Duke of Zhenguan

"General, apart from these three, the others committed suicide out of fear of punishment when I arrived with my men!"

"I took it upon myself to bring the head!" the governor of Luozhou said, bowing.

Upon hearing the words of the governor of Luozhou, Lin Chuan, who had just finished eating, looked at the blood all over the ground and felt his stomach begin to churn uncontrollably. He quickly turned his head away.

Cheng Yaojin, however, walked over without a care, opened a box, glanced inside, bowed to the governor of Luozhou, and said with a smile:

"Thank you, Governor Wang. With this, I can report back to the imperial court!"

"General, you flatter me. This is merely my duty, and I do not deserve your thanks!" the governor of Luozhou replied respectfully.

Cheng Yaojin beckoned to his personal guards, took the three living people and the box containing the severed heads, and said with a smile to the governor of Luozhou:

"Prefect Wang has been busy all day, so you should rest now. We can check the accounts tomorrow!"

"I have already ordered people to prepare the post station, which is enough for the General and his soldiers to rest. I will escort the General there now!" Governor Wang said, bowing.

"Thank you for your trouble, Governor Wang!"

"General, please!"

After escorting Cheng Yaojin to the post station with his subordinates, the governor of Luozhou arranged for officials to come and serve him before taking his leave.

The post station was located in the west of Luoyang. Although it was somewhat dilapidated, it was very spacious. At this time, it had been completely emptied, leaving only the postmaster and a few postmen.

There's no need for Cheng Yaojin to give instructions on arranging duty and other miscellaneous tasks; the cavalry captain will handle everything himself.

Cheng Yaojin led Lin Chuan and his guards into the largest courtyard in the middle of the post station. They lit torches in the courtyard, and with the help of his guards, he took off his armor. Right there in the courtyard, he stripped naked and poured water he had just drawn from the well over himself.

The guards chatted and laughed as they helped each other remove their armor, then poured the contents of the wooden basins over themselves.

A group of burly men, completely naked, gathered together; it was a bit of an eyesore.

Seeing Lin Chuan still standing there dumbfounded, Cheng Yaojin shouted impatiently:

"What are you standing there for? Waiting for me to serve you a bath?"

Okay, let's take it off!

Lin Chuan sighed and, with Zhao Fu's help, took off his armor and clothes.

"I thought you had some unspeakable secret that made you embarrassed to take your clothes off? It's not that small!" Cheng Yaojin glanced at Lin Chuan's crotch and said with a mischievous look.

"My nephew's is alright, but Uncle Cheng's is... well, it's not bad either!" Lin Chuan replied with a smile.

"Oh!"

Knowing he was no match for Lin Chuan, Cheng Yaojin snorted coldly and ignored him.

Lin Chuan fetched a basin of water, quickly washed his hair, then rinsed off the sweat before finding clean clothes to change into.

Although the weather was getting hotter, the well water was still very cold, and he dared not catch a cold.

After taking a bath, I felt much refreshed. The next morning, just as dawn broke, Cheng Yaojin dragged me out of bed.

"I've heard from Second Brother Qin that you're lazy, and today I've finally seen it for myself! Get up and practice your martial arts, don't waste Second Brother Qin's family's skills!"

"Uncle Cheng, please be gentle!"

Lin Chuan stood in the courtyard, being repeatedly hit on the arms, buttocks, and thighs by Cheng Yaojin with a wooden stick.

Lin Chuan winced in pain, strongly suspecting that Cheng Yaojin was retaliating against him after losing to him in some way.

When Qin Qiong was instructing him, he never used a stick; he always spoke kindly and patiently.

After practicing for half an hour, the postmaster brought breakfast with his men.

Having just finished breakfast, the governor of Luozhou arrived at the post station in plain clothes.

"General, although the South Market cannot compare to the East Market of Chang'an, it is still quite prosperous. The weather is nice today. Shall I take you for a stroll in the South Market?" the Governor of Luozhou asked with a smile.

"Very well, I did come to Luoyang a few years ago, but I was just eating sand outside the city and didn't get to explore properly!" Cheng Yaojin nodded with a smile.

Several guards changed into civilian clothes and followed. Cheng Yaojin and Lin Chuan, also dressed in civilian clothes, left the post station under the guidance of the governor of Luozhou. They did not ride horses and strolled leisurely towards the South Market.

They said they were going to stroll around Nanshi, but they certainly weren't going to buy anything.

Upon arriving at the South Market, they visited several jade and gold shops. Seeing that Cheng Yaojin showed no intention of taking anything, the Prefect of Luozhou tactfully led Cheng Yaojin and Lin Chuan to a teahouse.

In the morning, he listened to music and drank tea at a teahouse; at noon, he drank wine at a restaurant until midday; and in the evening, he went to a brothel called Chenlou.

Not only did he go to Qunfangge to sell wine, but Lin Chuan never expected that his first time visiting a brothel would be with Cheng Yaojin.

From noon until evening, Cheng Yaojin and the governor of Luozhou had already become sworn brothers. They had just sat down in the brothel and had only drunk a few cups when the young ladies dancing in the room had not even finished their dance when the governor of Luozhou was already groping the young lady next to him.

Not to be outdone, Cheng Yaojin made the young lady beside him giggle with just a few words, wishing she could sit in his lap.

Lin Chuan, however, remained completely uninhibited, unmoved by the enthusiastic young woman beside him, drinking and enjoying the song and dance performances.

If the two Cheng brothers were sitting opposite him, he wouldn't have acted this way.

They did not spend the night in a brothel. Around 7 PM, the group came out of the brothel. Cheng Yaojin declined the offer of a farewell from the governor of Luozhou and returned to the post station with Lin Chuan.

Before entering the inn, Cheng Yaojin suddenly asked Lin Chuan:

"Xiao Chuan, how confident are you about the audit?"

Cheng Yaojin asked the question seriously, and Lin Chuan didn't mince words, replying in a deep voice:

"If you give me three to five days, I'm confident I can check the spring and autumn taxes, let alone all the accounts from previous years in the entire prefecture!"

Just as Cheng Yaojin frowned, Lin Chuan continued:

"If Uncle Cheng only wants to know if there are any problems with the accounts, that's relatively simple; half a day should be enough!"

Cheng Yaojin nodded and patted Lin Chuan on the shoulder:

"Don't worry too much. Although the man surnamed Wang is just trying to appease me with a few heads and three stewards, his attitude is still respectful. It would be better if we could find problems in the accounts, but it's alright if we can't!"

"I know!"

The next morning, the governor of Luozhou arrived at the post station early and led Cheng Yaojin and Lin Chuan directly to the governor's mansion.

Upon arriving at the governor's office, the governor of Luozhou pointed to the stacks of books piled on the desk and bowed to Cheng Yaojin, saying:

"General, these are the account books from each county in Luozhou last year!"

Besides the governor of Luozhou, the room also contained a group of officials from the governor's office and county magistrates. Under the watchful eyes of these officials, Cheng Yaojin waved to Lin Chuan:

"Lin Chuan, go and take a look!"

It's like they've just closed the door and unleashed the dogs!

Lin Chuan nodded, walked over and started flipping through the ledgers. He only glanced at each page, quickly finished one, put it aside, picked up another, flipped through it, and put it aside again.

A group of officials in Los Angeles watched this scene and found it inexplicably comical.

Cheng Yaojin, however, had great confidence in Lin Chuan and invited a group of officials to sit down.

In less than an hour, Lin Chuan had divided the stacks of account books into two piles.

Amidst the bewildered gazes of the crowd, Lin Chuan pointed to the smaller stack and said to Cheng Yaojin:

"General, there are problems with these accounts!"