After a few days of nothing, the holiday was over. Qiu Guoxiang and other officials came back one after another. When they met, they all thanked Shu Yan and said they had worked hard. Shu Yan reported to Qiu Guoxiang the labor army account books and Jianxiang school accounts.

There is a problem with the book.

When Qiu Guoxiang heard this, he was surprised and said: "Is there such a thing?"

Shu Yan said: "Of course, I saw it with my own eyes. It's a matter of public sentiment, and the money is not a small amount."

"Well, you go down first and wait until I call Tang Hui to check it carefully."

Shu Yan had no choice but to quit. Although Shu Yan held two jobs, the errand was nothing to him. He could do better by himself than the two of them before. In addition to working as an errand, he would go to the north of the city to practice in his spare time.

Archery. After some time, there was still no news about checking the account books.

On this day, Qiu Guoxiang suddenly called him over and said to him: "Shu Wenxue, congratulations."

Shu Yan didn't know where the joy came from, so he asked: "What's the news for me, my official? Is it because the account book has been found?"

Qiu Guoxiang's face sank and he said: "How much does that matter have to do with you? What a happy event! The happy event I'm talking about is that I just received a notice from the court asking you, the newly promoted Xiaolian, to go to Luoyang immediately to try. If Ce is

If the test is successful, you will be the official of the imperial court, and you won't have to work as a temporary errand here. Isn't this a happy event?"

After hearing this, Shu Yan was overjoyed at first, and then said stubbornly: "This is indeed a happy event, but I won't leave until the matter is found out."

"What? Shu Yan, are you stupid? Your future is important! What does that matter have to do with you, why bother holding on to it!" Qiu Guoxiang said angrily.

"Prime Minister, when you are an official, you have to make decisions for the people. If you can't make decisions for the people, what's the use of being a high-ranking official? I would rather stay a few days late to wait for the outcome of this matter!"

Qiu Shoutai thought to himself: I didn't expect that Shu Yan was so stubborn. He really misjudged him at first. "You, you, hum!" He pointed at Shu Yan angrily, and then walked away with a wave of his sleeves.

The next day was a holiday, so Shu Yan bought some food and went to Eunuch Tang's house. As soon as he walked to the door, he heard someone arguing with Eunuch Tang in the house. The man said: "Since you took the treasured bow handed down from your ancestors,

If you give it to others, don't expect me to recognize you as your father!"

When Shu Yan heard this, he wondered why this man's voice was so familiar. Then he heard Eunuch Tang's voice: "What's the difference whether you recognize it or not? That Shu Lang is unparalleled in benevolence and filial piety. He treats me like my own descendant."

You rebellious son, you have never seen me as a father in your eyes, how can you compare to him!"

The man said angrily: "Hmph, do you think that Shu Yan is a good guy? He is clinging to the labor issue and wants to kill me!"

Shu Yan was wondering outside the door: What? Who is this person? How did he bring up the matter of labor? The voice sounded like - Tang Hui, oh, it turns out that Tang Hui is the son of Eunuch Tang!

Shu Yan was just guessing when he heard Eunuch Tang say again: "You yourself did something that violated the law, how can you blame others!"

"Do you think I did all these things by myself? Hum, how can I deceive others if I do such a big thing by myself? It's just that the one named Shu held on tightly, and the one named Qiu just pushed me out as a last resort!"

Tang Gonggong said: "Since I have done it, I have failed my ancestors, and I have also failed the people of Ruyin. What else is there to say!"

Tang replied: "Ah, I know, I can't escape the relationship. But we are still father and son. I want to ask you one last thing. It's fine if you give the bow to others, but the "Book of Music"

》You should pass it to me after all!”

Tang Gonggong said: "You rebellious son, I never wanted to pass on these two treasures passed down from our ancestors to you. But you are idle all day long and do not do your job properly. I have tried to comfort you in every possible way, but you just don't listen. It is in vain that I passed on your martial arts.

If this treasure bow is given to you, you will be like

Adding more wings to a tiger and committing evil will be ten times more harmful. And this "Book of Music" is a treasure handed down from generation to generation, one of the six ancient classics. It was lost after the burning of books in the Qin Dynasty. This is the only remaining

An authentic work should be handed over to a virtuous person, how could it be ruined by someone like you?"

"Of course I know that this "Yue Jing" is a rare treasure, and the reason why I want this "Yue Jing" is because I have committed such a serious crime. If I offer this "Yue Jing", I can save my life.

Damn it!"

"Hmph, you did a lot of bad things before you even entered the county government office, but I still hope that you will turn around. I just relied on my old face to help you get this job. I hope you can change your ways.

.But you have gone even worse and actually taken advantage of your position to do more harm to others. It is all your own fault, and I can’t save you."

…

After hearing these words, Shu Yan fell into an extreme conflict and didn't know what to do. He moved his steps gently, turned around, and walked aimlessly, thinking as he walked. He mentioned the matter of going to Beijing for an examination.

He pushed back, just to find out the matter and bring the principal culprit to justice. However, the principal culprit happened to be the son of Eunuch Tang, who had a mentor-disciple relationship with him. In addition to the contradiction, what made him admire even more was Eunuch Tang.

Selflessness, Confucius once said

It has been said that "the father hides himself for his son, and the son hides himself for his father." But Tang Eunuch actually surpassed this state! But Shu Yan himself was still in conflict. He turned around and came back. It seemed that he had already thought about it.

Okay, for the sake of Eunuch Tang, he will not pursue the matter anymore, but he doesn't know if he will change his mind at the next moment. He knocked on the door and went in, and saw Eunuch Tang sitting cross-legged, with the bow and arrows and two volumes on the case.

Bamboo slips and a jug of wine.

"Yan'er, I knew you would come."

"Eunuch Tang, I don't know... Tang Cang Cao is your son."

Eunuch Tang smiled bitterly, said nothing, and drank a glass of wine. Upon seeing this, Shu Yan hurriedly poured a glass and said, "I'll have a drink with you." As soon as he picked it up to drink, Eunuch Tang knocked him to the ground.

, "You can't drink this wine!"

Shu Yan thought that Eunuch Tang was angry with him for pursuing Tang Hui's case. Unexpectedly, Eunuch Tang showed a rare kindness and said: "Sit down, Yan'er. You can take this bow and this pot of arrows."

Shu Yan said: "Eunuch Tang, I can't have this. This is your ancestral treasure."

Tang Gonggong said: "Just take it if you are asked to hold it. Not only will I give you this bow, but I will also give you these two volumes of the "Book of Music". Since you are familiar with the "Five Classics", you must know the "Book of Music".

"Bar?"

Shu Yan took the two volumes of "The Classic of Music" in his hands, weighed them repeatedly, and said: "This is the "The Classic of Music", one of the legendary Six Classics? Hasn't it been lost long ago?"

"Yes, most of the "Yue Jing" was lost after the Qin Emperor burned the books. However, my ancestor was a music official in the court at that time. He cherished the "Yue Jing" very much and was afraid that it would be lost in the Qin Dynasty.

Later generations. Because this book collects the essence of vocal music for thousands of years since the Yellow Emperor, thousands of

Once it was lost, I felt sorry for my ancestors and my descendants. So my ancestors secretly took it out of the palace and found a very secluded place to hide it. After hundreds of years, it was inevitably bitten by insects and rats and became moldy.

It deteriorated and lost part of it, leaving only these two volumes."

Of course Shu Yan knew the importance of this "Book of Music". It was a treasure that many people in the imperial court dreamed of.

"If these two volumes of "The Book of Music" are true, they must be extremely valuable. I can't even ask for such a precious thing."

"Yan'er, how could you not want it!" After Eunuch Tang said, he suddenly choked up in his throat, as if something was surging in his stomach. He calmed down for a while and said, "I have no one in the Tang family who can be trusted, especially my only son.

If you don't do your job properly, then "The Book of Music"

"How can I be worthy of my ancestors if I hand it over to him? You are the person I have been looking for so hard. If I hand over this "Book of Music" to someone like you, I will feel relieved when I leave. To tell you the truth, the reason why I just

I knocked over the wine because it was poisonous..."

Shu Yan held Eunuch Tang's hand, helped him to the bed, and asked in surprise: "Ah! Eunuch Tang, could it be that you drank poisonous wine?!"

Eunuch Tang nodded lightly and said weakly: "One more thing, my traitor... He has run away. If you want to blame, just blame me... He has committed a capital crime. I... I will first apologize for him.

."

Shu Yan cried: "Eunuch Tang, why are you doing this! As long as I can make up the money, I will definitely intercede for him and strive for a lighter sentence."

"That's good..." Tang Bi's eyes flashed with relief. After saying that, he stuffed the two bamboo slips into Shu Yan's hands and closed his eyes.

Tang Bi died, but his son was nowhere to be found. Shu Yan took a leave of absence and spent his own money to buy a proper coffin for Eunuch Tang and bury him.

Returning to the official office, Qiu Guoxiang took two account books and said excitedly to him: "Shu Wenxue, the matter of the account books has been investigated clearly."

Originally, Shu Yan should have been extremely happy when he heard the news, but after Eunuch Tang's death, he was not happy at all when he heard the news. He was quite sad and said lightly: "Oh, really?"

"Yes, look at this Jianxiu School account book: there is only a general heading on the title page, there is nothing recorded in it, it is completely empty!"

"Then the imperial government's funding is also empty?"

"Of course, the imperial court's appropriation was even more fictitious. It didn't happen at all. Because when they heard that Xiangxue was going to be built, Tang Hui created such an account book in advance. Unexpectedly, the imperial court didn't allocate money at all later, and various places built Xiangxue.

There is no need to pay for it from the treasury. Because there is no money coming in or out, this account book becomes an empty account book." Qiu Guoxiang said and handed over the account book.

Shu Yan took a look and saw that this account book was brand new, and it was obviously not the account book that had been inked many times.

He didn't answer, but asked again: "What happened to the labor register?"

"The case of Lao Jun has also been found out. It was Tang Hui who deducted money from the people. How dare he do such a thing, but he has already fled in fear of crime. But he fled and owed the money to the people."

I will make up for it as much as possible, and I will make up for it as much as possible. You can inform the small businessmen tomorrow to pick it up."

Shu Yan thought that the labor incident not only deducted money from the people, but also sold those things to the Shi family overnight, which was equivalent to getting double benefits. But there was no witness, and the words were empty and empty.

.I don’t know how many people were involved in these two incidents. In one case, the account books were changed, and in the other case, a scapegoat was found... There must be more big things than this, but they all went unpunished, and an old man was made to pay.

Life. Alas...

The next day, small businessmen came to the county office one after another to get money. People couldn't believe that the money owed to the government office for several years could be returned. It was unimaginable. Everyone knew that this was Shu Yan's credit.

He praised him endlessly. Shu Yan was very happy, and his sadness for Eunuch Tang was reduced a bit.

After everything was done, Shu Yan packed up and prepared to go to Luoyang. The first thing he thought of was the two flowers. Although it was a long way there, because they were taking a boat and there was no shortage of water along the way, the two flowers would not wither.

He dug up the two flowers, put them in two flower pots, wrapped them in cloth, put the "Music Book" in a close-fitting bag, picked up the bow, and went there.

Rushing to the Ruhe Ferry. Passing by Shujiazhuang, he said goodbye to Eunuch Xia and then returned to his home. He was very happy to see Ruoxin teaching the students in Xiang School in an orderly manner. Ruoxin sent him to the ferry.

When passing by Han's house, Zhixin's words suddenly lingered in his mind: Brother Yan, I am your wife, when will you take me to your side?

Shu Yan thought: Zhixin and I love each other. Although she left long ago, we have known each other as husband and wife since we were children, but her memorial tablet is still in the Han family. This is my fault and should be placed next to me.

That's right. Thinking of this, he told Ruoxin that he wanted to take away his sister's tablet. Of course, Ruoxin had no objection, so she gave Zhixin's tablet to Shu Yan. Shu Yan said goodbye to Ruoxin and boarded the boat.
Chapter completed!