Chapter 24: Really Fragrance

twenty four

"Eat first, then do some work." Fu Jiangyu asked the kitchen to cook.

"No, I want to go eat with Jiang Erwa and the others." Lin Baige was anxious. This country had been ruined by the original owner and Lin Xing. He had too many things to do. He wished he had a clone, one to deal with the problems in the disaster area and the other to deal with the problems in the officialdom.

"You want to have dinner with another man? Don't forget your identity. You are my concubine." Fu Jiangyu reminded him.

"Don't light the fire and cook for now. The victims have just received their meals, and I feel uncomfortable if we eat so well." Lin Baige was a little emotional after what he experienced yesterday.

Although killing the corrupt officials was refreshing, he felt uncomfortable when he saw the looks in the eyes of the disaster victims. He was so upset that he couldn't eat. "I guess I'll have to wait until I return to the palace before I can eat..."

An incense stick later, Lin Baige brought a large bowl of rice and sat with Jiang Erwa and the others to eat the hotpot: "It smells so good."

Fu Jiangyu: “…”

Jiang Erwa and the others surrounded Lin Baige and said, "Sir Lin, I didn't expect you to be so approachable. You should be our parent official."

"Master Lin, please stay and be our prefect."

"Yes, I'm just a hunter. How can I be an official?"

Everyone begged Lin Baige to stay. They had just seen the dawn and were afraid that it would not be long before darkness returned.

"There are still many people suffering across the country. I still have a lot of things to do and can't stay here with you for too long." Lin Baige patted Jiang Erwa's shoulder and was about to say something when Fu Jiangyu pulled his hand over.

"You're touching another man in front of me? Do you still take me seriously?" Fu Jiangyu asked him.

"I haven't asked yet, who is this gentleman?" Jiang Erwa and the others also noticed that Fu Jiangyu and Lin Baige had an ambiguous relationship. They just came out of the same room.

"My wife is jealous." Lin Baige said awkwardly, and felt a chill on her back. She quickly changed her words: "This is my husband. He keeps a close eye on me and doesn't let me talk to men. I only came out after much persuasion."

Jiang Erwa didn't expect that Lord Lin was so miserable. Even when he was out investigating a case, his husband followed him. If Fu Jiangyu hadn't been so vicious, they would have persuaded Lord Lin to marry a gentle woman, and there wouldn't be so many problems.

"Where was I just now?" Lin Baige's previously brewing emotions disappeared. "By the way, Jiang Erwa, you will be the local official from now on. You must take good care of the people here. You can't tear up other people's umbrellas just because you got caught in the rain. You must hold umbrellas for them and prevent them from going back to the days when they were oppressed by corrupt officials."

"Don't worry, I hate those corrupt officials the most. I won't do anything else, but I would never do anything to oppress the people, even if you kill me." Jiang Erwa patted his chest and promised.

Lin Baige could tell he was a kindhearted man. "Okay, remember what you said now and keep your original intention. I'll give you a task first. After dinner, gather all the victims together and give me the list. Then go and identify them this afternoon. Yesterday, we gathered all the maids from the corrupt officials' homes together. Go and identify them and see if there are any of your relatives."

In fact, some were forced to become concubines of officials, and some entered the brothel run by Lord Wang, but he did not say it explicitly.

Lin Baige said to Jiang Erwa: "No matter what they did in the past, they were all victims and were forced into it. We must leave them a way out."

Jiang Erwa didn't understand what he meant, but he still smiled and nodded: "We are finally reunited, and we will have a good life in the future. How can he die again?"

They gathered together happily and told Jiang Erwa their names and villages.

Although Jiang Erwa was a hunter, his family was well-off. After learning to read for a few days, he wrote down their names.

In the afternoon, Lin Baige ordered the soldiers to bring the women over, let them recognize their relatives, and take them back. He would not go, even if it was a test for Jiang Erwa to see if he could handle this matter well and whether he could be a good official.

He went to calculate how much money the corrupt officials had embezzled in total.

The whole room was filled with the sound of abacus clacking. The more they calculated, the more astonishing the numbers became. The room was filled with gold, silver and jewelry. There was no place to sit, so Lin Baige sat on a box of gold and silver: "I never thought that one day I would be able to sit on gold."

"Like gold? Go back and ask the craftsman to make you a golden chair?" Fu Jiangyu said casually.

"No... I'm afraid someone will steal my chair, and it's too nouveau riche to sit on it." Lin Baige refused. "If you don't mind, you can give it to me in cash."

The corrupt officials had been dealt with, and the disaster victims were doing well. The two were just joking lightheartedly when they heard a soldier run in and say, "Oh no! Someone's been killed."

"What? Who dares to kill people under my nose?" Lin Baige thought that Lord Wang's family had hidden last night, and took advantage of everyone's let down their guard to run out and kill people today.

But the soldiers said, "He was a disaster victim. His wife had been a concubine of Lord Wang some time ago. He found out about it and killed her in a rage."

"What?" Lin Baige jumped up and walked over there angrily. "What a weakling wielding a knife against an even weaker person. He just had two full meals and he doesn't even know his last name. When he was bullied by Lord Wang, he cried out in pain and hoped that we would kill the official. Now that his wife is bullied by Lord Wang, he takes his anger out on her. He's really taking the victim-blaming theory to the extreme. Did his wife choose to be bullied? I'm so angry! He must be arrested and executed! Otherwise, others will follow suit and what will happen?"