Xia Yan was even more direct, scrutinizing Liu Mingyuan from head to toe with her eyes, thinking to herself, "This tone, this logic, why does it sound so much like those old fogies in our Magic Council who claim to be scientific and oppose all mystical forces?"
Before Liu Mingyuan could finish speaking and before Chen Shuiyi could even defend herself, the surrounding crowd immediately objected.
"Your Excellency, you are mistaken!"
Even a normally honest and unassuming farmer blushed and retorted.
"The Mountain Goddess sent down sweet rain to save our crops; that's an immense favor! How can you say it's just empty talk?"
“Exactly!” another sharp voice rang out. “The Mountain Goddess is a true deity! Unlike some people who don’t keep their word!”
An even bolder old farmer squeezed out of the crowd and pointed at Liu Mingyuan's nose, shouting.
"Your Excellency! Don't forget! You still owe these hundreds of us a kowtow each!"
"Yes! Kneel! Kneel!"
"When will you keep your promise, sir?"
"We're all waiting!"
The crowd erupted in chaos, with waves of kowtows rising and falling, soaring into the sky.
Liu Mingyuan's face suddenly changed from ashen to liver-colored, and then from liver-colored to a deep purple, a truly spectacular sight.
He never expected that these ignorant people would still remember this incident! And they even shouted it out in front of the visiting merchant caravan!
Chen Shuiyi, Xia Yan, and the other members of the caravan were all stunned and dumbfounded.
kowtow?
To kowtow once to each of hundreds of people?
Xia Yan blinked her beautiful big eyes, looking at Liu Mingyuan, who was on the verge of exploding, and then at the indignant crowd.
Unable to resist, she nudged Chen Shuiyi lightly with her elbow, lowering her voice, her eyes full of curiosity and gossip.
"Sister Shuiyi, what's going on? Is this magistrate playing such a big game with the people? Is this some kind of local custom, or is there something else going on?"
Chen Shuiyi's lips twitched slightly as she suppressed a laugh, trying her best to maintain the composed image of a caravan manager.
She never expected that the magistrate of Anping County would have such a glorious and unknown story, putting on such a grand show for them right from the start!
These officials of Liang Kingdom are indeed full of hidden talents!
Liu Mingyuan was furious and shouted again, "A bunch of troublemakers! I am your official in charge! They are just a foreign merchant caravan trying to take advantage of you!"
“Everything I’ve done has been for your benefit. Otherwise, as a mere county magistrate, I could simply stay in my high seat and enjoy myself comfortably. Why would I need to run around with you, worrying about this and that?”
"Ask yourselves honestly, which county magistrate could do what I have done? I never embezzled, and I only wanted to help you get rich, but what have you all done?"
Magistrate Liu's words did indeed quiet the people down, and in fact, what the magistrate said was not wrong.
After taking office, Magistrate Liu was indeed very busy, and the people could see him almost every day.
However, this also caused trouble for the county magistrate, who tried to help but ended up making things worse!
The county magistrate considered the things the people treasured to be feudal and ignorant, and believed that the pickled vegetables they made were unclean, so he threw them all away, causing many people to go hungry and not have anything to eat!
But that's how they've been eating for generations! Even if it's not clean, you can't just throw it away!
However, you can overpower the magistrate; who can refute his words?
As a result, many people are now skin and bones from hunger.
The county magistrate was indeed very concerned about this matter, sending messages time and time again. The imperial court wanted disaster relief grain, but the grain never arrived. What could they do?
Now that the caravan has finally arrived, is the magistrate going to stop it?
As they pondered these thoughts, a group of people couldn't help but voice what was on their minds.
Liu Mingyuan felt a chill run down his spine after hearing this.
He retreated repeatedly.
Just then, Xia Yan came out carrying a wooden box.
"Hey magistrate, don't get agitated. Who said they were selling talisman water?"
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