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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 69 (Part 1)

“Zhao Youshu” was obsessed with money. He had stored all the gold and silver he had embezzled in the county government’s warehouse. Opening all the boxes, the silver and gold was too dazzling.  

You Shu carefully counted and registered everything, and then used them to buy disaster relief, repair materials to strengthen embankments, and so on.

In just over half a month, his reputation has already spread far and wide. Only Suichang County under his jurisdiction did not collect extra taxes and grain from the people. 

If people suffered any injustice, they could just go and beat the drum. There’s no need to bribe the government officials or spend a large amount of money to hire a lawyer, because the County Magistrate would personally write a lawsuit for you.  

When writing a lawsuit, the County Magistrate’s literary talent and arguments are truly outstanding and the paper seems to be full of clouds. 

Gradually, scholars in Suichang no longer stayed at home reading all day, but lingered at the gate of the county government office, just to listen to the county magistrate’s testimonials, and then sighed as if intoxicated, “Listening to County Magistrate’s words is better than reading for ten years!”

Everything You Shu is doing now is both to repay the debt and to protect himself. Who let him be so unlucky and have a descendant like “Zhao Youshu”?  

In a few days, because the price he offered was very reasonable and the demand was huge, grain merchants near Suichang rushed to negotiate with him from morning to night.

On this day, after You Shu finally finished negotiating a big deal with a merchant, he was so hungry that his chest was pressed against her back, so he quickly ordered the servants to serve food. 

Because the people were living a hard life, he did not dare to be extravagant and wasteful and only let the cook fry a plate of pork liver, a plate of cabbage and a dish of cold fungus. He picked up the bowl and quickly ate a few mouthfuls. 

However, just as he was about to reach out and pick up a piece of pork liver, he saw a tall figure suddenly appear on the empty seat opposite him.

The man was still wearing a mask, his gaze fixed on You Shu with an unpredictable and gloomy expression.

Why, why are you here again? The little villain in You Shu’s heart almost wanted to cry, and the muscles on his face couldn’t help but tremble. The rice grains in his mouth spontaneously swallowed down his throat due to shock, and then unfortunately choked into his trachea.  

Even though he wanted to cough uncontrollably, You Shu could only resist it to death, because he knew that if he showed any abnormality, the person opposite him would immediately take his soul away.

Can’t cough, can’t cough. His hand holding the chopsticks was trembling, his small adam’s apple kept twitching, and his big, round eyes were about to burst into tears, looking extremely pitiful. The servant boy waiting on the side was startled and quickly walked over to inquire about the situation.

He casually wiped away his tears and rubbed his neck again, saying with difficulty, “I’m fine. The cook put in too much chilli pepper today. I’m not used to it.”

“But Master, didn’t you tell the chef to put in more chilli peppers? Yesterday, you still thought his stir-fried dishes were too bland, and ordered him to add more dried chilli peppers to the boiled cabbage.”

The servant immediately dismantled his lie, causing You Shu to become even more annoyed. He covered his neck with his palm and spoke as he struggled to breathe, “It is true that he did not put in too much yesterday, but today it was too spicy. You go and tell him to put it in moderation.” After speaking, he lowered his head and continued to shed tears.

If a person who has been choked insists on not coughing, that feeling is simply indescribable. You Shu wanted to bang his head against the wall, but he had to pretend that it was nothing serious. The servant boy poured him a cup of herbal tea and ran to the kitchen to tell the cook.  

As soon as the servant left, the man beside You Shu disappeared, not knowing if he noticed any flaws. 

At this moment, You Shu didn’t care to think about it, he immediately leaned back on the chair and pounded his chest, coughing desperately. The corners of his eyes and nose were wet and red, and his cheeks were covered with tears and snot. He looked both embarrassed and somewhat ridiculous. 

When he finally coughed up the rice particles stuck in his trachea, he didn’t know that the man who had disappeared was actually still in the hall. He simply hid his figure and sat next to You Shu. 

The man tilted his head and supported his chin with his right hand, quietly staring at You Shu.

After finally regaining his composure, You Shu did not dare to dig for any more rice. He instead asked the servant to buy two large white steamed buns, and gnawed on them furiously as if to vent his anger.

Seeing this, the man sitting next to him finally laughed softly.

As long as You Shu puffed out his cheeks or pursed his mouth slightly, the dimples on his cheeks would appear faintly. He opened his mouth to bite into the steamed bun, and suddenly felt a cold sensation on his dimples, as if a snow seed had fallen on it in winter. The touch felt very real.

What was it? He felt suspicious, and reached out to touch his face, but there was nothing, so he continued to bite the steamed bun. After taking a few bites, he again felt a cold sensation on his dimples, but when he touched it again, there was nothing unusual. 

After several repetitions, he finally realised that something was wrong, and looked around with vigilant eyes, forcing all his mental energy in his eyes to scan the area.

The room was very clean, not even a ghost was present. Was it an illusion? Sometimes the human body does feel hot and cold, which is due to the internal fire being too dry. Thinking this way, he relaxed again and tore open a piece of steamed bun and dipped it into the fried pork liver juice.

The man sitting next to him could only retract his fingertips that were poking the dimples, and laugh softly. After admiring County Magistrate Zhao’s eating appearance, he did not leave, but followed him to the study room, intending to see what the other party would do in private.  

At this moment, the sun had already set, and a dim oil lamp was lit in the room. The wick seemed to be almost burned out and was making a crackling sound.

“Master, this servant will help you change the wick and add some lamp oil to avoid hurting your eyes.” A delicate-looking servant girl spoke softly.

“Just replace the wick, but don’t add anymore oil, it’s a waste. I’ll go to bed in a while.” After You Shu spent all of his wealth to buy grain, he really didn’t have any money left in his hand, and now he is becoming more and more like Grandet (referring to the character in the novel ‘Eugenie Grandet’ who used to accumulate wealth even at the expense of his own comfort). 

You Shu took out a book and read it slowly. But seeing that the girl still didn’t leave and kept blinking at himself, he asked in confusion, “What’s wrong, is there anything else?”

The maid rubbed her cramped eyes and went out dejectedly. Is this county magistrate really stupid or just pretending to be confused? He couldn’t even understand such an obvious signal?

Although You Shu didn’t understand, the tall man did and couldn’t help but snort coldly. He stared at the dumbfounded County Magistrate again and laughed dumbly. 

If it weren’t for him seeing it with his own eyes, he would never believe that the simple-minded Zhao Youshu in front of him was the treacherous and evil person he heard about. But it is clearly written in the book of life and death, so there must be no mistakes. There is no other reasonable explanation except that the person has realised his mistakes and mended his ways.

Just change it. Who hasn’t done one or two absurd things in their youth? Thinking like this, the man reached out and touched You Shu’s head.

You Shu suddenly felt a chill on the top of his head and immediately put on his hat. After reading a few pages of the book, he took out a jar of cicadas from the drawer to shake and listen. Only then did he go to sleep happily.  

Glancing at the “toy”, the man couldn’t help but chuckle again, and gradually disappeared after You Shu fell asleep.

About ten miles away, the man appeared out of thin air, followed by two prison masters who were also wearing masks. He asked in a low voice, “Is everything done?”

“It’s done, the cracks in the animal’s path have been blocked. May I ask the master, how to deal with the animals who have already been nurtured to give birth?”

“Let’s deal with it together after the divine punishment.” After speaking, the man was about to leave, but seemed to remember something, “Since we have already arrived in Lishui Prefecture, let’s go and see what the officials in Lishui are doing.”

The two prison masters bowed and agreed. They first arrived at the residence of the Prefect Wang and found that he was holding two beautiful women in his arms. The scene was too unsightly, so they went to take a look at the other subordinate officials. 

Other county magistrates were also either drinking alcohol, plotting to conspire against others, or hiding in a warehouse to count money, all with greedy and sinister faces.

The three of them looked at each other one by one, and their eyes became colder. Only Lord Yama seemed to think of something, and there was a hint of smile in his dark pupils.  

A prison master proposed to go to Suichang County to have a look, but he immediately rejected it, “No need to go, I just came from there. It seems that there is only one official in Lishui Prefecture, Zhao Youshu, who can be considered a role model for the people.”

Seeing that their master had such a high opinion of Zhao Youshu, the two prison masters were surprised, but dared not ask more questions. Taking a step forward into the darkness, they disappeared together.

On this day, You Shu finished breakfast and prepared to go to the Yamen for work. He habitually looked up at the sky and found that the black clouds in the sky were getting increasingly thicker, as if he could reach out and touch them. The thin dragon shadows weaving through the clouds also increased from dozens to hundreds, indicating that a natural disaster would arrive soon.

What’s even worse is that in addition to the dragon shadow, there were also wisps of black smoke emanating from the ground, drilling straight into the bodies of passers-by. 

You Shu knew that it was the aura of a plague, transformed by wandering evil spirits. After the natural disaster, there would also be a large-scale outbreak.

Fortunately, he had a diverse knowledge system stored in his mind, including all kinds of information about traditional Chinese and Western medicine. By combining the essence of traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years, he quickly put together a prescription that was very effective in preventing epidemics.  

He declined the grain merchants who had an appointment with him today, and immediately posted a list, indicating that he wants to buy medicinal materials. Within a few days, a large number of medicinal merchants arrived.

The people of Suichang County have become accustomed to the occasional crazy behavior of the County Magistrate Zhao, and they only watched the excitement and discussed it for a while.

On this day, You Shu made an appointment with several pharmacists to inspect the goods. As soon as he brought a herb to his nose and smelled it, he heard a chaotic sound of footsteps coming from outside, as if many people were trying to rush in. 

He walked to the window to take a look, and saw that it was Wang Fu, led by a man dressed as an official, followed by many guards with swords. Their fierce expressions indicated that they came here with bad intentions.

Wang Fu kicked open the door and cursed, “Get out here for your grandpa, Zhao Youshu! Prefect Wu has some business to discuss with you!” 

Prefect Wu is an official in Longquan County in the south. His daughter is now the second concubine of the Prefect Wang and was quite favoured. His means are very ruthless and cruel, and he is very respected in Lishui.

When the merchants inside heard that it was him, they immediately bid farewell to You Shu, thinking that it was lucky that Wang Fu came early, otherwise, if something really happened to Magistrate Zhao after they transported the medicinal materials to Suichang. Who would pay for the expenses on the way? County Magistrate Zhao offended Prefect Wang, and his official career has finally come to an end.

You Shu did not invite the two of them to sit down. He picked up the tea cup and took a sip with a very leisurely attitude. Because he had just received news from the starving ghost, the obituary notices of the three giants of the imperial court had already arrived in the county and were on their way to the government office. 

However, it was too early for him to rest assured, because in the next second, the empty seat next to him distorted for a moment, and when it returned to normal, there was a tall man sitting on it, his eyes blazing.

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