Chapter 57: Young People Are Simply So Useful

After Zhou Yunqi left, Tieyi stepped forward in a hurry and asked, "My lord, this won't cause a major incident, will it?"

Why did this new assistant magistrate seem a bit reckless?

"So what if it causes a major incident?" Li Yu leaned back comfortably in his chair, propping his legs up on the official desk like a hoodlum. "If we don't cause a major incident, how can we expect to accomplish anything in the future?"

If people think you are weak by night, you can never hope to be a proper father and mother to the people. Even the emperor would be bullied if he were too easygoing, let alone people like them.

Li Yu had already thoroughly investigated young Zhou's family background. Other than an aging father, he had neither a mother nor a wife—a completely unburdened man. A person like this, filled with grand ambitions, was naturally suited to go and sort things out. Once things escalated, he himself could step in to clean up the mess, play the good guy, and negotiate the benefits. Thinking about it, it wasn't a bad deal at all; either way, it saved him both worry and effort.

With this thought, he stood up and stretched lazily. Since there was still some time before the office hours began, he might as well go back and hug his wife for another nap.

Over at Duozhuang, it had rained all night, and the already difficult roads were full of ruts.

Zhou Yunqi's official sedan chair was now stuck deep in the mud. The sedan bearer and a dozen runners swarmed around the vehicle like ants moving house, trying to lift the carriage body directly out. This was official property; if it got damaged, they would have to write a whole bundle of reports.

Zhou Yunqi, who had just turned twenty, poked his head out. The lapel of his new official robe still bore half a crumb of a sesame pastry, making him look precisely like a cat that had just stolen a bite to eat.

"What's going on?"

During the provincial examinations, he had failed to pass, and his ranking was quite far behind. He had originally thought he could only be a village schoolteacher for the rest of his life. He had no idea what the county magistrate was thinking when submitting his nomination, nor why it had actually been approved higher up.

Heaven had dropped a massive meat pie right into his lap, so naturally, he had to perform his duties well. He also understood that among the many veteran licentiates in the county, the magistrate looked down on all of them, singling him out and insisting on recommending him. Why? Wasn't it precisely because he was young and possessed an unstoppable, get-it-done drive?

"My lord, those bastard dogs from the Xiao family have no decency! They intentionally dug a huge trench in the road. I'm afraid the carriage can't go any further!" Hearing the assistant magistrate's inquiry, runner Wang Quan hurried over, lifting the hem of his trousers. Damn it. These were new shoes his mother had just made for him, and they were already ruined like this.

At these words, Zhou Yunqi furrowed his brow, the eighth-rank quail insignia gleaming in the sunlight. He stretched his neck out and saw that the entire carriage wheel had sunk more than halfway into the mud. He immediately moved to get out and walk over: "Building the reservoir is a matter of vital importance to the people's livelihood. How can we let them do as they please?"

Just as his foot was about to touch the ground, he paused, worrying that the mud on the ground would dirty his new official boots—these had been dropped to him as a meat pie from heaven. They had to be cherished!

Therefore, he simply took off his shoes and placed them carefully inside the carriage. Then he rolled up his trousers high and tied them securely, making sure not a speck of mud would touch them before stepping out of the carriage.

Standing on the essential path to the reservoir were over twenty household servants armed with rakes, forming a battle formation. They looked at the young assistant magistrate with a mixture of fear and reluctance to back down. They were afraid because the opposing party represented the government; they refused to retreat because they feared facing their master's wrath if they gave ground, as they all relied on their master for their livelihoods.

Zhou Yunqi cleared his throat and put on an official tone, imitating what he had seen others do in the past. "This official is acting on the imperial court's decree to build a reservoir. Will you lot not clear the way at once!"

Xiao Daniuh, the head of the servants, scratched his sparse locks and mustered his courage to shout back at the young assistant magistrate: "Our Master Xiao has made it clear! If you want to touch the land beside his ancestral tombs, the Second Master will have to crawl between our brothers' crotches first!"

"Second Master" was an alternative title for an assistant magistrate, who was also known as a *zanfu*.

Zhou Yunqi: "…… Simply preposterous!"

He was an official of some standing, yet the Xiao family dared to humiliate an imperial official so brazenly! "Your master signed the official documents back then, and it is written clearly in black and white in the county archives. How on earth has it become land beside your ancestral tombs now?"

If they wanted to renege, they should just say so directly; why always use their ancestors as an excuse?

"We don't care about that," Xiao Daniuh twitched the corners of his mouth, his eyes darting about as he said, "Anyway, our master said that the imperial court wanting to build a reservoir has nothing to do with him, but this particular piece of land simply cannot be touched. Our master can return the money, but this land cannot be touched."

He didn't know what was going on in their master's head either. The land deed had been signed long ago, and the money from the imperial court had been collected ages ago. Why make such a fuss now? You couldn't just throw tantrums like this. He had heard that the young assistant magistrate loved finding powerful backers; what if he ran off to the prefectural city later to drag the prefect back here to back him up?

"This official doesn't give a damn about your lousy ancestral tombs. I've never heard of a case where land purchased by the imperial court had to be returned." Zhou Yunqi had no intention of stumbling at the very start; otherwise, he wouldn't even have the face to face the magistrate when he returned. Thus, he immediately ordered someone to head back and summon reinforcements.

"Today, I am going to dig up this piece of land no matter what. Anyone of you who dares to block or obstruct this official's official business will be beaten to death in vain."

The county yamen runners had all undergone training, whereas the Xiao family servants only knew how to do odd chores. Even with superior numbers, they were no match at all. Furthermore, they didn't really want to fight—hadn't they heard that beating someone to death wouldn't net them any money?

"Outrageous, simply outrageous." When Master Zhu arrived upon hearing the news, he found that half of his servants had already been knocked to the ground, and the construction crew had started working regardless.

Furious, he pointed his plump finger straight at Zhou Yunqi, trembling with rage. "I am going to submit a petition to the prefectural yamen, accusing you of destroying ancestral tombs and beating up household servants!!!"

So what if he had signed the land deed? There was no reason to dig up someone's ancestral graves! When he signed the land deed back then, he knew they wouldn't dig there, and it could exempt him from a pile of taxes. Had he known a new magistrate would arrive and insist on building some reservoir, he wouldn't have sold it at all. Come to think of it, when he signed that land deed back then, he had only received half of the market price for the land—thinking about it now, he had suffered a colossal loss.

Zhou Yunqi slapped away the plump hand, revealing a set of teeth as white as snow. "Master Xiao, you've arrived at just the right time. This official was just about to invite you to sit for a while at the prefectural yamen, and also invite the Education Intendant to discuss what it means to go back on one's word."

He took a handkerchief from the runner behind him and elegantly wiped his mud-stained hand. "If not for the departure of the former assistant magistrate, your esteemed son would be taking the third provincial examination by now, wouldn't he?"

"What's this? Do you no longer want your scholar's degree either?"

Because it didn't fall within three generations, the family hadn't been too severely implicated, but the males of the Xiao family had indeed been barred from the imperial examinations for nearly a decade; the county would simply never give them a chance to test. Therefore, Master Xiao hated the new magistrate to the core, but remembering his son's academic degree, he ultimately held back, figuring that if he outlasted this magistrate, there might still be some hope.

Alas.

It was always better to have one's own people in the imperial court. Without anyone in the court, what use was having piles of wealth?

Knowing that things were progressing smoothly, Li Yu felt a mix of gratification and puzzlement. "Why are these landlords so fierce? They actually dared to start a brawl with people from the yamen?"

How was this any different from assaulting police officers?