Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 62 New County Lieutenant

September of the tenth year of Tenbao.

The sky over Cheng'an was still gloomy. Although there were no dark clouds, it was not bright either. It was as if some mud had been sprinkled into a white dye vat and the mud had spread out, making the sky not clean and clear.

Outside the tall city wall, someone is busy.

Lu Qubing stood at the door, neatly dressed, with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance.

Several petty officials stood around him with bitter faces, trying to persuade him, but Lu Qubing ignored them.

Liu Taozi stood not far away, holding his belt with both hands, looking extremely majestic.

"Mr. Lu, you coming here in person doesn't look like a welcome, it will be considered a demonstration!"

"It's best if you wait for him to come and see you."

Lu Qubing had some experienced officials around him who tried to teach the county magistrate how to do things.

Today, the new county lieutenant is about to arrive, and Lu Qubing chooses to go to greet him in person, which surprises everyone.

Not all county towns had Wei. Most cities only used patrols to maintain public security. Only the seven places around Yecheng had official Wei, so they were also called the Seven Wei.

The chancellors and lieutenants of these seven places always seemed to not get along.

The scholar-officials and the nobles were always at odds.

The people gathered around Lu Qubing at the moment all hoped to avoid greater conflict with the county lieutenant.

But Lu Qubing now decided to go and meet the county lieutenant in person, which made everyone feel that it was inappropriate. They were afraid that the county lieutenant would regard Lu Qubing's behavior as a provocation against them.

Lu Qubing remained unmoved.

"Just mind your own business."

"Tao Liu Youjiao, come over here."

Liu Taozi walked a few steps to Lu Qubing's side. Lu Qubing was still staring into the distance and slowly spoke:
"The county captain is here."

"I have advised you many times these days not to be a cruel official. Now, if the county lieutenant wants to punish you for what you have done these days, even I can't protect you."

Lu Qubing just felt a headache at this moment.

In the past, Taozi killed people secretly, but after becoming a patrol officer, he started killing people openly. The killings were so open and aboveboard that his behavior of castrating people was even more like that of a Qi official than that of a Qi official!
Seeing that his good brother had perfectly integrated into the style of the county government, Lu Qubing became impatient. He looked for Taozi several times and persuaded her not to do so again, but it didn't work.

Now, it is very likely that this new county lieutenant will not get along well with me, and the patrol officers are directly under his jurisdiction.

As long as the other party brings up old issues, what Taozi did is enough to get her dragged out and executed.

Taozi stood beside him with a calm expression, "The county is much better now."

"You've done such a cruel thing, how can it not be good?"

Lu Qubing's face was full of helplessness. "I dare not say whether what you did was right or wrong. Perhaps the city really needs cruel methods like yours. But the question now is, how can we protect you?"

Liu Taozi didn't care much about this question, "The county lieutenant can't kill me."

Lu Qubing trembled all over, and suddenly grabbed Liu Taozi's hand, shaking all over.

"Peach!! I beg you! Don't kill! Don't kill!!"

"Enough people have died. If one more person dies, the government will probably send a large army to massacre the city."

Lu Qubing was very afraid that the county lieutenant would question Taozi, but what he was afraid of was not that the county lieutenant would kill Taozi, but that Taozi, who was questioned, would directly kill the county lieutenant.

As he was talking, Kou Liu appeared not far away on a fast horse, "Here we are! Here we are!!"

Lu Qubing let go of Taozi's hand and said no more.

A group of knights appeared in the distance. This time, the county lieutenant did not come by car.

His way of traveling was completely different from Gao Xun's. Most of the people Gao Xun brought with him were strong, neatly dressed, and looked arrogant.

This time, the knights who appeared in the distance were not tall, had obvious bow legs, one eye was larger than the other, had hunched backs, almost shaved heads, and no beards.

Taozi's expression became serious and her eyes sharp.

They came in front of Lu Qubing and quickly separated to both sides, revealing the knights in the innermost group.

The man was probably in his forties. He had a very obvious hooked nose, thin eyes, and not many eyebrows. At first glance, he looked a little scary.

He had long arms and was a good rider. He jumped off the horse easily and walked to Lu Qubing with a smile.

Liu Taozi noticed that he was limping when he walked and his left leg seemed to be inconvenient.

"Is it Lu Gong? He is indeed a young and promising man, unlike us old guys."

He stood in front of Lu Qubing, lowered his head, showing his sharp white teeth. For some reason, Lu Qubing took half a step back.

"Greetings, Lord County Lieutenant!" "No need to be polite. My name is Changsun Jiaye. I hope Lord Lu can give me more guidance in the future."

"Don't dare."

The two men exchanged greetings for a while, and then Lu Qubing asked the officials to come forward and pay their respects.

When everyone saw this guy's appearance and the knights he brought with him, they couldn't help but feel a little afraid and trembled in fear.

"Youjiao Liu Taozi, I pay my respects to Lord Changsun."

When Taozi stepped forward to pay his respects, Changsun Jiaye was slightly distracted. He looked Liu Taozi up and down and couldn't help but say, "What a mighty warrior."

Lu Qubing invited him to get in the carriage, and the carriage drove towards the county government office.

The two of them sat in the carriage. Lu Qubing put away his smile and said seriously, "Lord Changsun, I came here to meet you because I want to discuss important matters with you."

"Mr. Lu, please speak."

"After I became the county magistrate, all I wanted was to assist the county magistrate and govern Cheng'an well. Apart from that, I had no other thoughts."

"When I was arranging the officials, someone advised me to leave some vacancies, saying that you would mistakenly think that I was fighting for power."

"I can swear to God that I have never had such an idea. I really don't want to have any conflict with you, and I don't want to ruin the great cause of governing Cheng'an."

"If Lord Changsun has any dissatisfaction with me in the future, please speak up. We can talk openly, but please don't affect Cheng'an's affairs. What do you think, Lord Changsun?"

Changsun Jiaye was stunned for a moment, then he started laughing again.

"it is good."

"Just follow what Mr. Lu said."

Lu Qubing finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Changsun Jiaye did not get to meet County Lord Gao, as the county lord had been very busy these days.

Although he said he wanted to stay in Cheng'an, sometimes he had no choice but to go to Yecheng.

Although he looked somewhat ferocious, he did not have a fierce conflict with Lu Qubing as everyone expected. After arriving at the county government office, he stayed in his own house and did not go out.

Some people suddenly couldn't sit still.

Tu Nan stood at the door of the backyard, speaking in his unfluent Xianbei language and talking to the soldiers for a long time before he was qualified to go in and pay his respects.

Tu Nan walked quickly into the house and bowed hastily without even looking.

"This subordinate greets Lord Changsun!!"

The eldest grandson sat on the bed, gently pounding his left leg, and said without raising his head, "Is that you, the recorder?"

"That's right! I am the recorder Shi Tunanpu, and like Lord Changsun, we are both Chinese!"

At this moment, Chang Sun's eyes twitched, and he finally raised his head and looked at Tu Nan.

Tu Nan shuddered and said hurriedly: "I was wrong. Lord Changsun is a real Chinese. I am of a lowly surname."

Changsun Jiaye spoke up, "What do you want from me?"

"Lord Changsun! I want to help you! There are not many Xianbei people like me in the county today. Even the patrol officers are relatives of Lu Qubing!"

"Lu Qubing took the initiative to go to the school and gathered a large number of people. These people all came from the Law School. They colluded with each other, dominated the county government, and did whatever they wanted, especially that roving guard Liu Taozi!"

"This guy is a real Han Chinese, the price of a Han Chinese is very high!"

"He made the people in the county restless. He protected the wicked and bullied the wise! In more than ten days, he created nearly ten major cases. He was a close relative of Lu Qubing."

The eldest grandson nodded, stood up with great difficulty, and stood in front of Tu Nan.

Tu Nan smiled and raised his head, "Pa~~~~"

Chang Sun held the belt in his hand and hit Tu Nan hard on the face. Tu Nan groaned and staggered.

Chang Sun was hit again, and Tu Nan fell directly to the ground, covering his face with blood gushing out.

"What Chinese?! What Xianbei?"

"The Xianbei are all in Jinyang! They are licking the blood of their soldiers, fighting against the Rourou outside the Great Wall, and fighting against the Western Hu!"

"Like you, hiding in the city, talking about your surname all the time, engaging in internal strife all day long, and using conspiracies and tricks to get to the top, what kind of Xianbei are you?! What's the difference between you and those Han people who read tattered books?!"

Chang Sun's face turned ferocious, and he hit him a few more times. His blows were so heavy that Tu Nan fell to the ground, and he didn't even have the strength to speak.

"Pull out"

"Feed the dog."

(End of this chapter)