Rebuild the Xiuxian Family

"Is there something wrong with what I said? Since I entered this yamen, I haven't even uttered a word, yet I've already been convicted by you, the Legalist sage. In that case, what is there for me to say in my defense?"

Li Zhirui spoke without backing down, not only wanting to vent the pent-up frustration he had accumulated since entering the Great Qian territory, but also wanting to use this opportunity to demonstrate his righteous innocence.

boom!
The gavel slammed down on the table again in the official's hand. His face was flushed with anger, and he glared at him, growling, "When did I ever convict you?! That was merely to intimidate you!"

As disciples of the Legalist school, they rely on a strict and impartial mind to judge cases. If they do as Li Zhirui said, they will inevitably suffer a backlash.

So even though he did initially intend to convict him outright, once his intentions were exposed, he had to change his tune and try to justify himself.

Otherwise, if word got out, not only would he lose face, but if it also damaged the reputation of Legalism, he would truly become a sinner.

"Ah!"

Li Zhirui merely responded with a cold laugh. Didn't he know what the other party was thinking?

However, completely breaking off relations would not benefit him, so he stopped at the right time. After all, when you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head. This place is, after all, the territory of the Humanity Dynasty.

Seeing this, the official could only grit his teeth and continue the interrogation, coldly demanding, "Where were you last night? What were you doing? Is there anyone who can testify for you?"

"Yesterday I strolled around the city for a while and then went to the Wufu Restaurant, planning to rest for the night before setting off to travel to the heart of the Great Qian."

"Is there anyone who can testify on your behalf?"

“There is a waiter on duty in the lobby every night, and he can testify that I did not leave the restaurant last night.”

The reason Li Zhirui chose this restaurant was precisely because it could prove to him that the death of that minor official had nothing to do with him.

"Guards! Summon the manager and staff of Wufu Restaurant for questioning!"

While waiting for the two to arrive, Li Zhirui stood calmly to the side, appearing very confident, which made people believe that the case had nothing to do with him.

Fifteen minutes later, the prosperous-looking shopkeeper and his reserved assistant arrived at the yamen.

"When will you, sir, promote us? Wufu Restaurant has always been law-abiding and has never committed any offenses." As a disciple of the merchant and with powerful backers, the manager was not particularly afraid of the officials in the hall.

The clerk standing nearby immediately explained why he had summoned the two of them.

After listening, the innkeeper glanced at Li Zhirui and said, "Is this the cultivator? He certainly didn't leave the restaurant last night."

"Why are you so sure? Did you also stand guard last night?" the official asked, frowning and speaking in a less than friendly tone.

Although both are disciples of the Hundred Schools of Humanity, disciples of the merchant class have always been the least popular, and even commerce is considered a lowly profession, so he treated the shopkeeper very poorly.

"There's a booklet in the shop to record the guests who leave the restaurant at night, but last night the page was blank, so naturally no one went out." The shopkeeper's chubby face was all smiles, completely unconcerned about the other person's disdain.

"Tell me! Did you see anyone leave the restaurant last night?"

The man was a true commoner. Hearing the question, he answered tremblingly, "Replying to your question, sir, I did not see anyone leave."

"really?"

"Really, no, sir."

Do you know what the consequences of lying are?

The man was relentlessly interrogated, and the official even resorted to Legalist methods, with signs of torture. How could a mere commoner like him withstand such treatment? He began to tremble.

Li Zhirui, who was standing to the side, frowned. He was about to step forward to shield the man from the oppressive aura when he saw the shopkeeper take half a step forward, play with a copper coin in his hand, and say with a smile, "Sir, this is not a good thing to do."

"Hmph!" Upon seeing this, the official also withdrew his oppressive aura.

“Sir, since someone can prove that I did not leave the restaurant last night, it is enough to show that this matter has nothing to do with me. May I leave?” Li Zhirui also took the opportunity to speak.

The official's already gloomy face turned extremely ugly, and he said stiffly, "Well, you can go back now, but if any clues are found related to you, you will be summoned at any time. So you must not leave the city for a while! Otherwise, I will definitely accuse you of fleeing the country!"

"Thank you for your advice, sir. I will keep it in mind!"

He bowed respectfully, then turned and left with an air of nonchalance.

"Sir, this matter has nothing to do with my Wufu Restaurant. I'm taking my staff and leaving now." The manager helped the kneeling waiter up and walked out of the yamen.

The official stood up angrily, his face dark, and strode towards the backyard. With a bang, a vase by the roadside crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.

After a long while, he calmed himself down and shouted, "Guards! Bring me my advisors!"

He hired five advisors to help him govern the area, and they are arriving one after another.

"I am certain that the minor official named Wang Jianyi was killed by Wang Qinghe! He must have used some means to secretly murder him!"

The official seemed to be so angry that he was ignoring all evidence and relying entirely on his own guesses and conjectures.

These words left the five advisors looking troubled and embarrassed. Although cultivators had a low status in the Great Qian Dynasty, they couldn't just arrest people at will.

"We must find evidence and send him to jail!"

"Yes!"

The five advisors exchanged glances and gave a tacit, unified reply.

In reality, they all knew what was going on, but they couldn't think of any way to lock up a rogue cultivator, which gave them a huge headache.

……

the other side.

Li Zhirui quickly left the yamen and returned to the Wufu Restaurant. Although he had the Dragon Qi Jade Seal, the yamen's humane laws still made him very uncomfortable.

He needs to rest and recuperate.

Therefore, as soon as he returned to his room, he sat cross-legged and began to breathe in and absorb spiritual energy.

About an hour later, Li Zhirui slowly finished his practice, got up and left the room.

"Shopkeeper."

He walked into the hall, looked at the manager who was calculating yesterday's expenses and income, called out to him, and then continued:

"I feel really bad that my matter has implicated the restaurant and that waiter. Although this money is not much, please accept it as a token of my apology."

The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "Since the guest has put it this way, then I will accept it."

"Where is that fellow? I want to apologize to him in person." "Xiao Liu, come out quickly!" the shopkeeper shouted towards the backyard.

The waiter rushed out and asked, "Manager, is something the matter?"

"Look, this guest wants to apologize to you."

Li Zhirui took over the conversation, saying, "I'm really sorry that you've suffered because of my matter. I hope you won't refuse this apology."

After saying that, he handed over a small package.

"This……"

"Take it." A golden glint flashed in the shopkeeper's eyes. The package was emitting specks of golden light, indicating that it was quite valuable. He immediately gestured for Xiao Liu to accept it.

“There may be other troubles in the next few days, I hope you will understand, shopkeeper.” Li Zhirui guessed that the official would not let the matter rest easily.

"It's alright, I believe you are innocent, sir," the shopkeeper said with a smile.

He had used a merchant's secret method to try and figure out Li Zhirui's value, but in his eyes, it was a complete blank!
There are only two possibilities for this situation: either the other party is truly worthless, or their value is too great for him to discern due to his insufficient cultivation.

But clearly, the other party cannot be the former!
Therefore, the shopkeeper wanted to befriend this man, especially after witnessing his generosity today, his desire to befriend him grew even stronger.

Li Zhirui vaguely sensed the other party's thoughts, but he didn't have any particular ideas. After all, he was just a passerby and wouldn't stay here for long.

"I only hope that sir can prove my innocence as soon as possible." After saying this, he bowed to the two men and took his leave.

"Shopkeeper, why don't you keep this apology gift? I didn't do anything wrong." Although Xiao Liu was a little reluctant, he still handed over the package.

"Keep it safe, the things inside might change your destiny." The shopkeeper waved his hand and sent him back.

He had already seen that Xiao Liu's fortune was undergoing a dramatic change, and he secretly sighed in his heart, "He's really rich and powerful; with just one move, he changed a person's life forever."

Xiao Liu returned to his cramped room and nervously opened the package. There wasn't much inside, just a few dozen taels of silver, a few glittering copper coins, and a book.

"Business Management! Could this be a cultivation method for business people?!"

He no longer cared how a cultivator like Li Zhirui could possess the Merchant's Method. His eyes were filled with shock, his hands trembled as he grabbed the book, his breathing became rapid, and he turned the pages with trembling right hand, concentrating intently on reading each word.

"The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is bustling, all for gain... The way of business is to buy low and sell high..."

Xiao Liu was so engrossed in his own world that he didn't realize how much time had passed outside, or that he hadn't eaten or drunk anything for several hours and was so hungry that he was finally jolted awake.

But he showed no signs of dejection; on the contrary, he was extremely excited and thrilled. He had already begun to imagine the bright future he would have when he truly mastered the craft and started doing business.

……

For the next few days, Li Zhirui stayed obediently in the guest room and did not step out of the door.

This situation left the official at a loss as to how to frame Li Zhirui. Despite his best efforts to investigate, he was unable to find any evidence linking him to Li Zhirui.

Furthermore, there were no clues on the body of the victim, Wang Jianyi, as if he had simply died suddenly and had no connection with anyone else.

However, some rumors began to circulate in the city, and they were all about that official. People said he abused his power for personal gain and used his position to settle personal scores. He was not at all like a disciple of the Legalist school and had disgraced the Legalist school!

At first, only a few people spread the word, but gradually, more and more people joined in the discussion. It's not that everyone in the city knows about it, but at least most of the people know about it.

“Sir, this case cannot be delayed any longer…” one day, a clerk said to the official.

“Yes, sir, no matter what, this case should be closed.” The other clerks chimed in.

The official frowned and asked, "What happened?"

The clerks hesitated and dared not speak.

"It's alright, just say it."

"There are many people outside saying that you are planning to settle personal scores, which is why you have been dragging this out and not resolving the case. If this continues, it will damage your reputation."

Snapped--

A sound of shattering porcelain echoed in the room, followed by a voice suppressing anger: "What a Taoist! I never expected that when it comes to such scheming and trickery, he's no less capable than us seasoned officials!"

The study was silent for a long time before a voice finally rang out again, "This case will be closed tomorrow!"

"Yes!"

The clerks breathed a sigh of relief. If their master had insisted on resisting, it would have caused a huge uproar and become common knowledge. Even if it was just a rumor, his official career would have been ruined!

Fortunately, he didn't lose his mind and maintained a shred of rationality.

……

Silent all night.

The next morning, the government posted a notice announcing that Wang Jianyi's death was indeed an accident and had nothing to do with anyone else.

Upon hearing the news, Xiao Liu rushed over to tell Li Zhirui the good news, "Brother Wang, your suspicion has been cleared!"

"Thank you for going to so much trouble for me these past few days."

Those rumors didn't just appear out of nowhere. Li Zhirui asked Xiao Liu to hide his identity and contact those beggars and vagrants, paying them to spread the prepared rumors.

Isn't this kind of slightly provocative topic exactly what ordinary people love most?
"Of course, if it weren't for Brother Wang, I wouldn't have been taken in as an apprentice by the shopkeeper." Xiao Liu smiled sheepishly.

However, after he obtained the book "Business" that day, he quickly mastered the basics, and a faint aura of copper coins emanated from him.

He was discovered that very day by the shopkeeper, who was also a disciple of the merchant. Upon questioning, it was discovered that he had taught himself the skill!
The shopkeeper was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected that this honest young man would have such a talent for business, and that he was quite gifted. After thinking for a moment, he immediately took him on as an apprentice.

He might need this apprentice to help him reach even greater heights in the future.

Xiao Liu's errand-running for Li Zhirui wasn't at the shopkeeper's behest, but rather stemmed from his own heartfelt desire.

"Now that I've been cleared of suspicion, I should be leaving." Li Zhirui didn't intend to linger any longer; the official would surely guess that the rumors originated from him.

If we stay any longer, who knows what other tricks they might pull?
It should be known that Legalist disciples are famous for being vengeful, and he really didn't want to continue fighting with the other party and waste his time.

Therefore, leaving immediately is the best opportunity! (End of Chapter)