Hou Wen was panicked and hurriedly went out to greet him. Fortunately, he was not drunk and his steps were quite steady. He walked to the screen wall and recognized Fan Ning at a glance. He quickly bowed and bowed, "Secretary Hou Wen, see the prefect Fan!"

Fanning smelled the wine on his body and didn't care. She stepped forward and smiled and patted his arm and said, "We seem to be a Jinshi in the same subject, and I still remember Magistrate Hou!"

Hou Wen also smiled and said, "I also remember Prefect Fan. Prefect Fan was the first in the Boy Clinic and the fourth in the Jinshi Clinic. I was 351st in the B list. It has been almost ten years in a flash.m.x."

"I didn't disturb Magistrate Hou today!"

"Of course not, hurry into the guest hall and sit."

Fan Ning introduced him to Gongsun Xuance who came with him, and then followed Hou Wen into the guest hall.

The two of them took a seat and the host and the maid served them tea. Fan Ning picked up the teacup and asked with a smile: "What position has Brother Hou experienced in these ten years?"

"I was originally appointed as the governor of the Taiping Army, Hu Cao, and wasted four years in the capital. Later, I became a Beijing official and stayed in the Taixue and Imperial College for another four years. Two years ago, I served as the deputy Chengzhi of Baowen Pavilion to be the governor of Songcheng County."

"It's not easy! I heard that Magistrate Hou is the son-in-law of the Wang family?"

Hou Wen nodded embarrassedly, "I have to take care of my father-in-law, otherwise I don't know where to waste my time now?"

"I have a deep feeling that there are only a few scholars in the world who can pass the Jinshi exam. They have been through ten years of hard work and have endured thousands of hardships to achieve success. But even if they pass the Jinshi exam, it is only the first step in their career. Only one or two of them can become a regular official, and it is even more difficult to move upward. For example, Hou Magistrate can become a Zhengchi magistrate, which is a key hurdle. As long as you pass this hurdle, the future of Hou Magistrate is unlimited."

Hou Wen fully understood Fan Ning's hint. He finally survived until today, but was strongly suppressed by Yang Du, which made his future bleak and made him a little discouraged. But he was only over thirty years old after all, and he was in his prime. How could he accept the mercy of fate?

"What should I do?"

Fan Ning picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, and said calmly: "I will give Hou a few words to the magistrate Hou. The attitude determines the position, and the position determines the fate!"

Fan Ning said goodbye and left, and asked Hou Wen to contact Gongsun Xuance at any time.

Hou Wen returned to his study and had no idea of ​​drinking anymore. He paced the room with his hands behind his back.

His wife Wang walked in and asked in a low voice: "This Prefect Fan is here to deal with Yang Du!"

Hou Wen nodded, "Fan Ning is the confidant of King Julu, and the sharpest knife of Mr. Han. It is obvious that he came to Yingtian Mansion to open up the situation where Yingtian Mansion was monopolized by Zhang Yaozuo and Jia Changchao. His first opponent was Yang Du."

"Isn't that great? If you defeat Yang Du, your fate will be changed."

Hou Wen sighed, "It's not so easy. Yang Du controls the military and political power of Yingtian Prefecture and has received support from both Jia Changchao and Zhang Yaozuo. If Fan Ning cannot defeat him, he will definitely be eaten by him."

"So what? If Fan Ning fails, will your life be better?"

Wang was really a little disgusted with her husband's weakness, and said, "Husband, you have to understand that our Wang family and the Cao family have been married for several generations, and their fate is closely related. The Cao family supports the Julu King, which is well known to everyone in the world. If you refuse to help, the Wang family will not force you, but if you want to stand on Zhang Yaozuo's side, you will be cut off from the Wang family."

His wife's words were like enlightenment, and Hou Wen's heart suddenly became bright. He nodded slowly, "Madam, please don't worry, if I want to turn to Zhang Yaozuo, I will not be punished by Yang Du to death. I know what to do."

"Then do you know what Fanning needs?"

Hou Wen nodded slowly, "I know!"

For several days, Fan Ning spent time understanding the situation in Yingtian Mansion, and Yang Du ignored Fan Ning and was not in the government office most of the time.

That morning, Jia Qun, the eldest grandson of Jia Changchao, rushed from the capital to Yingtian Mansion and came directly to Yang Du's mansion.

"Why is Yanei coming?" Yang Du asked with a smile when he greeted the gate.

Jia Qun glanced at Yang Du’s official house and said coldly: “You really occupied the official house of the yamen queen. For this matter, my grandfather was questioned by the emperor, so you feel at ease.”

Yang Du was frightened and sweated in a cold sweat on his back. He hurriedly asked, "Didn't Taichang Temple hold this down?"

Jia Qun snorted and walked directly into the mansion. Yang Du hurriedly followed behind.

"You are too naive. Will Fanning wolf-like officials report to Taichang Temple? He directly impeached you through the Censorate to usurp your official rank and destroy the rules of the court. This matter was directly exposed to the emperor's desk. Do you think he is Zhao Zhinian?"

Yang Du cursed Fan Ning in his heart, and wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, "What does Jia Gong mean?"

"My grandfather explained to the official family that because there has not been a new prefect of Yingtian in the past few months, the official house you live in is disrepair and needs to be repaired, so he temporarily moved to the official house behind the yamen. He only lived temporarily and had no intention of overtaking the official rank."

Speaking of this, Jia Qun stared at Yang Du with sharp eyes, "My grandfather asked you to move out of the official residence of the yamen immediately, and then immediately add a report to Taichang Temple for temporary residence. The date will be three months ago and I will take it back to the capital."

Yang Du was really angry and asked him to move out of the official house in the yamen. Isn’t this public slap him in the face? Fan Ning lives in the inn and is waiting for him to move out! He admits his consent to move out, and lets the officials below look at him, which will seriously shake his authority.

Although Yang Du was irritated, he dared not refuse to obey. If he really annoyed Jia Changchao, he might use himself as a stepping stone.

"What should I do next?" Yang Du asked again.

Jia Changchao was extremely experienced in doing things. He would never use letters to communicate with more dangerous things. For example, when he said to Yang Du today, he would ask his grandson to go to Yingtian Mansion in person without leaving the handle on Yang Du's hands.

Jia Qun continued: "Grandfather said that he could not use Zhao Zhinian's method to deal with Fan Ning, and could not completely underestimate him. He could hand over some unimportant government affairs to him, but he could not give him real power to finance, taxation, distribution of interests, official evaluation and mobilization, etc., and the military power cannot be given to him. You can control this degree yourself."

Yang Du nodded, he knew what to do

Soon, the news that Yang Du began to move out of the official house of the yamen queen spread throughout the Yingtian Mansion officialdom, causing an uproar among the Yingtian Mansion officials, which meant that Yang Du admitted defeat in the first contest with Fan Ning. This result undoubtedly greatly shook Yang Du's prestige in the Yingtian Mansion officialdom.

Zhou Heng, a military officer, came out of Yang Du's official room, holding a stack of documents in his hand. He seemed to be worried. He did not expect Yang Du to lose the first round so soon. Thinking of Yang Du's gritting teeth, Zhou Heng felt scared. If Yang Du loses, will he still have a way out?

But he was already tied with Yang Du and completely got on the pirate ship. It was impossible to get off the ship, so he could only take one step at a time.

Zhou Heng gritted his teeth and came to Fan Ning's official room. He walked into the outside room and came to the inside door. Seeing Fan Ning writing quickly, there was a person working in the next place. Zhou Heng said carefully: "Prince Fan, the official will send you documents."

Fanning looked up at him and asked lightly: "Who are you?"

Zhou Heng was stunned and hurriedly said, "The lower official is Zhou Heng, the military officer."

"Yeah?"

Fan Ning said coldly: "Then why haven't I seen you before?"

Zhou Heng suddenly couldn't hold his face and said embarrassedly: "When the prefect took office on the first day, he had met a junior official."

"I have no impression of you anymore. Maybe you are very busy! What's wrong with you?"

Zhou Heng knew that he had completely lost points in front of Fan Ning. Once Yang Du was in trouble, Fan Ning would definitely be the first to deal with him.

He was scared and had to hand over some documents, "These documents need to be approved by the prefect."

"Oh? It's the first time I heard about it, so I'll show it to me."

Zhou Heng quickly put a stack of documents on the table. Fan Ning flipped over and snorted, "You got it wrong! This should be the document for Tongzong to read, what should I do?"

He picked up the documents and threw them on Zhou Heng's face. The paper flew around. Fanning shouted sternly: "Get out!"
Chapter completed!