Chapter 10
As soon as Lin Shuge and Xie Chen entered the county government office, they heard the officers discussing what happened yesterday. He and Zhou Du got off work early, but they didn't expect that the county magistrate would actually interrogate a spy at night.
Yesterday in front of many people, he did not mention the matter of Guan Chuan again. Although he expected that Cui Yan was involved in this matter, he did not expect that the thief would be so bold and that such an important thing as Guan Chuan had become a tool for him to make money.
This is an important military town in the northwest. If there is any mistake and the barbarians break through the border, the entire dynasty and millions of people will be crushed under the barbarian cavalry.
Every time Lin Shuge read history books in modern times, he was furious when he saw that people's lives were worthless and their bodies were exposed in the wilderness during wars. Cui Yan is such a hateful person! For one's own selfish desires, innocent people are implicated.
Thinking of this, he gathered his thoughts and said, "I have something to do today. Thank you for your hard work on duty."
The two of them hurriedly said, "It's not hard, Lin Lingshi is polite."
Lin Shuge nodded at them and said to Xie Chen, "Zhongxuan, let's go this way."
Xie Chen quickly followed him into the official residence.
The officer behind him looked terrified and asked, "Tell me, did Lin Lingshi hear it?"
Another person consoled him, "Probably not. If there was, they would have asked Cui Lingshi a long time ago."
The officer patted his chest and said, "That's good."
Zhou Du had already arrived at the official residence. He was sitting at his desk and dozing off. When he heard the noise, he said happily, "I knew it was you. I wanted to take a nap, but it seems my work has already begun."
Lin Shuge smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble Mr. Zhou. Zhongxuan, go and register."
Zhou Du pulled Xie Chen over, and Lin Shuge put down his pen and ink and started today's work. The New Year was coming soon, and the population and tax revenue of each village had to be reported, and they had to be counted and calculated one by one.
Time flies when you are busy. When Lin Shuge finished the work at hand, he looked up and saw Xie Chen staring at him with his chin in his hand. He said with a smile: "Already registered?"
Xie Chen woke up as if from a dream. In fact, he had completed the registration a long time ago. The questions were nothing more than some questions about his ancestral home, how he was captured and taken to the Qiang tribe, how he escaped, etc. He had already thought of the answers in his mind.
After registering my household registration, my escape plan was finally realized, and all that was left was to take it slow. Thinking of the tragic death of his family, endless hatred surged in his heart, and he hurriedly turned back to look for Lin Shuge.
Lin Shuge was wearing the official uniform of a historian today. The dark blue uniform made him look as gentle as jade. He had a pen pinned on his head, which could be used to tie his hair and also to write while working.
Lin Shuge wrote for a while, then scraped off the words with the knife beside him and wrote them again.
This can also be considered a shortcoming of writing on bamboo slips. If there is a mistake, it can only be scraped off with a knife. Therefore, ancient literati and historians often carried knives and pens with them, and they were called knife and pen clerks.
He didn't know why, but looking at his busy figure, all the corpses and blood seemed to disappear in an instant. He just felt that it looked particularly beautiful, just like his elder brother writing in the study. However, although the two are similar, they are completely different.
What's the difference? Xie Chen hasn't figured it out yet.
"Zhongxuan."
Seeing that he rarely showed a confused expression, Lin Shuge laughed in his heart, "What are you thinking about so intently? Or are you looking at me?"
Xie Chen was so frightened that he sat up, "No, I was just lost in thought for a moment."
Lin Shuge laughed out loud: "I'm just kidding. Come on, I'll take you to eat. The food in the county government office is not tasty."
The two walked out of the official residence, but ran into Cui Yan being escorted out by the police. When Cui Yan saw Lin Shuge, his face turned red and his eyes were bloodshot. "Lin Shuge, is it you? Is it you who did this? Last time it was you who caused me to be punished and sent home to reflect on my mistakes. This time it's you again, you..."
The rest was filled with dirty words. Lin Shuge frowned slightly. "Cui Lingshi, you deserved it. How could anyone harm you? You are jealous of others' talents and now you dare to use Guan Chuan to satisfy your greed. Don't you know what Guan Chuan is? You have read so many books by sages in vain. Have they all been wasted?"
When Cui Yan heard this, he was so furious that he broke free from the officer and rushed straight towards Lin Shu Ge. Before he touched Lin Shu Ge, there was a loud bang and Cui Yan was kicked far away.
Everyone was shocked, and they only looked at Xie Chen's foot which had not been retracted yet, "Brother, are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
"I'm fine, but is your foot injured?"
Everyone: “…”
Cui Yan lying on the ground: "..."
I wanted to curse my body but it hurt so much that I couldn't. I could only kill with my eyes.
Two officers helped Cui Yan up and put him in shackles. They thought that no one would dare to act rashly in such an important area of the county government, and they didn't want such a thing to happen, so it was better to lock him up.
Someone hurried over to apologize to Lin Shuge, "Lin Lingshi, I'm really sorry. It's our fault for not keeping a good eye on the prisoner."
Lin Shuge waved his hand, "Nothing, where are you taking them?"
"The county magistrate has ordered that he be imprisoned temporarily and that Cui Zhubu be brought in for trial. The execution will be made after the trial is complete," the officer replied.
It seems that Magistrate Li suspected that Chief Clerk Cui was also involved.
"Okay, got it. You guys go down."
The two of them took Cui Yan away, but Cui Yan still refused to give up. "Lin Shuge, I will never give up even if I die..."
Xie Chen raised his eyelids and glanced at him. Cui Yan felt that his eyes were full of murderous intent. The pain from the kick he had just received surged to his heart, and he immediately fell silent.
Xie Chen turned back and said, "Brother, let's go."
"Okay." Lin Shuge smiled and said, "I'll wait for you to come and take revenge."
Cui Yan struggled to say something, but was gagged and dragged away by the officers.
The sun was setting slowly. After Lin Shuge said goodbye to Zhou Du, he walked out of the county government office with Xie Chen. "Zhongxuan, it's still early. Let's go to the clothing store to buy you some clothes, and then go to the bookstore to pick out some books for Ayuan and Axuan."
"Buy me clothes?"
"Yeah, I can't let you wear my old clothes forever."
Xie Chen's clothes had been thrown away a long time ago because they were stained with blood. Now he was wearing Lin Shuge's old clothes, but Xie Chen was tall and strong, so they didn't fit him very well.
The two of them came to a clothing store. The one they had visited last time had been replaced by a restaurant. Lin Shuge went into a store that looked to have good quality clothes. As soon as he entered, someone asked, "What would you like to order, sir? Oh, isn't this Lin Lingshi? Are you buying for yourself or for this gentleman?"
"It's for him. Please help him pick one."
The shopkeeper went away for a while and took out an indigo cotton robe. "This gentleman has handsome features and is tall. Try this one. If it doesn't fit, I'll change it for you."
Xie Chen took his clothes and went into the cubicle to change.
Lin Shuge smiled and chatted with the shop owner: "Where are you from, and how is your business?"
The shop owner smiled from ear to ear: "I am from Kyoto. My family suffered a disaster, so I came here to do business. Unexpectedly, business is really good. The people living in this area are either rich or noble. I don't know why there are no ready-made clothing stores. Look, there is only my family and no one is competing with me for business, so business is particularly prosperous."
"However, I heard that there was a family that seemed to have offended someone. It was the Qian family in Fengsheng Lane. The young master of the family was spoiled by the old lady and became lawless. It is said that the young master's favorite thing to do is to pretend to be a beggar and go around the shops to see people's reactions."
The shopkeeper swallowed his saliva and said carefully, "I don't know what happened. The shop owner threw Qian Xiaolangjun out. Qian Xiaolangjun was so angry that he asked people to smash her shop. But Qian Xiaolangjun said that it was not in vain and he had to compensate the shop owner. People were just venting their anger. They were venting their anger that the shop owner despised the poor and loved the rich. He looked down on others."
The Qian family is a wealthy family in Ganzhou County.
Lin Shuge understood that the shop owner had not changed at all after what happened last time. He must have run into a tough guy.
The shopkeeper took a feather duster and swept the dust away, then said, "The neighbors all knew that she had offended the Qian family, and they were afraid to have anything to do with them. She was also afraid that she would have a hard time if she had offended Young Master Qian, so she sold the shop and went to live with her relatives."
"But it's a good deal for me." He chuckled.
The door of the compartment made a noise, and Xie Chen came out wearing new clothes. It was true that clothes make the man, and the handsome man looked radiant after changing into new clothes, like a nobleman riding a horse through the streets of Kyoto, full of vigor and heroism.
Before Lin Shuge could say anything, the shopkeeper exclaimed: "Young Master, you are truly extraordinary. This dress is only suitable for you."
"What do you think, brother?"
"Yes, it looks good."
"This gentleman, dressed in this attire, can compare favorably with that young gentleman Xie in Kyoto. Young gentleman Xie is the one known as the 'Jade Prince of the Xie Family'. He is both talented in literature and martial arts, and is extremely handsome. Whenever he goes out, Kyoto girls flock to see him. When he grows up, he will surely be the dream lover of countless ladies. It's a pity for Mr. Xie's family. Alas, God is jealous of talented people..."
The boss was talking happily. Xie Chen's eyes moved slightly and veins popped on his hands, but he calmed down after a moment.
"Shopkeeper, how is Mr. Xie?"
The shopkeeper pointed up into the sky and made a gesture of cutting a neck.
Does this mean the Emperor?
Lin Shuge was slightly stunned, wondering what the Xie family had done wrong.
"Brother, I'm fine, let's go." Xie Chen urged.
"Okay, how much is the store's clothes?"
"Oh, look at my memory. I forget things as soon as I talk. The total is 160 coins. I said this because Lin Lingshi and I are very close. Please forgive me if there is anything inappropriate."
The price was fair, so Lin Shuge paid it directly.
"Lin Lingshi, take care and come back next time." The voice of the shop owner came from behind.
The bookstore was on another street, and one had to walk through an alley to get there. Xie Chen didn't say a word along the way, and Lin Shuge was puzzled, "Zhongxuan, what's wrong with you? Don't you like the clothes?"
"That shopkeeper talks a lot, you don't have to worry about it. In my opinion, Zhongxuan is a handsome and elegant young man. In the future, he will definitely not be inferior to that 'Xie Jia Tan Lang'."
Xie Chen felt a pang in his chest, "Brother, what do you think of him?"
"I have never seen him, but I think it is a pity to have such a brilliant person. As for the matters under the imperial power, I cannot comment on them."
Xie Chen asked anxiously, "What if the Xie family has been wronged and harmed by someone?"
"Then there will be revenge for grievances and revenge for hatred."
This sentence seemed to wake up the deaf. Everything that happened to the Xie family made him restless every day. He was most afraid that when he closed his eyes, the ancestor of the Xie family would ask him, "How dare you live alone?" He wanted to say, "I am keeping this life just to avenge the Xie family and clear the name of the Xie clan."
But every time he opened his mouth, he was always awakened by nightmares, as if he was destined to fail in revenge. But his brother's words today made him firm in his belief that revenge was Xie Chen's lifelong wish.
"But why do you ask?"
"I'm just a little curious."
"Curious, Mr. Xie, Zhongxuan, you are not going to find ways for me to praise you, are you?" Lin Shuge poked his shoulder and walked towards the bookstore with a smile.
"That's not the case." Xie Chen said in a low voice.
The constant hawking of street vendors drowned out his voice.
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