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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 69 (Part 2)

You Shu’s hand shook and he almost ended up pouring tea into his nostrils, but luckily he stopped in time at the last moment. He slowly took a sip of tea and then gently put down the cup, consciously showing a calm and elegant demeanor.  

However, You Shu didn’t know that these days, someone had already become familiar with all of his secret habits. If the tea is boiling hot, he will only take a small sip. If the temperature is moderate, he will always drink it with his head raised, just like a cow chewing peonies.

As soon as he arrived, You Shu switched from gulping to sipping slowly, which was too deliberate, revealing his flaws. The man wanted to laugh, but reluctantly restrained himself. With a flip of his hand, a stack of official documents appeared out of thin air, and he started writing with a red brush, feeling very comfortable.

You Shu let out a breath without any trace, and then looked at Prefect Wu, “Lord Wu, why did you come here today?”

Prefect Wu didn’t talk nonsense either and said directly, “County Magistrate Zhao, I heard that you have raised 180,000 taels of silver and are planning to use it to buy grain a few days ago? I have a batch of grain that I want to sell. How about I sell it to you?”

What kind of grain is there in the granary of each county? It is either resold to grain merchants by these local officials at high prices, or the petty officials in the yamen will take one bag after another, and only the rest will be handed over to the court. 

Finally, a letter will be sent to the capital, stating that the county had been hit with a disaster and grain production had decreased, and they are powerless to fight against ghost and gods.  

These are all unspoken rules in officialdom. You Shu has learned all this from the memory of “Zhao Youshu”, so naturally he will not agree. Now, they say that they want to sell, but in fact they only want to rob you. After taking the money, they will send a few bags of sand, causing you to suffer.

“Lord Wu, I heard that even the rats in the granary of Longquan County are starving to death. So what kind of grain are you selling?” You Shu revealed.

Prefect Wu sneered, “I only said that I am selling grain to give you face. If I want it, I can just ask people to drag the silver away. Zhao Youshu, I advise you to be more sensible. You have already registered your name with Prefect Wang. If something really happens in the future, it will be too late to regret it.”

“Are you threatening me?” You Shu frowned.

The man who was reviewing the official documents also looked up, his eyes cold and sharp.

Prefect Wu suddenly felt a chill all over his body for no reason. He hugged his shoulders with both hands and said forcefully, “I am only warning you not to block other people’s path. Remember that the only fate of those roadblocks is to be moved and thrown away. You don’t have to buy this grain, but you must give me the 180,000 taels of silver. If you behave wisely, I may put in a few kind words for you in front of Lord Wang and save your life. Do you know Lord Deng from Changshan County? His death back then was so tragic!”

Lord Deng was also a loyal and upright official. But because he refused to join forces with Prefect Wang, he was hacked to death by mountain bandits on the road when he was going back to his hometown to visit relatives. His wife and daughter were also taken away, not knowing where they are now. But in retrospect, this kind of end is definitely more miserable than living.

You Shu already knew that the local officials and bandits were in collusion, so he could naturally guess the real cause of Lord Deng’s death. 

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man beside him stand up and strode towards Prefect Wu, staring at him with lowered eyes. His gaze was so penetrating that even if he didn’t show his body, the opponent could instinctively sense the cold and fear.

“How many ice basins have you put in your house?” He hugged his arms tightly and spoke in a trembling voice.

You Shu noticed that there were goosebumps on the back of the opponent’s hands and face, and his hair was also standing on end, completely unaware that he had been targeted by Lord Yama, so You Shu couldn’t help but silently mourn for him in his heart.  

Why didn’t you come a bit earlier or later? You just had to come when Lord Yama was monitoring me. Aren’t you seeking your own death?

You Shu felt happy in his heart, but he didn’t show anything on his face. He shook his head and said, “I didn’t even put a single ice basin in my room.” At the same time, he tried his best to avoid eye contact with the tall man.

Prefect Wu didn’t seem to believe it. He stretched out his neck and looked around the room, his expression becoming increasingly uneasy.  

Seeing that he was deviating from the topic, Wang Fu quickly reminded him in a low voice, “Lord Wu, Lord Wang is still waiting for our letter. It’s important to take the silver away first. Think about it, Prince Li has a lot of people around him. How many gifts do you need to send for a birthday celebration? If you don’t take action quickly, won’t someone else take this opportunity?”

Prefect Wu nodded and rubbed his arms, but just as he was about to say threatening words again, someone outside shouted loudly, “Master, there is an urgent letter from the capital, please take a look.”

At this time, unlike modern times, transportation means are very few and slow. Even if some earth-shattering event occurred in one place, other places wouldn’t find out about it until several months later. And if the local officials deliberately conceal the news, common people would never know about it for the rest of their lives.  

Therefore, no one knows that the Emperor, the Imperial Concubine, and Prince Li died violently one after another, and that the fifth prince had ascended the throne. It had been more than half a month before the news reached Lishui. 

Merchants naturally knew about it, but they dare not discuss the court politics recklessly, especially the news involving the succession of the new emperor, so they kept their mouths shut.

You Shu immediately opened the envelope and quickly read it. In addition to the obituary notice, the new emperor also urged all regions to prepare for flood control and drought relief, showing that he was a far-sighted person.  

He handed the letter to Prefect Wu and said slowly, “Don’t worry about my 180,000 taels of silver. The fifth prince had ascended the throne and Prince Li died suddenly. You’d better go back and quickly find a new backer, lest the position under your buttocks get replaced.”

At first, Prefect Wu refused to believe it, but when he took the official document and looked at it, he almost fainted. Overnight, the emperor, the imperial concubine, and Prince Li, all died, and the fifth prince, whom no one knew, ascended the throne.  

The old ministers in the court are not the new emperor’s confidants, and he dared not use them. He will definitely replace them one by one with his own team. In other words, there will be a big change in the imperial court. 

However, it is still unknown whether this change will affect small counties, but it is always right to respond early.

Small officials like Prefect Wu don’t need to worry too much, but officials like Lord Wang who had already joined Prince Li’s team should be cautious. But the unfortunate thing is that Prefect Wu gave his daughter to Lord Wang as a concubine, making both of them grasshoppers on the same rope. If Lord Wang fails this time, Prefect Wu won’t have any good fruit to eat.

Wang Fu was also in the same situation, so the two of them quickly realised the urgency of the situation and ran out as if their buttocks were on fire. The tall man followed closely and waved his fingers as the carriage drove out of Suichang County.

A ray of black light hit the buttocks of the driving horses, and they raised their front hooves to rush left and right, throwing the two people in the carriage far away. When the guards carried them back, they found that one had broken his leg and the other had broken his waist, both of which were extremely serious injuries.

You Shu guessed that the two of them were going to be unlucky, and his heart felt relieved. He wrote down the news that “the previous emperor passed away and the new emperor has ascended the throne” and ordered the servant to post it. He also made a detailed plan to prevent the flood and epidemic, assigning various responsibilities to the chiefs of each village.

Upon learning that Prefect Wu had gone to Suichang, officials in several nearby counties secretly pinched their wrists, blaming themselves for not taking action sooner as they hoped for the misfortune of County Magistrate Zhao.  

However, the news of Magistrate Zhao’s demotion did not come, but the obituary came first. Their backers fell one after another, and the unfamiliar fifth prince ascended the throne.

What the hell is this! The officials secretly complained in their hearts, but they still had to force themselves to hang white flags and light incense candles, preparing to offer sacrifices to the imperial mausoleum from a distance. 

As for the decree on flood control and drought relief, they seemed to have not seen it. But You Shu only made a show of it on the first day, and spent the rest of the days busy purchasing supplies and consolidating the dam. In the end, he still had 100,000 taels of silver left to spare.

Another month passed like this. Looking back, he realised that the elusive Lord Yama had not come for seventeen or eighteen days. Could it be that his suspicion of me had been completely dispelled? 

But before he could feel happy, he heard the starving ghost say, “My lord, this little one have to go underground to avoid the limelight, so I have to say goodbye to you. You can see that the black clouds in the sky and the mist on the ground have almost blended together. Natural and man-made disasters are just around the corner. Many people will die by then, and the ghost messenger will do his best to capture the evil spirits. To prevent being caught, I must leave quickly.”

“Isn’t being caught equivalent to getting a chance to be reincarnated?” You Shu was puzzled.

“This little one didn’t accumulate any virtue in his previous life. Even if I were to reincarnated, I wouldn’t be able to enter the human realm. It’s better to stay in the mortal world as a ghost. My lord, the little one is going now, please take care of yourself.” He bowed and hid underground, while the other ghost servants also bid farewell one after another.

At this moment, You Shu didn’t have time to think about anything else and immediately went to the warehouse to count the disaster relief supplies such as grain, medicinal materials, and silver. 

Just when he was busy, Wang Fu’s followers came to the county government office to make a fuss, saying that they wanted to come back to work. According to the rule of the imperial court, their wages will be deducted for every day they took leave. 

However, these people took leave for dozens of consecutive days, so they lost a lot of money. Previously, they thought that when Wang Fu came back, he would definitely regain power and make up for everyone’s losses, but unexpectedly, that unlucky ghost broke his back and became paralyzed in bed.

What’s more, Prince Li suddenly died and the new emperor ascended the throne, causing Lord Wang and his support group to suddenly collapse. It is unknown whether he can even continue to be an official in the future, let alone protect his little followers. 

It wasn’t until now that everyone realize what it means to be a “master of flowing water and the County magistrate of an iron rule.” The county magistrate couldn’t stand Wang Fu, so he kicked him out. He was short of manpower, so he hired dozens of strong men in a blink of an eye. Going against him is similar to hitting a stone with an egg and seeking your own death.

They regretted their actions and knelt outside the gate, kowtowing and confessing their crimes. You Shu was already very busy, so how could he use this group of snobs who only knew how to eat idle food? He immediately wrote a dismissal letter, stamped it with the official seal and ordered someone to post it.

Nowadays, people of Suichang County have become accustomed to checking the official notices posted outside the yamen every day. Whenever something happens, County Magistrate will always inform the common people, no matter how big or small. This practice could be called as transparency in government affairs.  

Although I don’t know whether it is truly transparent, common people can at least know which policies are beneficial to them and which policies require timely precautions before implementation.

However, within two months, the social order in Suichang County has changed from chaotic to well-organized, and the spiritual outlook of the people has also changed. People’s admiration for County Magistrate Zhao has gone beyond their respect for the gods and Buddhas. Anyone who dares to say anything bad about Magistrate Zhao will be immediately attacked by a group of people.

At present, County Magistrate Zhao has eliminated another big harm for the people, getting rid of all the corrupt constables, government servants, and petty officials who once oppressed them. How satisfying is this? Without their official title, these people are nothing. Who will be afraid of them now? 

At this moment, amidst the sound of gongs and drums, everyone swarmed in to smash stones and throw rotten vegetables, making a group of people cry for their fathers and mothers as they fled in embarrassment.

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