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"Lord Chen is truly a laughingstock!"

In Luling County, Gu Beiquan purposely took the opportunity of hosting a banquet for numerous officials to take out Chen Qing’s flying letter and read it aloud.

He led them in mockery, and as everyone was in high spirits from the wine, they all burst into boisterous laughter along with the county magistrate, making all kinds of sarcastically mocking remarks.

"Lord Chen is surely brimming with creativity—corpses drifting from the sea and eating people. Now, following downstream, they’ve reached the surrounding counties, tsk tsk.

.." Sitting next to Gu Beiquan, Lyu Yiqi also shook his head with a laugh, "With such talent, why bother with the civil examinations?

If he were to write storybooks, they would certainly be bestsellers. "

This remark immediately set off another round of uproarious laughter at the dining table!

Since the group of them took office in Luling County, there had been no shortage of conflicts and power struggles, yet unexpectedly, they were united in their ridicule of Chen Qing.

But then again, it made sense—a low-ranking scholar from the countryside, who had stepped on all their heads right from the start, had even doled out official posts to them as if dispensing charity while in Lyuzhou.

They couldn’t shake off the humiliation within when they remembered the undignified scramble for positions in front of that country bumpkin!

Not to mention the underhanded tricks the Magistrate deployed from the very beginning, trying to snatch away their achievements.

First, he went straight for the tax exemption, attracting a massive number of cargo ships.

Then, he despicably hired some people to spread absurd rumors in their towns and villages about dock workers earning an ounce of silver daily; this led to many of the vigorous young men abandoning the spring plowing to become laborers in Lyuzhou City.

Losing a few bumpkins didn’t matter much to them; what was unbearable was the hype about the Gate Deity protecting the city, drawing the reputable scholars to Lyuzhou, that was utterly unforgivable!

Especially around ten days ago, when most of the scholars who had drifted from Lyuzhou to their county were lured back, and even some local scholars went out of curiosity to take a look and then moved their families there, nearly driving them to desperation!

Luling County had always relied on its fairly good cultural education to attract those of moderate wealth to reside there.

If the educators were deceived away, who would choose to live in Luling County in the future?

Wasn’t the neighboring Baishui more appealing?

Whether for business or buying land, in what way wasn’t it better than their Luling County?

Fortunately, through their tireless pleas and visits to households, reasoning with them and appealing to their emotions, they managed to barely stabilize the situation.

"As I said before..." Lyu Yiqi, with flushed cheeks from the wine, raised his voice with the help of alcohol, "That talk of the Gate Deity was preposterous fiction concocted by that Chen.

If such things existed in the world, the Imperial Court would have organized a collective worship long ago.

Would there be a need for him to spread it? "

"Now he uses the living dead as an excuse to scare us? Doesn’t he have the protection of the Gate Deity? How could such a powerful deity let those demons and goblins loose?"

"Educator Lyu speaks the truth!" A crowd of officials, as well as several patrons, raised their cups, faces flushed with approval, echoing Lyu Yiqi’s disdain for the Magistrate.

Lyu Yiqi immediately showed a smug expression and continued, "I don’t fear offending, I’ll just say it today—Chen Qing is nothing but an obsequious courtier, attracting the attention of the current Princess with flattery and seduction, using a woman’s influence to obtain the position of a Magistrate.

Now, he even flaunts those unsavory methods of his. Truly, exceedingly laughable!"

"Educator Lyu’s words are refreshing!" Gu Beiquan also burst into loud laughter, lifting his cup in agreement.

"Refreshingly honest!" The entire restaurant’s officials, buoyed by a sense of release, joined in raising their cups with high spirits. The patrons and wealthy merchants followed suit with their support, while those scholars who couldn’t decline the banquet and had come along could only offer a bitter smile.

Although they had not been in contact with Educator Lyu for long, the elder scholars, given their experience in assessing people, saw through his desire for glory and overbearing nature.

As for the other officials, frankly, they did not hold them in high regard either; compared to their predecessors, the overall quality was lacking, to say the least.

The previous officials, though not exactly competent, at least looked the part. What were these current ones but a messy array?

As for Chen Qing, whom they were collectively berating, he didn’t seem so despicable to most of the scholars.

At least regarding the tax exemption and the tactic of attracting people back to Lyuzhou, many scholars admired him.

Although perhaps too bold, he was still far better than these people who did nothing worthwhile all day.

Concerning the rumors of the living dead...

While they also found them absurd, they didn’t dismiss them entirely as the others did, feeling a trace of doubt. After all, they were men of the literary world and knew a thing or two about tales of ghosts and demons.

Recalling the letter that said the living dead roamed at night, the scholars glanced at the sky and unconsciously furrowed their brows.

"Esteemed gentlemen..." an elder scholar with grizzled beard stood up holding his cup and said with a smile, "There’s a small test at the academy tomorrow, and we should not indulge ourselves too much. We must return to prepare. Please excuse us if we’ve dampened the festivities!"

Someone took the lead, and all the Official School Masters at that table also rose to their feet, whereas the other scholars, who did not belong to the official school, watched with longing but lacked the confidence to follow suit, falling into hesitation.

The officials, who were in the midst of laughter, anger, and cursing, were taken aback, and the leading Gu Beiquan’s expression grew particularly ugly.

But this old School Master, who had stood up first, had a very high reputation in Luling County, and his reason for leaving was perfectly justified, leaving Gu Beiquan choked with frustration, unable to vent it.

"Perhaps the masters have remembered incorrectly?" Lyu Yiqi said with a smile, "If I recall correctly, isn’t the academy’s minor exam the day after tomorrow?"

As these words were spoken, the atmosphere turned awkward, and the faces of several scholars grew unsightly. Was this Lyu intending to stir up trouble or what?

Everything had been said, so why not give each other a way out and disperse gracefully? Did he really have to expose the truth so bluntly, what should we do? We’re determined to leave, do you plan to hold a knife to our necks and force us to stay and drink?

What a fool!

Seeing their excuse exposed, a few scholars also lost their temper, and the first to have spoken earlier said coldly with a gesture of respect, "Educator Lyu indeed has a good memory.

In that case, on the day of the minor exam, I hope Educator Lyu will not be in a state of drunken disgrace, which would be unbecoming! "

With these words, they did not wait for a response. They set down their cups, not even bothering to drink the newly-filled wine, and swept out of the room with their sleeves flung back!

The other Official School Masters also gave a cold laugh and excused themselves with a bow, leaving Gu Beiquan and the others looking livid.

Lyu Yiqi stood there awkwardly, his face alternating between shades of green and white.

"These pedantic old fools, putting on airs?" Lyu Yiqi finally snapped after a while, slamming the table, "Even the Deputy Chief of the Judicial Court is polite to me, and these country scholars really think they are something special?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell silent, with no one responding.

A few who were familiar with Lyu Yiqi also felt angry at the old School Masters, but they couldn’t help rolling their eyes at Lyu Yiqi’s words.

The fellow simply took the same exam once with the Deputy Chief of the Judicial Court, who had casually acknowledged him with some polite deference and greeted him as ’Brother Qi’, and he actually took it seriously. ..

Has he ever invited you for a drink since he became an official?

Moreover, if one were to discuss the relationship with Wang Ye, many had seen that during Chen Qing’s departure from the capital, Wang Ye had personally gone to see him off outside the city...

Just as the atmosphere was becoming subtle, suddenly an inexplicable cold wind swept over. Everyone, who was previously flushed with the warmth of alcohol, shivered involuntarily, and inexplicably turned to look outside.

Without realizing it, the sky had already turned dark...

Lyu Yiqi, feeling awkward that no one had responded to his previous words, laughed when he saw everyone looking outside, "In Lord Chen’s letter, he said that those ’zombies’ would drift along the river; now that it’s nighttime, and our tavern is right on the riverbank, I’d actually like to see for myself what these zombies that Chen Qing’s brat mentioned look like. .."

But eerily, this time no one answered him either.

Lyu Yiqi became annoyed, "What’s the matter? These pedantic old fools won’t give you face, so now you’re blaming me?"

"Lyu Yiqi!" Gu Beiquan, who was standing by the window, had turned extremely pale and spoke in a hushed tone, "Stop talking!"

"Hm?" Lyu Yiqi paused, immediately flushed with anger and was about to curse out loud, fueled by the alcohol, but then he saw everyone covering their mouths and gesturing to him to be silent.

Feeling that something was off, he carefully moved closer and looked down from the window, breaking out in a cold sweat, sobering up considerably.

Beneath the window by the riverside, a large group of people with rotting flesh had emerged at some point, their movements twisted and bizarre, their eyes blood-red, staring intently at their tavern standing by the riverbank!