Chapter 226 Swing Play
The next day, at Ximen’s house, in the study.

Ximen Qing sat behind the desk, listening attentively to the news that his butler Lai Bao had heard.

“…I had committed a crime before and was hiding at the manor of Mr. Chai. Later, I learned that the man was just fainted, not dead, so I dared to return to Qinghe County. On the way, I passed Jingyang Ridge. I was drunk and rushed over the ridge. I encountered a giant beast that came out to eat people, and he beat it to death.”

“For more information, we have to send people to Qinghe County and Mr. Chai’s manor to inquire, which will take some time.”

After listening to this, Ximen Qing frowned, feeling that something was wrong.

If one looks at the information obtained by Bao alone, Wu Song was just a passing hero who killed a big tiger to rid the people of harm. Then, he was lucky enough to be appreciated by the county magistrate, who recommended him as a military officer and entered the officialdom.

But when he carefully recalled the excitement he saw in Li Datian’s eyes yesterday, he still couldn’t believe that this was a coincidence.

Li Datian knew very well what kind of person he was. It was impossible for him to be excited just because the tiger was killed. What could make him excited were definitely people and things that were directly related to his personal interests.

Moreover, even if he appreciated Wu Song, he would not directly promise him an official position like county lieutenant.

Even though the county lieutenant is only a ninth-rank military officer, an official is an official. Many heroes have been blocked from entering this position throughout their lives.

Official ranks in the Song Dynasty were very valuable. A seventh-rank official could attend court. Although military officers were much lower in rank, many generals still could not get the ninth-rank official rank, and could only hold many nice-sounding but low-ranking titles such as Tixia, Jiaotou, Yuhou, etc.

Based on Ximen Qing’s understanding of Li Datian, he shouldn’t be so generous!
“Go and withdraw 100 strings of cash from your account and have someone go to Qinghe County to investigate this Wu Song and find out where he came from and what his background is.”

“In Cangzhou…” Ximen Qing hesitated for a moment, and finally ordered: “Send someone to ask if he has made any wealthy friends there, or if he has been appreciated by any noble person.”

“Yes, I understand.” Lai Bao bowed and was about to leave when Ximen Qing stopped him and asked, “How is the situation with Hua Zixu going?”

Lai Bao smiled slightly and said confidently:

“It will only take one or two days. Just wait patiently for the feast.”

Ximen Qing was still worried and warned:

“Just kill Hua Zixu, but don’t let Li Ping’er get involved. She has become Mr. Zhan’s favorite now. After Hua Zixu dies, he will still need her.”

Lai Bao laughed and said:
“You are too kind-hearted, sir. According to my opinion, I will make Li Ping’er murder her husband, and then you can rescue her and give her to sir. Isn’t this the best of both worlds?”

“Eh?” Ximen Qing exclaimed, his eyes rolled around, and he quickly weighed the pros and cons, then he laughed out loud, pointed at Lai Bao and praised him with a smile: “As expected, you still understand my intentions, then just do it this way!”

While he was plotting to harm people, Master Zhan was having fun with the young ladies.

When talking about “Jin Ping Mei”, of course we cannot avoid swinging on the swing. Now that Mr. Zhan has this opportunity, he will certainly not miss the joy of swinging on the swing and will definitely experience it himself.

A swing is very easy to make, so he just gave an order and Hua Zixu prepared everything. He set it up in his back garden and then invited Master Zhan to come over for fun.

It was a sunny day today, a perfect time for swinging. Mr. Zhan was in a good mood, so he drove Pan Jinlian directly to Hua Zixu’s house. After being welcomed in, he took Pan Jinlian out of the car.

Hua Zixu and his wife came up to greet them with smiles on their faces and were very enthusiastic.

“Uncle, the swing has been set up, and there’s thick felt underneath. It’s soft to step on, and you don’t have to worry about falling off it. It’s convenient for doing anything.”

“Haha… my dear nephew, you are so thoughtful.”

Mr. Zhan smiled and patted Hua Zixu’s shoulder, then hugged Li Ping’er over.

Pan Jinlian in the left hand and Li Ping’er in the right hand, one on each side, hugged on both sides.

Hua Zixu pretended not to see it, walked to the side of the swing with a smile, held the swinging wide board, and said with a flattering smile:
“Uncle, why don’t you stand up and try it first?”

“My nephew is shaking for his uncle down there.”

Master Zhan waved his hand and said with a smile:

“What’s the fun of playing on a swing alone? It’s more fun when two people play together!”

He pulled Hua Zixu away and asked Li Ping’er to come over first, then took her to the wide board, standing on the left and right, facing each other.

“Nephew, please start the swing quickly.”

“Uh… OK, I’ll be right there.”

Hua Zixu was slightly stunned, then hurriedly lowered his head and stepped forward to push the swing.

The swing swung in the wind, and slowly carried Master Zhan and the other man to a height of two meters, then changed direction and fell at an accelerated rate.

“ah……”

Li Ping’er screamed subconsciously and hugged Master Zhan tightly with both hands.

There were no elevators, airplanes, bungee jumping, etc. in those days. The acceleration of gravity was not something you could experience in normal times. Under the influence of this extremely fast fall, people would inevitably feel nervous.

When people get nervous, they will inevitably… you know!

Mr. Zhan hugged Li Ping’er tightly and changed his center of gravity as the swing swayed.

But after a short while, Mr. Zhan was no longer satisfied with this slight swing, so he kept urging:

“Nephew, harder!”

After hearing this, Hua Zixu hurriedly increased his strength, making the swing swing a little higher, but he was afraid of hurting Uncle Zhan, so he didn’t dare to use all his strength.

Mr. Zhan knew his caution, but he didn’t like it, so he shouted impatiently:
“Just shake it as hard as you can, don’t worry about safety.”

“This swing is only a few feet long. Even if you fall off, it’s not dangerous. Besides, there’s a mat underneath. What are you afraid of?”

“If you can’t swing it, just get a strong servant to come over!” Hua Zixu gritted his teeth. After all, he didn’t dare to displease Master Zhan, so he had to call many strong servants over and prepare to receive them at any time. Then he swung the swing with all his strength, while watching it nervously, fearing that something might happen.

Master Zhan could even fly, so how could he fall in mid-air? He easily maintained his balance, and his pair of strong hands easily fixed the two people’s bodies, as if they were nails firmly fixed on the wide board of the swing.

But Li Ping’er didn’t know all this!
Seeing myself getting higher and higher from the ground, I felt like I was flying in the air like a bird. Of course, I felt happy. But then my body suddenly fell down, and the heavy ground hit my face. I screamed in fright.

Master Zhan hugged Li Ping’er, protecting her from falling, and then ignored everything else. He just stared mischievously at Li Ping’er’s face, which was so nervous that she was about to cry, and carefully experienced this different kind of happiness.

The swing swung higher and higher, faster and faster, and gradually it was almost level with the ten-foot-high pole. Hua Zixu’s heart also became more and more anxious, for he was afraid that Master Zhan and the other man would fall off.

Especially during the swinging process, Li Ping’er’s feet had gradually left the wide board. If she hadn’t been holding on tightly to Master Zhan, she would have fallen down long ago.

“Half-time!”

At Master Zhan’s order, Hua Zixu hurriedly ordered people to stop, and only when the swing slowly came to a stop did he feel relieved.

Although Hua Zixu had seen a lot of the world with Eunuch Hua in the past, eunuchs were still limited when it came to women and he had no experience in many things.

Now seeing how Master Zhan played, he couldn’t help but secretly sigh that he still had little experience. It turned out that he could learn a lot of knowledge by following Uncle Zhan!

After playing for a whole day, Hua Zixu was very tired. After forcing himself to see Master Zhan off, he returned to his room, collapsed on the armchair, ordered someone to fetch water for him to take a bath, and prepared to rest.

“My lord, you have worked hard today. My aunt asked me to prepare this nourishing ginseng soup in advance and bring it to you. Please drink this ginseng soup and have a good rest.”

Hua Zixu turned his head and saw Xiuchun, the maidservant beside Li Ping’er, smiling charmingly and holding a tray with a bowl of ginseng soup on it.

“Did Auntie ask you to cook it?”

Hua Zixu was stunned, remembering that his wife was very busy today, so how could she have the time for this.

But when his eyes turned to Xiuchun’s flattering face, he understood and laughed immediately.

“Haha, you feel sorry for the master, and in return the master will love you too!”

After saying this, he picked up the bowl of soup and drank it.

But as soon as he took a sip of the soup, Hua Zixu couldn’t help but frown and asked:

“Why is today’s soup so bitter?”

Xiuchun looked a little unnatural, and just laughed dryly:
“You are joking, sir. How can this ginseng soup not be bitter?”

“If it’s not easy for you to eat, I’ll go get some candied fruit for you to eat, how about that?”

Hua Zixu frowned and waved his hand:
“Never mind, maybe I’ve been in a bad mood lately, everything I eat tastes bitter.”

Seeing that Hua Zixu had no suspicion and drank the whole bowl of soup, Xiuchun finally felt relieved, put away the bowl of soup, and left.

After a while, the bathtub and hot water were ready. Hua Zixu took off his clothes and was about to get into the tub, but as soon as he moved, he felt a sudden abdominal pain for no apparent reason.

“Oh no, he has a stomachache!” Hua Zixu hurriedly ordered his attendants, “Quickly bring a clean bucket!”

There was a clean bucket in the room, which he immediately brought over. Hua Zixu sat on it, but he had no urge to defecate. He only felt a sharp pain in his stomach, which startled him.

“Ah, whore, why do you want to hurt me!”

Hua Zixu yelled angrily and fell off the bucket to the ground.

Everyone rushed forward to help him, but they saw black blood flowing out of Hua Zixu’s seven orifices. He screamed in pain and rolled on the ground for a while before dying.

“Oh no! The master is dead! Go and tell my wife!”

Li Ping’er had consumed a lot of energy today and had just taken a shower and gone to bed. She was still half asleep when she heard the bad news. She was immediately frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. She quickly got dressed and rushed over to see what was happening.

When Li Ping’er saw her husband with a ferocious face lying on the ground, she was so scared that she fell down and her mind went blank.

Among the servants, an experienced and prudent one came over and pinched her philtrum and patted her back to wake her up, and asked anxiously:
“Ma’am, do you want to report to the police?”

“Yes, we need to report to the authorities… No, wait a minute. Send someone to deliver a letter to Mr. Zhan and ask him to come over first. Then we can report to the authorities.”

The servant was about to leave when suddenly there was a commotion outside the door and someone came in and shouted:

“Madam, the officials are here, and they want to see the senior official.”

Without waiting for Li Ping’er to give the order, the bailiffs outside the door rushed in. After seeing the corpse on the ground, they immediately became delighted.

The leading captain waved his hand, and immediately a bailiff came up, shook the chain at Li Ping’er, and hit her on the head.

“Whore, someone has come forward and said that you were planning to spend the family’s money and murder your husband. Now that we have the witnesses and evidence, you cannot deny it. Come back to the government office with us and confess your crime!”

“What?” Li Ping’er was horrified and shouted hurriedly, “It’s unfair, Captain, I didn’t kill my husband…”

“Humph! If you have anything to say, you can say it after you get to the government office!”

The captain had already received Ximen Qing’s instructions, so he ignored her cries of injustice and just went about arresting people.

“Go find it quickly…”

Li Ping’er wanted to ask someone to ask Mr. Zhan to come and save her, but just as she shouted half a sentence to the servants, the yamen runners beside her came up and blocked her mouth, tied her up and took her out.

The servants of the Hua Mansion were leaderless and could only watch their mistress being taken away by this group of people. They looked at each other for a moment, and suddenly turned around and ran towards the warehouse.

(End of this chapter)