Before Jiang Ling could answer the village chief, Zhao Erleng pushed through the crowd and ran breathlessly to the village chief, saying in a panic, "Village...Village chief, there's...a suspicious person has entered the village!"
The village chief was shocked upon hearing this, but Jiang Ling calmly pointed to the unconscious man and asked, "Brother Erleng, is this the person you're talking about?"
Still shaken, Zhao Erleng held a torch and walked towards the man with trembling legs. In the firelight, a blood-covered, pale face appeared in Zhao Erleng's eyes. Zhao Erleng swallowed and looked at the man carefully before turning to nod to the village chief.
He looked at Jiang Ling with a puzzled expression and asked, "How did this man from the Jiang family end up here with you?"
The village chief's face gradually darkened. If he hadn't paid the guards money before, that would have been one thing, but now that he'd paid them money, they still hadn't kept an eye on the outsiders.
Thinking of this, the village chief glared at Zhao Erleng and angrily questioned, "What kind of work are you doing! Everyone was caught by Jiang Shi after entering the village before you notified me!"
It was indeed Zhao Erleng's team on duty tonight, but the autumn harvest had been so busy and tiring lately that Zhao Erleng's team wanted to take a rest. As soon as they fell asleep, they heard rustling sounds coming from the bushes. They were too tired and didn't pay any attention to it, so they changed their position and continued to sleep.
If one of them hadn't gone to relieve himself in the bushes and vaguely seen a blurry figure walking towards the village, Zhao Erleng and the others probably wouldn't have known that an outsider had come to the village, even if they had slept until dawn. After seeing the figure, the person immediately forgot his sleepiness and rushed off to inform Zhao Erleng without even fastening his belt.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Erleng suddenly opened his eyes and ran towards the village chief's house. However, when he arrived, the village chief's wife told him that Jiang Yaojie had already asked the village chief to leave. Zhao Erleng then hurriedly ran towards Jiang Ling's house.
"It's good that the village chief has caught him. Let it go. Everyone is exhausted from the autumn harvest. Brother Erleng didn't mean it!" Jiang Ling quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
Seeing that Jiang Ling had already spoken, the village chief couldn't say anything more. He could only glare at Zhao Erleng and then turn to Jiang Ling to ask, "Jiang Shi, what do you think should be done with this person?"
Jiang Ling was in a dilemma. If she handled the matter according to the village rules, she would have a hard time explaining it to Magistrate Duan, and it might even anger the other refugees. If those inhumane people wanted to avenge him, everyone in Lu Family Village would inevitably suffer an undeserved disaster.
But it was already late, and the man had fainted again and was still bleeding from his leg. Even if they left early the next morning to hand him over to Magistrate Duan, Jiang Ling was worried that the man's life was in danger.
"Just hand the person over to us!" Just as Jiang Ling was at her wit's end, two deep voices came from outside the door.
All eyes turned toward the sound, where two weary-looking constables in official robes stood at the door of Jiang Ling's house.
Jiang Ling happened to recognize one of them. She was very surprised to see them and quickly stepped forward to ask, "What brings you two officers here?"
"Magistrate Duan was worried about your safety, so he specially sent us to guard you around at night!" a yamen runner said in a low voice.
Jiang Ling blushed immediately after hearing this. She secretly rejoiced that it was late at night, otherwise her unusual behavior would definitely have drawn gossip from her sharp-eyed sisters-in-law.
"You two have worked hard. Please thank Magistrate Duan for me!" Jiang Ling took out two silver ingots from her pocket and placed them in the hands of the two yamen runners, whispering to them.
The constables were quite sensible. They exchanged a glance, took out a rope, tied the unconscious man up securely, and carried him out of Jiang Ling's house.
As they were leaving, one of the constables pointed at the village chief and then at Jiang Ling, and said sternly, "After dawn, please go to the county government office!"
Jiang Ling and the village chief both nodded and watched the two constables leave.
Everyone was still shaken that night, and almost no one slept. The usually peaceful and tranquil Lujia Village experienced its first sleepless night.
The next morning, the village chief appeared at Jiang Ling's door with dark circles under his eyes.
Jiang Ling is preparing breakfast for the children: egg pancakes with the aroma of scallions, thick millet porridge, and some pickled vegetables that Jiang Ling made herself.
The food was still steaming hot when it was served, and the village chief immediately turned around and left upon seeing it.
"Since the village chief is here, why don't you have a bite to eat?" Jiang Ling quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks and chased after him.
"No, no, Jiang, you've had a hard life to begin with. I'll be right there in a bit!" The village chief waved his hand repeatedly in refusal.
"It's alright! It's so early, Village Chief, you probably haven't eaten much! Come on, come on, it's just a matter of one set of chopsticks and a bowl! Yaojie, go to the kitchen and get another set of chopsticks and a bowl! Zhishan, quickly bring Uncle Village Chief in!" Jiang Ling hurriedly instructed the children in the house as the Village Chief was about to leave.
Seeing that Jiang Ling was determined to keep him for dinner, the village chief didn't say anything more and followed Jiang Zhishan inside.
The children greeted the village chief politely and made room for him. Everyone enjoyed the meal, but the village chief was a little uneasy. He could only secretly remember the time when Jiang Ling made breakfast and think that he would make sure to come at a different time next time.
Otherwise, if outsiders think that this old man is deliberately coming to freeload, he will completely lose face.
After finishing their meal, Jiang Ling made some simple arrangements at home and then rode with the village chief in Uncle Lu's oxcart toward Pingxi County.
This time, Lu Bo deliberately parked the oxcart at the entrance of the yamen. One of the yamen runners saw Jiang Ling appear and immediately ran to the back hall to inform Magistrate Duan. When Jiang Ling and the others got off the cart, they did not linger at the entrance of the yamen before being taken to the court by the yamen runners.
The yamen runners on duty last night informed Magistrate Duan overnight. If the incident hadn't happened in the middle of the night, Magistrate Duan probably would have personally driven his carriage to Lujia Village. Although the yamen runners had told him that Jiang was not in any danger, he still spent the night in unease.
Seeing that Jiang Ling was safe and sound this morning, he finally felt relieved.
After an all-night interrogation, the refugee could no longer withstand the torture and confessed everything, even clearly stating where they had been hiding.
"The investigation is complete. They are refugees from the same area as the last batch!" Lord Duan said to Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling raised an eyebrow and glanced at the village chief. Lord Duan immediately understood Jiang Ling's intention. He whispered a few words to the yamen runner beside him, who nodded and walked to the village chief's side, saying, "Village Chief Lu, you have done a great service this time. Let me take you to the back room to rest for a while!"
After nodding and bowing humbly to Magistrate Duan, the village chief, flattered and overwhelmed, left with the constables.
"Sit down!" Magistrate Duan's attitude immediately softened when he saw that only Jiang Ling and he were in the room.
"Thank you for your concern, Lord Duan!" Jiang Ling said, bowing deeply to Magistrate Duan.
"It's alright, it's alright, please sit down!" Magistrate Duan waved his hand and said.
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