In the Tuisi Garden theater, the troupe was providing accompaniment for the performance by Lord Xu.

After recuperating for several months, Old Xu Jie felt that he was in good health and he became addicted to acting again.

Today's performance is Liang Bolong's "The Washing Silk", in which he plays Xi Shi.

To the sound of the tune of "Zhu Yingtai Slow", Xu Ge Lao, the "copper-bearded female actor" with rouge and powder on his face and eyebrows drawn, came forward in a peasant girl's costume with his hands raised to his heart.

I only heard "she" singing in a shrill voice, "My face is as white as a peach, my waist is as thin as a willow, my brows are furrowed with worry and illness. If I am not sad about the coming of spring, why do I stay at home? I am afraid of seeing the bees flying outside the window and the catkins flying in front of the eaves. I think it will be the first time after Qingming Festival..."

Xu Fan was also in the troupe. He played the flute in a sobbing voice, and his level was quite good.

In addition to playing the flute well, Xu Fan is also good at playing the suona and erhu.

After all, he used to be a music minister. How could it be justified that he couldn't play two musical instruments?

The father and son were enjoying themselves. The son, who was playing the flute, caught a glimpse of Xu Ying standing in the distance and waved at him vigorously.

Xu Fan finished playing one section attentively, and when his father recited, he handed the flute to the musician beside him to continue playing.

He quietly left the stage, walked behind the rockery in the distance, and asked his third brother, whose face had turned pale:

"What's up?"

"Lin Run is back. Zheng Yuanshao and Zhong Zhenji have already picked him up at the dock and are heading back to the governor's office."

"What?" Xu Fan's face changed, unable to hide his shock.

"It's only been six days, including the trip! Excluding the four days on the way back and forth, he spent a total of two days in Suzhou. He solved the problem in two days. Did he have the help of a god?"

"Yeah, it's really weird." Xu Ying said with a look of horror: "Is he going to ignore Suzhou? Will he come back and fight us?!"

He was frightened out of his wits by this speculation.

"Impossible." Xu Fan shook his head decisively and said, "He couldn't afford the consequences of Suzhou's fall. He must have solved the problem before he launched a surprise attack."

"What are Xu Xu and his gang doing? Why don't they send me a message?" Xu Ying was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

"Maybe the city is closed, don't panic." Xu Fan glanced at his younger brother and said, "No matter what, Suzhou's affairs have nothing to do with us."

"What if Lin Run makes a fuss about this?"

"That would be the best." Xu Fan made an explosion gesture and said, "He will definitely be the one to die."

After saying that, he turned around and said, "Don't make blind guesses. Wait for Zheng Guancha's letter."

"Oh, okay." Xu Ying wiped the sweat off his face and calmed down.

~~

Meanwhile, Lin Run returned to the headquarters.

The long-time attendant fetched water to serve the Lord Zhongcheng in washing his hands.

Zheng Yuanshao personally presented a clean white Songjiang cotton towel.

Lin Run took the cotton towel, soaked it in the copper basin and applied it on his face. He immediately felt that his irritability along the way was much relieved.

When he felt refreshed, he invited Zheng Yuanshao to have some tea.

"The Zhongcheng has returned so soon, I'm sure things in Suzhou are going well." Zheng Yuanshao rested half of his butt on the official hat chair and looked sideways at his superior.

"You can say that." Lin Run nodded and sighed, "It can be said that Governor Cai handled it properly, and with the help of Jiangnan Company, there was no big trouble."

He said with a self-deprecating smile: "But in order to quell the riot as quickly as possible, we had to let the law pass and many villains go unpunished. Only the group of thugs who led the burning of the government office were arrested."

"There's nothing we can do about it." Zheng Yuanshao tried to comfort him, "Human nature is evil, but it's just suppressed most of the time. Once a riot occurs, many people will take the opportunity to release the evil in their hearts. It's more of a herd mentality that's causing trouble. There's no way to catch all these people. We should make an example of them and focus on admonishing them."

"Huh, I didn't expect you to be from the 'Xun School' as well." Lin Run looked at Zheng Yuanshao.

"Mencius's teachings are too wishful thinking." Zheng Yuanshao sighed and said, "The higher the tone, the further away from reality."

"Let's just talk about this behind closed doors. Don't let it get out." Lin Run reminded him with a smile.

"Yes, I will be careful with my words." Zheng Yuanshao's expression darkened.

In fact, Lin Run was fine no matter what he said, but Zheng Yuanshao was not. Because he was a juren, which was considered by the officials as not good at academics.

If you dare to speak nonsense even though you are not good at academics, you will definitely be beaten up.

"By the way, do you know who is the instigator of this trouble?" Lin Run stopped talking and brought the topic back.

"Who is it?" Zheng Yuanshao asked with concern. Although the Susong Military Preparation Department was mainly responsible for military preparation, it also had the responsibility of supervising the administration of Suzhou and Songjiang.

"A man called Xu Xu, the chief steward of the Xu family in Suzhou." Lin Run took a sip of tea and said, "At first he insisted that he led people to burn down the government office because of a personal grudge with Prefect Cai. Later, under the command of Sanmu, he changed his words and said that it was the master of the Xu family who ordered it, in order to lure the tiger away from the mountain."

He sneered and said, "Does this hospital look like a tiger?"

"No way, no way..." Zheng Yuanshao laughed dryly. In fact, Lin Zhongcheng also has a nickname called "Jade-faced Tiger".

"Then may I ask Zhong Cheng whether we should take action against the Xu family?"

"Alas, this court would like to do this, but I can't." Lin Run shook his head depressedly and whispered: "Xu Fan is a third-rank official who has retained his official title and returned to his hometown to live in leisure. This court can neither arrest him nor try him. We can only report the case to the emperor. That is not something I can control."

"The court should still abide by the law, right?" Zheng Yuanshao's face twitched unintentionally, and he said indignantly:

"Burning down the prefectural government office and inciting citizens to riot are both serious crimes!"

"Yes, but confession alone is far from enough." Lin Run rubbed his forehead slowly and said, "When the court comes to investigate, Xu Xu will definitely change his confession and say that he was tortured into confessing. By then, we will be in a passive position."

He sighed again, his eyes solemn, and said, "It may even affect the land survey."

Zheng Yuanshao nodded repeatedly and agreed, "Yes, once the court finds no evidence, they will conclude that we are fabricating facts and smearing the Xu family. Then the land survey will be considered as intentionally targeting the Xu family and harming the emperor's elders."

"Yes," Lin Run said after a long breath.

"It is now widely rumored that His Majesty deliberately forced Elder Xu to leave in order to make room for Minister Gao. People from top to bottom are full of sympathy and nostalgia for Elder Xu. If the court targets Elder Xu again at this time, it will be very passive in public opinion and may even provoke a strong backlash. Therefore, without solid evidence, not only will the Xu family not be touched, but it will also backfire on itself."

"Zhongcheng has a high level of understanding, and I can only look at a place as small as Suzhou and Songjiang." Zheng Yuanshao looked admiring as he listened to the teachings, and he couldn't help but feel relieved and said, "We really can't act rashly at this time."

"It doesn't matter. The Suzhou issue can be resolved so quickly. The Xu family's plan of 'luring the tiger away from the mountain' has failed." Lin Run shook his head, shook off the feeling of powerlessness in his heart, and said with cheer: "Let's put our energy back into measuring the land. If there is no light in the east, there will be a light in the west. There will definitely be a surprise!"

"Yes." Zheng Yuanshao took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweat, his heart trembling. What was supposed to come finally came.

ps. Today is another chaotic day. I will have time to write after noon. I will update two chapters first.