Episode 12: The beginning of Xizhou’s taking office

Early the next morning, the group continued to Xizhou.Liuli and Pei Xingjian arrived in Xizhou early, and the governor warmly entertained them.The Protector's attitude towards Pei Xingjian was warm and considerate, even a little humble.This made Wang Junmeng's performance of teasing Du Hu in a low voice a bit too much, but Qu Chongyu on the side thought that the performance was very good.The two of them were sitting at the wine table, discussing the scene in low voices.

On the side of the female guests, Madam Duhu was entertaining Liuli warmly.At this time, Wang Junmeng's wife Qu Jingtang came back from hunting.Before entering the hall, Qu Jingtang had already learned from Qu Chongyu that he hated Liuli very much.However, Qu Jingtang did not feel embarrassed or disliked Liuli. Instead, he expressed that he liked Liuli very much and also liked her makeup.Liuli also thinks that Qu Jingtang is innocent and straightforward, and likes her a little.

Pei Xingjian drank too much and lay on the table unable to move.Qu Chongyu asked people to carry Pei Xingjian down to rest.Hearing that Pei Xingjian was drunk, Liuli rushed over to visit him.Wang Junmeng Ze worriedly asked if Qu Jingtang had caused trouble, and he was relieved when he learned that he had not.

Liuli looked at Pei Xingjian worriedly.Pei Xingjian pretended to be drunk and did not open his eyes.Liuli wiped his forehead distressedly.Pei Xingjian put his arm around Liuli's waist. Only then did Liuli realize that Pei Xingjian was pretending to drink too much in order to avoid the toasts from the officials and didn't want Liuli to listen to him talking drunkenly all night on his first day in Xizhou.

The governor wanted to kill Pei Xingjian and regarded him as a thorn in his side. Pei Xingjian was sent by the Tang Dynasty to check and balance them.However, Qu Chongyu and Wang Junmeng believed that the Gaochang Kingdom was no longer there and Xizhou was already the territory of the Tang Dynasty. If they wanted to maintain the peace here, they should not act rashly.The Protector decided to let Pei Xingjian go for the time being, but also said that the people around Pei Xingjian must be dealt with one by one, and Pei Xingjian was only temporarily safe.

Pei Xingjian arranged a house for Pei Xingjian and his wife to move in.However, Liuli informed that he had purchased a property in Qushuifang and ran on Qu Chongyu, leaving him speechless and could only sulky secretly.When Liuli saw this, she was very happy.

When Liuli planned to return to Xizhou, he had already asked someone to buy a farm and house and make all the arrangements.She planned to visit relatives and friends, but Pei Xingjian insisted on accompanying her and was curious about what she was thinking in the yard.Liuli and Pei Xingjian admired this small independent world in the yard, a warm home without conspiracy and calculation.This makes it very different from other yards.

When Liuli went shopping with her maid, she met Qu Jingtang again riding a horse.Watching him riding a horse through the streets without restraint, Liuli fell into deep thought.At this time, Qu Jingtang came to a studio and asked for a drawing. A few months ago, he decided on a carving pattern here, but no one has been able to draw it yet.The boss quickly introduced Liuli as the painter of the pictures of ladies in the shop. Since he did not live here, he had not painted them for a long time.For Qu Jingtang, his love for Liuli was beyond words. Especially when he learned that Liuli was good at carving, he immediately invited Liuli to be a guest in his mansion another day.The shop owner was extremely grateful to Liuli for rescuing him.

Wang Junmeng came to Qu Chongyu. He had persuaded the Protector in accordance with Qu Chongyu's instructions. The Protector promised not to take action against Pei Xingjian for the time being, but there were three things that could be detrimental to him when the new official took office.Qu Chongyu said that he just wanted to see how Pei Xingjian burned the three fires.When Wang Junmeng left, he was stopped by Qu Chongyu and asked him if he was hiding something from him. However, Wang Junmeng said that he had never hidden anything from Qu Chongyu. The incident in Guazhou had been explained, but Qu Chongyu did not really believe it.

Pei Xingjian officially took office. As the county magistrate here, Wang Junmeng naturally had to take Pei Xingjian to familiarize himself with the environment and get to know the government officials.These people, headed by the Bai brothers, were also thorns in the side. It was the first question that Qu Chongyu deliberately asked to embarrass Pei Xingjian.It was not easy for Pei Xingjian to successfully collect military rations. Wang Junmeng and his party faced various difficulties. The first was the cost of manpower. Officials' salaries were half of those of court officials.Qu Chongyu pretended to help from the side, asking for revenue and expenditure reduction to help the court in the Western Expedition next year, and showed his strong support for Pei Xingjian. Pei Xingjian said nothing about the first day of discussions.

Concubine Xiao Shu and Queen Wang have been demoted to common people, and Wu Zhaoyi has also become queen. Some people sent messages, with the implication that they wanted to tell Pei Xingjian that there was no hope for him to stand up.Pei Xingjian didn't mind this. Instead, he looked through the local account books more intently, hoping to find some clues.

That night, Bai San led a group of people to drink. When he was getting drunk, he was called over by Qu Chongyu.Bai San came to the roof of Pei Xingjian's house late at night and watched the maid cleaning the courtyard, deliberately spitting the peanut shells she had eaten into the courtyard.Then he arrogantly ran to the roof of Pei Xingjian and Liuli's house, opened the roof and eavesdropped on their conversation.

Pei Xingjian was talking to Liuli about the topic of saving money that Qu Chongyu mentioned today.He asked Liuli if his sister had brought paper and ink ingots this time.After Bai San listened to their conversation, he left quietly.In his opinion, Pei Xingjian's mansion was nothing more than that, and he could come and go freely.

Wang Junmeng believed that Pei Xingjian had only two ways to save money: the first was to lower officials' salaries, which would cause public outrage; the second was to lower the price of paper, which would offend the An family.The An family is Liuli's parent family, so this will cause discord between Liuli and them.Wang Junmeng was very happy to see Pei Xingjian fall directly into their trap.However, Qu Chongyu always felt that things were going too smoothly