Chapter 59: Good Official 1/3

After Li Qingzhi crossed over to this world, he wrote books for Zhu Qian, Ding Xi, and County Magistrate Gou.

He wrote autobiographies for Zhu Qian and Ding Xi, who were both merchants. These two books were basically for their own entertainment, to be kept at home as family heirlooms for future generations to read.

If they tried to sell these autobiographies in a bookstore or have storytellers tell them, it wouldn’t be appropriate. As businessmen, if they were too high-profile, they would definitely be criticized by literati, which wouldn’t benefit them.

But County Magistrate Gou was different.

He didn’t write an autobiography for County Magistrate Gou; instead, he wrote stories about County Magistrate Gou solving cases, which were very suitable for storytellers to tell.

Now that County Magistrate Gou had just helped the people of Chongcheng County get rid of a malignant tumor, it was only natural for the storytellers in the county to sing his praises.

When Zhu Qian heard Li Qingzhi’s suggestion, his eyes lit up. “I’ll arrange it right away.”

“Thank you, Uncle Zhu,” Li Qingzhi said.

“No problem at all. The more of these things, the better,” Zhu Qian smiled. Helping find storytellers and having them tell stories about County Magistrate Gou would surely make County Magistrate Gou very happy.

When County Magistrate Gou was happy, Zhu Qian would benefit as well.

He was eager to do things like this every day.

Chongcheng County has a dedicated Chamber of Commerce. The previous president of the Chamber of Commerce was someone similar to Sun Juren, who had some influence over local affairs and had many followers.

Zhang Yunquan had a good relationship with this person.

Now that Zhang Yunquan had fallen from grace, this person’s influence had suffered a significant blow. Some businessmen who had previously followed this person were now trying to curry favor with County Magistrate Gou out of fear of being targeted. 

Zhu Qian thought he might be able to take over the position of president of the Chamber of Commerce.

He obtained such great benefits, and Li Qingzhi wouldn’t receive any fewer benefits. Not to mention, in the upcoming county exam, Li Qingzhi will definitely be able to pass it effortlessly.

As long as Magistrate Gou lends a hand, even if Li Qingzhi isn’t very knowledgeable, passing the scholar exam will be no problem, not to mention Li Qingzhi’s photographic memory!

Li Qingzhi’s future is boundless.

Zhu Qian said, “Ah Qing, when you achieve success in the future, you must remember to help your Uncle Zhu.”

“Uncle Zhu, you’re saying this… I’m afraid I’ll need to rely on you in many ways in the future.” Li Qingzhi smiled and replied.

After chatting for a while, Li Qingzhi bid farewell to Zhu Qian and headed to Sister Wang’s residence.

On the way, Li Qingzhi encountered several righteous officials who were cleaning up the feces that the common people had scattered in the city over the past few days. The spirits of the common people along the way were much better than before, talking excitedly about how Zhang Yunquan had been arrested yesterday.

The people of Daqi were accustomed to enduring hardships, but this time they rebelled, and their rebellion succeeded… This was a significant event for them.

Those who had been to the county yamen were even more excitedly sharing their experiences: “There were thousands of us, and we surrounded the county yamen. Magistrate Gou saw us and knew that we had been bullied by Zhang Yunquan. His eyes turned red, and he promised to give us justice.”

“Magistrate Gou is truly majestic!”

“Zhang Yunquan was brought here tied up by Sun Juren. He didn’t even dare to lift his head!”

“I spat on Zhang Yunquan! Unfortunately, I didn’t have rotten vegetables or rotten eggs.”

“Magistrate Gou is truly a good official!”

…

Li Qingzhi leisurely arrived at Sister Wang’s residence and overheard Sister Wang lamenting, “Why didn’t I go to the county yamen yesterday! If I had known, I would have gone!”

Whether it was Sister Wang or Mrs. Xu, neither of them had gone to the county yamen yesterday. As women, they felt it wasn’t appropriate to squeeze with a group of men, so they stayed at home all day.

Jin Xiaoye said, “There were so many people yesterday, we might not have been able to see anything even if we had gone.”

“But we could have seen something, right? Many people saw Zhang Yunquan being taken away!” Sister Wang said, “Xiaoye, that rascal who overturned my toilet and beat up the little tree, he was also arrested this morning!”

“That’s good,” Jin Xiaoye continued working.

Sister Wang couldn’t help but say, “Xiaoye, with such a big event happening, how can you still focus on work?”

Jin Xiaoye sighed, “What else can I do? We have a big order to fulfill by the end of the month.”

In fact, Jin Xiaoye was also very concerned about this matter, even more so than Sister Wang. After all, this was Li Qingzhi’s idea.

Because her brother had been beaten, Li Qingzhi came up with the idea to have Zhang Yunquan arrested by Magistrate Gou… Jin Xiaoye felt her heart pounding rapidly and couldn’t help but think of Li Qingzhi.

Forget it, stop thinking and focus on work!

Taking a deep breath, Jin Xiaoye continued with her work.

However, just then, Li Qingzhi’s voice rang out, “Xiaoye.”

“Xiaoye, your husband is here to see you again,” Sister Wang winked at Jin Xiaoye.

She used to feel a lot of sympathy for Jin Xiaoye. Her husband was always away on business, which made her feel like she was enduring a lot. But now, she felt a bit envious of Jin Xiaoye.

Although Li Qingzhi wasn’t in the best of health, just by looking at him, she could tell he valued Jin Xiaoye greatly.

“Husband,” Jin Xiaoye smiled and called out, moving a bamboo chair next to the two old ladies with worn-out shoes. “Husband, please wait a moment, I’ll be done soon.”

“Okay,” Li Qingzhi replied.

There were very few chairs in Sister Wang’s house, to the extent that the last time Li Qingzhi came over, there wasn’t even a chair for him… So Jin Xiaoye took the initiative to buy a few bamboo chairs, so she wouldn’t have to worry about Li Qingzhi not having a place to sit.

The two old ladies with worn-out shoes were already familiar with Li Qingzhi, so they asked him, “Xiao Li, did you go to the county yamen yesterday?”

“I did,” Li Qingzhi replied.

Yesterday, he had been staying on the second floor of the tavern, observing the situation at the county yamen. He had witnessed Sun Juren taking Zhang Yunquan to the county yamen.

Both Sun Juren and Zhang Yunquan were quite timid.

But it was better for them to be timid. If they were bold… There were military troops stationed nearby!

“What did you see? Tell us quickly!” The two old ladies looked at Li Qingzhi expectantly.

Li Qingzhi described some of the things he had seen vividly.

Everyone present listened with great interest. Sister Wang said, “Scholars are indeed different, you tell the story so well!”

Li Qingzhi waited for a while, and when Jin Xiaoye finished her work, she packed up her things and brought the goods intended for Jin Xiaoshu. She said to Li Qingzhi, “Ah Qing, let’s go.”

The two of them left Sister Wang’s house together. After they left, Sister Wang said to Mrs. Xu, “I envy Xiaoye so much. My wretched husband, who knows when he’ll come back!”

Mrs. Xu smiled but didn’t say anything. At least Sister Wang had something to look forward to. She didn’t even have a husband anymore.

At this moment, Fang Jinniang finished her work and said to Sister Wang, “Sister Wang, I’m also going home now.”

“Be careful on the way,” Wang Jie said.

“I will,” Fang Jinniang smiled. Her vision was blurry, but fortunately, she wasn’t completely blind, so she had no problem walking on the road.

Fang Jinniang walked through the alley and slowly made her way home. After about fifteen minutes, she arrived at her doorstep.

The door to her house was open. As she approached, she heard her mother’s gentle voice say, “Ah Jian, you’ve been studying hard. Have some sweet soup and eggs.”

Fang Jinniang paused.