Chapter 299 Bad Deeds
Yuan Ziyu saw the waiter listlessly cleaning up the mess on the ground. After he finished, he waved to the waiter.
The waiter thought Yuan Ziyu wanted more tea, so he hurried forward and asked, "Sir, would you like more tea?"
Yuan Ziyou shook his head and asked, "What was going on with that Wu Guanjia just now? Why did it involve the county magistrate's son? Why did he insist on buying your shop?"
Hearing Yuan Ziyou ask this, the clerk sighed and said, "Sir, please don't ask. It's our boss's bad luck anyway."
"The county magistrate's son is forcing you to buy your shop, but the county magistrate doesn't care? If you don't want to sell it, just go to the government office and seek justice from the county magistrate. I think the county magistrate is an official appointed by the court, and he will never allow his family to do such a wrong thing." Yuan Ziyu saw that the clerk seemed reluctant to speak, so he hurriedly said.
"Hey, gentlemen, you're from out of town, right?" the waiter asked. "But now that there's a flood and Yukang City has to pay an entrance fee, why are you still here?"
Huo Xifei laughed and said, "We came here to visit a friend, but we just found out he's already left. We were just about to eat and leave!"
After hearing what Huo Xifei said, the waiter relaxed his guard and looked back at the counter. Since there were no other customers at the time, he whispered, "You are outsiders, so you don't know anything about Yukang City. Our county governor is no different from that local tyrant!"
"Ah?" Yuan Ziyou's eyes widened. "No way, isn't this county magistrate afraid of being punished by the emperor?"
The clerk curled his lips and said, "Our Yukang Mansion is very far away from the capital. The emperor in the capital probably won't be able to take care of Yukang Mansion for a while. Besides, with such a long distance, who knows what the county magistrate has done? The reason why our shopkeeper's son forced us to buy this shop is because the family of one of his concubines took a fancy to this shop and wanted to use it to do business. The concubine is now quite favored, so naturally the county magistrate wanted to help the concubine buy our shop. However, the price of the shop..."
The clerk sighed, "It's really too little. This shop is our boss's ancestral property. The whole family relies on it for their livelihood. If it is really forcibly sold, I'm afraid... Oh!"
The guy shook his head again and said, "By then, I might even be kicked out!"
"This county magistrate is so bold!" Yuan Ziyou exclaimed in shock, "He relies on the fact that the emperor is far away to condone his family's reckless behavior."
The clerk whispered, "This is still a small matter. Who among the people in Yukang City doesn't have private complaints? But what can we do? We can only bear it. Since you came from outside, I think you have seen that there is an entrance fee to enter the city!"
Yuan Ziyou said hurriedly, "That's right. We were wondering when the Dali Dynasty would start collecting city fees. This is too outrageous!"
"This is naturally what the County Magistrate requested!" The clerk's voice lowered. "You don't know, the County Magistrate has a hand in most of the rice and clothing shops in Yukang City. Every year, those shops have to pay him dividends. The higher the price, the more dividends he gets!"
"As for the entrance fee!" the waiter said excitedly, sitting down at the table. "It's a new regulation that was introduced during the flood. They say this will prevent disaster victims from entering the city and maintain public order!"
As he spoke, the clerk curled his lips again and said, "If you ask me, maintaining law and order is nothing more than making money in various ways!"
Huo Xifei and Yuan Ziyu became furious when they heard this.
Huo Xifei suppressed his anger and asked the clerk again, "Oh right, when we came here, we found that there were no victims outside the city. Logically speaking, with this flood happening now, even if most people have gone out to make a living, there shouldn't be no victims around Yukang City, right?"
"I'm not sure about that!" The guy scratched his head and said, "It's just that I heard a piece of news, but I don't know if it's true or not."
"What news?" Yuan Ziyu asked hurriedly.
"I just heard it, I don't know if it's true, so don't take it seriously!" The waiter said, "Once, I heard a table of guests say that there were disaster victims outside the city, but they were all captured. As for what they were taken away for, the person didn't say. Anyway, the person's story was also vague, so I just listened to it!"
"Captured?" Huo Xifei frowned and asked, "Do you know who captured those victims?"
The guy shook his head: "I don't know about that. Besides, it's still unclear whether this is true or not!"
Huo Xifei nodded and said, "That's right, but your life here is really too hard. We have never encountered such high prices elsewhere!"
"Well, who says it isn't true? If it weren't for the families, I think many people would want to leave!" The guy sighed, "But, there's nothing we can do. We'll just have to endure it. Maybe when the next county magistrate comes, life will get better!"
At this time, another customer arrived, and the waiter hurriedly said, "Gentlemen, please enjoy your meal. I will take my leave now!"
Huo Xifei nodded.
Because of the butler Wu, most of the customers in the shop had left. Even if one or two more waves came, they were sparse. Besides, the two of them learned a lot from the waiter. Huo Xifei and Yuan Ziyu hurriedly ate their meal, paid the money, and left the shop.
After walking around outside for another while, Huo Xifei returned to the inn with a head full of anger.
Yuan Ziyou hurriedly comforted him, "Brother Xi, don't be angry. The county magistrate dared to act so brazenly. I thought, firstly, the emperor is far away, and secondly, he might have some backers in the court. Why don't we go to the county magistrate's mansion tonight and take a look?"
"Okay!" Huo Xifei nodded, squinting his eyes as he thought for a moment before saying, "The county magistrate has been acting this way in this place for years. He must have something to rely on. Furthermore, I suspect the unprovoked arrest of the victims outside the city is also related to the county magistrate. Let's go investigate tonight. If I catch him, I'll punish him severely."
"Of course!" Yuan Ziyou nodded quickly and said, "Corrupt officials like this should be punished!"
At night, Huo Xifei and Yuan Ziyu wore night clothes and came to the back court of the county magistrate's mansion through Yuan Ziyu's Qiongjiang Pavilion. Yuan Ziyu brought Huo Xifei out of the Qiongjiang Pavilion. The two searched secretly for a while and found the county magistrate's study.
Huo Xifei jumped onto the roof with Yuan Ziyu, quietly moved away a tile, and looked inside. He saw the county magistrate sitting in the study, looking at something.
Thanks to Xuebaobei, Yanyujiangpan, しovの, Yawu, Happying Woman, Lily Cheer Up, Wang Shunjun, Li Mingfen, Meizi, Anna, Yinshi, Yuanyuanma, Zhou Liling, Book Friend 137***293, Blue Moon, Ls, Suiyuan, Impression, Book Friend 854***509, hlqa, and Xuebaobei for their recommendation votesヾ(▽)ノ
(End of this chapter)
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