Originally, there were only two patrol teams patrolling the village, but now there are three more teams, and two more people are on the watchtower.
The three of them stared intently at the nearby road, their usual carefree demeanor gone.
Wang Ergou was indeed not lying.
Jiang Yimian immediately abandoned her idea of going in and went straight back to the small depression.
It would be bad if she alerted them first, since we already know some information about the mountain stronghold.
Wang Ergou has always been a coward who fears death, but he's also quite pragmatic; he won't lie when his life is threatened.
When Jiang Yimian returned to the small depression, it was already dark.
Everyone was busy with their own things, but some were absent-minded, glancing towards the cave from time to time.
Who did they meet today? It was the county magistrate!
Having lived for decades, this was the first time I had ever met a county magistrate. I thought he was some kind of bad guy, but I never imagined that he would be the official in charge of Qingshui County.
The magistrate asked them how they were doing, but instead of treating him well, they made him a pot of watery corn porridge.
Hopefully, the other party won't blame them for being impolite!
All afternoon, everyone had the same thought in their minds, even while chopping wood and feeding the chickens, they were all worried and anxious.
Unfortunately, Yi Mian didn't return either, so they could only suppress their unease and sit in the courtyard staring at each other.
Before Jiang Yimian even reached the courtyard, everyone quickly stood up and rushed over to greet her.
Old Liu asked nervously in a low voice, "Yimian, is that gentleman who came today asking for water really the county magistrate?"
Jiang Yimian suddenly met several pairs of intense eyes and nodded somewhat uncomfortably.
Everyone's hearts sank instantly.
Zhao Xing'er exclaimed in regret, "Why did this magistrate come here all of a sudden? I thought he was some kind of bad guy. Yi Mian, I hope he won't blame us for not being hospitable enough and punish us."
This was her first time meeting an official. She had always heard from elders that county magistrates had blue faces and fangs, and that any evil person would reveal their true colors upon seeing the magistrate.
Today, the man seemed no different from any other middle-aged man, but she wasn't sure if he was deliberately hiding his ferocity.
Jiang Yimian found it amusing. If she had said that she deliberately made them make corn porridge in order to get money from the county magistrate, these men would probably have been so frightened that they would have fallen to the ground on the spot.
The thought of that scene made her give up on telling everyone the truth. She simply reassured them, "The magistrate heard that there are still people living on the mountain, so he came to see for himself. Don't worry, the magistrate is very kind and won't care about such trivial matters."
However, you shouldn't go out for the next few days, lest you offend the government officials. They seem to be patrolling the mountains recently, probably because they're dealing with the bandits down below.
Upon hearing this, everyone quickly wiped the worry off their faces and nodded emphatically.
They definitely won't go out and cause trouble.
Knowing that the magistrate would not blame them, the group's previous anxiety subsided, and they went about their own business.
They spent the whole afternoon worrying, and still hadn't finished their work.
Seeing everyone busy again, Jiang Yimian breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to go check on Zhang Li again, Zhao Dashu quickly came over and said cautiously, "Sister Mian, is the person in that room an official? Should we take extra care of him?"
He felt embarrassed when he thought about how he had just haphazardly wiped the other person's body these days, and sometimes he was even too lazy to wipe the other person's body at all.
I thought he was just an ordinary person, but who would have thought he was actually a constable.
If the other party recovers, we must not make things difficult for them!
Seeing Zhao Dashu's anxious expression, Jiang Yimian knew that he must have been lazy and hadn't cleaned Zhang Li's body in time. She said helplessly, "They won't punish you. Just take care of him. But if you keep being lazy, you'll get a beating. Don't be lazy about changing the dressing. Let me know when the wound is completely healed."
Zhao Dashu had barely closed his grin when he heard the second half of the sentence, which startled him so much that he nodded repeatedly. “Don’t worry, Sister Mian, I will take good care of the other person. Changing the dressing is a big deal, and I will not slack off.”
Although he sometimes slacked off, he was always aware of the importance of things and never hesitated when it came to changing the dressing.
Jiang Yimian nodded, and knowing that Zhang Li was sleeping, she didn't disturb him and went straight home.
Mimi has gone off to find food and hasn't come back yet. Xiao Nuan'er and Xiao Ye are playing with the bamboo balls woven by Chen Tiezhu in the yard.
When Jiang Yimian returned, he invited her to come and play together.
When Wang Fengqin returned from the vegetable garden, she saw the three children playing football together. She just smiled and went into the kitchen to cook.
A moment later, Jiang Yimian came in and silently sat down in front of the stove to add fuel to the fire.
Wang Fengqin said with a smile while chopping vegetables, "You don't know, that guy Xiao Ye was so proud of himself when he found out that the person who came this afternoon was the county magistrate. He spent the whole afternoon talking about how the county magistrate spoke to him and praised him, as if he was afraid that others would not know. He mentioned it to everyone he met."
Jiang Yimian couldn't help but laugh when she thought of Ono's arrogant attitude.
Just then, Ono's serious voice came from outside, "We must work harder to learn to read in the future. The magistrate praised us, and we can't let him down."
Little Nuan'er nodded vigorously, and after a while, she wrinkled her face and asked in a childish voice, "What does the magistrate do? Can I eat him?"
In her little head, she didn't yet understand what the words "magistrate" meant.
Ono was taken aback, clearly stumped by the question, and after a while said, "The magistrate is a very, very powerful person. It's not easy to get his praise. In short, we just need to study hard and learn to read."
Xiao Nuan'er nodded as if she understood but not quite.
Jiang Yimian and Wang Fengqin laughed.
Laughter and cheerful voices filled the small depression, but the government office remained solemn.
Looking at the note in his hand, Song Quan slammed his hand on the table in anger. "These bandits are really arrogant, threatening people right under my nose."
Today, Zhao Da returned and told him about the bandits' plan. He was somewhat incredulous, but now, seeing this note, he is certain that the bandits did indeed intend to ask the Lin family for money.
Lin Yan'an frowned, but still respectfully said, "Sir, the bandits demand one thousand taels of silver. If we don't deliver it, they will kill the Lin family. Although my family has been merchants for generations, we cannot come up with one thousand taels by 5:45 PM tomorrow!"
These bandits are really asking for the moon. Even if they could, they wouldn't send it to the stronghold.
Song Quanzhao thought for a while before saying, "Go back and raise the money first. I will help you raise it. The money will be sent tomorrow, but the bandit suppression must also be carried out at the same time."
He had been preparing for the bandit suppression for a long time. The government had recently recruited a lot of constables, most of whom were soldiers who had returned to their hometowns.
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