Wu Cheng'en stuffed five taels of silver into the errand fee, sent the contemptuous inspector's clerk away, and hurried back to the signing room.

"Hurry up and send someone to Nanshan Temple to ask the master to come back and greet you."

"What emperor are you welcoming?" Xu Wei rested his left foot on the couch, his right foot hooked in his shoe, walking leisurely.

"To meet the inspector." Wu Cheng'en said helplessly, "Just pretend to be a lone wolf, but don't let the master get involved."

"The atmosphere is ruined by people like you. You are a writer, but you don't even have any integrity." Xu Wei said solemnly, "The host is the new champion, and Lin Zhi is just a fellow Jinshi from the previous year. How can a champion flatter a fellow Jinshi?"

"Don't try that on me. My boss has already been demoted. If the inspector finds fault with him, wouldn't that just make the situation worse?" Wu Cheng'en said seriously.

"What did the boss do wrong?" Xu Wei spread his hands and said, "I have only been in office for half a month. I have led the people to fight floods and rescue people day and night. I eat and live on the levee. Finally, I prevented the plum flood and saved the summer harvest. The county used work-for-relief, the victims were properly resettled, the market prices were stable, and all the backlogs were cleared. It is completely impeccable, okay?"

"They are trying to find fault with you. They can always find fault with you." Wu Cheng'en said depressedly, "Besides, the reserve warehouse has just been burned. It's such a big thing. Lin Xun'an will definitely take advantage of it to make a fuss."

"You've already said that they're going to find fault with us, so why did we call Mr. Zhao back?" Xu Wei rolled his eyes and said:

"Even if Mr. Zhao follows the rules and acts like a grandson to Mr. Lin, he won't let us go. Besides, our eldest master is tongue-tied. If he can find any clues, wouldn't that be giving them an advantage?"

As he said this, he slipped on his black cloth shoes, got out of bed, stretched, and said, "We might as well do what we need to do. We can just deal with that damn inspector."

"We, we..." Wu Chengen complained, "Can you serve others? In the end, I am the one pretending to be their grandson."

"We are close friends, both of us are good at literature and painting." Xu Wei patted his shoulder and said with a grin, "Besides, haven't you figured it out? Our young master is fearless. He even dared to detain Xu Lao Er, so why would he care about a small inspector? There's no reason to treat Lin as a dish. We can just deal with him casually according to the "Inspection Etiquette"."

"That's called provoking." Wu Cheng'en rolled his eyes.

"It's all about stirring up the fire." Worried that his beloved writer might be too worried and affect his writing, Xu Wei simply said, "If I don't stir him up, how can he fall into my trap?"

"Are you sure?" Seeing Xu Wenchang's confident expression, Wu Chengen finally decided to receive Lin Xunan according to normal standards. Although he always contradicted Xu Wei, he still believed in him in his heart.

"Do you need to be confident to deal with a small inspector?" Xu Wei had seen it all before. The result of having an IQ crushed was extreme arrogance. "There's no need for me to do anything. Just let that guy jump. He'll jump into the Lou River in a few jumps."

"Uh... okay." Wu Chengen thought to himself that this guy was really too arrogant. If he didn't take action this time, he would be doomed...

Come to think of it, we'll have to wait and see.

~~

A magnificent double-decker official ship was moored at the official ship dock outside Chaoyangmen.

On the bow of the boat were apricot-yellow flags with the words "Susong Patrol" and "Imperial Envoy on Tour", as well as a flag with the words "Changzhou County Government" written on it.

This was the official ship of Changzhou County escorting the inspector out of the country. According to the old custom, the handover should have been done at the county border. But the water journey took less than an hour, how could the magistrate of Changzhou County be so ignorant? He ordered the county magistrate to send the inspector directly to the place.

Xun, the magistrate of Changzhou, stood on the deck, waiting for the people from Kunshan to come and pick up the inspector.

In fact, he didn't want to endure Lin Xun's bad temper in the cabin.

The term of office of the inspector was only one year, but he had to inspect all the prefectures and counties under his inspection, so he would stay in each county for a maximum of ten days to half a month.

If you don't even know each other after ten days or half a month, who will know each other later? Moreover, after a year, the inspector will definitely be transferred to another place, so there is no benefit in currying favor with him.

But if you offend him, you will be in big trouble.

There are usually only two words used in official circles to describe this kind of person, that is, "troublesome person"!

Xun County Magistrate has been dealing with this troublesome ghost for half a month, and it is finally time to send the plague god away. He is a little excited, which is also reasonable.

But he waited and waited, but no one came to take the god away.

It was not until that troublesome guy came out of the cabin with a gloomy face that twenty soldiers in bright red uniforms were seen leading a green woolen sedan chair carried by four people, slowly walking out of Chaoyang Gate and heading towards the official ship dock.

The leader was Wu Cheng'en. If Xu Wei had followed his lead, it would have been enough for the inspector to lead the donkey, but Wu was mature and prudent after all, so he arranged a sedan chair and guards according to normal standards.

But Lin Xun's face became even uglier. Wherever he went, the local chief led the officials and gentry to welcome him with great ceremony, with yellow earth paving the road, water sprinkling to clean the streets, gongs and drums beating, and music and music playing.

Kunshan County only had a few people carrying a sedan chair, and no officials or gentry showed up. They were deliberately trying to humiliate me, the inspector!

Xun County Magistrate could not help but feel secretly delighted when he saw this. It is not a problem if you do not know the goods, but a problem if you compare the goods. With Kunshan County as a comparison, the fact that Changzhou County did not treat the inspector well was nothing.

When Wu Cheng'en arrived at the dock, he immediately saw Inspector Lin, who was wearing the seventh-rank official uniform with a Xiezhi pattern on his chest. His face was as dark as Mr. Bao's.

He hastily went to meet him, bowed deeply and said, "I am the secretary of Kunshan County, Wu Chengen, and I respectfully welcome the Lord of the Court."

"Humph, what the hell is Shuqi's staff?" Before Lin Xun'an could say anything, his attendant said coldly, "Where is your Magistrate Zhao? Why haven't you come to greet him yet?"

"The flood is severe. The county magistrate has been fighting the flood in the Wusong River and it is difficult for him to get back for the time being." Wu Cheng'en replied apologetically.

"He can't come back. Where are the county magistrate, the chief clerk, and the registrar?" the attendant asked relentlessly.

"They are all on the dike." Wu Chengen said with a wry smile, "And the gentry of this county are all on the dike to fight the flood. So at this moment, I am the only old man watching over the county magistrate. Please forgive me if I am negligent."

Xun Xiancheng, who was standing by, almost laughed out loud, thinking that County Magistrate Wu was quite courageous. He was just about to point at Inspector Lin's nose and say, "We are busy, why are you causing trouble?"

Lin Xun pressed the corners of his mouth and twitched twice. This was the first time he had been treated so coldly in his nearly one-year tour of Suzhou and Songjiang.

He wanted to walk away in anger, but suddenly realized that if he just left, he would fall into Zhao Shouzheng's trap!

"It's okay. Thank you for not following the regulations and bringing a donkey to our court." Inspector Lin sneered, and with the help of his long-time attendant, he went up to the dock and sat upright in the blue woolen sedan chair.

The more you don't want us to enter the city, the more it shows that you are guilty.

Let this court catch you and give you a good beating!

ps. First update.