Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 19 I Have Solved It
A horse-drawn carriage broke into the county school, sped all the way, and finally stopped outside the house of the chief priest.

Fei Zongxian jumped off the carriage panting and rushed into the yard.

Cui Mou stood under the shade of the tree, with his head raised and his eyes closed, looking like a famous scholar.

Fei Zongxian quickly put on a flattering smile and walked quickly in front of him.

"bye"

“Pah~~”

As soon as Fei Zongxian opened his mouth, he felt something hitting his face. He staggered, saw stars, and almost fell to the ground.

He covered his burning face and looked at Cui Mou with grievance.

"Are you guilty?"

"Brother-in-law!!"

"What are you doing?"

Cui Mou's eyes were full of ferocity, which was never seen in normal days.

"What did you call me?"

Fei Zongxian lowered his head and said, "Sacrificial wine."

Cui Mou threw the letter in his hand at Fei Zongxian's face, "Tell me, what is this?!"

The letter fell to the ground and Fei Zongxian didn't even pick it up to read.

His face suddenly turned ugly. "I was so sincere to Lu Diaodia, how dare he treat me like this! I am so…"

"Shut up!!"

Cui Mou scolded again, gritting his teeth and staring at Fei Zongxian.

"I think you don't learn your lesson. What price did your family pay to protect you last time? You've fallen to this point, and you still can't control your butt?!"

"Don't you have enough people in your house? Do you have to bully these students?"

"How many times have I warned you?!"

Fei Zongxian lowered his head and said nothing.

Cui Mou took a deep breath and his tone gradually calmed down. "I think you'd better go home, otherwise you will get into big trouble sooner or later."

"Brother-in-law! Me!"

Fei Zongxian raised his head and wanted to say something back, but when he saw Cui Mou's cold eyes, his voice died down.

He said flatteringly, "Brother-in-law, you can't chase me away. If I leave, who will collect calligraphy and paintings for you?"

"Those are just external things. They are not important. But this letter is very important. Who knows what kind of things you can write in the future? Are you going to drag me down with you?"

"Brother-in-law, I won't do that again. I suspected at the time that Lu Diedie was trying to scam me, but I thought, what if it's true? Besides, he can't cause any trouble, and I still have my brother-in-law here."

Chief Cui sighed.

"If he took this letter to the county government, would you still be alive? You have been here for less than half a year, and four people have died because of you. Can this be covered up?!"

Fei Zongxian remained calm. He said with a smile, "Brother-in-law, he offended the county magistrate when he first arrived. Who would care about him if he went to the county government? Besides, given your relationship with the county magistrate."

Cui Mou paused, and suddenly looked at Fei Zongxian, motioning him to follow him into the house.

The house is equally simple and shabby.

There are just some calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall, which looks quite extraordinary.

The two men sat facing each other, and Cui Mou said slowly: "Bu Dahan Xiu is already dead."

"what?!"

Fei Zongxian almost jumped up.

His eyes widened in disbelief, "County magistrate. How could the county magistrate do that?"

"You know about the disappearance of three Baibao Xianbei in Cheng'an, right?"

"I know"

"Those three people all had some identities. They were arranged to go in by someone. As a result, all three disappeared at the same time."

"Bu Dahan Xiu went to Yecheng to plead guilty to His Majesty. His Majesty brought him to the palace platform, sawed him into three pieces alive, and ordered them to be taken as sacrifices to the lost knights."

There was obvious fear in Cui Mou's eyes, and even his voice was trembling.

Fei Zongxian's face wasn't much better. Thinking of his fate after being exposed, he froze in place, unable to move.

The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence.

After a long time, Cui Mou finally spoke.

"The new county magistrate is Guo Yuanzhen."

Fei Zongxian asked uncertainly: "Taiyuan Guo family?"

"Yes, Guo Zhenglu's son."

"And most importantly, his wife was from the Hongnong Yang clan and was the younger sister of Yang Yin."

Fei Zongxian's voice rose again, "Yang Zunyan's brother-in-law?"

The next moment, he burst into tears, "Brother-in-law, what should we do? His family and ours are not on good terms. If he knew about these things, I would be the one to be sawed! Brother-in-law!! Brother-in-law~~~"

Looking at Fei Zongxian who broke down and cried, Cui Moufan calmed down.

"Shut up! Why are you crying?!" "What about Yang from Hongnong? What about Guo from Taiyuan? Is Cui from Boling easy to bully?!"

Fei Zongxian covered his mouth, his eyes full of horror.

Cui Mou sighed again.

"What a pity! Lu Qubing is a man of extraordinary appearance, upright, righteous and kind, yet we must get rid of him now!"

"This is all your fault! Aren't you ashamed?!"

Fei Zongxian lowered his head and said nothing.

"And the commoner you like, it would be best to kill both of them at the same time, and then kill the commoner's clan members on the charge of killing an official. This is safer."

Fei Zongxian said hurriedly: "Lu Qubing is very fond of that man. He took him out of the city with him before. Maybe we can wait until the next time they leave the city to take action!"

"What else? Do you want to murder an official in the city?"

Fei Zongxian suddenly became confident again, "Leave this matter to me. I will arrange four good hands to make sure there are no loopholes. I have never failed in the past."

"No, don't be careless."

"Lu Qubing is quite capable. If something goes wrong, father won't be able to protect us. How many trustworthy people are there around you?"

"There are 20 of them, absolutely trustworthy!"

"I will give you another ten people. They will arrive at your house tonight. You should make proper arrangements and make sure everything goes smoothly before they leave the city next time."

Fei Zongxian suddenly thought of something, and he asked, "Brother-in-law, if Guo had just arrived and the county had lost another official, would he also be sawed?"

"Is this something you should consider? Just do it!!"

"only!!!"

The door of the classroom was closed.

Taozi sat in the middle of the courtyard, stretched out her legs, and enjoyed the breeze comfortably.

Every time this time came, the house would become terribly stuffy. The people who were responsible for its construction probably didn't consider comfort too much. Even with the door open, the stuffiness was unbearable.

Many students gathered outside the classroom, with Taozi as the center, standing in different places and chatting.

Since the ground was swept and the gate closed, the students have become much more comfortable.

Someone took out the fruits he brought from home and gave them to Taozi first, and then distributed them one by one.

Some people invited everyone to their homes for a visit.

Although they were the lowest-ranking group of people in the county school, their family conditions were still good compared to the poor. After all, one needed to be literate to get in.

As for the "pig food" provided by the county school, they actually didn't care that much. Their families were well off, but not rich enough to be picky about food.

They are just the ones who won't starve to death for the time being.

"It's to avoid corvée."

"First there was the war, then there was the construction of the pagoda, and then there was the construction of the palace. If I hadn't come, my family would have been cut off."

"Alas, fortunately, His Majesty exempted a lot of taxes, otherwise there would be no one alive in our village."

"That's all thanks to Mr. Yang's kindness!"

A few students were chatting and actually had some understanding of world affairs.

Then they talked about taking the exam.

"If it passes, we will become colleagues in the future and we will have to help each other more."

"We are all classmates, so it's only natural. When that time comes, Brother Taozi will have to take care of us more!"

"That is!"

Everyone looked at the man sitting in the middle. This man was so conspicuous in the classroom and different from anyone else that he quickly convinced everyone.

They couldn't say what it was that convinced them.

Is it his courage or his sturdy stature?

Regardless, everyone agrees that this man is awesome.

The door of the classroom was pushed open, and Lu Qubing walked in quickly. When he saw everyone, he was stunned, smiled at everyone, and walked quickly to Taozi's side.

He sat down, and became somewhat relaxed, with a rare smile on his face.

"I have already solved the problem!"

"Just concentrate on studying and preparing for the exam. Ha, you fat pig, you are as stupid as a pig!"

"I didn't want to tell you in the first place, so don't tell anyone! I've reported this directly to the chief priest, and he won't let me off the hook!"

Lu Qubing's eyes were full of joy.

"If we can get rid of this guy, it will be considered revenge for all those people he harmed in the past!"

Peach glanced at him.

"Is the chief priest new to the position?"

"No. I know what you mean. The chief priest didn't mean to indulge him. He is a famous scholar. He usually studies in his house and doesn't pay much attention to what's happening outside. That's why he didn't know about it. If he knew about it this time, he would definitely not let Fei Zongxian off!"

Looking at Lu Qubing who was making a solemn promise, Taozi closed her eyes again and curled her lips.

"Ah."

(End of this chapter)