Walking the Path of a Workaholic in Cliché Novels (QT) Chapter 91

Shen Da took the dejected Shen Er to his yard. He glared at the gatekeeper: “Why haven’t you opened the door?”

As he spoke, he clasped his fists: “I am the eldest son of the Shen family. I have been away from home recently. I didn’t know that my younger brother had done such a disaster. I have wronged you these days, so I will open the door for you.”

The door opened, the people in the wing turned their heads, and the room became a little brighter. There was neither panic nor anger on his face, his expression was calm. He was dressed in blue-grey cloth, but that could not hide his brilliance.

He flicked the ashes off his jacket and sat down: “Are you Shen Chengnan?”

The man’s eyes flashed, and he seemed to understand why his brother didn’t want to let go after being beaten like this.

“They are joking. As a businessman, how can I afford to be called ‘Chengnan’?” After all, Shen Da was not Shen Er. After being shocked, he regained his rationality. He knew that the most important thing at the moment was to appease this judge.

These scholars seemed to be ordinary people, but the teachers and classmates behind him were enough for others to drink a pot. That was to say, Shen Er was so blinded by beauty that he did something like kidnapping people. Of course, people could not be taken away by force, and their family was not a mountain king.

After Shen Da showed his apology, An Yinong walked out from the east wing where he had been locked up for three days. He looked at Shen Da, who was still looking apologetic, and then at Shen Er, who had a bruised nose and swollen face. He thought to himself that this was for him.

“The hospitality of your house is beyond praise.”

Shen Da did not refute: “Everything is the Shen family’s fault, sir.”

Then Shen Da asked Shen Er to come over and pour tea to apologize. Shen Er, with a bruise on his face from the beating, tried his best to smile and poured tea for An Yinong to apologize. An Yinong held the tea and looked at Shen Er until he dared not look directly at him, then slowly took a sip of tea.

Shen Da felt slightly relieved, thinking that this matter was over, and then sent out a carful of apology. The apology was not gold and silver, but it was more precious than gold and silver.

“Black pepper.” An Yinong touched the big bag of black pepper sent by Shen Da. This bag of spice was more expensive than a bag of gold and silver.

If taken to the Central Plains, this bag would be enough to buy a two-story house in an ordinary county town. This showed how valuable spices were.

“I had three days of good food and drink, and I even brought back a cart of spices. So I made a profit.”

Although he said so, there was no smile on his face. To rob someone in public and restrict his freedom, even if the Shen family could use him, they would have to warn them before using him.

“I remember that smuggled goods are not taxed. How much tax has he evaded in recent years for such valuable goods?” An Yinong remembered that he was ‘lacking gold in the five elements’. Tsk tsk tsk, such a big piece of fat meat, he would be sorry if he didn’t take a bite.

An Yinong stayed in an inn, while Wei and Tian came later. They found out a lot of things during these three days.

“The merchant did go to the government office to ask to see the county magistrate, but he was taken out after sitting outside for a cup of tea. I have inquired and found out that the county magistrate here is known as ‘three ounces of gold’ and will only do things if he is paid three ounces of gold. Moreover, even if he is paid gold, he will not take action against families like the Shen family and the Zhao family.”

“I have a brother I know here, and he told me that the county magistrate of Zhanghua is in collusion with the Zhao and Shen families.”

“Explain.”

“Yes, the Shen family gave him gold and silver, so he turned a blind eye to the Shen family’s business, and he didn’t care about Shen Er’s affairs today. The Zhao family gave him jewelry and concubines, so the county magistrate protected their family. There was a cheat in the Zhao family’s casino, and people were robbed in the Zhao family’s brothel, but he imprisoned the innocent instead.”

Wei Menfang was indeed a man of the world, his network of relationships was no worse than those of ghosts.

“If you are interested, I can sneak into the county magistrate’s office and find the account books.”

An Yinong thought for a while: “I’ll find a way to get the account books. You can help me contact your brothers, so…” He ordered like this, and Gatekeeper Wei nodded.

After finishing the story about Magistrate Zhanghua, An Yinong asked about the two big families: “What about the Shen family and the Zhao family? What’s their reputation in the local area?”

“To tell you the truth, although these two families are both big local companies, their reputations are completely different.”

“The boss of the Shen family goes out to the Western Regions twice a year. In addition to taking his own caravan, he also brings small merchants. Many merchants have received his kindness. The old man of the Shen family is also famous for his charity, but Shen Er has a bad reputation, but nothing too bad happened.

“If there is, it was before… Well, the Lord was kidnapped…”

Guard Tian took a peek at An Yinong and saw that his expression was as usual, so he continued.

“Compared to the Shen family, the Zhao family’s situation is a little more serious. The Zhao family was originally a military household with countless soldiers under their command. Later, they used these people to open casinos and brothels. They bought women from other places all year round…”

Wei the gatekeeper and Tian the guard were talking to each other, but An Yinong did not interrupt.

The Shen family and the Zhao family were both giants in Zhanghua County. They had been rooted here for many years, and their network of relationships was beyond the imagination of ordinary people. And when people have unlimited power, they will indulge themselves.

Both the Shen family and the Zhao family have committed illegal acts, and the Zhao family’s actions were particularly serious. Trafficking girls everywhere was already a serious crime, and there were also cases of forcing women of good families into prostitution, lending money at high interest, murder and arson, etc.

These rumors have passed through many hands and needed to be verified one by one. If they were proven to be true, the heads of Zhanghua County would roll to the ground.

An Yinong looked down at his palms, and he remembered what he had done in Dingsha County. Because of collusion with horse thieves, almost all the members of the two families were executed. Children under ten years old and female relatives escaped, but they were also reduced to slavery in the blink of an eye, and their lives were worse than death.

The policy of collective punishment was difficult for modern people to accept, and he had nightmares for several days afterwards. A hand suddenly appeared and gently fell on An Yinong’s palm. The warm yet slightly cool touch awakened An Yinong. He knew that it was Gu Zhengzhong comforting him and smiled.

“I will not regret it, nor will I fear revenge,” he thought to himself.

The lights in the inn flickered, and they kept talking until three o’clock in the morning. Only then did the doorman and guard leave with their respective missions.

The next day, An Yinong was too lazy to get up and wash up late, and it was already noon when he went out. He first went to find Hu Shangren and gave him a bag of black pepper to thank him for reporting to the police.

Hu Shangren covered his face in shame and said, “But in the end, I still couldn’t do anything for you, brother.”

“Brother Hu, there is no need to blame yourself. The local magistrate will be punished sooner or later for his actions.”

After leaving the merchant’s house, he walked in this exotic county town, stopping from time to time with a fan in his hand. He was looking at whether this city was suitable to become a trading port.

There were many Western merchants in Zhanghua County. One can’t tell which country they were from just by looking at their faces, but there were seven or eight different types of clothes. These merchants did not just come here to do business, some of them would stay here, so there were many shops opened by foreigners on the street, selling foreign goods.

The local residents accepted these foreigners well, and they went to each other’s shops to buy things. During the long journey, he didn’t see any obvious racial conflicts.

There were so many Western Regions shops in Zhanghua County that An Yinong would go in and take a look if he saw something interesting. He found the beets that he had eaten before, as well as some spices that were not available in the Central Plains. They would also ship spices from here back to China, such as cloves, cinnamon, star anise, and peppercorns. These spices could be sold at fifty times the price in foreign countries, which was why Shen Chengnan appeared in the Shen family – spices were really profitable.

“If this kind of huge profits cannot be nationalized and become a source of income for local people, I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep well at night.”

Qiguo’s commercial tax was not low, especially for such precious goods. According to the Shen family’s import and export volume, the tax revenue for one year could equal half of the city. Moreover, if mutual trade was open, the goods that could be traded are not just spices, but also many other things. Taxes must be paid for both import and export, which was pure silver.

There were so many benefits of mutual trade that the extra troubles were nothing compared to the benefits.

He passed by a foreign merchant’s weapons stall. There was a knife inlaid with gems on it. An Yinong was interested and was about to take it, but another hand took it away first.

“Are you the scholar that Shen Er kidnapped?” The man playing with the knife in his hand raised his chin and looked at him with a playful smile, “Can the hand holding the pen hold a knife?”

An Yinong calmly looked at him. Although he was wearing plain robes, the materials used were exquisite and the jade pendant on his waist was of good quality. There were some rich and noble people in Zhanghua County who had some grudges with the Shen family… People from the Zhao family?

“Who are you?” he asked calmly, and showed just the right amount of displeasure, “You came here to find someone, but you didn’t tell yourself where you are, how rude are you?”

“Who am I?” The man suddenly swung the knife and plunged it into a wooden craft behind him. The owner of this shop was startled, but he looked at this man and hesitated to speak.

“My surname is Zhao. Have you heard of Zhao Chengbei? That’s my brother.”

“…” What’s wrong? Did these younger brothers always like to parade around in the name of their elder brothers?

“What does Mr. Zhao want with me?” An Yinong looked calm and not frightened. Originally, he was a tourist who stayed for a few days and then left, and he was also an official. What kind of local snakes would he be afraid of? If something happened to him, the county magistrate wouldn’t be able to explain it to him.

“It’s nothing. I heard that Shen Er wanted you, so I came to take a look. I thought you were some kind of stunning beauty, but it turns out you’re not as good-looking as the young master from my Nanfeng Pavilion.” The Zhao family member touched his chin and looked arrogant.

“Mr. Zhao, do you know who I am?” An Yinong was not angry. He took another short dagger from the stall and played with it.

“Who are you? Then you have to ask your mother.” The man laughed, and the followers behind him also laughed.

“I don’t kneel when I see an official. I have no official position but I am the same as the ninth rank. If there is a vacancy in officials, it is not difficult to find a county magistrate. Just like your magistrate in Zhanghua, you recruit people to fill the vacancies.”

The laughter gradually stopped. There were few scholars in Zhanghua County, and even fewer with fame. There were only two scholars and not one juren. Therefore, in the past, they only knew that juren were valuable, but they did not know that juren could become county magistrates.

The magistrate was their number one here, at least on the surface they couldn’t casually offend him.

“Mr. Zhao, if something happens to a person, the magistrate will intervene. If a person violates the law, the magistrate and county have no power to deal with it and can only report it. Do you think, after this chapter of Hua County, who is bigger, you or me? You can walk sideways in Zhanghua County. Can you do the same after exiting this door?”

An Yinong played with the dagger and didn’t look at anyone: “I stayed at the Shen family for three days. I asked Shen Er to pour tea to apologize. The head of the Shen family opened the front door and gave it to him in person, and gave him a good gift before I left.”

He raised his eyes and looked at the stiff-faced Zhao family member: “Who has the louder voice, you or Shen Chengnan?” Shen Chengnan had to send him away respectfully, so who do you think you are?

Zhao Jiazi took a step back, sweat dripping from his face, but he refused to show his fear: “He’s just a scholar, you… let’s go.”

Seeing them leave, An Yinong turned around and put the selected items on the plate: “Check out.”

The foreign merchant lowered his head and came over to settle the bill for him: “Sir, that man is Zhao Chengbei’s cousin, you better be careful.”

“Thanks.”

When An Yinong came back from his visit, he found out how powerful Zhao Chengbei was in this county and how arrogant he acted. Because all his luggage had been thrown out of the inn, the innkeeper laughed dryly and wanted to come over but didn’t dare.

“What do you think, Juren? His family won’t rent an inn to you. Do you want to sue the government?” The Zhao family member who appeared earlier came in triumphantly, holding a straw in his mouth and looking at An Yinong and the luggage on the ground.

“Boss.” Guard Tian and doorman Wei came over. An Yinong raised his hand as soon as he said a word.

“My room was vacated without reason and my luggage was lost. I’m going to ask the owner for compensation, or I’m going to sue the government. Pack up your things and put them in the car.” He even escaped from the desert, and the most he could do was not be able to stay in the inn. What was the big deal?

“Compensation, yes.” The innkeeper immediately paid the money. An Yinong took the money and asked a passerby, “Does the Shen family have an inn?”

“Yes, it’s just across the street.” A small voice came from the crowd.

“Thank you.” He looked at Zhao Jiazi and slowly unfolded his folding fan. “Then let’s go to the Shen family’s inn.”

An Yinong passed by Zhao Jiazi, fanning himself, and the carriage followed him. Although he successfully drove the man away and got rid of his luggage, Zhao Jiazi felt a little frustrated at this moment, as if he didn’t know where to start with a curled up hedgehog.

“Fifth Master, what about us?”

“Roll!”

An Yinong walked and fanned himself. The brighter his smile, the colder his eyes became. After all, he had been the head of a county for so many years. If he was serious, his aura would be unmatched by ordinary people.

A fragrant breeze blew, and Gu Zhengzhong appeared beside him, both of them holding fans, looking very elegant.

“Sir, can you do me a favor?”

“Naturally.”

“Find evidence of conspiracy between the Zhao family and the county magistrate, and help me grind some ink.”

“Grind ink?” Gu Zhengzhong stopped.

An Yinong closed his folding fan, his lips were smiling, but his eyes were calm: “I just got some inspiration. What do you think about calling our next storybook “The Legend of Desert Heroes: Xiaoyao Pavilion”? “