Someone had said that a combination of two men and one woman was the most common gender ratio in a story.
Especially when the woman was very beautiful.
The horse-drawn carriage with the Xuanjing Si Hu Qiao flag flew along the official road, and the atmosphere inside the carriage was indeed somewhat subtle.
Zhou Cheng looked at Xu Qingwan, then at Wei Changtian, and awkwardly touched the top of his head.
“Uh, this mission… is still pretty easy.”
“……”
The two of them didn’t respond, especially Wei Changtian, who didn’t know what to say at this time.
Although Kong Changgui had just said that this mission was mainly to let them get familiar with the work process and rhythm.
But three Silver Leaf members going to deal with a group of wild chicken demons… was indeed a bit absurd.
It was likely that if they went late, the group of wild chicken demons would have already been killed by the local villagers.
Sigh…
Wei Changtian had just prepared to change the subject.
But Zhou Cheng suddenly remembered something at this time, and his face turned excited.
“By the way, Brother Wei, I heard about you suppressing the Poetic Sage on the flower boat last night!”
From noble mtl dot come
“Uh? It spread so quickly?” Wei Changtian was a bit surprised.
“It’s not that.”
Zhou Cheng laughed with a clap: “I heard it from my younger brother when I went out this morning.”
“He usually liked to hang out with those pretentious scholars, and this morning at breakfast, he kept muttering ‘wanting clothes’ or something.”
“I thought he was going to buy new clothes, so I asked him, only to find out it was a poem written by Brother Wei.”
“I heard that all the literati in the capital are spreading it around now!”
“…”
Wei Changtian thought to himself that without social media, it was impressive that the poem could spread so quickly, thanks to the efforts of those people.
Just thinking about becoming famous in the Da Ning poetry circle, with his feet on the shoulders of the poetry saints and his fists punching the poetry immortals… he couldn’t help but feel a little proud.
“Brother Zhou, it’s just a poem, not worth making a fuss about.”
“Being able to write poetry can’t fill your belly, and apart from maybe not having to pay when visiting the brothels in the future, there’s no other benefit.”
“!!”
Zhou Cheng was initially fine, but upon hearing that he wouldn’t have to pay when visiting the brothels, he suddenly felt both envious and admiring: “Amazing, Brother Wei! As a martial artist, I don’t understand poetry, but I know that being able to make the courtesans look sideways is a remarkable ability.”
He leaned in, his face full of expectation, and asked, “Brother Wei, what’s it like with that Liu poetess?”
“Hey!”
Wei Changtian waved his hand: “It’s nothing special, just that she’s a bit more beautiful than ordinary women.”
“How beautiful is she? Is she more beautiful than Xu’s wife?”
“Xu’s wife?”
Wei Changtian’s heart skipped a beat, and his face froze instantly.
With an extremely awkward expression, he turned to look at Xu Qingwan, who was also looking at him calmly.
Her thin lips opened slightly, her tone calm and unruffled.
“A courtesan? Didn’t you go drinking with her yesterday?”
“That… I was just drinking with the courtesan…”
“Oh.”
Xu Qingwan closed her eyes and stopped talking, while Zhou Cheng, seeing the two of them like this, couldn’t understand the situation at all.
He hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t resist his curiosity and whispered again:
“Brother Wei, tell me more about the experience.”
“I’ll definitely never have that good fortune in my life, so just let me indulge in the tale.”
“Listening to you will be like knowing what it’s like to ride that courtesan…”
Wei Changtian: “???”
…
Shanyang County was the farthest attached county from the city, with a large mountain called “Wanglong” at its back, said to offer a glimpse of the capital from its peak.
The three of them set off in the afternoon and arrived at the Shanyang County government office at dusk.
After the horse carriage stopped, Zhou Cheng was the first to jump down, taking two deep breaths of fresh air.
The atmosphere on the way was too oppressive, and it had almost suffocated him.
Meanwhile, Wei Changtian looked at Xu Qingwan, who was sitting across from him with her eyes closed, and finally opened his mouth to remind her: “Xu’s wife, we’ve arrived.”
Her beautiful eyes slowly opened, and Xu Qingwan glanced at him before getting off the carriage by herself, leaving only one sentence behind.
“You used to call me Xu younger sister.”
“…”
The vinegar taste was too strong.
Shaking his head, Wei Changtian was the last to get off the carriage, while Zhou Cheng had already started chatting with two tall and short constables from Shanyang County.
When he saw Wei Changtian come out, he hurriedly introduced them: “These two are constables from Shanyang County. This is Wei, the son of the Commander of the Xuanjing Bureau.”
“Wei, Young Master Wei?”
The two bailiffs’ smiles gradually disappeared, and from the movement of their legs, it seemed like they were about to kneel down and pay their respects.
Damn, his notorious reputation precedes him.
Wei Changtian hurriedly stepped forward, laughing and cupping his fists, saying, “No need for formalities, brothers. We’re all just doing our jobs.”
“Let’s get to the case at hand, shall we?”
“……”
The two bailiffs were taken aback, seemingly pondering why Wei Changtian didn’t match the rumors about him.
However, they quickly regained their composure and nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, yes, Young Master Wei, and the two esteemed gentlemen, please follow us this way…”
“I’ll go report to the county magistrate immediately, please wait for a moment, esteemed gentlemen…”
“……”
It seemed they were quite skilled at handling things, but did they really need to see the county magistrate for such a small case?
If this continued, it would probably turn into a free vacation.
Wei Changtian felt a bit helpless, Zhou Chengxin was secretly delighted, and Xu Qingwan remained unmoved.
The three of them sat in the county government’s reception hall for a while before meeting the county magistrate of Shanyang.
The county magistrate, who spoke with a southern accent, was even more direct. As soon as he entered, he wanted to take the three of them out to eat, but eventually agreed to discuss the case first after Wei Changtian’s insistence.
“Gentlemen, according to the villagers’ reports, these chicken demons have appeared for several months, but previously, they didn’t harm anyone. They just thought they were larger-than-usual wild animals and didn’t pay much attention.”
The tall bailiff handed over the villagers’ testimony and continued, “However, just a few days ago, a boy in the village had his eye pecked out by a chicken demon, and another man was pecked while taking a nap in the fields. That’s when the villagers realized something was off…”
“The villagers took it upon themselves to hunt and kill the demons, killing two and letting the rest escape…”
“The two dead chicken demons’ heads had a small amount of demonic energy, so we deduced that their cultivation was less than five years…”
The case report was quickly finished.
The situation was basically the same as what was recorded in the case files, with no major discrepancies.
However, Wei Changtian still had a question.
“Why didn’t the villagers report to the authorities as soon as they discovered the chickens had become demons? Instead, they chose to take matters into their own hands and hunt them down?”
“Ah…”
The tall bailiff looked embarrassed, while the county magistrate, who was waiting on the side, took over the explanation.
“Young Master Wei, you don’t know…”
“Although it’s the law to report demon encounters immediately, in reality, most people won’t report if the demon’s cultivation is shallow.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s because of the demonic energy.”
The county magistrate replied, “If you report it, the demonic energy belongs to the government, but if you don’t report it and secretly kill the demon, the demonic energy is yours.”
“Take this chicken demon case, for example. Although the demonic energy is small, it’s still worth a few silver coins.”
“Hmm?” Wei Changtian asked again, “Don’t they fear that killing the demon might not work and they might lose their lives instead?”
“Of course, they would fear that, but…”
The county magistrate sighed and stopped talking, and Wei Changtian understood his meaning.
Sometimes, a human life wasn’t even worth a few silver coins.