From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 85: A few bowls of noodles

The next morning, Meng Yuan packed up early and went out, seeing Tie Niu guarding the door like a door god.

He had a knife on his waist and a bow on his back, and he really looked like a warrior.

"Brother, Master Nie asked me to follow you and said that you are not allowed to eat meat. Why? You are not allowed to eat meat?" As soon as he opened his mouth, the temperament of a warrior was gone.

"This meat is not that meat." Meng Yuan smiled, helped him straighten his clothes, and said, "This trip is very dangerous, do you really want to go?"

The mission was to escort Chen Shouzhuo, and the news had been learned by Jie Shen.

Meng Yuan expected that Xie Shen would never give up and would definitely keep a close eye on him. However, Chen Shouzhuo was an official appointed by the imperial court, and Xie Shen was not a fool, so he would not interfere.

Therefore, Chen Shouzhuo is not in any danger; the real danger is himself.

But if Tie Niu was there too, he would certainly not be targeted by Jie Shen, but Tie Niu and he had a very close relationship, and with his personality, if something went wrong, he would definitely fight to the death.

"Then we must go! We are good brothers!" Tie Niu said as a matter of course.

After hearing this, Meng Yuan patted Tie Niu on the shoulder and said, "Then you must listen to me and follow my arrangements on the way."

"That's for sure!" Tie Niu still took it for granted.

The two of them agreed and went directly to wait in front of the palace.

Half an hour later, Xunmei and Dugukang saw Chen Shouzhuo off.

Chen Shouzhuo was a very simple man. His mount was the little donkey with a cloth bag hanging on it, which must have contained some clothes for changing.

Meng Yuan asked yesterday, and it turned out that Chen Shouzhuo really came to give the princess some old things. Xunmei wanted to give her a horse but couldn't even give her one, let alone money.

Chen Shouzhuo was riding on a donkey, sandwiched between Meng Yuan and Tie Niu, and was a head shorter than them. However, he did not feel uncomfortable at all and even came to ask for their names with a smile.

"Mr. Chen, how should I be an official?" After walking for a while, Meng Yuan had nothing to do, so he started a conversation. He wanted to see Chen Shouzhe's temperament so as to make arrangements for the journey.

If the child has a good temper, then everyone is happy. If the child has a stubborn temper, then just coax him.

"I am two years older than you. If you don't mind, you can just call me Brother Chen. Don't be polite." Chen Shouzhuo was very humble.

Your wife is the princess's teacher. If I call you Brother Chen, wouldn't that make me the eldest daughter of the third generation?
"Brother Chen." Meng Yuan bowed.

"Brother Meng." Chen Shouzhuo smiled and bowed in return, saying, "I have never been a high-ranking official. I have been serving as a county magistrate in a remote county for many years. If I were to talk about my experience as an official, I do have some."

Meng Yuan listened carefully.

“A person who is truly qualified to be a county magistrate should have power.”

Chen Shouzhuo pointed to the sky and said, "The superiors are external aids, the assistants win their hearts, and the powerful gentry are their eyes and ears. In this way, the clerks will obey orders, and the affairs of the county government will be as easy as commanding an arm."

"What's the matter with the people?" Tie Niu asked curiously.

"If you worry about the people, your superiors will hinder you, your assistants will share the power, the powerful gentry will be like strangers, and the clerks and runners will be incompetent." Chen Shouzhe smiled.

Tie Niu scratched his head, he didn't understand.

"What you mean, sir, is that if the county magistrate does not prevent people from making money, then his job as an official will be stable. If he does not allow people to make money, things will not be done." Meng Yuan said with a smile.

"That's about it." Chen Shouzhe smiled approvingly.

"Looking at your mount, it should be the latter." Meng Yuan asked with a smile.

Chen Shouzhuo waved his hand and smiled, "It's better to ride a donkey than to ride on ordinary people. I just want peace of mind."

Meng Yuan did not ask any more questions. He just asked Tie Niu to follow Chen Shouzhuo closely, while he stayed a little further away. However, after being on guard for a long time, there was nothing unusual.

Cross the Canglang River and continue south.

After two nights, the city wall of Hedong County could be seen, but there was no sign of Jie Shen.

When we arrived outside the city gate, we saw that a group of gentry and clerks, along with several elderly people and many students, had come to welcome us.

"We didn't reveal our whereabouts, nor did we inform them in advance, so why are they here to greet us?"

Meng Yuan smiled, "It can be seen that the visitor has bad intentions."

"We are the ones coming, right?" Tie Niu asked curiously. Chen Shouzhuo stepped forward and chatted with the leading gentry for a few words, then declined the welcoming banquet and took Meng Yuan and Tie Niu directly to the county government office.

When the gentry saw that the new county magistrate was not easy-going, they gathered together to discuss the matter, but they could not come to an agreement because the new county magistrate had not made any move yet.

There was no choice but to disband.

Among them was a middle-aged wealthy man named Li Tianyun, who immediately returned home with his servants.

Without even having time to drink a sip of tea, he immediately wrote a letter, had someone deliver it, and also sent people to keep an eye on the county government office.

Five days passed in a flash, and there were several more people in Li Tianyun's home.

The people who came were Xie Shen, Xie Zhongliang and others.

After leading them to the room and sending away irrelevant people, Li Tianyun bowed respectfully, "Master Jie."

"Stop talking nonsense and tell me how you did!" Xie Shen said directly.

"That Chen Shouzhuo refused to accept gifts, banquets, or anything like that. Instead, he reviewed past case files and even arrested my old housekeeper!" Li Tianyun complained.

"I don't care about the Chen, I only care about the warrior with the surname Meng!" Xie Shen frowned.

"He left Zhao Tieniu to follow Chen Shouzhuo, and he went out every day. He ate out every morning, noon and night, and even went to take a look at brothels." Li Tianyun said.

"I'm busy outside! How can he have the time to eat?" Xie Shen laughed.

"Eat. He has a good appetite. He eats three bowls of noodles in the morning, two bowls of noodles at noon, and even buys a cooked dog leg in the evening!" said Li Tianyun.

Xie Shen looked at Xie Zhongliang and smashed his wine glass in anger, "It hurts more than killing me to see him eating and drinking so well!"

He stood up immediately. "If I hadn't been busy these few days, I would have killed them all on the road! I'll do it tonight!"

Xie Zhongliang quickly comforted him, saying, "Chen Shouzhuo is an official appointed by the imperial court. If anything happens, the higher-ups will definitely investigate. We can't kill him."

"Even the investigation has to go through my father's hands!" Xie Shen said.

"Isn't this just creating trouble for nothing? We are just here to get revenge, there is no need to kill Chen Shouzhuo." Xie Zhongliang said.

"Then what should I do? Do I have to spend so much effort to kill a gelder?" Xie Shen was angry.

Xie Zhongliang immediately said, "The eldest son said that whenever Chen Shouzhuo governs a region, he will cause a commotion. When those gentry get anxious, they will definitely take action. Isn't this going to be a riot now? We can take advantage of this turmoil to kill the people. Who would think of us then?"

"Does it have to be so troublesome?" Xie Shen frowned.

"The eldest son said that it's not advisable to cause trouble recently. He didn't want the second son to go out in the first place. What if Ying gets serious about it, there will be trouble for no reason." Xie Zhongliang said.

"Killing him like this would be too easy for him. I would feel unfair if I don't grind him to dust!" Xie Shen's face became much gloomier. "And that guy named Gong, they all have to die!"

"Gong is from the garrison, so it's easy to kill him." Xie Zhongliang comforted him in a low voice, "Sir, don't show up. Just rest for two days, and we will definitely be able to deal with Meng cleanly and neatly."

Jie Shen said nothing.

Li Tianyun, however, had many ideas. Seeing this, he asked, "Master Jie, do you want to deal with those two young men? That's easy to say. I'll do it myself."

"Tell me about it." Xie Shen said.

"I see those two young men have never seen much of the world. They paid for their meals and were very friendly. They are the easiest to control! When the time comes, we can hire some people to carry them up, and they will kill themselves!" Li Tianyun was confident, "Doesn't he like noodles? Let's let him eat!"

Li Tianyun was full of confidence and whispered his thoughts.

"Can it be done?" Xie Shen became interested.

"This is a way to deal with impulsive teenagers and upright gentlemen. If it works, that's the best. If it doesn't, that's OK. Anyway, County Magistrate Chen's reputation will definitely be ruined." Li Tianyun said with a smile.

"Go and do it! Once it's done, your son's job will be done." Xie Shen said immediately.

"Wait." Xie Zhongliang held down the overjoyed Li Tianyun and said, "Be careful, or we'll be found right after we arrive!"

"Don't worry!" Li Tianyun agreed immediately.

(End of this chapter)