Unworthy of the Name of Human

For a moment, Xu Hanxian felt his head buzzing, and the whole world became somewhat blurry.

When he came to his senses, Xu Hanxian found himself already on his way back to the mansion with Zuo Xiaoyu.

Reaching out to touch the amulet hanging around his neck, Xu Hanxian felt that this matter was not so simple.

The fox spirit has come knocking on our door; is it simply to cure Xu Yue?

If the negotiations hadn't broken down, one could assume the fox spirit was making an overture. But haven't they already broken down?

"Starving people are less valued than officials; even cheap disaster relief grain is refused. Where can one find a way to survive? Only at the abode of the fox spirit can one find food—"

" In Qingqiu dwells a celestial fox, with nine white tails. It temporarily resides in Clear Creek Village, where it cultivates the wondrous mysteries of creation—"

Just then, a few children ran past Xu Hanxian, reciting a couple of lines of doggerel and laughing.

At first, Xu Hanxian didn't pay much attention to the two lines of doggerel, but soon he realized something was wrong.

Instantly, Xu Hanxian's face turned deathly pale.

"Ah, so Sister Yi Yun lives in Clear Creek Village! When you have time, you should take Yue'er to visit her."

Listening to the two doggerel poems, Zuo Xiaoyu didn't notice anything wrong with them. On the contrary, she was delighted to learn about Yin Yunze's address.

However, Zuo Xiaoyu's words sounded so harsh to Xu Hanxian.

"Peng Shulan!" Not wanting to lash out at Zuo Xiaoyu, who knew nothing, Xu Hanxian turned to Peng Shulan, who was still standing beside him, and said through gritted teeth, "Investigate! Where did these rumors come from!"

Peng Shulan understood why Xu Hanxian had this attitude.

After all, the saying "the starving people are not as important as the official title, and even if disaster relief grain is offered cheaply, it will not be accepted" is a truly hurtful statement.

With just this one sentence, Xu Hanxian's hard-earned reputation as an official would likely be trampled into the mud by the enlightened people.

Peng Shulan had to admit that the fox spirit's move was extremely vicious.

Xu Hanxian, aren't you trying to protect your reputation and afraid of ruining it?

That fox spirit simply tarnished your reputation and ruined your name.

What's most perplexing is that these two limericks actually state the truth, rather than slander.

Even if Xu Hanxian wanted to prove his innocence, he would only make things worse by trying to explain himself.

"My lord," Peng Shulan shook his head helplessly as he looked at Xu Hanxian, "I know the origin of these two doggerel poems without even asking anyone; they came from the soup kitchen set up by that fox spirit outside the city."

"Is Sister Yi Yun still distributing porridge?" Zuo Xiaoyu seemed oblivious to anything amiss, and smiled upon hearing this, "How truly compassionate!"

"Don't you dare call that beastly sister!"

Upon Xu Hanxian flew into a rage. He immediately ripped off the amulet from his chest, threw it heavily to the ground, and stomped on it. "Peng Shulan, send men to tear down that soup kitchen! Arrest all those insolent scoundrels!"

"Sir, are you ordering me to kill someone?"

Peng Shulan remained unmoved by Xu Hanxian's order, instead asking a puzzling question.

"Peng Shulan, what do you mean by this?"

Looking at Peng Shulan, Xu Hanxian frowned deeply.

"My lord, do you know how many people outside the city are surviving on just this one bowl of porridge? Your order is tantamount to murder!"

Looking directly at Xu Hanxian without flinching, Peng Shulan resolutely shook her head. "Please forgive me, but I cannot comply!"

With Yin Yunze providing a way out, Peng Shulan naturally faced no pressure in her resistance.

Moreover, one of Peng Shulan's reliances, Zuo Xiaoyu, is watching from the sidelines!

"Peng Shulan, are you, the head constable, really—"

Just as Xu Hanxian about to question him, he heard a woman's voice, suppressing her emotions, ring out from the side.

"Xu Hanxian, take your foot off."

Startled, Xu Hanxian turned his head and saw Zuo Xiaoyu looking at him with slightly red eyes and tears welling up in them.

Although Xu Hanxian knew perfectly well that this was Zuo Xiaoyu's way of showing her anger, and he couldn't help but take a step back.

Zuo Xiaoyu slowly squatted down and picked up the dusty amulet from the ground. She gently patted it, but couldn't get the dust off.

In Xu Hanxian's view, this was a peace charm given by Yin Yunze.

But in Zuo Xiaoyu's eyes, this was her heartfelt sentiment, which Xu Hanxian trampled on without hesitation. This had never happened before.

Moreover, they sent people to tear down the soup kitchens where free soup was being distributed?

Is this something an official should say?

This kind of thing would never have happened before.

By default, Zuo Xiaoyu looked up at Xu Hanxian and said in a low voice.

"My lord, I am but a woman, I do not know much, but I have a few questions. Sister Yi Yun, have you ever done anything evil? Have you ever caused harm? Have you ever done anything despicable? Are there any inaccuracies in those few lines of doggerel? Is it wrong to give away free porridge to save people?"

No, no—

Faced with Zuo Xiaoyu's questioning, Xu Hanxian realized that Yin Yunze really hadn't done anything wrong.

Conversely, being ridiculed like this is entirely Xu Hanxian's own fault, and he only has himself to blame.

However, unable to withstand Zuo Xiaoyu's expression, Xu Hanxian retorted, "But we can't rule out the possibility that she might have ulterior motives for doing all this. Xiaoyu, after all, she is a—"

"If you want to find fault, you can always find a pretext!"

Looking up slightly at the clear blue sky, Zuo Xiaoyu held back her tears and said, "You're the one who taught me that!"

If it's for good, for saving lives, then one isn't human, so what? In this world, aren't the ones who kill and harm the most people the most?

I recently heard a saying, "Don't look at what someone says, look at what they do."

"I initially thought there might be some misunderstanding—but now it seems I was wrong."

"After becoming an official, you changed after all. I've been deceiving myself, thinking you were just trying to gain attention." A hint of disappointment flashed in Xu Hanxian Zuo Xiaoyu's eyes. "Unfortunately, I was wrong. When did my spirited husband, so devoted to the people, become a Xu, who only cares about his official reputation and not the people's livelihood?!"

"You've overturned the soup kitchen! How can you say something like that, let alone be an official? Are you even human?!"

"You see Sister Yi Yun as a monster, but what exactly did she do to you!"

These soft yet resolute words caused Xu Hanxian to involuntarily take a few steps back.

Upon seeing the disappointment in Zuo Xiaoyu's watery eyes, Xu Hanxian could no longer utter any words to defend himself.

"I'll talk to Yue'er. Her father has something to do and probably won't be able to go back to see her for a long time."

A tear finally fell from the corner of her eye, making the beauty mark under her eye stand out even more.

"Lord Xu, if you were still Lord Xu, please don't bother this ignorant woman—"

After saying this, Zuo Xiaoyu turned and left resolutely. She didn't look back at Xu Hanxian once until she was out of sight.

Was I really wrong?

Seeing Zuo Xiaoyu so resolutely abandon him Xu Hanxian begin to reflect.

"The right and wrong of this matter are like drinking water; only the person drinking knows whether it's hot or cold." Looking at Xu Hanxian, Peng Shulan cupped his hands and said, "Sir, if there's nothing else, I still need to go and help look after the soup kitchen to prevent any mistakes from happening!"

With Zuo Xiaoyu initiating the team fight and delivering a critical strike, Peng Shulan followed up with a small finishing blow, making it a breeze for him.

Seeing Peng Shulan turn and leave, Xu Hanxian didn't have the strength to call him back.

In an instant, I felt as if all my strength had been drained.

Staggering to the corner of a shop and sitting down, Xu Hanxian felt somewhat dazed, as if everything was still a dream.

Otherwise, why would he have been ruined and abandoned by everyone overnight?

In a daze, Xu Hanxian seemed to see the figure of a woman. With a faint smile, she turned and left with the same resolute air, "Rumeng?"

He called out the name subconsciously, but Xu Hanxian realized that there was no such Rumeng; it was just a fleeting illusion.

"Hehe----"

Lowering his head, Xu Hanxian suddenly chuckled softly, slowly shaking his head. "What a clever tactic! Green Hill Yi Yun, I was wrong! Compared to you, I really am just a useless bum who did so many unpleasant things for the sake of this official hat."

----If this were a supernatural tale, wouldn't it be called, "The Qingqiu Fox Immortal Teases the Corrupt Official"?

7