As we were talking, an uninvited guest arrived.
The young man in black whispered a few words into Guard Gold's ear. Guard Gold's face turned from green to blue, and then from blue to purple, looking as if a color plate had been overturned.
Guard Jin slammed the table, causing it to shake three times. Bai Yong was so frightened that his face turned pale. He took a deep breath and cursed, "Did you get kicked in the head by a donkey? What are you doing so frightened?"
"It's outrageous! It's really outrageous."
Guard Jin paced back and forth, still a little angry and kicked Xiao Hei beside him. Xiao Hei endured the pain and said, "Master Jin, please be patient."
"That bitch Jiang Xuqing deserves a horrible death. He actually made me into a muscular, impotent man. Why doesn't God send down a thunderbolt to kill him?"
The most outrageous thing is that the rumors Xiao Hei found out were getting more and more confusing. It was said that he coveted the martial artist Luo Ying and wanted to sleep with him to the extreme of his madness.
Not only did he steal Jiang Xuqing's things, he also took Luo Ying home to be his concubine.
A simple story about a corrupt official stealing military pay was overshadowed by the clichéd story of two men fighting over a woman.
Now no one cares about Jiang Xuqing's embezzlement of military funds, but instead starts talking about his romantic scandals.
Guard Jin was so angry that he drew his sword and was about to leave when Bai Yong stopped him. "Are you going to kill someone in the street?"
"No, I'm only looking for Jiang Xu to settle accounts."
"How dare you, Jin Han, kill an official appointed by the imperial court?" Bai Yong pressed his hand down and shouted, "The entire Jianzhou is Jiang Xuqing's territory. Are you openly opposing him? Do you want to live?"
"But."
"Pa!" Bai Yong slapped him hard in the face, with such force that the right side of his face was swollen.
"You don't want your life, but I do. As a Beijing official, if you enter someone else's territory, you'd be forced to lie down even if you were a tiger. Don't you understand such a simple truth?"
Guard Jin calmed down and put down the knife. "I can't let this happen to me."
"Don't worry, wait until you return to Beijing. Isn't it you who decides how to deal with it?"
Guard Jin instantly understood Bai Yong's meaning. His lips curled up to his ears as he said with a wry smile, "Thank you for your guidance, eunuch."
Bai Yong sighed and said, "I really hope you can understand my painstaking efforts." But don't be like an idiot and make trouble on other people's territory. It would be bad if you ask an old man like him to help clean up the mess.
After sending off the reckless Guard Jin, the young eunuch in front of Bai Yong said, "Eunuch, should we go see Lord Jiang?"
"Don't be impatient, let's see first." Just giving gifts wouldn't win Fu Yao's attention; he had to do something big. Bai Yong wanted to see how far Jiang Xuqing, praised so much by Fu Yao, could grow. It would be bad if he was just an empty shell.
"Then I will go back to Master Bai."
"Wait a minute." Bai Yong had a soft spot for this Jiang Xuqing imitation. Perhaps because they both had the surname Bai, he inexplicably wanted to look out for him. "Go call him over. We have something to ask him."
Not long after, Bai Shinian hurried over. Seeing Bai Yong opening his robe, he was about to kneel down. Bai Yong was too lazy to be polite and stopped him from continuing to greet him. "If you have something to say, just say it."
Bai Shinian coughed twice to moisten his throat, then said under the contemptuous gaze of the accompanying officer: "My Lord, please give your regards to the angel. If there is anything that the angel is not satisfied with, please tell me and I will make arrangements for you."
Unexpectedly, Jiang Xuqing was so considerate. Even when he wasn't around, Bai Yong still enjoyed his constant care. "No need for that. I'm here to announce the emperor's will, not to enjoy myself. I have something to ask you. How much do you know about Jianzhou's official affairs?"
Bai Shinian shook his head, thinking to himself. The master had ordered that all matters other than service be evaded by claiming ignorance. No matter how flattering the other party's words, just pretend you don't know.
Bai Yong didn't wait for an answer, nor was he anxious. He asked again, "How is the county's tax situation?"
Bai Shinian still shook his head and pretended to be invisible.
"How is the city construction?"
Is there any need to ask? The city walls are in such dilapidated condition that they haven't been repaired in years. The Jiannu night raid made the already shaky walls shake even more. Next time, the Jiannu won't even need to come; the wind will blow them away.
Bai Shinian was about to reply, "I don't know," when he remembered what the master had told him this morning. If he asked about the details, he would cry poor.
In that case, he knew what to do.
Bai Shinian lifted his robe and knelt on his knees, crying. "Oh my angel, you have no idea what hard times were like before Jianzhou. My master hasn't had a good night's sleep since he took office, and his eyes are red from working! The city walls are broken, and the people have nothing in their pockets. They're all emaciated and pale from hunger. My heart is hanging in my throat, and I haven't let it go for a single day."
That's not what he wants to hear.
Bai Yong frowned, and his raised hand was about to make close contact with Bai Shinian's face. When he thought about the gift Jiang Xuqing had given him yesterday, he felt that beating the dog was equivalent to beating the owner, which was not good.
Bai Yong pulled his hand back with great difficulty and said, "Stop howling. I'm not dead yet."
Bai Shinian wiped away two bitter tears and said sadly, "The adults are almost out of food."
Where did that ginseng come from? Who are you trying to fool?
Bai Yong rolled his eyes to the sky. He got a headache when he saw Bai Shinian's poor performance.
Bad review, he acted better than Bai Shinian.
"you……"
Bai Shinian continued to howl. "Angel."
"Shut up." Bai Yong couldn't stand it any longer and threw the handkerchief in his face. "Wipe it off before you speak."
Bai Shinian chuckled twice, not wanting to wipe it off, and put the handkerchief directly into his sleeve, saying: "Thank you, angel, for the generous reward."
Her expression changed faster than women quarreling. Bai Yong was deafened by her actions and forgot what he wanted to ask.
This gave him an illusion. "Jianzhou was really poor due to the earthquake?"
"Poor." Bai Shinian couldn't stop crying and sobbing when he thought of this. "To be honest, Angel, I haven't made any money from the merchants yet. The master still owes them money."
"Oh?" Bai Yong finally grasped the point and casually asked, "How much do you owe?"
"A lot, one thousand taels."
Bai Yong was furious. "You're talking nonsense! Is a thousand taels really money? The hundred-year-old ginseng your master gave you was worth five thousand taels. How could you not even come up with a mere one thousand taels?"
Bai Shinian said aggrievedly: "It's true. We can't even distribute the rice for recruiting workers. Those female workers are going to starve."
"What are you talking about, some female worker?"
Bai Shinian asked, "Didn't the angel see the notice on the city wall when he entered? The one recruiting female workers?"
Who pays attention to these things? After Bai Shinian reminded him, the eunuch beside Bai Yong remembered. "Eunuch Bai, I saw a job posting at the city gate. It says that Master Jiang has opened a fur garment workshop in the east of the city and needs a large number of female workers to help him. The salary includes three meals a day."
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