From afar, one could see two people following behind Magistrate Liu, craning their necks at the town entrance, as if they knew the Emperor was coming and were preparing to welcome him.
Upon seeing such a large group of people, Magistrate Liu knew that the arrival of the emperor must be none other than himself. He put on a smile, patted his plain clothes, straightened his attire, and then respectfully stepped forward. "You must be Lord Fu? I am Liu Yixin, the magistrate of this county. I have been waiting here to welcome Your Majesty."
Fu Heng's face was serious, after all, the emperor's whereabouts could not be known to others casually. "Magistrate Liu, how did you know that the emperor was coming in person?"
Liu Yixin bowed humbly, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, and said calmly, "Reporting to Lord Fu, it was Governor Li who urgently sent a secret messenger. The Governor instructed me to protect His Majesty in a manner that would not disturb His Majesty's presence. Therefore, please rest assured, Lord Fu, I came here in plain clothes and will absolutely not reveal His Majesty's whereabouts." The two attendants following behind Magistrate Liu also obediently lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at the Emperor's face.
Fu Heng was relieved and said with a smile, "Thank you for your trouble, Magistrate Liu."
At that moment, Magistrate Liu happened to see the master getting off the carriage, along with the young lady and maid behind him.
Liu Yixin hurriedly grabbed his long robe and rushed towards the Emperor. Then, with a flick of his robe, he knelt on the ground. "This humble servant Liu Yixin greets Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"
The master closed his folding fan. "Magistrate Liu, no need for formalities. Since Magistrate Liu has come to the city gate to greet me, then I will go and visit your office." An Ke and Qing'er exchanged a glance, smiled at each other without saying a word, and everything was understood without words.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I welcome Your Majesty. Please, Your Majesty." Liu Yixin said humbly, and then stood on the side of the road to wait for the Emperor to go first.
The Emperor, fanning himself, walked ahead as if it were his right, with Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi exchanging a glance before following closely behind. Because Qing'er had twisted her ankle, Anke had been supporting her the whole way, so they weren't walking very fast.
Not only was Master Ji observing Magistrate Liu, but An Ke was also taking a look at the simply dressed Magistrate Liu. He noticed that Magistrate Liu was still wearing patched cloth shoes. Truly, he was extremely poor!
Magistrate Liu naturally noticed the intense gazes he was being given, and slightly embarrassed, he shrank back a little. "Please, sir, please, young lady."
An Ke knew it was impolite to keep staring at people, so when she saw Master Ji walking forward, she helped Qing'er follow behind.
Seeing this, the main force behind them followed. Magistrate Liu, seeing that everyone had caught up, silently stepped forward to lead the way for the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, please." Magistrate Liu greeted the emperor from the front, with the master following behind. "This is the bedroom and study connected together, and this is the main hall," Magistrate Liu introduced to the emperor from the front.
An Ke carefully examined this place, which could hardly be called a government office. It's no wonder An Ke thought this way; it was simply too impoverished. Anyone who didn't know better would think it was the home of some poor commoner, with vegetables planted all around.
Needless to say, Anke could see the main hall from afar even before entering, with several water jars placed inside.
When Magistrate Liu saw the Emperor enter, he quickly moved the jars aside. "Your Majesty, please."
Everyone looked shocked, especially the young masters who had been raised in luxury in the capital and had never seen such a simple house before.
The Emperor took his seat at the head of the yamen (government office), where he saw a basin for collecting water. Looking up, he noticed a large hole in the eaves of the roof. Liu Yixin could only awkwardly smile again and move the basin aside.
"Your Majesty, I am truly sorry to have brought you to such a humble place. It just rained heavily here this morning, and I will go upstairs to repair the roof shortly. Please forgive me, Your Majesty," Magistrate Liu said cautiously.
"Magistrate Liu, your yamen has so few people, and the official residence is dilapidated. How come the local tax revenue is not good?" The Emperor frowned and looked him over carefully.
Liu Yixin chuckled and took the account book next to him, handing it to the Emperor. "Your Majesty, this is the account book of Xiang County. The tax situation is clearly recorded. Apart from some necessary expenses, all of Xiang County's tax revenue was handed over to the national treasury."
Since it concerned tax revenue, the Emperor looked at it seriously and said, "Hmm, the tax revenue here is indeed good, but why don't you allocate some of it to repair the government buildings?" This puzzled the Emperor greatly. All the government offices he had seen along the way were so magnificent, but here, they could only be described as rudimentary.
"Your Majesty, I believe this official residence is only for handling cases; it's enough to provide shelter from the wind and rain. If there's a leak anywhere, it needs repair. I can handle that myself; there's no need to waste public funds." Liu Yixin was indeed a good official who cared for the people.
Little Swallow exclaimed in shock, "Ah, Magistrate Liu, you're going to repair the house yourself? What about the yamen runners? What are they doing?"
“I don’t have many yamen runners, and they are all very busy. I can handle this small matter of repairing chairs and houses by myself, so there’s no need to trouble these children,” Magistrate Liu said, bowing respectfully.
The master also looked at the honest and hardworking county magistrate with admiration.
Just then, something spoiled the mood.
"Liu Yixin, come out here!" A well-dressed man with a fierce face entered, shouting and yelling. The constables tried to stop him, knowing who was inside. They couldn't let him in and disturb those important people.
"You can't go in." Two constables blocked the way from the left and right.
The man who was being stopped was still shouting outside, "Get out of the way! How dare you stop this scholar! Liu Yixin, Liu Yixin, come out here!"
Having no other option, Magistrate Liu could only run out quickly, as he couldn't allow the emperor to be disturbed by shouting and yelling. "Scholar Wang, Scholar Wang, what's wrong with you? Why are you shouting and yelling here?" Magistrate Liu said, glancing back at the emperor behind him.
When Wang Xiucai saw the people arrive, he pushed the two yamen runners aside. "Liu Yixin, how did you handle this case? My maid stole money. I ordered you to sentence her to tattooing, but you let her off so easily!"
Magistrate Liu tried to persuade her kindly, saying, "How can I sentence my unmarried daughter to be branded? That would be a mark for life. This girl stole money only to pay for her father's medical treatment. That's understandable. Moreover, she sincerely repented after committing the crime. Let's give her a chance to reform."
Wang Xiucai wouldn't listen to Liu Yixin's advice. He said fiercely, "I don't care. Since she stole my silver, she should be sentenced. I'm making an example of her to warn others. What if one of my servants does the same thing in the future?" Then, he arrogantly said to Liu Yixin, "If you, a minor official, don't do as I say, I will appeal to the governor. You will also be implicated and punished."
"Don't you know that the laws of the Qing Dynasty do not allow reports to be submitted to higher authorities without authorization?" Magistrate Liu said, clasping his hands in a fist salute.
Wang Xiucai snorted arrogantly, "Who cares about the laws and regulations of the Qing Dynasty? I have powerful backing, and I have many friends in the court."
Little Swallow couldn't stand it anymore. Despite her injury, it didn't stop her from speaking out for justice everywhere. "Hey, you call yourself a scholar? How can you talk like a fart? Who gave you permission to call Magistrate Liu 'Liu Yixin'?"
Although Xiao Yanzi can be a bit carefree at times, her words did hit the nail on the head. An Ke gave Xiao Yanzi an appreciative look.
Wang Xiucai, who had never been insulted like this before, pointed his folding fan at the arrogant and conceited Xiao Yanzi. "Where did you come from, you brat? How dare you criticize this scholar!" As he spoke, he was about to start a fight.
Fortunately, Magistrate Liu, who was standing in front of him, quickly stopped Wang the scholar. "Scholar Wang, I don't care about your usual yelling at me. But I cannot tolerate your antics today. Although the laws of the Qing Dynasty stipulate that scholars are not subject to caning, and you don't have to kneel before me, a mere seventh-rank magistrate, I still have ways to deal with you. Guards, bring the ruler!"
Immediately afterwards, a yamen runner rushed into the main hall and took the ruler.
The junior yamen runner beside him immediately stopped Wang Xiucai from getting serious earlier. He didn't want to fight or take it seriously, but now that the magistrate had spoken, he naturally had to listen to him. After all, the junior yamen runner knew who paid his salary. "Behave yourself."
Wang Xiucai struggled like a fish on a chopping board. "Let me go! Liu Yixin, what do you want to do?"
Magistrate Liu took the ruler from his hand and said, "Today I'm going to teach you a lesson, you arrogant and disrespectful scholar. Put your hand out."
Wang Xiucai was still full of disbelief, stammering. "You dare to hit me with a ruler? If you want your head ripped off, then go ahead and try."
Undeterred by power, Liu Yixin forcefully pulled Wang Xiucai's hand out. "Hold out your hand." Then, he struck Wang Xiucai's hand hard with a ruler several times.
Wang Xiucai was screaming in pain, and the young yamen runners pressing him down could barely hold him down. He was like a pig waiting to be slaughtered for the New Year, impossible to restrain.
The master clapped his hands in delight, while Uncle Fu, E Min, and Zhao Hui were overjoyed. They hadn't expected this lowly county magistrate to be so fearless in the face of power; he was truly a good official!
"Liu Yixin, you despicable official, how dare you hit me, a mere scholar!" Scholar Wang jumped up and down in pain. "I hand over so much silver to the Emperor every year. The Emperor has to be mindful of my feelings, and you dare to hit me? I'm going to report this to the Emperor."
An Ke couldn't stand it anymore and stood calmly in front of him. "It's your duty to hand over the money. Stop talking about how much you paid. It's your way of showing patriotism, what's there to brag about? Someone like you should be notified to have your scholar's hat removed."
"And where did you come from? Do you think you have the right to interfere in my affairs?" Scholar Wang glared fiercely at the meddlesome An Ke. "Do you know who I am? Don't try to meddle in my business just because you're a bit pretty."
"You call yourself a scholar? You don't have a mirror at home, but you must have water. Go look at your big face. How dare you stand here so arrogantly? If I were you, I would have died of shame long ago." An Ke almost vomited up her dinner after hearing Wang Xiucai's words.
"You..." Wang Xiucai was so angry that he choked and didn't know what to say. He just angrily pointed his index finger at the audacious girl.
Ertai looked at the quick-witted princess before him with delight. For someone like her to speak to him like that was an honor for him.
The master then walked out laughing. Anke turned his head and exchanged a glance with the master, nodding to indicate that it was his turn to continue the performance.
"This humble servant deserves to die, please forgive me, Your Majesty." Upon hearing the Emperor's voice, Liu Yixin quickly admitted his mistake.
"Hahaha, on this long journey, I have finally seen a local official who is not afraid of powerful figures and dares to get things done." The Emperor directly reached out and helped Liu Yixin up. Magistrate Liu felt unworthy of such praise.
Wang Xiucai, who was jumping up and down, was so frightened by Liu Zhixian's words that he froze on the spot, completely losing his previous tough and arrogant attitude, and hurriedly knelt on the ground.
The magistrate then said with a grudge, "When have I ever had to put up with the whims of a petty person like you? How could my court have such an arrogant scholar as you, disregarding the laws of the Qing Dynasty? You even dared to insult and attempt to harm the imperial children. I hereby immediately strip you of your title and your academic honors. Magistrate Liu, imprison him immediately."
Magistrate Liu respectfully accepted the order, "Yes, sir, take him away."
Scholar Wang was kneeling on the ground, trembling like a quail, pleading, "Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, forgive me!"
As Wang Xiucai was gradually dragged away, his heart-wrenching pleas for mercy could still be heard.
An Ke slowly walked up to the master's side and said in a deep voice, "Uncle, in An An's opinion, it's not enough to just lock him up; we also need to investigate who his associates are in the court, in order to prevent corrupt officials from exploiting truly talented people. It seems Uncle will be very busy again."
The master seemed to have just realized this, and hurriedly instructed Fuheng behind him, "Fuheng, remember this matter well. After we return to the capital, immediately conduct a secret investigation of everyone in the court."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Fu Heng replied respectfully, glancing admiringly at the young woman standing beside his master. The rumors were indeed true; Princess Yong'an was a lucky star for the Qing Dynasty.
"Alright, Magistrate Liu, let these young men handle the house repairs." After finishing his business, the Emperor turned his head and looked at the simple government office and the honest and upright official. For a moment, he felt a pang of pity.
An Ke also felt that such a good official should not be sitting in such a simple government office to handle cases. It was not a display of vanity, but a symbol of status and identity. Otherwise, wouldn't there be more arrogant "Wang Xiucai" in the future, causing trouble here?
After hearing An Ke's words, Magistrate Liu had no choice but to obey the Emperor's order and let these noble young masters and ladies go up to repair the roof.
Because Little Swallow had an injury on her bottom, she wasn't among the people repairing the roof this time.
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