Walking the Path of a Workaholic in Cliché Novels (QT) Chapter 76

Guard Tian looked ashamed, but An Yinong was not very surprised. The Jin family had accumulated a lot of power here, and everyone was afraid of their revenge, so how dare they come and identify him?

“Sir.” Guard Tian came over and whispered the details of what happened on the street. It turned out that although the witnesses were unwilling to testify, they also provided some clues. They were not completely disappointed with the new county magistrate, An Yinong.

Trust was an intangible asset that was easy to destroy but difficult to build. Even if it was just for the few people who secretly passed the message to the scene, he must take this man down. An Yinong frowned, but Wu Yang in the audience became more and more proud. He felt that the magistrate had no way to deal with him.

The county government office was quite quiet, with only the low sobbing of a woman in the audience. Suddenly, An Yinong thought of a detail told by an eyewitness. After the bully tore the girl’s sleeve, he seemed to smell it and then stuffed it into the sleeve.

He immediately had an idea: search him.

“Guardian Tian, go search Wu Yang’s sleeves.”

Guard Tian went to search and found a piece of sleeve fabric.

“If you are not a frivolous person, how could the torn clothes appear in your sleeves?”

The physical evidence was present, and no matter how Wu Yang argued, An Yinong directly convicted him according to dynasty laws. Such bad-influenced acts as robbing a woman, not kneeling before an official, spreading rumors and lying in court were enough to keep him in jail for several years.

“Sir, we are willing to pay gold and silver to atone for our sins!” The servant saw that An Yinong really dared to judge, so he immediately shouted, “Sir, this matter is caused by my young master’s confusion. Please be magnanimous.”

“How dare you! Are you trying to bribe me with gold and silver? Bribing an official appointed by the imperial court is a crime that will be punished even more severely.”

The servant turned pale, but Wu Yang was still ignorant and shouted, “Do you know who I am? The last county magistrate had to call me nephew when he saw me, and he had to bow to my uncle when he saw him. You want to lock me up now?”

“I’m telling you, if you let me go now, nothing will happen. If you don’t let me go…if something happens to me, you won’t have an easy life either. If we’re going to die, let’s die together.”

“Really?” An Yinong smiled slightly, “I never knew that Master Wu had such deep feelings for me that he wanted to live and die with me? It’s a pity that I don’t like men and I’m a picky person. I don’t like those who are uneducated and unskilled.”

He pulled out a sign with the word “Ling” written on it and threw it on the ground:

“Contempt of the court, disrespectful speech, breaking the law and discipline, first be punished with thirty lashes.”

The “order” card fell to the ground, and no bailiff dared to move it for a long time.

“You don’t want to fight?” An Yinong, who was wearing a light green official uniform in the court, looked at the bailiffs on both sides who were laughing dryly.

“Well, sir…is there some misunderstanding?” The yamen runners usually received many benefits from the Jin and Bai families and were afraid of the power of these two families. How could they dare to beat people casually?

“No misunderstanding, fight.”

“Sir, the Jin family…” A bailiff appeared and winked, “Sir, don’t be impulsive.”

“If you don’t want to be beaten, take off your clothes and go back.” An Yinong was not prepared to listen to these people’s excuses. The salary was paid by the court. If you don’t work for the court, you can eat it yourself. That’s the truth.

“Take it off!” Two idiots really showed up, took off their coats, and walked out. When they reached the door, they looked back, as if to say: Do you think you are an adult just because you are an adult? After two days of arrogance, we have to ask them to go back.

“Either he is stupid or he is arrogant.” An Yinong thought to himself, and he looked at the others again.

“Do you want to fight?”

Two of the yamen runners exchanged glances and said: “This new master is restless, why not beat him? But not for real, just a fake beating, just for show. In this way, he can’t blame them for not beating him, right?”

“Sir, I’ll do it!” said this one.

“Sir, I’m coming too.” that one also said.

Two green-skinned ghosts appeared behind them. They were both white-faced and beardless, dressed like eunuchs in the inner court. However, they were extremely burly, especially their arms, which were incredibly thick.

The two green-faced ghosts bowed to him and said, “Second Master, we were good at beating people when we were alive. If you want to beat this scoundrel to death, we can beat him to death with a few sticks. The flesh will rot inside and you won’t be able to see it from the outside.”

An Yinong smiled and said, “Give him thirty lashes of the cane, but don’t beat him to death.”

“Yes, sir.” The two men and two ghosts responded in unison.

The two yamen runners saw that the new magistrate was fooled by them, so they turned their backs to the court and laughed. It turned out that they were facing two green-faced ghosts, so the ghost with his sleeves rolled up also laughed.

The two yamen runners looked at each other, raised their wooden sticks, and prepared to put on a show to give an explanation to the official in the court. Upon seeing this, two green-faced ghosts quietly attached themselves to it, their empty eyes narrowed up with a smile.

The young master of the Jin family, who was lying on the bench, showed a provocative expression towards An Yinong.

The next second: “Pah!”

“Ah——“

The shout was so loud that it shook the sky. A lot of dust fell from the roof of the lobby. The girl who was almost kidnapped was so frightened that she turned pale and hid behind her parents.

The runners on both sides looked at each other, but before they could say anything, the two runners who were beating with the boards raised their two wooden sticks high up and swung them with a “clap”, and then another “clap”. The more they hit, the more rhythmic it became, and it even sounded like percussion music.

The yamen runners who were watching nearby immediately looked at the two runners beating with sticks with eyes of admiration: These two were capable people. In fact, the two yamen runners who were beating with sticks were dumbfounded. They didn’t intend to beat him to death with “slap left” and “slap right”, but their hands were out of control. Cold sweat was pouring down their foreheads, but others just thought they were hot because of the large amount of exercise.

The young master of the Jin family lay on the stool and wailed continuously, but after being hit by a few more sticks, he couldn’t even speak.

The yamen runners on both sides were amazed. They looked at each other and exchanged words that only they understood: These two guys have a grudge against the cousin of the Jin family for killing his father and stealing his wife. Now they have caught the opportunity? Look at how hard they fight.

“Wait a moment.”

As soon as An Yinong opened his mouth, the two yamen runners froze, holding the boards in their hands high, but blinking their eyes hard at others as if asking for help.

“I see so much sweat on their faces, they must be very tired, why don’t we…” He looked around at the remaining runners, “Let’s change two people to continue.”

“Okay, okay.” The two yamen runners holding the wooden board nodded repeatedly.

“Okay, then each of you choose someone to replace you.” An Yinong was also very understanding. “You have worked together for so many years, and your relationship is like that of brothers. You should share the good and the bad together.”

The yamen runners looked up in astonishment, only to find that this young official whom they had secretly mocked as a “sour scholar” was not really ignorant. One after another, finally all the yamen runners took action, and the young master of the Jin family was finally knocked unconscious and dragged into the cell.

The girl who was robbed and her family also left. But they were very uneasy, probably because they were worried about being retaliated. Fortunately, the little ghost had already followed them, so An Yinong was not too worried.

Did he look? As a result, one of the yamen runners’ legs went weak and he fell to his knees on the ground.

After seeing enough, he smiled and asked, “Do you want to live?”

The bailiffs looked at him in silence, with expressions like: You are so treacherous!

“This Jin family cousin looks like the nephew of the head of the Jin family, but in fact, he and his sister-in-law had a secret child. He has two sons in total, and he beat one of them to death. What do you think will be his fate?”

The bailiffs almost cried.

An Yinong shook his head seriously: “You guys were too harsh. Leave some space for us so we can meet again later. It’s hard to end this now.”

The yamen runners really cried. Although they didn’t know how the new magistrate did it, it was a fact that they beat the young master of the Jin family. No, it should be the young master of the Jin family.

The new magistrate had only been here for a few days? How could he know such secret information? And so many people were out of control just now… Could it be some kind of magic or witchcraft?

“Sir, we don’t want to do that. He threatened me with my family, sir.” The captain standing in the front knelt down and surrendered.” No matter what, they were still employed by the government. If they had no other choice, why would they listen to him?”

The others were immediately inspired and shouted louder than the other, saying that they were wronged.

“Don’t worry, the young master of the Jin family is already useless. You and I are in the same boat. If the Jin family comes looking for you, I can’t escape.”

He looked at the captain: “Like the captain said, we are government employees after all. I know you have concerns, about the horse thieves and the eldest son of the Jin family in the garrison, right?”

The bailiffs below were so shocked by what they heard that their faces turned pale.

“Don’t worry, no one of them can enter Dingsha County without permission. If the bandits enter, I will report to the garrison for failing to defend the city. If the garrison enters the city, huh… will it be a rebellion?”

That being said, the Jin and Bai families were very powerful in the area, and the yamen runners did not dare to confront them directly. So they sent a representative to ask An Yinong, “I wonder if the adults have anything to tell us.”

The yamen runners had already made up their minds that if An Yinong wanted them to deal with the Jin and Bai families, they would rather wait to die here. Even if he crippled one young master, at least he still had a real one. But if he went to deal with the Jin and Bai families, he wouldn’t know when he would be ambushed and his family would be implicated.

Although the new county magistrate did not look like a good person, when comparing the two sides, the county magistrate was easier to deal with. An Yinong knew what was in their minds just by looking at their eyes, so he had no intention of entrusting any important matters to these yamen runners.

“The first thing I want to tell you is to find the best black cattle in Dingsha County. I want to buy cattle.”

The yamen runners didn’t quite understand: “Sir, it’s illegal to slaughter a cow without permission. You bought a black cow that is not good at farming…”

“I used to raise fish, but there is not enough water here, so now I want to raise cattle, is that not okay?” An Yinong dismissed them with one sentence. What else could the yamen runners say? They could only nod their heads.

“Remember, I want healthy calves with fewer illnesses.”

“Good.”

“The second thing,” An Yinong took out a wooden box from his sleeve. Inside the box was a bunch of dry grass. “I want you to find a place where this kind of weed grows in large quantities.”

“Sir, are you going to plant it?” The bailiff looked at it again and again. It was just an ordinary weed, and it seemed to be seen very often.

“Yeah, but not just that, there’s also that fleshy plant growing on the roof of your house.”

The yamen runners looked at each other. They began to suspect that the new magistrate was a fool. He wanted to raise black cows that could not be slaughtered or used for farming, and grow wild grasses that could not be eaten or looked at. Now he even set his eyes on the annoying sedge that had roots growing everywhere on the roof.

Could it be that this Jinshi’s title was obtained by cheating?

But no matter how much they grumbled in their hearts, they still had to obey the order from their superiors. Now that they had offended the Jin family, if they offended the county magistrate again, they would really be dead.

After the bailiff left, Gu Zhengzhong appeared in the lobby. He turned around and looked at the young official standing in the court, who was wearing a light green official uniform. He had the toughness and integrity of pine and bamboo, and even though he had just become an official, a thin mist like the red sun surrounded him.

“Is this the wife’s family of the Jin family?” If they were all this kind of people, there would no problem in killing all three clans.

From Gu Zhengzhong’s perspective, the root of the problem must be eradicated. Since the wife’s and mother’s families have also been protected by him, it was only natural that they should pay the price now. Moreover, clearing out these people would also bring many benefits to An Yinong’s future governance.

“He is a special case. Wu Yang is nominally the nephew of the Jin family, but in fact he is the illegitimate son, so he is particularly arrogant. Although other wives’ families have also received benefits from the Jin family, this benefit should not be at the cost of life. Killing three clans will involve too many people.

“I will submit another letter to request a reduction in punishment.” Finally, he made a decision.

“Aren’t you afraid that Emperor Qi will get tired of you?”

An Yinong held onto the chair and sat down, frowning: “If I don’t do this, I won’t be able to get over this.”