Chapter 357 Zhu Xiuzhuan has evil intentions
Zhou Yang was the lowest-ranking person at the table. Seeing that the two people in front of him did not speak, he spoke cautiously and asked County Magistrate Liao:
"Lord Liao, you sentenced me to prison today, but I didn't go in... Will this be discovered?
What I mean is that I am afraid of causing trouble to you, my Lord."
County Magistrate Liao waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about this. I have arranged everything."
"After this meal today, you will leave the city tonight and hide for a while. Come back after the six-month period is up."
"Be careful on the road, don't let anyone see you and leave you vulnerable."
Zhou Yang immediately said that he understood.
Gongsun Yushu smiled and said, "It's a pity that Manager Zhou has lost such a large family business. Yongye Tea House was passed down from your grandfather's generation, right?"
"Although today's drama has won the hearts of the people for our Lord Liao and helped him gain a firm foothold in Jiayu County, and also earned some reputation for our Ning'an Marquis' Mansion, I think Yongye Tea House will no longer be able to continue operating in Yunzhou."
Zhou Yang knew very well that the play he directed and acted in today was completely destroying the reputation of the tea house accumulated by his ancestors.
But so what?
He still owed the gambling house several hundred taels of silver. In the past, when he had bad luck, he would withdraw the money directly from the tea house's account.
When they didn't have enough silver, they would mix the moldy and rotten tea leaves with good tea and sell them at the price of good tea, making another large sum of money.
Of course, he also knew that this was like drinking poison to quench thirst, and the tea house's business was getting worse day by day.
But the debt is getting higher day by day.
By now, the tea house was completely in the red and could no longer operate. He also owed a lot of debts and was threatened by creditors every few days.
It would be better to just "hide" in jail with the help of the county magistrate and disappear completely from the world.
Not only can he get rid of those debts, but he can also curry favor with two big trees, County Magistrate Liao and the Ning'an Earl's Mansion.
Killing two birds with one stone, Zhou Yang was simply impressed by his own wisdom!
That’s right…
Zhou Yang hesitated for a moment, and then asked County Magistrate Liao:
"I heard that since Magistrate Ding took office in Yunzhou, he has established a lot of rules. He also specifically emphasized the matter of hearing cases and detaining prisoners in the government office... It seems that they have to count the number of people every day."
"Now you've helped me escape, but the number of people in the prison doesn't match. Will there really be any problems?"
Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Liao and Gongsun Yushu looked at each other and they both smiled knowingly.
"Manager Zhou, just be at ease." County Magistrate Liao smiled confidently.
"If you leave, I will naturally arrange for someone else to go in for you."
As County Magistrate Liao spoke, his tone suddenly changed and he looked at Zhou Yang meaningfully.
"Speaking of which, Manager Zhou, why don't you guess who is in prison now?"
Zhou Yang was stunned for a moment, and seemed to realize something. He became a little excited, "Could it be..."
"Yes, it's your old enemy, Gong Yuanliang."
After County Magistrate Liao finished speaking, he smiled and raised his glass, gently clinking it against Zhou Yang's glass, making a crisp sound.
“It’s been a pleasure working with you.”
…
As dusk deepened, at the border between Tongzhou and Yunzhou, a small building stood quietly on the side of the official road.
The bright candlelight came from the small building, spreading in the night.
Outside the building, a blue and white flag was fluttering slowly in the wind, and one could vaguely make out the words "official post" were written on it.
The sounds of two horse hooves came from afar and soon, two plain figures appeared in the distance of the official road, gradually becoming clearer in the night.
"Huh, I didn't expect you to be right again."
Arriving at the gate of the official post station, Zhu Qingyan dismounted from his horse and said reluctantly.
It's really strange. The last time Zhu Lan and I went to Yunzhou, we also took this official road. We were in a hurry on the road at that time and I didn't even remember that there was an official post station here.
How come Zhu Lan could remember it?
Zhu Qingyan suddenly felt annoyed when he recalled how he had sworn last night that there was no official post station here.
Zhu Lan also got off the horse, stretched his sore body, and extended his hand to Zhu Qingyan with a smile.
"I won two taels of silver."
"Tsk." Zhu Qingyan pursed his lips and took out two taels of silver from his purse, but didn't give it to her.
"You really didn't secretly look at the map on the way?" She looked at Zhu Lan suspiciously and asked.
We had agreed yesterday that neither of us was allowed to look at the map, so we bet on who would remember it wrong.
Zhu Lan raised his eyebrows, "I'm willing to admit defeat, can't you afford to play?"
"Besides, do I need to look at a map?"
Seeing Zhu Lan's proud look, Zhu Qingyan really wanted to bring all his colleagues from the Hanlin Academy to come and see.
This is the Zhu, Xiu, and Zhuan that you all call – dignified as jade, elegant in temperament, humble and gentle!
What is like the gentle breeze and bright moon?
He is clearly a mean-spirited, annoying guy!
I get bullied every day!
"I give it to you, I ...."
Zhu Qingyan suppressed his pain and stuffed the silver into Zhu Lan's hands, and the latter put the silver in his arms with peace of mind.
The two of them looked around and found that there were still a few horses tied in the stable.
"It seems that someone else has settled here today." Zhu Lan said casually.
A postman heard the noise and came out, scolding the two men:
"This is an official posthouse. Ordinary people are not allowed to stay here. Leave immediately!"
Zhu Lan was not annoyed, and amiably explained the two men's identities as Hanlin scholars.
The postman was stunned for a moment, then looked at the two people in front of him carefully again, and his expression became more respectful.
He nodded, stepped forward to help the two men lead their horses, and muttered:
"What day is today..."
"On weekdays, we don't see many people coming back from the capital for ten days or half a month, but today, two of them came at once."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Lan was somewhat surprised and asked, "Oh? I wonder which lord in the capital is staying here?"
The postman pointed to the lobby of the post station and said, "Look, they are eating inside. You two adults will be able to see them when you go in."
Zhu Lan nodded to him slightly, and took Zhu Qingyan into the house, where he indeed smelled the aroma of food.
After all, it is an official inn of the imperial court, so the food is definitely not bad.
There were several tables in the lobby of the inn, but at this moment, there were three people sitting at one of the tables, eating quietly without saying a word.
The atmosphere was strangely heavy.
Zhu Lan frowned slightly, became more cautious, and couldn't help but take a few more glances.
Among the three people, one of them had his back to Zhu Lan. He was thin, but Zhu Lan suddenly felt that he looked familiar.
Finally, she called out tentatively:
"Master...Mr. Chang?"
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