Chapter 106: A Ruthless Person
The next day.
As usual, Xu Chong drank a full pot of tea, pushed the door open, and went straight to the Zhentianfu government office.
The government office is also located in the east of the city, only two streets away from the Imperial Observatory, and can be reached in a moment.
To be honest, the government office of Zhentian Prefecture looks similar to that of Zhang Hua. Compared with the standards of the secondary capital, it seems a bit shabby.
But after thinking about it, Xu Chong could understand it.
At the local level, the prefect is the leader of a region and needs a lavish building to show off his status.
But in the capital and the secondary capitals, the prefect was just an insignificant official.
Even if the position is raised to the third rank, the scope of power is almost the same, but there are still higher-ranking officials above them, and there are quite a few of them.
It is inevitable that we have to be more low-key.
"The new deputy director of the Imperial Observatory?"
The gatekeeper looked at Xu Chong's azure gown and said, "The prefect is working. You can go to the side hall and wait for a while. I will go and inform him."
"Thank you."
Xu Chong nodded and went to the side hall under the guidance of the yamen runner.
Before long, a middle-aged man with a calm face strode in.
"Xu Chong, the deputy director of the Imperial Observatory, greets the governor Su."
Xu Chong stood up and clasped his fists.
I have already found out his name, it's Su Chongjiu, and I think he was born on September 9th.
"No need to be so polite."
Su Chongjiu waved his hand and sat down in the main seat, his expression neither friendly nor distant, "I wonder why Deputy Supervisor Xu is here?"
"I dare not lie."
Xu Chong's expression became serious. "Yesterday outside the city, I had a conversation with Master Ling. Master Ling's words and actions were very unusual."
"What?!"
Su Chongjiu stood up suddenly, his tone extremely anxious: "What happened next? How is he?!"
"Master Su, don't worry. Your son is now in the Imperial Observatory and seems to be fine."
Xu Chong replied in a deep voice.
"In the Imperial Observatory... That's good, that's good."
Su Chongjiu breathed a sigh of relief, sat down again, picked up the teacup and took a sip.
Some hand shaking.
This reaction made Xu Chong feel depressed, "I came here for this matter..."
"Since he is not dead, there is no need to apologize."
Su Chongjiu's tone became a little colder.
"It's not my style to make amends."
Xu Chong shook his head and said, "I want to see if there is any way to solve this problem."
Solving Su Ruochen's problem will solve your own problem.
After all, it’s not a good idea to always rely on drugs, and that bag of tea won’t last long.
“…”
Su Chongjiu's expression eased slightly, but he shook his head: "That's even more unnecessary. This matter has completely become his inner demon."
"Inner demon?"
Xu Chong frowned.
"The backlash of desire in the Body Cleansing Realm is also called the inner demon."
Su Chongjiu sighed and said in a low voice: "He is equivalent to being in the Tongmai Realm, and he has to bear the dangers of the Xishen Realm... If he wants to survive, he can only stay in his current realm, and he has to stay in the Imperial Observatory for six hours every day, and live his whole life relying on the rules of the blessed land."
Xu Chong pondered for a while, then said solemnly: "I still want to give it a try."
It’s not necessary to cure Su Ruochen, but we still have to try.
Do your best and leave the rest to fate.
There is really no other way, so I have to put on some forbidden shackles for myself, and go to the capital after I have cleansed my body to the ninth level.
At least
Su Chongjiu looked at Xu Chong quietly, and sighed after a while: "Did he claim to be a native Zhentian in front of you?"
"That's exactly what he said."
Xu Chong nodded.
“Not really.”
Su Chongjiu shook his head. "The Su family's ancestral home is in Binzhou, a small fishing village by the sea thousands of miles away. He only came to Zhentian ten years ago."
Zhentian Prefecture was established as a secondary capital and was part of Binzhou Province before it was directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court.
However, that was an old almanac ...
Xu Chong's eyes shone, and he asked, "What happened ten years ago?"
"The sea is boiling."
Su Chongjiu slowly uttered two words, "A very big sea is boiling."
Xu Chong’s eyes suddenly widened.
When the sea boils, it becomes a tsunami.
A total natural disaster!
"At that time, I had just taken office as the prefect of Zhentian Prefecture, and had not yet had time to bring my family here..."
Su Chongjiu closed his eyes, his voice trembling slightly, "The sea boiled without any signs, and by the time we discovered it, it was already too late... Moreover, Zhentian Prefecture has one capital county and sixteen direct-controlled counties under its jurisdiction, which were also affected."
"I thought my wife and children had no hope of survival, so I gave up all thoughts and focused on handling the disaster."
"Until three months later..."
Su Chongjiu opened his eyes and looked at Xu Chong, his eyes full of self-mockery: "He walked to Zhentian City alone."
Xu Chong nodded slowly, as if thinking about something.
In terms of age, Su Ruochen was only twelve years old ten years ago.
At the age of twelve, he experienced a great disaster, watched his relatives die, and then walked thousands of miles.
He has been a ruthless person since he was young!
However, the experiences of these three months have made him a problem child just like his original self.
"Since then, he has developed a habit of boasting. If someone questions him, he will curse at them at best, or even fight them at worst... I have tried beating, scolding, and persuading them, but nothing works."
Su Chongjiu continued, "It was not until a month ago that I used public resources for personal gain and arranged for him to work as an official in the government office and led him to the path of martial arts that things started change, but the good times didn't last long..."
"You didn't expect him to be so talented."
Xu Chong added what Su Chongjiu hadn't finished saying, "In just one month, he broke through from the Awakening to the third level of Tongmai, which once again aggravated his inner demons."
"exactly."
Su Chongjiu nodded helplessly, "So, I can only ask the supervisor to send him to the Imperial Observatory."
"I think I understand."
Xu Chong lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said, "I think we can't just block this matter blindly."
"What's the meaning?"
Su Chongjiu was stunned.
This new deputy supervisor has a solution so quickly?
"I will try to be careful with your son... In addition, there should be copies of my files in the secondary capital. Your Excellency can check them out."
After saying that, Xu Chong stood up and said goodbye.
When Su Chongjiu came to his senses, Xu Chong had disappeared.
"Let me check him?"
Su Chongjiu didn't understand.
It was the first time he saw someone asking others to check on him.
He immediately called his subordinates and went to the Ministry of Personnel to ask for the files.
They were all idle officials and they met each other every day. The Ministry of Personnel did not make it difficult for them and readily transferred out Xu Chong's file.
And after Su Chongjiu finished reading it, he understood why Xu Chong asked him to check this.
Although the files of the Ministry of Personnel did not record the incident of Xu Chong hanging himself, Xu Youan's reputation as an official and Xu Chong's words and deeds before he became an official were all recorded.
"It's not easy for a father and son to go their separate ways. No wonder he wants to help Ruochen... Maybe there really is a way?"
Su Chongjiu shook his head and sighed, then turned to the last page of the file.
When he saw the four words clearly, his hands shook violently and he almost threw the file away.
…
…
One good thing about Zhentian City is that it is always sunny.
Because the clouds are all below.
Every time the sun sets, a huge disk of fire approaches the sea of clouds, dyeing the world golden red.
Su Ruochen sat alone beside the cliff, staring blankly at the sea of clouds.
"Excuse me, little brother, are you a local?"
A calm and rough voice sounded in my ears.
"Of course."
Su Ruochen's eyes lit up instantly and he turned his head immediately.
A strange middle-aged face appeared before my eyes. He looked ordinary, was dressed ordinary, and had a gourd hanging around his waist.
"My name is Zhang Long. I came from another province. I would like to ask you, little brother, if there are any rules in Zhentian City that you should pay attention to?"
The middle-aged man bowed and sat down next to Su Ruochen.
"You've asked the right person."
Su Ruochen was beaming with joy, "There is nothing in Zhentian City that I, Su Ruochen, don't know."
"Oh? That's great."
Zhang Long was overjoyed.
"First of all, if you are entering the city and you do not hold an official position in the city, you must line up and accept inspection."
Su Ruochen pointed to the city gate not far away and said proudly: "If you are like me, with a full eighth-rank position, you can enter and exit the city gate as you please."
"So you are an official of the eighth rank. I am so disrespectful."
Zhang Long bowed again.
"Excuse me, excuse me."
Su Ruochen narrowed his eyes and smiled. "As for the city, there are not many rules. Zhentian City is isolated by the sea and built on a mountain. Most of the people in the city are warm and hospitable. As long as you don't offend the officials, you won't starve to death even if you do nothing."
"so good?"
Zhang Long was surprised.
"of course."
Su Ruochen continued, "In fact, even if you offend local officials, as long as there is no deep hatred, they will usually just laugh it off."
"very nice……"
Zhang Long looked envious, "If only I had known about this place earlier, ah..."
"Why are you sighing, brother?"
Su Ruochen asked, and then immediately patted his chest: "If you have any difficulties, just tell me. I, Su Ruochen, can't guarantee anything else, but in this small piece of land in Zhentian City, I still have some face."
"Thank you for your kindness, sir."
Zhang Long bowed for the third time and then shook his head: "I am not in any difficulty, but I am just thinking about my past."
"oh?"
Su Ruochen frowned slightly.
"To be honest, I am originally from Binzhou Province."
Zhang Long looked dejected. "The sea flood ten years ago not only wiped out all my wealth, but also killed more than ten people in my family, including my wife, children, and elders."
Su Ruochen's frown deepened, but his eyes remained clear.
Zhang Long felt relieved and continued, "Do you know how I survived?"
"How did you survive?"
Su Ruochen's brows relaxed, revealing obvious curiosity.
"I would fight with other people for corpses, tree bark, and wild grass to fill my stomach. As long as I could have a bite, I could live one more day."
Zhang Long spoke in a low voice, filled with deep despair.
Su Ruochen was silent, his eyes showing some confusion.
An extremely light, barely noticeable scent of tea wafted out, making the mess quickly disappear.
“And then I did survive.”
Zhang Long continued, "It's just that everything is gone, and I have to start all over again... Hey, you don't know how much I wanted to end it all when I was being driven around like a refugee."
I have no idea?
Su Ruochen's face shuddered, and he really wanted to say that he knew it too well.
"If you want to eat, besides begging, you basically have to rely on fraud, all kinds of fraud... There's no other way, you have to survive."
Zhang Long chuckled, "Surviving is a matter of course, there's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Later, I saved a little money and started a small business."
"In the end, I was recognized... and I was beaten up so badly that I was almost killed."
Speaking of this, Su Ruochen's curiosity was completely aroused.
Su Ruochen couldn't help but ask, "And then?"
"Then?"
Zhang Long touched his nose and said, "Then of course I will recover secretly, and when I am better, I will continue to beg and save money."
After a pause, Zhang Long made a hand gesture and said with a very proud smile: "Seven times, my small business was smashed seven times, and in the end I managed to survive."
Got hit seven times... Is this something to be proud of?
Su Ruochen's mind was a little confused, and he asked, "Then what?"
"Then?"
Zhang Long was stunned. "What do you want to ask?"
"You've been bullied so badly, are you just going to let it go?"
Su Ruochen looked at Zhang Long with a puzzled expression.
"if not?"
Zhang Long spread his hands and said, "I cheated to survive, I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but it's not wrong for others to take it out on me because they were cheated... Do I have to fight back?"
"this……"
Su Ruochen was stunned for a moment.
"But then again, there are a few people who still hound me. They always come to me when the wine shop is doing the best business, pointing their fingers at me and calling me a liar. It's really hateful."
Zhang Long's tone was somewhat helpless. "This time I came to Zhentian just to see if I could find a suitable job to make a living and move my family business here."
"Now I'm calling you a liar... Can you tolerate that?"
Su Ruochen didn't know what to say.
"Even if there weren't these people, wouldn't I have encountered malicious slander from my peers?"
Zhang Long asked back, "In this life, who can make everyone believe in themselves?"
"Can't I?"
Su Ruochen asked back.
"Think about it."
Zhang Long stood up and pointed at the mountain and the cloud. "The current emperor is the most respected person in the whole world. Even his decrees, if they are not appropriate, will be opposed by others, and even rejected by the six departments. What about you and me, just ordinary people?"
"It seems... it is indeed the case..."
Su Ruochen looked at what Yun Hai was thinking and finally nodded in agreement.
"I ask you."
Zhang Long looked down at Su Ruochen and said with a smile: "People laugh at me and look down on me, how should I deal with it?"
"How to deal with it?"
Su Ruochen raised his head and stared blankly at Zhang Long who was wrapped in golden and red light.
"Just let him be, ignore him..."
Zhang Long put his hands behind his back and looked at the huge fire pan which was only half left. "Wait a few more years and see if I still have eyes for him."
Wait a few more years and see if I still have eyes for him?
Su Ruochen repeated in a low voice.
After a moment, a strong aura emanated from his body.
After four levels of opening up the meridians, you’re done.
Su Ruochen stood up, bowed deeply and clasped his hands.
"Your humble servant Su Ruochen would like to thank the deputy supervisor for his teachings."
