Xu Jinhuan knew what Xie Datou was asking. She looked at the semi-transparent system back panel in front of her, confirmed the information on the map, and then said to Xie Datou.
"If you want to stop, continue heading northeast; there's a small county town there."
Xie Datou nodded upon hearing this, "Alright, let's get going now."
"drive!"
Xie Datou gave the little red horse a light tap, and the carriage immediately started moving.
Xia Zhiying lifted the curtain of the carriage next to her and immediately felt a gust of hot air rushing towards her. She muttered to herself.
"I thought the night breeze would be cooler, but it's still so hot."
After taking a sip of chilled water, Xu Jinhuan said with a smile, "Don't you even look at how much ice you've put in this little carriage? If you still think the wind outside is cool, these ice cubes will be crying."
Ever since she learned that Xu Jinhuan had taken back all the tools she had left at the Fu residence, Xia Zhiying has not stopped researching ice.
The ice blocks in the carriage now are all Xia Zhiying's handiwork.
After hearing Xu Jinhuan's teasing, Xia Zhiying scratched her head a little embarrassedly, "It's a pity that these ice cubes are still inedible. I must develop an edible ice cube in the future."
Xu Jinhuan smiled and nodded, "Okay, I'll definitely be there to support you."
After chatting for a while, the two soon felt the carriage stop.
"Big Head, have we arrived yet?" Xu Jinhuan asked.
Xie Datou nodded and said, "We've arrived. I'll park the carriage here and wait for you to come back, Boss."
Xu Jinhuan nodded, and nimbly jumped off the carriage. She then used her lightness skill, like a night elf, and quickly disappeared from Xie Datou and Xia Zhiying's sight.
After entering the county town, Xu Jinhuan skillfully began to offer "warmth".
That's right, it's warmth.
Since activating the new function of faith last time, Xu Jinhuan discovered that she could briefly act as a god, and she was prepared to make good use of this ability to gradually spread her influence.
Therefore, whenever she arrived at a new place, she would first visit the local magistrate's residence. If the magistrate was an honest official, she would quietly leave as if she had never been there.
If this magistrate is a corrupt official, then it's all over; Xu Jinhuan will definitely turn his house upside down.
After emptying his house, they would then stage some tricks and charades to force him to repent and start anew.
Afterwards, Xu Jinhuan would go to the slums there and start distributing welfare.
This so-called welfare might contain grain belonging to local corrupt officials, or it might contain grain from various prefectures in the capital. There was simply too much grain that had been moved before, making it impossible to tell which family it belonged to.
However, the result is the same: what is taken from the people should be used for the people!
However, he was using someone else's stuff, and what increased was Xu Jinhuan's own faith value.
This time was no exception. Xu Jinhuan skillfully climbed over the wall into the county magistrate's office in this small county town, intending to investigate.
Just then, a light shone from the mansion, and Xu Jinhuan followed the light to a place that, judging from the surrounding furnishings, seemed to be the county magistrate's study.
"What? The higher-ups think they don't have enough people?" A middle-aged man's voice came from the study.
Xu Jinhuan activated his invisibility ability and transformed himself into a liquid, slowly flowing into the study to investigate the situation.
As soon as she entered, she saw that there were two people in the room: a middle-aged man sitting in a chair and a young man with an expressionless face.
The person sitting there was clearly of higher status, but there was no trace of authority on his face.
After standing up from his seat, he walked over to the young man and began to fawn over him, behaving extremely obsequiously.
"Oh dear, I just spoke carelessly. I didn't mean to contradict my master's orders. Please understand, sir."
However, a hundred beautiful women is really too many. Ever since the news of the missing women spread in the county, many young women have stopped going out.
Even when they go out, they're always with their families. It's really difficult!
The young man seemed to be quite receptive to his explanation; after hearing it, the sharpness in his eyes lessened.
"I can't say much else, but I can tell you that this is a test from your master. If you pass it, I don't need to tell you about the benefits that follow, do I?"
After the young man finished speaking, he gave the county magistrate a wink.
Upon hearing this, the magistrate was immediately overjoyed. He smiled and said, "Thank you for your advice, sir. I will immediately send people to search for young girls and gather a hundred as soon as possible."
After saying that, he added, "It is getting late today. I have already arranged a courtyard and some entertainment for you, sir. Please do not find my humble abode too simple."
The young man was pleased with the other party's tact and arrogantly raised his head, "As long as you do your job well, when I return to the capital, I will definitely put in a good word for you with my master."
After saying this, he left the house and was respectfully led away by the servants.
After the magistrate and the other young men left, he immediately stopped smiling and said to his servant, "Go and fetch the clerk for me!"
A short while later, a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar entered the study.
"Magistrate, is it urgent that you summon me so late at night?"
The magistrate said with a stern face, "Old Xu, we've waited so long, our luck is finally about to arrive."
The clerk, known as Old Xu, was both surprised and delighted upon hearing this. "Really? You can leave Nanheng County?"
The magistrate nodded. "Yes, but I have a test from above."
Before the clerk could ask, the magistrate recounted what had just happened. Finally, he asked, "Old Xu, you've always been more cautious than me. Do you have a safer way?"
After thinking for a while, Lao Xu said, "With so many people, we might not be able to gather enough even if we go to the broker. Why don't we try a three-pronged approach?"
Some will go to buy, some will find people to kidnap as usual, and the last part can be arranged as a lantern festival, allowing your underlings to wait for lone individuals.
The daytime temperatures are high now, and people are active at night, so the timing is perfect.
Upon hearing this, the county magistrate immediately laughed and said, "Old Xu, you're so clever! This way, we can both spread the risk and speed things up. If the higher-ups are pleased, we might even be able to make a name for ourselves in the capital!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Jinhuan finally understood that the county magistrate was probably the same person who had previously colluded with Zhou, the richest man.
However, after Zhou, the richest man in China, died, the network of connections he controlled was broken, which resulted in a temporary shortage of people.
Xu Jinhuan was puzzled. Why did Lei Tingjun have so many girls? Weren't the ones he had abducted before enough? Now he was so anxious that he sent people to personally order their arrest.
Even a brothel can't be this short of staff, can it?
Xu Jinhuan stopped thinking about it and instead focused his attention on the two people inside the room. This county magistrate should have been the local official in charge, but he had unexpectedly started abducting people.
That's truly outrageous.
Moreover, judging from what these two said, it seems they have done this more than once, and it's time to teach them a lesson.
Thinking of this, Xu Jinhuan smiled brightly. She grabbed the clerk's sleeve and made him slap the magistrate's face hard.
"Smack!"
A crisp sound rang out in the room.
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