0p0 Chapter 301 Being a County Magistrate Also Has Its Troubles
Chapter 301 Being a County Magistrate Also Has Its Troubles
Seeing that Shen Yu agreed, Lu Lang was very happy and said hurriedly, "Thank you very much, Miss Shen, let's get in the car and go now."
Shen Yu thought for a moment and said, "Wait for me, I'll go get some things and be back soon."
Having said that, he quickly returned to the shop, went through the small door and went to the backyard.
Although Li was confident in Shen Yu's cooking skills, she still said to Lu Lang: "Mr. Lu, I know what kind of person you are. I should be relieved that Yuzhi will follow you to the county government to cook."
"But Yuzhi is still young. Although she has some cooking skills, she can't compare with those master chefs. She focuses all her attention on cooking and has no scheming at all."
"If those masters secretly bully her, Yuzhi won't be able to defend herself there alone."
"This time when she goes to the county government office, please give her some advice and protect her."
Lu Lang hurriedly said, "Don't worry, madam. No one in the county government dares to bully her."
"Even if we cook for the banquet, Miss Shen doesn't have to share the yamen's kitchen with the chefs we hired. We have our own small kitchen in the back yamen for Miss Shen to use. I will let Qixi help Miss Shen, and no one else will be needed."
Qixi is Lu Lang's personal attendant, and in the county government office, everyone calls him "Brother Qixi".
Only when she heard that he was following Shen Yu did Li feel completely relieved.
The county government office is not far from here, and it only takes a cup of tea to get there by carriage.
Shen Yu followed Lu Lang and Qi Xi into the back hall of the county government and went to the main courtyard where the county magistrate lived.
Lu Lang asked Qi Xi to accompany Shen Yu to wait outside the door for a while while he went in to report to his father first.
When Lu Lang went in, County Magistrate Lu Zheng and two legal advisors were in the study, discussing arrangements for receiving the prefect.
When Lu Zheng saw Lu Lang coming back, he waved his hand and said anxiously, "Xiao Si, you've come just in time. Has Miss Shen come to pick her up?"
"What ingredients does she need? Hurry up and make a menu and have someone go buy them."
Since she owns a restaurant, I'd like to ask her if she knows which restaurant in Anping County sells pork belly skewers."
Lu Lang said in a somewhat strange tone, "I just came here to report this matter to my father. Miss Shen has already come and is waiting outside."
"Before leaving, didn't father say that after bringing Miss Shen here, we should first tell her about Lord Yang's tastes and discuss the menu. Why are you in such a hurry now?"
There were only two advisors and his own son in the study, all of them were his own people.
Lu Zheng couldn't help but complain angrily, "This Yang Laoliu has always been like this, he does whatever he wants."
"We had originally agreed that he would first visit several other counties, and then come to Anping County to have a gathering with me, have a good meal, and then return to Ji'an Prefecture."
"A few days ago, I heard from someone that there is a restaurant in Anping County that sells very delicious pork belly skewers. The flavor is fresh and different from mutton skewers."
"After hearing this, Yang Laoliu couldn't wait any longer and insisted on coming over to try it."
"Just this morning, you left and Ji'an Prefecture sent a messenger to tell us about this."
"It is said that Lord Yang has finished his official business and has temporarily changed his schedule. He will arrive in Anping County in the afternoon and is going to eat pork belly skewers."
Lu Zheng became more and more angry as he spoke, and after a pause he said, "Yang Laoliu is fair in government affairs and reasonable in character. He handles government affairs in a logical and calm manner."
"Such a smart person, but when it comes to food, he becomes a different person, he is entangled and stubborn."
“No matter where I hear there’s something delicious, I have to eat it and taste it myself.”
"The policeman sent was also confused. He only said that he heard it was a restaurant in Anping County, but he didn't specify which restaurant it was."
Lu Zheng helplessly spread his hands, looking distressed: "How can I prepare for this? Where can I find this restaurant? Can I send people to inquire from house to house?"
Because the Lu and Yang families are old friends and their mansions are not far from each other, the county magistrate Lu Zheng and the prefect Yang Chi grew up in the same academy.
But later on, Yang Chi became smart in his studies, and he got better and better at reading. When he was just in his early twenties, he was on the list of successful candidates and went to work as an official in another place. That's when the two separated.
Lu Zheng, a left-behind student who had failed the exams for several years, met him less often, but the two still kept in touch through letters.
Not to mention that every time Yang Chi returned to Beijing to report on his work, he would always take time out to come and find Lu Zheng to go shopping and eat together.
What is commendable is that although the two have increasingly different personalities and experiences, and are already old, they can still play together.
The elders of the Lu and Yang families served in the same court, and it was inevitable for the fathers to boast about their sons.
Mr. Lu has two sons. The eldest son, Lu Feng, passed the imperial examination at an early age and has been working in the Hanlin Academy for many years. He is noble and has a promising future.
However, whenever he mentioned his youngest son who had never passed the imperial examination, Mr. Lu felt very embarrassed.
Once, he was laughed at by his colleagues and couldn't bear it any longer. So he went home, gritted his teeth and began to be forced by Mr. Lu to study at the age of over 30.
They asked famous teachers to give them one-on-one instruction on tricks, and also personally passed on their own experiences. The father and son tortured each other for several years. After all the hardships, they finally got what they wanted and squeezed Lu Zheng's name to the bottom of the list of other Jinshi.
Lu Zheng originally thought that this would be like reporting to his father, and he could then grow flowers and plants at home and raise a few goldfish in his spare time.
However, Mr. Lu felt that it would be bad if the news got out that the youngest son of a second-rank official in the dynasty had no ambition to make progress and only wanted to be a lazy guy at home.
After some consideration, he quietly got him the position of magistrate of Anping County.
Regardless of whether Lu Zheng was willing or not, he packed up his lazy and unmotivated son and his grandson who was very good at studying, had already achieved the title of Juren, was studying hard at home and was preparing to take the imperial examination, and sent them to this small county town.
Before leaving, he threatened that as long as Lu Zheng could make some political achievements within three years and make his father save face, old man Lu would find him a sinecure in the capital, and would let him go wherever he wanted and would no longer care about him.
Lu Zheng had no choice but to take his son, legal advisor, and captain of the police to take up the post.
I had thought that I could just hang around here for three years, and as long as I could pass the annual political examination with a "good" grade, I wouldn't ask for any merits, but just avoid any mistakes.
After three years were up, he could return to Beijing to live a leisurely life. Unexpectedly, Yang Chi, his childhood playmate, was transferred to the position of prefect of Ji'an Prefecture a few days ago and became his immediate superior.
Now Lu Zheng’s leisurely days are completely over.
Yang Chi claimed that he was entrusted by Mr. Lu to help Lu Zheng achieve some political achievements so that his good friend could return to Beijing in glory to report on his work.
Lu Zheng originally thought that after leaving his father, no one would care about him anymore and he could live a leisurely life.
Now that he heard that Yang Chi was coming and would urge him to make progress like a father, he began to tremble in his heart.