Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 135 Shangguan’s Difficulties

There was a blacksmith shop in Fenglin County. Zhao Yifu certainly would not go there in person, but asked Wu Zhong to inquire about it first... The result was quite frustrating. It was just an ordinary blacksmith shop that made farm tools and did not sell any weapons.

There was an armory in the county government office, but it contained mostly swords and guns, but no swords for scholars.

Alas, Zhao Yifu has repeatedly lowered his standards.

Only then did he realize how rare it was for him to be able to bring out the Great Yangming Bronze Sword from the Moshan Treasure House.

The Pure Yang Magic Sword was an excellent magical weapon for anyone under any circumstances, but he destroyed it because of a momentary anger.

It’s too late to regret now, Zhao Yifu can only try his best to find a substitute.

However, as the steward of the county lord, Wu Zhong's going out to inquire about blacksmith shops that could forge swords immediately attracted the attention of the wealthy families in the county.

For a while, there was an endless stream of people coming to visit with so-called "famous swords", which made Zhao Yifu very annoyed.

In the end, he could only clarify that it was Wu Zhong who wanted to find a suitable weapon, not him.

Wu Zhong was confused. He felt that he was good at using his claws, so why should he use a sword?
Zhao Yifu looked at him seriously.

Wu Zhong finally admitted that he felt he should start studying kendo.

In this way, the popularity of this wave of "County Lady's Sword Selection" has passed.

After this experience, Zhao Yifu truly understood what "power" meant.

He was just a county magistrate, and he had a little power in a small county, which was enough for him. Then what about those real high-ranking officials or even the emperor?
"Haha, they must be surrounded by nice and sensible people."

He laughed and let the matter go.

Zhao Yifu did not blame the wealthy people who came to give gifts. Instead, he felt that this was his own negligence, so he handled it very low-key.

He was preparing for his third trip, and this time he was going to actually explore the prison mountain.

It is a good opportunity for my realm to be elevated at this time.

However, just before he set off, he had to change his plan because of an unexpected incident.

That is, Cheng Zhizhou, the governor of Yuzhou, to which Fenglin County belongs, actually sent someone to the county government office to inform that he would be inspecting here soon and asked the county officials to go out of the city to welcome him!

Zhao Yifu felt a little numb after hearing this. He never expected that he would encounter such a thing.

Then what about the magistrate Cheng who actually wanted him to go out to greet him?
His eyes became a little fierce.

He had just fought with the drought demon, and the murderous look in his eyes immediately made the clerk who delivered the message tremble all over.

Li Liang felt a chill on his scalp, wondering if his overly ferocious Shangguan would kill someone on the spot.

However, Zhao Yifu glanced at the trembling clerk and didn't get angry. He turned to Li Liang and said, "Brother Hanshan, I have no experience in this kind of thing. What do you think we should do?"

Li Liang felt a lot of pressure. He found that Zhao Yifu had unknowingly gained the power of a "superior".

Although he was only a county magistrate, he felt that he had never seen such power in a prefect or even a governor.

He withdrew his gaze, lowered his head and said softly, "Sir, now is the time to invite the city's celebrities to join us out of the city and rush to the 'Ten Mile Pavilion'. If we are slow, I'm afraid the prefect will have to wait for a long time."

Zhao Yifu was stunned when he heard this, and then suddenly realized that Li Liang was reminding him that there might be some difficulties here.

For example: The prefect suddenly came for an inspection without notifying them in advance, and when they went to greet him with the gentry and celebrities, they found that the other party had been waiting at Shili Pavilion for a long time.

Keeping your superiors waiting is a serious crime in official circles.

Zhao Yifu looked determined when he heard that, and he thought, why not just let Cheng Zhizhou wait there?

As soon as Li Liang saw his expression, he knew his superior was about to do something strange again, and he quickly said, "Sir, if you really leave the prefect alone, you'll be a target of gossip!"

Zhao Yifu nodded and sighed, "Okay, I'll do as you say. Let's go meet that Cheng Zhizhou."

Li Liang bowed deeply to Zhao Yifu. This gesture was sudden, but Zhao Yifu understood that Li Liang was persuading him not to cause trouble.

Seeing the good intentions of his deputy, Zhao Yifu decided to calm down for the time being and see what Zhizhou Cheng was prepared to do.

Li Liang has a strong execution ability, or it can be said that after Zhao Yifu's rectification, Fenglin County has a strong execution ability from top to bottom.

In just one hour, all the wealthy people in the city had gathered together.

"Greetings, my Lord. May you be well."

The wealthy families bowed to Zhao Yifu together.

This is indeed sincere. After all, under Zhao Yifu's rule, they have all found their own position and accepted the current order.

If they can all see hope for their own development under the current order, then everyone will respect him.

Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "Okay, you should have understood what's going on. Come with me to Shili Pavilion to welcome Cheng Yuzhou."

Everyone agreed, and then they headed towards the official road north of the city in a large crowd.

Why are there so many people?

If we let these big families contribute manpower and each bring some local gifts to welcome the guests, the scene will look much better.

The group traveled for another hour, exhausted, and finally saw the Shili Pavilion, only to find that a large group of people were already waiting there.

Zhao Yifu was mentally prepared when he saw the scene before him.

Li Liang beside him whispered, "Young Master, please be patient."

This person is really worried sick.

Wu Zhong, who had followed as a servant, had a stern expression on his face when he heard this, but he also advised: "Yes, sir, we should just be patient in this situation."

Zhao Yifu looked at his old servant in surprise, then suddenly realized something and said, "Uncle Wu, what do you want to do? Don't go too far."

Wu Zhong was stunned for a moment and said, "I just think that I should tolerate him for now. Once he leaves Fenglin County, I will personally take action and make him disappear completely."

Li Liang shuddered all over, and now he hated himself for not being deaf.

What did he hear?
Is this a discussion in broad daylight about how to "concoct" a state governor?

However, after hearing what his old servant said, Zhao Yifu calmed down. He advised, "Uncle Wu, it's not necessary. It's not necessary."

"Don't resort to killing people to solve every problem. I'm in the officialdom now, not in the underworld."

Wu Zhong felt a little uncomfortable. He felt that his ideas could no longer keep up with the second young master who was an official. There was a hint of loneliness in the old man's eyes.

But he still nodded heavily and said: "Okay, young master, I will listen to you."

Zhao Yifu ignored Wu Zhong and led the crowd forward.

Just as they were approaching Shili Pavilion, the yamen runners and guards brought by the prefect crossed their water and fire sticks in front of Zhao Yifu.

"Who are you? Don't rush me, my dear!"

The two yamen runners looked quite strong, and their new black uniforms made them look very majestic.

Obviously, this is also part of the prefect's "killing stick".

Perhaps because of his previous persuasion to Wu Zhong, Zhao Yifu is now in a very stable state of mind.

He didn't seem flustered at all. He simply took two steps back and then, slowly and steadily, clasped his fists and said, "Greetings, my two brave men. I am Zhao Yifu, the Magistrate of Fenglin County, and I'm here to see Cheng Yuzhou."

An officer put away his weapon and said, "Master Zhao, please wait a moment."

Zhao Yifu waited quietly.

Who knew that the messenger would be gone for so long, and not return for so long? Almost an hour.

Zhao Yifu waited patiently without saying a single word.

He waited calmly, but what was even more terrifying was that while he was standing there, the group of gentry and peasants who followed him also stood calmly, and did not dare to say a word in private.

This silence, in turn, brought a huge sense of oppression to the officers outside the Shili Pavilion.

After all, the prefect only brought about thirty or so runners with him when he traveled.

However, Zhao Yifu brought with him hundreds of welcoming staff.

Although the police officers are part of the establishment, they are not trained guards after all, so they will also be nervous.

Perhaps sensing this atmosphere, the officer who had been away for a long time finally returned. He politely said to Zhao Yifu, "Please forgive me, sir. The prefect is currently discussing Buddhist scriptures with a senior monk and cannot be free for the moment..."

Zhao Yifu nodded calmly and said, "I understand. I often lose sight of time when I have an epiphany. We will just continue to wait."

Seeing that Zhao Yi Fu was in a good mood, the officer said nothing more, nodded, and retreated into the provincial police team.

At Zhao Yifu's side, County Magistrate Li Liang suddenly stepped forward and leaned close to Zhao Yifu's ear, shielding his mouth with his folding fan and whispering softly, "Sir, this is Lord Cheng giving you a lesson for what happened earlier. You should just bear with it for now. After all, you've just been assigned by the Ministry of Personnel. He can't really do anything to you without real evidence."

Zhao Yifu nodded and said nothing.

But Wu Zhong had already clenched his fists tightly.

He has no sense of the overall situation, he only knows that his young master has been humiliated!

If Zhao Yifu had not warned him before, he would have been unable to resist and would have torn the prefect of Nashilaozi to pieces!
Zhao Yifu still maintained a calm demeanor, and another hour passed.

Two hours had passed, and considering the time lost on the way here, it would be dark in another hour.

It was not until this time that the magistrate Cheng came with the news and asked Zhao Yifu to go forward and see him.

Zhao Yifu composed himself and walked forward with steady steps.

Perhaps because of his achievement in the Golden Elixir, he now had the demeanor of a great man when he walked. At the same time, his expression was gentle and round, and people who saw him would say "What a refined scholar"!
"Your humble servant, Zhao Yifu, greets the prefect."

He came to the outside of Shili Pavilion and clasped his fists openly.

Anyway, Da Xu did not insist on the etiquette of kneeling to his superiors, so Zhao Yifu just greeted him in this casual manner.

But his temperament has improved now, and just this action makes people feel that he is natural, unpretentious, free and easy and true to his nature.

Look at what Cheng Zhizhou is doing in the pavilion?

Cheng Zhizhou wore a soft-footed hat and a brocade robe with auspicious clouds. He was a fat white man with round cheeks.

Opposite Cheng Zhizhou sat a red-robed monk.

The monk had his eyes lowered and his face was calm and kind. He seemed to be completely unconcerned with the outside world and was only thinking about the chess game between the two of them.

At this time, Cheng Zhizhou saw Zhao Yifu coming and said with an apologetic smile, "County Magistrate Zhao is here. I was just playing a game of chess with Master Ku Yu, but I didn't expect to meet such a worthy opponent and forgot myself for a moment. Please don't blame me."

Zhao Yifu glanced at the chessboard and smiled, "That's all right. It's rare for Lord Cheng to be so in the mood. Enjoy it to your heart's content. I'll just wait outside."

With that he went out.

Cheng Zhizhou: “…”

Well, he really didn't expect that Zhao Yifu would play against the rules!

What does it mean to continue having fun?
If he waits any longer, it will be dark. Is he, the prefect, going to have to continue to sit here and enjoy the evening breeze?
So Cheng Zhizhou snorted coldly and said, "Come back!"

Zhao Yifu is back.

Cheng Zhizhou said, "I originally wanted to talk things over with you, but it seems like you still have some resentment?"

Zhao Yifu said, "If you have anything to say, please speak directly."

His answer was completely official.

At this moment, the red-robed monk, who seemed to have been pondering the problem on the chessboard, suddenly said softly, "I heard that Master Zhao was looking for a sword a while ago. Did you find it?"

Zhao Yifu was quite surprised when he heard this. He didn't expect that this incident would become a reason for the other party to attack him.

However, he did not follow the monk's line of thought, but instead asked, "Monk, where are you staying? Where are you from and where are you going? Do you have my Daxu certificate?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zhizhou sternly said, "You idiot! This is Master Kuyu from the Great Wheel Treasure Temple on Prison Mountain. How can you be so disrespectful to such a virtuous master?"

Zhao Yifu's eyes flickered for a moment, then he asked, "Does Master Kuyu have a certificate of ordination?"

This Kuyu said calmly: "I am a poor monk from the outside world and am not bound by the etiquette of the world."

"Master Zhao has yet to answer my question. Have you found a suitable sword?"

Zhao Yifu pondered for a moment.

Cheng Zhizhou then asked, "Master, why don't you answer when I ask you a question?"

"But are you worried that your shameful deeds of exploiting the people's wealth will be exposed?"

Zhao Yifu raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, then shook his head and said, "Not really. I don't like any ordinary sword in this world, so I've dropped the ball."

Cheng Zhizhou said, "Since you've done it, don't try to hide it. Show me your sword. I want to see what kind of sword you got by making such a fuss."

When Zhao Yifu heard this, he realized that the other party was not going to give him a chance to explain, so he was too lazy to explain.

He waved to Wu Zhong and said, "Uncle Wu, bring me your sword."

Wu Zhong held up his sword with a puzzled expression.

This sword... was just picked by Wu Zhong at random, because Zhao Yifu said that he was the one who wanted to buy the sword, so he could only buy a sword that was decent.

Zhao Yifu took the sword with a nice scabbard and said, "This is it. What advice do you have for me, monk?"

The bitter desire opened his eyes and looked at Zhao Yifu calmly, saying, "Donor, you know that all beautiful things are just appearances, and all appearances are empty. Even if you indulge in extravagance and take advantage of everything, in the end, it will all be empty."

Zhao Yifu looked at the monk from Lunzang Temple calmly, and felt that it was extremely ridiculous to hear such Buddhist verses that encouraged people to be good from his mouth.

"Don't you believe it?"

Zhao Yifu responded calmly.

Ku Yu suddenly stretched out his hand and saw a green bamboo pole growing rapidly from under his feet.

He reached out and plucked the precious green bamboo in his hand, then said to Zhao Yifu, "This bamboo was picked by me casually in the mountains behind the Great Wheel Treasure Temple. It can break the precious sword you have painstakingly found. Are you willing to give it a try?"

Zhao Yifu's eyes were fixed on the bamboo pole.

His heart beat twice involuntarily.

Although we have only been together for about a month, we have become friends after all.

Now there is no news from the old friend, but his magic weapon appears in the hands of the enemy.

At this moment, Zhao Yifu did not respond.

"sulfuric acid!"

Cheng Zhizhou suddenly shuddered, and when he came to his senses, he could only see the last moment when Zhao Yifu put the sword back into the sheath.

A solemn atmosphere of deathly silence suddenly appeared in the field.

(End of this chapter)