socalfunplaces Page 534
Page 534
These women, who lack official status, inevitably have a wavering sense of self when talking about the men who support them. They may want to call him their husband, but they lack complete confidence.
Just like the mistress in her past life, she calls him "husband" in private, but in public she still has to call him "President Zhou".
"Later, the magistrate talked about some things in officialdom, but as a woman, I really didn't like to hear about these things, so the magistrate didn't say much more."
"The adults played word puzzles with me for a while, just like when we first met in the brothel."
Later, after the meal, the woman served the master… Should I go into details about serving the master?
"Cough cough!"
Governor Zhang and Jiang Luzhong both coughed awkwardly twice, while Li Yuchun remained expressionless.
Xu Qi'an gave his boss a thumbs up, saying that this was the professional quality a people's guardian should have.
In his past life, after rescuing prostitutes, Xu Qi'an often asked about these details: how long it lasted, what positions they used...
"The main thing is what Zhou Min told you, that's very important."
Yang Yingying said, "They only mentioned the jade pendant and asked me to give it to Lord Yang Gong. They didn't say anything else after that..."
Silence fell over the hall, because Yang Yingying had not revealed any useful information.
"The explanation wasn't detailed enough."
Li Yuchun, who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, had been holding back for a long time, but finally spoke up.
"Ah!" Yang Yingying exclaimed in surprise. It turned out that this seemingly righteous hero Li was the most perverted one. And there was no need to go into more detail.
“Ahem! How can you skip over the riddles? Explain them in detail!” Li Yuchun said.
As someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, he was very unhappy and uncomfortable to have such a long message skipped over.
"Ten mouths, one heart." Yang Yingying still remembered it.
While Xu Qi'an was still pondering, Governor Zhang immediately interjected, "Think!"
"One in a thousand miles, one in a hundred miles." Yang Yingying seemed to have returned to the days when she was the most beautiful courtesan and when she was having tea with Enke.
“Uncle!” Governor Zhang replied instantly.
“Eat the cow’s tail in one bite!” Yang Yingying said again.
"Report!" Governor Zhang said casually, as if it were nothing more than a casual remark.
Jiang Luzhong, Li Yuchun, and Xu Qi'an stared at Governor Zhang in disbelief. Could this seemingly virtuous gentleman also be a frequent visitor to brothels? It must have taken him to go through the entire question bank to achieve this effect.
It's so skillful it's almost heartbreaking.
Governor Zhang stroked his beard lightly, feeling a sense of triumph. "Solving cases is up to you night watchmen, but solving riddles is up to me."
"Miss Wen is getting married!" Xu Qi'an suddenly threw out a riddle.
Governor Zhang frowned, then his face stiffened, and he looked somewhat bewildered.
He didn't know the answer to this question!
Jiang Luzhong and Xu Qi'an suppressed their laughter. It seemed that Governor Zhang was not a regular at brothels, but simply had a fondness for riddles.
If someone is a regular at brothels, how come they can't even answer a simple question?
Even Yang Yingying secretly glanced up; she had already guessed it.
The brilliant governor was completely dumbfounded, clearly stumped.
Chapter 325 I have met Master Miaozhen!
"Flawless white jade, the answer is the character 'Emperor'. Sun and moon in the same sky, the answer is the character 'Bright'."
As expected of a courtesan, Yang Yingying knew how to save face for her master and quickly revealed the answers to the remaining two riddles.
Xu Qi'an muttered the five riddles, "Si, Bo, Gao, Huang, Ming, what do they mean?"
The group racked their brains, stringing the words together, but still couldn't decipher the secret. Could it really have no special meaning?
Even Governor Zhang couldn't guess what the five characters were, as they were a riddle.
"If there's more to these five words than meets the eye, then even Master Ziyang could guess it. Since Master Ziyang isn't familiar with Yunzhou either, the underlying mystery wouldn't be too complicated..."
"What are things that can be easily discovered upon arrival... and what are things that are essential for someone new to Yunzhou..."
At this moment, Governor Zhang was using half his brainpower to think about these five words, and the other half to compete with Miss Wen.
Miss Wen is getting married... Which famous Miss Wen in history? What's the story behind her marriage?... Ugh, I can't figure it out!
Xu Qi'an took out the geomantic map he had just bought yesterday from his pocket. This kind of thing was available at the post station. It was rather crude and far inferior to the map that Kurosawa Chiling had narrated in his previous life.
"A geomantic map is essential when you first arrive in Yunzhou. If you are just a peddler or laborer, you can just go wherever you want once you enter the city."
However, a great Confucian scholar like Ziyang Jushi would definitely buy a geomantic map.
The others were somewhat skeptical, and Yang Yingying's eyes widened in disbelief. Could there really be a secret behind the riddle?
Xu Qi'an began searching for place names on the geomantic map based on those five characters.
“Siming Bridge, Bohuang Street… The remaining characters with the character ‘Huang’ are too taboo, and the other two characters don’t have corresponding locations.”
Governor Zhang said, "Ning Yan, let's try anything, even if it seems hopeless. Immediately take men to check these two places."
Xu Qi'an, accompanied by several plainclothes night watchmen, arrived at Siming Bridge and began to examine it carefully.
Siming Bridge spans a small river. It is an arched bridge with two large and two small holes, carved from white marble, and covered with moss.
After examining the area for a long time, Xu Qi'an found a protruding stone brick on the outside of the bridge. He gently pulled it out and found a brocade pouch inside.
After opening the brocade pouch, some numbers were written inside.
"Mo Yi Liu Shi Er San Bai Si Shi Qi Si Shi Er"
默，162、347、4、1、2。
"Damn, Zhou Min is a real talent! He's practically gotten into cryptography!" Xu Qi'an was stunned.
"Ning Yan, what does this mean?"
"Ning Yan, where to next?"
Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao seemed to have left their minds on the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution), and they couldn't think straight while following Xu Qi'an.
"How should I know!" Xu Qi'an was a little uneasy. "You're both night watchmen, but the difference between you and Zhou Min is just too great."
“He’s a hidden agent, far superior to the two of you! You couldn’t decipher the riddle he left behind, and now you have no clue about the numbers either.”
Song Tingfeng retorted, "The spies are handpicked; we only need to handle the force. Just now, even Jiang Jinluo and the boss didn't figure it out..."
“Therefore, Ning Yan has the potential to be a mole!” Zhu Guangxiao said seriously.
"Get out!" Xu Qi'an was speechless.
An hour later, Xu Qi'an returned to the post station with the password.
Governor Zhang had high hopes for Xu Qi'an; if there were no leads along the way, the case would be very difficult to solve.
Xu Qi'an returned with his men, and Governor Zhang watched them with a mixture of expectation and nervousness.
Xu Qi'an took out a piece of paper and placed it on the table. Immediately, several hands reached out to it; everyone was anxious.
"What does this say?"
Jiang Luzhong looked bewildered, and Governor Zhang was even more dazed, completely unable to understand what Zhou Min had written.
Governor Zhang, bursting with competitive spirit, had already failed to solve a single riddle and was now determined to avenge his previous defeat.
The pages of classical texts flashed through his mind, and countless books he had painstakingly studied came to mind, yet the riddle, like Miss Wen's, remained a mystery.
Finally, an hour passed, and everyone had memorized the note, but there were still no clues.
That night, at the invitation of Governor Zhang, Xu Qi'an attended a social banquet as a close aide.
According to Governor Zhang, this meal was very important because they needed to deal with someone at this banquet.
The two men deliberately arrived a quarter of an hour late, both to show off their official power and to give their host ample time to prepare.
When they arrived at the entrance of the banquet hall, all kinds of carriages and sedan chairs were already parked there. Led by his attendants, Governor Zhang and his entourage went to the front hall and met more than a hundred officials from Yunzhou.
"Your Excellency the Governor!" Amidst hearty laughter, Provincial Treasurer Song Changfu came forward to greet him.
Governor Zhang smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, "Your Excellency, Provincial Treasurer."
The three most powerful government offices in a prefecture are the Regional Military Commission, the Provincial Administration Commission, and the Provincial Judicial Commission. The Provincial Administration Commissioner is a true regional governor.
Subsequently, the powerful Yunzhou Provincial Governor introduced Commander Yang Chuannan to Governor Zhang, at which point the discussions in the hall quieted down considerably.
Those who were active in officialdom all got the news; almost everyone heard the rumors that Governor Zhang was coming for Yang Chuannan.
"I have admired you for a long time, I have admired you for a long time."
"Commander-in-Chief, I've long admired you!"
Governor Zhang and Yang Chuannan smiled sincerely, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other for many years. They even shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, their conversation ranging from classmates to fellow townsmen, trying to find common ground.
The two appeared to be very close.
However, both of them were testing each other and being wary of each other.
Xu Qi'an grinned inwardly. No wonder Wei Gong and his master both said that he was not suited for officialdom. These people always spoke in a roundabout way.