Chapter 39
Who’s the Vicious Supporting Actress
Zhang Zhan brought a group of people to the county city. A single trip was 60 li. It should have taken three hours, but everyone was worried about their families and did not rest halfway. They spent two and a half hours to arrive. The poor officials’ backs ached from walking, but they did not say anything.
The villagers of Hu Family Village were very uneasy, afraid that they would be beaten up the moment they entered the county office.
They had heard that regardless of whether they were in the right or wrong, they would be beaten up after entering the county office.
It was only when they arrived that they found out that the county magistrate of Yongding County had been removed from his position and investigated some time ago. The reason was that he was lining his own pockets.
The entire Yongding County had been turned inside out. Only then did they know that after every disaster, the Imperial Court had distributed the money and food for disaster relief to the villages, but the funds had ended up in the county magistrate’s pocket.
Not only that, the taxes that the local county magistrate ordered to collect from the villages had actually doubled!
“Fortunately, the Imperial Court sent someone to investigate this time. Otherwise, countless people would have starved to death again!”
Some villagers also wiped their tears. “We all misunderstood the Tian family and thought that they didn’t care about our lives. We didn’t expect that it was the corrupt officials who played tricks!”
“How hateful!”
“Heaven has eyes.”
The people from Shanyang Village were not so lucky. They ate people first and caused trouble later. Even if it was caused by hunger, they could not be forgiven.
The new county magistrate had yet to arrive. The person reviewing the case was a county lieutenant with the surname Cao. He was a very upright person. Back then, he was suppressed by the county magistrate, but he was still unwilling to cooperate. In the end, he survived this storm.
Old Madam Wang looked at Village Chief Hu beside her and shook her sleeves. “Village Chief Hu, after this matter is over, let’s get my granddaughter’s household register settled first, okay?”
Originally, they could already apply for a household register internally, but they still had to come to the county city to register. In addition, the child was adopted and required many witnesses to testify.
But now that the villagers were all around, it was best to settle it in the county city.
Village Chief Hu saw that it was still early and the county lieutenant had yet to officially announce his judgment, so they might as well take this opportunity to settle this.
The people of Shanyang Village were all terrified and uneasy when they were imprisoned, especially some who had committed serious crimes. Even though they were poisoned by the snake venom, they were still carried to prison.
When they heard that the county lieutenant’s surname was Cao, they all remembered that their village chief’s surname was also Cao.
The villager from Shanyang Village said to Village Chief Cao, “Village Chief, is County Lieutenant Cao related to your family? If he’s really a relative, can you ask him to let us go? This cell is really not a place for humans.”
Village Chief Cao remained silent.
The villagers were anxious. “Village Chief! You can’t just watch us be locked up in cells! There are still old people and children at home waiting for us to go back and feed them!”
“You also know that there are still old people and children at home. When you did those things back then, did you think about your wives and children?!” A voice filled with anger sounded from outside. Everyone looked and saw that it was someone in a county lieutenant uniform.
Who else could it be but County Lieutenant Cao?
When County Lieutenant Cao saw Village Chief Cao sitting furthest away, his face was filled with disappointment and even more ruthlessness. “Cao Hua, you’ve actually fallen to such a state. Are you worthy of honoring Uncle’s soul in heaven?!”
Under the shocked gazes of the villagers, Village Chief Cao’s face turned ashen. His eyes were filled with shame.
The villagers only had one thought: It’s over…
At this moment, Zhang Zhan was checking the documents for the disaster relief report in the inner courtyard of the county office when a servant hurriedly walked in.
“Sir.” The man cupped his hands.
“You found out so quickly?” Zhang Zhan asked.
That person said, “We’ve found some clues. Someone once saw two people riding horses in the county city to rest. They mentioned the words that were lost in the mountains. However, the snow was too heavy and we couldn’t hear them clearly. They left before dawn.”
“Continue investigating.” Zhang Zhan did not look up as he tapped his fingers on the table. “Investigate in secret. Just tell me the results within a month.”
The disaster this time covered a wide area. He would have to stay for at least another month or two.
“Yes!”
At the same time, in a tall courtyard 200 miles away, two people looked around at the back door before knocking.
After the person inside opened the door and saw that it was them, he let them in.
The two of them walked all the way to the innermost area and met a young girl who was about ten years old. She was wearing a pink dress with flower patterns and a light yellow shawl hung between her arms. Her two butterfly tassels made her waist-length hair look like splashed ink.
The girl was tasting pastries. On the small stone round table, there were more than 20 kinds of pastries. They were colorful and fragrant.
“Second Miss.” The two of them stood in front of the girl and lowered their heads to greet her.
The girl gently crushed the pastry powder on her fingers and asked casually, “How is it?”
“We’ve already followed your instructions and thrown her into the mountain range 300 kilometers away. When we went, the snow had almost sealed the mountain. We spent a lot of effort walking out.”
The girl was surprised. “You aren’t kidding me, right? You really threw her so far?”
“How would I dare to lie to Second Miss! Moreover, Little Miss…”
“What Little Miss? Do we have a Little Miss in our family? Also, what do you mean by following my instructions? Did I ask you to do anything? I’m just curious,” the girl interrupted him impatiently.
“Yes, it’s me who spoke too much! I deserve to be beaten up! It’s the bastard child. I’ve already lost her according to Master’s orders. I saw her fall into a coma with my own eyes. Those hungry beasts smelled her and must have—”
“Enough!” The girl looked disgusted. She flipped the table of pastries in front of her onto the ground and stood up to leave. “Why are you saying so much? You’re making me lose my appetite for no reason! Get lost. Don’t come looking for me in the future.”
“Yes!”
After the two of them left, a few maid servants came over to clean up the mess. The girl strode away. As she walked, she was still thinking.
“This is wonderful! The vicious supporting actress has finally been axed. The disaster has indeed been nipped in the bud. I’m simply a natural expert at home fighting!” The girl was overjoyed and couldn’t help but laugh.
As she smiled, she thought to herself, ‘The evil supporting actress has already been axed. It’s time to look for the female lead to nurture our relationship. In the future, won’t I have someone to rely on?’
Hehe, she was too smart!
“Guards! I want to go to the National Guard Monastery to offer incense!”
“Yes!” Soon, someone started working for her.
At this moment, Little Ah Yu, who was 200 miles away, was following her brothers up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables.
Initially, she wanted to follow her father and the others to the fields to farm, but her family did not agree. They said that the farming was dirty work and did not want her to go.
The boys simply brought her to the mountain to dig for wild vegetables.
Spring snow melting was the most suitable time for catching fish, digging bird nests, and digging wild vegetables!
Little Ah Yu was panting as she climbed. The little lamb was behind her, and from time to time, it would use its little head to nudge her so that she could borrow its strength.
On the other side, Wang Chuanman searched for a long time and finally found another bucket. When he saw the bucket hidden by the banana tree, he almost laughed out of anger.
“It’s that brat again! It’s fine if he peed, but he still filled it with so much. If I catch him, I’ll definitely beat him up!”
With that, he was about to pour the water out of the bucket so that he could pick up the feces.