No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 36 I can’t help myself

Feng Shiyuan narrowed his eyes and looked Su Ze up and down.

Seeing that he was wearing a coarse scholar's robe, but with a scholar's upright face and a good-looking appearance, Feng Shiyuan gradually put away his contempt.

Before coming, Feng Shiyuan naturally sent people to find out Su Ze's true situation.

After all, what if the person that the Second Lord personally orders to deal with turns out to be a tough guy?
As a former official of Kaifeng Prefecture, Feng Shiyuan soon found out that Su Ze was involved in the evil book case and had submitted a petition to the government.

Although the content of the petition is unknown, Su Ze must have some ability to escape from a major case like the Demon Book Case.

Now that Su Ze recognized his identity as soon as they met, Feng Shiyuan felt even more apprehensive.

Su Ze continued:

"It seems I guessed right. Chief Feng came here on orders from Prime Minister Lu's residence?"

Feng Shiyuan's eyebrows twitched wildly, but he quickly calmed down and said lightly:

"What Prime Minister Lu? It's just that Feng has taken a fancy to Su Lang's house."

Su Ze was now absolutely certain that Lu Yijian's faction was going to deal with him.

But the person who did it is still unclear whether it was Lu Yijian himself or someone close to Lu Yijian.

But it’s all the same. The prime minister of the current dynasty only needs to show his attitude, and naturally there will be countless minions to help him charge forward.

Lu Yijian, Feng Shiyuan, Wang Gongchen, names flashed through Su Ze's mind. When all these were connected together, Su Ze suddenly had an idea and thought of a way to break the deadlock.

He took a deep breath. Su Ze, who had originally traveled through time and space and was equipped with the Peach Blossom Spring system, just wanted to live a good life in this Bianjing city.

But he never thought that disaster would come from the sky while he was sitting at home.

These things happened one after another. These emperors and generals who regarded human lives as worthless were determined to use themselves as knives to chop people!
Su Ze sneered and said, "Let's see if you will be hurt by this sharp blade of mine!"

Su Ze said to Feng Shiyuan, "Okay, one thousand strings of cash."

This made Feng Shiyuan confused again. He originally thought that Su Ze was a tough guy who would need to be bargained with or forced to use some tricks.

But I didn't expect that Su Ze would be so tactful.

Su Ze said:

"But the house needs to be cleaned up, and then we can go to Kaifeng Prefecture to sign the mortgage in three days."

As mentioned earlier, the government's governance capabilities in the Song Dynasty increased significantly, and they even set up a special store and housing affairs department to manage public rental housing. Major matters such as real estate transactions naturally required government intervention.

All real estate transactions within the city of Bianjing must be signed and pledged by both the buyer and the seller in Kaifeng Prefecture.

The contract document is made in triplicate, with the buyer and seller each keeping one copy and the other copy kept in a shelf.

Of course, the government also charged a fee for doing this. The relevant transaction documents were specially printed "petition papers", similar to the standard contracts of later generations, and a set of thin petition papers cost one string of coins.

Of course, it is not necessary to go to Kaifeng Prefecture. However, if there is a property rights dispute in a private house transaction, you should go to the government to file a lawsuit yourself.

As the head of the Bianjing City Shop and House Guild, Feng Shiyuan was naturally familiar with this process, and he agreed immediately.

After Su Ze said this, he bowed and wanted to get out of Feng Shiyuan's car.

Feng Shiyuan suddenly said:
"Wait a minute."

"What advice does Chief Feng have?"

Feng Shiyuan said sincerely:

"Su Lang, in this world, there are always many things that are beyond our control. Don't look at me like this, I'm afraid there are more things that are beyond my control than you."

Feng Shiyuan looked at Su Ze, who was also a small figure and was also involved in the political struggle at the top level, and thought of the time when he was exiled to the army.

Feng Shiyuan is not a good person, but bad people will also feel hurt by their own kind. He said:
"Leave Bianjing City now and come back when the time is right. I, Feng, will keep this house for you and sell it to you at the original price when the time comes."

Su Ze looked at Feng Shiyuan in surprise.

It is almost impossible for such a small person to leave his name in the history books compiled by the literati.

The reason why Feng Shiyuan's name was recorded in history books was just as a villain footnote to the great achievements of Zheng Jian, who once served as the acting governor of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Human nature is indeed complex. These names are not just names, but living people with their own experiences.

At this moment, the sense of alienation brought by the time travel was diluted, and Su Ze truly realized that he was already deeply immersed in the torrent of this great era.

Since we are in the torrent, we can only strive forward!
Su Ze straightened his back and said to Feng Shiyuan:
"Thank you, Chief Feng."

After Feng Shiyuan's carriage left, Su Ze returned to the small courtyard.

Li Dutou and Shou Juntou surrounded him. They had already regarded Su Ze as a life-saving straw.

Su Ze glanced at the two of them and said:

"I have a way to break the deadlock."

Li Dutou was cheered up, but Su Ze's next words made him feel as if he had fallen into despair.

"Take me to see Zhang Dengwen."

Captain Li and his men looked at each other and wondered if Su Ze was crazy.

Su Ze said firmly:

"Going right now."

Originally, Li Dutou was the head of the Imperial City Bureau, but at this time he was overwhelmed by Su Ze's aura.

Since we're already at a dead end, we might as well go crazy with Su Ze.

Li Dutou gritted his teeth and said to the thin military leader:
"What are you still standing there for! Why don't you prepare a horse for Mr. Su?"

Zhang Yaozuo's house was in front of the Youye Gate of the Imperial City.

From this we can see how favored Zhang Yaozuo is.

Because of the housing shortage in Bianliang, many high-ranking officials had to rent houses, and these officials also had to go to government offices to work. Especially the important officials at the prime minister level needed to go to the palace frequently to ask questions.

Therefore, Emperor Renzong ordered the Taifu Temple to build a group of houses in front of the Youye Gate of the Imperial City, which were specifically rented to prime ministers, royal family members, nobles and relatives in Beijing as residences.

Zhang Yaozuo's official position and status (Xiu Yuan was only a concubine and her family members could not be considered as in-laws) prevented him from renting a house here.

However, the emperor issued a special decree to allocate a house for Zhang Yaozuo to live in.

Youye Gate is the main thoroughfare for officials to enter and exit the imperial palace. From here, one only needs to walk to enter the palace, which is especially advantageous on the days of court meetings.

Other officials in the capital who wanted to attend court had to leave home in the early morning if they lived far away, and had to endure the poor urban traffic in Bianliang City.

The high-ranking officials living here only need to leave home half an hour before going to court, thus avoiding the trouble of traveling by boat and carriage.

When Li Dutou and Shou Juntou arrived at the Youye Gate, they also became fawning and nodding. Not all the powerful people in Bianjing City lived here, but those who lived here must be people of high status and power.

Su Ze came to Zhang Yaozuo's house. He asked the door to be opened and took out his own paper. Then he said to the doorman:
"Su Ze, a student from Kaifeng Prefecture, requests an audience with Mr. Zhang."

The doorman casually took the paper and prepared to send Su Ze away.

But Su Ze said in shock:
"Su was invited by the Imperial City Bureau to inquire about the case of Mr. Zhang's demonic book."

(End of this chapter)