Chapter 48: Liu Youcai's Grand Gift

t's time for him to pay the head tax, he'll know how it feels."Villagers passing by grumbled.But thinking about Yang Lin marrying so many wives, I envied him again...After dinner, it was completely da..."Be bold!"

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

Zhao Deyi pointed fiercely at the villagers.

"Believe me, I'll arrest all of you!"

The villagers, however, remained unmoved, still blocking Yang Lin's path, their eyes fixed on Zhao Deyi.

Zhao Deyi's heart trembled with unease.

Even the constables were dumbfounded. There were simply too many villagers around; they couldn't possibly arrest everyone, could they

"You... you..."

Zhao Deyi gritted his teeth.

In this Giang Ho County, he had never been so ignored by anyone before.

"Great!"

"You want to die, right Fine, have it your way!"

Zhao Deyi roared, "All of you, draw your swords! Anyone who dares to block me will be hacked to pieces!"

"Whoosh!"

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

The villagers were also taken aback and instinctively stepped back.

However, one person did not leave.

King貴 said, "If you want to catch Yang Lin, you have to step over my dead body!"

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

"Yang Lin is my great benefactor, I, Wang Gui, this life, even today if I stay here, I absolutely will not allow you to take Yang Lin away!"

He straightened his chest and walked toward the guards' 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 never been able to recover. Now that Yang Lin has brought us 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, then arrest me too!"

"I don't care if I die. Come and get me if you dare!"

More and more villagers stepped out, all with their necks craned up, 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, meeting it head-on, even death wouldn't scare these people, there was nothing he could do.

You can't actually go around killing people, can you

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

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

"Make way, make way for everyone!"

The County Magistrate is here!

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

When Yang Lin heard the sound, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

The outcome is decided!

Then Zhao Fuguai pushed his way through the crowd, followed by two men and a dozen burly yamen officers.

Hearing Zhao Fugui's shout, Zhao Deyi frowned.

Following the sound, I saw County Magistrate Zhao Kang!

And the man in his fifties beside Zhao Kang surprised Zhao Deyi even more.

Mr. Zheng What brings you here

Mr. Zheng here is Zheng Dongqiao, the master of Zhixian Wu Yong!

He was the magistrate's most trusted confidant, always advising him on strategies, collecting wealth, and managing his estates...

As for positions, Shíyé doesn't hold an official rank and is completely inferior to the County Magistrate and County Lieutenant.

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

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

"Hehehe."

Zheng Dongqiao stroked his beard and said with a smile, "The County magistrate loves the people like his own children and cares for them deeply. When he learned that Yang Lin from Koushan Village had been attacked last night and nearly lost his life, he was greatly shocked. He personally took charge of investigating this case."

Hearing this, Zhao Deyi understood everything.

Zheng Dongqiao took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, unfolded it and read aloud in an orderly fashion:

"After a thorough investigation by the esteemed county magistrate, it has been determined that Liu Youcai, a ruffian from Koushan Village, instigated his servants and hired assassins to commit murder. His actions are audacious and extremely wicked!"

"With both eyewitness and physical evidence, Sir Zhao, honorable County Magistrate, I demand you immediately apprehend Liu Youcai."

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

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

Zhao Deyi's face turned ashen. He took the paper and quickly glanced at it, then bowed to Zheng Dongqiao expressionlessly and said, "Your Excellency is truly wise! I shall take your orders!"

Let's go and arrest Liu Youcai!

Zhao Deyi shouted with a cold face.

He was very unwilling to accept this.

When it seemed the plan was about to succeed, in the end, it all came to nothing.

Now that the county magistrate has issued an order, he dare not disobey. Therefore, for now, there is nothing to be done but to comply.

Zhao Deyi led his men and left in a flurry.

The villagers finally became excited.

"Is Yang Lin okay"

"It's not just that it's over, didn't you guys hear The master is going to arrest Liu Youcai!"

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

"Good heavens!"

For a time, the common people were all filled with gratitude towards this county magistrate who seemed so distant from them.

However, only Zhao Fugui knew that in order to achieve this result, it wasn't because the old master was a god-like judge. It was simply because Yang Lin remembered not giving the old master a gift and sent someone to chase after him, urging him to bring a generous gift for the magistrate.

A full two hundred taels of silver!!

Two hundred taels of silver isn't much for a magistrate.

But these two hundred taels of silver, Yang Lin did not ask for it to help them cover up wrongdoing. He only wanted it as a fair and just payment.

This was nothing for Wu Yong.

Mr. Zheng finished his business and left immediately, not even glancing at Yang Lin throughout the whole process.

But County Magistrate Zhao Kang was very interested in Yang Lin. Seeing so many villagers spontaneously stand in front of him, he was deeply moved.

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

Zhao Kang walked over with a smile.

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

Yang Lin bowed: "Greetings, sir. Thank you, Zhao sir, for your journey and for clearing my name. My place 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 caught the implication in Yang Lin's words and smiled, nodding his head.

But he didn't know that Yang Lin had chosen Zhao Fuguang's home as the location for another reason.

Because his own home was really inconvenient!

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

Outside the Liu family's gate, many villagers were waiting.

When they saw Liu Youcai being dragged out in disgrace, followed by his tearful wife and daughter, the villagers erupted in cheers!

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

Liu Youcai's wife cried and wailed.

"Don't cry!"

Liu Youcai turned his head and loudly scolded his wife.

"I knew you'd just cry and whine! Go find Yang Lin right now! Tell him to come see me, and say I have a gift for him!"d carefree.After much struggle, I finally returned to my hometown village.After returning home, he arranged for everyone to cook and stew the meat. Yang Lin went out alone to find Wang the carpenter.A...