Chapter 043 True Identity

Feng Hao walked towards the main house where Chen Ning lived, rubbing his hands excitedly: "My dear, are you lonely sleeping alone? Brother will take good care of you..."

In the dark corner, the secret guard with cold eyes raised his sword.

But at this moment, the door suddenly opened, and almost at the same time, Feng Hao flew backwards and hit the wall, breaking a piece of the bricks and stones on the wall. He screamed miserably.

Shen Ning suddenly woke up, stood up, put on her coat and walked out, and saw the usually timid Qi Yue standing at the door with a cruel face.

"Xiao Qi?"

Shen Ning shouted: "What happened?"

The little girl turned around and immediately turned back into a good girl. She pointed at the man in the corner and said, "Miss, there was a thief. I kicked him away."

She didn't want to tell the young lady what the beast had just said, which had polluted the young lady's ears for no reason, so she kicked him to death.

At this time, the man in the corner had fainted from the pain...

The man's shrill screams also alarmed the neighbors. When Feng Hao was dragged out by Yuan Yue, someone cried loudly and threw himself on the thief, shaking him. Shen Ning had already asked someone to report to the police.

He deserved to be kicked to death for climbing over the wall and breaking into someone's house in the middle of the night.

The police arrived quickly and went to see the unconscious thief first.

"Feng Hao, it's you again."

The officer obviously knew him, which meant he was a habitual criminal.

But the woman holding Feng Hao cried out loudly: "My son has changed. It was this widow who seduced him."

Mrs. Nie next door immediately agreed: "That's right, I saw with my own eyes the widow flirting with the old Feng family."

Shen Ning sneered: "Everyone knows that you were looking for trouble a few days ago, and you framed me with empty words. Do you want your tongue to be pulled out?"

Madam Nie stiffened her neck and said, "I just saw it."

The officer interrupted impatiently: "Alright, this is not the county government office, no one will listen to your arguments, who is the one who hit others? Come back with us to the government office and tell us."

Just as Shen Ning was about to step forward, Yuan Yue had already taken the lead: "I hit you."

The officer waved his hand and said, "Take him away."

Shen Ning quickly caught up with him and pulled the official aside, whispering, "Sir, I recognize Lord Cao. This matter is not yet clear. Please take good care of my brother and don't let anyone bully him."

As he spoke, he stuffed a silver ingot into the officer's hand. The officer calmly grasped it and snorted, "Don't worry, we are all acting according to the law. We will not resort to lynching until the case is fully investigated."

Shen Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But she would not really relax. Yuanyue was taken to the county government office, and she had to meet Magistrate Cao... As long as Mrs. Pan did not do anything bad, there was no reason to punish Yuanyue when the thief came to the door.

At this moment, Shen Ning deeply regretted not hiring a guard to guard the house as soon as possible.

Living in the safest and most stable country in her previous life made her unaware that some rules were fundamentally different in this world.

She was careless.

There is no point in saying this now. The most important thing is to rescue Yuanyue first.

Xiao Nanchen was not there, and Shen Ning had no patience to wait for him... Before dawn she went to the county school to find Shen Qingbai.

Shen Qingbai's teacher Chen Zhili is the county magistrate, so he should be able to speak out on this small case.

It wasn't a holiday, so she couldn't go in casually. Fortunately, Shen Qingbai came out quickly.

His health improved a lot, and the boy was no longer too weak and thin. When he walked out quickly, he had a somewhat sturdy and graceful posture.

"Sister, why are you here at this time? What happened?"

Shen Ning told Shen Qingbai about the family affairs and asked him: "Is it inconvenient to ask Mr. Chen and not to embarrass him. I am just worried that someone will cause trouble."

Shen Qingbai immediately said, "I'll go find the teacher now. Sister, please come with me."

Shen Ning hummed and got into the carriage with him. Qi Yue was driving outside, looking lonely.

She might have gotten into trouble…but Yuan Yue’s brother was arrested for her.

The little girl was filled with fear and worry, not for any other reason, but simply because they were all illegal immigrants.

It would be fine if no one checked them on weekdays, but once they were found out in court, they would be severely punished as illegal residents without any identity documents.

She was afraid of getting others into trouble...

Chen Ning soon met Chen Dianshi, who frowned slightly, "I already know about this. Feng Hao is a habitual thief. Even if he was kicked out, it was his own fault for climbing over the wall late at night. But the question is, do you know that the servant in your house is an illegal resident?"

Shen Ning was slightly stunned.

Illegal household?

The Daxuan Dynasty had very strict household registration management and harsh punishments for illegal households. Once discovered, they would be exiled.

She had never thought about this before, and had never thought about Yuanyue and the others' household registration problem... The teenagers hadn't mentioned it either, otherwise it might have been easier to find a solution early on.

Shen Ning knew clearly that Yuan Yue was an illegal resident, and the dozen or so people in her family must be as well. She couldn't possibly watch them being exiled, not to mention that they had committed a crime just to protect her.

Shen Ning saluted Chen Dianshi and said, "Could you please help pass a message to County Magistrate Cao, saying that the Shen family has something to ask of you."

Shen Qingbai bowed quickly and said, "Master, thank you for your help."

Chen Dianshi helped him up and said, "It's just a message, it's nothing serious. But I can't guarantee whether the county magistrate will see me or not."

Shen Ninglian understood.

Fortunately, County Magistrate Cao had not yet forgotten the fact that Shen Ning from Qingyuan Village had contributed to his achievements, and he finally met her.

In the study, Chen Ning bowed and saluted: "Your Excellency is as clear as a mirror. I dare not beat around the bush. The servants in my house are refugees I picked up. I took them in because I saw that those children were poor and lonely. It is my fault that I did not handle the household registration in time. I hope that Your Excellency will forgive them for their pity as they have been wandering around since they were young."

Magistrate Cao raised his hand: "Just tell me."

Shen Ning bowed: "I, a humble woman, would like to ask for your permission to re-naturalize them."

After becoming an illegal resident, one still has to find a way to resolve the issue. It is difficult for ordinary people, but for County Magistrate Cao, it is really nothing.

Without waiting for Magistrate Cao to speak, she continued, "I know this is a difficult matter. Your Excellency will inevitably have to send subordinates, and retrieving them from their hometowns will be time-consuming and laborious, so I volunteer to pay for the travel expenses."

She handed over the prepared banknotes with both hands: "Here is fifty taels of silver. Please send someone to help these children become citizens."

Shen Ning said fifty taels, but the silver handed over was a full five hundred taels.

This is not a small amount, which shows her sincerity.

Magistrate Cao looked at the banknotes, then looked at Shen Ning, then shook his head and laughed: "Madam Shen... is really a wonderful person."

Shen Ning bowed: "Thanks to your care, sir."

"Okay, go ahead."

Magistrate Cao calmly put away the banknotes and said, "They are all pitiful orphans. This county is not a man-eating beast. We will not make things difficult for them. You can go now."

Shen Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, sir!"

Although five hundred taels is not a huge sum of money, it can buy a small courtyard in Pingning County. County Magistrate Cao will certainly not make things difficult for the little beggar. In addition, Feng Hao is a notorious habitual criminal, so the case will be easy to judge.

Yuanyue returned home before noon.

Hearing the cries and curses of Feng Hao's family coming from the street, Shen Ning closed the door and called Yuan Yue and her group of twelve people to her.

Before she could speak, twelve people knelt down in unison.

"My lady's kindness is as great as a mountain. We concealed our identities and implicated her. This is an unforgivable sin. I will leave today. My lady's kindness is so great that I will never forget it!"

After Yuan Yue finished speaking, he kowtowed, and the other eleven people followed suit.

July's eyes were red and she didn't dare to look up.

Shen Ning asked: "Do you know that you are an illegal resident?"

Yuan Yue pursed her lips and nodded: "Yes."

Shen Ning asked again: "You know you are an illegal resident, but you still dare to take action. Don't you know that once you enter the county government, your illegal identity will be hidden."

No one spoke.

How could Shen Ning not know that these children were hiding carefully, and of course they knew what the fate of being an illegal resident would be, but when she might be in danger, they still stood up.

Looking at the twelve people kneeling in front of him, he was silent for a moment, then Shen Ning slowly took out the bundle sent by County Magistrate Cao, opened it, and inside was their new household registration.

Money makes the world go round. In just half a day, these children without household registration were "traced to their original place of origin" and then registered with the new household registration.

Shen Ning handed the household registration in her hand to Yuanyue: "You don't have a surname, so I will take the initiative and let you share the surname Shen with me... From today on, you are Shen Yuanyue, Shen Eryue... Shen Shiyi, Shen Twelve."

Across from her, everyone, from the mature Yuan Yue to the childish Twelve, looked up at her in disbelief.

"Go on." Shen Ning raised her hand.

Yuanyue's fingers trembled slightly as she took the household registration and slowly tightened it... then her eyes turned red.

Therefore, from now on, they are no longer rootless duckweed, and they don’t have to worry every day. They can live openly and honestly like ordinary people!

Yuan Yue closed the household registration and kowtowed heavily: "Miss, we have something to hide from you..."