Ko-fi sponsored chapter~ ♪ ♬ ヾ(´︶`♡)ﾉ ♬ ♪Visit the county magistrate
Someone suddenly knocked hard the vermilion gate of the official residence at the back of the county office. For a moment the door was opened with a gap, a pair of vigilant eyes appeared in the gap.
These eyes looked at the incoming person and asked, "Who are you and what's the matter?"
Wang Cheng handed out a silver greeting card. "Li Juren from Lijia Village is here to visit. Please go and inform your sir."
The owner of the eyes was taken aback, immediately opened the door to take the card, and said "please wait a moment". After that closed the door and notified the butler.
Li Yi, dressed in brocade clothes, was standing with his hands behind his back. He looked at the majestic stone lion, calmly and relaxed.
He didn't know the background of this new county magistrate. Best if they could get along. But if they couldn't, it didn't mean he was afraid. According to the laws of this dynasty, a Juren could get an official position by supplementary appointment. In general, the prefects' magistrates were the seventh-rank official. But if he engaged in a purposeful action such as intercession or bribery, it was not impossible to have a fifth-rank official as the magistrate of a prefecture. The post of county magistrate of Dongjiang County was only the seventh-rank, except for the official position, the other party was not much better than himself...
With a bang sound, the door of the vermilion gate opened wide. A middle-aged man with a mustache walked out with a smile on his face, and said, "We have an honored guest, please come in!"
Knowing that this was the housekeeper, Li Yi just nodded slightly and stepped forward.
"Daren has long wanted to invite Li Juren and the other gentlemen to have a cup of tea. But Daren just took up an official post, so many trivial matters have to be handled. That's why he can't greet anyone for a while..." The housekeeper smiled while walking without changing his face.
The mansion was a courtyard with three entrances. The second entrance was the study room and the flower hall*, used for discussion and entertaining guests. The third entrance was the main house and the wing rooms, where the family members of the county magistrate stayed. Because the former county magistrate Zhang was dissatisfied that the official residence was too shabby, he ordered someone specially to repair it. He built pavilions and rockeries, planted flowers, plants, and trees. Because of that the official residence became shone.
*The living rooms outside the hall in some residences are mostly covered in courtyards or gardens.
The small garden in the courtyard was full of colorful flowers, with bees and butterflies flying. There were maids with a slender waist in an aqua blue skirt came closer toward them carrying a flower basket. When seeing the housekeeper leading three strange men, they stopped and bowed their head slightly. After the four of them passed, they raised their heads and walked towards the moon gate.
Li Sheng stared at the beautiful backs infatuatedly, feeling that his soul was hooked away. He suddenly was stabbed with an elbow, Li Sheng hurriedly turned around and met Wang Cheng who was smiling ambiguously.
Li Yi walked in front of the two of them. His eyes wavered when he looked at the wonderful spring scenery in front of him. Although it was not his first time here, in his latest visit in the winter, the mansion had not been repaired. The garden was bare, there were no green trees and red flowers, no small bridges and river, and also no girls with such graceful figure even when they were walking...…
This official was different than others!
"These three guests first drink the tea, I'll tell Daren." The butler led the three into the flower hall, and soon after that, a tidy maid served tea.
Li Yi opened the tea lid and moved his hand gently to stir it. The tea soup was clear in color and the scent was overflowing. Just by smelling the fragrance, you would know that this was good quality tea. Looking around, the doors and windows had leaf carved, tables, chairs, and benches were all exquisite. Behind the main lobby of the lobby was a splash-ink painting of landscapes, which had great vitality and momentum. Taking a closer look at the signature, this was actually painted by a contemporary master.
The more Li Yi looked at it, the more passionate he became.
Seeing Li Sheng was drinking tea like a fish, Wang Cheng who was sitting beside him winked his eyebrows and said, "Just now, the girl's waist swayed like a willow. Did it also make Li Gongzi's heart sway?"
Li Sheng squinted at him and smiled blatantly. "Not just my heart shaking, I also can't wait to hug her waist and sway with her!"
"I didn't expect this new county magistrate's house to have such a beautiful yatou*, that more colorful than spring flowers..."
*Namely "maid".
The yatou whom Li Sheng liked was named Lan Ling. She was standing in the side room connected to the main house, putting the freshly picked flowers into the vase. "Just now, there is something that really disgusting to me! I don't know where the bastard came from. Those squinted eyes keep sticking to me. I really want to go forward to poke him blind!"
A yatou called Hongrui asking in curiosity, "Who dares to look at you like that? Those guests who just come to the mansion?
"Yes, the housekeeper led people to the flower hall. The three of them were dressed well and looked like local noble gentlemen*." Lan Ling snorted, "His look like has been hollowed out by wine. You can know he isn't a good person at a glance!"
*xiāng shēn: refers to people with status and prestige in the country.
"Lan Ling Jiějiě..." A young servant boy walked into the room carrying a food box. It was Su Qingze's close servant, Ming'an. Seeing Lan Ling's angry face, Ming'an smiled and asked, "Jiějiě, what's the matter? Who offended you?"
Hong Rui smiled and said, "Someone's eyes took advantage of Your Lan Ling Jiějiě. She's very angry and wants to gouge out those eyes!"
Lan Ling hit her in embarrassment and asked Ming'an, "Why did you come back so quick? Is there something fun outside?"
"I didn't go around that much. I just went to a newly opened restaurant for breakfast. The food in that restaurant was pretty good, but I felt so angry." Ming'an put down the food box. "Where are the Xiaojie and Young Master Lin'er? This is the dim sum from that restaurant, Young Master asked me to bring some back for them to taste."
The two did not care about the snacks, but asked with concern, "What happened?"
"I met two bullying dogs!" Ming'an said the matter immediately. "The two are arrogant and domineering, especially the man with a mole under his mouth. I want to punch him!"
Lan Ling was surprised. "A man with a mole under his mouth? What does he look like?"
Ming An described it, Lan Ling's apricot eyes opened wide. "Isn't this the person I met just now? Is the other person you mentioned be a young man wearing a green brocade robe and has a mouth sticks out and chin like a monkey's*?"
*jiān zuǐ hóu sāi: ugly.
This time it was Ming'an's turn to be surprised. "How do you know?"
"These two people are in the mansion! The housekeeper took people to the Flower Hall, probably to see the Daren!"
"I have to tell Daren!" After Ming An dropped a word, he rushed out.
The county magistrate Li Zhiyuan was sitting in the study, there were two letters on the table. One had been read. The other was an unopened letter, written "Qingze, private and confidential", for Su Qingze.
Li Zhiyuan couldn't help but mutter, "What the hell does this mean?" He sighed and handed the letter to the housekeeper who was waiting. "Give it to Qingze."
The housekeeper took it, looked down, and said, "Li Yi Li Juren of Lijia Village, Li Sheng, son of Li Yuanwai of Lijia Village, and his friend Wang Cheng are waiting in the flower hall, do Daren want to see them?"
What kind of messy people was coming to see him? Thinking of the dossier he had read before, Li Zhiyuan frowned and said, "Let them wait."
The housekeeper nodded. As soon as he left the study door, he saw Ming'an panting. Ming'an hurriedly asked, "Is Daren inside? I have something to report to Daren!"
Seeing Ming'an looked anxious, the housekeeper took the young boy inside to see Li Zhiyuan without asking. After listening, Li Zhiyuan glanced at the opened letter on the table, his eyes cold. "A mere little Juren dares to be so rampant! Housekeeper, you go tell him, This official has no time to see him."
Ming'an was happy. These bastards who bullied others, this time they could taste the taste of being bullied!
When Ming'an left, Li Zhiyuan said to Shiye* who was also in the study, "The weather has been good these two days, why don't you go to a nearby village for a walk?"
*a private assistant attending to legal, fiscal, or secretarial duties in a local yamen; private adviser.
He just arrived and didn't understand many things. Although there are registration files, he mistrusted this rich Magistrate Zhang that could build this unique design mansion.
"That's a good idea, Daren." Shiye with goat's whisker cupped his hands on his chest.
Meanwhile, Li Yi and the two were sitting in the flower hall drinking tea. After drinking one after another cup, Wang Cheng became a little impatient.
"What happens? It's been half an hour, why the County Taiye* hasn't come yet?"
*In the old days, it was the honorary title for the prefects, magistrates, and other officials.
Li Yi frowned. What's the wrong with this magistrate?
"Li Juren, we are really sorry!" The housekeeper walked in quickly, with apologetic eyes. "Daren is discussing matters in the study, so he really can't get out to greet. Daren says that he'll entertain Li Juren and the gentlemen when he has free time..."
Li Yi's face suddenly sank. Wang Cheng's and Li Sheng's expression also couldn't be described. But the other party was an official. Since they hadn't held any government official post, what else could they do?
Housekeeper politely sent the three people out of the gate. When he turned around, the smile on his face faded. "They are really a vain scholar, don't understand any etiquette!"
Li Yi walked with a sullen face. Li Sheng smiled beside him and said, "It's still early, how about we go to Changchun Tower to listen to some songs?"
The one who proposed to meet the county magistrate was him. Who thought that the county magistrate would not see them? Right now Li Yi's heart was full of anger, so he had to put it out.
The ladies in Changchun Tower was the most gentle and understanding. Li Yi was gloomy and needed someone to dispel it, so he agreed.
The three of them played in the Changchun Tower for a day, until Xu Shi, Li Sheng’s young servant, came to look for. These three talents were drunk now.
"Mingde xiōng, let's come back another day..." Li Sheng squinted his eyes and burped. He ordered his servant to send Li Yi home.
Li Yi said "Yes" with a red face. With his half-closed eyes, he was helped by the Li's Family's young servant to get into the carriage.
"Open the window to see the autumn moonlight. Put out the candle and untie the skirt..."
Li Sheng's eyes were blurred. He hummed a little tune with a giggle. Wang Cheng beside him was also very drunk, walking staggering. Their home was on the same street, so they left together.
The street was quiet, sometimes you could hear cat's meows. Suddenly a black figure jumped off the high fence. Before Li Sheng was aware, he was put in a sack! Meanwhile, Wang Cheng sat on the ground and watched Li Sheng struggling. He became half awake from the wine. A biting chill came to his heart, Wang Cheng looked around, but no one could be found!
"Who is pretending to be a ghost there?" Wang Cheng swallowed and shouted out boldly.
But the night was faint, no one answered him at all.
Wang Cheng was panicked, leaning on the wall to try to stand up. Suddenly a hand patted his shoulder gently...
"!" His eyes opened wide. The hairs on his whole body were standing up. His eyes moved slowly, seeing there was a dark figure standing behind him in the corner of his eye!
"!!!" The heartbeat almost stopped! Wang Cheng's mouth was open like a fish lacking water. He wanted to call for help, but his voice got stuck in his throat.
"Save...Save me..."
Before the black shadow could do anything, Wang Cheng rolled his eyes and fainted first.
Looking at Wang Cheng who was lying on the ground and Li Sheng who was knocked out, the shadow didn't want to waste more time then jumped up to the wall.
Gingers: Every position has its own honorifics title, I couldn't make it generally. P.S: Actually I don't want to use my brain to guess the proper title if we change it into modern time. Hahaha.
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