Chapter 43: The picture shows the dagger
This carefree life lasted for seven or eight days.

On the third day of September, Yang Chang and Xu Ji returned from drinking and were stopped by Yan Jin in front of their residence.

"Dutou, what are you doing?"

"I've told you many times that when you're not on duty, don't refer to me by my title. Just call me Brother Yan. Even calling me brother is fine."

"Oh"

Yang Chang was used to calling Wu Song brother, but now he couldn't call Yan Jin by name, so he lied and said, "I'm stupid and can't remember. Brother Yan is looking for me now, is there something important?"

"Well, you're not drunk, are you?"

"No."

"Come with me to see Eun-sang. It's urgent."

"What's the matter?"

"We'll know soon, let's go!"

Yan Jin turned around without saying a word and disappeared into the night with Yang Chang.

After a while, the two arrived at the study in Magistrate Zhang's mansion.

After the servant brought the tea, he closed the door. The study instantly became as silent as death, with only the chirping of autumn insects outside the window.

Magistrate Zhang leaned back in his chair with a serious face. Yan Jin picked up the teacup and sipped it. Yang Chang, not knowing what had happened, followed suit and pretended to drink tea to relieve his tension.

"Captain Yan, it's been a few days since Xiao Yang was promoted to team leader. How is he doing? Is he competent?"

“That’s awesome.”

Yan Jin nodded her head like a little chicken eating rice, "Sanlang has done his duty conscientiously and shared a lot of my burdens. En Xiang really has a good eye for talent."

"That's good. I was right." Magistrate Zhang stroked Yang Chang's beard with satisfaction, and then said, "If everyone is as responsible as Xiao Yang, the people of Yanggu County will not worry about being unhappy. On the contrary, Ma Dutou is idle and has caused many complaints from the people and colleagues. How about I replace him?"

"Remove Ma Dutou and replace him with Sanlang?"

Yan Jin was even more excited than Yang Chang. He stood up and reminded County Magistrate Zhang in a serious tone, "En Xiang had better think twice before acting. San Lang has just been promoted to captain for less than ten days. If he is promoted to captain again, people may gossip about him. In addition, Captain Ma has been in Yanggu for several years. If he is demoted without reason, it will definitely cause trouble. He will sue the prefecture government."

"Would I be afraid of him? A mediocre person shouldn't just sit there and do nothing. I promoted Xiao Yang to be the head of the city so that he could set an example for the officials in Yanggu. The capable ones should be promoted while the mediocre ones should be demoted!"

"Don't be hasty, Prime Minister. Even if you want to promote Sanlang to the position of captain, you should think of a safe way. It would be best if he could do something great so that outsiders would have nothing to say."

The two of them sang the same tune, and Yang Chang doubted himself, thinking, what have I done recently? Is it worthy of such praise from you two?
Was it to exclude dissidents and deliberately force him to take the position? Ma Dutou must hate him to death? Although the saying "a new emperor appoints new ministers" is reasonable, Yang Chang did not want to stay in Yanggu for a long time, so he did not want to be used by the two.

"En Xiang, as Yan Dutou said, I have little experience and no great achievements."

"It doesn't matter if you don't have great achievements. I will give you a chance to make them." Magistrate Zhang took out a letter from his pocket and said, "I heard that you can read and write. Take a look at this."

Yan Jin quickly took the letter and handed it to him. Yang Chang then took out the letter solemnly, but his face changed drastically after reading two lines.

"You didn't expect it, did you? I was also shocked. My friend in Beijing told me that the arrest warrant will arrive in Yunzhou soon. This is the stepping stone for you to advance."

"What do you mean?"

Yang Chang was not surprised by the description in the letter, but he was surprised that the plot progressed so quickly. It had only been two months since he said goodbye to Wu Song, and even half a month had passed since the bloodbath in the Yuanyang Tower.

"I heard that Wu Song is close to you. He lost his brother and is on the run in Mengzhou. He is likely to come to Yanggu to look for you. Then you just need to capture him and bring him to justice."

"If he didn't come to Yanggu."

"Not coming? You can use your name to find someone to lure him here. As long as you can capture this thief, your position as the leader will be secure."

"Sorry, I can't do it."

Yang Chang frowned and slammed the letter on the table with a solemn and serious expression.

Such an answer is obviously unsatisfactory.

Magistrate Zhang twisted the goat and asked with a playful look on his face, "Can't do it? What do you mean?"

"Literally, Chief Yang, I don't think I have the ability to do that. I'm sorry."

"Wait a minute!"

Yang Chang stood up and clasped his fists to leave, but Yan Jin stopped him with his hand and said solemnly: "Don't belittle yourself, Sanlang. Enxiang and I will help you. In fact, it is not that difficult to do. You just need to..." "I'm not interested."

Without waiting for Yan Jin to finish his words, Yang Chang left four simple words and pushed the door open without any greeting, which made County Magistrate Zhang so angry that he slammed the table.

"How dare you do that, you bastard? Remove him tomorrow!"

"Please calm down, Prime Minister En. It must be that Chief Yang was drunk and talking nonsense. I will go back and have a good talk with him."

"This man is on good terms with Wu Song, but I'm afraid his youthfulness will outweigh his loyalty. I don't want to use a disobedient dog anymore!"

"Don't worry, let me teach him a lesson. Yang Chang's parents and brothers are all dead, and his only distant relative is also poor. He has no one to help him before, so he can only guard the gate in the wind and sun. How much is brotherhood worth? I believe he will figure it out."

Hearing this, County Magistrate Zhang's expression eased slightly. He thought for a moment and stroked his beard and said, "Then go and persuade him as soon as possible. He doesn't like this captain, but there are many people who do. If it weren't for the nobleman's face, would you give him such a chance?"

"Hey, who said it wasn't true? This bastard is lucky. I'll catch up with him now."

Yan Jin bid farewell to the county magistrate and went straight to Yang Chang's residence.

When we arrived at the place, we saw Yang Chang sitting on the bed soaking his feet with his eyes closed, looking very happy.

"Captain Yang, are you feeling relaxed? Are you sober?"

"I'm not drunk."

Yang Chang opened his eyes and spoke with certainty, which made Yan Jin so angry that he almost flushed to his head.

"You're not drunk? You didn't say that just now? If you didn't have En Xiang's support, would you have such a place to live? Now I'm telling you the truth. Zhang Dujian, whom Wu Song killed, is En Xiang's cousin. If he can help you become the leader of the team, he can also pull you down."

"Are you done? Then go away."

"What did you say?"

Yan Jin's eyes widened and he almost couldn't believe his ears.

Seeing this, Yang Chang leaned forward and said coldly: "I told you to get out!"

"All right." Yan Jin gritted his teeth in anger, "Captain Yang, I'm telling you now to move back to the big house tomorrow, and then get back to guard the city gate!"

There was a crash.

Yang Chang picked up the foot washing water and splashed it on Yan Jin's face.

"I said I wasn't going, but you're still making noise here."

"You bastard, you're looking for death!"

Yan Jin was splashed with water and was in a mess. His anger made him lose his mind and he raised his fist to hit Yang Chang.

Yang Chang stared at the trajectory of the incoming fist, grabbed Yan Jin's wrist, squeezed and pulled, and then pushed his shoulder with his left hand.

The powerful thrust caused Yan Jin to lose control of his body. He staggered a few steps and fell to the place where the water had just splashed, with his face covered in mud.

Although he was extremely angry, he was even more shocked by Yang Chang's strength. He was worried that he could not defeat him, so he climbed up and said a cruel word: "Dare to beat Shangguan, you will be dismissed as the leader of the team!"

"Haha, I quit! Get out!"

"You wait for me!"

"WTF!"

After teaching Yan Jin a lesson, Yang Chang felt extremely happy.

Thinking about the attempts to win over County Magistrate Zhang and Yan Jin over the past few days, I sighed that calculations are everywhere and there is no free lunch in the world.

The promise of promotion eventually revealed the real purpose.

You want me to betray my good brother? Naive!

A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Not long after Yan Jin left, Yang Chang also packed his bags and left. But before leaving, he went to the big house and said a few words to Xu Ji before going to the street to find a guest house to spend the night.

He was going to look for Wu Song, and it wouldn't matter if he just left, but he was afraid of implicating Yang De's family, so he set up a trap before leaving.

PS: It’s the end of the month, and I would like to remind those who haven’t voted for their monthly tickets not to waste it by forgetting to do so.

(End of this chapter)