Volume 1 Qinghe County Chapter 30 Half Street Ximen Qing

  "Haven't they come back yet?" Wu Yue'e heard Dongmei's reply, her empty eyes exhaled a bit more of a dull, lifeless air: "Dongmei, you've been up all night, go rest now."

  "What about Miss?" Dongmei couldn't stop yawning, and tears were almost flowing out: "Do you want to rest too? Xiaobi will go prepare."

  "Yes... it's time to sleep." Wu Yue's words seemed to have a kind of inexplicable dead air, which made Dongmei feel very uncomfortable, but she still quickly served her mistress to bed, and only then did she lower the curtains and retreat.

  Wu Yue-niang closed her eyes, and two streams of tears slowly flowed out. She reached under the pillow to retrieve a small bottle, muttering to herself: "Time for bed..."

  "This isn't the head of a cow, is it? My master isn't at home." The Wu family's steward received the news and hastily welcomed them out the door, but ignored Ximen Qing standing to the side.

  "Your master will certainly not be at home." Niu's face was as black as coal, and he showed no reaction to the enthusiasm of the housekeeper. At this critical moment, he had to sever ties with the Wu family: "Have you met the newly appointed county magistrate?"

  "What?" The butler looked back at the cow's head and body, but didn't see half a person's shadow: "Where is the newly arrived county lieutenant?"

  "How dare you!"

  As Niu Da shouted angrily, Ximen Qing smiled and watched as Niu Da stretched out his five fingers and gave Wu's steward a loud slap on the arm.

  "Open your beady eyes wide, this is County Lieutenant Governor Xi Men!"

  The Wu family steward was beaten into a spin, his left cheek instantly swelling with five finger marks. He hastily bowed to Ximen Qing and said: "Lord Ximen, I have eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai, I deserve to die, I deserve to die."

  "Really?" Ximen Qing still smiled: "Do you know where your father went?"

  "The little one doesn't know." The Wu family's housekeeper covered his swollen face and replied while inhaling the cool air.

  "Your family's master sneaked into my mansion last night, intending to harm me. He has now taken his own life in fear of punishment." Ximen Qing said slowly: "Your young master has also been captured."

  "What!" The Wu family's steward's eyeballs almost fell out, with an incredulous look.

  Indeed, such a thing would be unbelievable no matter who it happened to. Yesterday, Wu Qianhu and Wu Daxiu were furious and led a group of people to prepare to smash the Ximen family, but the steward of the Wu household knew about it. How could they have expected that overnight, the master of the Wu household would become a murderer and take his own life?

  The cow nodded and beckoned, and the yamen runner brought over Wu Daishu, who was covered in dust and dirt, and it took the steward of the Wu household half a day to recognize him, covering his nose: "Isn't this Young Master?"

  This urine smell is so pungent it's almost suffocating!

  It really stinks, even the cows don't want to move, and directly lift their legs to kick Wu's uncle's butt: "Lead the way ahead!"

  Wu Dalang hastily knelt down in front of Ximen Qing, stretching out his hands to grasp his legs. Ximen Qing dodged back: "If you have something to say, say it! Don't resort to this!"

  "Sir, as your nephew's elder, I'm begging you to spare his life..." Wu Da Shu was already crying and snot-nosed: "Spare my life, please..."

  "Give this bird a good wash and change into some clean clothes, and wait in the hall!" Ximen Qing pinched his nose and shouted: "This stench is enough to kill someone!"

  "Also, gather all the members of the Wu family, big and small, in the main hall. I have something to announce."

  The butler replied with a quivering voice, Wu Da Shu saw that he wouldn't die for the time being, so he struggled to get up and followed the butler inside.

  "Seal the gate!" Ximen Qing led the way, proudly walking in with his head held high, followed by Niu Doutou. The yamen runners closed all the large and small gates of the Wu mansion, not even a mouse could escape.

  Ximen Qing sat in the main hall, and he and Cowherd Head were savoring their tea, watching as dozens of people from the Wu household slowly gathered into the hall.

  These family servants, maids and old mothers, no one can figure out what's going on, they all whispered to each other, discussing it in a flurry.

  "What's going on? Isn't this Ximen Dafu, the old master's son-in-law?"

  "What kind of son-in-law is this? He divorced his wife yesterday and now they have no relationship at all!"

  "Keep your voice down, he's already a county lieutenant now. Just look at how they're all respectfully serving tea to him."

  "Where has the old man gone? Why hasn't he come out yet?"

  "Where is the young master and miss?"

  Ximen Qing smiled and listened with his ear tilted, not saying a word. He knew that the steward had led Wu Dalang, who was still wet, into the hall. Only then did he clear his throat and stand up to say: "Everyone be quiet."

  The voice was not loud, but suddenly the hall fell silent, and everyone stopped talking, looking at Wu Da's appearance, even more surprised by the development of things.

  "I am the newly appointed county lieutenant of Qinghe County." Ximen Qing smiled: "I came today to announce something to everyone."

  "Your old man was a lone bandit thirty years ago, with the nickname 'Killer Bee'."

  Those servants, maids and old women were all shocked and disbelieving, only the steward of the Wu household and Wu Da Shu had accepted this fact, bowing their heads lost in thought.

  "Wu the old thief has seen that escape is hopeless and has taken his own life." Ximen Qing said with a smile, as if describing something that had nothing to do with him: "Previously, Wu the old thief arranged for Wu Yue-niang to embezzle my family's property over several years, totaling tens of thousands of taels."

  "So, by order of County Magistrate Wu: everything in the Wu estate, from top to bottom, including the land and all of you, now belongs to me."

  "What!" Ximen Qing's words instantly caused a stir, and it was clear that some of the maidservants let out a sigh of relief, as if Wu Tianhu's death was actually a good thing for them.

  "Sure enough, this old fellow is not a thrifty lamp at home either. It seems that almost all the maids in the house have been used up!" Ximen Qing thought angrily: "This old thief died too late!"

  Ximen Qing thought to himself as he glanced over the maids standing below, still finding a few of them to be quite pretty.

  "Huh?" Ximen Qing looked around and furrowed his brow: "Where's your family's young lady? And why didn't Dongmei come with you?"

  At this time, Dongmei, who had not closed her eyes all night, was lying on her own small bed, sleeping soundly. The medicine bottle in Wu Yueda's hand had already rolled to one side, and the poison inside had taken effect.

  A moment later, Ximen Qing, who had just received the news, stroked Wu Yueniang's still warm body, his eyes filled with regret. He looked at Dongmei, who was crying as if her life depended on it, and without saying a word, turned around and walked out of the room.

  Behind him were the sudden and violent cries of winter plum blossoms and the thudding sounds of heads hitting the ground...

  Did he himself cause this woman's death? A fleeting doubt crossed Ximen Qing's mind, but it was immediately dispelled.

  Having crossed into this world, I have already caused a considerable stir in the small scope of Qinghe County. If it weren't for my crossing, Ximen Qing might soon have fallen on hard times and his family would have been ruined. Where's the justice in that?

  The cause and effect in this are so complicated that it's impossible to explain clearly. Since I've been thrown into this world, I should live a good life here instead of just drifting along until death.

  So, in this matter of Wu Yue's daughter, Ximen Qing will absolutely not get entangled again, but rather put this matter down, to face the many things that need to be faced in the future.

  Only by letting go can we move forward.

  Ximen Qing's mind suddenly popped out with this sentence, which was said by some famous person, and the next thought was Pan Jinlian covering her chest, looking at herself in a somewhat frightened manner.

  Can you really let go? Can you really forget?

  Ximen Qing didn't know and didn't want to know.

  "Please take a look, younger brother." The divine calculator Jiang Jing didn't know when he also came to the Wu residence to help with the audit of their assets: "Most of the Wu family's property is secretly purchased storefronts or bought farms on the outskirts of Qinghe County, with a total value of around 15,000 guan up and down."

  "Huh?" Ximen Qing was also slightly shocked by this small number: "There are actually so many!"

  "The accounts are fine." The abacus expert Jiang Jing held a stack of deeds and the like in his hand: "This shopfront is almost half the length of the street!"

  Ximen Qing took over the land deed and looked at it. The slightly heavy mood just now was suddenly swept away by the joy of making a fortune, leaving no trace.

  Holding these land deeds, Ximen Qing really wanted to shout: "I, Wang Erlu, have never seen so much money!"

  With this money, our own plans can continue and even be realized faster than expected.

  "Very well." Ximen Qing made an effort to appear calm: "Of course, there are also the three thousand taels of silver belonging to the county magistrate inside."

  The Wu family's mansion, Ximen Qing intended to take over and sell it for a good price, so he only left a few servants and maids to guard the mansion, while all the other servants were dismissed, each receiving three to five taels of dismissal fees, and they all left happily.

  In addition, a box full of bottles and jars was also found in the secret room of Wu's mansion. According to the examination by Jiang Jing, an old rivers and lakes expert, more than half of them were aphrodisiacs and various poisons. There was also a small booklet that was filled with writing. It seemed that Old Wu had a habit of keeping records. After counting, there were nearly a hundred lives, which made Ximen Qing's heart tremble with fear.

  Ximen Qing presented the small notebook to Magistrate Zhu, which served as conclusive evidence that Wu Qianhu was indeed the killer bee. As for the box, Ximen Qing had someone secretly take it away, who knows when it might come in handy?

  As for Wu Da Shu and Abacus Li, Zhu Zhi Xian gave a big wave of his brush and came up with twenty lashes and exile of three thousand miles. These two goods can indeed take the same road. After Yu Nu Dong Mei buried Wu Yue Nang, she rented a house in a nearby village and was willing to guard the tomb for the rest of her life.

  The once prosperous Wu Mansion disappeared in just two days, leaving the people of Qinghe County bewildered. Zhu Zhi Xian received 3,000 taels and had his secretary draft a public notice, which was posted outside the government office. Even the seven-character couplet from Ximen Qing's tomb was copied and attached to the bottom. Of course, this time it was written by the secretary himself; if it were still Ximen Qing's terrible handwriting, it would have made dozens of people vomit.

  The people of Qinghe County finally realized that for thirty years, a murderer had been living in the county town without being detected, and almost brought disaster to the Ximen family.

  Luckily, Ximen Qing had been holding back and seized the opportunity to strike with lightning speed, inserting himself into the vital spot. Suddenly, wasn't it like a dead fish turning over? The entire city's common people, including the county magistrate, all let out a sigh of relief, right?

  It was night, under the bright light, a steady hand quickly recorded everything that had happened in the past few days:

  In Qinghe County, there was a wealthy man named Ximen Qing, also known as Blowing Snow. Within two or three days, he had cut off someone's whip, fondled a woman's breasts, laughed at the county doctor, acted as the county magistrate, taken in a young concubine, saved Wu Dalang, divorced his wife, and captured a great thief... All these things shocked people to no end. He plundered the Wu family and obtained over 10,000 taels of silver, earning him the nickname "Half of West Gate".

  Even the hand that was painted vividly depicted Ximen Qing kneeling down to rescue Wu Dalang, and in the end, even the Seven Rests Book was completely copied.