"Yeah, Zhang Zhong and Zhao Hu aren't here anyway."
The other person was small in stature, but he was quick-witted and his eyes darted around.
"Yes! You're right!" Li Yuan seemed to have made up his mind after hearing their words.
He turned to Lin Qixia and said solemnly, "Then, Miss Lin—since you are so eager to know, then listen carefully to what is happening in the yamen."
"Perhaps then you'll understand why we're in a difficult position."
Lin Qixia leaned against the table, took a sip of tea from her teacup with one hand, and said, "Okay, go ahead."
“Sigh, the situation at the Chong County government office is quite complicated.” Li Yuan slapped his knee and simply pulled up a chair next to Lin Qixia to sit down.
After that, the boy started talking non-stop.
“The magistrate of Lichong County was named Feng Changchao. He did not come from a high social class. His ancestors were butchers. They were fierce-looking and had a similar personality. However, they suddenly became successful in his generation.”
"Even so, he still acts erratically, especially in this remote border region where the emperor is far away. He is practically a local tyrant, and he beats and kills servants at the drop of a hat. He has also wrongly judged countless cases in court. Not to mention others, even those of us who work under him are treated like grandsons by him. Life is not easy for us."
Lin Qixia paused for a moment upon hearing this, her tone seemingly indignant on their behalf, "How could this be? He is the magistrate of Lichong County."
In fact, Lin Qixia was not surprised at all by Li Yuan's words.
If the county magistrate hadn't been so incompetent, they wouldn't have continued to levy grain taxes on them even when the drought was raging and the imperial court had already distributed disaster relief grain.
If she's not mistaken, then Feng Changchao must be a greedy parasite.
"So what if it is!" Li Yuan became even more indignant upon hearing Lin Qixia's words. "Miss Lin, you should understand after all I've said. We subordinates can't do anything about him, so naturally we can't help you make an exception."
"If Lord Feng finds out, we'll be in big trouble!" the short man said with a mournful face.
Lin Qixia lowered her eyes. "I see. I understand."
"If that's the case—it seems I'll have no choice but to ask Miss Cheng."
Her tone seemed calm, yet it carried a subtle hint of threat.
"No, no, no!" Li Yuan cried out, "Miss Lin, please don't!"
He and several others panicked when they saw this.
"Even so, we still want to help you," Li Yuan said, turning to look at the short young man.
"Hua Xiaoguo! You'd better think of a way to help Miss Lin!"
Upon seeing this, the boy called Hua Xiaoguo quickly said "Oh," scratched his head, and suddenly said, "Miss Lin, don't worry. I think—the reason you're being so difficult by Magistrate Feng must be because you offended him somewhere."
"Did I offend him?" Lin Qixia was surprised that this kid would suddenly make this analysis.
Hua Xiaoguo said, "Yes, Magistrate Feng is domineering but also petty. Based on my understanding of his daily behavior and personality, he wouldn't target you like this unless you offended him."
“I understand,” Lin Qixia replied.
Li Yuan, who was standing nearby, said, "As for the specific reason, I think Miss Lin, you can find an opportunity to approach him or someone close to him and ask him yourself."
“For example, his son, Feng Xiao,” the fat man suggested.
As soon as he said that, Li Yuan and Hua Xiaoguo both turned around and looked at him at the same time.
"What's wrong?" Lin Qixia noticed something was amiss and asked.
Li Yuan twitched the corner of his mouth and shook his head, saying, "What Fatty Ruan said is right. Compared to his father, it's easier to get information out of Feng Xiao. But I advise you to be more careful."
“That kid—he’s even worse than his father, a real bully who knows how to harass men and women,” Hua Xiaoguo added from the side.
Ruan Pang said, "Perfect timing. Tomorrow is Feng Xiao's birthday. After he finishes his birthday banquet at the manor, he might go to Yuxian Tower. Miss Lin can take this opportunity to go see him."
Lin Qixia glanced at him upon hearing this and replied with an "Oh".
Despite the fact that Ruan Pang had given her a lot of information, her intuition told her that this guy probably had ill intentions.
It was a deliberate act to lure me to Feng Xiao.
"Thank you all very much." With that, she stood up, politely and distantly cupped her hands in greeting, and said, "It's getting late, so I'll take my leave now."
Having obtained this information, she needed to go back and make some careful plans.
After all, she only had two days left.
The Zhang Zhong and Zhao Hu they mentioned must be the people who came to make things difficult for her yesterday.
Regardless of why Magistrate Feng sent them to make things difficult for her, she had to figure out the reason in order to truly solve the problem.
"Miss Lin, please take care!" Li Yuan and the others did not stop her.
After watching Lin Qixia leave, Li Yuan looked at her back and a thoughtful expression flashed across his face.
Ruan Pang, who was standing next to him, patted Li Yuan on the shoulder: "It's all done! You don't have to worry about it anymore."
"Yes." Hua Xiaoguo sat to the side, casually eating the tea and snacks on the table, muttering indistinctly, "We've fulfilled Young Master Feng's requests, as for Miss Lin—"
"I think we've already kindly reminded her. If she still falls for it, it's none of our business."
Li Yuan turned around and sat opposite him, then picked up the teapot on the table and drank several mouthfuls.
Then, in a fit of anger, he slammed the teapot on the table and said, "Who knows? Lin Qixia isn't so easy to deal with."
"Now she's gotten involved with the Cheng family again and found a powerful backer."
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