I want to ruin the country

The housekeeper's mouth was almost raised to his ears, and he said with a squinting look,

"I'm not an official. My master is the military commander. You have to kneel down and kowtow when you see him!"

Zhang Ying became even angrier.

"I thought you were such a high-ranking official. I'm a fourth-rank official in the Imperial Court, serving the Emperor. How can I tolerate your disrespect? Slap me in the face!"

Zhang Zhidong was already furious, and he quickly came over and slapped the housekeeper in the face.

The slap was so hard that several red hand marks appeared on the butler's face.

He has been following his master in and out for many years and has always been respected by everyone. Apart from his master, who has ever slapped him in the face over the years?

He covered his face and was stunned for a moment, then he realized that he had been beaten. He was furious and cursed.

"You bastard, you actually hit me, just wait!"

He turned around and came out to greet his servants.

"A little bastard hit me, guys, beat him up!"

The dozen or so servants under him were used to being arrogant. When they heard that the butler was beaten, they were not willing to let it go. They shouted "Ah!" and rushed over.

When they entered the house, they saw only a middle-aged man in his forties in casual clothes and a boy of fifteen or sixteen. Without caring about anything else, they started beating up Zhang Ying and his son.

Zhang Ying's followers ran over after hearing this. Firstly, it was too late, and secondly, how could four or five people fight against ten or twenty people? They were all beaten black and blue.

Zhang Ying got up from the ground,

"Where did you mad dogs come from? How dare you assault an official appointed by the imperial court? Do you have any respect for the law?"

Zhang Zhidong also got up from the ground.

"Father, they are outnumbered and rely on their power. We can't defeat them. Let's file a complaint with the emperor tomorrow and see if these slaves have strong heads."

There was such a big commotion here that the admiral from the main house also came out. Seeing that the action here had stopped, he walked over slowly and methodically.

"What's going on? Why is there so much noise?"

His steward reported,

"If you go back to the army, I'll tell you I was beaten!"

Sai A Ding asked slowly,

"What's going on? Who is so bold?"

Zhang Ying came over wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Your humble servant greets His Excellency, General, may I ask who you are?"

The housekeeper curled his lips and said,

"This is our Shaanxi governor, General Sai Ading. How dare you steal his food? Do you think your life is too long?"

Zhang Yingdao,

"It's the Admiral. I didn't know you were coming, so I didn't come to pay my respects. I beg for your forgiveness!"

In fact, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, civil officials were respected and military officials were despised. Admiral was a military position, and most of them were high-ranking, with ranks ranging from first to second rank.

The full name of the admiral is "Admiral-in-Chief of Military Affairs". He is in charge of the Green Camp soldiers in a province. He cannot interfere in local affairs and is also under the control of the governor.

The prefect had much more power than the secretary of the municipal party committee of a modern prefecture-level city.

They are responsible for educating the people in their jurisdiction, maintaining public order, paying taxes, handling judicial proceedings, and supervising and evaluating their subordinates.

Therefore, the admiral was polite when he met the prefect.

But the situation is different today. Sai Ading's housekeeper dared to confront Zhang Ying because Sai Ading was used to being arrogant because he had Mu Zhang'a's support. He believed that the bigger the master, the bigger the servant.

Secondly, Sai Ading and the prefect Zhang Ying were not from the same place, so he didn't need to give Zhang Ying any face.

He did not give Zhang Ying any face. Although Zhang Ying was of a lower rank, she still had to consider his face. Therefore, Zhang Ying swallowed her anger and greeted Sai A Ding.

Sai A Ding heard that this man was very polite and did not forget to apologize after being beaten. He narrowed his eyes and said,

"Never mind, I don't blame you. They said you stole the food. What's going on? A dignified Fourth-Rank Imperial Hall shouldn't be left without food, right?"

Zhang Yingdao,

"Your Excellency, I have arrived at exactly 12:00 PM. May I ask when you arrived?"

It was almost ten o'clock when Admiral Sai A Ding arrived. He said,

"This admiral arrived at midnight!"

Zhang Yingdao,

"I arrived more than half an hour earlier than the Admiral. How could I have snatched your food?"

"Ah, this?"

Sai A Ding couldn't answer, so he turned to ask the housekeeper, "What's going on?"

The housekeeper thought to himself, didn't I report to you just now? You asked me to go and see what's going on, and now you ask me again. He had no choice but to say,

"It was the postmaster here who said someone stole the general's food, so I went over to ask, but as soon as I entered the room, they slapped me in the face, and that's when I started fighting with them!"

Sai A Ding asked again,

"Where's the postmaster? What's going on?"

Huang Bingyao came over quickly,

"General, it's good that Lord Zhang arrived early. We have prepared food for him, but he said it was unclean and he didn't want to eat it.

Seeing the meal I prepared for the general, Master Zhang had his son and servants take it away without saying a word!

Sai A Ding had no mind to listen to these, and turned around.

"Is your surname Zhang?"

"I am Zhang Ying!"

Sai A Ding pointed at Huang Bingyao and said,

"I don't care about your affairs with them. If my servants do something wrong, I will naturally discipline them. It is not someone else's turn to teach them a lesson.

Your superior is here, but you refuse to greet him and even beat up his servants. This is extremely unreasonable. I should report you to the emperor!

Forget it, this admiral does not bear grudges, so go ahead and be more restrained in your behavior from now on!

Zhang Ying was delighted when she heard this.

"My Lord Admiral, I was beaten by your servants for no reason, and you just said it so casually. They didn't hit me, Zhang, they hit the emperor's face.

Whether you report this to the emperor or not is your business. Tomorrow when I see the emperor, I will definitely seek justice from him!"

Sai A Ding was also amused, and thought to himself that the fourth-rank prefect had reported me, and he wondered if the emperor had time to take care of his troubles!

He smirked and said,

"Well, just join in the performance!"

After saying that, he turned around and went back to the house!

Zhang Zhidong supported his father.

"Father, don't be angry. I can't let him go!"

Zhang Ying sighed.

"It's just talk, all these high-ranking officials in the imperial court have powerful backgrounds!

Besides, we were implicated by a villain, and the dignified prefect was beaten. This man is in great disgrace today!

If this gets out, the Emperor will lose face, and if things go wrong, my father's official career might be over!"

Zhang Zhidong Road,

"It was his servant who was unreasonable first, and I will never let him go!"

Zhang Ying felt very humiliated today. He, a fourth-rank prefect, was beaten up. This was probably unprecedented among all the prefects in the world!

After being beaten, you still can't find a place to seek justice, so you really go to the emperor to file a complaint? The emperor will be furious when he hears that it's all because of food!

"Son, I know you're not the type to cause trouble, but what you did today was indeed reckless. You don't know how high your rank is until you reach the capital!

Here, there are a lot of fourth-rank officials like my father, and even first- and second-rank officials can be found everywhere. Be careful in the future and don't take advantage of your status to do things that don't follow the rules, otherwise you will end up in trouble!"