Chapter 48: Liu Youcai's Grand Gift

lright, Jing Ge, what we need to do is a big project, it can't be finished overnight. Don't worry too much, starting tomorrow, I'll buy some materials and hire some craftsmen. You guys can work togeth..."Be bold!"

"Dare to obstruct this official from taking someone, are you rebelling"

Zhao Deyi pointed fiercely at the villagers.

"Believe me, I can have all of you arrested!"

The villagers, however, remained unmoved and still stood before Yang Lin, their eyes fixed on Zhao Deyi.

Zhao Deyi's heart skipped a beat when he realized he was being watched.

Even the constables were dumbfounded. There were simply too many villagers around; they couldn't possibly arrest them all.

"You...you..."

Zhao Deyi gritted his teeth.

In this county, he had never been so ignored before.

"Good!"

"You want to die, is that so Fine by me!"

Zhao Deyi roared: "All of you, draw your swords! Anyone who dares to stop me, I'll cut him down!"

"Whoosh—!"

The constables instantly drew their swords and pointed them at the commoners.

The villagers were also startled and instinctively backed away.

However, there was one person who didn't leave.

Wang Gui said, “If you want to capture Yang Lin, you'll have to step over my corpse!”

"If it weren't for Yang Lin, my daughter Gui Ying would have been taken away by the Liu family long ago."

“Yang Lin is my benefactor. I, Wang Gui, owe him my life. Even if I stay here today, I will never allow you to take Yang Lin away!”

He straightened his chest and walked towards the yamen officers' blades.

"And me too!"

Someone else walked out of the crowd.

"If Yang Lin hadn't lent me money, I would have had to sell the land to Liu's family, and I would never have been able to turn things around. Now that Yang Lin has led us to a good life, we can't let people bully him!"

"He's right, Yang Lin helped us, and today he got into trouble. We can't just ignore him! If you want to arrest someone, arrest me too!"

"I don't care about my life. Take it if you dare!"

More and more villagers stood their ground, all looking up with their necks stretched, facing the blade with no fear in their eyes.

Zhao Deyi was completely dumbfounded.

Dealing with the common people, beating them up, or even arresting them, is very easy.

But now, facing this, charging into the knife's edge, even death is not feared by these people, he has no way.

We can't actually go so far as to kill someone, right

It's not that he's afraid to kill, but if he were to kill in public, it would expose him and harm his political career.

Just when Zhao Deyi was caught in a dilemma, a familiar voice suddenly came from outside the crowd.

"Give way, give way to everyone!"

"The County Magistrate is here!"

Zhao Fugui's loud voice instantly echoed throughout the surroundings.

When Yang Lin heard this sound, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The outcome has been decided!

Just then, Zhao Fugui squeezed through the crowd, followed by two men and a dozen burly yamen guards.

Upon hearing Zhao Fugu's shout, Zhao Deyi frowned.

Following the sound, I saw County Magistrate Zhao Kang!

But Zhao Kang's companion, a man in his fifties, surprised Zhao Deyi even more.

"Mr. Zheng How did you get here"

Mr. Zheng, this is Zheng Dongqiao, the master of county magistrate Wu Yong!

He was the county magistrate's true confidant, often advising him on strategies and tactics, collecting wealth, and managing businesses...

As for rank, a shíyé held no official position and was completely inferior to the county magistrate (xiànchǎng) and county lieutenant (xiàn wèi).

But throughout the entire Jianghe County, Mr. Zheng stood alone, above all others. For he represented Magistrate Wu Yong!

The moment Zhao Deyi saw Mr. Zheng, he realized that Yang Lin had probably put his hand in with the magistrate!

"Hee hee."

Zheng Dongqiao stroked his beard and chuckled, "Your Lordship is beloved by the people and always cares for them. Hearing that Yang Lin of Koushan Village was attacked last night and nearly lost his life, Your Lordship was deeply shocked and personally took charge of this case."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Deyi immediately understood everything.

Zheng Dongqiao took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, unfolded it, and read aloud in a measured tone:

> “After a thorough investigation by the esteemed county magistrate, it has been revealed that Liu Youcai, a ruffian from Koushan Village, dispatched his servants and hired thugs to commit murder. He is audacious and his crimes are heinous!”

"With both eyewitness and physical evidence, Mr. Zhao, esteemed County Official, I demand you immediately apprehend Liu Youcai."

As for the follow-up proceedings of this case, I leave it entirely in the hands of the County Magistrate.

Zheng Dongqiao smiled broadly and handed the piece of paper to Zhao Deyi.

Zhao Deyi's face turned ashen. He took the paper and quickly glanced at it, then bowed to Zheng Dongqiao with a stiff expression and said, "County Lord, you are truly insightful. I shall take your orders!"

"Come on, capture Liu Youcai!"

Zhao Deyi shouted with a cold face.

He was very unwilling to accept this.

On the verge of success, the plan ultimately fell short.

Now that the magistrate has issued an order, he dares not disobey. Therefore, for now, there is nothing he can do but to acquiesce.

Zhao Deyi led his men away, making a noisy retreat.

The villagers were finally excited.

"Is Yang Lin okay"

It's not just that things are fine, didn't you hear what happened The master is going to arrest Liu Youcai!

"Oh my, that's great! Liu Youcai, that bastard, didn't expect he would have his day too."

"What a twist of fate!"

For a moment, the common people were overcome with gratitude for this magistrate who seemed so distant from them.

However, only Zhao Fugui knew that in order to achieve this result, it wasn't because the magistrate was a divine judge. It was simply because Yang Lin realized he hadn't given the magistrate a gift and sent someone to catch up with him, asking him to bring a generous present to the county magistrate.

Two hundred taels of silver!!!

Two hundred taels of silver is not a lot for a magistrate.

But these 200 taels of silver, Yang Lin wanted not to help them cover up wrongdoing, but only to uphold justice.

This was just child's play for Wu Yong.

At this moment, with matters concluded, Mr. Zheng left immediately without even glancing at Yang Lin once throughout the entire process.

But County Magistrate Zhao Kang was very interested in Yang Lin. Seeing so many villagers spontaneously standing in front of Yang Lin, he was greatly shocked.

"Yang Lin, would you be interested in chatting with me"

Zhao Kang walked over with a smirk.

Zhao Fugui hurriedly stepped forward, pulled Yang Lin over, and introduced to Yang Lin: "This is the county magistrate!"

Yang Lin bowed. "Greetings, sir. Thank you, Lord Zhao, for traveling so far to clear my name. My humble abode is rather messy. How about we go to the village head's house I would like to properly express my gratitude."

"Oh That's good too."

Zhao Kang heard Yang Lin's subtext and smiled knowingly.

But he didn't know that Yang Lin chose Zhao Fuguang's home for another reason.

Because his own home is really inconvenient!

Just as Yang Lin took out fifty taels of silver and came to Zhao Fu Gui's house to express his gratitude to Zhao Kang, Liu You Cai was tied up with five flowers and dragged out of the house.

Outside Liu's family home, many villagers were waiting.

When they saw Liu Youcai being dragged out in disarray, followed by his sobbing wife and daughter, the villagers burst into cheers!

"Master, Master, why did they arrest you..."

Liu Youcai's wife cried loudly.

"Don't cry!"

Liu Youcai turned his head and loudly rebuked his wife.

"I knew you'd just cry! Go find Yang Lin right now! Tell him I want to give him a big present!"here still a need for innovation"Brother Jing, please don't worry. We can talk about reforming the papermaking process later. I have another important matter to discuss this time.""Forge steel!""Uncle...