"That's right, I'm in Lenan right now, because it's very close to the sea and the shells and stuff are very beautiful. I sold a lot of hairpins inlaid with mother-of-pearl. You made the right choice."
The censor must conceal his true identity during secret visits, so he usually disguises himself as a businessman and enters the local area. In order to avoid arousing suspicion, he sometimes actually buys and sells goods.
Although Li Yuezhen has become accustomed to it, she is still not used to doing business with women.
"It's just pretending anyway, why not click on it and make more money."
"I just can't be friendly, so I hate selling hairpins..."
Wei Qiude previously pretended to be a businessman specializing in purchasing traditional Chinese medicines.
Li Yuezhen really thought that in order to meet the needs of cross-dressing in the future, he might need to learn more medical knowledge.
"It doesn't matter, those women will take the initiative to chat with you."
Wei Qiude laughed loudly, and then said seriously: "I'll leave the next thing to you..."
Li Yuezhen had been injured before and was handed over to someone else to take over, so she knew very well the frustration of having to let go of corruption and perversion of the law when she was about to expose it.
"Brother Qiude, then I will borrow your name."
"good……"
Wei Qiude raised a hand in response. Li Yuezhen nodded to him and hurriedly left the level.
As long as you walk a little faster, you can reach Lenan in the evening.
He was wearing old linen clothes and carrying a large wooden box. He looked like a businessman in both his appearance and his luggage.
The relevant information of the secret visit has been kept in mind and must not be written down on paper to avoid accidentally losing it.
Wei Qiude said that after Wang Hetong took office as the governor of Minghai County in the spring of this year, he twice temporarily imposed taxes on the grounds of river renovation projects in Shenzhou and Wuzhou.
Li Yuezhen walked silently on the dusty road, passing by the young man pulling the cart and the children running home.
Don't let your thoughts wander, just focus on your current work.
However, the more he told himself this, the more Chunxiang's hurt expression would flash through his mind from time to time.
……be strong……
This time, the job is to take over from Wei Qiude, and he must not fail because of personal affairs.
Obviously you took this job because you avoided it. What do you still regret now?
Unknowingly, he pressed his hand on his chest.
When he was in the capital, he always carried the blue children's shoes that had turned into rags in his arms... He didn't take them with him now.
When he was convinced that he was the son of cruel parents, he thought that the shoe was sewn for him by his mother, a thief. He did not understand that when his drunken father beat him, he not only did not dissuade him, but also laughed at his mother.
Why did she sew one shoe on a whim? I thought she thought it would be too troublesome to sew two shoes, so she gave up halfway.
Therefore, he has always treasured that shoe.
Later, when he learned about his life experience, he finally realized it.
As expected, it was impossible for the thief's mother to sew shoes for her child. While he was extremely disappointed, he also had a glimmer of hope.
At least his biological mother loves him very much.
This at least brought him some warmth.
Although the biological mother was not found in the end, even if she was found, the biological parents would probably not want to see the self who had gone astray...
…Some things are better off not doing them…
As long as you don't see your parents, you can at least think that your biological mother once loved you and sewed shoes for you; as long as you don't tell your true feelings, you won't let your beloved become the wife of a sinner.
When the door opens and they come back...will they get food, or will they get a beating? Even if the result is desperate, at least they can have hope until they see the result, so don't open the door easily.
He arrived in Lenan in the evening as planned.
If you travel around frequently, you will find that no matter which city or village, it is more vibrant than during the late emperor's time.
Although the sun has gone down, there are many pedestrians walking on the street, and women are chatting on the street.
There is a market here to buy and sell seafood caught in the nearby sea and transport it to the inland areas. There are many businessmen coming and going, so there are also many hotels.
Li Yuezhen pretended to be looking for a place to stay, and secretly searched for the restaurant and inn called "Huayue Tower" that Wei Qiude told him.
"..."
The straight street is very lively, with businesses and homes on both sides adjacent to each other. In the morning, there should be a market here.
It's time to prepare dinner now, and the smell of food is wafting everywhere.
Although streets like this can be seen everywhere, they have a familiar feeling.
……impossible.
This kind of life of leaving early and coming back late is the furthest thing from me, so this sense of familiarity may be my inner yearning...
Just when he fell into a strange sentimentality, a loud voice came from the noisy street.
"No matter how many times you come, I will never agree!"
People around her looked in the direction of the sound at the same time. Li Yuezhen couldn't help but look around and saw a young woman of 17 or 18 years old, picking up a broom, rushing out of a store and chasing a man.
"You, do you want to disobey the prefect?"
"Whether it's the governor or the assassin, if you don't like it, you just don't like it! If you don't leave, I'm really going to beat you!"
"It hurts! You've already hit me...it hurts, it hurts!"
The young woman poked the man in the head with a broomstick. The man was about to cry, but he still cursed and ran away.
Passersby laughed and clapped their hands.
"Good job Cuihua!"
"Isn't that bastard still giving up...?"
The onlookers applauded her, but the woman still frowned. A closer look revealed that she had pretty features and a strong personality. No wonder she would hit someone with a broom.
Compared with the young woman's appearance, Li Yuezhen cared more about what the man said when he ran away just now.
...He just said, disobeying the governor...
The prefect of Lenan is Wang Hetong who will be investigated this time.
In addition to illegal tax collection, has he done other bad things?
Li Yuezhen thought so secretly, and his eyes met with the woman holding the broom.
The young woman smiled awkwardly, turned around and walked into the store.
Li Yuezhen found "Huayue Tower" written on the signboard.
"..."
right here.
Maybe you can ask me about what happened just now.
He opened the door and walked into the store. He looked around the store casually and felt that the place was very small.
There are five or six tables in the restaurant space... No, the place is not small, hotels are usually of this size.
"Please come in, guest officer..."
Before Li Yuezhen had time to think carefully about why he felt that the space here was small, he heard a greeting, interrupting his thinking.
There were no customers in the store, and a middle-aged man and woman who looked like the owner and his wife and the young woman from before were inside the store.
"Is there food here? If there are vacancies, I would also like to stay..."
"Please take a seat, there are rooms available!"
The proprietress put down the wooden box on her shoulder and walked over with the account book. When she saw Li Yuezhen's face, she tilted her head slightly.
"Have you... lived here before?"
"No, it's my first time coming to Lenan..."
"Really? I'm sorry, I think you look a bit familiar..."
Li Yuezhen paid for two days' accommodation in advance and registered the name "Wei Qiude" in the account book.
"Li" is the most common surname in Yuan Kingdom. Li Yuezhen borrowed his name for Wei Qiude, who had to give up halfway.
"Are you a businessman? What do you sell? Hairpins? Great, Cuihua, you can take a look later."
"Is she your daughter? She was outside just now..."
"Oh, did you see it? Hahaha...are you scared? Don't worry, this kind of thing happens all the time."
The landlady laughed heartily, this kind of thing happens often... No, this kind of thing happens often in the Zhuge family too.
"You can sit wherever you like and I'll prepare a meal for you right away."
"Thank you."
The landlady walked in, and Li Yuezhen sat down at the table in the corner. The young woman named Cuihua put the tea on the table and smiled mischievously.
"Sir, you are really unique. You were not scared away by the woman waving a broom, and you came here to stay."
"I was looking for a place to stay and was surprised that I couldn't see any other hotels."
"Ahaha...so I made a name for my shop."
The way she smiles is very similar to the boss lady.
Li Yuezhen guessed that she should be the boss's daughter.
"It didn't seem very peaceful just now. What happened?"
"Well, well, it is indeed a bit uneasy. The prefect here wants me to be his concubine."
"Proposing marriage?"
Cuihua frowned and waved her hands vigorously.
"It's not such a good thing. The governor here is called Wang Hetong. He left his wife in the capital and came here alone, so I hope that during his stay here..."
"So that's it..."
Li Yuezhen drank the tea brought by Cuihua and frowned slightly.
"Then it's best to refuse. Usually when the prefect returns to the capital, he won't take away the things he received at the place where he went to work.
concubine."
"I knew it. Of course I refused, but he still struggled with it."
"Is that man just now the prefect?"
"No, they are the subordinates of the prefect. The prefect looks like this..."
Leihua used her hands to draw two straight lines from top to bottom.
Judging from her body movements, Wang Hetong should be very thin.
If Wang Hetong did commit something illegal, this young woman could escape his entanglement and avoid being forced to become an unfortunate woman.
"Sir, are you a businessman? Is this your first time here?"
"Yes, I heard that Lenan has great handicrafts, so I stopped by to order the goods..."
"Go along this street towards the seaside. There are many craftsmen with very skillful hands. You should be able to buy good things. I will go there tomorrow too and can take you there."
"Very good."
"It's coming, it's coming, I kept you waiting for a long time..."
The landlady came over with dishes in both hands.
During the meal, Li Yuezhen learned that Huayue Tower was run by the boss Shun Bo, the proprietress Mu Wan and her daughter Cuihua.
Shun Bo was taciturn and didn't speak except to greet the guests, but Mu Wan and Cuihua might have been talkative. When Li Yuezhen casually asked about the situation here, they told him without reservation.
Although Li Yuezhen is not good at taking the initiative to chat, she does not hate listening to others.
"This place seems like a great place to live."
Li Yuezhen interrupted, and the two women looked at each other and laughed.
"It's indeed much better than before."
"This place is just next to the main street. There are many people from out of town, and sometimes we encounter some troubles. The previous prefect was a good official, and we lived a peaceful life."
"oh……"
Li Yuezhen drank the tea after dinner and nodded.
The former governor of Minghai County is indeed very capable. He is currently transferred to another county. I heard that he will be promoted to governor sooner or later.
"I do business in various places. As long as there are no problems with the prefect and the censor, it is usually easy to do business in that place."
"Yes. The censor here was very good before..."
"Since the new governor was appointed, he seems to be becoming more and more lazy."
……it is as expected……
Yushijian is the department that maintains public security in various places.
The censor usually seeks the help of the local censor when making secret visits, but Wei Qiude told him not to go to the censor station in Lenan.
Wei Qiude specifically reminded him that among the censors representing Lenan, there were people who were colluding with Wang Hetong.
Seeing Li Yuezhen's silence, Mu Wan hurriedly shook her hand.
"Don't worry, you can do business normally here."
"good."
However, if you want to make an unannounced visit here, you still need the help of the Censor.
Wei Qiude was injured before he could find a trustworthy censor, so Li Yuezhen must act immediately tomorrow.
…
"It's right there... Look, can you see the stall? That's the stall I highly recommend. That's the local master with the best mother-of-pearl skills."
Cuihua grabbed Li Yuezhen's arm and pulled him energetically to the bustling morning market.
"Uh, girl, please let go..."
"His name is Uncle Ban, and he has a hairpin... hmm? What did you just say?"
"fine……"
The next morning, Li Yue really planned to go for a walk on the street. Cuihua, who had said she would take him to find a craftsman the day before, went out with him, but was pulled by her sleeve by a young woman... Li Yue really felt very shy.
Cuihua didn't take it seriously at all. She pushed her way through the crowd and walked forward until she came to the stall she recommended before finally letting go.
"Uncle Ben, morning!"
The old man who was placing the goods on the stall looked up, saw Cuihua, and smiled happily.
"Good morning, Cuihua, are you going to Xiaoyang's house today too?"
"Uh, yes, that's right... right!"
Cuihua suddenly blushed.
"I, I brought guests here for you! Look!"
"Hahaha...thank you so much."
"Your Majesty... I'll leave first..."
"Okay, thank you."
Cuihua blushed and walked quickly back along the way she came.
"Brother, are you a guest of Huayue Tower?"
"Oh, yes, I'm in the hairpin business and I came here to purchase goods. Cuihua highly recommended your craftsmanship to me..."
Li Yuezhen put down the wooden box in front of the stall, and the old man narrowed his eyes.
"She's a good girl."
"yes!"
"Don't fall in love with her, she is already married."
The old man said jokingly, and Li Yuezhen smiled bitterly.
"I didn't fall in love with her... My wife is waiting for me in my hometown."
"So that's it."
The censor in the field often needs to disguise, and he also needs to lie from time to time when chatting... It is precisely because of lying that he can speak out, and he can also think of someone's face in his mind and call her his wife.