"What do you mean, I mean? You want me to welcome a mere provincial transport commissioner with the same protocol as the Emperor? Are you trying to frame Lord Tang?"
"Unreasonable!"
After being stifled for a long time, Li Yan finally waved his sleeve and turned to leave directly.
"Since this fellow can act as an advance scout for Lord Tang, he must be his confidant. For you to do this..."
Seeing Li Yan angered away by Han Mo, Lü Ying said softly from the side.
"Don't worry, if I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of? Some people are born with a masochistic streak. If you don't slap them a couple of times, they feel uncomfortable!"
Judging by this guy's attitude, Han Mo could probably guess that Lord Tang was clearly trying to give him a hard time from the outset.
If it were someone else, they might have endured it.
But to try to show off their authority to Han Mo was a bit short-sighted.
"Yes!"
Lü Ying was utterly helpless to have such a superior.
Since he entered the officialdom, this was the first time he had encountered an official like Han Mo.
If it were any of the previous county magistrates, let alone going to the prefectural boundary to welcome him, they would have been more than happy to go all the way to Daming Prefecture.
Although the position of Provincial Transport Commissioner of Hebei Road was one level lower than the Grand Marshal and Commissioner of Hebei Road, it was undoubtedly the real number two figure in Hebei Road.
In Hebei Road, countless people had been crying and begging to curry favor with him but couldn't find a way. How could anyone dare to offend him?
"Let's go. We'll head to that tea stall over there and have some iced tea while we wait!"
Seeing that Li Yan had completely disappeared, Han Mo let out a long yawn, surveyed his surroundings, and then pointed to a tea stall, saying to Lü Ying.
"If Lord Tang sees this..."
Lü Ying said with a dejected face.
"If we offend the person who was sent ahead, wouldn't it be strange if Lord Tang didn't give us a cold shoulder?"
Han Mo said indifferently.
"My lord, you know the outcome, so why couldn't you just go along with him a little..."
Hearing Han Mo's words, Lü Ying was amused.
Knowing that he would offend others and be treated coldly, yet he still did as he pleased. At this moment, he was truly speechless.
"Some people can be appeased, and some people cannot. Don't worry, it won't be a problem. Our Lord Tang is not ordinarily intelligent!"
"How can you still smile?"
Looking at the smile on Han Mo's face, Lü Ying was even more depressed.
"Alright, he's already gone. Even if you're still angry, can you chase after him now? First, order people to prepare all the county's account books!"
Although Han Mo was smiling, he also knew that it wouldn't be long before Lord Tang would come to check the accounts.
"Account books?"
Lü Ying looked at Han Mo with some confusion.
Looking at the sky, it was almost noon. At this time, shouldn't they be preparing a banquet first?
"Alright, just do as I say. Oh, and you few, go over there and get me a few bowls of cold noodles!"
Seeing Lü Ying's worried look, Han Mo smiled calmly and then instructed Xu Fengnian.
"Yes!"
As Han Mo had predicted, after waiting for more than two hours, the sky had already passed noon when Lord Tang's retinue finally arrived.
"Where is Han Mo, the County Magistrate of Neihuang?"
"This subordinate is here!"
"My lord has an order, requesting Magistrate Han to return immediately and prepare the county's account books for all the previous years!"
As Li Yan said this, his face was full of schadenfreude.
"Replying to my lord, all existing account books have been prepared and are all sealed at the post house in the city!"
Han Mo replied unhurriedly.
"What do you mean by 'existing'?"
Li Yan's pupils contracted, and he immediately caught the loophole in Han Mo's words.
"Lord Li, don't you know? To our shame, a case of rebellion just occurred within our county, and the entire county yamen was burned down. Some of the account books and other items were salvaged, while others, along with the county yamen, were turned to ashes!"
After hearing Han Mo's words, Li Yan's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
The matter of checking accounts was originally intended to trouble Han Mo, and if anything could be found, that would be even better.
But hearing him say this, what the hell could be checked now!
This brat had most likely burned all the account books that might have contained problems, and as for the remaining ones, it would be a miracle if any problems could be found.
However, since he had already spoken, he had to check no matter what.
"Magistrate Han's luck is truly extraordinary. There are so many people in Hebei Road who would envy Magistrate Han's fire!"
After a long while, Li Yan finally said sarcastically.
"This subordinate thinks so too. Fortunately, I was not in the county yamen at the time, otherwise, if my lord wanted to see me now, he would have to burn paper offerings for me!"
Han Mo acted completely foolish and oblivious.
"Magistrate Han, I hope your good luck continues!"
Looking at the smile on Han Mo's face, Li Yan said through gritted teeth.
"Thank you for your good wishes, my lord. This subordinate thinks so too!"
As Han Mo spoke, he made a gesture of approval towards Li Yan.
As for Lord Tang, who had not yet appeared, he didn't care at all.
Since this fellow was clearly coming with malicious intent, no matter how hard Han Mo tried to curry favor, that old boy would not give him a kind look.
He was never someone who would try to please others with a warm greeting only to be met with a cold shoulder.
"Did you find anything?"
It wasn't until the lamps were lit that Tang Ke called Li Yan over and asked.
"Replying to my lord, these account books must have been tampered with long ago. We haven't found any discrepancies so far..."
As Li Yan said this, he felt a flush of embarrassment.
What he thought was a sure thing had turned out to be nothing, which was rather frustrating.
"It seems that our top scholar is not simple!"
After hearing Li Yan's words, even Tang Ke, the Provincial Transport Commissioner of Hebei Road, could not help but frown.
This matter seemed much more difficult than he had imagined...
He had originally intended to use Han Mo's mistake as leverage to force Han Mo to change his statement and suppress the matter.
But now, it seemed that this brat was deliberately trying to escalate the situation.