After entering the mansion, a banquet was held. Chen Mohuai specially invited some singing and dancing girls from the art studio to join in the fun. The whole banquet was very lively.
Shao Xi seemed to be in high spirits, frequently toasting with the officials, and from time to time he would pull Chen Mohuai over to share the wine. After drinking, he seemed a little drunk, and even came to the center of the flower hall to dance with these singing and dancing girls. stand up.
Chen Mohuai whispered to Mr. Liu and Cai Cheng beside him: "Look, after all, he is a human being, or a young man. Doesn't he show his true nature in the face of wine and beauty? He looks serious on weekdays, but in fact, Guanhe in Kyoto There is no difference between us, we both love money and women."
Cai Cheng quickly flattered: "That's right, that's right. It's just a young boy. Compared with the county governor who has been an official for many years and is familiar with the officialdom, he is still a lot younger. If it weren't for the piece in his hand," Jingchengsi's brand is nothing in front of the county governor."
"You keep him company today, make him happy, and make him happy. Let them leave early tomorrow morning so as not to cause us any more trouble here. Although the account book was stolen by the female thief, if it can be stolen by them If you take him away, he will be far away from us and save a lot of trouble."
Next to him, Master Liu interjected: "Your Excellency, you should also get rid of Liang Daoqian as soon as possible. After all, he knows too many things. If you don't keep it all, if you let go and tell anyone about it, it will add a lot of unnecessary trouble." trouble."
Chen Mohuai nodded and said, "I know it well and I have my own arrangements for this matter."
Several people were conspiring in low voices, but Shao Xi came over with a wine bottle and said to them with a big tongue: "Why don't you adults drink? Just talking is boring. Come, let's have a drink together. After finishing this drink, we will play some games, and the loser will drink, a lot of wine."
When several people saw Shao Xi drinking, their tongues were stiff, and they were secretly amused, but on the surface they still looked respectful.
"Master Shao is in such a good mood tonight, how can we let Master Shao ruin the fun? We will drink whatever you want, and we will have fun tonight however you like."
Shao Xi looked directly at the three of them and said vaguely, "We play a pot-throwing game. The loser will be punished by drinking. Don't punish them one cup at a time. We will punish them pot by pot."
Old Wu, who was exchanging glasses with other officials, heard the words at this moment and ran over with a few wine bottles, which were filled with the wine that Shao Xi had forced out of his body tonight.
Lao Wu also blushed and said loudly: "Yes, yes, I still have several bottles of wine that I haven't finished yet! If any of you loses, drink all the wine in my hand one by one. Don't cheat. Don't cheat." You will be punished by one more pot."
When Chen Mohuai and others heard this, it was obvious that he was drunk! People with a clear mind at the wine table will not drink in such a grand manner. Only those who are drunk will become more and more enthusiastic. Seeing that Shao Xi is drunk like this, let alone playing pot throwing games, he is probably looking at people now. Are you still afraid of him?
Little did they know that Shao Xi was more awake than everyone present at this moment.
Chen Mohuai ordered his servants to bring up the pots and arrows for the pot throwing game, and he and Shao Xi would throw the first game.
After three invitations and three concessions, Shao Xi squinted his eyes and shot the first arrow to the music of the musicians. The result was a precise shot. Mr. Liu, who was standing aside as the chief archer, loudly reported "You have a beginning." "
When it was Chen Mohuai's turn, he also cast a "Youchu". It could be seen that this old guy often played this game in his house.
After a round of shooting, Chen Mohuai only hit the first two arrows and got a "continuous hit", while Shao Xi hit all four arrows and got a "full pot". The winner was determined at this point.
Old Wu handed the jug of wine in his hand to Chen Mohuai and said with a smile: "Master Chen, if you are willing to admit defeat, you have to drink this jug of wine."
Chen Mohuai was also unambiguous. He took the jug and raised his head to drain the wine. Then he smacked his lips and said, "Today's wine has a unique flavor. It is indeed different from the past!"
Shao Xi and Lao Wu both laughed secretly in their hearts, the taste must be different! How can something that is drunk in and excreted taste the same as ordinary wine?
Next, Shao Xi, Cai Cheng, Liu Zhubo and others continued to play the pot throwing game. Every time they lost, they drank the wine from their own pot, and every time they won, they drank the wine from Lao Wu's hand. If these people knew what they were drinking, they would probably greet all their relatives.
Everyone drank like this until late at night, and most of them were already staggering. Seeing that the time was almost up, Shao Xi pretended to be sick and asked Lao Wu to take him to the toilet. Before leaving, he did not forget to ask Chen Mohuai and others to wait for him to come back and continue drinking.
At this time, Chen Mohuai and others were also 70 to 80% drunk. Seeing Old Wu helping Shao Xi out of the flower hall to the backyard, several people were secretly teasing Mr. Shao about his poor drinking capacity.
Shao Xi and the two came to the toilet in the backyard. Shao Xi winked at Lao Wu, and Lao Wu nodded, opened the door and entered the cubicle. Shao Xi turned around and ran towards the back garden. He wanted to be quick tonight. He wanted to find the account book accurately and quickly without any delay.
Arriving behind the rockery in the back garden, Shao Xi immediately saw the stone he noticed the day before. He reached out and moved it. The stone shook slightly but did not move.
Although it was getting late at this time, the moon was shining brightly in the sky. Shao Xi used the moonlight to carefully look at the ground next to the stone, then reached out and touched it, and found that the stone slabs on the ground had dents formed by long-term friction. Shao Xi knew it well, turned around and pushed the stone in the direction of the indentation. Sure enough, the stone rotated, revealing a dark cellar entrance in the original position of the stone.
Shao Xi lit the fire and looked inside. He saw a wooden ladder leading directly to the cellar next to the cellar entrance. He went down the ladder and entered the cellar.
Although the light from Huozhezi was very weak, Shao Xi was quite surprised when he saw the situation inside the cellar.
I saw that the entrance to the cellar and the walls and floors inside the cellar have been treated to be moisture-proof and waterproof. There are stacked silver boxes and cash boxes in the cellar. Some of the boxes contain rare treasures, antiques and jades. They are all priceless things, and this entire cellar is simply an underground vault.
Shao Xi had no intention of looking at these things. He was just looking for the box where the account books might be stored as quickly as possible. Finally, I finally found a wooden box in an iron box. I opened the lid of the wooden box and saw a book inside, with the word "account book" written on the surface.
I opened the account book and took a cursory glance, only to see that what was recorded in it were the names of officials at all levels in the county and the time and amount of money allocated.
Without any time to think, Shao Xi stuffed the account book into his arms, turned around, and walked back out of the cellar along the wooden ladder. Pushing the stone back to its original position, Shao Xi hurried towards the toilet.
Just when he came to the toilet and wanted to enter the cubicle, Shao Xi suddenly heard someone speaking and hid behind a short tree by the wall.
The speaker was Cai Cheng, the governor of the county. He said to the compartment where Old Wu was: "Master Wu, how are you doing with Master Shao? I haven't seen you for so long. Mr. Chen specially asked me to come out and see Mr. Shao." How's it going?"
I heard Lao Wu pretending to vomit in the cubicle, and then heard Lao Wu say to Cai Cheng outside: "Don't worry! Don't worry! He's fine. He'll be fine after vomiting. Tell Chen Sir, please don’t leave, we have to go back and continue drinking. If we don’t get drunk today, we won’t get home.”
"Okay, okay. As long as you and Mr. Shao are fine, I will go back and tell Mr. Chen to prepare more good wine."
"It must be good wine! If it's not good wine, we won't be satisfied with it."
"Don't worry, Mr. Wu, I will definitely satisfy you and Mr. Shao."
After saying that, Cai Cheng turned around and left, going back to the flower hall in the back hall.
Seeing that Cai Cheng had left, Shao Xi ducked out from behind a short tree, came to the cubicle and knocked on the door, "Old Wu, the matter is done, let's go back quickly!"
Lao Wu pushed the door out of the compartment, pulled Shao Xi and asked, "Did you get it? But what are you and I looking for? Are you sure? Let's not waste our time. Are you reliable?"
"Don't worry! I've checked that there's nothing wrong. Let's go! Let's go back."
"How about it? Isn't it a clever trick to pretend you're drunk and vomiting?"
"Yes, yes, you are very clever. I can't make such a disgusting sound like yours."
"Don't be ungrateful. How can you deceive them if you don't learn to be disgusting?"
"Ah, yes, yes, you are right."
After the matter was done, the two returned to the hall and played the pot-throwing game with everyone again.
At this time, most of the officials were drunk and had lost their usual pretentious dignity. They were chasing and playing with the singing and dancing girls one by one. They had no image of officials. The rich man is as wanton and indulgent as he is dissolute and full of ugliness.
Shao Xi squinted his eyes and looked at the absurd chaos in front of him, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. No wonder Ye Ziyuan was so angry and wanted to seek justice for the people of Qingshan County, so he vented his anger.
In order to plunder the people's wealth and wealth, this group of corrupt officials did everything they could to collude with thieves and bandits to harm civilians and merchants within their jurisdiction. Thinking of the property they looted from the cellar, and looking at their corrupt life in front of them, Shao Xi deeply felt the injustice and pain in Ye Ziyuan's heart.
If he were from Qingshan County, he might do what Ye Ziyuan did. Although people are all selfish, some people do certain things at certain moments but they do it for themselves. In the minds of many people, the word "chivalry" may be ridiculous. It can only be said that they do not have it in their hearts. You can't make them understand things, and you don't need them to understand them.
The banquet will eventually break up, and this farce will eventually end.
Shao Xi took a deep breath when he walked out of the county capital. He didn't belong here, and he didn't want to belong here.
On the way to the prison, Shao Xi said to himself: "It's just the last step. We're finally leaving here, Zi Yuan! When I come to pick you up, your suffering will end tonight."
