Chapter 69 It’s time to share the money!
The fear in the man's eyes disappeared, and he gave a foolish smile.
His originally stiff limbs suddenly became active, and he walked out of the bed barefoot and walked out of the room.
The moonlight stretched his shadow extremely long, with the faint silhouette of a child superimposed on his shoulder. The shadow swung its legs, and its thin arms wrapped around his neck, just as before.
The man's eyes gradually became blurred, and he kept repeating: "Pick the fruits, Daddy is carrying Nianxue to pick the fruits!"
The night wind carried a nursery rhyme past my ears: "Pick some fruits, pick some sweet fruits, give them to daddy, give them to mommy—" The laughter suddenly stopped, and the tone became cold, "The last one... is for the baby hanging on the white silk."
The next day, Xuanjing Division.
"Deputy Envoy Lin, did you know that Gu Huai is dead?"
"Oh? Really?"
"He was found by his servants early this morning, hanging from a fruit tree."
"It's good that there's one less scumbag in the world."
"But he's tainted with an evil aura. He must have been harmed by a ghost. Deputy Envoy Lin, do you know who harmed him?"
"Even Master Xie doesn't know, so how could I know?"
"You don't know? Did you really send Gu Nianxue's ghost away?"
"certainly."
"when."
"last night."
"Shouldn't it be the night before last?"
"I left the day before yesterday and came back again. My obsession hasn't faded, so I can't go to the underworld."
"What is her obsession?"
"She wants to go back to the days when fathers were kind and sons were filial, and experience the warmth between father and daughter again."
"You agreed? So the murderer who killed Gu Huai last night was really Gu Nianxue! Deputy Envoy Lin, the Xuanjing Division's duty is to suppress demons and exorcise evil spirits and protect the peace of the area! How could you condone a ghost to kill people?"
"I just couldn't figure out how to resolve the ghost's obsession. Who knew that Gu Nianxue would be so impatient to find Gu Huai? Before I could react, she took Gu Huai away."
"Deputy Envoy Lin!"
"Thank you, sir, for trusting me. I really didn't mean it."
"Do you think I will believe your nonsense?"
"Believe it or not," Lin Qingyue smiled. "To maintain peace in a region, we must always make small sacrifices when necessary. Isn't that what you always say?"
The person who was sacrificed was Gu Huai.
If it wasn't for the purpose of resolving Gu Nianxue's obsession, how could Lin Qingyue keep Gu Huai for another day based on her habits?
Xie Shouzheng was speechless after being silenced by Lin Qingyue's words. But the Xuanjing Division was not an ordinary government office after all, and if it occasionally failed in its duties... what could be done?
"What if the Gu family refuses to give up and comes to make trouble?" Xie Shouzheng was very worried.
What if the Gu family joins forces with the censors and sue Lin Qingyue and the entire Xuanjing Division?
Lin Qingyue doesn't have to worry. She is from a noble family and the Princess of Jin. The privileged class can always find some excuses to be exempted from punishment.
But Xie Shouzheng was different. He was a poor little guy with no background. The Crown Prince was away and no one was protecting him. He might even lose his official position.
But then Lin Qingyue said, "Don't worry, the Gu family won't pursue the matter."
Xie Shouzheng asked doubtfully, "How can you be so sure?"
Just as he finished speaking, Da Mi came in with a thick envelope. "Thank you, Mr. Xie, Deputy Envoy Lin, the new head of the Gu family sent something to our Xuanjing Division to thank us for helping him to attain salvation."
"What's in it? A thank-you letter?" Xie Shouzheng took the envelope and felt it in his hand. It felt quite thick. He muttered, "Does a thank-you letter need to be so long?"
When he opened it, he saw a thick stack of things, which turned out to be all silver bills.
Xie Shouzheng counted them and his eyes widened in shock: "A full ten thousand taels of silver!"
His monthly salary, allowances and other miscellaneous items added up to only 20 taels of silver, which is 240 taels a year. How many years of salary would 10,000 taels equal to?
Xie Shouzheng counted on his fingers, but he was confused and couldn't figure it out.
"That's equivalent to 42 years of Master Xie's salary." Lin Qingyue sighed, holding her forehead. "How on earth did Master Xie get into officialdom when he's so bad at math? He even counts on his fingers?"
Xie Shouzheng said, "I'm a military officer, and I don't rely on arithmetic! This is not the point. The point is why did the Gu family send so many banknotes? Shouldn't they investigate the cause of Gu Huai's death and then accuse the Xuanjing Division of dereliction of duty?"
Lin Qingyue said, "As long as Master Xie stops nagging, no one should pursue the matter."
Xie Shouzheng is not that stupid, of course he won't continue the topic.
He looked at the thick stack of banknotes and swallowed, "This... shouldn't be accepted. Should it be returned?"
Damn, I really don’t want to quit!
After hesitating for a long time, he finally wrote a memorial and submitted it to the palace along with the silver bills.
Alas, although he really wanted to stay, he would definitely not be able to sleep well at night if he embezzled such a large sum of money. Moreover, he was an official specially recommended by the Crown Prince, so he had to consider the Crown Prince's face even if it meant his own!
“Hey, hey…”
After Xie Shouzheng had spent the entire morning lamenting his lost fortune, the palace returned the money. Emperor Zhao of Qi verbally instructed Lin Qingyue to handle the matter.
Lin Qingyue wasn't as fussy as Xie Shouzheng. She threw the banknotes onto the table and said, "The Xuanjing Division, regardless of rank, will be divided equally!"
There was a moment of silence, and then there was a deafening cheer and a torrent of flattery:
"Deputy Envoy Lin, you are the person I admire most in my life!"
"Deputy Envoy Lin, I will fight for you with my life!"
"Deputy Envoy Lin, I support you in usurping power and becoming the chief officer!"
"Da Mi, you bastard! You've completely forgotten all the kindness I've shown you!"
“…”
Xie Shouzheng snorted, "Our Xuanjing Division doesn't just have one office in the capital. We have people from all over the counties and prefectures, and from all the branches, big and small. Together, we have a total of 8,562 people. Ten thousand taels of silver, divided equally..."
Halfway through his speech, he couldn't help but start counting on his fingers.
Lin Qingyue said, "About 1160 wen, with a remaining 8146 wen."
Xie Shouzheng said, "Then give each person 1,160 wen! The rest will be used as public funds."
Everyone: “…”
Although there is some difference compared to the original, it is actually not a small amount.
The basic income of ordinary guards of Xuanjingsi is 500 coins per month.
Each person received more than 1,000 coins, which was equivalent to two extra months' salary, and it was paid immediately.
Therefore, everyone was very happy that day and worked very hard.
After dealing with these miscellaneous matters, Xie Shouzheng finally had some free time and asked Lin Qingyue, "By the way, Deputy Envoy Lin, I remember that day when you returned from your audience with the Emperor, didn't you say you had something to tell me? I was distracted by the Gu family's affairs and almost forgot what it was."
Lin Qingyue raised her hand and closed the door before saying, "I was just about to say that. Sir Xie, please arrange everything at the Xuanjing Division as soon as possible in the next two days. We will go to the border together."
"Huh?" Xie Shouzheng was a little confused. "What are you going to do?"
Lin Qingyue pulled out a secret decree from her sleeve: "Here is the emperor's secret decree. Xie Shouzheng, please accept it!"
Xie Shouzheng jumped up from his chair and knelt down again: "Your humble servant Xie Shouzheng, accept the order!"
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