Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 130

Chapter 130 Work Hand In Hand
Unknowingly, it was already dawn.

Qin Mubai glanced outside the door and rubbed his piercing eyes. “It’s time for the manor soldiers to gather for morning exercises. It’s not convenient for us to return to the military camp. Why don’t we rest here for a while and go back to see King Wu later to clarify the situation?” He said.

Chen Yan nodded her head and silently squatted down. She leaned against the pillar and hugged her knees, staring blankly at the empty space in a daze.

Qin Mubai walked out of the room and stretched his muscles and bones. He couldn’t help but feel hungry. The subordinates of Baiji had already dispersed, so he had to go to the woods to pick some wild fruits by himself, and he was lucky enough to catch a rabbit. So he went back to the cabin and lit a fire. He slaughtered the rabbit and roasted it.

Chen Yan watched silently until Qin Mubai roasted the rabbit half-cooked before she said, “You, a well-fed official, actually know how to do this?”

“Could it be that there is a rule that only those of you who travel in Jianghu are allowed to do so?” Qin Mubai smiled and tossed her two wild fruits. “After eating the padded belly, the hare is quickly roasted. Actually, the scenery on our Baiji’s surface was obtained through a hundredfold torture. When we were training, it was simply an inhumane scene. Surviving in the wild like this was considered a small trick.”

“You really are a special official.” Chen Yan said, “No official would torture himself and suffer for himself, right?”

“Isn’t Zhu Chengwen right?” Qin Mubai smiled indifferently. “We only suffered from flesh and blood. His heart ached even more than ours.”

The corner of Chen Yan’s mouth twitched slightly. She leaned her chin against her knee and said leisurely, “I have something I want to ask you.”

“Ask.” Qin Mubai said casually as he roasted the hare.

“Do you have a beloved woman?” Chen Yan asked.

Qin Mubai was slightly stunned and pondered for a long time … It was not good for a woman who had accompanied him or had connections with him in his previous life, but where did the word “deeply loved” begin? Most of the time, he felt like he was in the game world.

“No.”

“I can tell.” Chen Yan chuckled softly, her expression softer than ever before. She said, “You are a cynical man, and there must be a lot of women circling you. The more men you are, the more women like you.”

“You seem to understand.” Qin Mubai smiled.

“Actually, people are quite cheap. When a person truly loves you, you may not feel it, nor will you cherish it. Only when you lose it will you know how precious it is.” Chen Yan said.

‘”Perhaps” Qin Mubai didn’t want to continue. Women are emotional animals, and they talk about emotional topics, can not sleep for three days and three nights. Clearly, Qin Mubai did not have the energy to do so.

“Actually, I lied to you.” Chen Yan suddenly said.

“Is that so?” Qin Mubai said in surprise.

“Yes.” Chen Yan nodded, “Actually, Zhu Chengwen and I have never been husband and wife, nor have we privately engaged ourselves for life or made an engagement.” We grew up together, and he’s always been like a big brother to me. He was twenty-two when he got married, and I was sixteen. At that time, I suddenly felt that I had lost something forever. Only then did I know that I also loved him deeply. I was so young that I even wanted to marry him as a concubine. But Zhu Chengwen was a true gentleman, and he refused. And even after his wife died, he didn’t give me any hope or opportunity, let alone promise. He loved his fiancee so much that he swore never to marry her again. He and I have always been close friends. After the age of sixteen, we don’t talk about emotions. But I knew that he would die for me, just as I would sacrifice everything for him. We talked about everything better than brother and sister, husband and wife, and close friends. That’s why I know everything about him, and he has always had absolute trust in me. ”

Qin Mubai’s heart skipped a beat. “Did he really give you a ledger before he died?”

“Yes.” Chen Yan said, “Not by mail, but in person.” I wrote to him in my hometown and saw that he was in a terrible state, so I came all the way to Jishan County to see him. Unexpectedly, he was furious and wanted to chase me away immediately, saying that I shouldn’t have come at all. I traveled thousands of miles to stay with him for less than a stick of incense. I was so sad that I swore I would never talk to him again. When he left, he gave me a bundle and asked me to pass it on to the child from his hometown. I left without looking. It wasn’t until halfway through that I calmed down and opened my bag. I found this ledger inside. Only then did I know … that he was determined to ask for death! I regret being so stupid that I didn’t see through his intentions! Perhaps if I had calmed down a little, I wouldn’t have ended up like this! ”

“Sigh, mistakes are often made in the slightest, but they are far too ridiculous.” Qin Mubai shook his head and sighed, “Where is the ledger now?”

“It’s near Zhu Chengwen’s tomb, on a big willow tree in the woods. Don’t worry, no one can find what I have hidden.” Chen Yan said.

“Alright! After a short rest, let’s go and retrieve the ledger first, and then go back to see King Wu!”

“Alright.”

Half an hour later, Qin Mubai walked out of the forest and called for the hundred cavalry guards to bring over two horses, one for Chen Yan and one for Zhu Chengwen’s grave.

Autumn Wind Fallen Leaves Fast Horse galloped, and Chen Yan’s mount naturally couldn’t compare to Qin Mubai’s Fire Cloud Divine Horse. She always looked at the man in front of her who was fluttering with clothes and kept thinking in her heart, “This man is really unique. He always gives people a mysterious feeling.” He could easily see through other people’s thoughts and guess their behavior, but it was hard to understand what he was thinking. Moreover, this official was different from ordinary officials. He did not have an official tone, nor did he have any prestige. Even though he was somewhat evil and domineering, he still retained a sense of righteousness, giving people the impression that there was a sense of righteousness in his body.

“Am I completely convinced of him?” Chen Yan kept asking herself, but there was no answer.

They arrived at Zhu Chengwen’s grave. The two of them first paid their respects, then Chen Yan leapt up a willow tree like a civet cat, uncovered a large piece of bark, took out a bamboo tube from the hollow tree pole, and jumped down the tree.

“This is it.” Chen Yan said.

Qin Mubai hurriedly opened the bamboo tube and saw an account book wrapped in oil paper. He flipped through it and saw that it was indeed a record of large amounts of money entering and exiting, and it was recorded in quite detail. Below each record, Zhu Chengwen also made a comment, explaining how the money was recorded in the public accounts of the yamen, and where it was actually used.

There were three pages devoted to recording the direction of six amounts of money. It was all a large number of civil engineering equipment constructed by the yamen in the name of building the lake embankment, and the large number of laborers they employed, but in reality, these civil engineering equipment and laborers were simply nonexistent. These six sums of money were sent to the Jiang Xia King, Li Dao Sect, with their ingenious methods!

This was clearly Zhang Tianci’s doing. He did not directly bribe Li Daozong with money, but instead sent him a large number of birthday and holiday gifts in the name of the yamen.

These things were rarely seen in the clean and honest official circles of the Great Tang Dynasty. Emperor Li Shimin had “advocated” that officials of all sizes should not encourage this kind of arrogance and extravagance, but there was no law explicitly prohibiting officials from accepting congratulatory gifts.

Thus, Zhang Tianci and the others played a side ball to drill into the loopholes in the law, thus achieving the goal of giving in to his favor and bribing the Li Dao Sect.

If Dao Sect Li knew where the money came from, he would never accept it. However, as the “Supreme Commander” of the Jin and Bing generations, the “filial piety” of his subordinate yamen was not out of line. Although it was somewhat unpleasant to hear, it was not likely to violate the law, so he accepted it generously. It was unknown if the Li Dao Sect would provide any convenience to Zhang Tianci later on.

“Very clever bribery methods.” Qin Mubai said, “The law cannot be investigated deeply, but the Li Dao Sect has indeed accepted money that should not have been collected.”

“That’s right.” Chen Yan said, “Because of this, Zhu Chengwen is in extreme pain.” Originally, when the money for the construction of the embankment was set aside, it was somewhat inadequate, and a portion of it was also taken out and sent to the dutiful king of Jiangxia … The always perfect king of Jiangxia in his heart instantly collapsed with a thunderous boom. But at the same time, he also suspected that Zhang Tianci, Cheng Songnian, and the others were deceiving their superiors and concealing their subordinates. They were unwilling to believe that the King of Jiangxia was such a person. Unfortunately, he was unable to personally clarify this matter with the King of Jiangxia. Instead, he had no choice but to compromise under the threat of Cheng Songnian and the others.

“You can imagine what happened at that time.” Qin Mubai said, “Officials, especially local officials, must have suffered a lot if they offended their immediate superiors. In front of such a large group as Zhang Tianci and Cheng Songnian, Zhu Chengwen was powerless to fight them alone. I suspect that Zhu Chengwen also took a slow-moving approach at that time. On the surface, he was compromising with a snake and secretly plotting how to solve this matter. If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have been killed and silenced. ”

“I don’t know.” Chen Yan shook her head with a sad expression. “He was so fierce that he wanted to chase me away. There was a reason why he didn’t want me to be involved in danger. It’s just that I didn’t wake up at that time …”

“That should be it.” Qin Mubai sighed. “Unfortunately, Zhu Chengwen’s efforts were all in vain in the end. A sudden flood disrupted his plans and ruined his life.”

“This is the will of heaven” Chen Yan’s eyes turned red as she frowned and stroked Zhu Chengwen’s tombstone, dumbfounded.

“Let’s go back to the military camp to see Prince Wu! The three of us are discussing, we must solve this matter perfectly!” Qin Mubai said, “Take it as a consolation to Zhu Chengwen’s spirit in heaven!”

“Alright, let’s go!”