Qiu Yizi ignored him, dismounted, walked to the door of the study alone, and kicked it open without knocking.
The Huaiyang County Magistrate was indeed in the study. He was furious when he saw someone being so rude. He shouted, "Where did you come from? How can you be so rude? Can't you see that I am talking to someone?"
Qiu Yizi looked up at the county magistrate nicknamed "Sun Pa Pi". He looked to be about thirty years old. He was wearing a spotlessly clean official uniform and his long beard was neatly combed. He exuded a scholarly air, which was completely different from the rude and greedy appearance of the corrupt official that Qiu Yizi had imagined.
Magistrate Sun also looked at Qiu Yizhi several times. Seeing that he had a handsome appearance and extraordinary bearing, he did not dare to underestimate him. He changed his tone to a slightly gentler one and asked, "What does this gentleman want to see me for? If it is nothing serious, can I finish my conversation with Mr. Zhao and then have tea with you?"
Qiu Yizi heard that Sun Baopi was not rude, so she didn't want to get angry. She turned around and saw that the "Mr. Zhao" he was talking about looked very familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.
The "Mr. Zhao" felt uncomfortable being stared at by the uninvited young man. He quickly picked up the tea bowl in his hand, took a sip, and calmed himself down. Then he jokingly said, "Why is this young man staring at me? Is there something written on my face?"
Qiu Yizhi listened to him and finally remembered who this person was. He asked, "Are you Zhao Fuyi?"
"Master Zhao" heard Qiu Yizhi call him by his name, and the hand holding the tea bowl trembled, and asked: "I am Zhao Fuyi. But I have never met you, sir. I wonder how you recognized me?"
Before Qiu Yi could reply, Magistrate Sun said, "Mr. Zhao is kind and generous, and is very famous in Huaiyang County. It's not surprising that this young man knows you!" He thought he had said it very appropriately, so he looked at Zhao Fuyi with a smile on his face.
Zhao Fuyi exchanged glances with him and was about to smile and say something humble, but he heard the young man in front of him say, "My name is Qiu Yizi. I wonder if my uncle still remembers me?"
Zhao Fuyi was stunned by his words. The smile on his face froze instantly. He suddenly stood up and shouted, "Qiu Yizi, are you really Qiu Yizi?" He stood up too violently and knocked over the tea bowl, spilling the tea all over the table.
"Didn't you acknowledge Prince Youyan as your adoptive father? Why are you here now?" Zhao Fuyi asked with his eyes as big as copper bells.
Qiu Yizi snorted and said, "Since your uncle still recognizes me, I won't introduce myself anymore. I'm not satisfied with my uncle, and this county magistrate said that it was Prince Youyan who sent me here to do business. If you don't believe me, please take a look!" As he said that, he took the business card of Prince Youyan Zheng Rong in his hand and showed it to the two of them.
Seeing this, Sun Baopi quickly stood up and was about to take it. Unexpectedly, Qiu Yizi withdrew his hand and said, "How can you be so rude, you insignificant official? This is the prince's name card, why don't you kneel down and take it!"
Sun Bapi was stunned for a moment, but did not kneel down. Instead, he straightened his body and said, "The court is sending troops to encircle and suppress the Prince of Youyan. I am not afraid that you will find my words unpleasant. The Prince is now a traitor. Although my position is low, I am still an official appointed by the court. How can I kneel down to worship the traitor?"
Qiu Yizi laughed and said, "Those are the royal family's family affairs. How dare you, an outsider, interfere? Let me ask you, has the court issued an order to deprive the prince of his title? If not, the prince is still the prince. How can he not withstand a bow from a small county magistrate like you?"
Qiu Yizi's words were obviously far-fetched, but they left Huaiyang County unable to refute them.
The magistrate pondered for a long while, and finally said bitterly: "I don't want to argue with you here. Since you have the courage to come, don't blame me. I have the responsibility to guard the area." After that, he shouted loudly, "Come on! Catch this traitor for me!"
How could Huaiyang County Magistrate Sun Baopi know that all the runners in the county government had been subdued by the people brought by Qiu Yizi, and no one responded after shouting for a long time.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizi burst into laughter and said, "Sun Bapi, your words are no longer effective here! Just look to me!" Then, he deliberately parroted the words, "Someone come here! Catch this traitor for me!"
Qiu Yizi's words were indeed effective. Before he finished speaking, he heard someone outside the door responding loudly: "Yes, sir!" Then he saw several burly men coming in from outside the door and pushing the county magistrate to the ground.
Qiu Yizhi smiled with satisfaction, and regardless of how Sun Bapi yelled and cursed while lying on the ground, he went straight to the main seat and said with a smile: "Sun Bapi, are you convinced now?"
Zhao Fuyi, who was standing by, could no longer stand when he saw this situation. His knees went weak and he knelt down in panic.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizi hurriedly stood up and said, "Uncle is still my elder after all, why do you have to do this? Please go down first, I have something to say to uncle later."
He watched Zhao Fuyi stagger out of the study, then sat down again and repeated in a different tone, "Sun Bapi, are you convinced now?"
Sun Baopi was quite courageous. He cursed, "The saint said, 'The mighty cannot bend.' Even if I die here, I will still be a loyal minister and filial son of the Han Dynasty. Why should I submit to that?"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi laughed out loud and said, "What a great 'mighty and unyielding', what a 'loyal and filial son of the Han Dynasty'! I won't ask anything else, I just want to ask you, where did you get the nickname 'Sun Bapi'?"
Magistrate Sun passed the imperial examination in the early years of the late emperor, but his grades were so average that he could not enter the Hanlin Academy, and his future was very limited. After working in various departments for several years, he was finally assigned to serve as an official in the local area, but he was only a county magistrate. Magistrate Sun was not talented but ambitious, and he only wanted to get promoted and make money, but the bigwigs in the court had big appetites. Even if he had reduced the land of a poor place like Huaiyang County by three inches, he still could not get promoted.
Until this year, when he heard that the old emperor had passed away and the new emperor had ascended the throne, he thought that it would be better to flatter the new emperor directly than to flatter the ministers, so he came up with the idea of offering auspicious signs. So he made up his mind and, in addition to the land tax of this year, he also collected a head tax of one penny per person.
But even though the money was collected, it was hard to find an auspicious sign. Today, Sun Bapi invited Zhao Fuyi to come because he heard that Zhao Fuyi had a purple coral tree at home and wanted to buy it, saying that it was an auspicious sign that grew from the ground and wanted to present it to the new emperor Zheng Yao.
However, how could Magistrate Sun reveal his evil intentions in front of others? So he said stiffly, "You are all traitors. I don't want to talk to you any more. I will do whatever you want to me!"
Qiu Yizhi had his own plans in mind, and said to himself: "You have been corrupt and perverted the law, and the people have long been resented. According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, you can only be killed at the market. But God is kind and has shown you a clear way. As long as you submit to my prince and send 200 stones of military rations to the front line of Bianzhou soon, your crime can be forgiven. After the great cause of suppressing the rebellion is successful, there is no telling whether you will be rewarded with another title!"
"What! Only two hundred dan of grain is enough?" Sun Baopi couldn't believe his ears. Although Huaiyang County was poor, even in a year of famine, these two hundred dan of grain were just a drop in the bucket.
Hearing that Sun Baopi had fallen into the trap, Qiu Yizhi said, "Of course. My prince has always been a person who values the heart more than the actions, and Youyan Road is a rich place. Could it be that he still needs your two hundred dan of grain? To be honest, didn't Dai Luanxiang, the Marshal, surrender to my prince?"
"What! Isn't Marshal Dai still fighting with Prince Youyan? The notice demanding grain was sent to our county yesterday!" Sun Papi screamed again.
Qiu Yizi sneered, "Hmph," This play is called a double act, you won't understand even if I tell you! If Marshal Dai really defended it tightly, how could I get to your Huaiyang County?" In the middle of his words, Qiu Yizi suddenly coughed twice, as if he wanted to interrupt what he had said wrong, and continued, "Sun Bapi knows too much about this matter, and it's no good. You go down first to raise military rations and immediately set off to send them to Bianzhou. Otherwise, I'll make you lose your head!"
Qiu Yizhi's purpose in coming here was to spread rumors that Dai Luanxiang and Zheng Rong were secretly colluding, and his plan was a counter-espionage plan. Since his words had been heard, his plan was a success. So he ordered the men who had been holding down County Magistrate Sun, "Take him away. Send Zhao Fuyi in!"
After those people agreed, they carried Sun Baopi out of the study like an eagle catching a chick.
Not long after, Zhao Fuyi walked into the study with an uneasy heart. Seeing Qiu Yizi sitting in the hall, he was very scared and bent his knees to kneel down.
Qiu Yizi had been bullied by her uncle since she was a child. Although her mother died of poverty and illness, it was also closely related to Zhao Fuyi. Therefore, she really could not say that she had any feelings for her uncle.
But since he was adopted as the son of Youyan King Zheng Rong, he has been influenced by the ethics and teachings. Thinking that Zhao Fuyi is rich and unkind, he is still his elder, so he hurriedly said: "Uncle, why should you be so polite? Please sit down and talk!"
Zhao Fuyi heard Qiu Yizi calling him "uncle" all the time, and although his tone was not warm, he still maintained courtesy. He finally stopped and flattered him, "Yizi has followed the prince for the past few years, and he has really made progress..." But he couldn't think of anything else to say.
Qiu Yizhi saw that although Zhao Fuyi still had the rosy face he had ten years ago, there were many more wrinkles around his eyes, mouth, and forehead. He couldn't help but think of the sage's motto "Time flies by like an arrow", and sighed, "My uncle got into trouble back then, and all his fine land and mansions were confiscated. I didn't expect that in just ten years, he would be the county magistrate's guest of honor again. It's really a cause for celebration!"
Zhao Fuyi replied, "It was thanks to the kindness of the prince that he gave me a few acres of good farmland and did not revoke my title of juren. That's how I was able to save some money and land by living frugally. Although I'm considered a wealthy man in Huaiyang County, I can't be compared with what I was back then!" Zhao Fuyi said as he shook his head.
"I didn't expect that my uncle has the ability to manage finances... However, the magistrate of Huaiyang is indeed not a good person. Please don't have anything to do with him in the future." Qiu Yizhi paused and said, "I'm sure my uncle knows what the final result of this collusion between officials and businessmen will be!"
Zhao Fuyi thought of how he had been treated by King Youyan before, and it was still vivid in his mind, so he hurriedly said "yes".
Qiu Yizhi continued, "As for the grievances between you and me, we have already written them off back then. I don't want to talk about this sad past again. But I want to tell you, uncle, that the current situation in the world is unclear. According to Yizhi's position, the world still belongs to my adoptive father. I hope you can make preparations early and leave a way out for us."
Zhao Fuyi had already been moved by Qiu Yizi's sensible words. With tears in his eyes, he couldn't speak. He could only repeat vaguely, "Shame on you, shame on you!"
Seeing his expression, Qiu Yizhi didn't want to bother with him any more, so she stood up and said, "Yizhi has something else to do, so it's inconvenient to talk to you in detail, so I'll take my leave now!" (To be continued)