I am the old, fiery-faced man from the senior department.

"master."

"Please forgive me, Uncle, I am unwell and must take my leave. I will return to you another day after I have caught the thief and we can drink and chat."

Lu Boyun wanted to leave, and Qiu Hu was more than happy for him to leave.

“Nephew, it’s a rare treat for you to come here. Why don’t you stay here tonight?”

"No, no, I have important business to attend to at the government office, so I cannot stay any longer. Uncle, there's no need to see me off. I'll be leaving now."

After saying this, Lu Boyun was supported by Bai Zhou, with Du Meng standing on either side of him. The group quickly left the place amidst Qiu Hu's repeated calls of "Nephew, nephew, stay here, nephew..."

■

"Hahaha! Old Du, did you see that? That dead horse face of Qiu Hu! It's so damn funny!"

Inside the government office, Meng Li lay on the table, laughing heartily, complaining about Qiu Hu's foolish appearance—being nodded at by Lu Boyun but only able to pretend to be innocent.

"Hmph, that's the effect I wanted."

Lu Boyun was all smiles, clearly extremely satisfied with his actions.

"That's true, but Brother Lu, who exactly is the helper you found?"

More than mocking Qiu Hu, Bai Zhou was curious about who the reinforcements Lu Boyun had brought were, that they could make him so relaxed.

"Haha, you don't know this, little brother Bai."

Lu Boyun, who had been laughing uncontrollably, took a breath before continuing.

Do you know who my superior is, the prefect of Boyun Prefecture?

"Bo Yunzhou's immediate superior?"

Bai Zhou shook his head.

Lu Boyun never expected that he would know, after all, the other party's status was too high. Ordinary people might not even know who the prefect of their own city was, let alone know the name of someone of a higher level.

"The vast territory of the Great Yan was divided into twelve major regions by the True Dragon in order to take overall responsibility for management. Each region was governed by a military governor who managed the prefectures and cities. Each prefecture was further governed by a prefectural governor who managed the surrounding towns. Below the towns were countless villages."

"But the military commissioner of our Boyun Prefecture, no, our Yongning Circuit, is a formidable figure."

Seeing Bai Zhou's cooperative expression of curiosity, Lu Boyun continued his story with satisfaction:

"He is none other than Lord Bai Yi, the Great Yan Mountain Lord, who was granted the title of True Dragon, controls the Three Paths, possesses an aura of righteousness, and is incorruptible!"

At this point, Lu Boyun's face was full of admiration, much like a fan talking about their idol.

"Mountain Lord..."

Upon hearing this title, Bai Zhou immediately knew who the other person was.

Shan Jun Bai Yi.

A person who is granted the title of "Lord" in the Great Yan Dynasty, a place teeming with talented individuals, must possess formidable strength.

I've seen this mountain tiger during the day before.

If it were him, he could understand Lu Boyun's current state of mind.

To give a concrete example, it's just as reassuring to have a professional superstar carry you through your Bronze promotion matches.

"Lord Bai Yi has already arrived in Boyun Prefecture. I went to him yesterday to ask for his assistance."

Lu Boyun rubbed Bai Zhou's head.

"Hey, Little White, do you want this horn to grow back?"

"Ugh?"

Bai Zhou touched the broken horn and asked curiously:

"Does the mountain lord also possess the art of forging horns?"

"Lord Bai Yi has many talented subordinates, so finding someone who can fill in the gaps is quite easy."

After rubbing his hair enough, Lu Boyun fixed Bai Zhou's hair and withdrew his hand with satisfaction.

"Young Master Bai, you have done a great service by catching a thief. Lord Bai Yi is fair in rewarding and punishing, and he will definitely help you if you want it."

"Ah, this..."

A smile appeared on his face during the day.

"There's no need to trouble the mountain lord."

"I've gotten used to this broken corner. If it grows back, it will be hard to adapt. And once it grows back, I won't be able to sleep on my side anymore, it will be very tiring."

"Haha, I miscalculated. Forgive me, I have no such worries about the pain of not being able to turn over in my sleep."

Lu Boyun, being a Liboli, only had the worry of shedding fur. He didn't have the problems that other races had with horns and tails, and therefore didn't understand the pain that those with tails and horns couldn't sleep flat or turn over.

"So, what do we do next? Just wait here?"

Bai Zhou still didn't understand why Lu Boyun's plan was to "remain inactive" even with the help of the Mountain Lord.

"Oh, this."

Lu Boyun smiled mysteriously.

"Please keep me in suspense for now. When you arrive at the first quarter of the morning tomorrow, you will find out the truth of this matter."

"Ah, this..."

Since that was the case, there was no reason for Bai Zhou to stay and chat with them any longer. In addition, Lu Boyun's work as the prefect was indeed very demanding, so he didn't want to bother him any further and took his leave.

"Sir! I'm back!"

Bai Zhou returned to the inn carrying a pot of sake, three boxes of sweets, and a pickled blue carp.

As for why I bought the fish with wine?

Naturally, it was to please Xi and prevent her from getting angry because of what happened in the afternoon.

Although Bai Zhou felt that she was not worthy of Xi being angry with her.

Xi was not painting, but instead lying on the bed resting.

"liquor……"

Seeing the wine and fish laid out on the table during the day, Xi showed a hint of interest.

But then, the sight of her arm wrapped in gauze during the day made Xi give up the idea of ​​drinking.

"Sir, this is wine from Lu Fang. I heard it's a royal tribute. I finally managed to get a jug from Lord Lu. Please try it and see how it differs from the wines in other shops."

"Sir, please try it, I'm very curious."

"Sir, please have a taste, please have a taste. I'd like to drink some too, but unfortunately I'm not old enough. I'm very curious, sir~."

After Bai Zhou's repeated requests, Xi reluctantly sat down in the chair and accepted the wine glass that Bai Zhou offered.

"Alcohol is no good; you can't drink it."

He took a small sip at dusk and offered a warning to the daytime.

"Hmm. So, sir, how's this wine?"

Seeing Bai Zhou looking like a curious cat, Xi finished his drink and put it down.

"generally."

Returning to the Twenty-Nine Mountain Lord

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill of fish, the atmosphere in the room gradually became joyful.

"From now on, you are absolutely forbidden from drinking alcohol! Alcohol is a poison that goes straight to the gut. Drinking alcohol will lead to mistakes and cause many harms. You are not allowed to touch it, do you understand?"

“I remember, sir.”

Bai Zhou, propping his face up with a smile, responded to Xi's admonition.

"And you're not allowed to eat spicy food either. Spicy food makes you dizzy and leads to a loss of ambition. There aren't many good people who eat spicy food."

This time, I'll add some personal emotions.

But it doesn't matter, I don't crave spicy food during the day.

"Yes, sir, I remember."

"Watch me paint properly from now on. There are very few people in this Great Yan who are qualified to watch me paint. You little brat, you don't even know how many times you've missed out on this kind of good thing."

"Yes, sir. I will study hard."

"Ugh... what else is there?"

"Sir, the wine."

"Hmm...I don't drink...I want to eat fish..."

"Okay, sir, have some fish."

That's really interesting.

Seeing Xi's flushed face and her increasing talkativeness, Bai Zhou couldn't stop smiling.

Aged wine is really good.

Even someone like Mr. [Name] cannot hold his liquor.

I really want to draw a portrait of a gentleman like that.

"Phew... Don't move..."

Xi looked at the swaying daylight, feeling dizzy from the light, and then leaned on the table to get up, wanting to hit him.

"Sir, please be careful!"

People who are drunk shouldn't wander around.

Bai Zhou laughed as he helped Xi up.

"Sir, you should rest now."

Although a drunken Xi is quite amusing, for his own sake and to prevent Xi from hitting his head and causing swelling, Bai Zhou plans to take Xi to bed.

"rest……"