Chapter 90: Drama 3/3

This matter had become serious, and it was better to let the county magistrate handle it.

Shopkeeper Shen was now in a panic.

But even if he panicked, it was useless. Those government officials stepped forward and directly took Shopkeeper Shen away, bringing Zhao Sanni along too.

“Xiaoye, you go and attend to your tasks. I’ll go to the county office.” Li Qingzhi said.

This matter had nothing to do with Jin Xiaoye. She didn’t need to go to the county office, but Li Qingzhi intended to go.

This matter… he thought it was another good story.

There was still some time before the New Year, and he could write another story.

Shopkeeper Shen was clever, but he hadn’t studied. He didn’t understand the laws of Daqi.

In Daqi, there was a strong emphasis on respecting teachers and following moral principles. With Shopkeeper Shen’s behavior, he would end up in prison!

So, even if he went to the county office, he would still insist that Shopkeeper Yang sell the shop to him. But when the county magistrate summoned Shopkeeper Yang and even the wife who had been divorced by Shopkeeper Shen, the truth would be revealed.

Actually, in the past, this matter wouldn’t have escalated to the county magistrate. Shopkeeper Shen could have possibly gotten away with taking the shop by greasing the palms of the minor officials, and the Yang family would have been forced to move to the countryside… But now, Li Qingzhi has intervened.

After witnessing the entire process, Li Qingzhi now understood Shopkeeper Shen’s mindset.

Shopkeeper Yang treated him like his own son, but he perceived Shopkeeper Yang’s strictness as abuse and coercion to work.

When Shopkeeper Yang proposed a marriage to a virtuous girl for him, he interpreted it as Shopkeeper Yang forcing him into marriage; thus, he married with resentment.

In Shopkeeper Yang’s shop, there were not only various tools but also valuable wood, worth at least one hundred and thirty taels of silver. Yet he sold it to him for one hundred and twenty taels and rented the shop to him at a low price. Instead of seeing it as Shopkeeper Yang’s goodwill, he believed Shopkeeper Yang intended for him to help earn money for the Yang family.

…

In the end, it was his selfish desire to seize the Yang family’s assets.

On the other hand, Shopkeeper Yang initially didn’t want to escalate the matter. It was only later, realizing that not escalating might result in losing the shop, that he tearfully reported his apprentice.

“I can’t believe there are such shameless people in this world!” The county magistrate, after hearing the case, was quite angry and couldn’t help but scold Shopkeeper Shen.

Li Qingzhi said, “Sir, don’t be angry. He’s now facing retribution… And this incident could also be turned into a story…”

The county magistrate immediately forgot his anger. “Indeed!” Not only could this case be turned into a story, it could also be performed on the stage!

Wait, the previous stories could also be performed on stage!

The county magistrate became excited at the thought. “Nephew, what do you think about turning these stories into plays and having a troupe perform them?”

Li Qingzhi was momentarily stunned, then said, “That’s a great idea!”

Li Qingzhi, being a modern person, hadn’t thought about theatrical performances since he traveled to ancient times. But now that the county magistrate has mentioned it… he recalled from the original host’s memories that people in this era loved listening to operas.

If these stories were adapted into plays, they could spread throughout Chongcheng County and maybe even across the country, reaching future generations. Then everyone would know about “Gou Qingtian” from Daqi.

Ahem, the county magistrate’s surname wasn’t really impressive.

But didn’t the county magistrate feel embarrassed?

If someone sang about his deeds on stage, wouldn’t he feel embarrassed?

The county magistrate didn’t feel embarrassed at all. Who wouldn’t want fame? The thought of his deeds possibly being sung on stage made him excited.

At the same time, he resolved to be a righteous official in the future, so as not to accidentally do something wrong and be criticized.

As the county magistrate contemplated turning the stories into plays, in a tavern in Chongcheng County, a storyteller had already begun narrating the story of “Magistrate Zhang’s Secret Investigation Reveals the True Nature of Sun Juren”!

This story was truly fascinating, with its elements of the real and fake Magistrate Zhang and the punishment of evildoers… Everyone who heard this story, whether commoners or scholars, became engrossed.

“So there are such things happening!”

“Magistrate Zhang is indeed a good official!”

“Sun Juren deserved his fate!”

…

Hong Hui walked into the tavern and heard the story being narrated, along with the discussions of others.

Those people were outrageous. His teacher had already passed away, yet they still wanted to fabricate stories about him!

What infuriated Hong Hui even more was that they had previously written some poetry, accusing County Magistrate Gou of seeking fame and reputation, but those poems hadn’t gained any traction!

Their poems were written so beautifully!

If Li Qingzhi knew what Hong Hui was thinking, he would surely be speechless.

Those people’s poetry was too literary; ordinary people couldn’t understand it, so how could it spread?

In fact, they should be thankful that the common people didn’t understand. Otherwise… the people spreading the poems might have been beaten!

As soon as Hong Hui entered the tavern, he went straight to the second floor, where he saw Fang Zijian.

Hong Hui asked, “Did you bring what I asked for?”

Fang Zijian took out some papers and handed them to Hong Hui. “I’ve brought them.”

Hong Hui glanced at the papers and gave Fang Zijian a silver ingot. “Don’t speak of this matter to anyone!”

“Don’t worry, Young Master Hong,” Fang Zijian said.

Fang Zijian had always felt that Li Xiucai was too fond of money, not like the demeanor a scholar should have. He was quite dissatisfied with the fact that he could only study under Li Xiucai.

He had always thought that only people like Sun Juren were worthy of teaching him.

Therefore, he had been in contact with Sun Juren’s students voluntarily for a long time, but unfortunately, no one had paid him any attention back then.

More than two months ago, Hong Hui approached him, inquiring about Li Qingzhi’s affairs.

Half a month ago, Hong Hui even asked him to fetch some of Li Qingzhi’s manuscripts from the school, saying that if he could get things done, he would take him to meet Sun Juren. However, not long after that, Sun Juren encountered trouble, and later he died… But Hong Hui still contacted him and asked for Li Qingzhi’s manuscripts.

However, now, Hong Hui couldn’t take him to see Sun Juren anymore, so he could only accept a silver ingot.

Fang Zijian didn’t like the smell of copper in the silver ingot and didn’t really want it, but when he thought of his mother’s hardships in supporting his education… he still pocketed the silver.

On the other side, Li Qingzhi, who had been discussing opera with County Magistrate Gou for a long time, arrived at Sister Wang’s house. He heard Wang Jie and others excitedly talking about the temple fair yesterday, and today they were discussing the arrival of a troupe to Chongcheng County to perform operas.

Chongcheng County indeed had a troupe. Wealthy households in and around the city would invite opera troupes to perform during major celebrations or funeral events.

Of course, the funeral had to be for someone who had died of old age. Previously, when a Mr. He in the county passed away, the opera troupe performed for three days and nights.

But there weren’t many members in Chongcheng County’s opera troupe, and their performance was average. This new troupe, however, was different. It was said that they would bring many new plays.

In short, outsiders were always better at certain things, just like how monks were better at chanting sutras.