Chapter 59: Chilling
"Uncle Dashan——"
"Is that Uncle Dashan outside? Come in quickly." I don't know whether the village chief did it intentionally or unintentionally, but he happened to stop the person who was cursing.
Dashan and the others looked at each other, wondering whether to go in or not. They exchanged glances, then turned to Dashan, who felt the most guilty.
Although Dashan was impatient, he was always brave enough to take responsibility. In the end, he gritted his teeth and said, "Go in—"
Walking into the main hall, Dashan looked at the seated Chu Ci and felt quite uncomfortable: "Mrs. Fan... is here too. Fengchun, why did you call a bunch of us rough guys in here?"
The village chief looked at Chu Ci and saw him nod. He then said to Dashan and the others, "Mrs. Fan wants to open up new land in the village and asked me to find some people of good character. You are here at the right time and meet the requirements. I thought I wouldn't have to make an extra trip. If Mrs. Fan thinks you are suitable, then it's settled."
Everyone was shocked, Dashan especially. "Don't you blame me?"
Did this person think she was a deity? It was so far away, it was strange that she could hear him. She might as well pretend to be confused: "What have you done to offend the Fan family?"
"No, no." Dashan subconsciously shook his head to deny it.
Chu Ci chuckled: "The work of clearing wasteland is not easy, are you willing?"
"But can we use the plow that you brought back?" Seeing Chu Ci being so kind, one of them asked bravely.
So, these people came here for the curved plow? Chu Ci's eyes flickered slightly, "Okay, but..."
Before Chu Ci finished speaking, a group of people couldn't help but cheer: "Great!"
Only Dashan, besides being surprised, was more embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I...said bad things about you before."
Chu Ci thought, this person is too real.
Looking at the village chief and the man next to Dashan, who looked as if he wanted to cover Dashan's mouth, Chu Ci couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Hey my, when other people travel through time and space in a book, they meet only the best, but when she, Chu Ci, travels through time and space in a book, she meets not only the best but also some funny people.
"Forget it, Uncle Dashan, right? I forgive you, but remember, this won't happen again. If you continue to insult me without distinguishing right from wrong, I will remove you from the Fan family's recruitment list."
"Ah... aren't you going to punish me?" Dashan still looked stupid.
The village chief wanted to hold his head down and bow, but in the end he couldn't help but remind him, "What are you talking about? Hurry up and thank Madam Fan."
"Thank you, Madam Fan! Thank you, Madam Fan!"
Seeing this, everyone hurriedly followed suit and thanked: "Thank you, Madam Fan."
Chu Ci nodded in response, but said nothing more. Instead, he offered to leave. The excited crowd naturally didn't stop him.
After a long while, everyone calmed down and exclaimed: "We were so happy that we even forgot to discuss the wages."
Although the new plow is important, life is more important! What should they do? If they go back in such a confused state, their wives and children will definitely not forgive them.
So is it too late to regret now?
The village chief just watched these fools anxiously until he had seen enough, then he slowly said: "The day's wages are twenty cents, and meals are not included."
Twenty cents, that's twenty cents a day for a coolie at the dock. So Dashan instinctively shouted, "How is this possible?"
"The young lady of the Fan family is really a good person!" Twenty cents a day, Chu Ci only paid the wages that a strong laborer deserved, and he easily got a good person card.
The village chief's mouth twitched for a long time after hearing this before he continued to explain, "These twenty cents are not so easy to take. If you drag your feet or deliberately delay the work, your wages will be deducted."
"Don't worry, we are not lazy people." Unexpectedly, Dashan comforted the village chief.
There was also a quick-witted person who approached the village chief with a sly look on his face: "Village chief, you know so much about this, have you been assigned a management job?"
The village chief was in a good mood and laughed and scolded: "No wonder everyone calls you a monkey, you are indeed a very clever monkey."
Compared with the joy and peace on the village chief's side, the atmosphere in the Fan family seemed somewhat depressing.
Two days passed, and An Qi almost turned the county government office upside down, but still found no evidence.
The Fifth Prince couldn't help but wonder in his heart: "Could it be that we are heading in the wrong direction?"
"Nine out of ten," Fan Jingrui nodded. "But besides the county magistrate, who else would dare to issue a decree without authorization?"
Fan Jingrui brought everything back to normal with one sentence: "Cousin, if that doesn't work, let's try a simpler approach and start by investigating the yamen runners from that day."
"In this case, the workload of analysis and organization will increase significantly, and you may not be able to handle it alone." An Qi said as he cautiously glanced at the Fifth Prince beside him.
The Fifth Prince was slightly annoyed. Was he really that unreasonable? "I'll help too."
However, the yamen runners came into contact with so many people every day that An Qi could only do his best to record every detail. Even if the Fifth Prince tried his best to help, it would be of no avail.
Naturally, all the members of the Fan family were drafted again.
After more than ten days of investigation, they finally found the real culprit behind the scenes. It turned out to be the clerk who was always regarded as a good guy by everyone in the county government.
"How is this possible?" The clerk was a government official, but in reality, he wasn't even close to the imperial court. The Fifth Prince couldn't believe it.
Fan Jingrui had never imagined that a small clerk could secretly control several officials in the government office. "Whether it's true or not, let An Qi investigate tonight and we'll know."
The fact is that you can't judge a person by his appearance. A small clerk not only took advantage of his familiarity with the affairs of the county government to accept bribes, but also relied on the good guy image he had always pretended to have to give the county magistrate, county magistrate, chief clerk, registrar, inspector, postmaster, and the previous county magistrate an addictive drug.
As long as they showed any abnormality, he would order people to stop taking their medicine and torture them secretly for fun.
He has taken countless lives and treats Yazhou as his independent kingdom.
"Report quickly and present the situation in Yazhou to father as soon as possible." Although the fifth prince had no ambition to ascend the throne, he truly regarded the Great Zhou Dynasty as his own home.
How could the Fifth Prince not be angry when his own things were destroyed?
Chu Ci, however, felt no sympathy for him at all, instead, he seemed to be gloating. "Cousin, if a mere clerk dared to hold Shangguan hostage, then is it possible for him to change the identities of those people in the Guilty Village?"
Speaking of this, Chu Ci suddenly thought of the Tatars hiding in the Great Zhou.
Could it be that they are hiding in these villages, living openly as people of the Great Zhou?
Just thinking about it makes Chu Ci shudder!
If it is true, the emperor would not be able to sleep even though he is far away in the capital!
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