"Greetings, Constable!"
"Constable, have a pear!"
"Constable, would you like to take a break at my shop and have a cup of tea?"
…
Along the way, Li Mu was greeted warmly by the people along the street. There was even a pear seller who stuffed two pears into his hands without any explanation.
Li Mu gave one to Xiao Bai. Xiao Bai took a bite and eagerly brought the pear to Li Mu's mouth. She said, "This pear is so sweet. Have a taste, benefactor!"
Li Mu took a bite of the pear. It was indeed as sweet and juicy as Xiao Bai had described. At the same time, he also sensed a weak psychokinesis from the people on the street.
There was no psychokinesis until they were far away from the yamen entrance.
This was because the people here did not know Li Mu and did not see what happened on the street that day.
However, it did not matter. For the sake of cultivation, Li Mu would let the people of Fairy's Capital know his name sooner or later. By then, he would be able to absorb the psychokinesis no matter where he went.
He and Xiao Bai walked to another street. After a few steps, the sound of hurried horse hooves came from behind.
Giddy up!
A few fast horses galloped across the street. The people on the street quickly dodged. A young lady could not dodge in time and tripped on the ground. Seeing that the leading horse was about to charge over, Li Mu's figure flashed and appeared in front of the young lady.
He raised his head and looked coldly at the horse. The horse was startled and raised its front hooves high, almost throwing the man on the horse off.
"You're courting death. How dare you block my way!"
The young man on the horse was furious. He raised his hand and lashed the horse whip in his hand at Li Mu.
Swoosh!
The horse whip sliced through the air and made a whistling sound as it lashed at Li Mu's head.
Xiao Bai snorted softly and reached out to grab the whip. With a gentle tug, the young man on the horse was pulled off the horse and fell to the ground.
This scene left the commoners on the street dumbfounded. Although the imperial court forbade riding on horses on the streets, and violators would be punished with flogging and fined silver, these officials and nobles had never taken this prohibition seriously.
They often rode their horses and went on a rampage on the streets. It was not uncommon for them to hit and injure people.
These people had deep backgrounds. The yamen didn't dare to do anything about riding horses on the streets. Even if they injured someone, they could easily settle it with money. And that was when they were in a good mood.
If he was in a bad mood, he could simply scold someone and walk away after bumping into them. The person he bumped into would have no one to complain.
These people were used to being arrogant, and the people of Luoyang were used to it as well. If they encountered them, they would stay far away to avoid provoking them. They had never seen anyone who dared to pull them down from their horses.
The young man fell from his horse. Although he was not injured, he was still dizzy from the fall. The people behind him tightened their reins and stopped beside him.
"What happened?"
"Who's blocking the way?"
"Are you alright …"
They jumped off their horses and started talking at once. The young man got up from the ground and said with a dark face, "I'm fine!"
After that, he glared at Li Mu and Xiao Bai fiercely. He gritted his teeth and said, "Who are you? How dare you block our way!"
"Constable of Luoyang." Li Mu walked in front of Xiao Bai and looked at them. He asked coldly, "Who allowed you to ride horses on the streets of Luoyang?"
At first, the young man was worried that it was someone he couldn't afford to offend. Seeing that it was just a small constable, he was relieved. At the same time, he couldn't control his anger.
He was actually pulled down from his horse by a nameless official on the streets of Luoyang?
He was afraid that after today, this would become a joke among the people in the circle.
He looked at Li Mu and asked coldly, "What do you want?"
Li Mu pointed at the people riding horses on the streets and said, "You guys, come with me to the yamen."
The young man glanced at him and said indifferently, "Let's go."
Although he didn't care about a small constable, he wasn't stupid enough to go against someone from the yamen. It was a provocation to the imperial court.
When they arrived at the yamen, this person would know how laughable a small constable like him was.
After this, he would understand that there were some people he couldn't stop.
That was if there was a next time.
When they heard the young man's words, they all got off their horses. They didn't resist and just looked at Li Mu mockingly. They followed behind the young man and walked straight to the yamen.
Li Mu knew that the sons of officials in Luoyang were arrogant, but he didn't expect them to be this arrogant.
Aside from riding horses on the streets, after being caught by Li Mu, they actually walked in front of him to the yamen. Obviously, they knew that the yamen wouldn't dare to do anything to them.
The commoners on the street were equally shocked as they watched this scene. They had lived in the Luoyang for many years and had seen fights between factions, the ascension of empresses, the rise of commoners, and the fall of wealthy families. However, they had never seen a mere constable who dared to drag down the sons of officials.
Although they were delighted to see this scene, everyone knew in their hearts that the constable of the city government was finished.
One of the commoners couldn't bear it anymore. He approached Li Mu and said, "Sir, you shouldn't care about these things. The man riding the horses is the son of the director of the Ministry of Rites. He works under the director of the Ministry of Rites and is also the Minister of Luoyang …"
Li Mu saluted the commoner with his fists and said, "Thank you for the reminder."
No wonder this man was so arrogant. The director of the Ministry of Rites was a lower fifth-rank official. It was three ranks higher than the commandant of Luoyang.
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were nine ranks. However, the first and second ranks were only nominal titles. Third-rank was the highest an official could reach. The fifth-rank director of the Ministry of Rites was not a low rank. He was the third-in-command of the Ministry of Rites.
However, although Li Mu didn't have a rank, he wasn't afraid at all.
Mr. Mei had already told him clearly that as long as he was upright, the empress would always support him. With these words, Li Mu had nothing to fear in Luoyang.
According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, riding horses on the streets and endangering the safety of the commoners was punishable by more than 20 beatings and seven days in jail. Li Mu was following the law.
A group of people walked down the street and quickly attracted the attention of the commoners.
"What's going on today? Why aren't they riding horses?"
"Where are they going?"
"Why is Constable Li behind them? Are they going to the yamen?"
"Isn't that Zhu Cong? His father is the director of the Ministry of Rites. Constable Li just offended the Ministry of Justice. Why is he offending the Ministry of Rites now?"
"He's doomed. The director of the Ministry of Rites is also the prime minister of Luoyang. That's Zhu Cong's father's subordinate. Constable Li shouldn't have offended him …"
"Constable Li dares to offend anyone. He even dares to curse the heavens. Have you heard of 'Dou E's Injustice'? That was written by him. He cursed the heavens, the earth, and the imperial court …"
"But it's different this time!"
…
The yamen of Luoyang.
In the back of the yamen, Zhang Chun had made himself a new cup of tea. He leaned back in his chair and hummed a tune as he sipped his tea leisurely.
He calmed down and thought about it carefully. He suddenly felt that Li Mu was right.
Although a five-entry and five-exit house was grand, it was too big. Cleaning it would be a big problem.
If His Majesty rewarded him with a five-entry and five-exit house, wouldn't he have to hire some maids and servants to match the status of a five-entry house?
If he hired maids and servants, he would have to pay them a salary. That would be another huge expense.
If he added the cost of buying new furniture and renovating the old house, he might even lose a year's salary. In that case, it was actually a good thing that His Majesty did not reward him.
After thinking about it for a while, he felt much better.
Although the yamen was small, it gave him a sense of security.
Although he was often stuck between various yamen and was in a dilemma, as long as his subordinates did not cause him trouble, not many people would pay attention to him. It was quite relaxing.
Halfway through his cup of tea, he raised his eyebrows. He keenly sensed that there was something unusual in the front of the yamen.
He walked to his room and to the front door of the yamen. He saw a few people in luxurious clothes standing in the yard with arrogant faces. Judging from their clothes and expressions, they were either the sons of officials or the sons of nobles.
Zhang Chun's expression changed when he saw Li Mu looking around the front and side halls as if he was looking for someone.
His figure flashed and he instantly returned to the back of the yamen.
Wang Wu trotted in from the front. When he saw Zhang Chun, his eyes lit up. He said, "Sir, you are here. Arrester Li is looking for you everywhere!"
"Shh!" Zhang Chun made a shushing gesture and said, "Go out and tell Li Mu that I am not here!"
A moment later, Wang Wu walked to the front of the yamen. He looked at the sons of officials and then looked at Li Mu. He looked a little embarrassed.
Li Mu walked over and asked, "Have you found Sir Zhang?"
"No." Wang Wu shook his head and said, "Sir asked me to tell you that he is not here."
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