Chapter 70

PS: During the new book period, I humbly request more recommendations and collections!

Pinglei is the pleasure quarter of Chang'an, and also the most prosperous ward in the city. Due to its unique location, almost all the people from other places who come to the capital for official duties or travel gather in Pinglei, where the nights are filled with music and revelry.

It was now the hour of Hai, and the entire Chang'an was shrouded in darkness. Everywhere was pitch black, and all the buildings were hidden in the night, their outlines blurred, only vaguely discernible.

However, if one looked towards Pinglei in Chang'an County, it was a different scene. The place was lit up, and as one passed by the entrance of Pinglei, the sounds of music and singing could be heard, a scene of joy and festivity.

"Sir, Sir, look quickly!"

In a place called Nuanchun Building in Pinglei, a young woman in a pink robe, holding a paper that looked like a notice, pushed open the door of a warm room and rushed in, waving the paper and shouting.

At that moment, five or six young men in fine clothes were lying haphazardly in the warm room. They were all drunk, talking nonsense with the women around them, and occasionally bursting into unrestrained laughter.

"Chun'er, why are you making such a fuss?" One of the young men, holding a cup of grape wine and savoring it, suddenly put down his cup upon hearing Chun'er's shouting, and said unhappily.

"Sir, Sir, look quickly!" The woman named Chun'er, seemingly unaware of the young man's displeasure, handed him the paper and said, "Chun'er just found this outside. Sir, look what it says!"

What else could it be, just a notice! The young man pursed his lips, thinking indifferently, but still took the paper from Chun'er and glanced at it casually.

It was just this casual glance that made the young man's originally lazy expression turn serious. After reading the content in one breath, he laughed and said, "This is really interesting!"

Then, he looked at Chun'er and asked curiously, "Chun'er, where did you get this?"

"Just now, when Chun'er went out, I saw many sisters in the courtyard looking at it, so I took one!" Chun'er, who was about thirteen or fourteen years old, was a clever girl. Seeing so many sisters in the courtyard vying to read the content, she found it strange and thus took one to come upstairs.

"You mean there are many such papers?" The young man was surprised, his mouth wide open, looking at Chun'er in disbelief.

"What does it say, to shock you so much, Li Jingheng?" The other young men, who had been indifferent to the matter, were now drawn in by the commotion. One of them snatched the paper from Li Jingheng's hand and looked at it.

These young men were none other than the group of Chang'an's young rascals, whom Zhao Chen referred to as the second-generation scions. The young man was Li Jingheng, the son of Li Shentong, and the one who snatched the paper was Changsun Chong.

The others were Chai Lingwu and others!

Due to the heavy snow, these young rascals had been forced to stay at home, and they were all bored to death. Tonight was the first time they had come out as a group in a long time.

Changsun Chong silently read the content, but his eyes remained fixed on the paper, his gaze thoughtful.

The content was narrated from a woman's perspective, as if a woman was sitting opposite and calmly telling her story.

She said she was once a virtuous woman, then married a merchant. Unfortunately, her peaceful life was shattered when a county magistrate coveted her beauty. The magistrate falsely accused her husband and had him imprisoned to take her for himself. After he had his way with her, he released her husband.

In the end, she was divorced by her husband and, driven to despair, chose to jump into a well and die.

The entire paper was a calm narrative, almost like a story. However, Changsun Chong knew this was not a story written by a scholar, but a real event.

Although the paper did not name anyone, Changsun Chong knew the woman was from Lantian, and the magistrate who had taken her was Lantian County Magistrate Zhao Yuankai.

Chai Lingwu, though usually carefree, reacted much faster than the wine-loving Li Jingheng in such matters. Almost at the same time as Changsun Chong, Chai Lingwu also understood.

The two of them almost simultaneously stood up and rushed to the door. When they saw that almost everyone in the courtyard of Nuanchun Building was holding such a paper, they exchanged glances, their eyes filled with surprise.

There was no doubt that this was the work of their Gewu Academy judge, Zhao Chen. They were all clear about what had happened in the court in recent days, so they immediately understood that this must be about Lantian.

However, they were both puzzled by Zhao Chen's intentions. The paper did not name anyone, and even if it was to tarnish Zhao Yuankai's reputation and force the emperor to take action, it should have clearly identified the culprit!

That night, Chang'an was flooded with such papers. Apart from Pinglei, all the entertainment quarters, many courtyards, and even the county and imperial offices were covered with these papers.

They were everywhere, like snowflakes, each with different content but a common theme: a personal narrative.

First, they described their peaceful lives, then the tragic lives after being bullied by the county magistrate. The stark contrast made everyone who read them indignant.

In this era, there was little entertainment, so the sudden appearance of so many unusual papers in Chang'an became a hot topic the next day.

Whenever people met on the street, after the usual greetings, the first question was inevitably about what the paper at their home last night said.

People from all walks of life, including scholars and officials, were discussing it privately. Some were so angry that they raised their arms and shouted, saying that the Tang Dynasty was just beginning and thriving, and it could not tolerate such people in the government, harming the people of the Tang!

However, no matter how much they shouted, the papers did not name anyone! No matter how loudly they shouted, they needed to know who the county magistrate was!

Thus, everyone began to inquire about the identity of the county magistrate.

At this time, a piece of news began to spread privately. It started in a small circle and then spread like an avalanche, quickly becoming known throughout the city.

The news was that the county magistrate in all the stories that appeared last night was named Zhao Yuankai, and these events took place in Lantian, not far from Chang'an.

The news also subtly revealed what had happened in the court in recent days. It was not that Zhao Yuankai, a corrupt county magistrate, was not punished, but that many people in the court had stood up to obstruct the investigation of Zhao Yuankai.

Like a stone causing a thousand ripples, it was now clear why Zhao Yuankai was not named. It was because many people in the court were protecting him!

This was too despicable! How could someone like Zhao Yuankai have protectors? It was clear how much they had benefited from Zhao Yuankai. How could the emperor tolerate such people in the court?

People began to inquire about those who had stood up to protect Zhao Yuankai. When they were tired of asking, the information about Cui Shilang and others was suddenly revealed.

It also revealed how Zhao Yuankai had closed the city gates of Lantian, allowing thousands of people to freeze and starve to death outside rather than let them in. In the end, it was a deputy envoy sent by the emperor who decisively ordered the city to be attacked, saving those people from freezing to death outside.

Good! This is what our Tang Dynasty officials should be like, willing to take risks for the people and attack the city. The emperor has truly appointed the right people, and there should be more of such officials!

However, no one knew the name of the deputy envoy, and the person who leaked the information seemed to have disappeared. People waited with bated breath, but no further information about the deputy envoy came.

Three days! It only took three days!

From the appearance of the papers that night to the revelation of the information about Cui Shilang and others, it only took three days. In these three days, the Zhao Yuankai incident became the hottest topic in Chang'an, like a catalyst, and Cui Shilang and others were suddenly at the center of public opinion.

When the steward of the Cui family woke up in the morning, he found the courtyard filled with all sorts of trash, rotten vegetables, old shoes, and stones. The steward quickly had the servants clean up the mess before the masters woke up.

But when he opened the gate, he was stunned. The gate was almost blocked by even more trash.

"This person has a truly vicious heart!" As the steward turned to call the servants to clean up the mess outside the gate, Cui Shilang stood at the door of his bedroom, looking at the scene outside, his face pale.