106 Gezhou Mu
◎“Shen Suqin, Commissioner of the Three Departments.”◎
Xu Youcai squeezed in at the sound of the call, and before the butcher could speak, he grabbed his arm with his bare hands and twisted it lightly. The butcher's howl instantly filled the entire room.
"Noisy," Shen Suqin said impatiently.
Xu Youcai then dislocated his jaw, dragged him to a corner, and stepped on him to subdue him.
"Can you stand up by yourself?" Shen Suqin bent down to help Li'er up.
"Hmm!" Li'er struggled to stand up, straightened her clothes, and whispered, "Thank you, Madam."
At this moment, Li'er's sister-in-law heard the commotion and ran out of the house to check the situation, just in time to see Shen Suqin helping the person out of the woodshed.
"What are you doing?" The sister-in-law quickly ran over, trying to snatch the pear away.
Aunt He immediately stepped between the two, her face stern, and said, "Don't even think about taking Li'er away."
Her sister-in-law shoved her away, saying, "Why should you worry about our family's affairs? Who do you think you are?"
As she spoke, she glanced around and said, "And you all, what are you all doing crowding into my house? As the eldest sister-in-law, I'm like a mother to you. She's getting on in years, and I found her a well-off husband. Am I wrong?"
"You mean him?" Shen Suqin gestured for Xu Youcai to bring the person over.
At this moment, Butcher Yang was covered in snot and tears, clutching his arms, and trembling as he lay on the ground.
“If you think he’s a good person, I’ll make the decision for you: you can just remarry him,” Shen Suqin said.
The sister-in-law's face stiffened. "You, who are you?"
"I," Shen Suqin, handed the pear to Aunt He, her tone chilling, "You are not worthy to know who I am."
After saying that, she kicked the butcher and asked him, "How much are you offering to pay for this person?"
Xu Youcai helped him put his chin back on.
“One, one hundred and ten taels,” the butcher said hastily.
Shen Suqin raised his chin as he reached out to Xu Youcai.
Xu Youcai took out 110 taels from his pocket and threw them to him.
"Here's your money back, but we're not doing this deal anymore," Shen Suqin said condescendingly.
After saying that, she said to Xu Youcai, "Brother Xu, throw the person out."
"Yes, madam."
After Xu Youcai dragged the person out, Shen Suqin took out two hundred-tael silver notes from her sleeve and stuffed them into Lixiang's sister-in-law's hand, saying, "I'm taking Li'er with me. If you want these two hundred taels, write a letter of severance immediately. If you're late, not only will you not get the silver, but you won't be able to keep the person either."
Upon hearing the price of two hundred taels, the woman couldn't think of anything else. Overjoyed, she rushed out the door, found the old scholar who had set up a stall to write letters for people, pulled him back to the courtyard, and quickly wrote the letter of severance of kinship, which she then respectfully presented to Shen Suqin.
Shen Suqin took the money and handed it to Li'er, then gave the silver to her sister-in-law.
Her sister-in-law happily accepted it, not forgetting to remind Pear, "When you get there, listen to them, don't be stubborn..."
Li'er angrily pulled a silver note from her hand and said, "This is my home. Even if we have to sever ties, I should still get a share of the family property before I leave. Consider this hundred taels of silver as compensation for me."
"Why should I! Your brother and I feed you and provide you with shelter, you ungrateful little brat!" she said, reaching out to snatch it.
Pear pushed the man away, stuffed the silver back into Shen Suqin's hand, and said, "Sir, let's go."
Shen Suqin stroked the silver note and laughed, "I like your personality. Let's go."
"No! You can't leave! We agreed on two hundred taels!" Her sister-in-law cried and screamed, blocking their way like a madwoman.
Just then, Pei Tingfeng arrived with his guards, armed with black armor and swords, their imposing presence terrifying, and they surrounded the courtyard.
“You’ve come at the right time,” Shen Suqin said. “This woman is yours to deal with.” Her eyes flashed coldly as she deliberately looked at the woman and said, “Kill her or bury her, it’s up to you.”
The woman was so frightened that she froze on the spot and shrank back, withdrawing her hand.
Pei Tingfeng looked her up and down and said, "I understand, you can go back now."
Shen Suqin then left with his men.
Back at the inn, Shen Suqin first ordered several tables of good food and arranged for them to eat. Then she called Xu Youcai aside to discuss, saying, "These weavers were recruited for the clothing workshop. I don't need to say how important they are. You take them back first, and I will try my best to get back before the Mid-Autumn Festival."
Xu Youcai hesitated for a moment: "Let's find someone else. The general ordered me to protect you closely. We're not comfortable with you traveling alone."
"Alright, then you can make the arrangements."
Shen Suqin was not the kind of person who didn't know what was good for her. She knew very well how many people wanted her dead after she took this position as the Minister of the Three Departments.
Xu Youcai breathed a long sigh of relief.
In the afternoon, Shen Suqin gave each of the weavers ten taels of silver and then made an appointment with them for their departure time.
The next day, everyone left Huize.
Shen Suqin and her group headed west towards Qingyu County in Xizhou. The others headed north towards Ningyuan.
The salt ponds of Qingyu County are not well-known, and it is said that the scale is very small.
Pei Tingfeng and his companions had visited Qingyu during their travels and had seen a blood-red salt lake from afar, which they felt was quite different from the snow-white salt.
"Qingyu's salt was in Muzhou's hands, belonging to the private property of the Xizhou court, and could also be seen as their money bag. At that time, he only thought that Qingyu Pond salt was used to support his family's official positions, so he did not investigate further," Pei Tingfeng said.
"Qingyu must be difficult to manage, as it's inhabited by non-Han people," Shen Suqin asked.
"They are difficult to manage, but the governor of Xizhou is a ruthless and tough guy, and the people under his jurisdiction listen to him."
"If we go there, it'll be like reaching into his pocket to take money. That's not a good idea."
Pei Tingfeng knew perfectly well that "there was nothing that could be done about it."
Shen Suqin clicked her tongue, "Cousin, tell me the truth, did you sell yourself to Shi Ye? You've been working so hard for him."
Learning both literary and martial arts skills to serve the emperor—it doesn't seem wrong when you think about it that way. Therefore, Pei Tingfeng nodded and said, "Pretty much."
"Tsk tsk tsk." Shen Suqin looked him up and down. "Never mind, you're not at a disadvantage."
"What...loss?"
"nothing."
Qingyu County in Xizhou is located inland from Daliang, not far from Liangzhou. The terrain is flat and the vegetation is sparse, but there is plenty of water.
However, the water in Qingyu County is mostly saltwater, bitter and astringent, and cannot be drunk directly; one must spend money to buy it.
The carriage traveled across the shimmering salt lake, where the water and sky met in a vast and open expanse.
“Isn’t this just normal lake water?” Shen Suqin asked Pei Tingfeng.
Pei Tingfeng shook his head. "It looks like ordinary lake water, but it's actually very painful to step into. And there are thick blocks of salt at the bottom of the lake, which are very sharp and can easily cut your skin."
"Then the red salt fields you mentioned, were they stained red with blood?"
Pei Tingfeng chuckled, "It's not that exaggerated."
"That's good."
As evening fell, the carriage stopped at the main gate of the Qingyu Prefecture government office. Unlike Wei Ju, who came home to greet them, the main gate of the government office was wide open, but no one came out to greet them.
Shen Suqin stood on the carriage shaft and glanced around, then provoked, "It's one thing for them to look down on me, but Lord Pei, you are a dignified third-rank official. Aren't they taking you far too lightly?"
Pei Tingfeng quickly pulled the person down and said, "Be careful what you say, the people of Xizhou are fierce and ruthless, if something happens to you I won't be able to save you at all."
“Okay, I understand.” Shen Suqin obediently replied.
Neither of them were the type to put on airs. Since there was no greeting, they got off the carriage and walked inside on their own. After all, once they were settled in, no one was going to drag them out by the hand or foot.
The two had planned it all out, but as they walked along the path to the backyard, they heard the sounds of drinking and playing drinking games from afar.
"What are you doing?" Shen Suqin wondered.
The sound was coming from the side room, and one of the voices was extremely loud and gruff.
Shen Suqin walked over and boldly pushed open the door. Inside, she saw about a dozen people holding large chicken legs and drinking tea. The leader was drinking directly from a jar, looking very hearty.
“Governor Ge.” Pei Tingfeng’s head popped out from behind Shen Suqin.
Ge Sanzhou glanced at him and said sarcastically, "You actually came. I thought this show was just for fun, since the court has been doing it every year for the past few years. You actually had the nerve to come."
Pei Tingfeng was immediately displeased by his unrestrained speech and said, "It's your duty time now. It's not appropriate for you to be here drinking and eating with your subordinates."
Ge Sanzhou chuckled twice, waved for his men to leave, and then replied seriously, "You came all this way just to teach me how to manage my subordinates?"
"Don't play dumb." Pei Tingfeng walked over and opened the window to let in some fresh air. "Aren't you usually well-informed?"
Ge Sanzhou plopped down. "I'm just too well-informed," he glanced at Shen Suqin. "What does she do?" He nodded.
“Shen Suqin, Commissioner of the Three Departments,” Pei Tingfeng said.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
