Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 77 What exactly is he after?

Old Wang kept talking nonstop, and Erhu's heart was like a rollercoaster, going up and down.

Damn it, I've seen some fierce people in my life, but I've never seen anyone this fierce, actually making fun of nine generations of one's family!

Erhu really wanted to grab Old Man Wang by the collar and yell: You explain to me what you mean by saying the people of Ningyang County will not forgive you!

Just as Erhu was secretly complaining to himself, Emperor Zhu Chongba laughed twice.

Emperor Zhu Chongba smiled and said, "Brother is right. Since there is an emperor who can allocate relief grain to the people, why can't there be a good official who loves the people like his own children?"

After a slight pause, Emperor Zhu Chongba asked with a smile, "Actually, I'm just curious, is there really no bad thing about the magistrate of Ningyang County?"

Old Wang exclaimed, "Yes, but the master isn't some saint. How come he has no bad points at all? You don't know, our master is good in every way, except for three bad points."

Seeing the curious look on Zhu Chongba's face, Old Man Wang continued, "You don't know, the master eats very little. He just eats whatever he can find at every meal. He was so thin when he came to Ningyang County, and he's still just as thin now. He doesn't look like an official at all."

"Secondly, our lord has a bad temper. Sometimes when he gets really angry, he'll just kick people. Like Liu Thirty-Two, the head of the Liu Temple community, and Geng Erdan, the head of the Geng Village community, which one of them hasn't been kicked by the lord?"

Just as Emperor Zhu Chongba said "Oh" and was about to ask further, Old Man Wang continued, "If you ask me, Your Majesty shouldn't have kicked them. It would be better to let Lame Fifth Master whip them a few times, so as to save Your Majesty the trouble."

"Another thing is that our lord still hasn't gotten married. Which of the people in our county isn't worried about him? It's a pity that the lord always says that he hasn't met anyone he likes. I don't know what kind of person he's looking for."

At this point, Old Wang's face was full of regret again: "It's a pity that I don't have a daughter, otherwise I would have sent her to serve the master."

Emperor Zhu Chongba nodded again, then said "Oh" and asked, "May I ask, brother, are there any inns or anything like that in our county? I'm new here and don't know where I should stay."

Old Wang shook his head and said, "That's troublesome. Ningyang County is a small county. Apart from the steamed bun shops that the magistrate ordered those young women to run, there are no restaurants, teahouses, inns, brothels, or anything like that in the county town."

Emperor Zhu Chongba sighed with feigned regret, "That's really unfortunate."

Taking the opportunity to bid farewell to Old Man Wang, Emperor Zhu Chongba led Erhu towards the county town.

After walking for a while, Emperor Zhu Chongba suddenly asked, "Erhu, what do you think?"

Erhu said in a deep voice, "It's hard to say, but I have a feeling that something is not right."

Emperor Zhu Chongba said "Oh," and asked, "What's wrong?"

Erhu said, "I just don't understand, what is he after?"

Emperor Zhu Chongba smiled, did not answer Erhu's question, but simply said, "Take your time to look and think," and then led Erhu forward again.

In fact, Emperor Zhu Chongba himself was also very curious about what Magistrate Yang was after.

If Magistrate Yang had any other thoughts in mind, he wouldn't have told the people about the emperor and the court allocating relief grain to Ningyang County, nor would he have led the people to kill locusts before the locust plague started.

However, Emperor Zhu Chongba couldn't convince himself that Magistrate Yang had no ulterior motives and simply wanted the people to live better lives.

If only there were a few officials like Magistrate Yang in the Tartar court, the people of Shandong would not have rebelled year after year, and the Tartar court would not have suffered such a miserable defeat.

After thinking for a long time without coming up with a solution, Emperor Zhu Chongba simply shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

Upon arriving in the city, after asking around for directions to the steamed bun shop, Emperor Zhu Chongba took Erhu directly to the shop, summoned the young widow who was tending it, and asked, "What kind of food do you have here? We're both starving."

The young widow guarding the shop smiled and replied, "Our steamed bun shop only has one type of steamed bun with wild vegetable filling and egg drop soup. The rest are pickled vegetables and salted duck eggs. That's all."

Emperor Zhu Chongba nodded and ordered ten steamed buns, two salted duck eggs, and two bowls of egg drop soup.

After the young widow brought out the steamed buns, salted duck eggs, and egg soup, Emperor Zhu Chongba asked, "Madam, if I may be so bold as to ask, is there any place to stay in Ningyang County? We are from out of town and were thinking of asking for a place to stay first."

The young widow shook her head slightly: "As for where to stay, there aren't any inns or anything like that in Ningyang County. Why don't you go out and ask around a few houses to see if you can stay the night?"

After thinking for a moment, the young widow asked again, "May I ask, sir, where have you come from in Ningyang County?"

Emperor Zhu Chongba chuckled and pointed at Erhu, saying, "We two are from Huaixi. We heard that the army has recovered Shandong and Henan, so we thought we'd come to Shandong to take a look and see if there's any business we can do."

The young widow's eyes lit up, and she smiled, "What a coincidence! Please wait here, sir. I'll be right back."

After saying that, without waiting for Emperor Zhu Chongba's reply, the young widow rushed out of the steamed bun shop and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Emperor Zhu Chongba glanced in the direction where the young widow's figure disappeared, then looked at the steamed buns and egg drop soup on the table. He shook his head with a helpless smile and picked up a steamed bun with his chopsticks.

"Ok?"

Zhu Chongba carefully tasted the filling and said to Erhu, "Try it! These wild vegetable buns are really good, much better than those made by the cooks!"

Erhu did as instructed, picked up a bun, took a bite, and couldn't help but widen his eyes. He then brought the half-eaten bun to his face and examined it carefully. After looking at it for a while, he said with great curiosity, "This bun has wild vegetables and eggs in it. It's well-oiled and salty, but it also has an indescribable umami flavor. I wonder where it comes from."

Emperor Zhu Chongba shook his head: "We couldn't taste it either. It must be that the woman in this bun shop has some secret recipe?"

After saying that, Emperor Zhu Chongba didn't think much of it and just ate the steamed buns in big mouthfuls, occasionally slurping up a couple of mouthfuls of egg drop soup.

After finishing ten steamed buns, the young widow still hadn't returned. Emperor Zhu Chongba then whispered to Erhu, "Has there been any news from Yanzhou Prefecture?"

Erhu shook his head slightly: "Not yet, but it should be soon."

Emperor Zhu Chongba grunted in acknowledgment, about to say something more, when he heard the young widow calling from afar, "Fifty Fifth Brother, hurry up! Don't delay the master's important business!"

Erhu was startled and quickly got up and walked towards the shop entrance. He saw Limpy Wu limping behind the young widow, walking towards the shop.

Erhu walked out of the shop and shouted to Limpy Five from afar, "Limpy Five, I didn't expect you to be in Ningyang County!"

Limping Five paused slightly, then stretched out his arms and quickly walked towards Erhu: "I didn't expect you to actually come to Ningyang County!"

The young widow glanced at Limpy Five, then at Erhu, and couldn't help but scratch the back of her head. She said with a look of surprise, "So you two know each other, Limpy Five! What a coincidence! These two guests were just saying they were looking for a place to stay."

Limpy Five laughed and looked at Erhu, asking, "You didn't come alone?"

Erhu shook his head slightly: "No."

Limping Five grunted in agreement, then turned to the young widow and said, "You go ahead and get busy. I'll catch up with this brother first."