Chapter Thirty-Two: Uncontrollable Body

  On the way back to the city, Du Yan regained her lively and cheerful demeanor, as if the person who was heartbroken outside the city was someone else.

  Qin Kan asked her several times, but she just smiled lightly and shook her head, making him wonder if she had split personality disorder.

  In the crowded streets, the two walked at a moderate pace. Du Yan seemed to be restless even when walking, jumping up and down and never willing to walk in a normal way.

  Qin Kan's faint smile, putting aside her poor character of not paying back debts, just looking at her personality is still quite good. In this era where women were bound by etiquette, she used all her strength to make the most of her youth.

  The stone-paved western street, on the south side of the intersection, there is a tea house. In the tea house, a group of scholars wearing silk long shirts are engaged in lively discussions. Their demeanor is elegant and their speech even more so, discussing topics from all over the world, mostly about politics and the imperial court.

  At this time, the folk customs in Jiangnan were quite open, and scholars and gentlemen discussed state affairs in public gatherings, including officials, academicians, and even the emperor, which was no longer a novelty.

  Wearing flying fish robes and carrying embroidered spring knives, the patrolling brocade-clad guards would at most pause for a moment. If they didn't hear any seditious language that cursed the emperor's ancestors for eighteen generations, they would usually leave immediately. As for scholars' loud criticisms of how the imperial court was in chaos, how certain national policies were unpopular, or how some university scholar had taken a concubine, these topics were rarely handled by the brocade-clad guards.

  Scholars who were boastful and outspoken would not be intimidated by the Imperial Guards wearing fish-scale uniforms, they would stiffen their necks like fighting cocks, glare angrily at the Imperial Guards or strongmen, until the Imperial Guards retreated in embarrassment, then the scholars would let out a cheer as if they had won a victory, and continue to boast and speak loudly.

  The Hongzhi Emperor was wise and had been suppressing the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot since he ascended to the throne. Although the current imperial guards were also very cruel, they were not as lawless as during the Chenghua and Xuande years.

  This is a very strange era, writers have unprecedented right to speak, they control the direction of public opinion, and gradually become somewhat self-forgetting, so their character becomes distorted in the direction of angry youth, looking at everything becoming extreme.

  The group of literati in the tea house is a typical representative.

  However, there is a slight difference, as among this group of literati, there is also a second-generation official, named Tong Yinglong, whose father is the chief official of Shaoxing City, Prefect Tong Zhen.

  When everyone was in high spirits, the long-following attendant beside Tong Yinglong suddenly stared at the window outside, his body shook violently, his face changed greatly, and he quickly bowed down and whispered a few words in Tong Yinglong's ear.

  Tong Yinglong's expression also changed slightly, and he followed the direction of his finger to see that Du Yan, the daughter of the county magistrate of Shanyin, was jumping up and down while talking to a young man beside her. Her smile was something Tong Yinglong had never seen before.

  Tong Yinglong's eyes shot out a cold light, and his eyeballs rapidly became congested.

  "Master, shall we call a few men to beat him up and feed him to the dogs?" The long-following servant cracked his fists and rubbed his palms, eager for battle.

  Tong Yinglong gave him a cold glance: "Are you brainless? In broad daylight, the Tong Manor's slaves are committing murder, and you're telling my father to continue being an official? Moreover, it was in front of Yan'er, do you want to prove to her that Young Master is ruthless?"

  Long accompanied by the humble body, all the way, dare not.

  "Go, follow him, don't let them discover you, find out what that person is up to, I'll make plans accordingly."

  Tong Yinglong finished speaking and looked out the window, Yan'er's side that handsome and extraordinary figure, no matter how he looked at it, it was dazzling, and... why did he feel a few points of familiarity?

  Bang!!

  Xu Pengju seems to have a grudge against Qin Kan's door, and every time he enters, his method makes people want to laugh.

  "Is Little Master hungry again?"

  Xu Peng's smile, which had been as warm and sunny as a spring breeze, suddenly fell, and he glared at Qin Kan: "You ask me if I'm hungry the moment you see my face. Am I just a foodie or something?"

  Qin Kan didn't say a word, staring at him in shock.

  Does this guy think he's not a foodie?

  Qin Kan sighed and said: "Apart from food, I really can't think of any other reason why you would look for me..."

  Xu Pengju laughed, his eyes narrowing into a slit: "Qin Kan, Qin Gongzi, the talented scholar with a humble appearance, didn't expect you to be so capable, keeping a low profile and accomplishing several major things..."

  Qin Kan sighed and wondered if the masters of the factory guard were too idle. He himself was as clean as a white paper, but they had mobilized manpower and resources to investigate so thoroughly.

  The imperial court should streamline its institutions.

  It goes without saying that the guards must have dug up all his secrets, for there's nothing they can't find out. Qin Kan still had some confidence in them... but unfortunately, it seemed a bit like he was just showing off.

  Xu Pengju smiled and said: "You wrote a dozen or so excellent poems, all under the name of Tang Yin. You framed him with a fake account book, and that Journey to the West was also your masterpiece, yes, another fake account book. Qin Kan, you're quite something, but it's rare to see someone as talented as you who is also extremely greedy. Unfortunately, it's still unclear whether you managed to hook up with the tall county magistrate's daughter... Alas, those guards at the factory are simply useless..."

  Plop! Plop!

  Outside the door came the sound of kneeling, it was clear that the high-handed guards had a strong sense of shame, these two teams were pure and might have even learned about the eight honors and eight shames.

  Qin Kan remained silent for a long time, then sighed and said: "Young Master is too demanding. They have dug up all these secrets, if we say they are useless, how can the common people bear it?"

  Xu Pengju's face suddenly turned stern, and he said coldly: "They can investigate many things, Qin Kan, do you know your crime?"

  Qin Kan was shocked: "What crime do I know?"

  "Yesterday at noon, while the young master was leading his guards out to the Western City market to watch the acrobatics, did you sneakily run to the pillar under my second-floor chamber and urinate?"

  Qin Kan was completely stunned, his handsome face half red and half white, unpredictable, finally sighing: "Factory guards are indeed famous for their skills... even urination is under control, can't they leave me some privacy?"

  "Because you peed in the wrong place!"

  Xu Pengju couldn't help but laugh in anger: "I've never seen anyone as shameless as you, Qin Kan. You're a scholar, don't you feel ashamed of yourself?"

  "At that time, ordinary people covered their faces, where did they get the face to lose?"

  Xu Peng raised his head and burst out laughing, pointing at Qin Kan: "I've figured you out, you're a cultured scoundrel."

  The laughter stopped, and Xu Peng continued: "Just now, a man from Nanjing told me some news that the magistrate of Shanyin, Du Hong, has submitted to the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing a certain method for recording loans and debts, requesting the imperial court to promote it throughout the provinces and counties. Is this loan accounting method also your doing?"

  "Yes."

  Xu Pengju smiled a bit mockingly, it was unclear whether he was mocking Qin Kan or the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue.

  "These past few days, the Ministry of Revenue's main hall has been in an uproar because of your loan accounting method, with several high-ranking officials disagreeing and even coming to blows. Qin Kan, young master finds that you're becoming more and more capable..."

  This chapter is relatively important and serves as a prelude to two branch lines.