The Farm Girl and the Executioner (Rebirth) 87

Chapter 87: Taking the Opportunity to Amass Wealth

In a tavern in the west of the city, Old Chen’s.

Lin Mancang was huddled on a bench against the wall, drinking his sorrows away with a plate of salted edamame.

The inferior shaojiu burned his throat, and he winced as he drank half a bowl.

Wasong suddenly nudged him with his elbow and gestured with his mouth to the next table.

“Speaking of this flood, the most righteous are those from Whitewater Village,” a man who looked like a porter at the next table wiped his mouth. “Miss Jiang led about twenty young men and snatched back over sixty lives from the Dragon King’s mouth.”

“Isn’t that right!” a thin old man at the same table chimed in. “But I heard that it was Miss Lin who organized the people. Before that, she was even locked up in the yamen’s prison and fined two taels of silver for telling the villagers about the immortal’s prophecy.”

“My nephew works at the yamen. This is as true as it gets. And that Miss Lin also went to save people. My granddaughter was floating downstream in a basin, and she was the one who jumped into the river to save her.”

“This Miss Lin is truly righteous.”

Hearing this, Wasong’s triangular eyes rolled, and he suddenly grabbed Lin Mancang’s arm and shouted, “Oh, the Miss Lin you’re talking about—isn’t she our Brother Lin’s own niece!”

The tavern was instantly silent.

The wine that Lin Mancang had not yet swallowed dripped down his beard. He watched as the gazes of the crowd turned from suspicion to awe.

An old man in tattered clothes in the corner suddenly stood up and tremblingly took out a few copper coins. “Benefactor… benefactor’s uncle… my grandson was also pulled out of the water by Miss Lin…”

…

Lin Shuang didn’t know about what had happened in the tavern. For the past two days, she and Jiang Huaizhen had been in Yinzhou.

And at this time, in Yuxian, Yinzhou, the morning mist had not yet dispersed, and the shouts of the medicine farmers could already be heard in the Yuxian Medicine Street.

Jiang Huaizhen reined in her horse, and Jing Lei snorted, pawing the ground a few times.

After two full days of travel, the two of them had finally arrived at the most famous medicine street in the Dayuan Kingdom.

They could, of course, go up the mountain to dig up medicinal herbs and transplant them, but the herbs on the mountain were scattered and uneven. To gather a mu of seeds or seedlings would take a lot of effort, which was why they had decided to come and buy seeds.

“This is much better than gathering herbs in our back mountain,” Lin Shuang jumped off the carriage and rubbed her sore waist.

The apothecaries on both sides of the street were lined up, and the air was filled with the bitter and fragrant smell of hundreds of medicinal herbs, making one’s nose itch.

“Let’s go. Uncle Qing said that the seed shop is at the end of the street,” Jiang Huaizhen said.

The two of them walked through the bustling crowd, and Lin Shuang’s gaze swept over the various medicinal herbs: rhinoceros horn, deer antler, cordyceps… rare medicinal herbs that were hard to find on ordinary days were like salted fish hanging from the eaves here, becoming unremarkable.

It was a good thing that she had been in the medicine hall of the Benevolence Hall in her past life and was familiar with these medicinal herbs. Otherwise, if she had come here, she would have been dazzled.

When she saw something she was interested in, she would also go up and ask for the price.

After walking around for a while, they found that other than the seeds of authentic medicinal herbs such as yuanhu and baizhu, which were jointly controlled by the Yinzhou Medicine Guild, almost all other medicinal herb seeds could be bought here.

Lin Shuang was not insistent and chose a few practical seeds such as astragalus, angelica, he shou wu, goji berries, and bupleurum. She also took some ginseng seeds. As for fangfeng, isatis root, and danshen, they had them in the back mountain, so she didn’t buy much.

And as for the baizhu that was restricted in Yinzhou, she had seen a few plants in the back mountain before, so she didn’t insist.

…

Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

Lin Mancang rubbed his round belly and burped, his silk belt loosened by two notches.

He squinted and weighed the heavy red cloth bag in his hand, his thumb rubbing the outline of the silver inside, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously stretched to his ears.

“Brother Lin, please pass this small token of my appreciation to your niece,” the man who looked like a merchant bowed. “If it weren’t for her leading people to save us in time, my whole boat of cloth would have been ruined.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” Lin Mancang patted his chest. “My niece is the kindest. She will definitely remember Shopkeeper Lu’s kindness.”

After the few of them had walked away, a crack opened in the door of the private room on the second floor.

Kong Qi stared at Lin Mancang’s retreating figure with a gloomy face.

“Go and check,” his voice was very low but had a hint of coldness. “Ask the waiter if this person has been coming often recently.”

The attendant quickly returned and whispered in his ear, “Sir, for the past four days, someone has been treating him to a banquet every day.”

“Oh?” Kong Qi sneered. “Where did a disaster victim get the silver to hold such a banquet?”

“Most of them are merchants and farmers who were rescued in the flood. I heard that some sold their belongings to thank him, and some were saved from losses because of Lin Shuang’s warning to harvest the rice…”

“Absurd!” Kong Qi slapped the table, and the teacups clattered. “I originally thought that Changping had produced a heroic woman, but I didn’t expect her to be a person who seeks fame and reputation! To condone her relatives to exploit the disaster victims, what’s the difference between that and taking advantage of a fire?”

The attendant hesitated. “Sir, since that Miss Lin was able to organize twenty strong men to save people for several days in a row, I don’t think she’s the kind of person who would do such a thing…”

Only then did Kong Qi suppress his anger. “Go and find Magistrate He to verify this Lin Mancang’s identity—”

He stared at the untouched bowl of shish fish soup on the table and suddenly lost his appetite.

“I’d like to see if this ‘hero’s’ title can stand up to scrutiny.”

…

Changping County Yamen.

Hearing the words of Kong Qi’s attendant, Magistrate He quickly said, “Since it’s Sir Kong who wants to investigate, I’ll go to the Household Department to check personally now.”

With that, he hurriedly led his men to the Household Department.

As soon as he entered, he said to the petty official who was in charge of the county’s household registration data, “Check the household registration of Lin Mancang and Lin Shuang from Whitewater Village immediately!”

The petty official fumbled through the booklets, and the sound of the bamboo slips colliding startled Sun Kang next door.

Sun Kang had just seen Magistrate He and the others rush in and had already been curious. Now, hearing the words “Lin Shuang,” he instantly became alert and pretended to be sorting out the account books, but his ears were pressed against the wooden partition.

The petty official flipped through and soon found a booklet.

After a closer look, he quickly reported, “Sir, Lin Shuang was sold to the Jiang family in the same village by Lin Mancang for eight taels of silver in October last year. According to the law, this woman has no more relationship with Lin Mancang…”

Hearing this, Magistrate He snatched the booklet and took a closer look. It was in black and white, and there was also the signature of the village chief of Whitewater Village as evidence.

After confirming it, he put down the booklet and strode toward the front hall.

The master next to him quickly chased after him and said in a low voice, “Sir, are you planning to report it truthfully?”

Magistrate He’s footsteps paused, and he turned to look at him. “What else can I do?”

Seeing that there was no one around, the master said, “Sir, this is a god-sent opportunity!”

Hearing this, Magistrate He’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Think about it. Why did Sir Kong not investigate earlier or later, but at this time, he’s in such a hurry to have us investigate this Lin Mancang? The reason is not difficult to guess. He must have committed some crime, and Sir Kong, out of respect for Lin Shuang’s rescue, is in a hurry to have someone confirm their relationship.”

“If we expose that they are no longer related at this moment, it will instead clear that one surnamed Lin. Over sixty lives, how can Sir Kong not report it to the court? At that time, the court will definitely reward her greatly.”

Hearing that Kong Qi was going to praise Lin Shuang, a vein on Magistrate He’s forehead throbbed.

The master saw his reaction.

“When Lin Shuang predicted the storm, it was you, sir, who personally issued the arrest warrant! If she really rises to prominence with this great merit, that matter will definitely be brought up again. If Sir Kong pursues it, he will definitely punish you for not understanding the people’s feelings and not doing a good job of prevention. He might even blame you for the losses in this flood…”

“These should be blamed on Magistrate Pei—” after Magistrate He finished speaking, he realized that the county magistrate had already been taken down by Kong Qi’s men and was now in prison. He was instantly speechless.

Seeing this, the master moved closer to Magistrate He’s ear. “The matter of Qin Sheng was also brought to light by this one surnamed Lin. In my opinion, this woman is not simple… Once she gains power and demands a retrial of the Qin Sheng case, a deep investigation will inevitably involve the Qin family, and our situation will be very bad then.”

“So you mean…” Magistrate He had already realized the stakes, and the back of his neck was covered in sweat.

“In my opinion, it’s better to take this opportunity and slap that one surnamed Lin so hard she can’t show her face.”

The master’s withered hand pressed down heavily. “The imperial envoy is far away in the prefectural city. Kong Qi seems to be upright and impartial, but in fact, he’s the kind of person who likes to whitewash things—”

“As long as it’s confirmed that Lin Mancang is a blood relative, who cares if he sold his daughter or not?” Master He said. “If Lin Mancang did something wrong, then Lin Shuang can’t escape either! Even if Sir Kong doesn’t pursue the matter with her, he won’t value her anymore. At that time, you, sir, can also stay out of it.”

Magistrate He stared at the swaying shadow of the lantern under the corridor and suddenly threw his head back and laughed.

“Good! Good! I’ll do as you say! I’ll go and report to Sir Kong now that Lin Mancang and Lin Shuang are uncle and niece, as close as bones and tendons! They couldn’t be closer!”

With that, the two of them strode out.

And Sun Kang, who was pressed against the corner of the wall, heard the intermittent conversation, his brow furrowed, and he turned and went back to his room.

Sure enough, when Kong Qi heard the attendant’s report, he was furious.

The attendant asked, “Sir, should we arrest Lin Mancang?”

Kong Qi stood with his hands behind his back for a long time, his tone clearly having calmed down. “Forget it. I won’t interfere in this matter.”

“…Why is that?”

“No matter how great her merit is, with this matter of Lin Mancang, it’s all offset. Fortunately, the disaster victims are not all rich people. After being deceived once, they probably can’t be deceived of much. One is willing to be beaten, and the other is willing to suffer.”

“For the sake of her leading people to save over sixty lives, I won’t make things difficult for her. This matter will be handled by the new county magistrate,” Kong Qi said.

The attendant: “Then… but sir, the matter of the disaster relief funds, was it really only Pei Na’s doing in Changping County?”

Kong Qi sighed. “Of all the officials in the world, there are very few who are not corrupt. If we were to take them all down, how many people would be left to work for the emperor? When the old bugs are gone, new bugs will come, and they will all hollow out the tree. Since the stolen funds have been recovered, let’s just leave a few to work for the higher-ups.”

Hearing this, the attendant obediently agreed.