The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 681 - 670: Heavy Gift

Chapter 681: Chapter 670: Heavy Gift

Qi Jue placed his basket on the ground and sat down next to Bai Erlang, nudging him to the side as he asked, panting, "How come none of you are out of breath?"

The three exchanged glances: was it because they often climbed walls?

Manbao cleared her throat and said, "It’s because we exercise regularly."

The others nodded in agreement, finding the statement reasonable.

Qi Jue, unable to argue, looked around the mountaintop and realized that they were the only ones who had climbed up so far.

After all, one should enjoy the scenery along the way when climbing; it was likely that they were the only group to have ascended the mountain at such a relentless pace.

Qi Jue turned to Bai Shan and said, "Can we talk about it now? I swear, I absolutely won’t tell anyone else, and no one here can overhear us."

Bai Shan was curious, "Why do you have to know about this matter so badly?"

Qi Jue sighed, "I have no choice, my father is an assistant magistrate, and you don’t know. Early yesterday morning, Governor Ming slipped away, and the County Magistrate Tang was utterly unapproachable. The Ji Family was still manageable, but people from the Prince of Yizhou’s residence kept looking for my father. It hasn’t stopped from yesterday until today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to climb with you. I was supposed to stay at home to serve my grandfather today."

The assistant magistrate was a position specially created for Shangzhou, serving as a deputy to the governor and holding a rank equivalent to the fourth grade, which was even higher than the governors of Zhongzhou and Xiazhou.

With Governor Ming gone, the entire Yizhou Prefecture was left to the assistant magistrate to dictate, and he was also the superior of the County Magistrate Tang.

If he wanted to handle a case, then County Magistrate Tang would have to yield it to him.

Manbao, somewhat confused, said, "Since your dad is the assistant magistrate, why not just take over the case? County Magistrate Tang is very by-the-book."

But Bai Shan understood and laughed heartily, "Your father can’t push away the Prince of Yizhou’s residence, nor does he want to offend the Ji Family, so he dares not take on this case, yet he still wants to interfere, right?"

Qi Jue said, "My father is just trying to survive between hard places. Who knew Governor Ming would just sneak off? He said he was going to inspect the rural counties below, and it could be a short trip of three to five days, but it would also be normal if he left for one or two months. Now, all the affairs are pressing down on my father’s shoulders."

Manbao understood and pondered for a moment, "What’s so difficult about that? Just follow the rules like County Magistrate Tang."

"Easy for you to say, if we push off the Prince of Yizhou, can my father still remain in his official position?"

Manbao retorted, "The appointment and dismissal of the assistant magistrate are also determined by the imperial court. I don’t believe the Prince of Yizhou’s residence would dismiss your father over this matter."

She looked down upon Assistant Magistrate Qi for his fawning over the powerful, but still said, "If you want to know something, we’ll naturally tell you what we can."

However, Bai Shan asked, "We’ve told everything we know to County Magistrate Tang. Why doesn’t your father just ask him?"

Qi Jue helplessly hung his head, "My father says that County Magistrate Tang is very slippery. He’s afraid as soon as he asks, County Magistrate Tang will just hand over the case."

Bai Shan and the others: "...So he sent you, a child, to pry for information?"

"Not exactly, I just saw my father was really troubled, and since I happened to see you all today, I thought I should help lighten my father’s worries."

Bai Shan and the others let out a relieved sigh, thought for a bit, and said, "Ji Hao fell off his horse, but he wasn’t trampled. Instead, he was cut in the belly by a tree branch."

Qi Jue quickly asked, "How is he now?"

Bai Shan shook his head, "How would I know? I only saw what happened. You’d have to ask a doctor, right?"

Qi Jue then sighed, "Right, but with Dr. Fan from the Ji Family and the three other doctors having entered, none have come out, making it impossible for us to find out anything."

Manbao took out her water flask, poured herself a cup of water, and began picking at the snacks laid out while drinking, casually saying, "We’re still kids. We should leave adult matters alone, or we might not grow tall."

Qi Jue heaved a deep sigh, "This matter doesn’t concern you, so of course, you need not worry. But my father is an official of Yizhou, and this incident has dragged the entire Yizhou officialdom into it."

After some more thought, he added, "And that’s not all. The Ji Family has already sent someone to the capital, so within a couple of days, someone from the Ji Family should be returning. Ying Wenhai’s uncle is an imperial censor. This involves too many people."

Manbao and Bai Shan looked at each other and then simultaneously sighed. One Ji Hao and one Ying Wenhai had turned the whole of Yizhou upside down, and now, one was lying in bed, life and death unknown, while the other was locked up in prison.

Bai Shan paused, his fingers pinching the teacup subconsciously tapped, and he raised an eyebrow, wondering: by keeping him locked up, was County Magistrate Tang also trying to protect Ying Wenhai?

Someone else climbed up the mountain, and they stopped discussing the topic. Qi Jue laid out the food he had brought and casually secured a spot for their teacher.

Classmates arrived intermittently, and after resting for a while, they all looked down from their high vantage point. A gust of wind blew, and they finally felt that today’s efforts had not been in vain.

"Look, from here, you can see Qixia Mountain inside the city."

"Which building is that over there?"

"Ganxiang Pavilion?"

"No way, it’s clearly the Star-gazing Tower of the prefectural school. Ganxiang Pavilion isn’t that tall, is it?"

Mr. Zhuang and the rest of the teachers were the last to climb up. They rested for a while and then took their students for a test, reciting poems or composing them, making sure they thoroughly understood the origin and significance of Double Ninth Festival, and after they memorized plenty of Double Ninth poems, they let them play on their own.

A group of middle-aged people with a bunch of young boys and girls stayed until mid-afternoon. When they were too hungry to fill up on mere snacks, they got up to descend the mountain.

Mr. Zhuang and a few other teachers went to have a drink, while the students each went home.

Bai Shan and his friends discussed and decided to eat out as well, seizing a rare opportunity.

After they finished eating and drinking, feeling delighted, on the way home, the cook hastened out to greet them, "Young Master, Miss Man, you’re finally back."

Bai Shan jumped off the carriage and asked, "What happened?"

The cook pointed to the items placed in the hall, "At noon, someone claiming to be the steward of the Ying Family came with many gift boxes. I didn’t recognize them, so I didn’t dare to accept. They just pushed open the doors, placed the stuff in the yard, and left, saying the Young Master would understand when mentioning their name upon his return."

The cook spoke with an air of helplessness, "I had no choice but to move the things inside. Who knew, after a couple of hours, he came back with more people, this time for Miss Man, dropping off the stuff and leaving just as before, even saying they didn’t realize you both were from the same family at noon and apologizing for the disturbance. Young Master, Miss Man, what should we do about these things...?"

Bai Shan frowned as he opened the gift boxes to look inside; the gifts were more valuable than those from the Ji Family, and not cheaper—not only were there writing materials and fabrics, but even accessories for him and a large box of crabs.

Manbao also flipped through her own gift box, which was full of items. Strangely, her gifts were heavier than Bai Shan’s because when she opened one of the boxes, it contained a row of five gold ingots.