Chapter 75 What I Want

"Tingzhang, Heifu Tingzhang!"

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, at the end of the market (15:00 to 17:00), in the evening market of Anlu County, on the bustling streets, the freshly made Heifu, wearing a reddish-brown scarf on his head, strode in front.

Behind him, the weak official Quji of Chaoyangli was chasing closely behind him, shouting Heifu's name as he walked.

Heifu didn't want to stop, until he was blocked by a group of people passing through the alley in front of him, and then he had to stop.

Quji took the opportunity to rush in front of him and blocked his way, panting, and then he bowed deeply to Heifu and said: "Quji thanks the Tingzhang for lending me money to help me out of my urgent need, but the left half of the deed, the Tingzhang forgot it with me..."

As he said that, he handed over a copy of the deed with seal characters in both hands!

It turned out that just now, because Quji could not pay the fine of 4032 coins for the three classes, he was taken to the county Sikong official office by the county prison clerk, and was prepared to let him sign a document and do more than a year of labor for the government.

Quji was about to sign, but unexpectedly, Heifu, the head of Huyang Pavilion who arrested him that day, suddenly came and said that he was willing to lend money to Quji and asked him to pay the debt immediately and exempt from labor.

Heifu also asked a few clerks to testify on the spot, and signed a loan contract with Quji. Heifu held the left contract and Quji held the right contract. But when they left the official temple, Heifu stuffed the left contract into Quji's hand, and then strode away...

How could Quji not know what Heifu meant? But he was an honest man and could not do such a thing, so he chased Heifu all the way, and now he finally caught up with him, and insisted on returning the left half of the contract to Heifu.

Quji said from the bottom of his heart: "I understand what the pavilion chief means, but I am also a man of honor. It is only natural that I should be punished for breaking the law. How can I let the pavilion chief take the reward money for catching thieves to pay for my crime? Pavilion chief, don't worry, although my family is not rich, I can save more than 4,000 yuan to repay it in three to five years, no problem!"

Heifu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Although Quji looked sick, he was stubborn and refused to accept the money he was given! Anyway, it seems that he is indeed a good person, and it is worth it for him to help him once.

So Heifu pushed Quji's hand back and said sincerely: "Quji, I want to pay the money for you because this matter is entirely caused by me. You witnessed the tomb robbers committing crimes, but you were afraid of the revenge of the local officials and the thieves. This is human nature and there is no shame. So you wrote an anonymous letter, which was helpless. You are not at fault, but the law does not allow it, and it cannot reduce the guilt."

He said: "I am just a fighting official, and my words are not important. I can't change the judgment of the prison officials, let alone the provisions of the law. I can only start by changing myself. So I took the initiative to pay money to save you from disaster. The reason why I publicly stated that the money was a loan to you is to avoid trouble. This four thousand coins is the reward you deserve for reporting. Don't refuse it again!"

It is one thing for a civil servant to pay money to help criminals get rid of disasters, and it is another thing to lend money to others. Heifu also took advantage of the loopholes in the law.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Quji was even more moved. He bowed again and said, "Heifu Pavilion Chief is not only a brave man, but also an efficient official and a righteous man! How can I take the wealth of a righteous man for nothing?"

As he said this, he was about to stuff the deed into Heifu's hand.

Heifu was also a little annoyed. He wanted to push him away, but he was afraid of hurting the sick boy. He made up his mind and simply took the left half of the deed, walked to the owner of the restaurant who was watching the excitement, and said to the owner: "Owner, lend me a light!"

Then, in front of Quji's surprised eyes, the owner's astonishment, and the public in the market, Heifu picked up a piece of firewood from the stove of the restaurant and lit the wooden deed in his hand...

Seeing the red-yellow flames slowly climbing up the deed, the flames devouring the black words on it, Quji was immediately anxious: "Heifu Pavilion Chief, what are you doing?"

This is a promissory note for 4,000 coins, and you want to burn it? This Heifu Pavilion Chief, doesn't care at all?

Heifu laughed, and he held the burning deed high up so that Quji couldn't reach it. When it was all on fire and almost burned his fingers, he threw it on the ground.

Quji rushed over to rescue it, but it was too late. The surface of the deed had almost turned into black charcoal, and the handwriting could not be seen clearly. It was destroyed.

"Quji, from now on, you and I owe each other nothing! Goodbye!"

After saying that, Heifu bowed to Quji, walked through the crowd of onlookers, and walked away!

Quji could only stare blankly at the left deed that had been burned to charcoal. After a while, he bowed and kowtowed in the direction where Heifu was going!

"Heifu Pavilion Master, thank you very much, Quji will never forget it!"

At this time, not only the diners around the restaurant, but also half of the people in the market were attracted, pointing and talking to Quji who was kneeling and kowtowed...

"Young man, what happened just now?" Someone asked curiously.

Quji picked up the burnt left deed and carefully put it in his arms. Then he stood up, dusted off the dust on his body, and said loudly to the people around him: "Let the two or three know that just now, Huyang Pavilion Chief Heifu did a righteous act!"

...

Things that happened in the market always spread quickly. By the time the evening market ended at 17:00-19:00, as people who went to the market returned home one after another, Huyang Pavilion Chief Heifu's righteous act had spread to half of Anlu County.

Heifu, this name was famous in Anlu County a few months ago for capturing three thieves and taking away the sword with bare hands. Now, just when the people in the county were about to forget the deeds of the "warrior", he appeared in front of everyone with a new identity and a new story!

Everyone is saying that he entered the city alone and answered all 20 legal questions correctly, shocking the government!

He went to work in a red cap, saw a clue from an anonymous letter, followed the clues, and found a big case!

He led the crowd to run at night, and caught a group of tomb robbers in the dark and terrifying tomb!

He waited in the cold wind and waited for the prisoner who was stealing from the prison, and got rid of a rat for Anlu County.

Now, he used the reward money he got to help the anonymous whistleblower Quji to pay off the fine...

"What a generous and righteous pavilion chief!"

Those who heard about Heifu's deeds, whether they knew him or not, all gave him a thumbs up.

In the Warring States period, righteous men and righteous deeds were most respected. Confucius said to become a martyr, Mencius said to pursue righteousness. Just as Mencius said, "Life is what I want; righteousness is what I want. If I cannot have both, I will sacrifice my life for righteousness..."

Not only did Confucianism advocate righteousness, but even the Qin State, which did not respect Confucianism, was deeply influenced by this trend. Those patriots who were willing to die for righteousness, their reputations can be passed down for a long time, this is the fashion of the times.

So, from this day on, the name of Heifu left an indelible impression in the minds of the people of Anlu County...

After nightfall, Heifu's reputation of "generosity and righteousness" was heard by several officials in Anlu County...

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