Chapter 217: The Hot-Tempered Qin County Magistrate

Zhang Lao's reaction surprised Chen Wuji a little; this old master now seems to have a slight prejudice against him as well… his talent for stirring up trouble seems not…

Never mind, it really does seem a bit.

Moreover, the people he provokes are all formidable.

That is, the Yude Business Business Business, secure in its status, didn't bother with that trifle; otherwise his opponent now would be the biggest figure in Nan Jun.

But he now has no choice but to become the family head of the Chen clan, and this trouble is even greater…

What the Chen family faces is the entire Dayu Dynasty.

Chen Wuji shook off his distracting thoughts and took out the herbs he had gathered yesterday: "There are plenty of mountain herbs, but getting the ones you want isn't easy; I managed to scrape together a few roots, just to show you my thought."

Zhang Lao picked up the mountain ginseng and examined it: "About twenty years old, passable."

He glanced at the others, gave a slight nod, and said: "Your idea is okay; at least it can let this old thing earn a bit."

Chen Wuji noticed the old master's move to take out silver and quickly grabbed his hand: "Old master, don't do that—if you take this silver, do you think I'd dare come again? You just told Xiaoyu to accept it, so why are you pulling out silver yourself now?"

If it weren't for the Bewildering Fragrance and Shocking Heaven Thunder Zhang Lao gave him, neither of the two crises Chen Wuji faced would have been easy to get through.

He felt too much obligation to dare give Zhang Lao these gold and silver trinkets; instead he planned to first accept the disciple title and later make up for it in other ways.

If he accepted Zhang Lao's silver today, he wouldn't be able to hold his head up as a person.

Zhang Lao pushed Chen Wuji's hand away: "What silver am I supposed to give you? I'm looking for a box—this human ginseng is delicate; without a good box, how can I sell it for a high price?"

Chen Wuji let out a breath: "All right, all right."

Zhang Lao chuckled lightly: "You still want me to fork out silver? You've got a pretty sweet idea, kid."

"I didn't mean it that way; this is just a misunderstanding," Chen Wuji said with an embarrassed laugh.

Zhang Lao bent over, rummaged through the cabinet, and pulled out an exquisitely carved red wooden box.

He then took a brush and gently scrubbed the human ginseng's roots; Chen Wuji watched his focused motion and casually asked: "Zhang Lao, construction is booming outside the city."

"I know, it's a grand move by the county magistrate," Zhang Lao said offhandedly.

Chen Wuji asked: "Old master, do you know any inside details? The Qin county magistrate has only been in Yunan for a few days, yet he's already gone this far—this matter is being handled rather hastily."

"I'm just an old man guarding the clinic—how would I know what those big shots are up to? But these past few days, the Qin county magistrate has done more than this; he's brought refugees into the city to beg, seized the grain merchants, and not a single gentry family has been spared—he's gone door to door soliciting donations!" Zhang Lao chuckled.

Chen Wuji stared blankly: "County magistrate, you're taking refugees to beg from grain merchants and the gentry? If I heard right, that's what you mean, isn't it?"

"Well, the Qin county magistrate made a killing this time—just from those gentry he extracted four hundred thousand taels of silver. I don't know how much grain he got, but today the grain price in the city has stabilized." Zhang Lao said.

Chen Wuji was dumbfounded.

He had only been presiding over a family grand sacrifice in the village, and yet the Qin county magistrate pulled off such a huge deed.

That idea is truly dirty.

But it's somewhat effective.

Leading a massive throng of refugees to beg for donations, even those gentry families that loathed it had to grit their teeth and comply, for they dared not gamble on whether the Qin county magistrate would let the mob loot them.

Bear in mind, the troops of Yunan are also in the Qin county magistrate's hands.

Four hundred thousand taels of silver, plus the grain donated by the merchants, and what the Zhang residence managed to gather—securing Weng City should be no problem.

But the Qin county magistrate's own problems are likely serious.

In Yunan City, there aren't many good-hearted people.

By doing this, he's essentially made deadly enemies of all the wealthy folks in the city.

Even those who haven't been shaken down by the Qin county magistrate surely worry now that he'll set his sights on them next, then lead a horde of refugees to cause trouble at their homes.

Right now, countless people are probably already eyeing his head as a chamber pot.

This tribulation of the Qin county magistrate is likely rather fierce.

"Old master, this Qin county magistrate is truly the sort who can stir things up—completely putting himself in a dead‑end situation to then survive while doing great deeds for the people of Yunan City; he's a good official," Chen Wuji praised.

This is something no ordinary person would dare to do.

"Is your standard for a good official really this simple?" Zhang Lao raised his eyebrows.

"Exactly!"

Chen Wuji's answer is simple, and his judgment is simple.

At least the Qin county magistrate has this courage.

He solved both the refugee crisis and the city defenses in one fell swoop; just that makes him a good official.

This one deed of his outweighs ten deeds of others.

Zhang Lao gave a slight nod: "This person, I see, is indeed a good official—too bad he's a reckless brute."

Chen Wuji's heart stirred: "The Qin county magistrate could think up such a dirty trick—perhaps he already has a countermeasure. I've drunk with him once; this Qin official doesn't follow convention, he doesn't play by the book."

"You rate him that highly? Well, I'm curious now," Zhang Lao said with a light smile. "Having provoked public anger, I really want to see what else he can come up with."

Just then, a patient walked in.

It was a graceful woman holding a child, her face full of urgency, her voice trembling with tears as she shouted: "Doctor, doctor, please look at my child—his arm is broken."

Zhang Lao glanced at the woman, then at Chen Wuji, and continued brushing the human ginseng with his head down.

Chen Wuji understood: this job fell to him.

He stepped forward and pinched the child's tiny arm, which the woman was holding carefully.

The child, about three years old, chubby, was wailing heart‑rendingly, tears streaking his face.

Chen Wuji pinched twice and said, "All set."

"Ah? This… it's already fixed, Doctor? You're not tricking me, are you?" the woman still doubted.

"It's a dislocation—just pop it back in," Chen Wuji said, moving the child's arm; the kid's crying immediately softened, though his eye rims were red and he kept lifting his own arm curiously, his little eyes wide with disbelief, as if he found it fun.

Seeing this, the woman let out a deep sigh of relief, bowed to Chen Wuji, and said: "Thank you, thank you, Doctor—how much is the fee?"

Chen Wuji was about to wave it off saying it was nothing, when Zhang Lao suddenly said: "Charge fifty wen."

"All right."

The woman readily took out fifty wen, holding the child, and left.

"This woman's family is well-off; you can appropriately take a bit, don't always be a good-natured person." Zhang Lao said, "On the cabinet above there is the Physiognomy Technique; when you have free time, look at it more."

Zhang Lao's topic is a bit off-topic: "Old Master, although physiognomy and medicine indeed have some relation, but specializing in this seems unnecessary, right?"

"It's naturally necessary; once you learn it, you'll know who should be charged more and who can be exempt." Zhang Lao said firmly, "It won't harm you."