Chapter 168: The Poor Jinshi Turns into a Noble Young Master

Being a county magistrate in the Ming Dynasty was no easy task. At least, if a magistrate spent his days drinking and indulging in pleasure, showing up in court only when someone beat the drum to hear cases, he would most likely be accused of dereliction of duty. Though it was just a seventh-rank official position, the magistrate only had five days off per month, plus five more days from the first to the fifth day of the first lunar month, as well as during festivals like the emperor’s accession or birthday. He had to be in court every morning and leave by dusk, with separate morning, midday, and evening sessions.

As the new county magistrate, Zhang Yue naturally had to pay a visit to the prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture. Luo Wei, Zhao Ming, and Ma Cheng accompanied him. Upon arrival, the meeting was merely a formality—they exchanged pleasantries about fulfilling their duties with dedication, after which they left. In fact, more time was spent on the journey than during the meeting itself.

Before Zhang Yue took office, the county affairs were handled by the deputy magistrate. Now that Zhang Yue was in charge, at the start of the morning session, Luo Wei respectfully offered to hand over the administration. But Zhang Yue, despite taking over the official seal, waved him off with a smile, saying everything should continue as before. At first, Luo Wei remained cautious and handled official matters carefully. But when he saw Zhang Yue merely signing documents with occasional glances, he gradually relaxed. By the end of the morning session, Zhang Yue was even smiling broadly.

He thought Zhang Yue was a talented and capable individual, but turns out he was nothing but an empty shell!

The morning, midday, and evening sessions in Anqiu County Court were extremely punctual. The morning session ran from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., the midday session from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the evening session from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., with the drumbeat signaling the end of each session. Perhaps because it was the new magistrate’s first day handling affairs, the court officials were especially energetic, and the clerks worked diligently, ensuring documents were processed swiftly. It was unclear whether the people hadn’t yet been informed or if no one wanted to file complaints these days—aside from the drumbeat at the end of the day, there was no other noise outside the court.

Day after day passed, and Zhang Yue continued to just sign documents without actually handling affairs. Luo Wei and Zhao Ming met again to discuss the situation and became even more convinced of their belief: even if Zhang Yue had great ambitions, he was still a naive kid who couldn’t handle the complex official duties right away. Just the documents exchanged between superiors and subordinates—without the clerks preparing them for him, how could he possibly manage anything, no matter how well he wrote?

Sure enough, on the fourth day, Zhang Yue fell ill and took time off. As a result, not only did the yamen clerks revert to their lazy ways, but even the officials who had been energetic for three days began slacking off. Luo Wei, who was now acting as the official in charge, watched the county magistrate with a pleased smile, while Zhao Ming also breathed a sigh of relief. So when someone beat the drum that day, Luo Wei didn’t even glance at Ma Cheng below and ordered without hesitation, “Bring in the petitioner—the lord wants to hear the case!”

While people were bustling outside to file complaints, Zhang Yue was sitting by the pond in the back garden of the rear yamen, staring blankly at the withered lotus flowers. He seemed more lost in thought than truly sick. Since he had kicked away the gardeners and servants early in the morning, there wasn’t a soul around—not even a ghost. It wasn’t until a real ghost-like figure swiftly climbed over the wall and quietly approached him from behind that he yawned.

“I’m sick now—those people must be very happy, right?”

“Of course. With that annoying person gone, anyone would be happy! Those guys are quite bold—they even gave you a nickname behind your back: ‘Silver-like Gunhead’.”

Peng Shisan sneered before whispering, “I’ve done some investigating. Anqiu County isn’t a major provincial county. It should have only had one chief official, and those two deputy officials long ago should have been dismissed. It’s just that because it’s small and unattended, things have continued by chance until now. The county magistrate and clerk may seem arrogant, but they’re just relying on their local influence. If they knew your background, they wouldn’t be so complacent.”

Zhang Yue didn’t care much about Luo Wei and Zhao Ming, but found Ma Cheng’s aloofness strange. He quickly changed the subject and asked, “What about the other news?”

At that moment, Peng Shisan put aside his mocking expression and adopted a serious one. “Since I’m a stranger and stand out too much, I used Liansheng as a cover to send him out to investigate. That kid is smooth-talking, originally from Shandong, and can speak a bit of the local dialect. He greets people as ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt,’ so everyone likes to talk to him. After investigating for most of the day, he finally got some results. There are widespread rumors that the Buddha Mother has appeared to save all beings. It’s said she’ll come to this area to preach on the 15th of this month—though it’s not clear which village.”

Calling herself the Buddha Mother… So his guess turned out to be correct? At this moment, Zhang Yue wished his memory were faulty, but since Peng Shisan had even mentioned the Buddha Mother, it was likely the person he had in mind. He asked Peng Shisan how long this Buddha Mother had been preaching in Anqiu. Upon learning that she came on the first and fifteenth of each month, meaning it had already lasted for over half a year, his brows furrowed even more tightly.

What a fortunate start to his new role as an official! If the teachings of the White Lotus Sect had taken root deeply in people’s hearts, how could a newly arrived county magistrate like him reverse such a situation? As a county magistrate, he had dozens of clerks and soldiers under him. Usually, they were excellent at suppressing the common people, but utterly useless for anything else. Even if he had great abilities, unless he could “foresee the future” and send troops to completely eradicate the White Lotus Sect’s stronghold, it would be all in vain.

“Young master, young master!”

His tangled thoughts in his mind made him oblivious to the shouting behind him. It wasn’t until someone tapped him hard on the shoulder twice that he came back to his senses. Seeing Peng Shisan smiling broadly, he couldn’t help but get annoyed: “Everything is a problem right now, yet you’re still so happy. What’s so amusing?”

“It’s me who’s happy now, but it’ll be your turn to be happy soon!” Peng Shisan smiled and pointed toward the moon gate in the garden, winking. “Lian Hu is surely gesturing frantically over there. It must be Miss Qiuhen and the others have arrived. Of course, our helpers and men are all here as well. Let them bask in their triumph for a few days; then we’ll deal with them firmly and make them suffer.”

Zhang Yue, who had been listless and sighing moments ago, suddenly perked up. These past few days, he had to stay alert to those two mysterious girls, and he lacked enough people to handle both gathering information and doing tasks, forcing him to proceed slowly. Now that everyone had arrived, it meant he could fully focus on what needed to be done.

So, he stood up, jumped down from the rockery, clapped his hands, and said with a smile, “I’ve been waiting for them. Thankfully, no time has been wasted. Come, let’s go outside and take a look!”

Everyone assumed that Zhang Yue had come to his post with just a few attendants and luggage, so they preconceived him as a poor scholar with no connections. Yet when this “poor scholar” suddenly transformed, many found it hard to comprehend.

At this moment, the several officials saw the three black-lacquered carriages in front of the county yamen’s screen wall, the sturdy attendants on those dozen or so horses, the dozen or so camphor wood chests unloaded from the carriages, and the three young girls wearing veiled hats stepping down from them. They almost popped out their eyes in shock, unable to believe what they were seeing was real. But they had no choice but to accept it; they sent someone inside to report the situation while leading them to a sheltered area outside the archway behind the screen wall.

Apart from Kaifeng in Henan, Qiuhen had only been to Nanjing and Beijing. Seeing the dilapidated yamen before her, her expression turned unpleasant. However, that slightly angry look vanished as soon as she saw Zhang Yue coming out. Even so, she glanced at Lingxi first—only after this older girl by one year and more prestigious at home stepped forward did she gently bite her lip and go forward with Amber.

“Young master.”

As the three girls knelt in reverence, a group of senior attendants and servants also knelt and kowtowed in unison, rising only when Zhang Yue spoke. The officials were stunned by this sight, and even those minor officials who had come to gawk and initially thought the new county magistrate was poor were speechless.

The officials were rough folks with limited experience, but many of the minor officials came from wealthy local families and had seen some fine things before. Yet they had never seen anything like the headwear, belts, or bracelets worn by those girls before. If they still claimed the magistrate came from a poor family, it would be better for them to just kill themselves with a piece of tofu. At that moment, everyone had the same thought:

All day chasing geese, only to have the geese peck their eyes!

Luo Wei, Zhao Ming, and Ma Cheng hadn’t expected that only a small group had arrived with Zhang Yue. They immediately smiled broadly and helped arrange things for him. As they counted the total number of attendants, their expressions gradually darkened. Seeing that there were as many as twenty senior attendants, Luo Wei and Zhao Ming pretended to have urgent matters in the front yamen and hurriedly left, while Ma Cheng was stunned into silence the moment he caught a glimpse of the three girls’ appearances.

Lingxi had previously served as the head housekeeper to the old lady. This time, because of Lady Gu’s instructions, Zhang Yue didn’t bring a housekeeper, so she was brought along. Naturally, she carried the interior map prepared by Zhang Yue in advance and directed everyone in organizing the luggage and assigning accommodations, handling everything in an orderly manner. The senior attendants and servants were used to following her orders along the way, but there were also the originally hired maids and old women in the county yamen. Seeing such a capable and decisive girl, they lost all courage and became submissive.

Qiu Hen and Hu Bo were busy watching people move a few essential items into Zhang Yue’s dormitory, too preoccupied to notice the two alluring girls standing there with their chests out. Upon seeing the somewhat old curtain hanging over the bed, Qiu Hen quickly removed it and took out a green silk curtain that had been prepared in advance to hang instead. Hu Bo, on the other hand, took out a copper pot, filled it with a handful of lily fragrance, covered it, glanced around, and finally placed it on a high shelf in the corner.

The two girls stood there for a long time. Seeing that Qiu Hen and Hu Bo acted as if they didn’t exist, their faces gradually turned pale. They thought they were skilled at serving others, but who would have expected that others would change the curtains for bedding, the bedding for sheets, and the sheets for quilts? Those large camphor wood chests seemed like treasure chests, from which various items and furnishings were magically taken out. They had previously mocked Zhang Yue for his shabby clothes, but now, seeing that even the maids wore golden bracelets, their discomfort was beyond description.

Previously, those servants had made a mistake by not recognizing the county magistrate; now, weren’t they also making a mistake by not recognizing the gold-inlaid jade?