How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

Although he was fooled, Xie Chengze was injured after all, and as a "guilty minister", he should express his gratitude.

But every time Shen Yuan tried to talk to him, Xie Chengze would raise his chin higher than a rooster, revealing the conspicuous blood bruises on his fair skin, reminding him of his mistake over and over again.

There was nothing sharp on Shen Yuan's hair crown, but Xie Chengze's skin was too delicate, so just a single collision left a bloody bruise.

The guilty minister had no way to express his grievances, so he patiently looked for several appropriate opportunities to apologize, but he found that Xie Chengze was becoming more and more demanding, so he pretended not to hear him every time.

Shen Yuan felt that he was also sick for pampering him, so he decided to ignore him.

Unexpectedly, Xie Chengze changed his annoying tricks again. Whenever he stopped to rest, he would deliberately get out of the car and pass in front of him. He would stay for a moment, "tsk tsk" twice, then shake his head and sigh a few times, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, and then leave, which made the attendant guards look at Shen Yuan with sympathy.

Shen Yuan had never seen such a shameless person.

Finally, that night, Shen Yuan could no longer endure it, and stood outside the carriage and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, Second Prince, can we talk alone?"

Xie Chengze's lazy voice came from inside the carriage, "Come in."

Shen Yuan unceremoniously lifted the car curtain and walked in.

At this time, Xie Chengze had already taken a rest. A faint smell of mosquito repellent incense was burning in the corner of the car. He was lying on his side on the chair in a thin white undershirt. His loose black hair was spread on the gorgeous cushion like silk, less sharp and thorny, and more noble and distant.

He raised his hand to prop up his head, and the silky sleeves slid down, revealing his slender but not thin arms. His bright eyes looked at him with a smile, cunning and clear, "It's the dead of night, what do you want to say, Lord Shen?"

"Your Highness the Second Prince, please tell me directly how you want me to apologize." The low carriage could not accommodate people standing, so Shen Yuan could only half-kneel down. The thin light from the oil lamp was cast on his face, forming large mottled shadows, making it difficult to see his true expression.

"Is it so hard to guess what I'm thinking?" Xie Chengze looked a little puzzled, if you ignored the cunning flickering in his eyes.

"Your Highness!" Shen Yuan's patience was completely exhausted. He felt extremely awkward and could not control his tone. He said in a heavy voice, "I can't guess! Please explain clearly!"

Xie Chengze couldn't help but laugh.

How should I put it? Perhaps it was because Master Shen placed too much emphasis on the virtues of a wise ruler, loyal ministers, and the ways of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame, that Shen Yuan, whom he educated, became a bit stubborn and old-fashioned.

Taifu Shen believed that those who admitted their mistakes and corrected them could be forgiven. Everyone makes mistakes, and as long as they corrected them and did good, they could be treated equally. This was true for the common people, and even more so for the king.

Shen Yuan definitely wanted to kill him, but he didn't dare and couldn't. Not only because he couldn't risk the lives of dozens of people in the Shen family, but more importantly, he, Xie Chengze, had never done anything evil like killing people and selling stolen goods in this life.

If he is innocent, then he is a wise ruler, and as his subject, he must be loyal to him.

Therefore, Shen Yuan is so passive now, being held in his palm and teased at will.

After all, who could have imagined that the powerful official who would later make all officials tremble in fear was actually an old-fashioned person at heart?

"Master Shen, please get up. I am not angry anymore." Xie Chengze sat up, raised his hand and patted his shoulder, and said with a smile, "This is the first time I hear Master Shen call himself a minister. It's really rare."

Shen Yuan paused.

His obscure gaze suddenly shot towards Xie Chengze, but he found that the other party's expression was flawless, as if he was just sighing casually, without any displeasure or sarcasm.

He was careless. In his previous life, he always called himself a humble official at this time, but now, because he hated Xie Chengze and was unwilling to submit to him, he always called himself Mr. Shen.

It seems that Xie Chengze has become much more sensitive after his rebirth.

"If Second Prince likes to hear it, I will call myself that in the future." Shen Yuan stood up, unwilling to stay any longer. "Since Second Prince is no longer angry, I will not disturb your sleep."

After saying that, he turned around and got off the carriage.

In the following days, Xie Chengze indeed returned to his former self and no longer deliberately talked to him. Shen Yuan also no longer stayed near the carriage, and occasionally left the team to explore the way, so he was rarely seen.

A few days later, the group once again entered the county town they passed by to buy water and food for the next few days' journey.

The doctor accompanying the convoy and Zhu Xiaobiao went to find a clinic. Although the doctor brought some medicinal herbs, most of them were used to treat wind-heat and wounds. If they wanted to relieve Zhu Xiaobiao's addiction, they had to go to the clinic in the county town to buy more.

Xie Chengze planned to go shopping in the market.

As soon as he entered the city, Shen Yuan noticed something strange.

In his previous life, he and the prince went to Yizhou. Because they were worried about the serious famine in Yizhou, they rode at full speed almost all night, so they never entered Cangfu County.

But when he was young, he had been to Cangfu County when he traveled around the mountains and rivers with Master Shen. The scenery here is beautiful and the climate is pleasant. The special local mountain and water conditions make the climate in Cangfu County pleasant, especially in the cool summer. Therefore, wealthy people from the south often come here to escape the summer heat, and local shops gradually prosper with their stay.

At that time, the streets were bustling with people, and the vendors' enthusiastic shouts were constant, which was enough to show the prosperity of Cangfu County. But now, Cangfu County is obviously not as prosperous and lively as Zhuolu County. The people on the streets are doing their own business. You can see many ragged beggars on the side of the street, sitting on the ground with broken bowls in their hands, looking at passers-by with obscure and sly eyes.

The prosperity of the past no longer exists.

With just one glance, Shen Yuan knew exactly what was going on.

The decline of a county is mostly due to the inaction of the prefect and the county magistrate who stand by and watch.

If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince were here, he would have seen through the situation and would have immediately sealed off the county government office and sentenced the county magistrate, and found another wise leader for the people of Cangfu County, so as to restore vitality and peace to Cangfu County.

And if it was Xie Chengze...

Shen Yuan couldn't help but glance at Xie Chengze standing beside him.

Xie Chengze had eaten dry food all the way, and now he just wanted to go to a restaurant to satisfy his cravings, so he looked greedy, as if he didn't see the problems in Cangfu County at all. He rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "Xiao Miao, second brother will take you to have a feast and try some local specialties!"

"Okay, I'll listen to my second brother!" Greedy No. 2, who also couldn't see the problem, nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Shen Yuan held his forehead with a headache.

He began to doubt, once they arrived in Yizhou, would Xie Chengze cooperate with him and clean up the corrupt officials like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had done?

The three of them walked towards the city. Their appearance and clothing were very eye-catching, attracting many people to look at them secretly in awe. Xie Chengze saw a building that looked like a restaurant and was about to walk over when suddenly two little beggars who were running were tripped by something and bumped into him.

Xie Chengze quickly caught it. The two little beggars didn't even say thank you and turned around and tried to run away.

As a result, as soon as he took a step, Shen Yuan grabbed him by the collar.

"Take it out." Shen Yuan said with a slightly cold tone, and directly picked up the two little beggars.

"Let me go!" The two little beggars struggled, their feet barely touching the ground and they couldn't stand steadily. They said angrily, "Why are you arresting us? We just bumped into you!"

"Take out the purse you stole from him." Shen Yuan said in a more serious tone this time, "I'll only give you one chance."

"We didn't steal!" the little beggar said stubbornly, his eyes red with grievance, "Let us go! Someone come! Someone is bullying the children!"

Xie Zimiao on the side glanced at Xie Chengze, "Second brother, is your wallet still there?"

Xie Chengze touched it and said calmly, "It's still there."

Shen Yuan suddenly turned to look at Xie Chengze, then frowned, "The money is still there? Not less?"

Xie Chengze touched it again and confirmed, "Yeah."

This is impossible.