Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 184: Chapter 180 Setup

“Lord Xu, you are the Assistant Inspector, you should cooperate with us!” Li Chunhui’s face darkened as he spoke angrily.

Xu Jin frowned, “Although this case was previously handled by the Inspection Department, I was not involved in the trial. What could I possibly help you with?”

“I suspect Yang Zhenshan, the garrison officer of An Yuan City, of embezzling dirty silver,” said Li Chunhui.

Xu Jin looked at him skeptically, “Aren’t you a doctor from the Ministry of Revenue? Since when have you been handling affairs of the Ministry of Criminal Justice?”

“Even if Yang Zhenshan has embezzled silver, you should report it to Mr. Zhang of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Isn’t he also here?”

Zhang Yu, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, was the highest-ranking official among those who had arrived.

Li Chunhui’s expression grew even uglier. He knew very well that Zhang Yu was also here; they had come together.

As for reporting to Zhang Yu, he wasn’t really foolish enough to disgrace himself in front of Zhang Yu over such a matter.

He had approached Xu Jin precisely to make things difficult for Yang Zhenshan because Xu Jin had the authority to oversee the garrison office and the responsibility to investigate Yang Zhenshan.

It didn’t matter to him whether Yang Zhenshan had embezzled silver or not; he just wanted to embarrass him.

But he never expected Xu Jin to so blatantly refuse to give him face.

What he even less expected was that Xu Jin not only refused him face but also threatened him.

“Mr. Li, framing colleagues is a serious crime. If you have no evidence, I suggest you better refrain from making careless statements!” Xu Jin said sternly, showing no intention to save Li Chunhui any face.

He had been in An Yuan City for over a month, and knew well what kind of person Yang Zhenshan was.

To be honest, in his over twenty years of service, he had never seen an official like Yang Zhenshan.

From training soldiers, to managing the military, to keeping the peace, Xu Jin greatly admired him.

He was thoroughly aware of how the soldiers in the garrison and the situation at the external garrison forts were, and he was informed about the things Yang Zhenshan had done.

More importantly, Yang Zhenshan was forthright with him; Yang readily complied with any of his requests.

He had checked the accounts of the garrison office, inspected its storehouses, and followed Yang Zhenshan in distributing provisions at the garrison, so he was well aware whether Yang Zhenshan had embezzled anything.

Yang Zhenshan had never even embezzled from the garrison officer’s funds, so why would he embezzle the dirty silver from the sinner’s mansion?

Li Chunhui was so rebuffed he couldn’t utter a word, his face turning from pale to green to white, seemingly unable to recover for a while.

“You, you’re very good, this is officials protecting each other, I will definitely report this to Mr. Cui!” he fumed angrily.

The Mr. Cui he referred to was Cui Rongsheng, the Left Assistant Imperial Censor of the Imperial Examination Hall.

“Go ahead, my conscience is clear, I am not afraid of villains framing me!” Xu Jin was uncompromising, outright labeling Li Chunhui as a villain.

Li Chunhui, red-faced from anger and pointing at Xu Jin, fortunately knew he couldn’t gain any advantage here, and stormed off fiercely flinging his sleeves.

Xu Jin watched his retreating figure and snorted coldly, “Despicable villain!”

“Come, follow me to the garrison office!”

He turned and gave the order, then headed towards the direction of the garrison office.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yang Zhenshan returned to the garrison office, growing increasingly suspicious that something was not right.

It was normal for officials from the Capital City to ignore him, but why would a doctor from the Ministry of Revenue trouble him?

Was it necessary?

Unnecessary!

With no enmity or grudge, why would this person seek to trouble him?

Was it just to flaunt the authority from the Capital City?

Yang Zhenshan thought this man surely couldn’t be so idle.

He pondered long and hard but couldn’t figure it out, and just as he was about to give up thinking about these messy issues, Han Fei reported from outside: “Sir, Lord Xu has arrived!”

“Oh, let him in, please!” Yang Zhenshan said casually.

Then he stood up, walked over to the side table, and took a seat.

Xu Jin entered, and Yang Zhenshan immediately greeted him: “Mr. Xu, your timing is perfect. I’ve just found some fine tea here, seems like it’s the Mao Feng from Yu State.”

Whether the Mao Feng from Yu State was good or not, Yang Zhenshan wasn’t too clear.

However, this was a gift from Zhou Lan, so it must be extraordinary.

He had received many gifts at his wedding, which had been stored in the warehouse, and only these past few days had he managed to sort through them, and surprisingly, he found many fine items.

Indeed, there were many good things – fine wines, teas, tobaccos, precious medicinal materials, Martial Arts cultivation techniques, gold and silver jewelry, jade, jade pendants, etc.

Anything stored in his warehouse were fine items; the ordinary stuff like fabrics and mountain goods had long been dealt with by Ms. Wang.

Among those who had sent these fine items were not only Zhou Lan, Zhao Yuan, Mr. Lu, and Luo Shang, who were acquaintances of Yang, but also Liang Chu, Wang Bin, and Lv Hua.

Wang Bin sending gifts was no surprise, but Liang Chu and Lv Hua also sending gifts was indeed unexpected.

Liang Chu was the Marquis Changping, leader of Chongshan Town’s military, whom Yang had met only once and with whom he had little acquaintance.

As for Lv Hua, Yang really did not want to have any dealings with him.

Fortunately, the gifts these two sent weren’t very valuable; no, to be precise, they weren’t valuable to them, but to Yang, they were rare treasures.

Xu Jin sat down, and Yang Zhenshan poured him tea, “You look a bit upset! Who has bothered you?”

Although Xu Jin had only been in An Yuan City for just over a month, Yang was already quite familiar with him.

Xu Jin often came to the garrison office to inspect various aspects, but Yang didn’t mind and always warmly welcomed him.

Initially, Yang found this little old man a bit odd, but after spending more time together, he realized that Xu Jin was a man of high principles.

Yang Zhenshan was pleased to associate with such a person, hence, with each interaction, their friendship grew deeper.

“Have you met Li Chunhui?” Xu Jin asked.

“Li Chunhui, who is that?” Yang Zhenshan was unaware of the respected name of the doctor from the Ministry of Revenue.

“It’s the doctor from the Ministry of Revenue who arrived today!”

Yang Zhenshan raised his eyebrows slightly, “I’ve met him, is there a problem?”

“He just now…” Xu Jin briefly recounted what happened in front of the Military Equipment Department office.

After hearing this, Yang Zhenshan’s expression turned incredibly grim.

This guy actually wants to frame him for embezzlement?

“You need to be careful!” Xu Jin suddenly warned.

“What do you mean?” Yang Zhenshan’s brows furrowed, he asked.

Xu Jin pondered for a moment, then said, “This Li Chunhui is just a doctor from the Ministry of Revenue, he shouldn’t have targeted you ordinarily, but since he did, it could only mean that he’s been instigated by someone!”

Yang Zhenshan took a deep breath, “Instigated? I’m just a garrison officer, who would target me?”

“It doesn’t make sense! I’ve only been an official for a few years, don’t have any enemies in the bureaucracy, not to mention Capital City, even Chongshan Town shouldn’t have anyone targeting me!”

He had never been to Capital City and didn’t have much involvement with that region, so logically no one there should be paying him any attention.

As for in Chongshan Town, who doesn’t know he is Zhou Lan’s man, who would dare to provoke Zhou Lan.

Zhou Lan could walk sideways in Chongshan Town, and following Zhou Lan had spared him a lot of trouble.

Besides, his interaction with other officials was limited, and he scarcely had any financial entanglements.

Thinking of someone who might hold enmity towards him, he couldn’t come up with any names for the moment.

Xu Jin said, “Some things can’t only be seen on the surface, what might seem insignificant to you could be very important in someone else’s eyes.”

“Or perhaps you inadvertently blocked someone’s path without knowing!”

Compared to Yang Zhenshan, Xu Jin understood the bureaucracy better, having experienced countless unwarranted disasters.

Yang Zhenshan pondered.

Could it be that I unintentionally offended someone?

Who could it be?

Although Yang Zhenshan had been an official for several years, under the protection of Zhou Lan he had always breezed through without much trouble, which left him unfamiliar with some rules of the bureaucracy.

He was still puzzled.

Xu Jin wanted to give Yang Zhenshan some advice, but he was not fully aware of Yang Zhenshan’s circumstances and couldn’t figure out the problem immediately.

After some more conversation, Xu Jin rose and took his leave.

After seeing off Xu Jin, Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment and then told Han Fei, who was guarding outside, “Go call Ding Qiu here!”

Ding Qiu was the chief of the Yang family’s guards; when Yang Zhenshan didn’t go out, he would stay in the backyard training those youngsters.

Moments later, Ding Qiu arrived in the study, “Master!”

“Ah, you take some people and keep an eye on those officials who entered the city today, especially that doctor from the Ministry of Revenue; keep a personal watch, and report to me immediately if there’s any movement!”

“Be careful, the guards around these officials are not simple!” Yang Zhenshan instructed.

Had it been before, Yang Zhenshan would have found it difficult to take such action.

Because he didn’t have his own power.

Certainly, soldiers from the garrison couldn’t run personal errands for him, not that they were untrustworthy, but that it’s best not to use what one should avoid using.

However, now not only did he have Ding Qiu, but he also had ten disciples from the Sky Blue Sword Sect. These disciples, criminal underworld martial artists though they were, could handle such surveillance and pursuit tasks somewhat better than the soldiers of the defense camp.

“Yes!” Ding Qiu responded and then withdrew.

Yang Zhenshan mulled over it a bit more, and then sat down to write a letter.

This matter must be taken seriously.

Someone wanted to target him, and he didn’t even know who.

Without uncovering the root cause, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t settle down.

“Take this letter to the Assistant General!” Yang Zhenshan ordered Han Fei.

If he couldn’t figure it out himself, then it was best to ask for help.

The issue likely didn’t stem from Yinghe Castle, otherwise, it wouldn’t have just surfaced now.

As for the Capital City, it should also be impossible.

Although Li Chunhui was a doctor from the Ministry of Revenue, if it were someone from the Capital City targeting him, there’s no need to arrange for a doctor from the Ministry of Revenue to make a move.

The issue might lie with Jia City.

Possibly the Assistant General Mansion, or possibly the Songzhou Guard.

Asking Wang Bin was almost certainly correct.

As for whether Wang Bin would help Yang Zhenshan, Yang Zhenshan thought that Wang Bin would help, especially since Wang Sheng was still under his command.

After the letter was sent out, Yang Zhenshan grew tired of pondering any further and went back to the backyard.