Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 42: Is there cannibalism in this courtyard?
When the three returned to the county government office, it was already dark.

Zhang Jun got off the donkey tiredly, took the knife from Taozi, and walked towards the inner room exhausted.

As soon as I walked in, I bumped into Nurxia.

Nursha frowned, his eyes full of viciousness.

"You old dog, you're out for the whole day! And you took two people with you!"

"You're going to die if you don't slack off for a day, right?"

His saliva almost sprayed on the old official's face.

The old official had a calm expression and did not move.

This old official has no family and no support, and he has been working here as a clerk for a long time.

Almost no one looked up to him, and no one treated him well.

The old official explained: "Mr. Nu, I went to nine villages, none of which were close to each other. I didn't waste a moment, and I was always on the road..."

"Bullshit! Don't think I don't know your methods, old dog. If you do it again, I will hang you up and beat you!"

"roll!"

Nurxia cursed again, but the old official did not refute. He just pretended not to hear and continued moving forward.

Nurxia looked around again, and soon he walked out of the inner courtyard and looked at the few people outside.

"You! Go clean the inner courtyard!"

"And you, don't lie down! Get up!!"

"Go and empty the dung bucket in my room!"

He issued orders everywhere, sparing almost no one.

The exhausted crowd struggled to get up. They had been busy all day and could not rest at this moment.

"What a bunch of bastards, all they do is lie down all day long!"

Nurxia cursed a few words and turned into the house.

At this moment, Tian Zili appeared beside Taozi, his eyes full of passion.

"Brother Taozi..."

Liu Taozi leaned against the wall and ignored him, so he sat down next to Taozi.

"Brother Taozi, I know you don't believe me."

"As early as when I was in the county school, I knew that you were not an ordinary person."

"I wanted to find you then, but I was afraid that Lu Lingshi would find out."

He spoke very kindly, but Liu Taozi closed her eyes and ignored him.

Tian Zili was a little frustrated. He was silent for a while and said, "How about this, Brother Taozi, tomorrow I will show you something."

"After you read it, you'll know everything... Otherwise, you won't believe anything I say."

Tian Zili murmured a few words, then stood up and left.

The night was getting darker and darker. Unlike yesterday, we couldn't even see the moon tonight.

The whole sky was pitch black, there was nothing.

No fire is allowed in the outer courtyard, and it is pitch dark.

Taozi slowly opened her eyes.

………….
The next day.

"Fuck! Fuck!!"

"It's a rebellion! It's all a rebellion!!"

The official named Cao rushed into the inner courtyard roaring.

There are clear hierarchies in the county government, and the only ones who can be called officials are the county magistrate and the county magistrate.

The rank of county magistrate depends on the size of the county. A large county is of the fifth rank, a small county is of the seventh rank, and as for the county magistrate, that is the most humble official of the ninth rank.

But even if he is a ninth-rank official, no one in the county government can afford to offend him.

After all, he is an official.

Below them are the officials with real power. They generally have their own division of labor and are responsible for certain tasks in the county government.

At the lowest level are the miscellaneous clerks. These people have no official duties and are just auxiliary clerks, going wherever they are needed.

This Cao Gong was the Li Cao Shi who was in charge of the officials inside and outside the county.

Normally, the head of the scattered clerks should come to pay a visit to the Licaoshi every day and receive the many errands he needs to assist with that day from him.

But now, it’s been two days!! No one has come to see him for two days!
Cao Gong, who was already busy, was extremely angry.

He rushed here, gritted his teeth, and swung the whip in his hand with a sound like thunder.

At that moment, all the officials in the inner court ran out and bowed to greet him.

"Where's Nursha?! Where are the others?!"

Cao Gong questioned.

Everyone bowed their heads and remained silent.

"Go find him!!"

He gave the order and a clerk hurried into Nursha's room.

Soon, the clerk came out, his face was extremely terrified and he was trembling all over.

"Reporting to Lord Cao, he, he is also missing..."

Cao Gong was stunned, his eyes full of surprise, "What do you mean disappeared?"

"You guys in the Sanliyuan are cannibalistic?! We lost two people in two days?! In another month, will you all be lost?!"

Hearing his question, everyone looked horrified and looked at each other.

Cao Gong frowned and pondered.

"Forget it. I'm busy now and can't delay."

He looked suddenly at the clerk.

"You! You will be the chief clerk!" The clerk's face changed drastically. He suddenly knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Lord Cao! How can I be worthy of this? I am not qualified for this!"

"Please arrange for someone else!"

"damn thing!!"

Cao Gong swung the whip, and it landed hard on the opponent's back, tearing the flesh apart.

The clerk groaned and continued to beg for mercy.

Cao Gong looked at the other person and said, "You take the role!"

"Please!! Spare me!! I don't dare!!"

The man immediately knelt on the ground.

Cao Gong's face was twisted with anger. He gritted his teeth and said, "I need a chief official, otherwise, I will chop all of you off!"

"You! You take charge!"

Cao Gong pointed at someone at random, and that person was the official named Zhang who took the peaches out yesterday.

He looked a little confused, but looking at Cao Gong's angry eyes, he didn't dare to refuse.

Cao Gong called him over, and everyone stayed where they were, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"What the hell is going on?! Is there a ghost?"

"Who knows? It was fine last night and no one came in or out. How could it disappear without a trace?"

"Damn it, damn it..."

Everyone was extremely frightened.

When Zhang Li came back, everyone rushed forward to greet him.

Zhang Li looked at everyone, speechless for a moment.

He had worked in the county government for his entire life and had never been promoted. Unexpectedly, this first promotion would be a fatal promotion.

But Zhang Li did not believe in ghosts. If ghosts really existed, it would not be He Xingseng and Nurxia who died.

He first gave instructions for today's tasks, and then he hurriedly saluted everyone.

"Everyone, I have never tried to murder anyone in my life. I have always been conscientious and have no grudges against anyone."

"If I have offended you in any way, please tell me and I will definitely correct it..."

After hearing his words, everyone looked at each other and seemed to realize something.

Zhang Li arranged the work, then walked out the door and came to the outer courtyard.

Everyone was still lying on the ground, motionless.

He cleared his throat and looked at everyone, several of whom were struggling to get up.

A stiff smile appeared on Zhang Li's face.

"Everyone, I am today's... I am now the head of the scattered officials."

"I've really made things difficult for you all on weekdays. I will arrange fewer things for you in the future so that you can rest more."

"If you feel there is anything wrong, please let me know."

Hearing his words, the candidate officials were stunned.

They had been here for so long, but this was the first time they heard human words from the mouths of these officials.

How is this going?

What about the surname He? What about the Rurun man?
Looking at the astonished crowd, Zhang Li continued, "There are now two vacancies for the Sanli position..."

He looked at everyone, "Tian Zili, Liu Taozi, are you two willing to come in?"

For a moment, the outer courtyard was silent.

Candidate clerks, candidate clerks, they almost forgot that they could be candidate clerks.

Tian Zili was very excited. He quickly stood up and said, "Thank you, Mr. Zhang!"

Liu Taozi stood up and nodded.

Zhang Li then looked at the rest of the people and said, "Everyone, the number of casual officials is not fixed. If someone does well, they can be promoted. If they don't do well, they will have to be a substitute."

“I just hope everyone can work hard…”

"You two, follow me."

Zhang Li spoke to Liu Taozi, turned and walked into the inner courtyard, Liu Taozi and Tian Zilie followed behind them.

Yao Xiong stood in the crowd with a gleam in his eyes. He looked at several classmates in the Law School, and they looked at each other, with joy in their eyes.

As expected, he is called Brother Peach.

I got a quota the next day after arriving at the county government office.

From now on, there will be someone to protect us.

Zhang Li gave them official badges, new clothes, and arranged a room for them to live together.

Tian Zili was very excited and he stuffed a lot of things into Zhang Li's sleeves.

Zhang Li was very inexperienced and looked embarrassed.

"Mr. Tian, ​​please wait outside the door for a moment. I have something to tell Mr. Liu."

Tian Zili hurried out, and Zhang Li grabbed Taozi's hand.

"Mr. Liu! Something happened. The two chief officials of the yamen disappeared. They disappeared suddenly..."

Zhang Li looked very scared, he held Taozi's hand tightly.

"Originally, Cao Gong only allowed me to recruit Tian Zili, but I added you in. I only ask one thing of you."

"Tonight, you stay with me. I don't dare live alone. You are big and strong. I will get you a knife. You will protect me all night, okay?"

"I have never hurt anyone, I really..."

"OK?"

(End of this chapter)