Zhuque County.
In the Yamen study room.
A fair-skinned middle-aged man was sitting cross-legged on the soft couch.
He put his hands on his chest, forming a mudra, and white air flowed in and out of his nostrils between breaths.
After about half an hour, he took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.
There were footsteps outside.
Not long after, a fat man wearing official robes walked in quickly.
He said with an anxious look on his face: "Master Cao, you are still practicing, something happened."
This person is Xie Chensheng, the county magistrate of Zhuque County.
As soon as he got the news, he hurriedly came to tell Cao Wenhua. Since the matter was serious, he did not let anyone tell him, but chose to do it himself.
"Master Xie, you must pay attention to your official dignity and appearance. Look at the buttons on your clothes, the wrinkles and dirt on your sleeves..." Cao Wenhua commented on Xie Chensheng's dress with dissatisfaction in his tone.
Xie Chensheng trembled with fright. Although he was a county magistrate, and both he and Cao Wenhua were officials of the imperial court. Although he was controlled by Cao Wenhua in the county, his status was not much worse than that of Cao Wenhua.
Even in those more powerful counties, the power of the county magistrate is even greater than that of the county magistrate.
But Xie Chensheng is no longer a normal county magistrate. From the moment he took refuge in Cao Wenhua, he only had one identity left, that is, he was Cao Wenhua's lackey.
The dignified county magistrate was trained like a grandson.
"I understand, Mr. Cao." Xie Chensheng quickly arranged his clothes again, but these official uniforms were not worn by him. Now that he does not have a maid or concubine at home, he is not even good at dressing.
"Don't stop sorting it out for now. Let's talk about it. What happened?" Cao Wenhua said slowly.
He does have a mysophobia and can't stand the filth.
But more importantly, he used this reason to control Xie Chensheng and prevent him from giving up.
After all, Xie Chensheng knows too much.
Cao Wenhua would not take the life of such a useful subordinate easily.
He also needs someone to help him manage them, so a trustworthy county magistrate cannot be easily replaced.
"General Luo...he came to Zhuque County and hid himself." Xie Chensheng had a face with facial features squeezed in the middle. It looked like a dried orange peel.
"I've known this news for a long time, why do I need you to tell me?"
"Luo Fengtang is just like this, you don't need to make a fuss."
Cao Wenhua looked calm and composed, not at all shocked by the news.
"General, he is here to find fault with us." Xie Chensheng was shocked.
He didn't expect Cao Wenhua to have this attitude.
You know, in his opinion, General Luo's weight is much greater than that of Cao Wenhua.
There were so many county magistrates like Cao Wenhua in Daqi that he couldn't even count them or remember them. But generals like Luo Fengtang were rare. The only one who could barely compare with them was Yue Leiting, the commander-in-chief of the north. Others The general is a bit weaker.
Now Daqi is an era where the two generals are juxtaposed. When the northern commander is unable to return to Beijing, Luo Fengtang's prestige is almost unmatched.
Today's Da Qi does not emphasize culture over military affairs, but emphasizes both culture and military affairs. The power of the military commanders is still huge. This is also because Da Qi is surrounded by enemy countries on all sides and is subject to conquests all year round.
"Don't worry, Luo Fengtang himself is very powerful, but his power lies on the battlefield, not in the court."
"As long as he wants to gain a foothold in this court, he must abide by the court rules." Cao Wenhua sneered.
In the court, the Cao family is indeed weak, but the Jiang family is strong.
The Jiang family, the head of the four major families in Jiangnan, has now successfully entered the cabinet.
The Cao family is the family that is attached to the Jiang family in Jiangnan.
The Cao family's weaving is famous in Jiangnan, and the Jiang family is even more behemoth. Even the emperor Qi Xingyun cannot deal with the four major families in Jiangnan at will.
"But the general is not targeting the Cao family, but you." Xie Chensheng said.
"Yes, the Cao family is the Cao family, and I am me. I cannot represent the Cao family. The Cao family can give up on me at any time. I understand this better than anyone."
"So, I control enough chips so that neither the Cao family nor the Jiang family can give up on me."
Cao Wenhua said slowly.
He didn't even deliberately hide anything, but revealed some of his secrets.
Of course, what he said was not a specific secret, but a general direction.
"I understand, then I'll go back." Xie Chensheng finally calmed down.
Since Cao Wenhua had known about it for a long time and was not panicked at all, what reason did he have to worry?
After Xie Chensheng left, Cao Wenhua's face darkened.
He was not as calm as he said on the surface. The name Luo Fengtang was always like a big stone, weighing on his heart, heavy and uncomfortable.
But for now, he doesn't have any good solutions.
He thought for a while, took out a pen and paper, wrote a brief letter, and then left the study and came outside.
Find the feeding eagle and release it.
…
Less than an hour or so.
A figure entered the yard.
This man, wearing a white mask on his face and a gray robe, walked on the road quietly, like a ghost.
He didn't even knock on the door, just walked into the house.
"Cao Wenhua, what is your business with me?" The masked man's voice was a little weird, like metal rubbing against sandpaper, which made people feel uncomfortable, but once he heard it, he understood that this person's voice was... It was obviously not his real voice, but a disguise.
"King Sima, save me." Cao Wenhua knelt down directly, not feeling humiliated at all.
The person who came was none other than Sima Tianzhi, the king of the Persian religion.
He put his hands behind his back, and still kept the sound of metal friction: "Save you? Do you need me to save you?"
In the letter sent by Cao Wenhua, he didn't say much, except that he wanted to meet Sima Tianzhi.
"Luo Fengtang has come to Zhuque County, and he wants to kill me!"
Cao Wenhua didn't take any chances. He knew Luo Fengtang's true intention of secretly coming to Zhuque County.
There is only one intention, and that is to kill people.
The most important person in Zhuque County who could let Luo Fengtang kill him personally was Cao Wenhua. On this point, he was very confident.
"Luo Fengtang can't kill you. You are a court official. Unless he doesn't want to hang out in Daqi, otherwise, he will always kill a court official indiscriminately?" Although Sima Tianzhi was arrogant, he still had a strong perspective on things.
Here, he didn't see the reason why Luo Fengtang insisted on killing Cao Wenhua.
"I can't tell. Originally, I thought that he wouldn't dare to kill anyone, but sometimes things in this world are often different from what people expect." Cao Wenhua said.
"Okay, if Luo Fengtang kills you, I will help you stop him." Sima Tianzhi yawned.
Well, for the sake of Cao Wenhua's constant filial piety, he took this disaster and blocked it for him.
