Chapter 48: Social death
Uncle Xu's intelligence was as follows:
"Zhou Li has been very peaceful these past few days, probably because he has been warned by Squire Zhou, and has not acted in any way that violates the law and discipline, and has been indulging with a group of yamen all day long, going in and out of gambling houses, restaurants, and the Department of Education.
"In addition, during the tracking process of my people, they found that Zhou Li frequented a certain mansion, which did not have a plaque on it, it should be a private mansion that he bought outside, and in it lived a maid, a granny, and an old man who watched the door. There was also a woman.
"That woman is in all probability the one he kept outside ....."
Xu New Year and Xu Qi'an listened in silence, their respective contemplative shapes different, Xu Qi'an looked down at the ground, his fingertips unconsciously tapping on the desktop.
Xu New Year looked up at the roof of the sky at a forty-five degree angle, Wushuang gathered in his sleeves, in a daze-like state.
After finishing his speech, Second Uncle Xu looked at his nephew and son and said, "What are your opinions."
His nephew and son tacitly ignored him, glancing at each other, and Xu New Year said, "The students of our academy are not on the same path as those of the Guozijian, and despise and are hostile to each other.
However, contemporaries of the lifts will occasionally get together, the Dao is antagonistic, but individuals can have fellowship."
Contemporaries of the same period of the lifts are also considered half of the same class, the relationship is good, may not be unable to use in the future. As for the dispute over the Taoist system, compared to personal interests, it has to take a back seat.
"Zhou Li, this person, has an arrogant and domineering personality, and many of his fellow students in the State Prince's College have had grievances and clashes. But he is by no means a brainless dude, and those who have a grudge against him have average backgrounds."
Xu Qi'an was not surprised by this, from Zhou Li's means of dealing with him, he could analyze that this magistrate's method of doing things was not brilliant, but effective and had a certain amount of heart and city.
His arrogance was only directed at people whose background and power was lower than his own.
"This has undoubtedly increased our difficulty in dealing with him." Xu Qi'an sighed.
Xu New Year gave him a cross look, "Don't interrupt and hear me out.
"Zhou Li has been infatuated with Miss Floating Fragrance of the Church Department for a long time, and whenever he goes to the Church Department, he must look for Miss Floating Fragrance. However, he has repeatedly fallen short when 'playing tea rounds'."
Miss Floating Fragrance? The flower girl of the Education Department? The beauty that Sheriff Wang said would be worth her life if she slept with her for one night? Xu Qi'an's spirits lifted.
Xu New Year raised his teacup, looked at the empty cup, and put it down again helplessly, saying:
"I originally thought that I could play drive the tiger to swallow the wolf once more. Using Zhou Li's conflicts with his fellow students to formulate a plan, but those fellow students don't carry enough weight, and with Zhou Li's caution, getting him to mess with the higher level government offices would be too difficult and almost impossible to achieve.
"Zhou Li goes to the Department of Education extremely often, if he wants to extract more information, that Floating Fragrance girl is an excellent breakthrough."
Duk-duk... Xu Qi'an knocked on the desktop.
Waiting for Uncle Xu and Erlang Xu to look over, he said in a deep voice, "I must remind you of one thing, no matter what time it is, we have to subtract, the more complicated the plan, the more loopholes there are.
"Against Zhou Li, it is impossible for us to have a plan that is too complex and subtle, because the gap between each other is too great. Resignation, don't fall into a thinking error."
It was easiest for readers to be smart and calculate people, making it more difficult for themselves to think about the subtlety of the layout and the skillfulness of the means.
This was especially true of Xu Ru旧 who viewed himself highly and was well versed in the art of war.
Xu Ru旧 frowned, somewhat agreeing and somewhat unconvinced: "What's big brother's high opinion?"
"Simple, the simpler the better." Xu Qi'an mused, "A crime that truly has no traces is a murder of passion, we need to do the same when formulating a plan."
"How simple? Firstly, there shouldn't be many people involved, and secondly, things shouldn't be too complicated. Resignation, if Zhou Li had a conflict with a certain magistrate, and that magistrate's father happened to be able to wield the hand of Squire Zhou, what would you do?"
Xu New Year fell into deep thought.
"Well, your silence says it all." Xu Qi'an waved his hand, interrupting the thinking of his little old brother, whose mind must have flashed through a whole bunch of palace schemes and intriguing calculations.
"My idea is that we can disguise ourselves in disguise, then catch the opportunity to directly thump that magistrate and leave."
Xu Pingzhi finally caught a chance to interject, slapping his thigh: "Ning Yan's idea is very much to my liking."
The brothers simultaneously rolled their eyes.
Xu Ru Lao frowned, "It's that simple?"
Xu Qi'an nodded, "Simple doesn't mean ineffective, more often than not, leaving things blank is beneficial instead. The beaten magistrate will think, what did he offend recently? Upon reflection, oh, it's that son of a bitch Zhou Li.
"And this kind of thing, Zhou Li definitely won't admit it, but it doesn't matter, everyone is free to prove it by heart, anyway, the conflict is intensified, you hit me, I'm going to retaliate."
Xu Rui Lao was a smart man with a high level of enlightenment, and after a slight passage in his mind, he understood his big brother's meaning.
He nodded slightly, looking arrogant, "Not bad."
Adding, he said, "What intelligence has big brother gathered."
Xu Qi'an did not sell out and said, "I inquired about who Servant Zhou's political enemies are."
Xu New Year and Second Uncle Xu leaned over at the same time, their faces instantly serious as they assumed a listening stance.
Xu Qi'an snorted, "The Minister of Households."
Minister of the Household? Xu New Year's heart shook, instantly unraveling many of his doubts.
No wonder Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Households was plotting tax and silver, because he knew that he was about to be shod by his top boss, and was in dire need of a huge amount of silver to fill the deficit.
And it was because he was in the same household department that the Minister of Households was able to catch Squire Zhou's fox tail.
"Ning Banquet, how did you know about such things." Second Uncle Xu was somewhat disbelieving.
How could an idle person have channels to know about the battles of the bigwigs in the imperial court?
"The Caiwei girl from the Si Tian Supervisor told me." Xu Qi'an said.
And the price was just a sugar gourd, a roasted goose leg, a serving of wine dumplings as well as a bowl of fish ball soup .... He wordlessly added in his heart.
The wide-eyed beauty was easy to bribe, that was the advantage. The disadvantage is that she is unmotivated by dynastic politics, and the Secretaries of the Heavenly Palace do not meddle in dynastic politics, so what she knows is limited.
This is very bad, Miss Caiwei you lack a copy of the Self-Cultivation of Xu Dalang's Virtuous Inner Helper, turn around and I'll write it for you.
Xu Qi'an clapped his hands, interrupting his cousin who was in a state of contemplation, and said:
"So it seems that the information we have gathered is not enough to formulate a detailed plan, but it's fine, one bite won't make a fat man, what's the next step?"
Xu New Year thought for a moment, "I suggest going to the Education Department and prying information from the flower leader Fu Xiang .... This matter I definitely can not, I never go to the place of fireworks."
It is customary for Dafeng officials to be intimate with prostitutes, but for scholars without official status, it is another set of standards.
You have not yet reached the end of the path of the imperial examination, and you are thinking of playing with women? A look is not reliable, do not want to have a good future in the future.
This is like when I used to study, parents do not allow students to play games on the Internet, if any student all day bubble Internet cafes, then he is a quasi social dregs .... Xu Qi'an leaned back in his chair and looked to the side, saying in a relaxed tone:
"I definitely can't go either, since I haven't stepped into the Qi Practicing Realm yet."
Then the question arose, who was responsible for going to the Department of Education to spy on the news?
The brothers tacitly turned their gazes towards Uncle Xu.
"Why are you looking at me, is Laozi the one who will go to the Education Department? I don't even know how to read, go and make a fool of myself?" Second Uncle Xu stated that he was not the type of person to stay in the land of fireworks.
Seeing his father's reluctance, Xu New Year dumped the pot on Xu Qi'an again, "Big brother writes poems and is extremely popular in the Department of Education."
Second Uncle Xu immediately rejected his son's proposal, frowning, "Your elder brother is an honest man who doesn't even go to the hookahs, let him go to the Education Department to poke around, don't get caught up in it, and if things don't work out, his body hasn't yet been taken over by the women in the hookahs."
For a martial artist at the peak of essence refining, breaking his body before stepping into the qi practicing realm was indeed a matter of great loss.
Xu Qi'an, who never went to the hook bar to listen to music, nodded, indicating that he was not that kind of person.
Xu Ershu said, "Or else you should go." He still felt that it was only appropriate for a scholar to go to a place like the Department of Education.
This was an inherent concept.
Xu Ru旧 heckled.
There was another reason why Xu Ru旧 refused to go to the Education Department, aside from the fact that it was the land of the literati, who disliked the rough and tumble.
Xu Ru旧 refused to go to the Education Department, aside from the fact that scholars had to be mindful of their reputation and public opinion, there was another reason.
Xu Qi'an refused to go to the Education Department, and besides never going to the hookah to listen to music, there was another reason.
Social death!
The three looked at each other and fell into silence.
PS: I've heard that recommendation tickets are something that can make an author shit and paint the walls. My lovely readers have stacks of recommendation tickets in their hands right?
