The front of the government office has always been very lively. Suzhou Fuqian Street is naturally more lively than the outside of the ordinary government office.

On both sides of the Bazi wall, there are shops responsible for patrolling the streets; there are Yin-Yang scholars who read Feng Shui and choose dates for officials and ordinary people; there are also doctors who run both public and private businesses, providing free medical treatment to officials and making money by treating ordinary people.

In addition, there are hotels, teahouses, restaurants, pharmacies and the like, all of which rely on the government for their livelihood, and they are all extremely prosperous.

At this time, in the afternoon, the streets in front of the government office were crowded and noisy. People who came to sue, seek connections, write petitions, gossip, and even to watch the fun gathered outside the gate of the government office, talking about everything.

And there is something exciting to watch here.

"Someone is going to be unlucky again."

A cheer of gloating made everyone who were chatting animatedly stretch their necks to look.

The pain of others is the source of their happiness.

Then several officers were seen dragging out a man in brocade clothes and fastening him to a wooden frame specially used for executions.

At this time someone recognized the man.

"Hey, isn't this Manager Xu?"

"Which Manager Xu?"

"Who else could it be? Manager Xu from the Xu family's Humble Administrator's Garden."

At this time, the clerk in charge of the execution put on leather gloves and started slapping the man in the face!

"Oh my god, how could he get beaten?" More and more people gathered around.

"Yeah, you dare to fight the Xu family? Your Excellency is so domineering."

"If Lord Xu were still in office, do you think he would dare to do that?"

"Alas, the tea has gotten cold after the person has left..."

~~

Humble Administrator's Garden.

Shuxiang Pavilion faces water and is separated from the mountains. It has long windows reaching the floor, and the interior is spacious and bright.

On the skirt board of each long window, there is an intricately carved, lifelike wood carving, which makes the whole room look simple, elegant and interesting.

Xu Fan stood at the door of the study, holding his beloved ruler in his hand, and watched his son sitting in front of the window writing with great concentration.

He had been standing here for a meal, and saw that Xu Yuanchun had been sitting still, not even raising his head, and was concentrating on writing.

This made Xu Fan feel relieved that his son, who was focused on his studies, was back.

But if you look at it from another angle, such as from the table, you can see that although Xu Yuanchun is facing a thick sermon, he is actually not reading.

Instead, he used pencil sketches to draw little figures on the side pages of the sermon.

Mr. Xu has excellent painting skills and can sketch a picture of a lady with a graceful figure with just a few strokes.

He was so focused on painting that he didn't notice his father coming to the door for such a long time.

At this time, Xu Fan felt that he should give his son a sweet reward occasionally after beating him too much, so he quietly stepped over the threshold, ready to go forward and praise his son.

Seeing his father approaching behind him, Xu Yuanchun was still unaware and was immersed in painting.

At this time Xu Fan reached out and patted his son's shoulder.

"Ah!" Xu Yuanchun was so scared that the pencil in his hand flew away, and he suddenly raised his head. "Father!"

His face turned pale immediately and he subconsciously hid the book in his hand behind his back.

"Don't be startled. Don't be afraid of a catastrophe." Xu Fan taught his son, then stretched out his hand and asked, "Let me see what you were writing just now."

"No, there's nothing written on it." Xu Yuanchun trembled and didn't dare to tell the truth, but his hands were controlled by fear and he held the sermon in front of him.

"Are you taking notes while reading?" Xu Fan asked assumingly.

Xu Yuanchun nodded slowly.

"Let me take a look. Are your opinions acceptable?" Xu Fan wanted to take the sermon, but Xu Yuanchun did not let go.

"Why are you shy? Let go." Xu Fan smiled and glared at Xu Yuanchun, scaring him so much that he quickly let go of his hand.

Then he closed his eyes in despair.

A new beating is coming...

Unexpectedly, just as Xu Fan was about to open the book, he heard a lot of footsteps and panicked shouts outside.

"Master! Master! Something bad has happened!"

Xu Fan looked back and saw several servants carrying a disfigured man running in in panic.

"The manager asked Cai Guoxi to beat him up!"

"What?!" Xu Fan's head buzzed when he heard this. He no longer had time to instruct his son. He threw the sermon to the ground and walked out quickly.

Xu Yuanchun sat down on the ground, gasping for breath.

There was a breeze blowing in from the door, turning the pages of the sermon, and the ladies on the sermon began to dance vividly, as if they were really alive!

~~

Xu Fan walked out with a dark face, and saw that Manager Xu's mouth was swollen like two sausages, his cheeks were like crystal steamed cakes, and there were only a few teeth left...

"Did Cai Guoxi do this?!"

Manager Xu nodded and cried, "Master, the racing dog is not worth the money, but the dog will bring prosperity to our Xu family..."

The former junior cabinet minister flew into a rage and kicked a flowerpot over.

"Well, it's only been two months since the old man retired, and no one takes my Xu family seriously anymore! Just wait and see how I deal with him!"

"Do you think that just because my father and I have retired, we can let others bully us? Dream on!" Xu Fan roared, waving his hands, pacing back and forth beside the lotus pond, and said viciously:

"It's as easy for my Xu family to kill you, Cai Guoxi, as it is to crush a stink bug!"

"Master, what should we do?" Manager Xu, who spoke incoherently, said excitedly, "Cai Guoxi, you see, our Xu family is so arrogant!

I will make you pay back tenfold for the humiliation you have inflicted on me!

“…”

Unexpectedly, the next moment, Uncle Xu fell into an awkward silence.

Manager Xu and the servants looked at each other in bewilderment, thinking to themselves, could it be that the master has no way to deal with Cai Gou?

They really guessed it. The former junior cabinet minister was frustrated to find that he could have dismissed the fourth-rank prefect with just one sentence.

There is nothing I can do now. I have to make him kneel down and sing "Conquer" immediately...

After a long while, the servants finally heard Xu Fan muffledly say, "Inspector Lin was promoted by me. Let's go find him and ask for justice!"

"Great!" The servants quickly flattered him and said excitedly:

"If Governor Lin reprimands Cai Guoxi, he will have to apologize immediately..."

"Ahem." Xu Fan's face turned red, and he whispered, "I'm talking about Lin Pingzhi, the governor of Susong."

"Ah, not the governor?" The servants were stunned. Although there was only one word difference, the power was completely different!

The Governor of Susong is the immediate superior of the prefect of Suzhou, and Cai Guoxi must carry out his orders.

The Suzhou and Songjiang Circuit Inspector was only a seventh-rank inspector. He might be able to scare the county magistrate, but he was powerless against the prefect.

"What do you know? The lower class is overthrowing the higher class in the imperial court. The prefect has to listen to the inspector's words." Xu Fan scolded in a muffled voice, and added with a lack of confidence:

"At least getting Xu Kun out won't be a problem..."

Of course, he also wanted to go through the governor's connections rather than seek a small position as an inspector.

However, Governor Lin hated evil and Mr. Liu turned against them, so the Xu brothers' plan to act as messengers of justice went down the drain.

If you get too close to Governor Lin, you might be the first one to get into trouble.

"Let's get him out first, and then make a long-term plan." The former young cabinet minister sighed, finally realizing that he is no longer the same person he used to be.

It's really like a tiger in troubled times being bullied by a dog...

ps. The fourth update. No more today...