Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 9 The Master Does Not Do Business at a Loss

"what is this?"

"I don't know if I haven't seen it before!"

The two clerks in front of the county school looked at the bamboo slips in Taozi's hand and just shook their heads.

The older ones said:

"The school cards used here are small bamboo cards, just like the ones used in the past. I have never heard of bamboo slips."

He said that and closed the door without waiting for Taozi to answer.

Liu Taozi stood outside the door with a sullen face.

The man from yesterday did not show up here yet, and the bamboo slips were of no use in getting in.

Suddenly, laughter was heard in the distance.

The man from yesterday was still dressed the same way, but he seemed drunk and staggered towards this place.

The younger lackey supported him, looking quite exhausted.

The two men came to the same place as yesterday. Goutui walked past Taozi without even looking at him. He said something to the clerk inside the door.

The two of them stayed where they were again, ignoring Taozi.

Liu Taozi slowly appeared in front of them.

"Give me the learning card."

The man looked up and looked at Liu Taozi with a smile.

"You want to take the test?"

"The county government has stipulated that if your majesty has a gift, it will cost three hundred coins."

"Pfft~~"

Goutui covered his mouth, laughed out loud, and looked at Liu Taozi with a gloating look.

The man raised his head, a look of pride on his face.

"I gave you the money yesterday."

"Oh? Why don't I remember this? Zhou Song, you stayed here for a long time yesterday. Have you seen this person?"

"Never!"

"Look, I haven't seen you before. I don't even know you."

Liu Taozi raised the bamboo slips.

"I don't know where you got this bamboo slip from, but it's not from me. I only have bamboo slips here, and I don't need any seals."

The lackey laughed again.

Peaches are silent.

The man tugged at his collar and asked again, "Are you going to apply for a school badge or not?"

"If you don't want to do it, then go away and don't delay my work. Otherwise, I will drag you to the county government office!"

The corner of Liu Taozi's left eye twitched, and a hint of ferocity flashed in his eyes.

When the two men saw the fierce look, their smiles froze and the atmosphere suddenly became dead silent.

Liu Taozi stared at the man in front of her for a long time, then turned and left.

But he didn't go far. He just stood across the street, took out a cake from his arms, ate it, and stared at this place.

The man wiped the sweat from his forehead and seemed to sober up.

"Poor bastard. You can't even afford six hundred, and you still want to be an official! I think you'd better go to the county government to collect excrement!"

The lackey beside him nodded.

"Mr. Liu, I don't think this Qihu will give up easily. Do you want to find someone?"

"Just keep an eye on this guy and see where he ends up. If he continues to keep pestering me, I'll send him to a good place."

The two of them work here as usual.

Everything was the same as before, the only difference was that there was a pair of eyes in the distance, staring at him.

This made Liu Gong extremely uneasy. He couldn't say why, but he just felt like sitting on pins and needles and was upset. Several times he wanted to go up and roar at the other party.

He left here early before it got dark.

When walking on the road, he would look back from time to time to make sure there was no one behind him.

This made the usually eloquent lackey become silent, and the two of them got closer and closer.

The cold wind blew and the man felt his hands and feet were a little cold.

I felt a little regretful in my heart, but I didn't dare to say it.

When they got home, he rushed into the yard and locked the door before the lackey could even open his mouth. The lackey's face changed drastically, he looked around, turned around and ran away.

The man let out the big dog in the front yard, went into the inner room, locked the door tightly, and then dared to go to sleep.

The next day, the annoying guy finally disappeared.

The man breathed a sigh of relief, but thinking back to his timidity last night, he couldn't help but tease himself. He was really getting more and more timid as he got older. How could he be afraid of a peasant?

In this city, as long as they are not Xianbei people, as long as they are not from a high-ranking family, as long as they are not officials, as long as they are not nobles, as long as they are not rich, he is not afraid of anyone!!

The man didn't get a good rest last night and was feeling sleepy the whole time.

Dogleg told him some things he had inquired about yesterday, but he didn't care much about them.

After another day of hard work, the man finally returned to the mansion, exhausted.

After locking the door, the man instantly perked up.

In the inner room, the man took off all his clothes and looked at the two women on his left and right with pride.

Both of these women were bought by him. There were often peasants outside the city selling their children, and sometimes, by using some power, he could buy good women at a low price.

When you get tired of playing with it, you can exchange it with others or sell it somewhere else.

In short, Mr. Liu never does business at a loss.

He bought these two women more than a year ago. They were still very young when he first bought them. One of them became pregnant. In order to prevent her from dying in childbirth and losing money, he hung the woman up and beat her with a wooden hammer all night, and finally she had a miscarriage.

Now, both women have been taught by him. As long as he has the hammer in his hand, they are like puppets and will never resist.

He lay flat on the bed, holding the exquisite little wooden hammer in one hand, stretched out his legs and narrowed his eyes.

"Come, rub it for me." A rough big hand stretched out to Mr. Liu's face, slowly moved to the other's neck, and gently clasped it.

Then, this big hand began to gradually exert force.

The man suddenly opened his eyes.

He saw a masked man standing in front of him. His eyes looked so familiar.

Liu Taozi's right hand tightly gripped the other person's neck, and after the other person opened his eyes, she gradually applied force.

The man suddenly suffocated, his face full of fear, and he struggled to beat Liu Taozi with the wooden hammer in his hand.

But this small wooden hammer had no effect at all on Taozi.

Liu Taozi stood still, constantly exerting force with his hands.

The man's gavel became weaker and weaker, his face turned red, his eyes widened, and tears kept falling from the corners of his eyes.

He wanted to say something, but as Liu Taozi gradually exerted more strength, his struggle became increasingly weak.

After suffocating for a long time, the man finally stopped moving, his eyes were wide open and bloodshot.

Liu Taozi still didn't let go, and he continued to pinch her for a long time.

Finally, Liu Taozi let go.

He quickly rummaged around, found some money, put it away, glanced at the two dazed women, threw some money to them, and then quickly disappeared into the shadows.

The two women just stared at the scene blankly without saying a word.

The wooden hammer rolled in front of the woman. She slowly picked it up and looked at the motionless man.

She raised the wooden hammer and hit the man's balls hard.

"Pfft~~"

“It’s right here!”

“Here!”

Dogleg walked in front with a gleam in his eyes.

He pointed to a restaurant in front of him.

"This is it!"

Two men stood behind him. Both were strong and sturdy, wearing official uniforms and swords at their waists. They looked at each other and then stepped forward and knocked on the door.

The shop owner came out with a smile, looked at the two people in front of him and greeted them warmly.

"It's Qilou Nanjun, distinguished guest! Distinguished guest!"

"What do you want to eat today?"

As the shopkeeper spoke, he quickly made way.

The rough man with a thick curly beard shook his head and said, "I'm not here to eat today. Is there a fellow villager living here?"

The shopkeeper thought for a moment and said, "Oh, a villager came here a few days ago. He had something to do with the food and left."

Dogleg said angrily: "Impossible! I clearly saw him disappear here, he must have stayed in this restaurant!"

"Where else is there a place to live around here?"

"Perhaps they are accomplices?"

The rough man glanced at him, then looked at the shop owner, chuckled and said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to go in and take a look."

"Ah, what are you talking about? It's our honor to have you here! Ah Cai! Prepare the meat dishes!!"

The shopkeeper called out, leading the three people into the courtyard.

The two men simply looked around and sat down to eat.

The shopkeeper was also curious and poured the wine, "What happened?"

"An assistant teacher at the county school was killed. As you know, nothing can happen during this period of time. We are in a state of panic."

"Then why did you come to me?"

The rough man glanced at the lackey, "He was the first to discover the body and reported it to us immediately, saying that he knew who did it."

The shopkeeper said "oh" and didn't ask any further questions.

After a simple meal, the rough man looked around and then went out.

The dogleg was a little anxious.

"Mr. Qilou Nangong, the man's surname is Liu, but I can't remember his first name, but I remember he was from the countryside. As long as we investigate the surrounding countryside, we might be able to catch the murderer!"

"He's easy to recognize, I remember what he looks like!!"

The dog-legged man began to talk incessantly.

The rough man stared at him and a kind smile appeared on his face.

"Okay."

"How about this, you follow me back to the county government office, draw a picture of the man, then issue a wanted notice in the city, and then send people to the surrounding countryside to investigate and catch this man, how do you think?"

"it is good!"

The rough man laughed, "You are going to make a great contribution this time! I remember that you are closest to Mr. Liu?"

"Yes, he has no family and treats me as his own child."

"Okay! Then let's avenge him!"

The rough man hugged the dog's leg and left.

At the far end of the alley, a pair of eyes were staring at them.

evening.

Outside the county government office, Liu Taozi and everyone else looked at the latest wooden pillar notice.

The content of the notice was very simple.

It tells the story of a thief who had an affair with a school official's maid, and after being discovered, he killed the man and fled.

Fortunately, the thief has been caught and has confessed to his crime.

The good people in Cheng'an can rest easy again.