Traveling to Ancient Times: My Space Contains Weapons

Chapter 1524: The County Magistrate Tricks the Mei Family

The Mei family? Chu Chen immediately became interested after hearing this.

Then, with a smile, he helped the trembling magistrate to his feet: "You said you're from the Mei family?"

Seeing Chu Chen's expression, Mei Kaifeng was secretly pleased, thinking that this Grand Preceptor must know about the Mei family and be on good terms with them.

Otherwise, how could his attitude have changed so quickly?

So he quickly knelt down in front of him and said, "Your humble servant Mei Kaifeng greets Lord Chu."

Because his name was on his identification badge, Mei Kaifeng knew that the Grand Preceptor in front of him was named Chu Chen.

However, he was too far from the capital, and the Mei family's actions against Chu Chen were all confidential. How could he know that Chu Chen and the Mei family were mortal enemies?

After listening, Chu Chen had a sudden inspiration. He thought that he knew nothing about the Mei family, so why not ask Mei Kaifeng to provide some information about the Mei family?

"Oh dear, look at me! I've really messed up the whole thing, Lord Mei."

Seeing Chu Chen's sudden change in attitude, Mei Kaifeng could hardly believe it.

He stood trembling beside Chu Chen and said, "Lord Chu, I really know I was wrong."

"Hey, with our relationship, there's no right or wrong, we're all colleagues, all colleagues."

After saying that, Chu Chen pointed to the corpses scattered on the ground: "So, are these also members of your Mei family?"

"Lord Chu is too kind. These things are far from being worthy of my Mei family."

"Oh... then..."

"Don't worry, Lord Chu, I'll handle it. These people bravely sacrificed their lives while suppressing bandits in the mountains. We'll definitely give them compensation and make sure they're well taken care of."

Chu Chen sneered inwardly after hearing this, thinking to himself, "The world is just so interesting."

One second, it was a living, breathing person; the next second, it turned into silver.

However, these are still government officials. What if it were someone else? They would probably just die and that would be the end of it.

Human life is as insignificant as an ant's, and it has its own cycle of reincarnation. But what about these people?

It seems that the experiences along the way have indeed given Chu Chen a lot of insights, and it is these insights that have allowed him to grow gradually.

To become the master of the universe, one must first cherish life.

But was my action just now meant to protect life? Actually, it was. If I didn't kill them, they might go and harm even more people weaker than themselves.

"Alright, since that's the case, then you can handle it."

Seeing that Chu Chen was no longer angry, Mei Kaifeng immediately gave his subordinates a wink.

The subordinate immediately understood: "Lord Chu and his party must be tired from their journey. Please come in and rest, and have some food."

Chu Chen nodded, and soon after, they were respectfully invited into the house by the constables.

The table has been cleaned and set with new dishes and drinks.

Chu Chen didn't stand on ceremony and sat down in the main seat without any hesitation, while Mei Kaifeng, who had changed into clean clothes, sat to Chu Chen's left.

"Lord Chu, this cup is my apology to you all!"

Mei Kaifeng picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. He had been a little drunk, but Chu Chen's scare had sobered him up completely.

Chu Chen neither spoke nor returned the greeting, but the others raised their glasses and echoed his sentiments.

How could such drinks possibly catch Chu Chen's eye?

Seeing this, Mei Kaifeng thought Chu Chen was unhappy, so she kept pouring herself cup after cup while uttering flattering words.

"I wonder what kind of relationship Lord Chu has with the head of my Mei family?"

Chu Chen's heart tightened upon hearing this. He thought to himself, "Do I know anyone from the Mei family? I've only heard of the young master of the Mei family who wanted to assassinate me, Mei Du. But judging from that name, the Mei family must be military officers."

"Hehe, I do quite admire your young master, Mei Du."

"Oh dear, you're on good terms with our young master? Then we're practically family."

"You must understand, Young Master Mei Du is the next generation successor of our Mei family. He has already risen to the fifth rank. Although that may not mean much to Lord Chu, our family head, Mei Zhao, is a second-rank official. In the future, our Young Master Mei Du will surely rise even higher..."

After drinking about ten cups of wine, Mei Kaifeng seemed to have forgotten Chu Chen's identity.

"Don't speak, listen to me, my Mei family..."

After a meal of drinks, Chu Chen learned a bit about the Mei family and realized that there was a reason why Mei Kaifeng was sent to this remote and impoverished place.

This guy is pretty normal when he doesn't drink, but once he does, he becomes a complete loudspeaker, spilling out everything, whether he should or shouldn't say it.

Even the affair between Young Master Mei and his stepmother was revealed.

Mei Zhao is the Minister of Revenue in the current court, and his eldest son is the Salt and Iron Commissioner under the Ministry of Revenue.

In any dynasty, this official position would be incredibly lucrative.

Therefore, the Mei family was wealthy and powerful, and its members had spread far and wide, holding a place in the entire Song Kingdom.

The Mei family is not only powerful in officialdom, but also very strong in business. Although they cannot compare with the imperial merchants, at least in the Song Kingdom, apart from the royal family, if the Mei family claims to be second, no one dares to claim to be first.

Chu Chen guessed that it must be because his salt production had leaked, and the alcohol had made them wary, which was why they wanted to kill him.

Moreover, it's quite normal that the Mei family, who control the salt and iron industries, might be colluding with foreign powers.

Because his family's business did indeed have dealings with foreign countries.

In this way, Chu Chen understood why the Mei family wanted to kill him.

The first reason is that the Mei family allied with foreign powers to take his life because they feared his rise would steal the Mei family's business. The second reason is that if alcohol were used extensively in the Song army, it would be a powerful blow to the foreign powers.

The Mei family is traitors and colludes with the enemy!

Having obtained this information, Chu Chen immediately lost the ability to extract information from Mei Kaifeng, who was now utterly worthless.

"Lord Mei, do you think that, given my status as the Imperial Preceptor, I can dismiss local officials?"

"Lord Chu, forget dismissal, even killing him outright... No, Lord Chu, what do you mean by this?"

"Haha, literally."

After saying that, Gou Shengzi, who was to Chu Chen's right, stood up and drew his knife, placing it against Mei Kaifeng's neck.

"Lord Chu, what's wrong...?"

Mei Kaifeng was suffering inside. At first, he wanted to kill him, then the next moment he was drinking and chatting with him, and then, while they were drinking, he wanted to kill him again. This Grand Preceptor must have a split personality.

“Mei Kaifeng, the magistrate of Liuyun County, has deceived his superiors and subordinates, offended high-ranking officials of the court, oppressed the people, and lived an extremely extravagant life. He has violated the laws of the Great Song Dynasty and should be executed.”

Chu Chen doesn't understand any laws, but I'm the Imperial Advisor, so I can just label him directly.

Mei Kaifeng stared in disbelief at Chu Chen's sudden change in expression, noticing his serious face. The next moment, he let out a loud "whoosh"... and peed again.