Mythical Three Kingdoms

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As soon as Fa Zheng approached Chen Xi, he smelled the scent of rouge and face powder, and even saw some leftover powder on his face, which startled him.

”Hey, hey, hey, Fengxiao, don’t go overboard. Xiaoo Zhi is still young. Be careful not to push him too far,” Chen Xi raised an eyebrow and spoke with displeasure. He definitely didn’t want Fa Zheng to turn out to be a playboy; he was building Mount Tai College to be the powerhouse with top students like Fa Zheng. If Guo Jia ruined him, it would be a tragedy. He was still counting on using Fa Zheng to straighten out those elementary students like Pang Tong!

Still in a daze, Fa Zheng looked nearly spent. Guo Jia, with a cheeky grin, clasped his hands and said, ”Lord, please forgive Xiaoo Zhi for his rudeness; he is deep in contemplation.”

Liu Bei smiled and didn’t mind such trifles. If Jian Yong could take off his shoes and reach for meat with his hands while they ate together, what was this in comparison?

”Hehehe, I took Xiaoo Zhi to...” Guo Jia’s face broke into a smile, one that everyone understood, so no more was said. Even Chen Xi went there occasionally; after all, Fan Jian was only for looking and not for eating. He didn’t want to keep another woman at home, so there was no other option.

”And guess what? Xiaoo Zhi turned out to be a virgin!” Guo Jia exclaimed with a surprised look. ”He wouldn’t go, so I dragged him there. He resisted quite a bit, but in the end, it was my Guard Captain Ruan Yuliang who helped get him up there, hehehe.”

”Should I say it’s a habit for you to bring your guard when you go to *that place*? Or should I say you’re forcing a good man into lewdness? Don’t you realize that others look at you funny when you do that?” Chen Xi covered his face with his hand, feeling that Guo Jia really lacked integrity.

”Eh? Now that you mention it, it does seem so. They look at me so strangely!” Guo Jia reacted as if it had just dawned on him.

Liu Ye felt his face twitch uncontrollably, while Lub Su, wrapped tightly in his fur coat, trembled nonstop, whether from cold or laughter was uncertain.

”I think it’s time I reformed the administration!” Liu Bei felt his forehead pulse. These two were messing up the culture of Mount Tai, ”Boning! Come to see me at once!”

”Click!” The door of the Political Office was pushed open again, and a dark-faced scholar dressed in black, looking very much like the god of death, walked in. ”Greetings, Lord, and colleagues!”

”Check for me, how many issues has Fengxiao caused since coming back!” Liu Bei turned to ask.

Liu Bei had intended to just give Guo Jia a scare and figured Mann Chong wouldn’t actually collect such petty matters, at most giving a vague report. To his surprise, Mann Chong was a typical stern judge, rattling off Guo Jia’s problems without hesitation.

Liu Bei was startled by what he had heard. In the thirty-five days since Guo Jia had returned, he had been late and left early thirty-six times, accumulated debt at the Government Office eight times. Thinking back, when Zhao Yun and the others returned from Qingzhou, he remembered not having seen either Guo Jia or Fa Zheng. It seemed they hadn’t even spent a single full day at work, and now, what was this about visiting the Singer? The veteran guard he had picked out, Ruan Yuliang, turned out to be more useful for blocking the way, helping Guo Jia escape.

”Fengxiao, did Boning make up any of these accusations?” Liu Bei still had a high regard for Guo Jia for his competence and initiative. How could things have gotten to this point so quickly? Because of this, he felt somewhat conflicted about Mann Chong. Couldn’t he have softened his tone a little? He didn’t mince his words at all.

”Not at all,” Guo Jia said solemnly.

Liu Bei had realized over this period that Mann Chong was indeed a good hand at justice and also an iron-faced judge, unsympathetic and certainly not one to frame others. Liu Bei had asked merely to give Guo Jia a way out, a joke to laugh off and move on. Didn’t everyone here know what you were up to? Those who, like you, arrived late and left early were also frequent visitors of Willow Alley and still sat sipping tea in their Prefectural Governor seats. With so much formality, how could I excuse you?

Upon seeing this, Chen Xi knew things were not looking good. Guo Jia had decided to do this before he was ready, wasn’t it supposed to be him, Chen Xi, admitting his mistake and then Guo Fengxiao making excuses? Now, it seemed like he, Chen Xi, needed to make the excuses.

But at this time, he obviously couldn’t kick Guo Jia aside, he could only follow the script and carry on, ”Ahem, Lord Xuande, perhaps you should first go over Fengxiao’s official business,” Chen Xi said as he handed over a dozen documents to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was eager for a way out. Being late or leaving early, aside from the military, Mann Chong was the only one in the Administration Office of Mount Tai who was not like that. As for the others, looking at the bundled-up state of Lub Su, it would be odd if they arrived punctually. Besides, just before entering, Liu Bei had heard clearly that this group, having finished their official duties, was about to make a group exit to enjoy music and some food, to warm up a little.

In Liu Bei’s eyes, this was entirely reasonable. If the official duties were finished, sitting there in the cold was indeed inhumane. Hadn’t he, Liu Bei, thought about moving the Political Office to his living room? Soon after getting there and dealing with some business, it turned into watching the singer dance…

Liu Bei took the paperwork from Guo Jia, flipping through it and nodding. Although Guo Jia was somewhat unreliable, his capability had to be recognized. When he reached the last page, Liu Bei was taken aback. He looked Guo Jia up and down, sighed, and handed the documents to Mann Chong, ”Boning, what do you think of this method? Zichuan, you take a look too, this is your area of expertise.”

After quickly scanning the documents, Chen Xi knew that today’s event was orchestrated by Guo Jia himself, and when he had spoken with Guo Jia at the time, Guo Jia might have already been preparing to start. But with Chen Xi there, it was like having a double insurance.

”This method is very suitable for us. After all, we have already planned out Mount Tai’s layout for the next year in our idle time. Political Strategy, however, is not a matter of temporary planning. It must be combined with reality, and our empty talks may not be applicable next year,” Chen Xi said cautiously, having been eager to leave work early himself, damned by the legal requirement to sit for such long hours, forcing him to sneak around.

Chen Xi had long wanted to tell Liu Bei to not confine officials in the Political Office. There wasn’t that much to do every day. Lub Su, Liu Ye, and the like could govern an entire prefecture without major mistakes even if left to themselves, let alone being locked in the Political Office doing nothing. It would be better to let them go out and understand the real situation; they might discover more issues to solve.

But he had not found the right opportunity until now, and as the weather grew colder, Chen Xi’s frustration built up until it finally erupted. He was preparing to convince Liu Bei, along with Guo Jia, to adopt this idea, it would be best to legislate it directly. As long as officials managed the day’s political affairs, they could set their own time for coming and going!

Before Chen Xi had the chance to explode, Guo Jia had acted on his own. Of course, Chen Xi wholeheartedly agreed, already kicking Lub Su under the table and signaling Liu Ye with his eyes, practically saying, if you want a good life, fight for it now!

Liu Bei gave a wry smile, searching for such a formal reason just to leave work early. But thinking about it, everyone present, including those absent like Sunx Qian and Jian Yong, were all more than talented. Any one of them could handle governing a prefecture, or even a state if seated here, and even governing a nation wasn’t beyond the capable Chen Xi, who was now hopeful before him.

”If you want to come in at irregular times, just say it! There’s no need for this. I agree,” Liu Bei said after a long deliberate silence, his expression shifting from cloudy to sunny, smiling as he spoke. ”But it’s only you guys, and you must finish your duties first!”

”Thank you, Lord,” a unanimous chorus followed, including Mann Chong who smiled. Being in charge of judiciary for a single prefecture, hmm, at the peak of his history, this distinguished person dealt with the judiciary of ten states—playing with a single prefecture was hardly exciting!