NOVPUBSeeing that Guan Ping was unharmed, Liu Bei’s face instantly turned stern, "Explain this to me, how did you end up fighting with someone!"
"Lord Xuande, don’t blame Tanzhi for this. Today, we owe him a lot; otherwise, hundreds of Eastern Wu soldiers would have entered Fenggao unnoticed, even daring to bring this in!" While Liu Bei was questioning Guan Ping, Chen Xi also walked out from the alley, his eyes cold as he spoke, and then he tossed the crossbow bolt to Liu Bei.
"A heavy crossbow!" As soon as he touched it, Liu Bei knew what it was, and his anger surged, "Wen Ru, convey my orders to Yunchang and Yide to seal all four gates, and investigate the origins of this group of assassins thoroughly. Not a single related person shall be let go!"
The matter was set in stone after this; no matter how much the three families of Eastern Wu made a fuss, they could do nothing but redeem these three people with money. If you’re called an assassin, then you’re an assassin. No matter how much you protest, you can only be an assassin, an assassin with a heavy crossbow. In this era, tsk tsk tsk, Zhou Yafu was exterminated for hiding over a hundred pieces of armor, and though some of it was due to Zhou Yafu’s illiteracy, these heavy crossbows and armor provided just cause as well.
Soon, Xuu Chu hauled someone down from the sky, and looking at the heavy crossbow dismantled into pieces, Chen Xi couldn’t help but give a thumbs up. True to his profession, he had captured the criminal so swiftly.
"Lock them all in jail, awaiting questioning!" Liu Bei said with a cold face. To think someone actually smuggled in heavy crossbows, what are they trying to do? Do you three families of Eastern Wu have a death wish? If you privately keep this at home and no one discovers it, given the current situation in the world, surely no one will care. But now, what are you trying to accomplish?
"Oh, who might this be?" Liu Bei asked curiously, noting that the person’s demeanor resembled that of an official’s daughter, though it was clear there was something amiss with her attire.
"Tanzhi’s concubine," Chen Xi said with a yawn.
"No, no… no…" Guan Ping stammered.
"What’s there to fear? She is just a concubine. Your uncle won’t harm you!" Liu Bei patted Guan Ping’s shoulder, "Rest assured, given what you did today, your father won’t scold you. Youth is as Chen Xi says, ’in a crown of rage for the beauty’s sake,’ fear nothing, stand tall. As Liu Bei’s nephew, you mustn’t be afraid of trouble! Even if it’s a big issue, your elders will support you!"
Guan Ping’s cheeks turned red as he nodded continuously, like a pecking chick, while the singer girl previously addressed as Yue’er felt her world turning upside down.
Su Yue had never imagined that this honest young man who had been visiting her recently was actually the nephew of Liu Xuande. Who is Liu Xuande? Su Yue had no idea before she was trafficked!
It was only after she settled at Mount Tai that Liu Xuande’s title of Central Plains Dominator was heard incessantly, and combined with various true and false rumors, Su Yue was well aware of the strength of this benevolent elder, who was like the overlord depicted in the Spring and Autumn annals she had read in her family home. Such a person’s nephew, let alone now when she had fallen on hard times, even when she was still an official’s daughter, she would not have been a worthy match.
"This lowly one, Su Yue, pays respect to the Marquis of Fanyang Pavilion." Su Yue gave a graceful bow.
"Rise," Liu Bei said warmly. "Tanzhi, your discernment is not bad. Alright, take her and go back. I’ll speak on your behalf to your father." 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
Guan Ping was overjoyed; his aimless loitering was due to his concern that his father would not agree. Otherwise, he would have taken her back long ago. Even though Guan Ping was taciturn, he was not stupid; just as Chen Xi had said before, a hint of intent was all it took, and the next day the woman could be in his bed. But if he had done such a thing, Guan Yu would have beat him half to death.
However, looking at the situation today, Guan Ping felt lucky he had barged in, and then everything was resolved. He thought his Uncle Chen, though sometimes unreliable, was quite impressive indeed.
"Go on, then. You can’t have fun in front of me anyway," Liu Bei said, waving Guan Ping away with a gesture, indicating that he no longer needed to pretend to be a child in front of him.
"And as for you, Zichuan, what’s going on with you? This is a female compound, isn’t it?" Liu Bei asked curiously and then seemed to remember something, looking at Chen Xi with some annoyance. "What’s the matter with you and Fengxiao? I’ve found quite a few singers for you, yet you still linger in places like this. I’ve heard from Boning many times that you two were once caught visiting brothels like an overlord, and now you haven’t even completed your administrative affairs, have you?"
Chen Xi felt somewhat embarrassed; caught by his boss for playing truant, and even right outside a brothel, discussing visiting brothels like an overlord—this was truly low.
"I was here to survey the public sentiment. It just happened that I saw Tanzhi peering inside, so I took him in, but then this incident occurred," Chen Xi helplessly fabricated an excuse.
"Never mind that," Xuande said. "Let’s talk while we walk. The administrative work you entrusted me with is no big deal for me, but today’s event made me realize some problems. We need to create a few positions in Lord Xuande’s government office to handle the affairs of Qingzhou and Mount Tai," Chen Xi suggested as he moved forward, quickly leading Liu Bei away from the street.
Chen Xi spoke eloquently as they walked, and Liu Bei listened in astonishment. Li You, who was also there, admired the governance system Chen Xi was preparing to implement, as well as the proposed census system. Even with his many years of experience, Li You did not find any flaws in Chen Zichuan’s remarkable plan.
With such systems greatly benefiting his governance, Liu Bei naturally shifted his attention away from the petty matter of Chen Xi and Guo Jia visiting brothels. Instead, he listened carefully, jotting down aspects he did not understand to inquire about them later.
"We’re almost there with this step. It seems this should completely resolve issues with internal scouts, clandestine agents, corvée labor, population, and so on," Chen Xi spoke with some dryness in his throat. He was confident that Liu Bei could sense the goodness of the system, but surely he was confused. Even Chen Xi himself couldn’t perfectly explain the census system of the Great Ming. He could only grasp the general direction it was supposed to go, and if Liu Bei could fully understand it, there would be no need for people like them.
Glancing sideways at Li You, Chen Xi saw that he, too, was deep in thought. It was apparent that Li You was interested in the census system Chen Xi had described, but unlike Liu Xuande’s excitement, he seemed more focused on finding loopholes.
Chen Xi felt no pressure regarding this. The Great Ming Dynasty’s census system, despite its difficulties with relocation and changes in registration, and aside from the despicable music household registration, would have no significant issues outdoing modern census systems, let alone one from the Late Eastern Han Dynasty eighteen hundred years prior?
A system that the world’s talents had spent nearly two millennia to develop was not something Li You could easily fault, historical perspective or not.
(To be continued. If you like this work, please support me with your votes and monthly tickets on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
