plumnovel Chapter 42 Leaving the County Government Office
Chapter 42 Leaving the County Government Office
The next morning was another sunny day.
After having a simple breakfast, Li Chong went to the yamen to arrange the court hearing, and then returned to the back yamen to take Zhong Mei with him to see the group of people she had mentioned.
If those people were truly capable, Li Chong wouldn't care about their backgrounds anymore.
He had just finished arranging things and had only stepped one foot into the back office when Zhong Mei suddenly appeared.
"Why did you take so long? What time is it? Hurry up!"
Grabbing Li Chong's official robe sleeve, Zhong Mei was about to rush into his bedroom.
Li Chong grabbed her hand and quickly gave her a wink.
Zhong Mei was stunned for a moment, and following Li Chong's gaze, she saw Si Qi, Cui Shi, and several other yamen runners all looking at her in shock.
This servant girl is so unruly?
After a moment of confusion, Zhong Mei realized something was wrong and subconsciously let go of her hand.
Li Chong's face darkened, and he reprimanded, "Who taught you to be so unruly?"
At this time, we absolutely cannot let outsiders know Zhong Mei's identity, not even Cui Shi.
Li Chong understood the principle that failing to keep secrets could be harmful.
Therefore, in order to cover up the truth, Zhong Mei had no choice but to compromise.
Seeing Li Chong's anger, the others quickly turned their heads away, no longer daring to look, and couldn't help but feel more contempt for Zhong Mei.
As expected of someone from a humble background, he has no manners whatsoever; he's going to be in trouble now.
Zhong Mei was quite clever. After Li Chong reprimanded her, she immediately lowered her head and stood with her hands down, not daring to jump again.
At this moment, Siqi stepped forward anxiously: "Master, Baoqin, she..."
She wanted to plead for her, but Li Chong's eyes darted around and he cut her off, saying, "Don't say anything more. I have important matters to attend to right now. I'll deal with her later. Take her back to her room to reflect on her actions. I'll make arrangements for her in a bit."
After saying that, Li Chong walked past the two men and went straight into the house, also calling out to Cui Shi, who was hanging out with some yamen runners.
Siqi curtsied and watched Li Chong leave, then walked to Zhongmei's side: "Baoqin, you were too impetuous. How could you be so rude to the master?"
Zhong Mei didn't care at all. She waved her hand casually and said, "Don't worry about it. It's okay. I'll go back and change my clothes."
"Change clothes?" Siqi was full of questions. What clothes should she change into at this time?
Before she could figure it out, Zhong Mei had already run back into the house, and she quickly followed.
After Li Chong and Cui Shi were alone in the room, Cui Shi couldn't help but complain, "What do you want now? I've only had a little free time, and they want me to go out and have some fun after they finish their shifts."
"Playing around? You still have the mind to play around?" Li Chong opened his mouth to scold him.
But when he looked up and saw Choi Si's impatient face, he could only shake his head helplessly.
Forget it, forget it, this guy is just hopeless.
"Nothing else. After I leave, go and pass on a message for me. After that, you can go wherever you want; I don't care."
Hearing Li Chong's words, Cui Shi's expression softened somewhat: "Who is the message to? What is it about?"
Li Chong beckoned Cui Shi to come closer and whispered a few words in his ear.
Choi Si-shil frowned: "Why are you looking for him? I understand you less and less these days."
Li Chong did not explain, but simply replied, "Just go and do it. Once this matter is settled, my identity will be completely confirmed, and no one will be able to recognize it. After that, the two of us can truly rest easy in Yanggu County."
"Alright," Choi Si-sil nodded in agreement.
After confirming the message, he turned and left.
Watching Cui Shi's retreating figure, Li Chong's eyelids drooped. He had been holding a handle on himself all along, and this couldn't go on for long.
We need to make plans as soon as possible.
After a moment's hesitation, Li Chong got up, changed out of his official robes and into casual clothes, and went to find Zhong Mei.
"Baoqin, are you ready? Master has something to tell you."
Standing in the courtyard, Li Chong called out.
"Here he comes! Here he comes!" Ignoring Siqi's attempts to dissuade her, Zhongmei rushed out in a few steps and excitedly came to Li Chong.
She was dressed in shorts and a neat outfit, looking eager to try it out.
"Let's go."
Siqi stepped forward to apologize on her behalf: "Master, I will take her back to change her clothes right away. Please don't be angry."
Li Chong gave her a deep look. Both were sent by Zhu Zhicheng. Zhong Mei was an undercover agent, but what about Si Qi?
A few thoughts flashed through his mind, and Li Chong stopped the two from tearing at each other: "No need. The reason I went out today is to teach her manners. Go find a veiled hat for her to wear, and don't change anything else."
Siqi naturally didn't dare to ask where she was going to learn manners. Li Chong had given her instructions, so she could only glance at Zhongmei with concern before bringing her a hat.
While she went to get her hat, Li Chong scolded Zhong Mei a few times: "Can't you be a little more discreet? Don't forget, your current status is that of my maid."
"Tch~~~"
Zhong Mei scoffed, "Do you think I care?"
"If you don't care, I'll expose your identity right now and have them arrest you?" Li Chong threatened. "This county government office isn't my personal fiefdom. I have plenty of enemies. If others find out your identity, I can't show favoritism."
"You!" Zhong Mei was somewhat exasperated.
Before her identity was revealed, she could still pretend, but once it was revealed, how could she possibly bow down to the government?
Faced with Li Chong's threat, she had no choice but to lower her head and say yes.
Soon, Siqi brought the hat.
Li Chong gestured for Zhong Mei to put it on, but Zhong Mei still wanted to argue why she had to wear a hat.
But Li Chong glared at her, and she had no choice but to put it on reluctantly.
Li Chong waved to Siqi, "You stay at home, we're leaving."
"Respectfully seeing off Master." Siqi quickly bowed.
As they walked, Li Chong instructed, "When we get to Old Tian's teahouse, you can't take off your hat unless I tell you to. Otherwise, the cooperation is off, and I'll have the constables hunt you down. Do you understand?"
"Um!"
Zhong Mei let out a muffled groan, clearly dissatisfied with the constraints Li Chong imposed on her, but she had no choice but to comply.
With his eyebrows furrowed, Li Chong stepped out of the yamen in his everyday clothes.
After turning through several alleys and making sure there were no tails following them, Li Chong asked Zhong Mei to give directions, and the two headed west of the city.
Gradually, the number of pedestrians on the roadside became sparser, until it appeared somewhat desolate.
Zhongmei's voice carried a hint of joy: "We've arrived!"
As she spoke, she turned to continue forward.
"Wait a minute." Li Chong grabbed her wrist. "Let me take a look first."
Zhong Mei asked anxiously, "What's so interesting about this?"
Her companions were just ahead, but Li Chong blocked them, which made her somewhat anxious.
Li Chong remained unmoved, looking around. There weren't many pedestrians, and the houses were mostly dilapidated, suggesting it was a poor area in the city.
There was a shed built against the eaves of a house directly in front of us, without a sign. A few people were sitting inside drinking tea. This was the Lao Tian Tea House that Zhongmei had mentioned.
It doesn't look like a trap.