Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 161 First Meeting with Baochai
As an important position in a state, Tongpan assisted the prefect in governing the local area and was in charge of important matters of the state such as military and civilians, money, grain, household registration, taxes and labor service.

In addition, he also had the responsibility of supervision and could submit memorials directly to the emperor, which gave him enormous power.

Official documents from the provincial government would only take effect after being signed and sealed by the prefect and the magistrate. In some cases, even a magistrate of the sixth rank was no less powerful than a prefect of the fifth rank.

It is precisely because of this power that it is more likely to be abused.

When Yue Ling heard the word "Tong" from the military officer, the first thing he did was to find out the level of this Tongpan.

Tongpan Jiqing was a little surprised when he saw that the imperial envoy was so young.

"This marquis is so young, he must be only in his teens. Don't underestimate him because of his age. I have learned my lesson."

After pondering for a moment, Ji Qing bowed respectfully and said, "My Lord, you are well-informed and knowledgeable, and it is normal for you to know some little things. How can I not believe it?"

Yue Ling nodded and smiled, "In that case, you might as well raise your head, Lord Tongpan, so that I can see what your fate is."

Today, what Ji Qing feared most was that Yue Ling would come and cause trouble.

"What on earth is Yue Ling up to? Can he really do something unorthodox?"

Although he was in a complicated mood, Ji Qing could only keep a straight face and not reveal any flaws. He raised his head and smiled at Yue Ling, saying, "Then I'll trouble you, Lord Marquis."

Yue Ling pretended to look at Ji Qing's appearance and made up a story in his mind: "Mr. Tongpan has a full forehead and a square nose and mouth. He looks like a person with good fortune. I guess his family must be very wealthy, right?"

Ji Qing was shocked, and felt that Yue Ling was setting a trap for him based on the fortune-telling. He quickly responded, "Your Majesty, you are joking. You must have seen along the way that Cangzhou is so poor. How can we, as the parents of this place, be rich? If we have money, we will help the people."

Yue Ling nodded slightly to show his agreement.

"In that case, the judge is a good official, but it's a pity..."

A single word of twist made Ji Qing's heart hang in the air again. He asked with his lips moving, "What a pity?"

Yue Ling hesitated for a moment and continued, "It's a pity, Mr. Tongpan. A short and flat philtrum is a sign of a short life. What a pity, what a pity."

Seeing Yue Ling shaking his head and sighing, Ji Qing's heart was beating like a drum, "Could it be that Yue Ling really saw something?"

His eyes slightly avoided, and Ji Qing hurriedly said: "My Lord, you are joking. Life and death are all predetermined. If I really don't live long, as long as there is a successor who can manage Cangzhou Prefecture well, it will be considered a wish."

Yue Ling patted Ji Qing on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Mr. Tongpan is of high character and integrity. This Marquis cannot compare to him. The fortune-teller's words just now were just a joke. Mr. Tongpan, please don't take it seriously. Please take me to the classroom to sit down."

"It should be so, it should be so."

After Yue Ling turned around, Ji Qing wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

Yue Ling's words and actions were really irrational, and it was even more thrilling to interact with him. He also had an intimidating aura without even getting angry, which made Ji Qing feel overwhelmed.

Soon, the group arrived at the door of Jiqing's classroom. A yamen runner came forward and opened the door, and a gust of wind rushed in, blowing away all the neatly stacked documents on the desk and bookcase.

Seeing the documents scattered all over the floor, Ji Qing said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, you have made a fool of yourself. It's because of my carelessness. I will clean it up and then welcome Your Majesty in."

Yue Ling stepped in first, bent down, picked up the document, and flipped it over.

"Since we are here, I will help the judge to clean up some things."

Yue Ling pointed at Jia Yun and a group of soldiers from the Beijing camp who came with him and said, "Don't just stand there, help the judge to sort things out."

"Yes."

At Yue Ling's command, everyone entered the room and began to search. It was hard to tell whether they were tidying up or searching. After busying themselves for a long time, no documents were missing from the floor.

Jiqing was standing at the door, looking anxious.

But he couldn't say anything to stop it, so he could only fold his hands in his sleeves and wait anxiously.

"This Yue Ling is really unconventional. Seeing the mess in the house, shouldn't he wait for the owner to clean it before entering?"

Jiqing's face was uncertain and he looked in one direction intentionally or unintentionally.

"As long as Yue Ling doesn't find out, we'll have passed this stage. After this, no matter what trouble Yue Ling wants to cause, we won't have to worry about it."

He secretly encouraged himself in his heart, but he didn't expect that Yue Ling in the room never relaxed and kept staring at the changes on Ji Qing's face.

Micro-expressions are also a means of solving cases. Although Yue Ling is not familiar with physiognomy, he is familiar with this method.

Seeing Jiqing's anxious look and vague eyes, how could there not be a ghost in the room?
In addition, he always looked in one direction from time to time. Yue Ling followed his gaze and saw only a wooden cabinet in that direction. He then stood up and started searching in front of the cabinet.

Seeing this, Jiqing's heart was in his throat.

Seeing Yue Ling pulling open the first, second, and third layers of the bookcase and not finding anything unusual, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

When Yue Ling pulled him back to the second floor, Ji Qing's heartbeat became more intense, causing his brows to tremble slightly.

Yue Ling reached up and indeed touched a piece of book stuck to the bottom layer.

Then he tore it off and flipped through it casually. At this time, the room was silent, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Yue Ling, and Ji Qing, who was standing at the door, was sweating profusely, gradually soaking his robe, and his face turned pale.

Yue Ling just flipped through a few pages, then closed it and handed it to Jia Yun for safekeeping.

Yue Ling looked outside the door and chuckled, "It seems that this Marquis is indeed good at face reading. The predictions made by the magistrate are very accurate. The magistrate has really made a lot of money. Keeping accounts is a good habit, and it makes this Marquis feel a lot more relaxed."

Jiqing's lips moved, but he couldn't utter a word.

Yue Ling's eyes narrowed and his expression changed. "Come here, strip this fellow of his official robes! Throw him into jail!"

The soldiers of the Beijing camp immediately stepped forward, "Yes, sir!"

……

After Yue Ling checked the Tongpan, he thought about checking the prefect as well to see if the Cangzhou government was in cahoots with each other. But when he heard that the prefect was judging a case in the front hall, he decided to go and listen first.

But as soon as he went out, he was stopped by a little girl.

"Sir, I have something to say."

The soldiers of the Beijing camp immediately stood in front of Yue Ling and pushed the girl away. "Back off! How dare you offend the imperial envoy?"

A little girl was not considered a dangerous person. Moreover, judging from her attire, with a cross-lapel collar, a short shirt and long pants, and indigo-colored silk, she looked like a maid from some family. Yue Ling asked, "Who are you delivering the message for?"

The little girl was startled when she heard this, she hadn't even said she wanted to pass on the message.

"Well, sir, please allow me to keep you in suspense. My daughter wants to see you. As long as you can help, my family will help you with disaster relief in Cangzhou and will never break our promise."

The reason why the local wealthy families in Cangzhou Prefecture could continue to drink and eat meat above the common people was that they were almost in solidarity with the government and had very close trade relations. Even in the accounts of Ji Tongpan just now, we could see that many of them were tributes given by merchants.

With government support everywhere, what difficulty could there be?

As for those who had suffered misfortune in Cangzhou Prefecture recently, apart from the Xue family mentioned by Liu Xianglian, Yue Ling had not heard of any other family.

"The eldest daughter of the Xue family in Jinling, Xue Baochai?"

Yue Ling thought for a moment and said, "Okay, you lead the way."

The little girl looked at the soldiers of the Beijing camp beside her, looking frightened. She thought to herself, "Did you underestimate the ability of the person who came? This person who is accompanying the soldiers doesn't look like an ordinary imperial envoy at all?"

The little girl asked timidly, "Sir, are they going with us?"

Yue Ling smiled and said, "No need, I'll go with you."

Led by the little girl, they came to a secluded house. As soon as they entered the door, they saw a large carved floor-to-ceiling screen blocking the room. In front of the screen, there was a table and a wooden chair, on which were placed fragrant tea and candied fruits.

Yue Ling glanced at the four corners of the house. It was clean and tidy. It must have been prepared for temporary meetings with guests.

After Yue Ling sat behind the desk, the little girl bowed low and went behind the screen.

She was replaced by a dazed little girl.

She was wearing a fish-white, plain, cross-collared dress with a floral pattern, a cotton skirt of the same color, and a scarlet silk embroidered handkerchief tied around her waist. The scarf was not as red as the rouge on her forehead.

At this moment, Yue Ling was more certain of the identity of the person opposite him.

Yue Ling calmly took the fragrant tea offered by Xiangling, took a sip, and smacked his lips and said, "It's rare to drink this new tea in Cangzhou City. It's worthy of the Xue family's handiwork. As for helping me with disaster relief and the people's safety, I don't doubt the Xue family's financial strength."

At this moment, Xue Baochai was sitting behind the screen. She didn't say a word, but her identity and the purpose of her arrangement were guessed by the person opposite her.

Xue Baochai felt that the screen seemed to be non-existent.

Whether it is discussing matters or negotiating, the more information you know, the more initiative you will have. Xue Baochai is well aware of this.

But at that moment, she felt as if someone was holding her throat, and she hesitated for several times but was unable to utter the first word.

Xue Baochai whispered to Ying'er beside her, "Just now, did you introduce yourself to others?"

Ying'er had been with Xue Baochai for a long time, and was not stupid. She knew the pros and cons of it, and hurriedly shook her head, "Miss, I swear, I definitely didn't say it."

Xue Baochai's heart trembled again, "Then how did he know?"

There was a rustling sound from behind the screen. It was the two girls whispering to each other, but Yue Ling couldn't hear clearly.

However, Yue Ling has been very busy lately and has had few opportunities to enjoy tea. With Xiang Ling accompanying him at this moment, Yue Ling seemed to be having hallucinations.

"This Xiangling is indeed somewhat similar to Qin Keqing. After all, she is a maid from a wealthy family, so there are some differences."

After waiting for a few breaths and seeing no one speaking, Yue Ling put down his teacup and said in a muffled voice, "Miss Xue, I came here to listen to your words about disaster relief for the sake of the people of the city. If you have nothing to say, I will not accompany you."

　One more update

　　
　
(End of this chapter)