself? Weren't we supposed to meet today to discuss important matters...?
Half an hour later, Ouyang Rong, preoccupied with his thoughts, returned to the city and first went to find Yan Liulang:
"Ms. Rong went into the city alone this morning. Keep an eye on her and see where she goes and who she meets."
"yes."
Yan Liulang clasped his hands and withdrew.
After giving his instructions, Ouyang Rong glanced at the sky and hurried back to his residence in Huaiye Lane.
As soon as I entered the dining hall, I realized that I was indeed late.
Without looking up, Zhen Shuyuan said, "Wanwan finished eating and left."
Ouyang Rong asked in surprise, "How did you get here so quickly?"
"Fast? Don't you even look at the time? Why are you so slow, my love?"
"Sorry, mine."
Zhen Shuyuan rolled her eyes and said:
"Hmph, and Tanlang really suffered a loss today. Wanwan wore an extremely beautiful vermilion dress, as dazzling as a ruby. She is truly a peerless young lady, and from one of the five noble families. Ah, Tanlang is so blessed that he doesn't know how lucky he is."
Ouyang Rong's face showed an apologetic expression:
"It's my fault, I got back too late."
At this moment, Ye Weilai, who was eating next to her, added quietly:
"Tanlang, Sister Xie took the little one out to play."
Ouyang Rong nodded slightly.
Zhen Shuyuan asked with a curious look, "Little one? Who is it?"
Ouyang Rong and Ye Weilai exchanged a glance. He turned back and winked at his aunt, who was acting like a curious child.
"You could say it's a little pet we keep in the yard, Wanwan likes it."
My junior sister often takes Miaosi out to eat good food, and the little guy is thrilled.
Zhen Shuyuan nodded slightly, as if recalling some rumors, and began to chatter:
"Oh, you young people really love to cause trouble. It's better not to keep pets; they're a real nuisance. If you leave them at home, they might cause a big disaster one day..."
Ouyang Rong chuckled.
After dinner, he returned to his study and glanced at the small sachet on the table. There was actually a pair; the other one was made by the embroiderer for his junior sister as a birthday gift, but it wasn't finished yet.
Ouyang Rong picked up the talisman, intending to put it in his pocket, but stopped halfway and went to put it into the Mo family sword box.
He clapped his hands, preparing to read for a while before taking a nap, when he heard hurried footsteps outside.
The courtyard gate was pushed open, and looking up, Ye Weilai was leading Yan Liulang, who had a serious expression, into the courtyard.
Before even entering the house, Yan Liulang shouted loudly:
"My lord, it's urgent!"
Ouyang Rong walked out of the house with his hands behind his back:
"What is it? Speak."
Yan Liulang hesitated and said:
"This humble servant...this humble servant saw Lady Historian go to Xingzi Lake..."
Ouyang Rong was stunned for a moment, then rushed out the door like lightning.
"When did this happen? Why didn't you say so sooner!"
About half an hour ago.
"Walk!"
Ouyang Rong hurriedly took Yan Liulang to Xingzi Lake.
As I approached the quiet courtyard, I saw two women standing quietly in the alley not far from the courtyard.
One figure was a beautiful woman in a purple and gold shawl, and the other figure was... a young girl in a purple palace dress.
Ouyang Rong, who was standing at the street corner, felt a sudden jolt in his heart and quickly stepped forward.
Yan Liulang, who had been following behind him with his head down, suddenly raised one hand, covered his stomach, turned around, and while unbuckling his belt, walked towards the nearest dark alley corner to relieve himself.
Ouyang Rong was moving too fast and didn't notice his trusted lieutenant's skillful movement for a moment.
He ran up to Rongzhen and the other two women, panting, and said:
"What brings Lady Rong here? Weren't we supposed to meet at the Xunyang Grottoes? ... I was just taking a midday nap at home when Lady Rong arrived, so I didn't greet you immediately. Please forgive me..."
Rongzhen did not turn around.
While wiping away sweat and panting, Ouyang Rong discreetly sized up the two women.
All that could be seen was Rongzhen's petite, girlish figure, motionless.
The beautiful woman in the purple and gold cloak stood behind Rong Zhen with her head down, like a wronged little wife, covering half of her face with one hand, not daring to utter a sound.
Ouyang Rong silently took a step forward and came to Rong Zhen's side.
Suddenly, I noticed that the lady of the house had her hands behind her back, her face stern, and she was staring blankly at the small courtyard in front of her.
At that moment, Ouyang Rong caught a glimpse of Pei Shisan Niang, who was secretly looking up at him, with a clear, bright red handprint on her face.
"Young Master..."
Pei Shisan Niang spoke weakly, but Rong Zhen's loud shout came from ahead:
"Ouyang Lianghan! Prefect Ouyang!"
Ouyang Rong immediately snapped to attention and spoke first: "Yes, Madam Rong is perfectly fine, there's no need for her to hit someone..."
Rongzhen asked in a curious tone:
"Who do you think you are to me? Why did I slap her?"
At this point, she suddenly spoke loudly:
"I didn't hit her!"
Ouyang Rong chuckled awkwardly, "Alright, I didn't fight. Your Excellency, please listen to what I have to say..."
Rong Zhen, whose pretty face was always as cold as ice, was now smiling:
"I said I didn't fight, and that's it. Don't flatter yourself or try to explain. I know you've been hiding a Yue woman. Haha, hiding a Yue woman, keeping her in a golden house."
Ouyang Rong looked serious:
“She is my childhood sweetheart. I have a responsibility to educate her and I can guarantee that with me around, she will never follow me to commit crimes.”
Rong Zhen suddenly waved his sleeve:
"I don't care if she's your childhood sweetheart or not!"
Ouyang Rong calmed down and asked seriously, "Lady Historian...you didn't go in, did you?"
Rongzhen suddenly turned around and asked with a strange look:
"Why would I go in? Someone has already gone in."
"...?!"
Ouyang Rong froze, then slowly turned his head to look at the bright red handprint on Pei Shisan Niang's face.
Under Rongzhen's gentle chuckle and scrutiny, the young man in the scholar's robe turned his head again and looked at the quiet courtyard in front of him, which was unusually serene at the moment.
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(End of this chapter)
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