Fix Smile Order Chapter 42
Translated by Pure
Unedited
Chapter 42
Tang Tianyuan decided to write a letter back to the prefecture magistrate after some consideration. As a lower official, no matter what the reason is, rashly offending a higher ranking official was a foolish approach. Men were prideful, especially men in officialdom.
Although Tang Tianyuan made up his mind that he would not bend the law for personal gain because of the prefecture magistrate's pleas, respect should be given, now was not the time to tear his face.
So he complained to the prefecture magistrate, saying that he actually felt that Sun Bufan could be exempted from the death penalty, but Sun Bufan confessed to the murder in front of so many people which aroused public anger. Moreover, the complainant, Fang Qi, was also an official and produced a government sponsored talent. If one really wants to change the sentence, the Qi Family must be persuaded first.
His intention was to use Official Qi to help block for a little bit. He needed to drag this matter out for a while, afterall, it’ll still take a couple more days for the people he arranged to arrive at Tongling.
A county magistrate was the parental official in a locality. In addition to handling cases and caring about the production and life of the people, Tang Tianyuan also needed to focus on the cultural and educational undertakings of the county. In order to comfort the exam candidates for the upcoming autumn exam, Tang Tianyuan met with a small, local group of scholars.
The four talents in this small group were Qi Rui, Sun Xiao, Zhu Dayou, and Li Guiwu. Qi Rui was the son of Official Qi, and Sun Xiao was a distant relative of the Sun's Residence; Zhu Dayou's father was a jinshi, a former member of the Ministry of Rites, and was now an official outside the capital; Li Guiwu's background was slightly worse than the previous three, but still wasn’t considered bad. All in all, they were local figures with titles and were respected and they can be regarded as role models for scholars. The four respected each other and ignored others. Together, they were known as the "Four Talents of Tongling County''.
As a parental official, Tang Tianyuan brought his left and right guardians—County Deputy Zhou Zhengdao and Head Commissioner Tan Lingyin, and solemnly received the four talents.
It was raining outside today, so it was cool indoors.
The two sides greeted each other and took their seats. As if they had negotiated with each other in advance, the four talents opened their fans with a snap and swayed it leisurely as soon as they sat down. They acted suave and elegant, all of them had an expression of: ‘Quickly, look at me! Look at me!’
Zhou Zhengdao touched his beard and was inwardly amazed: These four people were so good, they even used the same fan... Each one had <Benevolent Like Flowing Water> written on the fan. Even if it was written by the same person, it wouldn't be so similar…. How particular… translat ed by pure tl. com / do not re post
Tang Tianyuan looked as if he had eaten a fly. He quickly guessed what was going on, so he turned his face and looked at Tan Lingyin with a half-smile. His eyes were cold, as if soaked in ice.
Tan Lingyin realized this situation was not good. She knew that this fan was selling well, so she made a few more. So far, she had sold four of them, but she didn't expect them to meet so quickly...
She touched her nose and dared not look at the magistrate, her eyes drifted out the window.
The four talents were also shocked when they saw that others had the same folding fan as themselves. They bought this folding fan thinking it was an authentic piece, and were going to show it off on important occasions. They had thought since Tang Tianyuan was a powerful person from the capital, and he was also a Tan Hua. If he were to even have a slight connection with him, let alone the other three, even if the magistrate saw, he would be looked at differently. It was a pity that Tang Tianyuan cherished ink as if it were gold, and not many were bestowed with his calligraphy, so ordinary people have never seen his talent in ink.
But then again, if he hadn’t seen it, then the others hadn’t either. The four of them shared such thoughts, so they decided to try their luck and buy it. The idea was that it would be fine even if they bought a fake. There weren’t many people who could authenticate it anyways. Just looking at those words, it would be difficult to do even if they were to try to copy it, so they were willing to spend the hundreds of taels.
However, after thousands of calculations, they would have never guessed the others had also bought it and flaunt it in this way.
The four of them had to hold on to their faces, so they looked at the other's folding fans in surprise and greeted each other. This is Tang Tianyuan's handwritten inscription, what, yours too? As far as I know, Tang Tianyuan doesn't give people his calligraphy easily, mine is because he appreciates my talent, what about yours? Ah, he admires your looks and slept with you?...
The four great talents became more and more vigorous, and never expected the real Tang Tianyuan to be sitting in front of them. As the person of interest, Tang Tianyuan became more powerless the more he listened. He could endure it when they said he admired their talent, but to sleep in the same bed... He didn't even know that people had lusted over him to this extent....
The culprit of all this was Tan Lingyin. Tang Tianyuan finally found a precise target for his anger. He touched his chin and kept looking at Tan Lingyin. Tan Lingyin was uncomfortable by his stare and layers of goosebumps appeared on her arms.
Tang Tianyuan suddenly bent the corner of his mouth and smiled.
Tan Lingyin: "..." Too scary, okay?
What to kill you with, my head commissioner?
Throughout the banquet, Tang Tianyuan's mind was occupied by this thought.