"What?!"
Say it again!
Did you hear me clearly?
Magistrate Jia, Registrar Qi, and Qi Yuchen were discussing the matter of the mountain bandits when their scouts received news yesterday evening that someone had seen the bandits outside the city.
Since it was evening and curfew had begun, the city gates were locked. Magistrate Jia didn't know if the news was true or not. Although he was anxious, he couldn't open the city gates. So he decided to issue a notice today and have his constables distribute it so that the people could prepare in advance.
Last night, I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep at all!
Magistrate Jia thought to himself that he had been in this position for three years. He hadn't made any significant achievements, but he hadn't done anything wrong either. He County was part of Jiangzhou, and compared to the rest of Dasheng, it was much better than those places plagued by rebellion. However, compared to the rest of Jiangnan, it was truly not a good place!
That's why Madam Yang had gone to great lengths to try and use her family's connections to get her husband transferred to a higher position. Even if he couldn't get promoted, an official position under the emperor's nose was incomparable to this poor, remote village.
Magistrate Jia came from a farming family and initially had the desire to serve the people. However, years of navigating the ups and downs of officialdom taught him that without a powerful backer or connections, he didn't know when his official hat would be taken off. For someone like him who relied on his wife's family, the key was to strive to rise in rank!
Seeing that he had achieved some political success this year, the village women of Shiligou invented a new method of rice planting and rice-fish farming. His wife also pulled some strings, and after the year-end performance review, he was just waiting for his transfer order.
If a bandit rebellion breaks out now, all our previous efforts will have been in vain...
Magistrate Jia felt a lump in his throat, tears welling up before he could speak...
These damned bandits, of all times they had to come, weren't they just deliberately trying to annoy him? Magistrate Jia was seething with anger. Even a clay figure has some temper! Humph! Could he, a dignified local official, really be controlled by a few bandits?!
So, before dawn today, Qi Yucheng and Qi Zhubu were both woken up by their servants. Upon hearing the words "mountain bandits," they were both astonished and hurriedly dressed, arriving at the yamen at almost the same time.
Seeing the dark circles under the magistrate's eyes, one could tell that he had tossed and turned all night. For officials, the troubles during their term of office were nothing more than natural disasters and man-made calamities!
Natural disasters are merciless, dependent on the unpredictable nature of the heavens; however, man-made disasters require human intervention. How to manage them? And how well they are managed is the ultimate test of officials.
Therefore, this is also an opportunity. If handled properly, it is easy to get promoted, but if handled poorly, you may lose your life!
As the group was discussing their next move, they heard a constable report that bandits had been captured in Shiligou! This was quite a surprise!
Not only Magistrate Jia, but also Clerk Qi was astonished, and Qi Yuchen was even more surprised, almost falling off his chair!
Seeing the officials' expressions, the constable wiped away a cold sweat, thinking to himself that if those two were lying, he would be terribly wronged today!
But the arrow was already on the bowstring and had to be released, so he tried his best to calm down and repeated it again, his voice trembling.
Qi, the registrar, was the first to calm down and said, "Sir, the village head of Shiligou doesn't seem like someone who talks nonsense. Why don't we let them in and have a proper talk?"
“Uh, yes, yes, yes!” Qi Yuchen echoed.
Although he found it hard to believe, he knew those families were no pushovers. He had previously suspected they were hiding in plain sight, but now they'd been exposed! He knew there were experts among them! It was time to see their true colors! Qi Yuchen's surprise turned to excitement.
Magistrate Jia didn't care about anything else. He was just caught off guard. Anyone who could help him deal with the bandits would be his lucky star!
The constables, having received their orders, quickly led He Yingyuan and the other man to the inner hall of the yamen.
Before they could even bow, Magistrate Jia hurriedly said, "No need to be so formal. You two, tell me, have you really subdued the bandits?"
Chen Sheng smiled and said, "Reporting to you, sir, the bandits attacked our village last night. Fortunately, we had already organized a patrol team. The bandits were discovered before they even reached the village entrance. All the men and women in our village joined forces and defeated them decisively. Of course, the main reason is that we have a few capable men in our village. With their leadership, we are invincible."
Seeing that he was getting more and more rambling, He Yingyuan quickly cleared his throat and said, "Sir, all those thieves have been put under guard. I'm afraid things might get complicated if we wait too long, so I came to report this."
"Oh, right, right, we've tied up all those bandits now." Village head Chen Sheng nodded hurriedly.
Qi Yuchen seemed to have heard something unbelievable and quickly walked up to them to ask, "How many bandits did you capture?"
"About a hundred or so! They were too weak; we lost thirty or forty before we even entered the village. But we didn't let any of the rest go!" Chen Sheng said with a clear mind, his eyes brimming with pride.
Magistrate Jia and his two companions almost lost control of their expressions. My goodness! Are these really the people under his rule? They're too amazing!
"Did you capture the bandit leader too?" Qi Yuchen asked. Even for him, dealing with that bandit leader would have taken some effort. He'd heard that the bandit leader was quite a formidable figure, having committed numerous misdeeds over the years. Because of their elusive nature, they'd never been caught, even by the authorities.
Speaking of this, Chen Sheng was overjoyed. He never expected that the bandit leader would be taken down by the chubby girl.
"Reporting to you, sir, the bandit leader was captured by Fatty Girl from our village." What was Fatty Girl's real name again? I racked my brains for a long time but couldn't remember, so I'll just call her Fatty Girl!
Seeing that the adults' astonished gazes all turned to him, He Yingyuan hurriedly replied, "In response to what you adults have said, Chen Lizheng is right. It was indeed Fatty who finally captured the bandit leader."
What? It sounds like a girl?! Qi Yuchen thought about it carefully and remembered that there were very few fat people in the whole village. Come to think of it, there was only one she met at Qin Niangzi's house last time. Could it be the fat girl who served tea?
Is this for real?! That girl was trembling in his presence! And she actually managed to capture the bandit leader!
Qi Yuchen: Covering her face, what kind of freaks are these!
"You two, take me there quickly!" After saying that, he pulled Qi Zhubu aside and said, "Go and call a few more constables to come with us."
Qi, the clerk, nodded hurriedly. If all the more than one hundred bandits had been captured, wouldn't it be necessary to call in more constables?
Magistrate Jia wished he could fly to Shiligou right now, but unfortunately he couldn't ride a horse. Fortunately, the carriage wasn't much slower, but even so, he still urged the driver several times.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com