Chapter 35: Taking Charge

Hou Qinian and his servant boy were pinned to the ground and beaten mercilessly by the villagers of Yuping Village; had they not feared killing someone, the two would likely have dropped dead on the spot.

"My face, my legs, ow! My arm, my hand..."

After all that complaining, everything hurt.

"You lowly commoners, you dare lay hands on me! I'll go to the prefectural office and sue you! I'll have you all thrown into prison!"

Hearing this, the villagers of Yuping Village couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear.

They knew that Hou Qinian had never been any good; if he said he would have them all locked up, he would certainly follow through.

"It's over—we acted on impulse and forgot about this."

"If we get thrown into prison, it's all over for us!"

Seeing a hint of fear appear on their faces, Hou Qinian was about to straighten his back, when at that moment, the sound of galloping horses reached Chi Nan Yi's ears, and from a distance she spotted several mounted officers, with a carriage following behind them.

Chi Nan Yi's lips curled faintly, but on her face she put on a look of utter devastation.

"Town Mayor Hou, in broad daylight, you dare abduct a common girl! How are you still fit to be Town Mayor?"

Hou Qinian was taken aback—he had just been talking about throwing them into prison, and hadn't said anything about taking her back to his residence!

Chi Nan Yi watched the carriage draw closer and raised her voice even higher; burying her head in Wen Zhilan's embrace, she cried, "This is outrageous! Does being Town Mayor mean you can do whatever you please?"

Hou Qinian: "..."

Who exactly was doing whatever they pleased?

Who was the one being outrageous?

Nearly every time, he wanted to argue back, but this little wench was right every single time.

He truly didn't know how to refute Chi Nan Yi's words.

"Reasoning with you, this Town Mayor is no match—but this Town Mayor doesn't mind trying a different approach." He picked up the whip that had fallen on the ground, and the villagers of Yuping Village trembled with fear.

The figures in the distance drew near; Chi Nan Yi, still nestled against Wen Zhilan's chest, curled her lips—Hou Qinian, your good days are about to end.

Just as Hou Qinian's whip was about to fall, a figure came charging in and kicked the would-be assailant Hou Qinian squarely to the side.

"Audacious! A mere Town Mayor, daring to use private punishment! Who gave you the nerve!"

The voice carried from afar to near; by the time the last word fell, the mounted guards had already arrived before them.

Hou Qinian's whip hung suspended in midair, and he wondered who this death-seeker was, daring to block him.

He turned to look, and his legs instantly went weak.

It was the County Magistrate's personal guards!

The whip slipped from his hand, and he dropped to his knees, his body trembling incessantly: "G-g-g... my Lord, greetings, Lord Xie."

Lord Xie?

Chi Nan Yi's heart stirred.

She remembered that in her previous life there had also been a minister surnamed Xie—upright and incorruptible, and brimming with talent—but who was ultimately beheaded for remonstrating with the Crown Prince Mo Junheng.

Even at the very end, that Lord Xie never once begged for mercy.

Could they be the same person?

Just then, the carriage door opened, and Xie Yuwei stepped out wearing official robes.

He walked slowly to Hou Qinian's side and said coldly, "Town Mayor Hou, what exactly are you doing?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, it's these lowly commoners! They've gone too far—not only did they harvest their crops early, they also incited other villages to do the same. This way, this year's harvest will surely diminish! This humble subject merely came to remonstrate with them."

"Remonstrate?" Xie Yuwei nudged the whip on the ground with his foot. "Remonstrate with a whip? Town Mayor Hou certainly has extraordinary methods!"

"Lord Xie, it's not like that, it's these lowly commoners..."

"Silence!" Xie Yuwei said angrily. "You call them 'lowly commoners' to their faces at every turn—what does that make you?"

"This humble subject knows his wrongs, this humble subject knows his wrongs, I beg Your Excellency's forgiveness." Hou Qinian adjusted his story: "They attacked this humble subject, and in a fit of anger I fought back. Your Excellency, I beg Your Excellency to see clearly—this humble subject absolutely did not..."

"Your Excellency!" Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Chi Nan Yi's voice: "I beg Your Excellency to do right by me."

Hearing a somewhat familiar voice, Xie Yuwei turned his head, and the moment his gaze fell on Chi Nan Yi, he couldn't help but freeze.

It was actually the young woman from the marketplace that day.

"Your Excellency, I beg Your Excellency to do right by me, to do right by the people of Yuping Village."

Hearing this, Xie Yuwei frowned slightly: "What injustice have you suffered? Tell me."

"Your Excellency, Town Mayor Hou started beating people the moment he arrived in the village. Even our village head was slapped across the face. He also tried to force me into his household as his concubine; when I refused, he threatened our families' lives. I beg Your Excellency to do right by me, to give us a way to live." She spoke so miserably and pitifully that not a trace of acting could be detected.

Hearing her say this, Hou Qinian glared at her viciously—this little wretch, daring to file a complaint!

"Town Mayor Hou, is this true?"

How could Hou Qinian admit to it?

"No, no, absolutely not!" Hou Qinian said loudly. "Your Excellency, this humble subject has been wronged! Wronged! It was them! They were the ones who beat me! Look at the wounds on this humble subject's body..."

Xie Yuwei had noticed the wounds large and small on his body from the very start—clearly fresh, freshly inflicted.

"This humble subject's servant can also testify!" He shoved the still-unconscious servant boy beside him, but after shoving for a long time there was no response whatsoever.

Hou Qinian grew frantic and slapped the servant boy across the face: "You dog! Get up right now!"

Only then did the servant boy slowly come to, but from the look of it he seemed to have injured his head—he was dazed and confused, unable to speak coherently at all.

Watching his only witness effectively silenced, Hou Qinian grew anxious: "Your Excellency, I beg you to investigate thoroughly!"

"Your Excellency!" Chi Nan Yi also hurriedly said: "I beg Your Excellency to do right by me and the people of Yuping Village!"

"What the true course of events actually was, this official does not know. This official believes only what his own eyes see. From the moment I arrived here, I saw you beating commoners—what this official witnessed with his own eyes is fact."

Hearing this, Hou Qinian's heart turned ice-cold.

Lord Xie's intention was to punish him!

"Your Excellency! This humble subject came here all for Your Excellency's sake!" Hou Qinian said loudly. "They harvested early, causing the crop yield to decrease—I fear it won't even be enough to cover the tax grain. I beg Your Excellency to punish them according to the law!"

"Heh, is Town Mayor Hou teaching this official how to do his job?" Xie Yuwei sneered. "Then this official's seat shall be yours to take, Town Mayor Hou!"

Hou Qinian heard the words, hurriedly shook their head: "Sir, the commoner does not dare."

"Where is the village head?"

Zhao Xifeng hurriedly stepped forward: "Commoner Zhao Xifeng, I pay my respects to the County Magistrate."

"No need for formalities, let's talk! What exactly is going on?"

"Sir, the reason our Yuping Village harvested early is due to a locust plague."

"A locust plague?"

"Yes." Zhao Xifeng recounted the discovery of locusts in the village: "Sir, locusts usually appear in swarms; that is why we had no choice but to harvest early. Our Yuping Village's land is inherently barren; if not for this matter, we commoners would certainly not dare to harvest early."