Thief Emperor

Chapter 199 The New Governor and the Poor Man
"Sir, Yuezhou City is just ahead."

Outside Yuezhou City, a young man dressed as a book boy, holding a horse with one hand and pointing at the city not far away with the other hand, said this sentence in an almost wailing tone.

After he said this, he turned around and looked at a young man who looked to be about 25 or 26 years old and had a very handsome appearance, his eyes were full of complaints.

"The people in the Ministry of Personnel said that I can take up my post within three months. If I postpone it further, half a year will be no problem. At least I should spend the New Year at home before leaving. How can I take up my post in the local area in the twelfth lunar month?"

The young master on the horse didn't take it seriously and said impatiently, "Okay, okay, how many times have I been nagging you on the way? I've spent every year at home during these years, so what's wrong with missing a year?"

At this point, the young man jumped off his horse and cursed, "You're just complaining. You get on the horse and I'll walk, okay?"

The servant boy didn't dare to mount the horse. After mumbling a few words, he said, "Sir, it's winter now and Yuezhou will be closed soon. What are we doing here? Do you have relatives in Yuezhou City?"

"I have come to Vietnam, but I don't have to rush to take office."

The young man looked up at Yuezhou City not far away, and said with great confidence: "Yuezhou has just experienced a rebellion, and the situation is very complicated. It's a good opportunity for us to take a look around before the New Year, so that we won't be at a loss after taking office after the New Year."

"This is me, your son, going out of the capital to serve as an official for the first time."

The young man took a deep breath and said, "Yuezhou has experienced war and must be in ruins now. I want to restore Yuezhou to its former glory within my term of office, so that the government can be stable and the people can be harmonious, and everything can be revived!"

The book boy didn't take it seriously. After looking around, he shuddered and said, "Sir, the people here kill officials and rebel when they disagree with each other. The previous governor died in office. Don't make such big talk..."

Because the young master was walking, he naturally didn't dare to ride a horse, so he could only lead the horse and follow behind his young master. He couldn't help but complain: "The world is different now. If we hadn't followed the Pei family, we might not be able to come to Yuezhou safely."

The young man, who was obviously the new governor of Yuezhou, turned around, glanced at his servant, and scolded, "You only know how to say discouraging words! It is precisely because Yuezhou has experienced war and is now in ruins that I took the initiative to come to Yuezhou."

"Let's sneak into Yuezhou City first, take a look at what Yuezhou looks like now, visit everywhere, and wait until the New Year is over before we can prescribe the right remedy!"

He was very confident, and strode towards Yuezhou City, shaking his head: "To bring peace and happiness to the people of Yue, and to make the customs more refined!"

The servant boy, leading the horse, looked at his master with resentment and couldn't help muttering in a low voice.

"Reading too much makes me stupid..."

...

Although it seemed very close, it was an hour later when the master and servant arrived at the gate of Yuezhou City. When they arrived at the gate, they were stopped by the soldiers guarding the city.

"Where did it come from?"

The young man was not angry, and said calmly: "I am from Jingzhao."

"What are you doing in Yuezhou?"

"Visiting relatives."

The soldier held out his hand and said sternly, "Passage permit."

The young man was well prepared. He took out his pass and handed it over. Then he looked at the people coming and going at the city gate and forced a smile on his face: "Brother, are there many outsiders coming to Yuezhou now?"

"Ah."

The soldier nodded and said, "I heard that the Central Plains was in turmoil, and many people came to Jiangdong to seek refuge with their relatives."

The young man said "Oh", took back the pass that was handed back to him, and entered Yuezhou City with his servants.

As soon as he entered Yuezhou, his brows immediately furrowed. He looked at the streets that had returned to order and were even quite lively. He couldn't help but look back at his servant and waved, "Come here, come here."

The servant named Lai An was also looking at Yuezhou City at this moment. Upon hearing this, he hurried forward and asked, "What's wrong, young master?"

"There's something wrong with Yuezhou."

The young man frowned and muttered, "No, no, it's not right. General Su has only been suppressing the Yuezhou rebellion for a few months. A state capital that has experienced war should have a sparse population, if not corpses everywhere. How can this Yuezhou city look like a war?"

He turned his head and looked at Lai An, with a suspicious look on his face: "Did you take the wrong road? Isn't this Yuezhou City?"

Lai An rolled his eyes and couldn't help but say, "Sir, didn't you talk to the city guard at the door just now?"

"He said this is Yuezhou."

"Weird, really weird."

The young governor scratched his head, confusion showing on his face again, and he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"Could it be that the officials of Yuezhou knew that I came secretly and sent people here to pretend?"

No, no.

He rejected this idea and said, "Let's go, Lai'an. Let's find an inn to stay in and wait and see for a few days."

Lai An stepped forward, grabbed his master's collar, and said, "Master, why don't we go directly to the government office?"

"I heard, I heard that there are still a large number of rebels hiding in the dark in Yuezhou. Maybe the two of us..."

"Cut the nonsense."

The young governor kicked Lai An and yelled, "Follow me!"

In this way, the master and servant stayed in Yuezhou for four or five days. They looked around the city during the day, sometimes went out of the city to take a look, and returned to the inn to sleep at night.

For four consecutive days, the young governor did not find any flaws in Yuezhou City. The city had indeed restored order and looked no different from a normal provincial capital.

In fact, because Yuezhou was the first to restore order, as the year was coming to an end, all the counties below came to the city to buy New Year's goods, and the city of Yuezhou became even more lively than before.

On the fifth day, the newly appointed governor saw a notice on the street. The content of the notice was very simple. It said that due to the war, the government had a lot of unclaimed land. Before the spring, it could be rented to tenant farmers for cultivation. The annual rent would be 10%. Seeing this notice, the newly appointed governor frowned, then froze in place, and then said nothing.

In the afternoon, he could no longer bear it, so he pulled his servant along and said through gritted teeth, "That Sima surnamed Li is really capable. Let's not wait until after the New Year, let's go find him right now! Let's see what this Sima of Yuezhou looks like."

Lai An shrank his neck and whispered, "Master, why are you so anxious all of a sudden?"

The young governor took a deep breath.

"Before I arrived in Yuezhou, I looked at the situation in Yuezhou in detail. I asked myself that with my own abilities, even if everything went smoothly, it would take about a year to restore Yuezhou. This Li..."

He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go. We have to go and see it today."

After saying this, he took his servant and went to the gate of the governor's office. He took out the seal and announced his identity. Soon, a slightly plump young man came out hurriedly to greet them.

"Excuse me, who is Lord Du?"

The young censor stepped forward, put his hands behind his back, and said calmly, "I am Du Qian."

He looked up at the plaque of the governor's office, squinted his eyes, and said, "Is Sima Li in charge here now?"

Having said that, he looked at the little fat boy in front of him with some suspicion, and there was some anger in his expression.

"Are you Li Zhao, the Sima of Yuezhou?"

The fat boy hurriedly shook his head and said, "Sir, my name is Liu Bo, and I am a clerk beside Li Sima... um... helping Li Sima to take care of the documents in the government office."

Hearing this, Governor Du became even more angry and shouted, "What about Li Sima? I am his superior, how dare he be so arrogant!"

"Li...Sima Li was no longer in Yuezhou the day before yesterday."

Governor Du raised his eyebrows and asked, "Where did he go?"

"I went back to my hometown in Qingyang."

Liu Bo looked innocent and answered honestly.

"Back home?"

Du Qian still frowned.

"Yes."

Liu Bo looked at the young man in front of him and explained, "Sima Li has gone back to Qingyang to propose marriage."

Du Qian's brows relaxed. He looked up at the governor's office and took a deep breath. "Then, should I wait for Li Sima to come back and then hand over the affairs and this office to him?"

Liu Bo quickly turned aside and said, "This is the envoy's yamen. Sima Li has never lived here. Now that the envoy is here, this is naturally his place."

"Please come in, sir."

Du Cishi looked Liu Bo up and down for a few times, then walked into the yamen.

After he went in, Liu Bo waved and called Meng Qing from Hexi Village, and whispered, "Ride on horseback to inform the second brother and tell him that the real owner has arrived."

Meng Qing nodded quickly.

"Yes."

……

On the other side, Li Yun had just returned to Qingyang on horseback. He first took a nap in his residence. After he had a full sleep, he staggered all the way to the back yamen of Qingyang County. As soon as he arrived at the back yamen, he met a woman in plain clothes.

"what."

Li Yun stopped, looked up and down at the plain-dressed woman, clasped his fists in greeting, and said with a smile, "Miss Liu is back from Qiantang?"

Miss Liu was also startled when she suddenly bumped into Li Yun, and she quickly bowed to him.

"Meet Li...Sima Li."

"you are welcome."

Li Yun waved his hand and said with a smile, "You are too polite."

After exchanging pleasantries, Li Yun subconsciously asked, "Did Miss Liu receive a reply from her family?"

Miss Liu was startled when she heard this, then her eyes turned red and she turned her head away.

"I...I'll leave after the New Year."

After saying that, she gritted her teeth and ran away in small steps.

Li Yun scratched his head, looking stunned.

Afterwards, he met Miss Xue. After he mentioned something to Miss Xue, Miss Xue became angry and pinched Li Yun's arm hard.

"Her hometown is in Ruzhou, and her aunt is in the Central Plains. The Central Plains is in chaos right now, so how can we contact her?"

"You're the only one who would ask!"

"Aren't you trying to drive people away by asking this?"

(End of this chapter)