Slow River County, Inn
When Pei Zi Yun arrived at Slow River County, he met with the magistrate and the Mentor before the sky darkened. He then looked for an inn, the same one where he had bought the gold pearls the last time.
The innkeeper and the waiter did not know that Pei Zi Yun was the Top Scorer, but they remembered that Pei Zi Yun had stayed there before. They then greeted him, "Esteemed guest, you're here to stay again."
"Although my inn doesn't have a hundred years of history, Master Shi's house has been renovated for twenty to thirty years. It's really comfortable to stay here!" The innkeeper welcomed Pei Zi Yun into his room and lit up the lights. He then instructed the waiter to bring hot water for him to wash his face and feet. He then served him a cup of tea.
Pei Zi Yun saw that the innkeeper was about to leave and called out to him, "Don't be in such a hurry. I've just returned from the boat and was busy visiting some people. Get me some dishes, but don't serve me wine. I've been drinking too much these few days, give me some light wine."
"That's easy. I'll cook my own dishes and buy you a plate of beef. The stall next door is famous. Recently, a cow died and was approved to be slaughtered. I'll get you a catty of it."
Pei Zi Yun smiled and agreed. Before long, a waiter came in carrying a tray of food and placed the dishes on the table.
There were four dishes. There was a plate of sliced beef, a plate of stir-fried chicken with garlic, a plate of peanuts and a plate of scrambled eggs.
Pei Zi Yun nodded his head in satisfaction. He had just started eating when someone called out, "Is Young Master in? I'm Chen Yuan! "
Pei Zi Yun replied, "Come in!"
Seeing that it was indeed Chen Yuan, he was surprised, "I've only been back in the county for half a day and you've already come looking for me?"
Chen Yuan's attitude was different from before. He bowed respectfully and said, "Young Master, you've become a High Scholar. The news was quickly sent to Dong An Prefecture. Dong An Prefecture then sent someone to deliver the news to Slow River County. Slow River County then sent someone to deliver the news to Young Master's house. When I heard it, I hurried out."
"I was waiting at the pier. Although I missed it, and didn't receive Young Master on the spot, I asked around and managed to find out."
"Good, have a seat. Shall we have a meal together?"
"No, I've already eaten. I'm here to report to you." Although Chen Yuan didn't address him as a servant, he was still very reserved.
At this time, the sky was already dark. Not long after, a bright moon rose up, shining through the shadows of the trees outside the courtyard.
Pei Zi Yun didn't force the issue as he ate and asked, "How's everything going?"
Chen Yuan then handed over the land deed and said, "Young Master had paid the money to buy the land, but was stopped by the county government. They said that Young Master is only an Elementary Scholar, why would you want to buy so much land?"
"They also vaguely questioned the origin of the money. They said that they heard that the young master's family only had a few acres of land, so how could they take out such a large sum of money now?"
"I couldn't get it done even if I broke my legs. Unexpectedly, the day before yesterday, a clerk in charge of this matter in the county government sent the transfer document. He was very polite. I thought I would send it to Madam Dowager tomorrow, but I didn't expect Young Master to come back today, so I sent it here."
Pei Zi Yun received the land deed and looked at it. He then heard Chen Yuan continue, "Young Master, there are five land deeds. One of them was according to your instructions, and was used as a field for the ancestral temple. It's fifty mu."
"The other one is for four hundred mu of land, which is near the East River. It's not far from Snail Village, and the price is higher than I expected."
Pei Zi Yun nodded his head, "If I had bought the entire piece of land, the price would have been higher. If not, I wouldn't have been able to get it."
"And the other three are for scattered fields. The total is fifty mu, and is not barren land."
"You've done well." Pei Zi Yun was extremely satisfied and placed the land deed down. He hadn't been home for a few days, and Chen Yuan had been following his instructions. He then asked, "How's my family doing?"
Chen Yuan replied, "Madam Dowager is doing well at home. The village has arranged for a cook to take care of her. The last time I visited her, she seemed to be in good spirits."
Chen Yuan paused before continuing, "The Pei family's ancestral temple has been completed. Now all that's left is for Young Master to go back and inscribe the plaque and inscribe the words."
At this point, Pei Zi Yun had finished his meal and took off his shoes. He then walked into the courtyard. Other than the main room, the other rooms were all small. Pei Zi Yun then said, "You've done well. But now that we have the land, we still need to find tenants. You've done this for me as well."
"I understand!" Chen Yuan bowed and said.
"You might not understand, let me explain it to you." Pei Zi Yun thought about what the original owner had heard, and knew that this person wasn't a kind person. "The dynasty has just been established, and the Imperial Edict advises the tenants to reduce their rent. Some people would think that it's advice and not an order, and thus disobeyed. That's true. But if they make a mistake and something happens, it's a crime."
"Furthermore, because the dynasty has just been established, and the land is much more plentiful, it's not easy to find suitable tenants!" Pei Zi Yun turned around and glared at Chen Yuan, as if warning him, "Don't you dare make use of my power to do things that are beyond reason."
"Yes, yes!" Chen Yuan replied, looking a little embarrassed.
"But it's easy to solve this problem. I'm prepared to buy ten oxen in the county, and I'll be able to finish plowing the land. I can split the rent among the tenants, and I can be generous, but not too generous. Otherwise, people will think that I'm weak and easy to bully."
Pei Zi Yun then paused before changing the topic, "How's business in the county?"
"It seems to be better than before!"
Pei Zi Yun returned to his room and laughed out loud, "I've taken a look at the north side of the county, and there's a building for sale. There are two shops downstairs, two rooms upstairs, and a few rooms behind. The asking price is eighty taels of silver. Buy it for me, and turn it into a business."
"Other than the land, I still need to buy a few shops. I'll leave that to you."
… …
Morning, Pier
The sun had just risen, and shone on both sides of the river. There was a thin layer of mist on the surface of the river.
There was a small market, and many fishing boats were doing business. A small fishing boat was anchored by the shore, and the captain of the boat was selling a saddle, "Ai, a high quality saddle, cheap!"
A few people were watching the commotion, but none of them bought the saddle. It was said that a saddle had to be accompanied by a horse. In this small market, who would own a horse?
At this point, someone squeezed through the crowd and took a look at the saddle. This person wasn't ferocious, and was dressed in a white robe. He took a closer look, and realized that the saddle was not bad. His face fell, "This is it!"
As soon as he said this, two men dressed in black stood up, "Don't just watch the commotion. Go!"
The crowd dispersed immediately. The fisherman saw that it was the men from the river, and smiled apologetically. Before he could say anything, the two men in black pounced on him and dragged him onto the cart. They even took the saddle with them.
One of the students was shocked, "Who are these people? How can they be so daring, and dare to kidnap people in broad daylight?"
Someone beside him replied, "These are the men from the river, the overlords of the river. We don't dare to interfere in such matters!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he sighed.
Zhang Mansion
A saddle was placed in front of Zhang Jie Yu. Zhang Jie Yu looked at it for some time before asking, "This is the saddle?"
"Young Master, it is indeed. The men from the river saw this fisherman selling a saddle at the pier, and felt that something was amiss. They brought it back to the Li Mansion, and confirmed that it was indeed the saddle of the horse that Li Mansion had lost." Someone replied, "That's why they took a day to deliver it to Young Master. But there's no mistake about it."
The fisherman didn't know any better, and knelt down in front of Zhang Jie Yu, begging for mercy, "Young Master, I'm really not a horse thief. A few days ago, I came out to fish and cast my net. Just as I cast my net, I saw someone riding a horse to the riverbank. I thought which young master would wake up so early, and in the end, I killed him and threw him into the river. At that point, I was terrified, and didn't dare to make a sound. When I saw the man walking away, and the horse flowing down the river, I felt that it was a pity. Greedily, I fished it up, and ate its meat. I then brought the saddle out to sell.
The fisherman kept kowtowing and begging for mercy.
"Tell me, did you see the face of the horse thief?" Zhang Jie Yu asked through gritted teeth.
The fisherman knelt on the ground and thought for a moment before saying, "I saw him, I saw him. However, he was far away and I could only see seventy to eighty percent clearly. If I see him again, I should be able to recognize him."
Zhang Jie Yu waved his hand and someone brought over a few portraits. The fisherman took a closer look and took one out. When Zhang Jie Yu saw it, he laughed coldly and asked, "Are you sure it's him?"
The fisherman hesitated for a moment and said with certainty, "It's this person. I only remember his face, but I remember his eyes. They were very scary!"
Zhang Jie Yu was enraged. "Heh heh, sneaking back to the boat at night, killing people and stealing horses, rushing back to the prefecture at night, falling into the river! How decisive, how murderous! "
"Pei Zi Yun, it really is you. My suspicions were not wrong."
He then called out, "Get my fellow brothers to follow me. Also, get the people on the waterways to come out. Also, get the rest of the Black Wind bandits to come out. Gather them together and we shall settle the score."
At this point, the Daoist from the monastery hesitated, "Young Master, this person is a High Scholar, and a Top Scorer. How can we act rashly? We might offend the Imperial Qi."
Zhang Jie Yu gritted his teeth and grunted. He then looked at the Daoist and said plainly, "Li Wen Jing had his own misgivings. In the end, he died a violent death. He was killed by this person's sword."
"I know that as a Daoist, you know how strong the heavens and the Imperial Qi are. That's why you have such misgivings. But as a Daoist, we fight against the heavens. Killing this Top Scorer, as long as he's dead, even if there's a backlash, how much damage can there be?"
"If we allow this person to grow stronger, who knows when he'll be in big trouble." Zhang Jie Yu shook his head and sighed as he spoke.
"But …." The Daoist wasn't convinced yet. Mortals were born with limited knowledge and experience. Naturally, they weren't afraid. It was just like how those who fought in the frontlines were all young people. Who would be 30 years old and still be hot-blooded?
But once they saw the world, and saw power, they would naturally be filled with fear. It was just like how those in the government were more afraid of the government than the commoners.
"Forget it. I don't need any Daoist. I'll use the people from the secular world. Is that alright?" Although Zhang Jie Yu was addressed as Young Master, it didn't mean that the Daoist was his slave. He waved his hands as he spoke.
With himself and a group of people, killing a person without Dao Arts wasn't difficult at all.
Hearing these words, the Daoist agreed, "I'll gather them now."
Zhang Jie Yu then revealed a smile as he pulled out his sword and slashed at the fisherman. A "pu" sound was heard as the sword pierced through the fisherman's body. The fisherman let out a scream before he died.
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