"As long as I am here, there is hope in the world?"
In the courtyard, A Li gently rocked in her wicker chair, recalling someone's words that had spoken without the slightest hesitation, a hint of realization flashing in her eyes. "So confident."
"There is no despair in this world, as long as I am here... this world will remain!"
A Li recalled another person's words. That person had been just as confident back then, which is why about 80% of the demons in the Samsara of reincarnation were working for him.
No one knows where that person's charisma comes from, and no one knows why everyone believes his outrageous claims.
He was really something back then; it seemed like nothing could stop him.
A Li recalled that era, the era closest to hope. At the height of their success, all the Samsara demons, including herself and Painted Skin Mister, were even dreaming about their future.
But he still died...
Without him, there is no hope left in this world!
A Li gazed wistfully at the spot by the door where Chen Qing had left.
"Even if you were the same kind of person as the King of Qin, you couldn't save the world now!"
A soft sigh escaped, and a figure appeared behind the rattan chair. Dressed in blue, tall and handsome, like a scholar from a painting, who else could it be but Cui Yan?
He looked at A Li with utmost tenderness, gently rocking her A Li chair, but when he looked at A Li's stomach, a hint of unspeakable horror appeared in his eyes...
--
"Boss, you're finally back!"
"I told you to call me 'sir'!" Chen Qing looked at Zhou Haitao with an annoyed expression.
How many times have I corrected him? Why can't he shake this thuggish business attitude? No wonder Huaxia has historically discouraged merchants from becoming officials. This fat man went on business trips with his father when he was young; his habits are truly hard to change.
"My lord..." Zhou Haitao rolled his eyes, "Do you know how much trouble has piled up in the government offices these days?"
"So many things?" Chen Qing asked curiously, sipping his tea.
"The accounts for tea, salt, and waterways need to be reconciled; all those land deeds you bought need to be organized; now that the caravans are returning, many people in North Street are starting to move back, and their household registrations need to be confirmed; and then there's that prison you haven't cleaned in a month." Zhou Haitao said speechlessly, "Luckily, the official who came back told me, and I just had someone send some food in. Otherwise, if things got busy, those guys whose jaws you dislocated might be rotting in the prison and nobody would care!"
Chen Qing was taken aback. "Eh, that sounds like a lot of work, but... isn't that why I hired you to do these odd jobs?"
"I..."
Zhou Haitao laughed in anger, "The government isn't even running smoothly yet, and there aren't any major construction projects in Liuzhou. We don't need to hire the departments that used to manage construction for now, but you still need to hire some people to manage finances, taxes, household registration, and criminal cases, right? And there are government officials too. There isn't even a jailer in the prison. Does Your Excellency think I can do all of these things by myself?"
"No... is it not allowed?" Chen Qing asked, stunned.
Haitao stared wide-eyed at Chen Qing for a long time before finally speaking, "I thought my dad was ruthless enough, Chen Qing... are you sure your family sells tofu? I feel like you're even more ruthless than those mine owners in Xishan who make people fill in their pits?"
"Ahem..." Chen Qing coughed lightly, then rubbed his hands awkwardly and said, "Well... I just don't have any money."
"You're so generous if you don't have money?" Zhou Haitao shrieked. "You're giving ten taels of silver to each gatekeeper? I don't even pay that much to hire an accountant!"
"How can that be the same?" Chen Qing laughed. "Those guys at the city gate are responsible for slaying demons. They earn their living by risking their lives. Who would do it for less? Do you really think that believing in the door gods will make you work for free?"
"That's true..." Zhou Haitao nodded, but then added, "I don't care, I really can't keep this up if I don't hire more people!"
"No rush, no rush... just a few more days of hard work!" Chen Qing chuckled, "The money's on its way."
"The money's on its way?" Haitao was taken aback. "Did the Provincial Governor send you money again?"
"How is that possible?" Chen Qing rolled her eyes. "That old man made such a grand promise, saying he'd give his all, but all he got was so little. He couldn't even buy all the properties on South Street."
Zhou Haitao's eye twitched. "Still not enough? Do you expect them to buy Liuzhou for you?"
Too lazy to argue with him, he asked directly, "Where's the money?"
"Aren't there a few locked up in that jail?" Chen Qing stretched lazily and said, "Those are from wealthy families. When their families come to ransom them, we can squeeze some money out of them..."
"A rich kid? You think you can rip me off?" Zhou Haitao laughed angrily, "Are you serious?"
"I'd also like to know..." A cold voice came from outside. "Is Lord Chen serious about extorting money from the Shen Family?"
The two looked over and saw Chen Ying pushing Wei Gongcheng in.
"What's the problem?" Chen Qing yawned and said, "They openly attacked an official of the imperial court, which is a serious crime. According to our dynasty's criminal law, they should at least be exiled. Do they really want their sons to suffer such a punishment?"
"You still want to sentence a few of them to exile?" Chen Ying was stunned.
Did Wei Gongcheng fail to clearly explain the size and scale of the Shen Family to him?
"Why not?" Chen Qing looked at the other party seriously and said, "Attacks on officials of the imperial court should be punished in this way. If they want me to show leniency, then they should naturally offer something in return. When I was studying, I saw that all officials acted this way."
Chen Ying: "..."
Wei Gongcheng chuckled and asked, "How much does Your Excellency intend to collect?"
"Those young masters are all from wealthy and powerful families. Ten thousand taels each isn't unreasonable, is it? I'm short of money here. The government office doesn't even have enough staff for the six departments. We're so poor..."
Chen Ying took a breath, ignoring the other party's suicidal attempt to extort the Shen Family, and instead asked another question, " Lord Chen, do you know... what does the spiritual medicine that the South Mountain God brought out today represent?"
"What does it represent?" Chen Qing asked slowly, sipping his tea.
"This means that if you don't have powerful backers, the Shen Family will devour you completely, leaving not even bones!" Chen Ying said seriously, "Are you really not afraid, sir?"
Who told you I don't have any powerful backers?
Chen Ying frowned. "Really?"
She had already checked; the new prefect was just an ordinary farmer's son, not born into any family of sorcerers.
"I am an official appointed by the imperial court, a marquis personally bestowed by His Majesty, and the husband of Princess Yong'an. Who has a stronger backing than me?"
"You're the prince consort?" Chen Ying and Zhou Haitao asked almost simultaneously...
"Didn't your master tell you?" Chen Qing looked at Chen Ying with amusement.
Chen Ying shook her head in bewilderment, feeling a bit confused. This guy was the prince consort?
That can't be right, can a prince consort have beautiful concubines?
It was even delivered personally by my own master... What's going on?
Chen Ying looked at the young man and felt increasingly confused about him, but the more she did so, the more she realized that he was no ordinary person.
Zhou Haitao looked at Chen Qing with envy and jealousy. "No wonder this guy got promoted so fast, starting as Fourth Rank right away. Turns out he got his hands on the emperor's daughter!"
Damn, being handsome is so great!!
Wei Gongcheng shook his head with amusement. He knew yesterday that Chen Qing was planning to use the emperor's name to intimidate people. The title of "emperor's son-in-law" sounded impressive, but it could only fool laymen.
Those who truly understand His Majesty know that he doesn't value his daughters who cannot inherit his bloodline very much. Several of them have been married off to incredibly barbaric places in the Land of Ancient Desolation, and it's said that more than half of them have already died suddenly...
Trying to use this to intimidate others might work for a while, but it won't last long against a powerful family like the Shen Family.
Chen Qing looked at Wei Gongcheng's gaze, offered no explanation, and silently sipped her tea.
He didn't want to be high-profile, but the Divine Path Style couldn't afford to be. Playing this school meant attracting attention and gaining fame, which was what made it more attractive to believers. Besides, the Ghost Immortal was about to appear, and he didn't have much time left.
--
"The prince consort?"
The Shen Family family was holding a meeting because of the detention of the three legitimate sons of the eldest branch. The patriarch, Shen Yixin, solemnly summoned the heads of each branch. Among them, the most conspicuous was the current elder of the eldest branch, the mother of the three detained legitimate sons, Murong Yunji, who had married into the Northern Heavenly Wolf Family.
Unlike the dignified attire of women from the Central Plains, especially those from the Jiangnan region, this first wife, even after being married into the family for many years, still retained the style of the northern grasslands. She wore a gorgeous fur coat, but her lower body revealed her round, wheat-colored thighs, making her look far too fiery for a matriarch.
In the Jiangnan aristocratic families, especially a top family like the Shen Family, such recklessness would not be tolerated.
However, due to their special background, no one in the Shen Family dares to gossip about them now.
"The emperor's son-in-law?" Yunji smiled. "Is Sixth Master wary of that? If the Xiao Household emperor cared about his daughters, he wouldn't have sent so many of them to jump into that fire pit of the Kingdom of Ancient Desolation."
"The situation is complicated now..." Sixth Master looked at the head mistress of the main house, who seemed completely unconcerned, and suddenly felt a headache coming on.
" Chen Qing's background seems simple, but it's not. According to Fifth Brother's letter, Chen Qing has been courted by many forces in the capital. The Duke of Qin, the Crown Prince, and even His Majesty have all tried to win him over to varying degrees. If he were just a young man with a great treasure, he would have been devoured in the capital, leaving not even ashes. How could he possibly be the prefect of Liuzhou?"
"Sister-in-law, you're oversimplifying things."
"I think you're overcomplicating things." Murong Yunji said with a disdainful look, "Looking back and forth like that, you don't have a shred of your elder brother's guts!"
The other family heads in the hall immediately turned pale. This woman from the main branch still had no manners at all!
"My brother was too courageous; look... he's gone now!"
A sinister voice rang out. Murong Yunji's smile remained unchanged, but a chilling green light flashed in her eyes as she looked at the person who had spoken. " Laojiu, say that again?"
"How is it?" The person being asked was a man who was as thin as a monkey, wearing extremely loose robes, and something could be clearly seen wriggling inside the clothes, which gave people a very uncomfortable feeling.
"You barbarian..."
"Insolence!" Shen Yixin interrupted him directly, glaring fiercely, " Laojiu, that's too much!"
"Hmph!" The man was yelled at by Shen Yixin, but unlike his arrogant attitude towards Murong Yunji, he remained silent and unconvinced, but did not cause any more trouble.
"That one in Liuzhou..." Shen Yixin continued, looking at the other person, "You, Laojiu, will go and probe him. Remember... be careful."
"Okay, Sixth Brother..." Laojiu said sullenly, "I still have to clean up this mess. You really are my good Sixth Brother."
Shen Yixin gave a helpless wry smile, and was about to say something when he saw Murong Yunji stand up abruptly.
"No need to trouble you, I'll go myself!"
Without waiting for a response, he got up and strode out of the hall.
Shen Yixin couldn't help but cover his forehead upon seeing this. The Lao'er of the Shen Family, standing to the side, chuckled sinisterly, "Look at the woman the Laoda married; only he could handle her."
"Second brother, watch your words." Shen Yixin frowned. "Eldest sister-in-law was personally requested by Father on behalf of eldest brother. Do you have a problem with Father's actions?"
The mention of their father seemed to cast a shadow over the entire hall, and no one spoke; the atmosphere was chillingly cold.
After about fifteen minutes, Shen Yixin, who had been thinking for a long time, finally said, "Second Brother, take Laojiu there. Don't let Sister-in-law make too much of a scene."
Upon hearing this, Shen Lao'er put down his teacup and said with a smile, "My sister-in-law has been gone for a quarter of an hour. At her speed, how could the two of us keep up? By the time we get there, the prefect's body will be cold."
"If it's only that level, then you should begin to refine the prefect's spirit and extract his spell!"
Shen Yixin appeared gentle and kind, but his words at this moment carried a hint of disdain and bloodlust.
After slowly taking a sip of tea, he added, "But if he can hold out against my sister-in-law for a while..."
"How could that be?" Shen Laojiu interrupted with a laugh, "I may not like that woman, but can a twenty-year-old really handle her skills?"
Shen Lao'er was also curious. " Laoliu, why do you think so highly of that one in Liuzhou?"
"I don't know..." Shen Yixin squinted and said, "Theoretically, it's impossible, but if he dared to reveal so much without any backup plan, he'd have to be an idiot!"
A chapter of 3,700 words—who dares to say the author's writing is too short? Who dares?
snort
The author has worked so hard, so please continue reading and support him, dear readers! Thank you!