Chapter 154: Seems Unreasonable, Yet Seems Reasonable

"That's right, civilians shouldn't be our responsibility." He Chunhua had done his best to bring over a hundred villagers to safety in a crisis, and the subsequent resettlement of the villagers would naturally be taken over by Wuliu County; it had nothing to do with him, the Superintendent of Xia Province. "So this banquet from the Wuliu County Magistrate is also a thank-you banquet. A local gentry surnamed He invited us to stay at his mansion for the night, and Father and Mother have already gone down to wash and change clothes, so let's not be late."

It turned out that while he was sleeping soundly, He Chunhua not only led the team through Qianteng Town and arrived at Wuliu County but also established good relations with the Magistrate and others.

Old Dad is truly energetic, He Lingchuan yawned again.

The carriage had already stopped at the gate of the He mansion, and two small servants came up to welcome them, leading the brothers to a quiet courtyard.

The two washed here, and Qian Ma brought new clothes, letting them change out of their old ones. Especially He Lingchuan's clothes, which were stained with blood and mud and had several holes, and even without getting close, one could smell a huge fishy odor.

Qian Ma was just about to help the brothers comb their hair when someone knocked on the door.

He Lingchuan opened the door and saw it was actually Zhu Xiuer.

Zhu Xiuer had long since finished tidying up and had changed into Madam He's clothes. They say people need clothes; she originally had a dark complexion and a red face, but after wearing brocade, the earthiness of a village girl faded quite a bit, revealing a bit of calm and quiet demeanor.

Perhaps this was her true color, which hadn't been worn away by her difficult life until now.

She smiled slightly at He Lingchuan, "You have few servants, so I came to help Qian Ma."

He Lingchuan was big-hearted and stepped back two steps to let her into the room, "You are staying here too?"

He didn't know how to address Zhu Xiuer—Miss, Madam? "Yes, Madam He insisted." Zhu Xiuer raised the wooden comb, signaling him to sit down, "But the people of Wuliu County, including the Magistrate and the owner of this He mansion, don't know my background."

He Yue continued, "Father has issued a gag order to the entire army; this matter must not be spread. Miss Zhu will go north with us, and to the outside world, we will just say she is our cousin."

Hiding Zhu Xiuer's experience? No, even hiding the existence of Zhu Xiuer herself, to avoid any unfavorable rumors slowly spreading here after she returned to her family. Madam He Chunhua's performance could be said to be very generous to Zhu Xiuer.

Zhu Xiuer combed He Lingchuan's tangled hair while saying, "I can never repay this kindness even if I were to be smashed to pieces. From now on, whatever the He family commands, I will not refuse!"

"That's too heavy; those who save themselves are saved by heaven, we just followed the natural law." He Yue asked her, "You really won't go to the banquet with us? It's fine to go as a cousin."

Zhu Xiuer laughed, "I won't go; it's better for me to show my face less, and I can rest more."

He Yue heard her voice was light and saw the light in her eyes, looking completely relaxed, and was secretly surprised.

This "cousin" was truly like a new birth.

After tidying up, the brothers went to Hongtai Tower for the banquet.

A meal, both host and guest were happy.

He Lingchuan walked out burping; the stewed lamb in the stomach bag here was fragrant and tender, truly having the right cooking time. All the officials of Wuliu County came, and more than a dozen local gentry accompanied them.

They escorted the He Chunhua family all the way to the door of Hongtai Restaurant and onto the carriage. When the carriage left, He Lingchuan could still see their enthusiastic smiles.

This kind of enthusiasm, he had long been used to in Heishuicheng, but it was very novel appearing on the faces of local officials elsewhere. They had walked from Heishuicheng to Wuliu County, and the local officials along the way were all very polite, but not to the point of being this attentive.

Well, perhaps calling it sycophantic would be more appropriate.

"Whoa, Old Dad, what good did you give the Magistrate to make his face bloom like a flower?"

"When I submit the report on suppressing the bandits to the capital, I will mention him in passing, saying he comforted the disaster victims in time and pursued the remaining bandits." He Chunhua had been busy for a day and a night and was also tired, leaning against the carriage compartment and closing his eyes to rest.

He Lingchuan laughed, "Did he pursue them?"

"Those few mountain roads will still need to be cleared by Wuliu County later to ensure no remaining bandits appear. Desheng Town and County Magistrate Village both had many deaths and involved rebel troops; if handled improperly, the Magistrate's official position wouldn't be stable." He Chunhua smiled, "I mention him, so his merits outweigh his faults; of course he has to thank me."

Madam He was strange, "Why are there so many officials in a Wuliu County?" From the Magistrate, County Assistant, to the Registrar, Head Constable, and even the runners below, there were actually more than thirty people. "Old man, your original Prefect's office didn't have this many people."

"Madam is observant." Madam He liked wearing fresh flowers, so He Chunhua pointed to the red rose on her temple, "A flower plate still needs twenty-five or twenty-six petals, and if you count the sepals, it's even more."

"This still has a name." He snorted lightly, "There are even more without names."

He Lingchuan knew what he meant by "names"—the official staffing quota. In fact, the establishment of officials in the county was very small, at most no more than seven or eight, but Wuliu County had thirty or forty in total; the extra ones were all non-establishment personnel. Tax collectors, guards, household registration, education—all sorts of things; the county couldn't function without them.

He Yue frowned, "I see Wuliu County isn't wealthy either; how can they afford it?"

The older brother who had been exhausted from working hard all day only cared about sleeping soundly when the carriage entered Wuliu County, but he had watched all the way.

Wuliu County was no different from other small rural places, and seemed even thinner.

"There are at least twenty candidates in this county." He Chunhua slowly analyzed the routine, "These are all bought with money; the big families have face, the government treasury has silver, everyone is happy."

So many non-establishment personnel—some were recruited by the county itself to handle affairs, and some were donated by local big families, commonly known as buying an official position, to get a leisure official post and stick some gold on their faces.

"This place is not far from Wuling Pass and must have been affected by the war between the government and the bandits. Livelihood is inevitably withered. Now that the fiscal situation is tight, do you think the county will tighten its belt and suffer a bit?"

He Yue blinked, "The Prefecture doesn't care?"

"How could the Prefecture not know? It's just a bit of a bad practice. When the Prefecture and county are out of money, they naturally change their ways." He Chunhua laughed, patting He Yue's shoulder, "Child, you are too young; being an official is a very deep study." Although the second son was intelligent, he was only fourteen after all and hadn't experienced the sophistication of human relationships.

He Lingchuan also felt magical listening.

The county's fiscal situation was tight, and the response wasn't to streamline administration and reduce expenditure, but to sell positions for money, making the government personnel even more redundant.

Seems unreasonable, yet seems reasonable.

He Yue was speechless, and after a long time asked, "Why didn't the Zhechong Battalion people come to the banquet? I heard some of them have already returned to Qianteng Town."

"Most likely Commandant Zhao wants to rush back to report." He Chunhua said without thinking, "The Zhechong Battalion wants to report this matter to the Wang Ting as soon as possible."

He Yue realized, "Competing for merit?"

"Yes, it relates to the major event of sending troops to suppress the rebellion; whoever reports to the Wang Ting first might get the benefits first."

"These are all conventional means." He Chunhua didn't care, "This Zhechong Commandant hasn't moved for many years; if he doesn't get some merit, he'll probably die of old age in this poor, remote place."

He Lingchuan said "Ouch," "The Magistrate and the Garrison Battalion Commandant here are both busy submitting reports, so isn't Old Dad afraid of having his merit stolen?"

He Chunhua saw him looking indignant and just smiled slightly, "What is mine will naturally still be mine."

With confidence in his heart, he could naturally be calm in the face of glory or humiliation.

Then, he asked about what happened after He Lingchuan fell off the cliff.

"It's a long story." Too many things happened, so He Lingchuan had to be vague, "Son fell into a broken cave under the cliff, which happened to be the crocodile demon's lair, and rescued the dying Wu Shaoyi there. He was moved by son's kindness, and thinking he had nowhere else to go, simply accepted the recruitment!"

Speaking of this, he remembered, "By the way, where is Wu Shaoyi?"

"Resting in another private house, with special people watching." He Chunhua praised his eldest son, "You handled the recruitment of Wu Shaoyi well and beautifully!"

He Lingchuan had nothing to hide, telling everything that happened later, but omitting his gains in the Immortal Cave, only saying there was nothing inside.

He Chunhua looked out the window; the carriage had returned to the He mansion, "Time to get off, Madam, you rest first; I have things to discuss with the children."

Madam He nodded, taking Qian Ma to change clothes.

He Chunhua took the brothers through the backyard to the woodshed, "I borrowed the woodshed from Old Mr. He; it's quiet."

This mansion couldn't compare to their luxury house in Heishuicheng, and the backyard even had a few acres of vegetable fields and raised a dozen chickens; the advantage was that the place was big and had few people.

The woodshed was remote and rarely approached, but it was lit at this moment. As the He Chunhua father and sons approached, the door opened, and Zhao Qinghai was standing at the door.

He Lingchuan followed him in and saw a man kneeling in the woodshed, claiming to be Lu Yao's confidant.

Zhao Qinghai caught this guy in the small forest by the side of Zhanma Slope today; he was also unlucky, as his horse broke its leg by accident after he escaped from Lu Yao.

He Lingchuan said strangely, "Why bring this person here?"

"He claims to know many inside stories about the rebel army and is confessing in exchange for lenient treatment."

He Chunhua just nodded, and the prisoner hurriedly opened his mouth, "After the defeat at Wuling Pass, the insurgent army's hearts were scattered. General Lu relied on his remaining prestige to gather over a thousand people, but didn't lead them well. Everyone worried every day about where the next meal would come from and whether they would be surrounded and suppressed by the government troops, while General Lu was drunk all day long."

"Once we passed a town, there was a wealthy family surnamed Zhao. The cattle, sheep, and grain in his manor were endless, and the gold and silver in his house were piled up like a small mountain. This family offered everything to the General voluntarily, only asking us not to kill. The General agreed at the time, but drank too much at night, took a fancy to the old Zhao man's little grandson, grabbed him and roasted him to eat, and even praised how tender he was. The old Zhao man died of anger that night." He smiled bitterly, "Later, the local government issued wanted orders to catch us, and the government troops chased us like they had been injected with chicken blood, tiring us out. Only then did we know, oh my, this old Zhao man was actually a high official who had retired to his hometown the year before. The local Prefecture Governor couldn't explain it if he didn't catch us."

6000+ words offered; reaching out for monthly tickets~ Also, I have to go pick my throat again today, so I'll take a break from writing.

The detection point is damn far, and the team is damn long.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 155 =====