pdf-ebookys Chapter 165 Don’t dare to be careless
Chapter 165 Don’t dare to be careless
Shen Xianzhu patted his sister's shoulder and said, "The chief clerk is a ninth rank, and the county magistrate is a seventh rank. Except for the founding of the country, it is basically impossible to jump three levels to the seventh rank county magistrate without going through trials and tribulations.
At best, he could serve as an eighth-rank county magistrate in his local area, or be transferred to another place to serve as a county magistrate."
"I thought I could be promoted directly to a deputy position." This involved Shen Lingzhu's blind spot in knowledge, so she decided to go back and ask her eldest brother for more lessons.
Shen Xianzhu couldn't help but correct her again, "The County Magistrate and the Chief Clerk are subordinate officials. Under normal circumstances, the County Magistrate may take over.
But Shun County is not a higher-ranking county, so we don’t have a permanent position of county magistrate.”
Seeing Xiao Zhuzi's thoughtful expression, he turned to Cai Yuansheng again and said, "I just want to ask you, have you heard that Chief Secretary Song has packed his bags recently?"
Cai Yuansheng thought to himself that he knew a lot of things, but when he met Shen Lingzhu's narrowed eyes, he immediately lowered his head and pretended to recall, then shook his head with certainty: "No, my brother-in-law complained a few days ago that the chief clerk has been particularly hardworking lately."
"Where are the others?" Shen Xianzhu asked again.
Cai Yuansheng was confused: "Who else?"
Shen Lingzhu understood what his elder brother meant: "Teacher, Registrar, are there any who need to be transferred?"
"The teacher is old and wants to retire, but he won't leave until the end of the year.
The Registrar should remain unchanged, and as for the Sixth Chamber's clerks, aside from being overburdened with more work by the Chief Clerk, everything else remains normal." Cai Yuansheng didn't get all his information from his brother-in-law, Clerk Miao.
The old restaurant where he works is a time-honored brand in the county. Many people like to eat there, and many gossips spread fastest at the dinner table.
In order to send the brother and sister away quickly, Cai Yuansheng told them everything he knew about the goings-on in the county government office.
For example, the teacher liked to listen to storytelling in teahouses, the registrar married a beautiful young woman, and the servants of the chief clerk kept running to the provincial capital, carrying several boxes each time.
Shen Lingzhu had already judged from his words that Song Zhubo was seeking a promotion, but giving gifts again and again showed that the effect was not very good.
Sure enough, when she and her eldest brother were on their way out after hearing a lot of gossip, her eldest brother explained to her: “Our county is poor, and without any official achievements, it is not easy for Song to be promoted in Shun County.
The best he can do is to be transferred to another county to serve as a county magistrate."
Shen Lingzhu said, "I hope he can be transferred. That way, his concubine's brother won't dare to keep using my aunt's shop."
Big brother, shouldn't the new county magistrate come to take over in advance?"
“Not necessarily. In some places, it may take several months for someone to take up the post after the county magistrate is transferred.
During this time, there will be a county magistrate or chief clerk to take charge of county affairs." After Shen Xianzhu finished speaking, he looked at her intently and said:
"You're anxious to know who will take up the new position. Are you worried that Song will hinder us from opening the food shop?"
"Yes, he didn't have to do much. He just mentioned it once or twice, and we couldn't open it." Shen Lingzhu sighed repeatedly, "We should have opened it earlier.
Letting Brother Xia Xing run the food store won’t cause any trouble.
I was worried that my uncle would go too late."
Shen Xianzhu also sighed. Who would have thought that one thing would pile up on top of another? "No matter how much you worry, nothing will grow. Just let nature take its course."
After everyone has finished bathing, please accompany Second Grandfather and Seventh Uncle home as soon as possible. The old man is very upset because he didn't visit the grave on the first day of October this year.
Shen Lingzhu nodded. People in this era treated death as if it were life, and they attached great importance to sacrifices. She said, "Do you want to go to Grandpa's house before leaving?"
"I don't want to see my uncles and aunts. I'll go next time when I have nothing to do." Shen Xianzhu rubbed his temples. He didn't want to deal with people at the moment.
Shen Lingzhu frowned: "Brother, are you feeling unwell from traveling so long?"
Only when she caught up with her eldest brother's team did she realize that in order to quickly pass through Zhending and reach Baozhou, her eldest brother and his team had been traveling almost day and night.
That's why she couldn't catch up with anyone before.
After saying that, she stood on tiptoe and touched her brother's forehead, "Bend over...it seems like you have a fever. Let's go find a doctor.
No wonder you didn't want to go bathing in the fragrant hot spring when I asked you to."
Shen Xianzhu repeatedly assured that he was not sick, but Shen Lingzhu did not dare to be careless. This was a world where a cold could be fatal.
The doctor at Wanxing Clinic said that my brother was suffering from lack of sleep due to staying up late for several consecutive nights, but he did not have a fever.
Shen Lingzhu bought some tranquilizing medicine, but she didn't make it for her elder brother. In comparison, she trusted her senior sister more.
So after meeting up with Second Grandpa, they left the county town as quickly as possible.
What Shen Lingzhu didn't know was that when she was about to leave the city through Nanxun Gate, someone from Yinghui Gate in the east came out with a certificate of appointment as the magistrate of Shun County, and was respectfully invited into the county government office by the clerk at the city gate.
It was already 3:30 p.m. the next day when she and her elder brother returned to Beigou Village.
Second Grandpa did not take Seventh Uncle and his wife home first, but went to the house at the foot of the mountain with Shen Lingzhu.
But what I never expected was that the second grandmother also brought her eldest daughter-in-law to help by the stream.
What are you busy with?
Shen Lingzhu glanced at the baskets of radishes and a pile of cabbage placed by the stream, and knew that her senior sister was making dried radishes and sauerkraut at home.
When everyone saw them come back, they greeted them with concern. The second grandmother saw her son come back safely from afar and laughed with joy until tears came out.
Not to mention that when Uncle Qi was taken home by my mother, he handed the bag to Shen Lingzhu and the others.
When Grandma Qi heard that she had returned, she immediately dropped her work, ran out the door, took her hand and said, "Come on, come home with me to wash your face. Xianzhu, Dahuai, and Xiaoshu, come with you too.
Look at what the wind has done to this little face."
She said, "Grandma, why don't you ask your uncle?"
"He's such a grown man, how could he get lost?
"Da Zhuzi went up the mountain with your uncle to look for winter bamboo shoots, and your aunt is still in confinement after giving birth." Grandma said this to her and then called everyone else into the house.
There happened to be a large stove in the yard boiling water. Aunt Jiu called Nanny Xu and the women who were helping to squeeze the vegetables, and quickly got basins for everyone to wash their faces.
In fact, except for Shen Lingzhu and his sister who did not go to take a bath in the fragrant hot spring, everyone else washed up very thoroughly and cleanly yesterday morning.
"Little Bamboo." Mrs. Hu was wearing thick clothes and a headscarf and was about to leave the hall.
"Mother." Shen Xianzhu was about to go to the main room when she was grabbed by her grandmother Qi, "Niece-in-law, don't go out.
Qian, please hold her back, it's cold outside."
It may be cool in the summer by the stream near the mountain, but it will definitely be cold in the winter. The kangs in several rooms have already started burning.
Mrs. Hu was persuaded by Nanny Qian to look out from inside the door. Shen Lingzhu was beaten by her grandmother to wipe off the dust and dirt, and washed her face as quickly as possible, then ran into the hall with her eldest brother.
Seeing her elder brother kneeling down to greet her aunt, she hesitated for a moment and knelt down as well.
"Your elder brother is stupid, and you follow his lead. He's freezing to death on the ground." While Mrs. Hu was scolding her son for being pretentious, she had already pulled Shen Lingzhu up with force.
"Aunt, I..." Shen Lingzhu was about to speak when she heard a loud cry from the inner room. She saw her aunt running into the inner room, and the tears of joy that she had accumulated with great difficulty were immediately suppressed.