The winter rain has just arrived, bringing cold, desolate and miserable weather.
Fu Xiaoguan sat at the desk on the second floor, holding a pen and looking at the cold rain outside the window, feeling quite conflicted.
He was thinking about the ending of A Dream of Red Mansions.
Do you want to change it?
If the original novel had been followed, wouldn't it have been too tragic for Lin Daiyu to have cried herself to death? Heartbreaking things are not good things. Think about all the women who were obsessed with this book. They must have envisioned Lin Daiyu marrying Jia Baoyu, rebuilding the Jia family, and living together until old age.
After thinking for a long time, Fu Xiaoguan made up his mind that he had to respect the author of the original work, so he decided to torture those women.
Just after finishing this chapter, Zhang Ce came to report that the new Yao County Magistrate, Yan Xiwen, came to visit.
Fu Xiaoguan was slightly stunned. He couldn't tell whether the Yan family was an enemy or a friend.
Lin Hong, the girl Su Mo had kidnapped back in Shangjing, was still hiding in this backyard. He had spoken with her several times, but hadn't gotten much information. She hadn't spoken yet, but Fu Xiaoguan wasn't anxious. He already had some information about Lin Hong, but he hoped she would speak up on her own initiative rather than being tortured.
That matter involved a wide range of people. Qin Bingzhong said that if we think of the worst possible scenario, if it was done by a certain family in Shangjing, then would there be the shadow of a certain prince behind this family?
Before a conclusion was reached, Fu Xiaoguan did not rule out this possibility. The fifth prince, Yu Wendao, had the most contact time, so he could be ruled out.
The biggest suspects left are the eldest prince and the fourth prince. After all, these two are competing for the position of crown prince, and now it is unknown who will win or lose, so many princes and ministers have defected to them. Fu Xiaoguan was caught in the crossfire because of the refugee incident. His Majesty's four imperial envoys' inspections will definitely lead to the downfall of a large number of officials.
This was like cutting off the roots of certain ministers in the court. This feud was very big, so it was natural for the two princes to stand up for the forces under their command and kill a small official named Fu to win over the hearts of the people.
But is it the eldest prince or the fourth prince? Or neither?
I don’t know this at the moment.
At the beginning, Qin Mowen said that the Yan and Shi families supported the eldest prince, while the Fei and Xi families supported the fourth prince. The conflict between himself and the Shi family was obvious, but because of interests, the Yan and Shi families were tied together - so the situation was too confusing and could not be seen clearly at all.
After thinking for a moment, Fu Xiaoguan walked out of the backyard and went to the front yard to greet Yan Xiwen in person.
"Hello, Brother Xiwen. We've been apart for a few days since we went to the capital. I should have gone to Yao County to pay my respects to Brother Xiwen in person, but now I've made Brother Xiwen bother. I feel guilty. Brother Xiwen... please come in!"
Yan Xiwen became furious the moment he saw Fu Xiaoguan. Thinking of the bet they had made in the capital, he glared at Fu Xiaoguan and bowed respectfully, "Being a disciple doesn't mean I'm completely devoted to you."
Fu Xiaoguan laughed and said, "It's okay, it's okay. Actually, I was afraid you would forget."
As he spoke, Fu Xiaoguan took Yan Xiwen to the backyard. Yan Xiwen glared at Fu Xiaoguan's back fiercely, but he had no way to deal with this guy.
Alas, it’s all because of my youth. If I hadn’t made that bet with Dong Shulan on Mid-Autumn Night, why would I have to be so humble in front of this guy!
After entering the backyard and sitting in the guest room, Fu Xiaoguan asked Chunxiu to get some good tea and personally made tea for Yan Xiwen.
"I've only been back a few days now, and I really do intend to visit you in Yao County. However, I've been thinking that since you took office so recently, you must have a lot of messy things to deal with, so I'm thinking of visiting you before the end of the year...Would you like to return to Shangjing for the New Year?"
Yan Xiwen sighed, "I'm afraid I won't be able to go back this year. Don't tell me there's been a lot of trouble. The previous magistrate, Yu Lian, was escorted to the capital, and his advisor unexpectedly died. During this time, I've carefully checked the treasury silver and grain reserves in Yao County—and there's only a little over 3,200 taels of silver and less than 100 dan of grain left!"
Fu Xiaoguan looked at Yan Xiwen in surprise. "That's a whole county, how could it be so small?" "How could Yu Lian be so embezzling?"
"You don't believe it, right? I don't believe it either! My master was brought from home. After he thoroughly calculated the account books, he told me an even more outrageous news!" Yan Xiwen gnashed his teeth in hatred at this moment, and it seemed as if two balls of fire were about to burst out of his eyes.
"What news?"
"Haha, this tax has been collected for two years!"
Fu Xiaoguan suddenly remembered a movie he had watched before. The name of the movie was Let the Bullets Fly, which was quite similar.
He laughed. Compared to Echeng, Yao County was slightly better.
"You're still laughing, are you kidding me?" Yan Xiwen glared at Fu Xiaoguan, then sighed. "I came to Yao County with great ambitions, but this blow has completely knocked me to my knees. Before I left Shangjing, my father and grandfather explained all the possibilities to me. This was actually one of the possibilities they anticipated. I thought I was mentally prepared for this, but after finding out, I have to tell you, I'm really, really angry!"
"How did Yu Lian become such an official? Yao County has a good geographical location and has been free of disasters in recent years. How on earth did he empty the treasury and granary? How much silver did he embezzle? I've already written a letter to my father. I can't even kill him a thousand times to appease my hatred for him!"
Fu Xiaoguan calmly poured tea for Yan Xiwen. He was not as indignant as Yan Xiwen about this matter.
Yan Xiwen had always lived in Shangjing. The Yan family was the most powerful family in Shangjing, and he was also the most talented man in Shangjing. He probably didn't have a deep understanding of the mess in the officialdom, or perhaps because of the protection of his ancestors, he had no personal experience at all.
He had come to Yao County with great ambitions, hoping to achieve something here, create a great career, and then be promoted to a high position in the government, just like his father had done. Even though his father had told him about various possibilities before he left, he still hadn't imagined it would actually happen.
Therefore, the county magistrate, who was only seventeen or eighteen years old, was stunned by this blow. He then realized how dangerous the world was and that he was still too naive.
"I guess the grain went to both sides of the Yellow River."
"Yes, in just three months, a total of 100,000 dan of disaster relief grain, including that distributed by the imperial court, all flowed to both sides of the Yellow River, especially Ningzhou."
"And what about the silver?"
Yan Xiwen spread his hands and said, "What bullshit money? I don't have any account. I have no idea where the money went."
"This matter... can only be handled by your father and his men. As for you, just report the truth about what happened here."
Yan Xiwen took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and shook his head. "My family sent someone over here, telling me not to mention what's going on here. They also brought me a hundred thousand taels of silver, saying someone was using that money to buy peace here."
Fu Xiaoguan was not too surprised by the idea of giving money to ward off disasters. What surprised him was why Yan Xiwen told him this.
"I need food, and since you are a big landlord, I have no choice but to buy it from you.
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