The "Qiwanzhai" teahouse is the most famous teahouse in Jingnan County. It is located in the central area of the county, covers an area of about 200 square meters, has two floors, and can accommodate more than 100 people for tea gatherings. The decoration style is elegant and popular.
The name of the "Qiwanzhai" teahouse is taken from the "Seven Bowls of Tea Song" by Lu Tong, a poet of the Tang Dynasty and the Asian Saint of Tea. Lu Tong said in the "Seven Bowls of Tea Song": "One bowl moistens the throat and lips, two bowls relieve loneliness and depression. Three bowls search the empty intestines, only five thousand volumes of words are left. Four bowls make you sweat lightly, and all the unfair things in your life are scattered through your pores. Five bowls refresh your muscles and bones, six bowls make you feel like an immortal. Seven bowls are too much to drink, but you can only feel the breeze blowing from your armpits." Lu Tong wrote about the beauty of tea in detail, and the store owner used this as the name of the teahouse, which is not only considerate, but also very classy.
Not only is the name of the shop second to none, the owner of the teahouse also knows how to run a business well. Not only do he carefully select tea and food ingredients, but he also often invites storytellers, singers and opera singers to perform for free in the teahouse for the enjoyment of tea drinkers. As a result, the teahouse's business is very popular. All kinds of people from Jingnan County gather in the teahouse every day, and with so many people and so many different things to say, more than half of Jingnan County's current political news and gossip are conceived and circulated here.
For example, today, Qiwanzhai invited a storyteller to tell a story about the Three Kingdoms, and the teahouse was packed. The storyteller told the story of Pang Tong, the phoenix child, who was appointed as the magistrate of Leiyang County. After finishing the story, the storyteller went backstage to have a cup of tea and a short break. After talking about the Three Kingdoms for most of the day, the storyteller's throat was dry and almost smoked. He had to drink half a pot of tea to moisten his throat and take a good rest before continuing to tell the story.
The storyteller went downstairs to have a rest, and the tea drinkers in the teahouse became lively again.
The storyteller was telling the story of Pang Tong's trial as the magistrate of Leiyang County. Coincidentally, the hottest and most talked-about topic in Jingnan County right now was the new magistrate. After the storyteller left, the tea drinkers naturally talked about the new magistrate, Zhu Ping'an.
"This man is incomparable. Look at Pang Tong. He handled hundreds of days of backlogged government affairs in just half a day. What about our new county magistrate? He has not tried a single case in these few days. Sigh... The people of Jingnan are so miserable to have such a useless county magistrate."
At the table closest to the storytelling stage in the teahouse, sat a bearded tea drinker who had just been listening most attentively. But now, when he thought of the demeanor of Pang Tong, the Phoenix Child described by the storyteller, and then of the performance of the new magistrate in the past few days, he could not help but take a sip of tea and start to complain.
"Do you know why? Let me tell you. My brother-in-law is a bailiff in the county government. I heard from him that our new young county magistrate has been sidelined by the old hands in the county government. The young county magistrate asked someone to deliver the files of the backlog of cases, but it's been a few days, and he hasn't received a single file."
A tea drinker at the next table was cracking melon seeds while explaining something to the bearded man and the other tea drinkers around him.
"That's true. I've heard about it, too. I have a relative who works as a clerk in the county government. He mentioned it to me the day before yesterday when we were drinking. It's said that County Magistrate Zhang was behind it, and all the clerks in the six departments united and refused to cooperate."
Soon someone nodded in agreement and further deciphered the information.
"I've said it before, a man without hair on his lips cannot do anything. This young magistrate is too young, and his hair may not even be fully grown yet. He doesn't have any helpers, so he alone is no match for County Magistrate Zhang and his men."
"It is said that a new official starts with three things to do, but our young magistrate is in trouble. When he took office, his fire starter was taken away by his subordinates and his matches were poured with a basin of water. Forget about starting three things, he can't even light a flame."
"Hey, I'm afraid this young magistrate will be expelled soon. Even if he is not expelled, he will be punished and dismissed by the higher authorities. As the head of a county, Jingnan County cannot carry out any work. If he is not punished, who will be punished?"
"The people of Jingnan are so miserable, having to deal with such an incompetent county magistrate. Look at Chun'an County, where the county magistrate Hai is well-known. We are unlucky, and the county magistrate has changed so many times, just like a weasel giving birth to cubs, each litter is worse than the last."
"Alas, we would rather have a greedy and lustful county magistrate than an incompetent one. An incompetent general will tire out the entire army."
Once the topic was started, it couldn't be stopped. Everyone in the teahouse made comments one after another. Basically, all you could hear were diss comments about Zhu Pingan. They were extremely disappointed with Zhu Pingan.
The more they diss Zhu Ping'an, the more passionate people become, and it seems that they think like heroes and appreciate each other.
"Waiter, bring us a bowl of tea. Our throats are almost smoking from walking so long."
Just when everyone at "Qi Wan Zhai" was dissing enthusiastically, five or six people came in from the teahouse and urged the waiter to pour tea.
As soon as these people came in, they became the focus and attracted everyone's attention.
There is no other reason, it is because of the clothes these people are wearing, they are all wearing prison uniforms!!!
Prison uniform?!
Fugitive?!
When people saw the prison uniforms they were wearing, they couldn't help but think of the words fugitive and prison break.
Then I looked at them more closely. They were dirty and unkempt, and it was obvious that they were prisoners who had been locked up for a long time.
The prisoner is not in jail, why is he here
Everyone knows that the young magistrate has not received even a single file and has not tried a single case, so how could any prisoners be released
Isn't this jailbreak? ! !
Jingnan County is not big, and we haven't heard of anyone escaping from prison for many years. Now that such a prisoner has suddenly appeared, this is explosive news. All the tea drinkers looked at the prisoner in prison uniform who came in with shock.
"Look outside, there are still many more."
A tea drinker sitting by the window saw out of the corner of his eye a prisoner in prison uniform passing by the teahouse outside. He looked again and found that there were many prisoners in prison uniform passing by the teahouse outside. He could not help but shout loudly to alert everyone.
After hearing the reminder, everyone looked outside and saw many prisoners in prison uniforms, at least seventy or eighty of them, passing by the teahouse. Judging from their direction, they should be heading out of the city.
"Why are there so many people escaping from prison?!"
"What is the purpose of the county government? How could so many people escape from prison?!"
"What is this little county magistrate doing for a living? He is so incompetent that he can't manage his subordinates, and he can't even manage the prisoners. He actually let so many people escape from prison!"
The diners in the teahouse were stunned. They looked at the drinkers in prisoner uniforms with strange eyes, pointing and whispering.
"What are you talking about? You can talk about us behind our backs, but you can't say bad things about the magistrate! What do you mean by jailbreak?! We were allowed to go home for the autumn harvest by the magistrate."
"We are all prisoners who were imprisoned for not paying taxes. The magistrate felt sorry for us because we have elderly parents and children to take care of and it is not easy for us to live. Considering that the autumn harvest is coming soon, in order not to delay the farming season, he specially allowed us to go home to participate in the harvest and then report back to the prison after the harvest."
"The county magistrate is such a good official. If anyone dares to speak ill of him behind his back, don't blame me for being blind!"
Several prisoners in prison uniforms who were asking for tea initially tolerated the whispering behind everyone's back, but when they heard them talking about Zhu Ping'an being incompetent behind his back, they couldn't help but slam the table, glared at everyone, and spoke loudly.