Chapter 139 A Secret Visit, Heading Straight to Hewan County
The refugees nearby quickly added:
“We commoners were originally from the Yu Kingdom, and we were afraid that if we spoke ill of the officials of the Great Xuan Kingdom in front of the emperor, it would displease him.”
"That's why...that's why I didn't dare to say it just now."
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty..."
Although Fairy Jinli was there to vouch for them, everyone was still somewhat uneasy.
Xiao Qidi's face darkened instantly, his lips pursed, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
Even though the refugees didn't look up at him, they felt a chill in that instant, and they were so frightened that they lay on the ground trembling, not daring to breathe.
"Is that so?" Ning Jinli frowned.
The refugees panicked even more.
Oh no, even the fairy doesn't believe me, what should I do?
Xiao Qidi and Ning Jinli exchanged a glance, then said to the crowd, "Get up, everyone. I'm not angry with you. I just didn't expect that the county magistrate of Hewan County would be more terrifying to you than the people of nomadic tribes. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
For a moment, no one dared to get up.
Ning Jinli walked directly to them and helped them up one by one. "Don't worry, he's not that petty. You can talk it over. If that county magistrate really has a problem, I won't let him off the hook either."
Ning Jinli's actions and words reassured everyone.
Only then did everyone muster their courage and tell the others what they knew.
However, they did not experience it firsthand. They had only heard that the county magistrate of Hewan County was greedy and stingy. Even if outsiders were just passing through, those with money had to pay, and those without money had to sell their children. The magistrate would also threaten, beat, torture, and imprison them. He had many methods that could make people suffer worse than death, and he would always try to squeeze every last drop of profit out of them.
Given this situation, it's easy to imagine how miserable their fate would be if they fell into the hands of the county magistrate of Hewan County, as they were already so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat.
They were desperate and just wanted to survive; they didn't want to suffer a fate worse than death.
"Okay, I understand," Xiao Qidi waved his hand, "You may all leave."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The crowd retreated.
"Jinli, how likely do you think it is that what they said is true?" Xiao Qidi asked.
Ning Jinli said, "Judging from their frightened appearance just now, it doesn't seem like they made it up randomly. But they've only heard about it, so there might be errors in the word-of-mouth transmission. The only way is to investigate on-site."
Xiao Qidi nodded slightly and fell into deep thought.
Ning Jinli leaned closer to him and suggested, "I recommend that you conceal your identity and personally visit Hewan County to experience it for yourself. This is called—going on an incognito visit to understand the people's conditions."
“Alright,” Xiao Qidi stood up, “I will set off for Hewan County today.”
Ning Jinli took his arm, "I want to go too!"
"No way." Xiao Qidi refused without even thinking.
Ning Jinli wrinkled her nose. "Why not?"
Xiao Qidi said softly, "The entire Xitun Pass area, once you leave Linxian City, is still a vast expanse of barren land. It will take several days to cross before you can reach Hewan County. The environment there is even worse than Linxian Village a few months ago. I don't want you to suffer along with me."
Ning Jinli grinned and said, "If we're talking about suffering, can it compare to what I went through at Eagle Falling Gorge? I survived that, so what else can't I endure? Besides, I'm not the weak woman you first met now."
"And..." Ning Jinli blinked tenderly, "Don't you want me by your side?"
These words were not only well-reasoned, but the last sentence in particular struck a chord with Xiao Qidi.
After a moment's thought, he said, "Then we'll set off early tomorrow morning. You need to tell your family in advance."
Ning Jinli said with a grin, "Okay, okay, I got it."
The next morning.
Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi dressed in ordinary people's clothes, each mounted a horse, and set off together with necessary dry food, water, and self-defense equipment.
The city of Linxian is already lush and green, but less than half a mile outside the city, all you can see is cracked yellow earth, as if you have suddenly entered another world.
A mere gust of wind can whip up a sky full of yellow sand.
The further you go, the more scattered skeletal remains you can see.
There are animals and people.
Apart from Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi and the horse they were riding, there was no other living creature in sight.
The two figures quickly disappeared into the vast yellow sand...
...
A few days later, around noon, the two arrived near Hewan County.
Even though they brought enough food and water, they now look as if they had been wandering in the desert for months.
He was covered in dirt, his face was dusty, and he looked exhausted.
Not only did the two of them lose a lot of weight, but even the horse they were riding was practically skin and bones.
There was still some distance to the checkpoint leading into the county, and the surroundings gradually changed from the seemingly endless desolate and lifeless scene of the past few days.
“My God…” Ning Jinli lay weakly on the horse’s back, her chapped lips slightly parted. “We’ve finally made it out. If I hadn’t seen any plants, I would have started hallucinating. Everything looks like it’s through a yellow sand filter.”
Xiao Qidi looked at him with concern. "There's a pavilion up ahead. Let's rest for a while."
Ning Jinli raised her eyelids and glanced at him, then swayed off her horse. "Alright, let's rest for a while."
Xiao Qidi also dismounted, took the reins from Ning Jinli, and led the two horses to a stream not far from the pavilion, letting them drink some water and eat some fresh grass.
Ning Jinli, feeling dizzy and disoriented, dragged her tired body toward the pavilion.
The sun was blazing, but some passersby preferred to sit on the ground to rest under the scorching sun, or wash their faces and drink water by the stream, rather than enter the pavilion.
It wasn't because the pavilion was overcrowded and people couldn't squeeze in; on the contrary, it looked completely empty at first glance.
"Excuse me, sir," Xiao Qidi asked an old farmer beside him, "why don't you go to the pavilion to escape the sun?"
The old farmer fanned himself with his tattered collar as he sized up Xiao Qidi. "Young man, you're from out of town, aren't you? You've never been here before, have you?"
Xiao Qidi clasped his hands in a fist salute, "That's true, please enlighten me, elder brother."
"Hehe," the old farmer chuckled, "I wouldn't presume to offer advice. Judging by your appearance, you don't seem to have much money. Since you're not from Hewan County, I suggest you go back where you came from and don't even think about going into the county. Oh, and by the way, you'd better not go into that pavilion over there either, otherwise—"
"Ah!" Before the old farmer could finish speaking, Ning Jinli's exclamation suddenly rang out from the pavilion.
Xiao Qidi's expression suddenly changed, and he turned to rush over.
The old farmer hurriedly reminded him, "You mustn't talk back to the people inside, and also, don't go into the pavilion, or they'll overcharge you..."
Xiao Qidi dashed far away in the blink of an eye, not even hearing what the old farmer said, before rushing into the pavilion like an arrow released from a bow.
Only then did they see that there were two constables inside, one fat and one thin. The thin constable held a knife to Ning Jinli's neck, while the fat one was about to pull the bundle she was carrying.
"Stop!" Xiao Qidi shouted.
Xiao Qidi wasn't worried that the two people would harm Ning Jinli; he just couldn't stand the way Ning Jinli was being treated.
The situation was strange at the moment, and he should not act rashly before figuring out what was going on.
"Oh, another one." The fat constable grinned, his eyes narrowing into slits. "You little rascal, are you with this girl?"
“That’s right,” Xiao Qidi said coldly. “You’re government officials, how dare you rob me in broad daylight? There’s nothing valuable in her bag, so come at me.”
"What robbery are you talking about! Watch your mouth, kid!" The skinny constable moved the knife to Xiao Qidi's neck.
“They definitely didn’t rob me,” Ning Jinli said. “I had just entered the pavilion and hadn’t even had a chance to sit down when these two people jumped in from the bushes next to me, which startled me. Then they told me that the county government wanted to collect a rest tax. I said I didn’t have any money, so they tried to search me.”
"A rest stop tax?" Xiao Qidi looked completely bewildered. "What kind of tax is that? I've never heard of it before?"
The fat constable loosened Ning Jinli's bundle and said with a smile, "That's because you're ignorant. Now you know, don't you? Kid, stop talking nonsense. We're just doing our duty. As long as you pay your taxes obediently, you can rest here. We don't want to waste our time with you."
Xiao Qidi now understands why other passersby didn't come in to rest.
It turned out that there were two constables hiding here, and they would charge money to anyone who came in.
"How much do you want?" Xiao Qidi asked.
The fat constable held out his hand. "Five coins."
"Holy crap?" Ning Jinli blurted out, "Five coins? We just came in to sit for a while, do you think we're charging for parking?"
Ning Jinli once roughly calculated that one coin here was roughly equivalent to one dollar in modern currency.
So when the fat bailiff asked for five coins, she was utterly astonished.
"You can't be so poor you don't even have five coins, can you?" the fat constable said, sizing you up. "If you don't, you can pay with something worth five coins. Your clothes are barely decent, so take them off and give them to us. If you refuse to cooperate, then I'm sorry, you'll be going to jail!"
Xiao Qidi narrowed his eyes slightly. "I've really learned something new. It seems... the rumors I heard weren't wrong. Alright, I'll give them to you."
In order to understand the whole situation here, he couldn't alert the enemy, so he had to cooperate for the time being.
After he paid five coins, the fat bailiff put the money in his pocket and then stretched out his hand to him.
"Hey! Didn't I already give it to you? Do you still want it?" Ning Jinli frowned.
The fat constable chuckled and said, "Five coins per person, there are two of you, so you still have to pay five coins."
“You…” Ning Jinli was stunned for a moment, then cursed directly, “You heartless bastard!”
"What did you say?!" The skinny constable glared, pointing his knife at Ning Jinli again.
The fat constable immediately said, "How dare you insult an official? You'll be fined two hundred coins!"
"You son of a bitch—" Ning Jinli was so angry that she opened her mouth to curse again, but Xiao Qidi quickly covered her mouth.
Ning Jinli knew that she really couldn't make a scene now, otherwise it would be difficult to gain a deeper understanding of the local situation, so even though she was angry, she still held back.
"Gentlemen, how much is this small piece of silver worth?" Xiao Qidi asked, taking out a small piece of silver.
The two constables' eyes lit up instantly.
"I didn't realize you were so rich," the fat constable said with a grin. "You're quite wealthy, kid. This piece of silver... three hundred coins, I suppose."
Ning Jinli almost wanted to complain again.
Three hundred coins?
Even a blind man could see that this piece of silver was worth at least five hundred coins.
“Alright, officer, if you say it’s worth three hundred coins, then it’s three hundred coins,” Xiao Qidi handed over the loose silver. “Can we rest here now?”
"Yes, yes, of course!" The fat constable reached out to take it.
Xiao Qidi suddenly withdrew his hand. "Then can I ask you something? We're new here and don't know the rules."
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you." The fat constable stared at the silver and said in one breath, "Any place built by the government should be avoided as far away as possible, otherwise you'll be charged taxes every time you bump into it. Since you're a sensible kid, I'll give you a pass, so it'll be easier for you to get through the checkpoints."
"Thank you for your guidance." Xiao Qidi handed over the silver.
The fat constable took a bite out of the silver to verify its authenticity, and then had the thin constable give Xiao Qidi a small bamboo stick with a small copper piece embedded in it.
"Just one more reminder," the fat constable gestured, "don't break these bamboo skewers, or you'll have to pay for them."
"Yes, I remember." Xiao Qidi put the bamboo skewer into his pocket.
Having paid the due amount, Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi prepared to sit on the stone benches to rest for a while. However, before they could even settle in, two constables brandished their knives and shouted:
"Let's go, let's go!"
Get out of here! Don't take up space!
The two were stunned again.
Ning Jinli, her patience wearing thin, asked irritably, "Didn't we pay your taxes? Why aren't we allowed to rest?"
The fat constable chuckled and said, "Why didn't we let you rest? Haven't you already stayed in this pavilion? If you stay any longer, we'll have to charge you again."
Ning Jinli clutched her chest, nearly choking on her breath.
"Never mind, let's go." She turned and left the pavilion, her small face, already tanned from the wind and sun, now even darker.
Xiao Qidi looked at the two constables meaningfully, "One last question for you: are these so-called taxes and fines really not something you made up?"
"You're such a chatterbox, coming from out of town!" the fat constable said impatiently. "I've taught you plenty of rules, and you still doubt me? If you don't believe me, go ask around!"
Xiao Qidi said no more and left the pavilion.
“This time I’ve really seen something new,” Ning Jinli said in a low voice. “When I was a child, I went on trips with my parents and we were ripped off like this at some of the more shady tourist attractions.”
Xiao Qidi whispered, "We haven't even entered the county yet, and this little pavilion on the official road is already so outrageous. The situation inside the county will only open our eyes even more. I want to see what kind of scoundrel the county magistrate is."
"It's fortunate that we took in those villagers who fled from Yu Kingdom before, and it's also fortunate that we came here in person," Ning Jinli said solemnly. "Once we find out the situation, you must deal with it properly."
A murderous glint appeared in Xiao Qidi's eyes. "It's time for a group of people in Hewan County to lose their heads."
After tidying up briefly, the two led their horses onward.
After walking for several miles, the checkpoint set up on the main road came into view.
At the checkpoint, several constables were on duty, checking people coming and going.
When it was the two of them's turn to be checked, Xiao Qidi took out the bamboo sticks he had just obtained in the pavilion and indicated that he and the woman beside him were together.
"Oh, you two are together," the constable said, glancing at the horses behind them. "So that means these two horses aren't with you? Someone, take them away!"
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