Chapter Thirteen: The Du Family's Crisis

  Monster!

  This woman is a monster!

  Qin Kan broke out in a cold sweat, this is the outcome of underestimating ancient people. Originally thought to be a flawless plan, unexpectedly someone had found the flaw.

  Heaven is so unfair. They say that those with well-developed limbs have simple minds, but why does this demon in front of me not only have well-developed limbs, but also a very clever mind?

  She's a different kind of person, can't get along with her...

  Qin Kan tightly closed his mouth and stared straight at Du Yan's gaze with a fearless expression.

  Du Yan's eyes are very clean, like a pool of water, clear and transparent, without any impurities.

  With "Bo Hu's Poetry Collection" in hand, Du Yan still had a calm and gentle tone.

  "On purpose, lived in the same inn as Tang Yin, then under the pretext of exchanging poetry and essays, got him drunk with ill intentions, took advantage of the opportunity to write down these dozen or so masterpieces, deceived that foolish genius who was drunk and confused into signing his name, all the poems were published under the name of Tang Da Caizi. Then, holding the manuscript signed by Tang Bohu, had it printed into a book. Tang Yin got a reputation out of nowhere, while you, Qin Gongzi, got real benefits... Hmm? Qin Gongzi, this young woman is wildly guessing, I don't know if she's right or not?"

  Qin Kan: "......"

  I really want to kill her and shut her up...

  Du Yan smiled slyly: "Qin Gongzi, aren't you saying anything? Are you tacitly admitting it? I have to admire you, what a clever move! With someone like you, wherever you go, you'll never be poor."

  Qin Kan remained silent for a long time, then suddenly stood up and walked towards the door, muttering to himself: "This woman said a lot, but I didn't understand a single word, is she crazy?"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Kan's figure had already disappeared outside the door.

  Du Yan didn't chase after him either, still smiling brightly as she sat in the room, looking at the "Bo Hu's Poetry Collection" in her hand, with an increasingly intense interest in her eyes.

  "This person... is quite strange." Du Yan muttered to herself.

  Why does he attribute his masterpiece to someone else's name? What kind of past does he have? Why did he withdraw his sharpness and willingly become an ordinary citizen, not even wanting to show off his talent, standing proudly in the official forest?

  Qin Kan... like an unsolvable riddle.

  Undeniably, she had a certain degree of curiosity about Qin Kan.

  A woman's curiosity about a strange man is really a deadly thing.

  If a man wants to dispel a woman's curiosity about him, there are generally only two ways: one is to kill her, and the other is to sleep with her.

  The humble hostel room had a faint scent of grass, like the smell on Qin Kan's body, serene, pleasant, as if intangible, yet truly existing.

  The room is quiet, and you can hear a pin drop.

  Du Yan sat alone for a while, suddenly becoming listless and dispirited, with a faint melancholy replacing the sunny smile on her face.

  After a long time of contemplation, Du Yan stood up and revealed a wry smile.

  "Never mind, he's just a commoner. No matter how capable he is, he can't solve Father's troubles. It's like trying to catch fish by climbing a tree - what foolishness."

  The beauty has gone far away, the person is nowhere to be found, only a faint fragrance remains in the house.

  Night fell, Qin Kan had been wandering around Shaoxing City for a whole day, had dinner outside, and bought half a catty of sauce beef, and a pot of Huadiao old wine as a midnight snack, before slowly returning to the inn. He peeked in at the door of the room, looked around for a while, and found that the official's daughter with well-developed limbs and not a simple mind was not in the room, only then did he enter, carefully adding two more bolts to the door.

  At the same time, inside the back hall of the county government office in Shanyin County, the atmosphere was so depressing that it made people feel suffocated.

  The back hall of the yamen is generally occupied by the local magistrate and his family, and now the Shanyin County Yamen Back Hall is home to County Magistrate Du Hongyi and his family.

  Although the back hall is majestic and awe-inspiring, it still looks old-fashioned. Du Hong is a county parent, naturally understanding the official rules of "not repairing the government office". He has been in office for three years and has benefited the people countless times, but he does not dare to add a single brick or tile to the government office.

  A thick layer of gloomy clouds and mist now fills the rear hall of the county government office.

  Du Hong sat in the superior position, slowly stroking his beard, but his eyes occasionally flashed with a few points of worry, only to be suppressed by the composure and calmness that years of officialdom had taught him.

  Du Hong's wife, Wang, and daughter, Du Yan, did not have his good breeding. The two sat together sighing and lamenting, with Wang's eyes red-rimmed, clearly having wiped away many tears in secret.

  A family of three sat together in the back hall, but faced each other without a word.

  Du Yan couldn't help but speak up first, pouting her small mouth and saying softly: "Dad, is there any way to... smooth things over..."

  Du Hong sighed and shook his head: "Once in power, how could he spare others? Shi Lu is likely to take off my official hat this time..."

  Du Yan let out a soft sigh, and tears began to flow down her face despite her efforts to hold them back.

  Du's family has run into trouble this time.

  It's no small trouble.

  Whether good officials or bad officials, there are always enemies in the officialdom, and Du Hong is no exception.

  He offended a small official named Shi Lu, who was a jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination) of the second grade in the twelfth year of the Hongzhi reign.

  The reason for the offense was absurd, because Du Hong's reputation was quite good, and the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Ma Wensheng, submitted a memorial to commend his achievements. As a result, Du Hong was specially summoned to the Ministry of Officials in Nanjing to report on his duties. When he was talking with his superiors in the great hall of the Ministry of Officials, Shi Lü, who was then serving as a judicial official in the Nanjing Criminal Department, happened to come to the great hall on official business. Naturally, they had to arrange their seats according to rank. Generally speaking, local officials would yield their seats to capital officials, but perhaps at that time Shi Lü's attitude was too arrogant, and Du Hong felt somewhat resentful. He made it clear that he was a jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination) of the third year of the Hongzhi reign, and according to official seniority, he should not yield his seat to Shi Lü. The two men thus became enemies.

  This matter sounds absurd, but in the seriously bureaucratic officialdom of the Ming dynasty, it is not absurd at all. Du Hong and Shi Lu are both seventh-grade officials, but even seventh-grade officials have to fight for face. The atmosphere of the mid-Ming dynasty's officialdom was a bit strange. After the cabinet and the Imperial Censorate divided the emperor's power, the ministers became bold and fierce, like they had eaten gunpowder, and they dared to scold the emperor on the Golden Throne, what else wouldn't they dare do?

  Two seventh-rank officials became enemies over a dispute about seating, which is quite normal.

  One was a judicial officer in Nanjing, and the other was the county magistrate of Shanyin County in Jiangnan. They were worlds apart, but they offended each other anyway. However, as fate would have it, Shi Lu's luck changed for the better, and he somehow managed to ingratiate himself with Qin Minyue, the Minister of War in Nanjing. As a result, his official career began to take off, and he was even appointed as a touring censor.

  When the imperial censor was overthrown, it was all right, but Shi Lu was assigned to inspect Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shaoxing this year, and Shanyin County happened to be within Shi Lu's inspection scope.

  Although the censor is also a seventh-grade official, the energy of this official is astonishing, especially the touring censor. The pros and cons of local officials' governance depend to a large extent on the censor's mouth. He says you're good, you're good; he says you're not good, just one impeachment paper, and you'll be ready to pack up and retire.

  Du's family is worried and unhappy because of this matter.

  As expected, Du Hong, the county magistrate of Shanyin, has probably reached his limit.

  P.S: Just came back from drinking with friends at night, feeling a bit dizzy, fortunately didn't break the promise.