Entertainment of Spring and Autumn

Chapter 481 The power of gossip

When the county government was assessing officials, some dignified ministers who practiced Yinghun heard the officials' whispers.

"I heard that Mr. Liu is an old-fashioned man and is serious about words...it turns out he is a sullen coquettish man. He asked about the brothel as soon as he came."

"Shh... aren't they not interested in our Lingzhou brothel?"

"That's right. After all, the high officials of the imperial court and the prosperous place in the capital are well-informed. The quality of our small county in Lingzhou is not something others can appreciate."

"The capital is close to Lingzhou, and newspapers from the two places often circulate with each other. I wonder what people in the capital will think after reading our newspapers..."

Liu Yong also realized this. It’s okay to just spread it in Lingzhou. Lingzhou Daily is sent to the capital every day! In a few days, he will become the laughing stock of the world!

Thinking of this, he became even more angry and twisted his face. He reluctantly walked through the examination, and then angrily went to the six doors again.

An Sifang was not there, and Li Xiaorui was still sitting there writing. Liu Yong didn't realize what was wrong here for a moment, and slapped the table angrily: "I am not interested in brothels anywhere! I have been a member of the wealthy family for a long time, and what I have seen is They are all ladies and would never enter such a filthy place!"

"Oh..." Li Xiaorui said honestly: "I know..."

That night, the Lingzhou Daily published an urgent addition: "Emergency statement: Liu Shilang does not like filthy brothels, but only likes ladies from good families."

The people in Lingzhou bought the extra issue out of curiosity, and after just one glance, they were "thumped" and overjoyed.

Liu Yong finally realized that this was intentional. No matter what he argued, he could find room for any words as long as the other party wanted to use them. Are you talking about spreading rumors? I can't say it, I said it all by myself, and others can witness it, but after being guided by them, my original intention changed... This kind of lawsuit would go all the way to the court.

He was suddenly startled. Once newspapers become popular, you can actually use a pen to change things like this.

And there is no solution for the time being. The people have long been accustomed to interviews and reports by Xingyue Sect reporters. The reading inertia and trust accumulated by long-term truthful reporting are very high. Even if the prince finds someone to run a newspaper himself, he will not be able to defeat it. . Unless the power of reviewing the daily newspaper is in the hands of the prince...can this be done?

The backstage of the daily newspaper has six doors... This is something Xia Houdi pushed hard, and the editor-in-chief personally hangs it!

Liu Yong felt a chill in his heart. Did Xue Mu see this a few months ago?

He had no sleep all night, and when he got up the next day, he didn't bother to go to the county government office to go through any formalities, and went straight to the city lord's government office.

"Assessing" Xue Mu was the key to his coming to Lingzhou.

For the first time in his life, Xue Mu wore the official uniform of the imperial court and sat in the government office with a smile, without even lifting his buttocks: "Shilang Liu has been working hard all the way, and I am not welcome from afar."

Liu Yong held his breath for a while. When a dignified inspector arrives, everyone is respectful and courteous. Even if a high-ranking official sees him, he must be polite, otherwise it will be troublesome to go back and be accused of a black case. Only Xue Mu sat on the main seat with a carefree attitude, as if he had come to pay homage to Shangguan.

Of course Xue Mu doesn't need to be polite to him. No matter what posture he puts on, this guy is here to cause trouble.

Liu Yong looked at Xue Mu's empty table and sneered: "Marquis Changxin is so leisurely."

"Oh, it's not bad." Xue Mu waved his hand: "Serve tea for the envoy."

A little girl brought tea over with a splash: "Hello, Mr. Liu!"

Liu Yong looked up and almost knocked the teacup away. Isn't this tea-serving girl that hateful reporter Li Xiaorui?

"Oh, I forgot to introduce to Mr. Liu that Xiaorui is one of the eight personal guards of this prince, and the reporter is only a part-timer."

"..."

Li Xiaorui put down the tea, blinked his big eyes and asked: "I happened to meet Liu Shilang here, so Xiaorui doesn't have to go to the interview... I wonder what Liu Shilang has to say about the issue of brothels and Liangjia, and whether Xiaorui needs to revise the draft. ?”

Liu Yong was livid and said nothing, not wanting to be misrepresented any more.

Li Xiaorui waited for a while but couldn't get a reply, so he saluted Xue Mu and said, "I'll do today's topic, young master."

Xue Mu waved his hand: "Go ahead and do your best."

Liu Yong had nothing to talk about with Xue Mu. In fact, his "assessment" required Xue Mu to avoid him, ask government officials and review the political minutes of the past year.

Xue Mu ignored him. After receiving him for a while and showing his presence, he went back to listen to Qianxue's singing... The girl he had just met was at the peak of his passion. Who could bear to deal with a bureaucrat...

Besides, if the reporter continues to torture him like this, this guy probably won't be able to stay for a few days.

After Xue Mu left, Liu Yong and his entourage had been busy for a whole day, sneering. As expected, Xue Mu had never sat in the office for an hour since he took office. He didn't know any political affairs. The most important person in the city's political affairs was the county governor Zhang Bailing himself. If you ask me, the governor of Ling is in charge. Even the seal of the city lord is in the hands of the governor...

To be honest, even if there was no party struggle, this kind of city lord should have withdrawn long ago. Liu Yong had never felt that he was so righteous and left the City Lord's Yamen with great satisfaction.

I saw a boy selling newspapers on the road, and countless people gathered around to buy newspapers. Someone came out carrying a newspaper, turned around and saw Liu Yong and his party, with an extremely interesting smile on his face.

Liu Yong's heart skipped a beat. He didn't say a word when facing Li Xiaorui today. Is there anything else he could say?

He signaled his entourage to buy one. The entourage was so crowded that he was sweating profusely and finally bought it. Liu Yong took it and took one look at it before angrily tearing the newspaper into pieces.

Today's Lingzhou Daily headline is this: "Our reporter has repeatedly confirmed that Liu Shilang acquiesces in the issue of brothels and good families."

Liu Yong was so angry that he was shaking all over, but the people in Lingzhou were obviously overjoyed.

The headlines of the daily newspapers these two days are like reading a serial. Although there is no plot to speak of, they are very interesting. Many people bought this issue of the daily newspaper just to see what today's daily newspaper has to say about Liu Shilang.

As expected, I didn’t disappoint everyone. People who don’t speak will be blamed...

Even some people can see that Liu Yong was deliberately hacked, but they don't care... as long as they have fun. This is called celebrity lace, and even in a thousand years there will be countless people who would just like it.

Some people even wrote to the Publications Department, suggesting that this kind of reporting section should be fixed in the future for everyone to enjoy. Just looking at major events and rookie charts is not enough to know enough about celebrities...

Li Xiaorui received this feedback and sighed in thought.

She knew that the young master had this intention... when the gossip became deeply rooted in people's hearts, he could make people become saints with one word, and he could turn people into demons with just one word. Is the time almost here?

In any case, let's do another experiment with Liu Shilang.

So the next day, when Liu Yong gritted his teeth with dark circles under his eyes and continued to go to the City Lord's Yamen to collect irrefutable evidence of Xue Mu's blackmail, he once again saw Li Xiaorui, who was serving tea and water.

"..." This is really called enemies being extremely jealous when meeting each other. Liu Yong has never thought that a little girl is so hateful. He really wants to cut this seemingly beautiful little girl into seventeen or eighteen pieces with a sword.

Li Xiaorui smiled and was about to speak, but Liu Yong interrupted in advance: "Lingzhou Daily has distorted its remarks and ruined its reputation. This envoy will ask the Political Affairs Hall for a public review and an explanation!"

"Oh..." Li Xiaorui nodded honestly: "I understand..."

Liu Yong really didn't want to continue dealing with this hateful reporter, so he didn't even pay attention to other official matters that were supposed to be assessed. After hastily obtaining all the irrefutable evidence of Xue Mu's dereliction of duty, he left Lingzhou in a state of embarrassment without even having lunch.

This is definitely the place where he has stayed the shortest and acted the most carelessly since he took the inspection mission this time...

What he didn't expect was that even after he left, Lingzhou Daily was still flogging the corpse: "The imperial government will discuss the issue of Liu Shilang's brothel in the near future. Please stay tuned for follow-up reports from the Xingyue Sect's reporters in Beijing..."