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The next day, the Seventeenth Prince, along with Duolong and three of the ten men sent by the Fourth Prince to protect him, went to the county government office. This time, unlike last time, the Seventeenth Prince did not believe these words. Instead, following Duolong's advice, he directly asked them for county government officials and then had the person in charge of household registration bring over the household registration records to make a copy.
The county magistrate naturally dared not openly contradict the seventeenth prince, so he could only give him whatever he wanted without uttering a single word. In fact, if Duolong hadn't come, and the county magistrate, the county assistant, and the registrar had cooperated more, the seventeenth prince wouldn't have come for over a month without making any progress.
After all twenty county yamen runners had been brought out and the household registration records had been obtained, Seventeen and Duolong set off with them without wasting a single day.
After they left, a middle-aged man with a goatee and dressed in casual clothes walked up to the magistrate and said, "Look at the man next to the Seventeenth Prince, he's quite capable. No wonder the Seventeenth Prince didn't say anything this time, he just asked for the goods and the people directly."
"Hmph, I just want him to obediently hand over the disaster relief funds, otherwise don't even think about me cooperating." The magistrate stroked his thinning beard and said.
“In the past, disaster relief funds were always directly distributed by the master himself. This year, the seventeenth master is truly different,” the middle-aged man said.
"Hmph, clerk, quickly go and inform the others. I think the one beside the Seventeenth Prince is up to no good," the magistrate said.
Meanwhile, Seventeenth Master and Duolong sat in the carriage, while the others walked behind it. Because the area was slippery, the carriage dared not move at all, and headed towards the village at a speed roughly the same as that of human pedestrians.
"Brother Duolong, seeing that county magistrate looking at me with such a bewildered expression today really made me feel good," Seventeen said with a smile.
“A county magistrate like him is a seasoned official who used to make a fortune by siphoning off disaster relief funds. I’m afraid he’s extremely unwilling to accept the Seventeenth Prince’s actions this time. Look at his eyes today, they almost popped out of their sockets.”
"Haha!" Seventeen thought that this Duolong was really a talented person, and he was very much to his liking, so he said, "Today, Brother Duolong came with me and went straight to the heart of the matter, leaving him no reason to back down. I will report this achievement to Fourth Brother."
Seeing the Seventeenth Prince's attitude, Duolong felt grateful and said, "Thank you, Seventeenth Prince. This is just my duty. Please don't tell the Fourth Prince. I haven't done anything yet."
Seventeen's impression of Duolong improved even more, and the two continued to talk about the local customs and social conditions of this generation.
The carriage party traveled for a long time, finally entering the first mountain village near the afternoon. They found the village covered in snow, with the doors and windows of the stone houses completely obscured.
"Seventeenth Master, this place looks a bit eerie, doesn't it?" Duolong was the first to step out of the carriage. Seeing that the mountain village was so quiet that there wasn't a single sound of human voice, he felt that something was wrong.
“Brother Duolong, it looks like no one lives here. There isn’t a single footprint, not even a trace of a cat or dog.” Seventeenth Master got down from the carriage.
“Yes, it looks a bit creepy. This place is like a dead place,” Doron said. Frost had formed on their brows because the temperature was so low that water vapor in the air instantly turned into droplets when it touched their eyebrows.
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