Chapter 510: The Timid County Magistrate Hu

Blue skies and white clouds, a pot of tea, a board of chess—on the back of the vast Tianpeng Bird soaring through the skies, Lin Dong and Yun Lan enjoyed utmost comfort.
The howling winds couldn’t penetrate their energy barrier, and the scenery below, seen from above, was breathtakingly beautiful—lofty mountains, dense forests, and fields, each with its own unique charm.
“You lost!” Yun Lan placed a chess piece down, declaring the game over.
Lin Dong gazed up at the pure white sky, filled with a dazzling blue hue.
In the vast expanse of the sky, the enormous Tianpeng Bird was merely a tiny black dot. Yet this dot was the mount on which Lin Dong had traveled across countless mountains and rivers.
Since it was a mount, Lin Dong naturally took good care of it. They were currently in a small pavilion built on the Tianpeng Bird’s head. The pavilion was constructed from snow-white minerals that emitted a sacred glow, along with snow-white stone tables and benches—creating a world as white as snow.
Behind them, on the Tianpeng Bird’s back, stood a building covering an area of over a hundred acres. Its interior wasn’t luxurious, but it was exquisitely designed by Yang Shun and Peng Qiao. It was comfortable and spacious, equipped with various mechanisms that combined aesthetics and defense. It ensured the Tianpeng Bird remained stable no matter how it moved or if it experienced severe vibrations. Even the strongest warriors during the Heart Reversal period couldn’t easily invade it, especially with all those high-grade spiritual minerals present.
With just a few dozen VIP cards filled with food and water, this Tianpeng Bird would undoubtedly be the best mount for both travel and daily life.
Chirp…
The Tianpeng Bird suddenly opened its long beak, emitting a clear chirp.
It was a reminder to Lin Dong that their next destination had arrived, and it was time to land.
Lin Dong and Yun Lan stood up, their eyes glowing with spiritual energy. After locating a small red dot in the city below, they flew above a dense forest. Lin Dong and Yun Lan took out umbrellas made from spiritual beast skins and spiritual minerals and jumped from a height of a thousand meters.
Though the umbrellas shook violently, they showed no signs of damage under the immense force of gravity. The two quickly descended above the forest, using their spiritual energy to land effortlessly on the towering trees. After determining their direction, they rushed toward the nearest county town at lightning speed.
In the blink of an eye, they entered the city gates and moved through the streets at a speed beyond ordinary sight. In moments, they arrived at the backyard of an inn with a red flag hanging from its rooftop.

Distraught, he scanned the entire Lin’s Inn. To his surprise, Lin’s Inn was already open for business.
“What’s wrong?” Yun Lan asked upon seeing Lin Dong’s unusual expression.
“It’s open,” Lin Dong said with a frown.
Yun Lan was astonished. Though she didn’t interfere much with Lin’s Inn’s affairs, she had heard Lin Dong mention them during their casual conversations. In Lingnan City, before sending his guards to establish branches elsewhere, Lin Dong had made it clear that they could hire assistants and chefs once the branches were set up, but they would only be kept on standby until the transportation portal was opened, at which point the headquarters would develop an opening plan based on the actual conditions of each city before officially opening. This way, it could avoid opening without any advantages—earning little profit and giving people the impression that Lin’s Inn was not very good. It was far better to become famous from day one, so that everyone in the city knew Lin’s Inn was the best for lodging and dining.
Over their journey, they had opened more than fifty branches, and this was the first time they encountered such a situation.
“Maybe there’s some special circumstance. Let’s go in through the main door and ask,” Lin Dong decided. Those sent to establish the inns were all Lin’s Inn’s guards, whose loyalty could not be in doubt. Moreover, there were many strange things about the lobby. There were twenty-five dining tables in the lobby, yet near noon, there was only one table with customers, and the food was just vegetables and radishes. There were only two assistants, both listlessly dozing off at empty tables, dirty all over. At the entrance, the owner, dressed in a silk robe, was also greasy, leaning on the doorframe as if trying to attract customers.
This certainly didn’t look like a top-notch inn for lodging and dining—it was more like a rundown establishment so poorly managed that it couldn’t even pay its assistants, forcing the owner to solicit customers himself while the assistants didn’t even fear being scolded for laziness.
Although it lacked various special features, even if Lin’s Inn was struggling, this was still a county town—it shouldn’t be in such a dire state. And the person in charge certainly shouldn’t be in such a miserable situation. After all, he was a martial artist at the Mental Energy stage, and he had brought plenty of spiritual materials with him. No matter what, how could he have fallen to such a state?
The two leaped over the courtyard wall and arrived right in front of Lin’s Inn.
“Owner?”

The temporary shop owner, also Jiang Wei, the guard of Lin’s Inn, was startled by Lin Dong suddenly appearing in front of him. Rubbing his eyes and taking another look, a look of great joy appeared on his face. The owner had finally come to arrange for the delivery gate, and he could finally escape the torment of having to make decisions for everything.

Lin Dong nodded and glanced inside before saying, “What’s going on? Didn’t I tell you to wait until the delivery gate was set up before preparing to open?”

“The owner doesn’t know; it’s beyond our control,” Jiang Wei said with a wry smile. “People from the county office came and said the prefect would be inspecting, so I’m supposed to open today.”

“Deliberately lying and hiding their poor governance?” Lin Dong frowned. “If that’s the case, you should have thrown those officials out. In just one county, no one should be able to do anything to you, right?”

Jiang Wei shook his head repeatedly. “If it were that simple, I wouldn’t have agreed. And I wouldn’t be dressed like this either.”

“Then why?” Lin Dong asked in surprise.

Jiang Wei scratched his head, organized his thoughts, and explained, “County Magistrate Hu is actually a decent person. Aside from being a bit timid, he’s fair and honest, and he’s also quite capable. Over the past ten-odd years, Chengfeng County has become increasingly prosperous under his governance. Not to mention the entire Kuangtong Prefecture, it’s even famous for its wealth within the entire Hengyu Commandery. A year ago, the new prefect, Zhang Yuquan, made Chengfeng County his target right away. A few months later, he came for an inspection. Finding nothing corrupt about Magistrate Hu, he started targeting the wealthy merchants in Chengfeng County. He would visit one shop, find some alarming flaws, and then visit another, finding mistakes that could lead to imprisonment. Magistrate Hu didn’t dare to speak up, and the wealthy merchants naturally didn’t dare to resist, so they could only spend money to avoid trouble.”

After a pause, Jiang Wei continued, “Although they lost money, the trouble didn’t go away. Zhang Yuquan became more and more addicted, demanding more and more each time. He even resorted to murder, forcing the owner of the largest silk shop in the county to go bankrupt before he finally stopped. Last time, fearing Zhang Yuquan would do the same again upon hearing he was coming for another inspection, Magistrate Hu immediately ordered all shops in the city to close for a few days.”

Lin Dong and Yun Lan exchanged glances. This Prefect Zhang deserved a plaque of the Plague God—he could even force all the shops in the city to close. And that Magistrate Hu was quite a timid man, coming up with such a plan. Would it work?

Actually, if County Magistrate Hu had been bolder and more willing to stand up, with his prestige and Governor Zhang’s reputation, he could surely have mobilized the wealthy residents of the whole county to respond. Even though the Great Han Empire was corrupt, it wouldn’t allow a rebellion to occur. If all the wealthy people in the county united and pooled their networks, they would surely overwhelm Zhang Yuquan.

Zhang Yuquan’s greed grew increasingly, largely because of County Magistrate Hu’s encouragement. Of course, no one blamed County Magistrate Hu—there weren’t many good officials in the Great Han Empire, and even if they had various flaws or mistakes, no one cared. In Lin Dong’s eyes, County Magistrate Hu was even a bit endearably foolish. Using the tactic of emptying the whole city to deal with a corrupt official was naive, but since he managed to keep the county thriving, his abilities were undoubtedly strong. He probably resorted to such a naive method because he was truly at his wits’ end.

Sure enough, Jiang Wei confirmed Lin Dong’s thoughts. “Who would have thought that with all the shops closed and not a single vendor or passerby on the streets, Zhang Yuquan would claim the shops were guilty of theft? He not only fined each household ten taels of silver but also threatened heavier penalties if they closed again. Hearing that Zhang Yuquan was coming again, County Magistrate Hu came up with a ruse of pretending to be poor—every shop kept its doors open, valuable items were hidden, and the wealthy tried not to go out. Those who did go out wore tattered clothes and only bought the cheapest goods.”

Jiang Wei nodded toward the only customer seated there and said helplessly, “There’s someone I know in there—the owner of Tianhua Cloth Shop. He’s not extremely rich, but he’s quite well-off. He came to our Lin’s Inn because he had business to discuss with a few other owners. He simply followed County Magistrate Hu’s example, dressing in rags. The whole meal cost only thirty wen.”

Lin Dong was both amused and exasperated. These wealthy people knew this tactic was equally naive yet still cooperated. It could be said that County Magistrate Hu had great confidence, or perhaps they weren’t much braver than him—both of them dared not speak out against Zhang Yuquan.

But then again, the common people don’t fight the rich, and the rich don’t clash with officials. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, no one really steps forward to risk their life fighting against Zhang Yuquan. With the imperial court spending thousands of years refining official routes to be more efficient through mountains and emphasizing that ruthless people should take pride in breaking free from the laws of the Han Dynasty to become bandits, those who dared rebel without being in a desperate situation mostly ended up in mountain strongholds, drinking heavily and eating heartily. If there were easy targets, they would seize them; if not, they would target other strongholds for fun—living in utter delight.
“Enough, we’re leaving soon. Later, use the transport gate to go to the capital. Besides talking to Ma Chun about opening the business, ask him to meet with Prince Qingliu and inform him of what’s going on here. Prince Qingliu will know what to do.”
Lin Dong gave the order, strode over to the counter, and sat down. A system prompt sounded immediately. Just as this Lin’s Inn was added as a branch, a large convoy passed by the entrance.