Women Wearing Men: The Growth Path of the Bastards of the Aristocratic Family

When Gu Yunji and Chen Xunzhou met, they first exchanged polite and warm greetings and flattery. You come and go, as if the two are close friends who have known each other for many years.

When talking about internal fear, Gu Yunji was joking along with Chen Xunzhou one second, and suddenly changed the topic the next second, and asked directly with a smile: "What is the purpose of Mr. Chen's visit this time?"

The topic jumped too fast, Chen Xunzhou's smile froze on his face for an instant, and then he quickly returned to normal, and said awkwardly: "Then what... I heard that Xue Liu, the county magistrate of Yibin, seems to have... committed something?"

It has been more than half a month since Xue Liu was imprisoned. During this period, Gu Yunji was collecting evidence everywhere, arresting the people involved in the case in a big way, and the people of Yibin mobilized to report Xue Liu's various crimes... After so many things, now Chen Xunzhou just heard that he " committed a crime", it is a bit too backward.

Gu Yunji suddenly realized, and his tone was affirmative: "Yes, someone came to file a complaint a few days ago, saying that Xue Liu, the county magistrate of Yibin, invaded the people's fields and neglected human lives. After verification, the matter was true. Later, a series of more incidents were involved, such as corruption and bribery, levying miscellaneous taxes under a clever name... ...Wait, anyway, his crimes are too numerous to write down, and there is no way to run away by ransacking his home and beheading him!"

A dark color flashed in Chen Xunzhou's eyes, and he tried to speak: "Then he..."

Before he could speak, Gu Yunji interrupted him, and sighed eloquently: "Hey, Mr. Chen, you don't know that as early as the first day I took office, Xue Liu tried to bribe me! On the surface It was to give me Zigong Well Salt, a specialty of Xuzhou, but when the lid was opened, except for a thin layer of salt on the top, there were golden beans underneath!"

"Fortunately, I was careful and opened the lid to check it with my own hands. Otherwise, if I just took the salt box back like that, wouldn't it be bribery? If that's the case, I'm afraid I'm already squatting in a prison... ..."

Gu Yunji sighed bitterly for a while, and was afraid of rejoicing after a while, with such wonderful and rich expressions, he performed the play over and over by himself.Standing aside, Chen Xunzhou tried several times to intervene but failed to find a chance, so he could only watch him chattering hesitatingly.

After a long while, Gu Yunji seemed to have just realized that there was someone like Chen Xunzhou, and suddenly approached him, looked him in the eyes, and said clearly: "Master Chen, you said that Xue Liu has been an official in Yibin County for so long. After so many things, why didn’t we see any signs of rumors before?”

For the past half month, Gu Yunji, in addition to interrogating Xue Liu's case, also investigated the power and relationship network behind him, and found that his biggest "protective umbrella" was the fellow prefect in front of him——Chen Xunzhou.

To say how close the relationship between the two is, it's not enough. Judging from the existing evidence, Gu Yunji thinks that they are more like a simple exchange of money and interests.Xue Liu flattered Chen Xunzhou in every possible way, giving him money and fields, but Chen Xunzhou turned a blind eye to what Xue Liu did and let him do anything wrong outside.

Although Chen Xunzhou didn't directly participate in the crime, strictly speaking, based on his previous contacts with Xue Liu, he could be involved and shed a layer of skin.It's just that Gu Yunji didn't do that, he found the relevant evidence but didn't release it, and kept on not judging Xue Liu, just waiting for Chen Xunzhou to come to him.

Sure enough, when he heard what he said, Chen Xunzhou looked a little unnatural, and said with a dry smile: "Perhaps... maybe Xue Liu's disguise is too good on weekdays...Of course it's also my fault. The management of subordinate county officials..."

"This is normal. You don't have to blame yourself, Mr. Chen. You are a fellow magistrate, assisting the magistrate in managing money, grain and civil affairs. The supervision of the officials of the whole government is mainly my responsibility as the general judge. Let alone a county magistrate, it is you and the magistrate. Master Yan is also within my surveillance range, hahaha."

Gu Yunji seemed to be joking unintentionally, and changed the subject: "I remember... three years ago, Xue Liu forcibly occupied Zhang's [-] acres of fertile land, and it seems that he gave it to you, Mrs. Chen? The real land deed has always been held by Zhang Cuiying. What Xue Liu gave you was a forged title deed, Mr. Chen has been in charge of civil affairs for so many years, he should be much more familiar with documents than I am, did he not find anything wrong back then?"

Chen Xunzhou's complexion changed: "About this matter... I didn't know about it back then. A housekeeper in my house took the land sent by Xue Liu without telling me, and I never handled the land deed from beginning to end. Wait for me When I found out, the people in the clan were taking care of the fields, and it had been a long time since it happened, and it was already too late..."

"Oh—so that's how it is..." Gu Yunji nodded in agreement, with the same expression on his face.

Gu Yunji guessed that Chen Xunzhou would definitely not admit it, and did not force him to break up. Seeing that his forehead was covered with fine sweat, he immediately pretended to be concerned: "Why is Master Chen sweating so much? It's already October. It stands to reason that the weather is not so hot, if Mr. Chen is weak, he should recuperate earlier."

"Could it be that Mr. Chen is worried because of Xue Liu..."

Gu Yunji suddenly realized something, with a meaningful expression on his face, before Chen Xunzhou could answer, he patted his chest confidently, "Master Chen can rest assured, the officials have checked, those rumors about you are all false, You can't stand at all, Xue Liu's matter will not involve you."

Chen Xunzhou breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the words, a big stone in his heart finally fell, and in the blink of an eye, he returned to the relaxed posture when he just entered the door, and said seriously: "I just wanted to tell you that the field under my name seems to belong to me. , but in fact most of them are handed over to the clansmen to take care of them, and I can't earn anything except for a reputation."

"The Zhang family's [-] mu of land was cultivated by a widow with two children in my family. I'm afraid she might not come back."

Gu Yunji's smile faded, and he said without changing his expression, "How do you say it?"

Chen Xunzhou sighed and said: "Oh, it's pitiful. The widow's husband was originally a government servant. A few years ago, there was a flood in the Xuzhou government. Regardless of the danger, her husband jumped into the flood to save several people. But he himself was washed away by the flood, leaving orphans and widows to live a hard life."

"In the past, their mother and son basically depended on the relief from the clan. After having these [-] acres of land, life suddenly became better. Her eldest son was admitted to the county's maternity school last year. He is very promising at a young age. Anyway, they are the family members of the martyrs, and they are living a good life, if we just take back the fields like this, won’t they kill their family?”

Gu Yunji silently swallowed a mouthful of depression with a sullen face, without saying a word.

They are living a good life, but what about the life of the Zhang family?The husband with a broken leg and the young daughter are all supported by Zhang Cuiying, inside and out. Isn't it difficult for the Zhang family?It was originally the Zhang family's land, but now they have a reason to occupy it!
What about widowed martyrs and county school students, I'm afraid they were all made up by Chen Xunzhou to coax him.After all, don't you just don't want to hand over the land?