Chapter 81

Xu Zhong didn't go to school in the past two days, he has been busy with his grandson going to Xuanzhou to study for naturalization.

The Song Dynasty had extremely strict control over participation in imperial examinations in different places. Most state capitals had strict provisions. Not only did they have to obtain household registration, how many years they had lived in, and they had to own houses and land, but they also had to be of the same origin.

Native place actually has two meanings, Ji refers to the household registration of the student, and Guan refers to the residence of the ancestors, which is generally limited to three generations.

In layman's terms, you must be a local.

But Xuanzhou only looked at the nationality, not the body, and Xu Zhong was overjoyed that he could take the Xuanzhou imperial examination within three years of naturalization.

Although Xuanzhou's imperial examination competition was as fierce as that of Pingjiang Prefecture, Xu Zhong didn't care, as long as his grandson could get the qualification to participate in the boy's examination.

Moreover, the attitude of the headmaster of Yuqing Academy also made him very satisfied.

Although Yu Qing Academy failed to win the prodigy competition, Cheng Zhu did not cancel his previous statement because of this, but continued to promise to help Xu Ji go to Xuanzhou to settle down.

Even the admission procedures of Xuancheng County School were handled for Xu Ji, and his grandson could go to Xuancheng to study at any time.

Moreover, when the governor of Xuanzhou learned that his grandson had come to study in Xuancheng County, he wrote a letter to invite him to be the instructor of the state school.

In the afternoon, Xu Zhong was wearing a loose Zen suit and sitting in the study reading a book. At this time, there was a knock on the door, and the housekeeper reported from outside, "Master, County Magistrate Li has an urgent visit."

Because of the discord between the two backstages, the Xu family never waited to see Li Yun, the county magistrate, and Li Yun visited the Xu family for the first time today.

Hearing that Li Yun came to visit, Xu Zhong said coldly after a while: "Please wait in the living room!"

Xu Zhong couldn't figure it out, why did Li Yun come to see him?In these years, he has never been to his own mansion.

But Xu Zhong still got up and walked towards the living room.

Walking to the door of the living room, Xu Zhong found that Li County Magistrate was wearing a black gauze hat with two wings and a dark blue official uniform. He was startled.

You know, most officials come to visit in casual clothes.

Wearing an official uniform meant that he came with official business, and Xu Zhong suddenly felt a little uneasy.

He laughed dryly, "I didn't know that the county lord was coming, so the county lord has been waiting for a long time."

Li Yun got up and said calmly: "There was no prior notice, mainly due to some temporary business matters, please cooperate with Professor Xu."

"Business?"

Xu Zhong's face changed, the smile on his face disappeared, and his tone became somewhat dissatisfied.

"What business will I have? County magistrate Li has gone to the wrong place!"

Li Yun smiled and said: "Professor Xu, don't get excited, you might as well sit down and listen to me."

Xu Zhong also realized that he had lost his composure, so he held back his temper and sat down opposite Li Yun.

Li Yun then said: "Li Quan, the shopkeeper of Xu Ji Qishi Museum, is suspected of stealing. The government needs to arrest him and bring him to justice, so I came here to talk to Professor Xu."

"nonsense!"

Xu Zhong stood up and shouted: "It's nonsense, Li Quan is a well-behaved person, how could he be involved in theft?"

Li Yun was also a little annoyed. He took out Zhou Xiaomao's confession and slapped it on the table, "Fan Ning's home in Mudu Town was burglarized last night, and one of the thieves was caught on the spot. This is his confession, which was ordered by Li Quan. He and his elder brother Zhou Damao went to steal property."

Xu Zhong was stunned for a moment, and asked for a while, "You mean, the home of Fan Ning, the county official, was stolen?"

Li Yun nodded, "Let me tell you the truth! The stolen property is not ordinary property, but a white jade fan pendant bestowed by the emperor. Professor Xu, you should know that this is not a trivial matter!"

In Xu Zhong's mind, 'hum! ', his heart almost stopped beating in shock, he sat down slowly and feebly, and quickly assessed the consequences of this matter in his mind.

Just now he heard that Fan Ning's house was stolen, and his first instinct was that the matter might have something to do with his grandson. Otherwise, with Li Quan's personality, how could he do such indecent things like stealing.

But he never thought that what was stolen was a gift from the imperial court, which made him unbelievable.

Xu Zhong finally came back to his senses, and hurriedly said: "Magistrate Li must have made a mistake! How can a country boy like Fan Ning have an imperial gift?"

Li Yun sneered, "Professor Xu may not know about some things, but it doesn't mean that they didn't happen. I know very well whether Fan Ning has the imperial gift or not."

Xu Zhong vaguely guessed in his heart that the imperial gift might have something to do with Fan Zhongyan.

But what he was afraid of now was not Fan Ning, but whether the county magistrate Li in front of him would take this opportunity to bring down his son.

One must know that Li Yun's father-in-law is Jia Changchao, the former prime minister!
At this time, Xu Zhong couldn't sit still any longer, and he quickly said to Li Yun: "Li Quan is just the shopkeeper I hired, and everything he does is his own, and has nothing to do with the Xu family, please learn from the county magistrate!"

"I hope so too. I came here today to inform Professor Xu specifically. There will be nothing else to do. Let me go!"

The more Li Yun spoke calmly, the more worried Xu Zhong became. He held back the anxiety in his heart and sent Li Yun out of the house.

Watching Li Yun ride away on horseback, Xu Zhong suddenly became angry, turned around and roared, "Where is that little bastard?"

. . . . . .
Xu Ji was taken to the memorial hall by two servants. The memorial hall is located in the east backyard of Xu's mansion. This is actually a place where family law is enforced, including Xu Ji's father and uncle.

Xu Ji was so frightened that he knelt down in front of his grandfather and couldn't stand up.

Xu Zhong restrained his anger, and asked coldly, "I just want to ask you, did you instruct Li Quan to deal with Fan Ning?"

Xu Ji wanted to deny it, but his grandfather's sharp gaze made him lose the courage to lie. He lowered his head and whispered for a while, "I just asked him to teach Fan Ning a lesson, but I didn't expect him to steal things..."

Before he finished speaking, Xu Ji was sent flying with a sharp slap. Xu Zhong roared angrily, "I don't have a grandson like you, hit me! Kill this idiot!"

Xu Ji was so frightened that he hugged his grandfather's leg and cried loudly, "Grandson was confused for a moment, grandson realized his mistake, grandfather please forgive me!"

Xu Zhong looked up to the sky and sighed: "Do you know what stupid things you have done? Your father and uncle's official positions will be ruined by you, an idiot this time!"

Just now Xu Ji was laughing triumphantly with Li Quan, but in a blink of an eye, he actually got into a catastrophe.

At this time, Xu Ji saw the family servant coming in with a family law stick, and he burst into tears in fear, "Grandfather, please forgive my grandson this time!"

Xu Zhong pointed at him and cursed: "I have forgiven you once before, it seems that the punishment is too weak, you haven't learned your lesson at all, and even caused a big disaster, I will never forgive you lightly today."

He turned around and shouted: "Experts, give me another forty sticks!"

Several servants held Xu Ji down, and another servant picked up a stick and beat him. Xu Ji's skin was torn from the beating, and he cried and howled until his voice became hoarse.

Although he beat his grandson severely, Xu Zhong became more and more angry, so he called the butler again and asked, "Where is Li Quan now?"

The butler took a look at the little official who was still crying, and didn't dare to hide it, so he could only tell the truth, "He was hidden in the guest room of the West Court by the little official!"

Xu Zhong said coldly: "You go and inform him formally that since yesterday afternoon, he is no longer the shopkeeper of the Kistler Hall, and what he did has nothing to do with the Xu family, and then drive him out of the Xu mansion. Allow him to take one step closer to the Xu residence!"

"Don't worry, master, I'll take care of it right away!"

Xu Zhong thought for a while and added: "Also, throw out all his things, especially fan pendants, which have nothing to do with the Xu family."

"Follow the order!"

The butler rushed towards the west courtyard with a few servants.

Xu Zhong squatted down, grabbed his grandson's skirt, and asked through gritted teeth, "Let me ask you again, did Li Quan give you the stolen things?"

Xu Ji cried and said, "He said the thieves he sent didn't steal anything, just a broken stone, and he threw it into the river?"

Xu Zhong suddenly became nervous, he must have thrown the white jade fan pendant into the river!

"What kind of stone?" he pursued.

"He didn't say anything, and I didn't ask." Xu Ji replied with a sob.

Xu Chong was upset for a while, so he hummed heavily, got up and went back to his study.

Several servants hurriedly carried Xu Ji back to the room, and sent someone to find a doctor to heal his injuries.

When Xu Ji was beaten until he was crying, Li Quan also faintly heard the cry of the little master, and he was really worried.

This time Xu Ji asked him to teach Fan Ning a lesson, but he didn't ask him to hand over the Taihu Stone, so Li Quan became selfish and hid the Mountain Travel Stone.

Li Quan paced back and forth restlessly in the small courtyard, he had a bad feeling.

At this time, the big housekeeper brought several servants into the small courtyard, and Li Quan felt panicked. He pretended to be calm and said, "Is there anything wrong with Butler Liu?"

The butler said coldly: "The master asked me to inform you that from now on, you will no longer be the shopkeeper of the Kistler Hall, and the Xu family will have nothing to do with you from now on, please leave the Xu residence immediately!"

Li Quan felt a rush of blood rushing straight to the top of his head, and shouted: "What is this? Is this protecting me? Bah! Kill the donkey, cross the river and tear down the bridge!"

The butler's face darkened, "Li Quan, please be more polite, or I will beat you out with a stick!"

Li Quan was so angry that he jumped up and cursed, "Bastard, the Xu family talks like fart, forced me to be a thief, but finally took the blame on me. From old to young, there is no good thing in the Xu family. They are all sons of bitches. Egg!"

The butler was furious, and waved his hand, "Beat me with a stick!"

Several servants beat Li Quan with sticks, causing Li Quan to jump up and down, cursing and fleeing to the gate.

Li Quan fled to the gate, but was kicked out of the gate by the housekeeper, and fell heavily down the steps.

A pile of luggage was also thrown out.

Li Quan was about to get up and curse, but he felt a heavy pressure on his vest, as if someone stepped on him, and he couldn't move.

Li Quan raised his head slowly, and saw a burly bearded man standing in front of him, wearing a black-trimmed gown, with a long knife on his waist, with a fierce face, just like Zhong Kui.

"You... who are you?" Li Quan asked nervously.

The bearded man smiled coldly, "I am Lu Yougen, the capital of this county, and I have been waiting for you here for a long time!"

(End of this chapter)

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