Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

The bowls and chopsticks in the main room have been removed.

Huangfu Ce put down his teacup, stood up, nodded to Zhang Sanlang, and turned to walk towards the east wing. Lu Qiucheng followed behind him, and Zhou An glanced at Fang Zhong'an's increasingly tense face before following the two of them as well.

Zhang Sanlang stood at the door of the west room and gestured with his chin toward Fang Zhong'an.

Fang Zhong'an understood and followed him into the west room.

Zhou An stood in the courtyard and saw the shadow in the west room through the paper window.

Fang Zhong'an knelt down as soon as he entered the room. The sound of his knees hitting the ground couldn't be heard through the window paper, but the way his shadow collapsed was clearly visible.

Zhou An's lips curled down slightly, he withdrew his gaze, and strode into the east wing. Huangfu Ce had already lit the lamp and was sitting on the edge of the bed flipping through an old book. Lu Qiucheng returned to the inner room and sat cross-legged in meditation.

Zhou An sat down in the chair, grinned at Huangfu Ce, and said, "That guy surnamed Fang is obviously a scoundrel. I don't know why Uncle Zhang befriended him. Mr. Huangfu, did you see that? We just left, and he's already kneeling down to Uncle Zhang. Humph!"

Huangfu Ce smiled slightly, "Young Master Zhou, everyone has their own difficulties and their own hardships. The Third Master often says something that you must have heard: even a hemp rope has its uses."

Zhou An's lips curled downwards. "Uncle Zhang was just saying it casually, why is Mr. Huangfu taking it to heart?"

Huangfu Ce turned a page of his book. "Young Master Zhou, don't underestimate hemp rope. It's quite useful. Use it to tie sacks so the grain won't leak out. Use it to string a string of copper coins, and it'll feel heavy in your hand."

"Use it to tie your hair; it's neat and doesn't get in the way when you're working..." He suddenly looked up, his gaze falling on Zhou An's face, a sinister, dry laugh escaping his lips, "You can also strangle someone with it!"

Zhou An felt a chill run down his spine and forced a smile, "Uh, it really is. Fortunately, Mr. Huangfu taught me, otherwise I wouldn't have thought this through. Uncle Zhang is indeed as wise as the sea; every word and action of his can be a wake-up call."

Huangfu Ce's tone returned to its usual nonchalant tone, "You'll be studying at the state academy and eventually become an official. The people you meet will be even more unbearable than Fang Zhong'an. If you find everyone you meet inferior to you, then the only person you can rely on in this life is yourself."

Upon hearing this, Zhou An was startled and his gaze fell on the two figures on the window paper of the west room of the main hall, as if he were deep in thought.

In the west room, Fang Zhong'an knelt on the ground, his knees touching the ground.

He took something out of his pocket, held it above his head with both hands.

It was a thick booklet with a coarse hemp paper cover, the edges of which were curled up, as if it had been turned many times. The booklet contained about several dozen pages, and a faded hemp rope was tied to the corner of each page.

"Third Master, this is what I've kept in mind during these past few months as a detective in the interrogation room. I have a bad memory, so I have to write down who invited me to dinner, who gave me money, who I relayed messages for, and who I did favors for. I'm afraid if I forget, people will come looking for me and I won't be able to match them up."

Zhang Sanlang took the booklet, weighed it in his hand, and said, "You actually keep accounts? Do you know what the punishment would be if someone found this?"

Fang Zhong'an grinned slyly, "I know. My third brother said that if we accept less than one string of cash, even if we get caught on the spot, we'll only get a beating. So, we brothers only accept small amounts, never large sums."

Zhang Sanlang snorted coldly and opened the booklet.

The paper was slightly yellowed, and the handwriting was crooked and messy, as if it had been written down in a hurry, with varying shades of ink.

He flipped through a few pages, his fingertip pausing on a line of text.

On the eighth day of the third lunar month, at Duan's Tavern, Manager Zhao from the east of the city hosted a banquet. The food and wine cost 300 coins, plus 100 coins for tea. Please inquire about the price of the newly arrived millet at the granary and when it will be sold.

He scrolled down further:

On March 15th, at Yuelai Tavern, Manager Song treated us to pickled fish, the meal costing 200 coins. I inquired whether the seasonal commercial tax quota would be increased. The reply was: "Not for now; we'll discuss it again in the fall."

On the 22nd of the third month, at the teahouse at the street corner, Old Liu invited me for tea, which cost fifteen coins. I inquired about the background of the new teacher at the Zhao Family School in the south of the city. He replied: Zhao Siheng, a specially appointed scholar, had spent three years at the prefectural school.

In April, Chen, the owner of Chen's Butcher Shop, delivered two catties of pig's head meat, worth forty coins. He inquired whether the county government would impose an additional meat tax after the autumn harvest. The reply was: "Not yet, no need to panic."

On April 17th, Granny Wang, who ran the teahouse, sent a message to inquire about the owner of the shop next to Suyue Tower, asking for fifty coins. The reply was: the shop belonged to the brother-in-law of Yan Yasi…

…………

On May 25th, I inquired about an empty house in Jinshi Lane for a merchant from out of town. The visitor was a minor official, and he accepted two hundred coins from me.

Zhang Sanlang's finger stopped on this page.

He looked up at Fang Zhong'an. "A merchant from out of town? Inquiring about an empty house in Jinshi Lane?"

Fang Zhong'an raised his head, paused for a moment, and said, "Yes. On the 25th, I was eating at Duan's Tavern when a young official approached me. He said that an elder in his family was moving to Juancheng and he wanted to buy a quiet house."

"I know Old Mo, the fishmonger from the east side of the city, well. I know there are two empty houses around here. Introduce him to me..."

Zhang Sanlang closed the booklet and placed it on his lap. "The house next door to the west of mys is vacant. You've already introduced it, haven't you?"

Fang Zhong'an nodded.

Kujing Lane has a total of twelve houses, built in six pairs facing each other. The Zhang family's old house is the fifth one on the left, and the house that Sun Jizu bought is the fourth one. The empty house on the west side is at the end of the lane, which is the sixth one.

The household registration document records that the original owner was Liu, an old clerk in the county government, who was also the father-in-law of Yan, the clerk. Ten years ago, because his son-in-law opened a shop in Leize County, the whole family went there to live with him, and the house was rented to five families living together.

It was precisely because he left that Zhang Sanlang replaced Zhang Dalang as a clerk and sent servants to the county government, and later took over the position of the old clerk Liu.

This year, because Zhang Erlang passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), Li Hang casually mentioned it, and Kujing Lane was indeed renamed Jinshi Lane (Lane of Successful Candidates). During this period, people came to inquire about the price and wanted to buy the houses, and the value of the houses rose along with the market.

The price was raised from thirty strings of cash to fifty strings. Old Liu was worried that if someone wanted to buy it, it would be difficult to complete the transaction if people were still living there, so he drove all the tenants out and renovated the house.

When locals come to ask, Zhang Sanlang doesn't take it to heart; he usually knows their background. But when outsiders come to buy, he has to be more careful.

Zhang Sanlang frowned slightly. "What does that young master look like?"

Fang Zhong'an thought for a moment, then a look of certainty appeared on his face. "Fourteen or fifteen years old, a little younger than Young Master Zhou. He is wearing a moon-white silk shirt of excellent quality, and a piece of jade is tied around his waist, of good quality."

"He spoke with a Caozhou accent, and a young woman was with him, half a head taller than him, wearing a gray-blue jacket, without any hairpins or ornaments in her hair, and with a short knife hanging at her waist."

He paused here, "When she looked at people, her gaze was like a knife, and I didn't dare to look at her a second time."

Zhang Sanlang frowned even more upon hearing this, "What did they ask you?"

"He asked about the selling price of that empty house and who lived around it. I said that Jinshi Lane was mostly inhabited by long-established families, and there weren't many outsiders. The young master nodded and left without saying whether he wanted to buy it or not."

"I told him that the house key was with Old Mo and that I could see it anytime I wanted, but he said there was no rush and we should wait until the elders in the family came."