Chapter 39: The Difficult Mr. Fang

Di Renjie deliberately took Hu Jinghui with him to the secret passage of the Governor's Mansion to test Fang Qian's words and mislead Hu Jinghui with his words.

Both sides thought they had gained the upper hand and were in a good mood. Several people returned to the Governor's Mansion chatting and laughing.

But when they were walking towards the East Flower Hall, they suddenly heard a burst of cursing coming from Fang Qian's room in the east wing.

From the sound, it was Fang Qian scolding the servant: "You bold servant, who gave you the courage to barge into my room at will!"

Hearing Fang Qian's angry rebuke, Di Renjie waved his hand, and Zhao Ji, Hu Jinghui and Li Yuanfang all stopped and listened to the movement in Fang Qian's room.

The servant's voice came out: "The steward ordered me to bring water to the master and help him change his clothes."

Fang Qian became even more furious after hearing the servant's explanation. He scolded, "I have already told you that I can put on my own clothes. I don't need you servants to serve me! This is outrageous. Go back and tell the steward not to send anyone here again. Don't let me say it again! Get out!"

Then the servant came out of Fang Qian's room in a somewhat embarrassed manner, and Fang Qian's door slammed shut.

Hu Jinghui and Li Yuanfang looked at each other, confused.

Li Yuanfang asked in confusion: "What happened to Lord Fang?"

Zhao Ji raised his eyebrows and said, "Maybe Lord Fang was in a bad mood today and took his anger out on others."

Di Renjie pretended to be dissatisfied and brushed the matter off lightly: "This Lord Fang is a bit arrogant. Oh, let's go."

Hu Jinghui fell behind last, looked at Fang Qian's room thoughtfully, and then followed.

After walking a few more steps, Hu Jinghui suddenly said, "Sir, it's time for me to lead the patrol. I'll take my leave first."

Di Renjie stopped, looked Hu Jinghui up and down, nodded and said, "Okay, go ahead."

Hu Jinghui bowed and left. Di Renjie watched him walk away and said, "Chengyuan, go and call the servant who was scolded by Fang Qian to the lobby. Yuan Fang and I will be waiting for you there. Remember, don't alarm others."

"Yes." Zhao Ji clasped his fists and said.
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Zhao Ji led the servants to the lobby, where Di Renjie was sitting behind the desk waiting for them, and Li Yuanfang was sitting on a chair next to him.

"Sir, the person has been brought here." Zhao Ji said.

The servant looked a little frightened, probably because he was scared by Fang Qian's scolding and thought Di Renjie would reprimand him as well.

Seeing this, Di Renjie said in a friendly manner: "Don't be afraid, I'm not going to scold you, I'm just asking a few questions, just answer them truthfully."

The servant bowed his head and answered carefully, "Yes, sir."

Di Renjie asked, "Just now I passed by the East Flower Hall and heard Lord Fang scolding you. Did you do something to displease him?"

The servant said helplessly, "I have never done anything wrong. It's just that Lord Fang is too difficult to serve."

"Oh, what do you mean?" Di Renjie asked puzzledly.

"My lord, do you remember that yesterday, when I and Manager Di wanted to help him bathe and change clothes, he kicked us out."

Di Renjie nodded slightly: "That's true."

The servant sighed, "This Lord Fang refused to be served no matter what. This morning, after Lord Fang got up, I went to clean the room as usual, but Lord Fang scolded me and told me not to enter his room again."

"This is strange. They say that Lord Fang doesn't need anyone to help him change clothes, and they can also say that he is thrifty, but why doesn't he allow anyone to clean the room?" Li Yuanfang frowned.

The servant felt more and more wronged as he spoke: "Who said it wasn't true? Just now the steward asked me to bring foot-washing water to Lord Fang, and I told him about it, but the steward said I was being cunning and lazy, and wanted to punish me." "I had no choice but to bring the water. This time I was especially careful and knocked on the door before entering. No one answered, so I carried the water into the room. Who knew I would still be scolded by Lord Fang."

Li Yuanfang was a man of outspokenness and hatred of evil, and upon hearing the servant's words he immediately changed his attitude towards Fang Qian.

He said angrily, "I thought Fang Qian was humble and polite before, but I didn't know he was just pretending, flattering the superiors and bullying the subordinates. He is not a good person."

Zhao Ji smiled and said, "Yuan Fang is really a quick-witted person who doesn't tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. I think there is indeed something wrong with Fang Qian."

Di Renjie laughed when he heard this: "Well, Lord Fang just escaped from the cage, so he is inevitably a little impatient. Don't be too harsh on him."

Turning to look at the servant, Di Renjie consoled him, "You've been wronged. Later, go down with Yuan Fang to the accounting office to withdraw ten taels of silver, and put it on my head."

The servant quickly knelt down to express his gratitude: "Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Get up quickly." Di Renjie said with a smile.

The servant stood up upon hearing this and said with a smile on his face, "The Lord is really good to us servants. We often discuss this in private. Such a high-ranking official has never beaten or scolded us, and has always been kind and generous with his rewards. In comparison, this Lord Fang is really hard to describe, alas..."

The servant shook his head, as if he was quite moved.

Di Renjie smiled when he heard this: "Oh, there is one more thing. When you went to Lord Fang's room tonight, what was going on inside the room?"

The servant thought for a moment and said, "When I entered, there was no movement in the room. I thought no one was there, so I was about to put down the washbasin and leave, but suddenly Lord Fang came out from behind the curtains on the bed and gave me a scolding."

Di Renjie was surprised and asked, "You mean, Lord Fang came out from behind the curtain?"

The servant nodded and said, "Yes."

Di Renjie hesitated for a moment and said, "That's right. All right, go ahead. Don't tell anyone about what I asked you tonight."

The servant swore solemnly: "Don't worry, sir, I won't tell anyone."

After saying this, Li Yuanfang went downstairs with his servants.

After the servant left, Zhao Ji said, "Sir, it seems that there must be some shameful secret in Fang Qian's room, which is why he tried so hard to cover it up."

Di Renjie stroked his beard and nodded, "Yes, Fang Qian has a curtain over his bed, repeatedly refused to have his servants help him change his clothes, and also refused to allow anyone to enter his room. There must be something fishy going on."

"Maybe he has some injuries." Zhao Ji reminded.

"Yes, during the day in the lobby, he refused to lean back on the chair. Then you provoked him with words, and he forced himself to lean back on the chair. I saw veins on his hands and it looked like he was in great pain." Di Renjie said with a smile.

"Chengyuan, you are so mean. You deliberately let Fang Qian hit his wound on the chair." Di Renjie laughed.

"If Fang Qian was a serious person, how could I tease him?" Zhao Ji also laughed.

The two laughed for a while, and Di Renjie finally said seriously: "Wait until midnight tonight, find an opportunity to set fire to the East Flower Hall, and then take Fang Qian away with you. I will have someone search Fang Qian's room to see if we can find anything."

Zhao Ji agreed, "Okay, I will pay attention to the location of the fire and send the people in the East Flower Hall away in advance to prevent anyone from getting hurt."

At this moment, Hu Jinghui's shouts and hurried footsteps were suddenly heard outside the lobby.

"Sir! Sir!" Hu Jinghui pushed the door open suddenly.

(End of this chapter)