When I came to Ziyang City, it was still early in the morning, and the fog and dew were misty. The city gate was neither garrisoned nor pedestrianized, making it quite desolate.

When the carriage entered the city, most of the houses in the city were very dilapidated, and occasionally one or two large mansions could be seen. It is gratifying that the greenery is not bad, there are many trees in the city, many of which are hugging together. It's like a big umbrella that can cover the roofs of several houses at once.

The carriage stopped at the gate of the county ya, Liu Yanchang lifted the curtain, and saw two black-clothed officials on both sides of the county yamen gate, carrying waist knives, sitting lazily on the bluestone railing. Seeing the carriage coming, he slowly got up to catch up, looked at Meng Tingxuan and nodded, "Master, are you back?"

Meng Tingxuan got off the carriage, nodded his head a little and was too lazy to pay attention to them, glanced back at Liu Qiaoyun, coughed lightly a little embarrassedly, and said, "Miss, the back hall of the official county yafu is very empty, if you don't dislike it, why don't you stay in my yazhong temporarily?"

Liu Qiaoyun's face turned red when he heard this, although this idea does not prohibit women from showing their heads, but they live in a strange man's house, not to mention that the other party is still the magistrate of Ziyang County.

"The backyard of the county government is a place for the dependents of the county to live, we are not relatives, how can we bother? Thank you for the kindness of the county magistrate, I and my brother should find another place!"

"What's this?" Meng Tingxuan hurriedly stepped forward, looked at Liu Qiaoyun in the car, and said with a little tenderness in his eyes: "It's not a secret, I have lived alone in the huge back office so far, and it is really very deserted." Moreover, Yanchang and I hit it off at first sight, and we are very close to each other, and there is a way that 'all brothers in the four seas' are not relatives!"

Liu Qiaoyun didn't say more, but looked at Liu Yanchang, as if he was giving him the right to decide.

At this moment, Liu Yanchang looked at the eyes between the two, even if he was a fool, he could guess one or two. I secretly said in my heart: Okay, you Meng Tingxuan, you look like an honest person, but I didn't expect my hand to stretch out so quickly and hit my sister's head with the idea!

Looking at my sister's looking forward to it, I'm afraid I really have a good impression of this guy. It's not that Liu Yanchang wants to interfere with his sister's feelings, it's just that he doesn't know much about Meng Tingxuan, and he doesn't know what his character is. But from his governance of his subordinate officials, it can probably be seen that his imperial ability is really not very good.

If he really asked his sister to talk about marriage with him, he was really a little uneasy, after all, Zhenziyang County is different from Taiping, and you can see the direction of development from Cui Wan'er's family.

"Little brother Yanchang, what do you think? Why don't you go to the Houya to take a look? Besides, we have to investigate the case together, there must be a lot of things to discuss, and living in the county government can save a lot of trouble!"

Looking at Meng Tingxuan's expectant gaze, Liu Yanchang said: "It's good if you call me Yanchang!" The word "little brother" was added to the plain name, which really made him not very happy. It can be seen that the reason why Meng Tingxuan is so good at talking this time and fully agreeing to his arrangement is that I am afraid that his sister's charm is also indispensable.

"Sister, since Meng Zhixian has a heart, then we might as well be respectful, let's live in the county government temporarily, and save ourselves from finding other residences!" Liu Yanchang said, if the two are really fated, he doesn't want to be a person who beats mandarin ducks. It's just that Meng Tingxuan and his people still need to be investigated closely, and it is a good choice to live in the county government and watch his actions.

Receiving the promise, Meng Tingxuan was overjoyed, and personally led the carriage around to the small gate of the back office.

I didn't expect that a county master didn't even have a maid or an old mother, and I am afraid that it is extremely rare for an official to do his job.

Meng Tingxuan probably felt a little embarrassed himself, and explained: "Originally, the county government was equipped with a few servants, but I really couldn't pay them a monthly fee, so I had to let them all leave!"

After careful questioning, I learned that his tasks as a magistrate were not up to standard, and his little money was basically deducted. In addition, there are few people in the entire Ziyang County who put him in their eyes, not to mention "three years of Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver", he didn't see a tael of silver. This year, Ziyang County's 47,000 taels of tax silver has not yet been settled, and it is expected that he will earn 120 taels of silver a year, which is not enough for a fraction of a lifetime.

Under Meng Tingxuan's arrangement, Liu Yanchang's sister and brother lived in the West Cross Courtyard, although the house was broken, it could shelter from the wind and rain, which was much better than the small courtyard in Qingxi Town.

As soon as he walked into the courtyard, he saw the dead leaves in the courtyard and the dust in the house, Liu Qiaoyun was immediately angry, and said fiercely: "You all let me stay outside, look at this house, it is dirty and messy, where is it inhabited?"

Meng Tingxuan laughed awkwardly: "Miss's lesson is that I'll clean it up!"

Liu Qiaoyun reacted at this time, it turned out that this was Meng Tingxuan's house, and immediately put away his temper, and said with a little woman's attitude: "You are a dignified county commander, how can you do these things, let me come!"

"You are a guest from afar, how can you let the guests do it themselves!" Meng Tingxuan hurriedly picked up the broom and began to clean up in the courtyard, Liu Qiaoyun saw that he couldn't stop him, so he also went into the house to find a rag and began to clean the window lattice walls.

Originally, Liu Yanchang's impression of Meng Tingxuan was not very good, but seeing such a warm scene made him change his mind greatly. In this era, it is not easy to make a big man do this, even if Meng Tingxuan can't become a good county magistrate, at least he can become a good man.

Liu Qiaoyun has long been accustomed to housework, and his movements are very quick, and it didn't take long to clean the room. Then they took out all the bedding and dried it in the yard.

Then Liu Qiaoyun was going to cook, Meng Tingxuan hurriedly lit a fire again, and the two of them sang and harmonized, but Liu Yanchang himself was excluded and became an outsider.

"Forget it, as long as my sister is happy! As for Ziyang County, which is not very peaceful, I will definitely find a way to treat it to my wife, and then return it to Meng Tingxuan. Liu Yanchang wandered aimlessly in the county office, but he already had a plan in his heart.

As he was walking, he saw a man wearing a military uniform, sneakily slipping from the foot of the wall.

Liu Yanchang shouted: "Who are you?" After all, this is the Houya, that is, the place where the county order lives and stays, and people belonging to the officials are usually not allowed to come in.

The man pretended not to hear what he said, and quickened his pace and walked forward. Liu Yanchang is even more sure that this person has a ghost, and he exerts force under his feet, as fast as a galloping horse.

After two breaths, he rushed forward, stretched out his hand to block the way of the servant, and at the same time asked sharply, "What is your name, and what will you do when you come?"

The official was short in stature, but with leopard eyes and swallow jaws, and beard. Although his limbs are short, five or three thick, he is a brave man at first glance, and his eyes when he looks at Liu Yanchang are like wolves and tigers, and his momentum is compelling.

Ordinary people may be afraid of his vicious face, but Liu Yanchang is not afraid of him, and sneered: "Seeing that you are also wearing a tiger skin of the Yamen, are you a dumb person?"