Previously, he was assisting Zhao Kuan, now he is assisting Zhao Erlang.

Actually, he has no objection as to whom he assists. What he takes issue with is why being an official now is so different from before?

In the past, he only had to work half a day at the county government each day, and could leisurely drink wine and watch the snow. Luoyang has already seen its second snowfall, but this year, not only hasn’t he appreciated the snow, he hasn’t taken a day off for twenty consecutive days, and has to work overtime until 9 p.m. every day...

If Luoyang wasn’t getting more lively day by day, and if the Great General didn’t come to praise them from time to time, he really would want to quit.

Forget it, it’s all for a bright future.

He is fixed at sixth grade, normally can only reach a sixth-grade official, but under the Great General, as long as he’s valued, Yu Zhubu feels he can go further, saying he might even reach third or fourth grade.

Fourth grade is equivalent to an Inspector, while third grade can already become a frontier official, which is a matter of glory for the ancestors.

Yu Zhubu, with a numb face, encouraged himself that he can certainly do it, and he must, having already sacrificed so much. If he resigns now, wouldn’t he be paving the way for others?

He wouldn’t allow it.

The County Lord is the Great General’s brother, and Luoyang County is just where he’s gaining experience, and he will eventually leave. Yu Zhubu has it calculated, knowing that once Zhao Erlang leaves, Zhao Zheng would most likely take over.

He, as the Chief Clerk, can rise along with it, and given Zhao Zheng’s talent and status, he wouldn’t stay at Luoyang County for long, perhaps five or six years, or as few as two or three years before leaving, then...

The County Magistrate of Luoyang County is sixth grade!

In the past, this would have been the highest position he could achieve.

With this thought, Yu Zhubu convinced himself that even at nearly thirty, he’s following a group of energetic teenagers to work overtime till 9 p.m.

He wants to be the County Magistrate, he wants to be the County Magistrate, he wants to be the County Magistrate!

Yu Zhubu convinced himself and went honestly back to working overtime.

Zhao Erlang also sat in the main hall, picked up a document, and struggled to recognize the characters on it. He got halfway through before being annoyed by a repeatedly appearing character, pointing it out to Lv Hu, "What character is this?"

Lv Hu glanced at it, found it somewhat familiar but didn’t recognize it, so his gaze slid forward, and together the two characters made him recognize it: "Jī," he said, "Capital area, Master, it means around Luoyang."

Zhao Erlang couldn’t help but mutter, "I of course know Jī means the area’s vicinity to the capital, why insist on writing Jī? Just say Luoyang’s surroundings, those two characters I recognize."

Though not very good at writing them.

Recognizing this character, Zhao Erlang forced himself to continue reading, but soon he gave up and handed it to Lv Hu, saying, "Read it to me."

Lv Hu then unfolded it and read word by word to him.

This was sent from the Ministry of War, summarizing the recent activities in the capital area by the four major military camps—developing land, leveling roads, dredging rivers, building canals, and reservoirs.

Of course, the Ministry of War wouldn’t report these activities to Luoyang, their citing of this was to ask Luoyang County Government for money.

Besides the tasks demanded by the court, they performed additional tasks without asking for wages, and the Ministry of War stated that they don’t expect wages from Luoyang County Government but would like the additional dining costs to be settled.

Zhao Erlang listened, then took the document and counted seriously, "In total, there are twenty-eight characters I don’t understand. Return it and say I can’t comprehend it. Ask them to write it again in the simplest terms."

If he can delay it for a day, he will.

Lv Hu agreed.

Only then did Zhao Erlang proceed to handle other documents.

By the time he finished, the sky was dark.

Zhao Erlang rolled up his sleeves, excitedly saying, "Bring up the criminal!"

Lv Hu advised, "Master, it’s late today, maybe wait until tomorrow?"

"No way, tomorrow I have to go into the inner city to deal with the land encroachment case involving Zhujia and Cui Family, chase debts, and handle marriage certificates. I’m too busy to have the time for a trial!"

Zhao Erlang said, "This is a theft case, I’ll start the trial, announce the verdict later publicly.

He asked a government official to bring the prisoner.

Lv Hu hesitated a moment then said, "At other times it’s fine, but today Mr. Fu is back in the city, aren’t you going home?"

Zhao Erlang froze, "Brother-in-law is back? How come I didn’t know?"

Lv Hu said, "I reported it as soon as I received the news..."

But you might have been too immersed in catching people, so you forgot.

Zhao Erlang stood up, "Go home!"

He ran all the way home; only the dim street lamps were still lit, oh, and his sister’s courtyard was lit too. Zhao Erlang stood at the junction scratching his head, before finally peeking over nervously.

The trusted aides guarding around the courtyard watched silently, neither stopping nor speaking.

Zhao Erlang cautiously peeked into the courtyard, straining his ears to listen, but he heard nothing.

"Second Son~" a voice suddenly sounded behind him, startling Zhao Erlang’s heart into his throat. He turned around with a face full of panic, and seeing it was Ting He, he patted his chest saying, "Sister Ting He, you almost scared me to death."

Ting He: "..."

She respectfully smiled and asked, "Second Son, why not go in when you’re here?"

Zhao Erlang glanced at the lit room and asked, "I see brother-in-law’s courtyard isn’t lit, is he asleep or at Sister’s place?"

"He is with the lady; do you want to go in?"

Zhao Erlang hesitated for a moment but entered.

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan were huddled at the table looking at a map. Ting He led Zhao Erlang in, Zhao Hanzhang glanced up casually and asked, "You’re back? Have you eaten yet?"

Zhao Erlang responded before sidling up to Fu Tinghan, "Brother-in-law, I didn’t know you returned today, so I didn’t go to pick you up."

Fu Tinghan smiled, "Business is important, and I’m not an outsider, no need for formalities."

Zhao Erlang grinned bashfully, relaxing considerably, he glanced at Zhao Hanzhang, then whispered to Fu Tinghan, "I’m so busy, Sister makes me do so many things."

Fu Tinghan also glanced at Zhao Hanzhang, reaching out to pat Zhao Erlang’s shoulder as a gesture of comfort.

"Did you eat at the county government?" Fu Tinghan asked him in a low voice, "Your mother saved some food for you, the family slaughtered a sheep today, want to eat some more?"

Zhao Erlang’s eyes lit up, but then he looked at Zhao Hanzhang and said nothing.

Finally, Zhao Hanzhang looked up from the map, watching him, "What’s up? You look so guilty?"

Zhao Erlang said, "Sister, the Ministry of War wants money from me, but I don’t have any money."

Zhao Hanzhang returned to looking at the map, "That’s your county government’s affair, no need to tell me, handle it yourself."

"... The county government’s treasury is empty, Sister, shouldn’t the Ministry of Revenue allocate some funds to us? You promised me, if the county government had urgent needs, you’d return funds to me."

Zhao Hanzhang frowned, her face full of contemplation, seemingly weighing it over.

But Fu Tinghan knew her too well and saw right through it; she wasn’t unwilling to give, she just didn’t have the money.

Fu Tinghan then asked him, "How much do you need?"

Zhao Erlang’s eyes lit up, he gestured to two fingers and said, "Two hundred thousand coins."

Fu Tinghan raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, then said, "Let someone come to fetch it from home tomorrow afternoon."

Zhao Erlang looked at him with starry eyes, wondering if he could gesticulate one more finger in time.

Zhao Hanzhang also looked at him, asking, "Where did you get the money?"