Chapter 164

Hu Xiaotian said without showing any emotion: "Is something big happening? I feel the atmosphere in the Government Office is especially different today."

Liu Baoju said: "Sir Xu Qinglian has summoned us for a meeting; how come? You didn't come for this matter?"

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed, "Xu Qinglian, you old turtle, always trying to keep me out of the power circle; something this big happened and you didn't even notify me—I'll screw you," yet he put on a smiling face and said, "Hehehe, I also came after receiving the notice."

Liu Baoju naturally understood the reason, secretly amused; the little punk is still trying to gold-plate his own face, Sir Xu Qinglian just wants to step on you—who doesn't know, who isn't aware?

The two entered the hall together and saw that virtually all the clerks of Qingyun Xian, big and small, had gathered. County Magistrate Xu Qinglian sat solemnly at the hall's upper seat, his face grim; Advisor Xingshan stood beside him, his nose bruised and face swollen—so much so that even his own parents might not recognize him, making him truly a dog-headed advisor.

Seeing his appearance, Hu Xiaotian couldn't help but chuckle; this laugh drew everyone's attention to him. This guy completely ignored the stares, pointing at Xingshan and said, "Advisor Xingshan, what happened to your face?"

Xingshan glared at Hu Xiaotian with a resentful, vicious look. Today, after leaving Wild Goose Tower and heading home, he was suddenly ambushed: someone threw a sack over his eyes, beat him from head to toe, then stripped his clothes and hung him upside down from an old locust tree. The incident spread throughout half of Qingyun Xian, and Xingshan, who had never suffered such outrageous humiliation, thought it over and concluded that the only person he had recently offended was the newly appointed County Magistrate Hu Xiaotian; surely this bastard had sent someone to scheme against him. Thus, after being rescued, his first action was to come to the Government Office to file a complaint, asking Sir Xu Qinglian to uphold justice for him.

But only after Xingshan arrived here did he learn that something big had just happened in the county. No one would pay attention to his own minor misfortune. Hu Xiaotian's question stirred up his new and old grudges, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "I don't know which damned scoundrel schemed against me!"

Hu Xiaotian silently sneered, "You incorrigible wretch—looks like Hu Tianxiong's beating didn't reform you. Good! You little bastard, just wait. I'll knock out your teeth later and see if you, you dog-faced scoundrel, still dare to spout nonsense."

Xu Qinglian's face looked grim; he said in a low voice, "County Magistrate Hu Xiaotian, your timing is perfect—just now something big happened in the county."

Hu Xiaotian yawned lazily and said, "A big deal? What could be more important than flood control and dike reinforcement? Sir Xu Qinglian, you're exaggerating."

Xu Qinglian said, "The third son's wife of Wan Yuanwai was abducted by horse bandits from Heavenly Wolf Mountain!"

Hu Xiaotian's expression remained unperturbed: "Oh, so someone went missing. I've heard that Heavenly Wolf Mountain has been plagued by bandits for a long time; every year countless merchants are robbed, and disappearances and deaths are not few. Since she's gone, I doubt she'll be easy to find."

Seeing this guy act as if it were none of his business, Xu Qinglian felt displeased from the heart. He sighed, waved his hand to dismiss the others, retaining only Liu Baoju and Hu Xiaotian, invited them to sit separately, then sighed again and said: "Do you realize how serious this is? Wan Yuanwai's brother-in-law is the Governor of Harmonious Prefecture, Sir Yang. If Wan Yuanwai's third son's wife were taken in Heavenly Wolf Mountain, we'd at least have an excuse. But she was abducted just outside the city, less than five li away. If we can't solve this case promptly, Governor Yang Sir will hold us accountable, and I fear the three of us may lose our official caps."

Xu Qinglian's words were no empty threat; given Wan Boping's relationship with the Governor of Harmonious Prefecture, Yang Daoquan, he could indeed carry this out.

Liu Baoquan clasped his hands and said: "Sir Xu Qinglian, something seems off. Historically, the horse bandits of Heavenly Wolf Mountain have operated in the southern mountains of Qingyun Xian, rarely coming nearby to cause trouble, and certainly never within ten li outside the city."

Hu Xiaotian said, "It seems Sir Liu is quite familiar with these bandits."

Liu Baoquan felt that however he heard it, it sounded awkward, as if implying he were colluding with the bandits. He gave a dry laugh and said: "As the local county commandant, I'm responsible for mobilizing local troops and have participated in multiple anti-bandit operations—how could I not be familiar?"

Xu Qinglian said: "Sir Liu has clashed multiple times with the Heavenly Wolf Mountain horse bandits, leading from the front, and has been wounded many times."

Hu Xiaotian said, "The bandit problem seems to be getting worse—now they're even running to the outskirts of Qingyun City to snatch people; Sir Liu's anti-bandit efforts aren't effective." Just yesterday he had intended to join forces with Liu Baoquan, but after discovering that Liu Baoquan was pretending to be drunk to deceive him, his impression of the man plummeted. Today Hu Tianxiong's arrival made him realize that his coming to Qingyun had long been known to his future father-in-law, a high-ranking regional official. With such a powerful backer, he had nothing to fear, so naturally he would roll up his sleeves and take on these clueless officials—what did it matter if they united against him? Even if they joined forces and formed a united front, he could still crush them all.

Liu Baoju heard Hu Xiaotian openly targeting him, but constrained by his official rank he couldn't really turn hostile, and he coughed once, saying: "County Magistrate Hu Xiaotian doesn't understand the situation here; the Heavenly Wolf Mountain horse bandits are immensely strong and extraordinarily brutal—not to mention our own old, weak, and wounded troops, even the Tiger Head Battalion sent from Xizhou not long ago suffered a defeat there, losing over two hundred men and being wiped out."

Xu Qinglian nodded slowly and said in a low voice: "Both Sirs, this is no trivial matter; we must resolve it swiftly. Sir Liu, mobilize all troops and constables to search inside and outside Qingyun Xian, striving to find Le Yao's whereabouts as soon as possible."

Liu Baoju nodded.

Xu Qinglian then turned to Hu Xiaotian and said: "County Magistrate Hu Xiaotian, your relationship with Wan Yuanwai is not shallow; as long as Wan Yuanwai doesn't press the matter, we won't have to bear this much pressure, so you need to go over there and comfort him several times." Having heard of Hu Xiaotian's conduct since arriving in Qingyun, he made this arrangement; otherwise Xu Qinglian wouldn't be so amiable toward Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian said, "I've only been in Qingyun a few days—what kind of relationship could I have with him?"

Xu Qinglian said, "County Magistrate Hu Xiaotian, don't refuse; if this blows up, it won't be good for any of us."

Hu Xiaotian said, "But I still have to go reinforce the dikes and repair Qingyun Qiao; does Sir Xu Qinglian think I have three heads and six arms, dumping all these tasks on me?"

Xu Qinglian couldn't fail to see that this guy was bargaining; he forced out a faint smile and said: "The weather has cleared, the flood situation has eased; as for the dikes, I'll have others stand guard. Matters have priorities—Wan Yuanwai still needs you to go there in person to persuade him."

Hu Xiaotian thought, "You little bastard, you're so pragmatic—now that you've run into trouble and worry that Wan Boping will go to the Harmonious Prefecture to file a blackmail complaint against you, that's why you thought of me. Do you really think the old man is that easy to talk to?" He nodded and said, "Fine, I'll go talk to him."

After Hu Xiaotian left, Liu Baoju lowered his voice and said: "Sir Xu Qinglian, something seems off—how could the horse bandits of Heavenly Wolf Mountain run to the outskirts of Qingyun City to abduct people? I doubt this was done by those Heavenly Wolf Mountain bandits."

Xu Qinglian felt vexed, he sighed: "Who did it isn't important; what matters is to find out her whereabouts as soon as possible. Just now Wan Boping came to me demanding the person, saying he wants to see her alive or dead."

Liu Baoju said, "Why not leave this to him to investigate?"

Xu Qinglian's eyes shifted; he obviously understood that Liu Baoju's "him" referred to Hu Xiaotian, and he said in a low voice: "One shouldn't rush things; if I were to hand this case over to him for investigation right now, wouldn't everyone think I'm targeting him?"

Liu Baoju secretly laughed, Xu Qinglian is the typical type who wants to be both a whore and set up a memorial archway—by now, if you don't pin this matter on Hu Xiaotian, everyone knows you're targeting him everywhere; if you want to be a villain, why not go all the way?

Just as Liu Baoju left, Chief Clerk Guo Shouguang entered, supporting the bruised and swollen-faced Advisor Xingshan. One could say they've become inseparable brothers in misfortune; Guo Shouguang's eye bruise still hasn't faded, while Xingshan is even worse—his face is swollen to twice its previous size, his cheeks puffed, making his speech unclear.

Seeing them enter, Xu Qinglian understood without asking that these two had surely come to him seeking help to redress their grievances.

Xingshan spoke indistinctly: "Sir... please uphold justice for me……"

Xu Qinglian said, "Have you identified who hit you?"

Xingshan shook his head, resentfully saying, "Besides Hu Xiaotian, who else could it be?"

Xu Qinglian said, "Without evidence, how can you just conclude it was him?"

Chief Clerk Guo Shouguang chimed in: "Sir, you earlier welcomed him with a feast, yet he took advantage of there being no one around to shove me to the ground. Poor me, old and frail, how could I be a match for this youngster? My eye was kicked swollen by him, and it still aches faintly even now. Sir, this man is truly arrogant and overbearing—you must uphold justice for us." Xingshan also added tearfully: "Please, Sir, severely punish the perpetrator."

Xu Qinglian, his mind full of worries, hearing the two compare their misfortunes, grew impatient and sighed: "Even if he hit you, without evidence and without witnesses, how could you accuse him? Qingyun Xian already has plenty of troubles—don't add to the chaos, okay?"

Xingshan wore a bitter expression: "Sir, although he appears to be hitting us, he's actually smearing your reputation; if you let him have his way, he'll only become more overbearing in the future."

Guo Shouguang said: "Sir, you must not indulge his bad habits; he should be punished promptly, or else his next move might be to come after you." But he thought, "You little bastard have been scared into wetting your pants by Hu Xiaotian, and now you're putting on a high-minded act—no way I'd believe you." Actually, after observing this period, Guo Shouguang realized that this newly arrived County Magistrate Hu Xiaotian isn't so easy to deal with; although Xu Qinglian has repeatedly used underhanded tactics, so far he hasn't inflicted any substantive harm on him. (To be continued…)