Chapter 552: The Evil of a Scoundrel (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
Faced with the young scholar's resentful eyes and silent accusation, Qi Shan was also filled with a knot of sorrow. He was in the wrong first, and was now speechless. What could he say? That his judgment was poor, and that none of the seven lords he had chosen were suitable?
Or should we repeatedly assure you that this one is acceptable?
The young woman appeared to be watching the drama unfold, but was inwardly shocked—when had she ever seen Clerk Qi so speechless and guilty after being confronted?
The young scholar said, "I don't need you to return a country to me now. You can just return all the losses I suffered back then."
Qi Shan gave the same answer.
He's so poor now that he's the only one who has enough to eat, and his whole family isn't hungry.
There wasn't a single penny left.
If the young scholar doesn't mind the trouble, he can stay. He can pay back the money slowly whenever he becomes rich.
The young scholar clearly disagreed with the decision, and gave a mocking grin: "No money? Fine, or even your life."
Qi Shan shook his head: "My lord will not agree."
The young scholar clicked his tongue in slight boredom.
At this point, the waiter began serving the dishes.
These recipes also came from the government offices. Although their color, aroma, and taste weren't as refined as those from the government kitchens, they were a game-changer for the common people who suffered from food shortages. Unfortunately, Longwu County was too poor, and only a minority could afford them.
Of the four people present, apart from the young lady of the Zhao family, the other three were either scholars with literary minds or martial artists with martial prowess, so naturally they had an astonishing appetite.
The young scholar was equally unceremonious.
He bluntly stated, "Eat as much as you want, eat Qi Yuanliang out of house and home."
Qi Shan then noticed the young lady from the Zhao family.
He vaguely felt that the other person's appearance was somewhat familiar.
The young scholar, thinking that he was having inappropriate thoughts, explained, "I met this young man along the way."
Qi Shan asked her, "Young master, what is your surname?"
The young lady from the Zhao family said, "My surname is Zhao, and I am the eldest son in my family. If you don't mind, you can just call me Zhao Dalang..."
"Zhao?"
Qi Shan subconsciously thought of Zhao Feng.
However, Zhao Feng, that burly man, was completely different from the young man before him. Just as he was about to ask the young man where he was from, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the restaurant. Someone was crying out for help in a pitiful manner, while others were cursing and swearing, interspersed with words like "beat him to death."
Qi Shan frowned and stood up.
I opened the window and looked outside.
A crowd gathered to watch the performance.
An old woman, wielding a stick, was about to beat another woman in her thirties, cursing and spitting as she did so. A young, pretty woman, holding an infant in her arms, stood to the side, weeping. The old woman was thin and frail, but her hands and feet were nimble and strong.
The woman was beaten helplessly, and her clothes were torn. She begged for mercy repeatedly, but the old woman was relentless.
What's happening outside?
The waiter who came to add more food had a forced smile on his face.
"My esteemed guest, you may not know, but the people causing this commotion all live on the west side of the city. The one being beaten and verbally abused is a widow. She's quite pitiful; her husband died long ago, and she herself was once enslaved by those beasts, Shiwu… Alas, she only has one daughter, and without a male heir to support the family, life is difficult for the mother and daughter. I vaguely heard that she had some questionable morals to earn a living. A few days ago, wasn't her daughter selected by the government to learn a trade? She probably still has some self-respect, so she set up a stall selling trinkets. The other two are a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, neighbors of the widow… I don't know how they started fighting…"
They even overturned someone's food stall.
The young scholar also came over to take a look and saw that it was torn into a mess below: "Longwu is indeed a place with a fierce folk culture."
It's hard to tell whether it's praise or criticism.
Qi Shan glanced at him, about to give the boy a look so that she could go down and arrest the three of them—if it were just a normal neighborhood dispute, the government wouldn't be able to handle it, but since they were all shouting that someone was going to die, and the widow and her son were students at the school, they couldn't just ignore it.
However, before the boy could jump out of the window, the crowd below suddenly parted, and a little girl rushed forward, pushing the old woman aside and using her small body to block the old woman who was still trying to fight back. The old woman was caught off guard and pushed aside by the girl. She looked closely and grinned maliciously.
He spat out a mouthful of saliva, his expression ferocious and menacing, and said, "Who do we have here? It's you, you bastard with an ominous father!"
"you--"
Observe the girl's appearance carefully.
His facial features do indeed have some of the characteristics of Shiwu.
But this proves nothing.
Located on the frontier, Longwu County saw frequent exchanges and mutual benefit between the two tribes during times of peace. With increased contact, intermarriage and cultural integration were inevitable. Over time, a small group of people naturally absorbed the bloodlines of both tribes, and this lineage continued through generations.
The widow's clothes were already torn and disheveled.
A small patch of white hair was visible.
Upon hearing the old woman's words, Jiang Huang's face turned deathly pale.
The girl was so angry that she trembled all over.
The old woman screamed, pointing her wrinkled, chicken-claw-like fingers at the little girl, her overly long nails almost poking her eyes: "I'll beat you to death today, you bastard!"
"Who gave you permission to touch my student?"
A private room in a restaurant.
The young scholar had already noticed the beautiful woman who had brought the little girl. He was immediately captivated by her beauty, and his eyes practically craned their necks to look out the window. He kept patting Qi Shan's shoulder and excitedly whispering, "Qi Yuanliang, Qi Yuanliang, who is this young lady?"
Qi Shan said, "Ning Yan, Ning Tu Nan."
The young scholar abruptly turned his head, the alluring peony hairpin in his hair falling out of place: "How do you know her maiden name?"
"It's not strange for colleagues to exchange names."
Young scholar: "Your colleague?"
He suddenly remembered Xu Jie's box of family letters, and his expression became somewhat strange: "So... your master is really a woman?"
Zhao's young lady: "???"
Qi Shan asked calmly, "What's wrong with my daughter?"
Tsk, never seen the world.
The young scholar was rendered speechless by his calm demeanor and turned to continue watching what was happening below. He then saw the woman named Ning Tunan raise her hand and order her men to seize the old woman and her daughter-in-law, as well as the man who had been ignored by everyone, and take them, along with the widow and her daughter, to the government office for a proper investigation.
The old woman was initially startled, but then, as if remembering something, she raised her head and puffed out her chest, giving the widow a fierce glare.
The young scholar said with great interest, "Let's go and see what's going on."
Qi Shan asked listlessly, "...What's so interesting about this?"
The man in this family was cowardly and stayed aside, letting his elderly mother, wife, and children take the lead. He could roughly guess the conflict within the family.
He also warned young scholars.
"Don't try anything funny with Ning Tunan."
Dare to make a move?
Ning Yan could knock his head off balance.
The young scholar gave him a look that said, "Your mind is truly filthy." He replied, "You just don't understand. Who says that admiring a woman means you have to possess her? I merely admire her and wish to make her my friend. When did it become as filthy as you think?"
Qi Shan asked doubtfully, "To become friends?"
The young scholar raised his eyebrows and smiled, "To dare to serve as a woman is commendable courage. How can you not be worthy of my acquaintance?"
As he spoke, the people below began to disperse.
Before leaving, Ning Yan glanced at a window of a nearby restaurant, then lowered her head and gently comforted the little girl.
[Government Office]
Shen Tang had just finished a pile of work, rubbed her eyes and stretched, and before she could even take a break, she heard the sound of drums. She immediately became serious and beckoned someone over to ask, "What's going on outside?"
"An old woman in the west of the city sued her neighbor, a widow."
Shen Tang hurriedly ate two pancakes.
"Sue what?"
To maintain order in Ruyao, Shen Tang set up a drum. Anyone with a grievance could beat the drum to appeal, and she would handle the case personally.
This is the first time it has sounded.
"The widow, unable to seduce her son, became jealous and plotted to murder her grandson... The old woman, accompanied by her daughter-in-law and young grandson, went to the dean's house to demand justice, but... they were stopped by Dean Ning. The old woman even wanted to sue Dean Ning for blindly protecting the students and disregarding right and wrong..."
This involves female students in the college and Dean Ning Yan.
Otherwise, it would just be an ordinary conflict.
Shen Tang's expression darkened.
He said, "Let's go take a look."
(ω)
The cases involving troublemakers won't last long, don't worry about them being like 1, 2, or 3.
(End of this chapter)
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