Chapter 15: Dissolving the Crisis (Part 1)

  Heaven's will is for this man to have a great responsibility, he must first... be driven to desperation?

  Qin Kan is now introspecting and reflecting on his life.

  He couldn't figure out why heaven would treat a kind-hearted person like him this way. He hadn't done anything bad, at most he had only stolen a few chickens from Qin Zhuang and plagiarized a few poems from later generations.

  "Goodness" is a relative term. Compared with those who kill and set fires, and bully people in the countryside, isn't this good enough?

  A commoner gets caught up in the grudges of two court officials, who knows what kind of death awaits him...

  Qin Kan sighed sorrowfully, his nose almost becoming a garlic-shaped nose.

  "Miss Du, would you please tell me in detail about the grudge between your respected father and that imperial censor from start to finish?"

  Du Yan didn't understand and said: "Didn't I just tell you?"

  Qin Kan awkwardly said: "Just now I didn't hear a single word..."

  "Why didn't you listen?"

  "Because at that time I was thinking of how to get rid of you this trouble..."

  Du Yan smiled, smiling very sweetly: "You may not be a good person, but at least you're very straightforward."

  Du Yan then recounted in detail her grievances with her father and the Censor-in-Chief Shi Lu.

  Qin Kan broke out in a cold sweat as he listened, and once again confirmed that agreeing to help was an extremely impulsive decision.

  Du Yan said after looking at him with expectation, her long eyelashes batting rapidly.

  "Sir Qin, is there a way out of this situation?"

  "It's solved."

  Du Yan's eyes lit up and her breathing quickened involuntarily: "How to solve it?"

  Qin Kan glanced at her lightly and said slowly: "First... give money, one hundred taels of silver."

  Du Yan felt her head was like a bronze bell in a temple, being struck and buzzing loudly.

  "At a time like this, you still have the nerve to ask for money?" Du Yan gritted her teeth.

  Qin Kan said with a smile: "Du Niang, you have to understand that as an ordinary citizen getting involved in officialdom is a matter of life and death. Only taking 100 taels of silver from you is really a tear-off sale, a clearance price..."

  "Alright, after it's done, I'll give you 100 taels. A promise is a promise, but what if it doesn't work out?"

  "If things don't go as planned, you'll still have to give me the money. Use this hundred taels to buy a plot of land for my grave, a coffin, build a slightly more luxurious tombstone, and exchange the rest for paper money to burn for me..."

  Du Yan's eyes blazed with fury: "I will definitely burn it for you!"

  …………

  …………

  Du Yan was very relaxed and also curious, she wanted to know how Qin Kan would solve this seemingly unsolvable deadlock.

  The power of the touring censor is well known to Du Yan, a second-generation official. Although it is a seventh-grade official, once this seventh-grade official goes down to the local area, his power is almost the same as that of the imperial envoy. The pros and cons of the local officials' governance are all decided by him with one word, and then a paper is sent to the Censorate in the capital. Whether the local officials are promoted or dismissed, rewarded or punished, it's all up to the bigwigs of the Censorate to decide with just a flick of their tongues.

  Shi Lu and his father Du Hong had a grudge against each other in the past, so naturally he wouldn't give Du Hong any good fruit to eat. It can be said that before Shi Lu even arrived at Shanyin County, Du Hong's fate was already sealed.

  This dead end, how can Qin Kan get out of it?

  "Is this Shi Lu, with Qin Minyue, the Minister of War of Nanjing, backing him?"

  Du Yan nodded: "Right."

  "Where's your dad's backing? Don't tell me your dad has been relying on himself all these years and made his way up step by step."

  Du Yan was about to speak but stopped herself, giving him a sideways glance before saying: "This matter is confidential, how can I casually discuss it with outsiders?"

  Qin Kan: "......"

  He really wanted to turn around and run, covering his ears while running, like the protagonist in Qiong Nainai's romance drama, crying and screaming: "Don't say it, I won't listen, you want to say it but I won't listen, not listening..."

  And then she ran out of her sight...

  This deadly trouble has finally passed.

  Unfortunately, Du Yan didn't let him get away with it. After hesitating for a moment, she calmly told him: "To tell you the truth, you might not believe me, but my father in the imperial court... really doesn't have any backing, just as you said, he really did step by step to get to where he is today."

  Looking into Du Yan's clear eyes, Qin Kan knew she wasn't lying.

  Qin Kan sighed: "Why would a county magistrate without any backing provoke an imperial censor with backing? Did your father eat the wrong... Cough, cough, cough..."

  It's better not to talk too much, it's very dangerous, besides, he should take his own medicine soon.

  Du Yan stared at him coldly: "Stop talking nonsense, is there a way?"

  "Yes."

  "What's the solution?"

  "Take advantage of Shi Lu's weakness."

  "In the morning, there's no one around, what can my father do to get a hold of him?"

  Qin Kan laughed and said: "Comrade Xiao Du's thoughts are not thoroughly liberated, if there is a handle to grasp, no handle will be manufactured to grasp."

  The next moment, Qin Kan suddenly found himself being lifted into mid-air by Du Yan's single hand, like the torch in the hands of the Statue of Liberty.

  "Speak plainly!"

  "Frame him!... Let go, you old hag!"

  Inside Yansheng County Government Office

  Du Hong wore a black hood and formal dark green seventh-grade official uniform, with an embroidered quail on the chest of his robe.

  He sat in the wing room on the left side of the second hall of the county government office, browsing through official documents with a calm and composed expression.

  Du Hong was a scholar from a regular academic background, and he became a jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination) with a second-class honors degree in the third year of the Hongzhi Emperor's reign. Without any background or connections, he spent nearly eight years in the Hanlin Academy before being appointed as an official outside the capital.

  Scholars have the pride of scholars, they can't stand the current officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and even more disdainful of seeking power and position, forming cliques and pursuing private interests.

  So he is still a seventh-rank county magistrate until now, with no hope of promotion, and dismissal is imminent.

  Inside the house, Mrs. Du had already packed up her belongings, and the Du family was plunged into a state of despair that could not be helped.

  Secrets can't be hidden in the officialdom, the small officials like county lieutenant, historian, registrar and teacher in the government office have already heard that County Magistrate has got into trouble, a big trouble.

  County Magistrate Xun surprisingly has a grudge against Stone Royal Inspector who is about to arrive?

  With such a boss, how can there be a future?

  It's a common occurrence in official circles for tea to go cold when people leave, and although Du Zhixian hasn't left yet, the tea in the Shanyin County government office has already revealed a few hints of its chilly flavor.

  Everyone saw that Du Zhixian's eyes had changed, and he became very polite and fearful when coming and going on official business. This politeness and fear were permeated with coldness from the bone marrow, as if hiding from a person who was stained with bad luck, afraid that even in death, he would pull someone down to be his scapegoat.

  Du Hong quietly observed everyone's reactions. To be honest, on the surface he seemed calm and composed, but in reality he had a wild impulse to flip the table and curse...

  The public house is very quiet and peaceful. Since learning that Shi Daren, the respected official from He County, was coming to inspect, Du Hong's office suddenly became deserted. The officials, big and small, avoided going there, and if they really couldn't avoid it, they would send their attendants or miscellaneous servants to deliver documents for approval.

  After entering officialdom for 14 years, Du Hong once again deeply felt the world's coldness and warmth.

  A slender figure flashed outside the door, quietly and soundlessly.

  "Dad, is that Shi Lu almost in Shanyin County?" Du Yan blinked her eyes, with some anxiety, some worry, and also... excitement.

  Du Hongxin was preoccupied with his own thoughts and didn't notice that his daughter's expression was different, he just nodded and said: "Not bad, we're almost there."

  Du Hong's mouth curled up in a sarcastic cold smile: "Commissioned to inspect the three prefectures of Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shaoxing, as soon as he left Nanjing City, he rushed straight to my Shanyin. This surname Shi doesn't even care about official dignity, thinking of dismissing me, his mood is truly eager."

  "Father, is there a way to deal with this?"

  Du Hongyi snorted and said, "What can I do? If he wants to dismiss me, then so be it. The officials of the Ming dynasty are all in cahoots with each other, and this official is not worthy of being an official."

  Du Yan bit her lower lip and looked at her father carefully, saying in a low voice: "Father, if...if there's a way to resolve it?"

  Du Hong stared blankly for a moment, looked at his daughter, and then burst out laughing: "Do you have a solution?"

  "My daughter can't, but... there's one person who might be able to."

  "Who is it?"

  "A shameless person..."

  Du Hong furrowed his brow, just about to ask in detail, when a long-following attendant respectfully announced: "County Magistrate, Sir, the official carriage of Stone, the Grand Coordinator and Censor of Nanjing, has arrived at Shanyin County. He will arrive at Xicheng Gate in half an hour."

  Du Hong's face was stern, his expression increasingly cold and severe. He raised his hand to adjust his official hat, stood up and said in a cold tone: "Order all officials, guards and runners of the county to go to the West City Gate to welcome the arrival of this Imperial Censor."

  P.S. There is another update tonight.....

  Are you guys tired of asking for votes every day?

  I'm actually very annoyed too...

  But I will stick to it!