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

Fang Zhong'an's eyes reddened again, this time not from grievance, but from a feeling that he himself couldn't tell whether it was joy or surprise.

He looked down at the booklet in his hand, then looked up at Zhang Sanlang, gritted his teeth, and handed it back. "Third Master, I'm giving this booklet to you. Please keep it safe for me, as if it were my head on your plate."

Zhang Sanlang took the booklet, looked at him with satisfaction, and wasn't surprised. "Have you thought it through?"

Fang Zhong'an nodded vigorously, "I've thought it through. From now on, I'll only sell you any information. If I let a single word get out that's detrimental to you..."

He raised his right hand and made a throat-slitting gesture. "If you use this booklet to confess, my entire family of seven will die a neat and tidy death without any complaints."

Zhang Sanlang's lips twitched. "You're such a bachelor. Alright, get up. Stop kneeling."

Fang Zhong'an pushed himself up, wiped his face with his sleeve to remove the moisture from the corners of his eyes, and put on a smile again. "Third Master, I'll take care of the matter of the western house as soon as possible. I'll talk to Old Mo myself; it won't arouse suspicion."

"No need to rush. If he asks, then answer; if he doesn't ask, don't bring it up. Let him come to you. If he's really targeting me, the more anxious you are, the more wary he'll become."

Fang Zhong'an nodded vigorously, "I understand, I understand."

"If you have any news in the future, don't come to me. Go to the incense and candle shop at the end of the alley and find Old Feng, the paper craftsman. Give him the message, and he'll pass it on to me. Old Feng is one of my men; he's tight-lipped."

Fang Zhong'an nodded again, "I've got it. The incense and candle shop at the alley entrance, Old Feng."

Zhang Sanlang yawned. "Alright. It's getting late, you should go back now."

Fang Zhong'an responded and bowed as he left the west room.

He walked through the main room with much lighter steps than before, pushed open the courtyard gate, and stepped out of the alley. The night wind rushed in, making him shiver, and his mind suddenly cleared.

Fang Zhong'an raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face. The sound was particularly loud. "Idiot! Idiot! I've handed over my weakness to the Third Master!"

He stood at the alley entrance, rubbing his face. Remembering the promise of thirty strings of cash every year and the extra rewards, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

As he rubbed his face, he walked on, and after a few steps he started to calculate again. All four of his brothers worked in the government, and with all these information channels combined, they could easily earn thirty strings of cash a year.

These three officials are at odds with the Kong family of Puzhou, and they also seem to be at odds with Hao Lushi. I heard they also have a bad relationship with the Wang family. Who knows, if they dig up some important information, they might get a bigger reward.

Who knows, he could easily earn forty or fifty strings of cash a year!

The more he thought about it, the happier he became, and his steps became lighter and lighter. When he turned onto the main street, he was already humming a little tune, which was swept up by the night wind and scattered on the street.

The next day, the back door of the county government office was opened a crack.

Li Hang and Zhao Xie emerged one after the other, both dressed in casual clothes.

Li Hang wore a slightly worn grayish-blue cloth shirt, with a cloth towel tied around his waist and cloth shoes on his feet.

Zhao Xie changed into a brown long gown, with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, looking just like an accountant from some manor.

The pageboy Zhou Ping was already waiting at the alley entrance in a blue-curtained mule cart. When he saw the two of them come out, he quickly jumped off the cart and lifted the curtain.

Before getting into the car, Li Hang glanced back at the back gate of the county government office, then bent down and crawled into the carriage.

Zhao Xie followed and got into the carriage, and the curtain was lowered.

Zhou Ping jumped onto the cart shaft, flicked the whip lightly, and the mule cart swiftly drove out of the alley.

Not long after turning onto the official road leading out of the city, the road surface changed from bluestone slabs to rammed earth, and the ride became bumpy.

After traveling for about 15 minutes, Zhou Ping whispered from the carriage shaft, "Sir, we've arrived."

The mule cart stopped by the roadside. Li Hang lifted the curtain and got out of the cart, standing by the roadside and looking at the village in the distance.

The village is small, with dozens of low adobe houses scattered around.

In front of the village was a wide open field where several early-rising farmers were tidying up their tools. They looked up at the sound of a mule cart, then lowered their heads and continued working.

Li Hang did not rush into the manor.

He stood on the high point of the stone bridge and first surveyed the layout of Zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi unfolds along a small river, with fields stretching out on both sides of the riverbank, estimated to be over two thousand acres, crisscrossed by paths.

More than thirty households are scattered among the fields, mostly small courtyards with earthen walls and thatched roofs, with firewood drying in front of the courtyards and farm tools piled up in the corners.

In the north-central part of the village, there stands a large house with blue bricks and gray tiles, which looks like an isolated island when surrounded by other low houses.

From where he stood, he could see the entire mansion.

The main courtyard is the largest in the center, with its upturned eaves towering above the surrounding rooftops, overlooking the other four smaller courtyards.

Four small courtyards are arranged in the east, west, south, and north, like a border around the main courtyard. The courtyard walls are high, and broken porcelain shards are stuck on top of them, gleaming coldly in the morning light.

Zhao Xie also got out of the car and walked to Li Hang's side. Following his gaze, he said, "This house is built in a grand style. But something seems off to me."

Li Hang glanced at him, then pointed to the main courtyard. "You noticed it too? Look at the layout. The main courtyard is in the center, surrounded by a small courtyard on each of the four sides. From above, it looks like a well, with the main courtyard at the bottom and the four small courtyards forming the walls."

"From a feng shui perspective, this is called a 'trapped situation' or a 'prison trap.' There is no road behind the main hall, walls on the left and right, and only one door in front. With only one way out, the flow of energy is blocked, and the people living inside are like being locked in a cage."

After listening, Zhao Xie remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Then why did he build it with this layout?"

Li Hang withdrew his gaze. "The person who built this house either didn't know how, or they had no choice but to build it into a fortified village to prevent people from coming in. It must have been built decades ago to avoid war and bandits."

"No matter what kind it is, the people who live there will not have a smooth life. When their luck is blocked, their spirits are easily choked. When their spirits are choked, they are prone to doing foolish things. Over the generations, by the time it came to Chen Youde's generation, they had already done quite a few foolish things."

Li Hang stepped off the stone bridge and walked along the country road towards the village. Zhao Xie followed behind him, while Zhou Ping drove the mule cart to a large willow tree by the roadside, tied the reins, and sat on the cart shaft to wait.

The two walked to the edge of the village, where the dirt road turned into a gravel road.

People on both sides of the road opened their doors one after another. Some people squatted at their doorways to wash their faces, while others brought out stools to sit under the eaves and shell beans.

Seeing two strangers walk by, no one came to ask them anything.

The village was very quiet, so quiet that you could hear the river flowing over the stone dam.

When they reached the vicinity of the mansion, Li Hang stopped.

The gate was painted black, and the door knocker was made of brass, which had darkened from being exposed to the sun.

A new plaque hung above the door, coated with tung oil, bearing the three characters "Yangji Yuan" (Almshouse) and signed "Inscribed by Shen Jue, Magistrate of Juancheng County." The plaque was newly replaced; the nails were still shiny, showing no signs of rust from wind and rain.

On either side of the door frame hung wooden couplets, the same color as the new plaque, the ink somewhat resembling Zhang Sanlang's style:

The helpless will eventually be cared for, and the poor will find a place to live in peace.

The stone blocks on both sides of the door frame were worn smooth, and the courtyard wall was more than half a meter higher than the walls of other houses in the village, with a strip of moss growing at the base of the wall.

Seeing that the side door was half open, Li Hang pushed it open and went in, with Zhao Xie following behind.

Two old women sat on a bench under the porch; one was weaving straw sandals, while the other squinted and leaned against the wall, basking in the sun.

Hearing footsteps, the old woman weaving straw sandals looked up at the two men and smiled, "Are you Magistrate Li and Mr. Zhao?"

Li Hang and Zhao Xie exchanged a glance, a hint of surprise in their eyes.