Chapter 13 The Situation
The scene suddenly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Granny Qi and Granny Mao were so shocked they couldn't speak. What were they saying? She had actually broken all three of their legs?
A look of disbelief flashed in Meng Guanqi's eyes: "You—you broke their legs? How could you abuse your power like this?"
Li smiled and said, "Where we're from, kidnappers are beaten to death if they're caught. I only broke their legs, which is already very magnanimous." She looked completely matter-of-fact, as if she found Meng Guanqi's question rather strange.
She tossed the silver in her hand and patted the oxcart: "This is what they gave me in compensation. They tried to kidnap me, but they couldn't beat me, so they were willing to pay for it."
She had already thought of her reasons, and after saying them, she felt very satisfied and even nodded to herself.
Well, although she's not well-educated, she's quite quick-witted, not bad at all.
The scene was deathly silent; even Meng Guanqi was speechless.
Ah Sheng's mouth dropped open, and he secretly gave her a thumbs up behind her back.
Meng Guanqi's anger flared up completely, because he had just remembered that in many poor and backward villages in Dawu, when kidnappers were killed, the villagers did not intervene and the officials did not investigate. They used this method to protect their children from being trafficked.
Li Xiaoxiao is a refugee who fled famine. She has such customs, so it can only be said that she was deeply influenced by them, and it cannot be blamed that she did something wrong.
But her father is now the magistrate of Biyang County, and this kind of thing should be judged by law. Li Xiaoxiao is the magistrate's maid, and she represents the magistrate's attitude, so she cannot be dealt with arbitrarily.
He sighed: "Come with me. If these three are really kidnappers, we can't let them get away with it. Besides, the money you received is considered stolen money, which should be confiscated according to the law. I'll take you to report to the authorities and find the yamen runners."
Li Xiaoxiao's face immediately fell. They actually wanted to confiscate it?! Isn't that outrageous?
But she is now a servant, and her master says he wants to confiscate her property; she has no right to refuse.
With a long face, Li Xiaoxiao had no choice but to follow behind Meng Guanqi.
The county government office was located in the front courtyard. Meng Guanqi led Li Xiaoxiao into the main hall of the county government office. Magistrate Meng had gone to a neighboring county. There were a few yamen runners scattered in the main hall, some standing and some sitting. They didn't stand or sit properly. One of the officers, dressed in a constable's uniform, sat casually in a chair, peeling peanuts and chatting with his subordinates. Peanut shells and his leather coat fell all over the floor.
Upon seeing Meng Guanqi approach, one of the constables nudged the head constable, saying, "Head Constable Shi, Young Master Meng is here."
Officer Shi glanced at him lazily, his hands still peeling peanuts: "Oh, Young Master Meng, what brings you here? The magistrate has gone to the neighboring county and hasn't returned yet. If you need to talk to him, you'll have to wait until he comes back."
Meng Guanqi frowned as he looked at the chaotic state of the hall. How could this resemble a county government office handling cases? It was no different from a roadside tavern!
Meng Guanqi had been in Biyang County for half a year. He knew that Magistrate Meng had many obstacles in implementing the government's policies, but this was, after all, his father's office, and he was only a scholar with no official position. Therefore, he had neither the right nor the status to interfere in the affairs of the county government. On the few times he had come, he left with a furrowed brow each time. But he did not expect that after half a year, the atmosphere here would become more and more outrageous...
With such a prevailing atmosphere, how could Father possibly achieve his goal of political harmony and social stability?
He pretended not to see: "Officer Shi, this is a servant of my household. Just now, we saw three people in the market abducting and trafficking women in broad daylight. The person has been apprehended. Please have a few constables accompany us to arrest them."
Officer Shi slowly tossed the last peanut into his mouth, then gestured for his subordinate to pour him a cup of tea, which he slowly drank. Finally, he slowly stood up, picked at his ear, and said, "What the hell? Kidnapping women in the street? And they caught them? Young Master Meng, we're very busy; we'll be heading to the city gate to distribute porridge soon. By the way, since you're here, I wanted to ask you something. The county office only has a few bags of coarse rice left, enough for only three days. The magistrate hasn't returned yet. What if the rice runs out? We've been distributing porridge for over half a month now, and the number of refugees outside the city is growing. We don't have a solution. Perhaps Young Master Meng could give us some advice on what to do when the rice runs out in three days?"
He smiled contemptuously: "We've been distributing porridge once a day. What if we stop after three days? What do you think those refugees outside the city will do? Will they kneel down and thank Magistrate Meng for saving their lives and then disperse on their own? Or will they be furious, thinking we have rice but are hiding it and want to come in and burn, kill, and vandalize?"
Meng Guanqi was still young and didn't expect to be refuted like that, so she unconsciously took a step back.
Head Constable Shi grinned, but his eyes were icy cold: "We told Magistrate Meng long ago that this porridge distribution must not be allowed. These refugees have passed through so many prefectures and counties, and every magistrate has tried their best to drive them away. But Magistrate Meng, on the other hand, opened the county granary and is giving them porridge a day. How could those refugees leave when they can stay alive? The number of people will only increase. It's too late to drive them away now, and the porridge distribution cannot be stopped. If it stops, no one knows what will happen..."
Meng Guanqi couldn't help but take another step back, a bead of sweat slowly trickling down his forehead.
Officer Shi chuckled and turned back to take a sip of tea. "The granary is empty right now. If Magistrate Meng can't come back, please tell his wife. Before he left, he said that if anything happens, you can go to the backyard and ask his wife for help."
Meng Guanqi felt his mouth go dry: "Are we just going to leave those human traffickers like this?"
Officer Shi's expression was strange: "Young Master Meng, even if you say it's true, what happens when we arrest them and lock them up? The granary is empty, and we still have to feed and care for them. Who can afford that? In the current situation, if they knew there was food in the county jail, I guarantee you, dozens or even hundreds of people would immediately use the excuse of committing a crime to try and squeeze into the jail, do you believe me? Compared to life, what is human trafficking?"
Meng Guanqi was speechless once again.
He felt his mind had been greatly shaken; no, it shouldn't be like this.
He was well-versed in loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, the principles of official conduct, and the laws of the Great Wu Dynasty; they would never pose him with such a difficult problem.
But reality slapped him hard in the face. He heard every word that Constable Shi said clearly, but he couldn't refute any of them.
When he learned that his father had taken in refugees and decided to provide only one bowl of porridge a day, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. With so many refugees, the government's relief funds and grain would surely arrive eventually. It was just a temporary diversion of the grain from the treasury. Once the relief grain arrived, it could be replenished. He couldn't just stand by and watch the people starve to death and resort to cannibalism, could he?
But more than a month has passed, and there has been no news of disaster relief funds or supplies. My father, who used to write to the prefectural city every three days to urge for money and supplies, has now become one letter a day. Right now, he has personally gone to the neighboring county to borrow supplies, but we don't know if he can borrow them back...
As the number of refugees outside the city increased, he, having studied military strategy, knew that a small favor could breed resentment. The refugees would not remember the county that had driven them away with whips, but would instead hold a grudge against Biyang County, which had been providing them with porridge and hope, only to suddenly stop.
Cold sweat poured down Meng Guanqi's forehead. He hissed, "Is there still no news about the imperial court's disaster relief funds?"
Officer Shi and his men exchanged glances and burst into laughter. Officer Shi was almost laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes: "Young Master Meng, how could you believe in such a thing as disaster relief funds? I've been working in the county government for over ten years and I've never seen what disaster relief funds look like."
"Me too."
“I’ve been here for five years, and I’ve never seen it before.”
“I took over my father’s job. I’ve never even met my father, let alone me.”
After laughing, Officer Shi wiped away his tears and straightened his hat. "Alright, time's almost up. We need to hurry to the city gate. Did you all sharpen your knives as I told you?"
"It's all ground, it's all ground."
Officer Shi said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Meng Guanqi was standing right in front of him. The head constable had no intention of going around him. He was bumped into without any politeness and almost fell to the ground. He staggered and Li Xiaoxiao quickly helped him up.
Soon, the entire main hall of the county government office became empty.
Meng Guanqi's face turned deathly pale, and he couldn't utter a single word. This was the first time he had faced reality head-on, and it had a tremendous impact on him.
Li Xiaoxiao was clearly much calmer than him: "Young Master, let's go."
Meng Guanqi nodded blankly and was helped out of the county government office.
Li Xiaoxiao helped the dazed man onto the oxcart and cracked the whip: "Let's go."
The old ox trotted along, step by step, towards the main street.
It wasn't until the oxcart stopped at the rice shop that Meng Guanqi came to her senses: "You, why did you bring me here?"
Li Xiaoxiao said calmly, "Buying rice, didn't you hear what Officer Shi just said? The county government only has a few bags of rice left."
Meng Guanqi clenched his fist under his sleeve.
Li Xiaoxiao blinked: "He's right. The porridge distribution at the city gate can't be interrupted, not even for half a day. If it's interrupted, something terrible will happen." She had finally found a place to stay and didn't want it to be taken over by refugees in just a couple of days.
If a riot were to break out at the city gates, the county government would be the first to be affected.
This place is a symbol of power and wealth. Although she had just taken a look inside, the dilapidated tables and benches in the county government office were patched up and the paint was peeling off in a mess. They were really not worth much money.
She had no money, and as for power, judging from the attitudes of Constable Shi and the other constables towards Young Master Meng and Magistrate Meng, she felt that Magistrate Meng was unlikely to be able to command his subordinates.
He has no money and no power, but he is the first to be blamed when something goes wrong, and he is responsible for everything afterward. With no way out in front and pursuers behind, it is really difficult for Magistrate Meng to be an official. Now, because of the porridge distribution, refugees are constantly gathering outside the city. In order to prevent chaos, maintaining the status quo is the best solution.
Meng Guanqi's face turned pale: "Even you think something bad will happen? How did you know?"
Li Xiaoxiao looked at him and said, "Because I've seen it before~" and she's seen it many times.
Meng Guanqi's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single word.
Li Xiaoxiao ignored him and walked straight into the rice shop. A shop assistant immediately came up to her: "Miss, would you like rice or noodles?"
Li smiled and asked, "How much is the cheapest rice you have here?"
The waiter said, "The cheapest rice is brown rice, five coins a pound."
Li Xiaoxiao tossed him a money bag: "Here are eighteen taels. Exchange them all for coarse rice and send them to the county government's granary."
The shop assistant bowed and said, "Alright, eighteen taels of silver, and a total of three thousand six hundred catties of coarse rice. It will definitely be delivered to the county government granary before sunset."
Meng Guanqi looked at her as she came out of the shop with a complicated expression: "You exchanged all eighteen taels of silver that the kidnapper gave you for coarse rice?"
Li Xiaoxiao said, "That's right. Didn't you say this money was to be confiscated? Since it's going to be confiscated, why not exchange it for rice? More than three thousand catties of rice should last for ten days to half a month, right? By then, the county magistrate should be back, right?"
Meng Guanqi lowered his head, unwilling to admit it, but he had to admit that he had done worse than Li Xiaoxiao.
She was just a maid he had recently bought.
A note from the author:
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