Chapter 147 Using corrupt officials' money to redeem the people from the government office

Officer Zhao looked in the direction the jailer was pointing.

That was the lock on the prison door. The lock and chain were forged from the finest cast iron. Not to mention common bronze weapons, even weapons made of cast iron would have difficulty breaking it.

But this sturdy lock has now broken.

The fracture surface has a unique shape, making it impossible to determine how it was caused.

Officer Zhao stared at the broken lock, frowning as he muttered, "It seems... it was snapped by some incredibly powerful force..."

Upon hearing this, the jailer's face paled, and the fear in his eyes became even more pronounced. "I guessed right... it's... it's the power of ghosts and gods."

Upon hearing this, the faces of the jailers and constables present all changed.

Officer Zhao whirled around, glaring fiercely at the jailer. "What nonsense are you spouting!"

“I’m not lying…” The jailer stammered and took two steps back. “We had no idea when the two people in the death row escaped. By the time we found out, the death row was already empty.”

"Officer Zhao, didn't you yourself say that the lock was broken by an inexplicable force?"

"This... if it's not the power of ghosts or gods, what else could it be?"

The more the jailer spoke of his terror, the more his legs trembled so much he could barely stand.

Zhao, the head constable, originally wanted to ask why there were other people imprisoned in the death row besides Xiumei, but when he heard the jailer's words, he couldn't help but think of Xiumei's words that the two top-quality iron pots were a gift from the gods, and he panicked and had no mind to ask anything else.

His constables appeared calmer than the jailers and guards, but in reality, they were just as panicked.

Could it be... that ghosts and gods know what they've done and have come to rescue Xiumei?

Will the gods and spirits punish them if they turn back?

"No... I have to find someone to perform a ritual," the jailer said, pulling a few guards along. "Come on, let's get the things ready and invite a priest!"

After the jailer and guards left, several constables, their faces pale, surrounded Constable Zhao.

"Boss, should we do something too?"

"How about... we return that precious iron pot to it?"

"The gods not only sent Xiumei gifts, but they also protected her. Aren't we..."

The constables became increasingly frightened as they spoke.

Officer Zhao growled, "Shut up! What's the point of going back now? You've already torn down her house; her husband and mother-in-law are probably buried dead inside! Besides, her daughter has already been handed over to human traffickers. Do you really want her back?"

The constables were stunned; all these cases combined left no room for maneuver.

They could only watch helplessly as Officer Zhao stood by.

"Boss...then what do we..."

"what to do?"

Zhao, the head constable, stared intently at the broken lock on the prison door with a gloomy expression, remaining silent for a long time.

The constables were extremely anxious, but they were frightened by his appearance and dared not ask any more questions.

“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” Officer Zhao finally spoke up. “Even if it’s a deity, it doesn’t seem to be all-powerful or omnipotent.”

"Huh? Boss, how did you figure that out?"

"Heh, isn't that simple?"

Officer Zhao's expression softened slightly, and he said with certainty, "If the immortal Na Shen is omnipotent, why didn't we show up to help her when we were at Xiu Mei's house yesterday?"

Upon hearing this, the constables were initially taken aback, but then their expressions relaxed considerably.

Officer Zhao continued, "Also, although that immortal rescued Xiumei, he had to break the lock first, which clearly shows that his magic power is limited. So we don't need to be afraid at all!"

The constables nodded repeatedly, their eyes no longer showing any fear.

“I’ve already taken care of the clerk,” Officer Zhao said in a low voice. “Now that Xiu Mei is a fugitive death row inmate, we can not only search for her openly, but also—”

As he spoke, he placed his hand across his neck.

The constables understood immediately and followed Constable Zhao out of the prison, preparing to begin the operation to search for and silence witnesses.

Just as they stepped out of the yamen, Ning Jinli also arrived in front of it.

"Huh? Boss, that woman..." A constable glared at Ning Jinli, who was walking towards them.

Officer Zhao glanced at her and scolded in a low voice, "You can't even walk past a pretty woman? Don't let it interfere with your business!"

"No, no!" the constable hurriedly said, "Yesterday, when I was guarding the checkpoint with another group of constables, it was she and a man who forcibly took Xiumei away!"

Officer Zhao was not at the checkpoint at the time, so he did not witness the situation firsthand, but he had heard about it and that's why he went to Xiumei's house to search yesterday.

"Are you sure it's her?" Officer Zhao asked.

The constable nodded vigorously, "I'm sure! She's so beautiful, I can recognize her at a glance. And her accomplice, he's tall and has very distinctive features, I'll recognize him too if I see him!"

Upon hearing this, Constable Zhao ordered, "Surround her, but don't bring her into the yamen yet. I need to interrogate her first."

"yes!"

Several constables immediately rushed to Ning Jinli and surrounded her with their swords drawn.

Ning Jinli instinctively gripped the bundle in her arms tighter. "What do you want?"

Officer Zhao approached and said coldly, "You've got some nerve. The yamen is out there looking for you, and you've just delivered yourself into our laps."

"Who are you?" Ning Jinli stared at him.

"This is our Chief Zhao!" one of the constables introduced. "He's the most capable of all the chief constables in our Hewan County!"

Ning Jinli's expression darkened. So this was the bastard who had caused Xiumei's family to be destroyed.

If the timing weren't too bad, she would have punched him to death.

Officer Zhao glanced at the bundle Ning Jinli was holding, then asked with a stern face, "What is your relationship with Xiumei?"

"Who is Xiumei?" Ning Jinli asked calmly, not falling into Zhao's questioning trap.

If she says it doesn't matter, it would actually prove that she knows Xiumei.

Zhao, the head constable, could not discern anything amiss from her expression, so he said, "It is the peasant woman you and your accomplices brought along to break through the checkpoint yesterday at noon."

"Oh, her," Ning Jinli said with a look of sudden realization, "What happened to her? Was she locked up in a cell because she didn't call for money?"

Officer Zhao asked coldly, "Where did you and your accomplices go yesterday?"

Ning Jinli continued her fabrication, "Of course we're hiding from you officials! You don't even give face to the people of your own county, so how can we outsiders be in even more danger?"

After some indirect questioning, Officer Zhao was basically certain that the woman and her accomplices had no connection with Xiu Mei and were unaware of what had happened in Xiu Mei's family. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Then we can proceed officially.

"You two, take her to the yamen and hand her over to the other constables," Chief Constable Zhao casually instructed two of his men.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't want to hand over the achievement of catching criminals to other colleagues.

But compared to such minor achievements, finding Xiumei and silencing her is the most urgent task.

The two constables were about to capture Ning Jinli.

"Don't do anything!" Ning Jinli shouted. "I'm here to pay!"

Upon hearing the words "pay money," Officer Zhao gestured for his men to step back.

Ning Jinli said in a serious tone, "My companion and I are not bad people. Have you ever seen someone who does bad things openly provoke the officials? We just didn't know the rules here. We saw that peasant woman was pitiful and couldn't help but lend a hand, which led to us offending you. Now I'm here to pay the fine. Tell me, how much do you want to pay?"

Nobody turns down money.

Moreover, the reason why Hewan County levies so many exorbitant taxes is to make money.

If they could get the money, the officials wouldn't want to bother.

This directly struck a chord with Officer Zhao.

"I didn't realize you were such a sensible young lady," Officer Zhao said with a smile. "Yesterday's events had a terrible impact. Although no officers were injured, you caused the county government to lose face, and this fine will be quite substantial."

Ning Jinli patted her bundle and said, "I'm here to apologize, so I'm prepared. Just say what you need to say."

"Alright, seeing as you've been so agreeable and accommodating, I won't make things difficult for you," Officer Zhao said, holding up one finger. "A fine of one hundred taels of silver."

"Here you go." Ning Jinli deftly pulled a large silver ingot from her bundle.

Officer Zhao took the hundred-tael silver ingot and added, "One hundred taels per person."

"No problem." Ning Jinli gave him another silver ingot without the slightest hesitation.

Anyway, the money was all taken from the magistrate's storeroom last night, so we'll just give it to him.

Constable Zhao paused for a moment, then quickly replied, "Didn't you understand? One hundred taels per person, including you and your companion, as well as the peasant woman you two took away from the officers."

"She's also being blamed on me?" Ning Jinli feigned surprise and dissatisfaction.

"Enough with the nonsense!" Officer Zhao threatened. "Even if you lose half a penny, I'll still lock you up in jail."

"No... I'll give it to you." Ning Jinli then took out another hundred taels.

Officer Zhao and his men were so happy their smiles stretched from ear to ear.

Logically speaking, if this matter had been handled strictly according to their rules, a fine of ten or twenty taels would have been enough, but unexpectedly, they amassed three hundred taels.

Then the extra money will naturally go into their pockets.

"Alright, let's call it a day." Officer Zhao stuffed the silver into his pocket and said with a smile, "I'll talk to the people in the yamen later, and they won't arrest you anymore."

"Thank you then," Ning Jinli pouted, then asked, "I heard that many people have been imprisoned for not paying the taxes you require on time. Can I pay them for them and then you can release them?"

Officer Zhao looked surprised. "You're helping them pay?"

"Yes, is that not allowed?"

"Are there really such easy targets as you in this world?"

"Just tell me if you can pay or not."

"I can," a hint of suspicion flashed in Officer Zhao's eyes, "but what are you after?"

Ning Jinli smiled and said, "I don't want anything in return, I just can't bear to see ordinary people suffer."

"Hahahaha!" Officer Zhao laughed loudly, "You've come here to play the heroine? Fine, fine, I'll grant your wish. Come with me to the yamen."

Ning Jinli pouted and said, "No, I'll wait at the yamen gate. You bring those people over, I'll pay for each one, and you release one person."

Officer Zhao was not about to let go of the opportunity to fleece this sucker, so he agreed without saying a word.

A short while later, he went into the yamen to get a record and had his men lead the imprisoned people to the yamen gate.

Everything is ready.

Officer Zhao stood by the threshold, glanced at the hundreds of people behind him, picked up the bamboo slip and began reading from the first person.

The record states that the first person was named Erniu, who owed fifty coins in taxes and was also required to pay double the amount in fines.

“Let’s begin,” Officer Zhao said to Ning Jinli in front of him. “The first one will be one tael of silver.”

Ning Jinli then handed over ten taels of silver to the constable next to her who was in charge of collecting the money.

Officer Zhao then took a brush, made some marks on the bamboo slip, and shouted, "Erniu can go now!"

An old man, beaming with joy, hurried over, stepped over the threshold, and bowed deeply to Ning Jinli, saying, "Thank you so much! I will definitely pay you back when I have saved up enough money."

Ning Jinli smiled and said, "No need to pay it back."

The old man was stunned for a moment, then his eyes welled up with tears. "Young lady, you...you are such a kind person!"

"Get out of here! Don't get in the way!" Officer Zhao shouted.

The old man was so frightened that he shrank his neck, rubbed his eyes, and left, looking back every few steps.

Following this procedure, Officer Zhao collected Ning Jinli's money and released the people one by one.

Originally, those so-called tax arrears and fines were set privately by the county government and did not comply with the laws and regulations of Da Xuan. This was already an extra way of squeezing the people. He took this opportunity to exaggerate the amount each person had to pay.

Ning Jinli knew he was doing this, but she pretended not to know.

More than half an hour later.

When the last imprisoned citizen left the yamen, Ning Jinli's bundle was empty.

She redeemed more than two hundred people, for which she paid nearly three hundred taels of silver.

Adding the initial three hundred taels, they had come up with almost six hundred taels of silver.

Based on the local people's living standards, six hundred taels of silver would be enough for a family to live on for one or two hundred years.

Even though the money came from the magistrate's treasury, Ning Jinli couldn't help but curse the entire Hewan County government in her mind.

Officer Zhao and his men were so happy with the money they were practically rolling in it.

Ning Jinli sneered inwardly, "Enjoy yourselves, your death is just around the corner, and you'll pay double the price."

At this moment, a man dressed in a silk jacket rode up to the front of the yamen on horseback. Before the horse had come to a complete stop, he hurriedly dismounted and almost fell.

Officer Zhao recognized the man as the steward of the magistrate's residence and quickly went to greet him.

The steward looked grim and, panting heavily, whispered something in Officer Zhao's ear.

Officer Zhao, who had just been all smiles, suddenly changed his expression drastically. "Is that so?!"

"Yes!" The butler was almost in tears. "Master was so angry about this that he almost vomited blood. You must quickly take some men and go investigate to find out the truth and give Master an explanation!"

Zhao, the head constable, looked extremely gloomy and immediately led his constables and steward toward the magistrate's house.

Ning Jinli watched their hurried figures, a smile playing on her lips. If she wasn't mistaken, that corrupt official must have discovered the warehouse was empty.

Da da da—

Another clatter of hooves sounded.

Ning Jinli subconsciously turned her head in response to the sound and saw Xiao Qidi riding a horse from the other end of the street.

She ran over quickly, "How is it? Did you find An'an?"