by Zhi Bai
An Zheng said: "When I see the Holy Fish in the Mount Cang Man, could it be that before it disappeared, it would scatter the Qilin away by itself? Three hundred and sixty-five pieces, it will steam after I remove it. "
Gu Qianye: "Can't you feel a little reverence?"
An Zheng replied, "Alright."
Gu Qianye said, "I think it's better to have a red fever."
An Zheng: "..."
Gu Qianye: "Cough, cough... Alright, let's continue. With the fish scales that my clan worships, I can obtain the remaining three hundred and sixty-four pieces, and then form the Sacred Armor. You … is the person that was selected by the Holy Fish, so I came along. "
An Zheng: "I always thought you fell in love with me at first sight."
Gu Qianye jumped down from the wooden wall and walked away with her hands behind her back, "Idiot, idiot, idiot!"
Chapter 79 - Li Yannian
The next day at dawn, the people sent by the Zaocang arrived. This time, the person who delivered the letter was Zhuang Feifei's personal maid, the Red Luan. She looked to be about one or two years older than An Zheng. Her skin was very white, and her eyes were big. He was a little shy when he was talking to strangers.
"This is for you, First Mr told me to send it over."
The Red Luan stuffed a small bundle into An Zheng's hands, then lowered his head to look at his toes and spoke. "First Mr said that there are some things that you don't need to pay too much attention to. Since I have already done it, Zaocang will never sit still and wait for death, moreover … It's not as serious as you think. First Mr wants me to tell you something … Zaocang has more power than you think. "
An Zheng nodded, "Go back and tell First Mr that I thank her."
The Red Luan replied. It raised its head, glanced at An Zheng, then quickly lowered its head again, "First Mr also said that he still owes you a favor because it's too big."
An Zheng could not help but ask: "Just what kind of favor is it."
The Red Luan did not expect An Zheng to ask such a question. But perhaps she felt that since An Zheng's relationship with the Zaocang s and the First Mr s were not shallow, she said a few more words, "A few years ago, our Eastern Master was heavily injured during a duel. At that time, he did everything he could think of, and it was just barely able to keep Eastern Master alive. However, his injuries are still worsening. Because the person who harmed my owner is too powerful, if he is unable to find the right medicinal ingredients to refine the pill, he will not be able to hold on for long. "
"In these past few years, Zaocang did his best to maintain the life of the Eastern Divine Region's owner, but he couldn't find any medicine until First Mr returned from the Mount Cang Man and gathered the last of the medicine. Although Master Dong was still unconscious, he was showing signs of improvement, so First Mr was especially happy. The Eastern Owner and First Mr were very fond of each other, and the two of them never left each other. Now that the East master was about to recover, the bitter days of First Mr were about to come to an end. All these years, Zaocang relied on her to endure.
Seemingly sensing that she spoke too much, Hong Luan hurriedly took her leave.
An Zheng was a little emotional. Zhuang Feifei looked like a hot and seductive person, but deep down, he was so loyal. Her love for Zaocang's Owner was the truest and truest kind.
An Zheng opened the package and saw two names inside.
The first was the geniuses among the Grand Autumn Ceremony that deserved An Zheng's attention. An Zheng discovered that the one ranked first was the of the Great Cauldron Academy, the second was the of the Tai-tai-tai-tai-tai-tai-tai-tai-tao, and the third was the Nie Qing of the Military Department's Martial Arts Academy. There were at least a hundred more names at the back. It seemed that Zhuang Feifei did not have much confidence in An Zheng's cultivation, so her list of people was very long. And the last time Chen Shaobai came, he reminded An Zheng to only pay attention to three people.
But on the list, An Zheng could not find Chen Shaobai's name.
An Zheng walked towards the courtyard, while looking through the second list.
The first was the Military Minister, Hao Pingan. The second was the Assistant Minister, Chen Zaiyan. But what An Zheng found strange was that the name of the great general Tie Liuhuo was also not on the list. On the contrary, there was the Fang Daozhi who had met him once before. This person's identity was that of an assistant general Tie Liuhuo, and he was also a fourth stage genuine General Ying Yang.
An Zheng flipped through the list until he found a list of names of the Ministry of Rites, and one of the names entered An Zheng's field of vision.
He was not some great personage, he was the teacher of the Department of Rites,, in the Department for Purging Officials.
The Department of Rites was divided into four divisions, of which the Master, the Department for Purging Officials, was in charge of receiving guests to the foreign guests. The guest of honor in the Department for Purging Officials was a fifth-grade official. Although it was not very high, he held actual power and was an extremely avaricious official. All the debts needed to receive the guests had to be allocated to him. This person had already been an official in the State of Yan for more than ten years, so when King Xixi, Chen Zhongqi, came to the State of Yan, all the welcoming arrangements were made by Li Yannian.
An Zheng returned the list to his room, then sat down and thought carefully for a while.
An important official of the State of Yan must have known about what happened back then. This heavy weight of an important official also signified that it was not easy for An Zheng to find out the truth at that time. Relatively speaking, making contact with Li Yannian was the best choice.
An Zheng packed up the necessary things and instructed Du Shoushou and the others to continue cultivating. Then, he left the sect alone.
Passing through the crowd, passing through the streets and alleys, An Zheng appeared outside a restaurant. Opposite them was the home of the main guest, the official Li Yannian of the Department for Purging Officials. A proper fifth-grade official of the capital, however, his residence was not very large. No matter how rich he was, he did not dare to be impudent. The size of the courtyard was about the same as that of an ordinary rich family. Even though there were two courtyards in front of and behind the courtyard, the space it occupied was truly limited.
An Zheng entered the restaurant and immediately found a table near the window on the third floor to sit down. He ordered a pot of wine and a few side dishes, then leaned on the window and watched outside.
This was the morning court. Today was the day of the Grand Examination, so all the officials of the capital above the fifth-grade were required to attend. Ordinary fifth rank officials were not qualified to participate in the assembly. They would report to the yamen where they worked early in the morning. An Zheng was not only waiting for Li Yannian, he also wanted to clearly see the Li Family's environment.
Not far from An Zheng, there were two men sitting near a window drinking wine. In other places, restaurants do not open in the morning, but in State of Yan, restaurants do not close for almost 24 hours.
One of them should be from outside the city, constantly asking questions. The person who greeted him was most likely someone from Beijing, so the answer was quite detailed.
The one who asked most questions was a man with a full beard. He asked the middle-aged man sitting opposite to him, "I heard that there are many more officials than the commoners in the capital. I casually stepped on a person's foot while walking on the street, who knows which yamen's official it might be."
The middle-aged man smiled. Even though he looked gentle, the alcohol in his mouth made him seem more magnanimous, "This is a bit too much, but there are a lot of officials in the capital. Do you see that courtyard diagonally across from them? That is the residence of Li Yannian, the fifth-grade teacher of the Department of Rites, the main guest of the Department for Purging Officials. "That courtyard is not that bi
g of a deal compared to my own yard. Lord Li is only in plain clothes when he travels, he never rides a car or a palanquin, so even if you walk on the street, you wouldn't be able to tell that he is an official of the fifth rank."
The man with a full beard said, "The principal guest is a teacher of the Department for Purging Officials? "That's a huge loss of money. Every year, a large amount of silver would be transferred into one's pocket. Just putting some into one's own pocket would make one extremely rich."
The middle-aged man put down his wine cup and said sternly: "You are not allowed to speak of Master Li Yannian like that. I have seen many officials before, but there are really too few people like him. My house and Lord Li's house are pretty close together, and we have been neighbors for more than ten years. But in all these years, I have never seen anyone present Lord Li's gift. His family wore plain clothes, and unless there was an especially important guest, they would never enter a restaurant to eat. His family's second young master is seven years old this year, and all of the clothes he wore were the leftovers of his big brother.
"Lord Li's clothes are clean as well, but they have been worn for many years. Other people's backyard only grew flowers and plants, while Lord Li's backyard only grew vegetables. Have you ever seen a person like this under the personal control of the Madam? I remember one time, someone came from Madame's family, and Lord Li invited them to a feast. At that time, the Li family's Second Young Master was only four or five years old, and he was in the right time to be gluttonous. "But in the restaurant, you sit properly, and unless the lord says something, he will not dare to use his chopsticks."
"Later, I heard from the Li family's Old Zheng that the second young master had tried to eat this family's lion heads many times, but the second young master had never bought one. That's right, the amount of money Lord Li had was terrifying, but he had not even taken a single copper coin. All these years, the neighbors all knew that Lord Li was famously clean and honest. The most important thing was … As an official of the Ministry of Rites, he must have interacted quite a bit, so his salary was mostly used on this matter. "If you think about it, you'll be depressed. A good official and a good official, yet you're living a life of clear hardship. What justice is there in this world?"
When An Zheng heard this, his heart stirred. In his heart, there was more respect towards this Li Yannian.
The officials of the Ministry of Rites truly did socialize a bit more than the other officials of the other departments, especially the officials of the Department for Purging Officials, who received all sorts of visitors almost every day.
The bearded man was stunned for a moment before he sighed and said, "This year, the corrupt officials are living a good life. The Qing officials are suffering, aiya …"
The middle-aged man said, "Everyone says that if Sir Li was willing to give me some gifts, I would have been promoted a long time ago. However, because of his unwillingness, it has been with this person for over ten years and has not moved from the beginning. "
An Zheng put down the wine money and then left the restaurant.
Arriving at the main street, An Zheng stood at the side of the street for a while. Just as he was about to leave, he saw a man around fifty years old hesitated for a moment, then walked over and knocked on the door of Li Yannian's residence.
The side door opened and an old man walked out. "Mister Deng, why have you come?"
The person who was addressed as Mr. Deng wanted to speak but hesitated. It was obvious that he was hesitant for quite some time before he said, "It's like this …" Last time when Young Master was ill, he didn't pay any medical fees … I also know that I shouldn't have come knocking for this bit of money, but a few days ago, I lost quite a few medicinal herbs in my store, it was really … I really can't. "
The old man was Li Yannian's family manager, Old Zheng. His face changed as he cupped his fists and bowed: "Mister Deng … I'm really sorry. I'll ask the Countess in a minute. Why don't you come to my room for a while... "Sigh!"
His long sigh contained endless desolation.
The doctor entered the room and sat in a daze. He had come to collect his debt, but his face was full of guilt.
Not long after, An Zheng saw a maid hurriedly running out from the courtyard with something in her hands. An Zheng followed her and realised that she purposely ran two more streets to a pawnshop that was even further away from Li Yannian's home. An Zheng saw her pass a hairpin over, and then the person gave her a few taels of silver. That hairpin wasn't worth much, so the pawnshop didn't have too much of a heart for giving out large amounts of money.
An Zheng walked in and stopped the servant girl from pressing her: "You dropped something."
He handed a silver note to the maidservant, then went to the counter to redeem the hairpin.
The young maid looked at him blankly, then looked at the banknotes in her hand, shocked by the number written on it.
An Zheng pulled her out of the door: "Back then, Master Li had helped me before, I had specially come to find Master Li to repay this kindness. However, he did not dare to rashly visit the mansion, as he had stayed outside for a few days already. Today, when he saw the doctor come to collect his debt, he felt really sad. Back then, my family was poor and Lord Li helped me. This silver was only repaid by me. "
The maidservant refused to take it. Gritting her teeth, she returned the hairpin to the pawnshop. She clutched the silver taels tightly and ran back.
As she ran, tears began to fall.
Chapter 80 - Fazen Temple Only
Sometimes, tears could be a lie, but when that stubborn young maid clutched the silver taels and ran forward, her tears would not be a lie.
An Zheng looked down at the silver bills in his hands, then turned and walked to the counter in front of the pawnshop: "Did the people that came just now come often?"
The man in the pawnshop replied, "It's not a very frequent visit, but I've been here five or six times …" I know that she belongs to Li Yannian, Master Li's family, but I have to pretend not to know her so that she won't be embarrassed. There were two pawnshops on the street where Lord Li's house was located. She didn't go because she was afraid of humiliating Lord Li. Madam had always been frugal with her family. If something had not happened to her, she wouldn't have used all of her jewelry. Therefore, every time I set a price, it would be the price of the original. "
He looked at the hairpin in his hand and said, "This hairpin has been here for at least twenty years. The workmanship and materials are not good, so I think it should be the jewelry I brought when Madam married Lord Li …" "It's hard for her."
An Zheng said: "I'll trouble you to give me the items that the Li Clan treated as my own, I will redeem them."
The man quickly called for the waiter. "I didn't dare to sell any of the Lee family items. Although I did, it's still a loss for my business. If I sell it, my conscience will not be clear." Logically speaking, as pawnbrokers, we would not have been able to open the pawnshop for a long time if we were to be honest with ourselves. But the matter with the Li Clan... I can't make that money. It was said that back then, the late King knew that His Excellency Li was a clean and honest man, so he had intentionally brought him into the Department of Rites' Master, the Department for Purging Officials. Everyone said that the late King had taken care of him. But his character is the same wherever it goes. "
An Zheng nodded his head. After putting away the items, he gave more according to the proportion of money the pawnshop earned, then turned around and left.
On the street, he met the doctor who went to the Li family to collect debts. In his hand was the scattered silver that the young maid had exchanged for the pawnshop. The doctor sighed as he walked. After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and raised his hand to slap himself on the face. "F * ck, how could I take this money!"
He turned around and walked back to the door of the Lee family. He knocked on it and stuffed the silver into Old Zheng's hands. "You see, I was wrong.
A few days ago, Sir Li sent someone to return the silver. It was my pig's brain that forgot about it. Blame me."
With that, he turned around and left.
Old Zheng stood there, staring at his husband's back.
An Zheng stopped the doctor halfway and pulled him into a teahouse.
"Excuse me, are you …"
The doctor asked with some caution.
An Zheng ordered a pot of tea, then sat down and said: "I am someone that Master Li has helped before, and currently, I am living a wealthy life so I want to repay Master Li. But you also know, Master Li's character, is definitely not willing to accept."
The doctor then let out a long sigh, "So Lord Li is actually the Fanggu Lord. Logically speaking, he should have been promoted to the position of the Fanggu's Prefect, but he was given the title of Lord Xu, the current Prefect … Forget it, there was no way to tell. When Lord Li was in Fanggu, he did many things for us citizens, and everyone respected him. But this person, was too much … Even if it's not for himself, he should consider it for his family. "
An Zheng took out twenty silver and gave it to the doctor: "Take this, it's not easy for you. Oh yeah... What's wrong with the young master of the Li Family? "
At the mention of this, the doctor became even more upset: "The heavens truly have no eyes. The Li family's Second Young Master is such a good child. He is quick-witted, sensible, and beautiful. However, he was naturally weak in physique and would get sick every new season. Thus, he had spent quite a bit of money on daily medicine. It's a pity that I am also incapable, and am unable to cure this kind of disease with poor innate constitution. "
An Zheng said: "This … Can you do me a favor? I also have a rough knowledge of medicine. Just say that I'm a friend of yours and bring me to the Li Residence for Second Young Master to see. "If she can be cured, that would be for the best. If she can't, then I can be considered to have done my best."