Chapter 119: Hosting a Banquet 2/2

As for Li Qingzhi, he had to send three children to school and then buy some materials needed for making braised meat tomorrow.

While Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye were busy, Magistrate Zhang was also busy.

Last night, after they took control of the quarry, Chang Duan and the quarry’s steward and guards all had severe diarrhea.

There were military doctors in the barracks. Magistrate Zhang brought a military doctor and had him prescribe some anti-diarrhea medicine for Chang Duan, which finally relieved his condition somewhat.

As for the stewards and guards of the quarry… The barracks were not rich, and medicinal herbs were scarce. Why bother using them on animals?

The soldiers paid no attention to those stewards and guards, letting them continue suffering. Early this morning, they drove them to the lake to wash with sticks.

As for Chang Duan, he, along with the other laborers, told Magistrate Zhang about their tragic ordeal.

He spoke a lot but didn’t mention Li Qingzhi.

After taking the medicine last night, Chang Duan took Chang Zhan to his residence.

The two brothers talked and cried all night.

Chang Duan recounted to Chang Zhan all the various experiences he had gone through in the past two years, while Chang Zhan talked about what happened to their family after Chang Duan was arrested.

Their mother and wife had both passed away… Chang Duan’s tears couldn’t stop flowing from his face; he couldn’t control them.

Then… he heard Li Qingzhi’s name from Chang Zhan.

Li Qingzhi hadn’t died.

After chatting with Chang Zhan, he learned that the reason Magistrate Zhang started investigating Linhu County was entirely because of Li Qingzhi; his daughter now also lives with Li Qingzhi.

“Thanks to Li Qingzhi…” Chang Duan sighed.

If it weren’t for Li Qingzhi, Magistrate Zhang might never have discovered the true face of Magistrate Yan.

Even if he did find out and deal with Magistrate Yan, Magistrate Zhang might not have known about the situation here at the quarry and wouldn’t have been able to save Chang Duan.

“Yes, thanks to him. I’ve told him already that I’ll repay him by working like an ox or a horse in the future,” Chang Zhan said.

Although Li Qingzhi refused, Chang Zhan felt that he must repay Li Qingzhi well in this lifetime.

Chang Duan said, “I’ll handle this debt. You just live well, find a wife, and have a few children…”

Chang Duan had a very good relationship with his childhood sweetheart. Learning that his wife had lost her life seeking revenge for him, he naturally felt immense sorrow.

After experiencing so much, he no longer thought about getting married or having children, and he even had no interest in reopening a restaurant.

He wanted Chang Zhan to inherit the family recipes and continue the family line. As for himself… He would follow Li Qingzhi and raise his daughter properly.

“Brother, I’ve told him already. I’ll repay the debt,” Chang Zhan said.

The two brothers couldn’t settle the dispute and decided to wait until they asked Li Qingzhi.

Chang Zhan also mentioned that Li Qingzhi didn’t want people to know that he had intervened in this case.

“If King Jin’s people find out that Li Qingzhi escaped from the quarry and Magistrate Zhang’s investigation of Linhu County is related to him, Li Qingzhi will definitely run into trouble… I won’t mention his matter in front of Magistrate Zhang,” Chang Duan said.

If he didn’t mention it, others probably wouldn’t either. Li Qingzhi had been dead for over a year, and some of these laborers hadn’t even been here for a year.

Moreover, when Li Qingzhi was still here, his relationship with these people was average. There were few who knew Li Qingzhi’s full name at the time.

As expected, when Chang Duan didn’t mention it, others didn’t bring up Li Qingzhi either.

They didn’t say much about the other things, just their own experiences, which had already made Magistrate Zhang extremely upset.

Magistrate Zhang couldn’t believe that such a horrific incident could happen in a place as prosperous as Jiangnan.

Under the guidance of Chang Duan and others, Magistrate Zhang also went to see where the guards had thrown the bodies.

These guards usually drank water and bathed in the lake, so instead of throwing the bodies into the lake, they threw them into a nearby mountain hollow.

And Magistrate Zhang, accompanied by the soldiers, found over a thousand skeletons in this mountain hollow.

The quarry had appeared over a decade ago, which meant that hundreds of people died here every year.

At first, the commanding officer of the soldiers thought that Magistrate Zhang was overseeing too much, thinking that it wasn’t a big deal for Jin Wang to hire some people to help him quarry stones. But after seeing those skeletons, he fell silent.

“Today, we’ll take a break and bury these skeletons properly. Tomorrow, we’ll hurry to Linhu County. I want to interrogate the surname Yan thoroughly and also investigate the Lou family!” Magistrate Zhang said, then personally wrote a memorial and attached various pieces of evidence, sending it to the capital…

He was going to sue King Jin!

After finishing the memorial, Magistrate Zhang returned to his room to rest.

He didn’t sleep well last night and was truly tired.

Chongcheng County.

At noon that day, Li Qingzhi visited County Magistrate Gou.

However, because he had many things to do, he briefly exchanged a few words before leaving the county office to go to the Zhu family, then to Li Xiucai’s house…

The entire afternoon, Li Qingzhi was busy visiting others.

As for Jin Xiaoye, she instructed the female workers who were going back to finish work early, and then in the late afternoon, around three or four o’clock, Jin Xiaoshu took the female workers back to Miaoqian Village from Chongcheng County.

The boat was a bit crowded with so many female workers, but they didn’t mind at all.

They helped each other tidy up their clothes, and those who had bought rouge took out their rouge and applied a little to everyone’s lips.

“You’ve gotten much fairer after not being in the sun for two months. I should be fairer too.”

“I’ve gained some weight. I must look better than before.”

“When I go back, my mother probably won’t recognize me!”

…

They were squeezed together, but they were extremely happy!

Recently, Miaoqian Village had just finished the busy farming season, so they finally had some free time and gathered to chat.

“The new pier is almost built. When the new pier is completed, my family will lose some income.”

“Your family is doing well. My husband works slowly and wasn’t selected at all!”

“The most enviable one is Jin Dajiang. I heard he earns two taels of silver a month working in the kitchen.”

“Well, that’s because he has a capable son-in-law. I envy that.”

“Yes, Li Qingzhi is really amazing. He actually got the top spot in our county examination.”

“I heard he went to the capital to take the exam. I wonder what rank he’ll get this time.”

“Yao Zhenfu can’t even pass the county exam. How can he compare to Li Qingzhi?”

“Yao Zhenfu indeed can’t compare to Li Qingzhi, but his wife is quite capable. Jin Moli is now selling food in the county town, and it’s doing quite well.”

“Yes, we see her and Jin Liushu carrying a large amount of food to the county town every day.”

…

Most of the villagers lived by the river. As they were chatting, they saw Jin Xiaoshu passing by in his boat.

Everyone was quite surprised: “Why did Jin Xiaoshu come back so early today?”

“There are so many people on Jin Xiaoshu’s boat… who are they?”

“Those young ladies look familiar… let’s go take a look.”

The villagers of Miaoqian Village walked towards the riverbank.

When they arrived, Jin Xiaoshu had already stopped the boat and was urging the young girls on board to disembark quickly.

The girls chattered excitedly as they ran one by one onto the shore, where they spotted the villagers from Miaoqian Village who had come to watch the commotion.

The villagers stared at the girls in astonishment. While they had seen them from afar before and felt they looked familiar, now… they recognized them.

These were the girls from Miaoqian Village who worked at Jin Xiaoye’s embroidery workshop!

Over the past two months, they often talked about these girls in the village. Some had even gone to the county town and heard that they were all doing well.

But now…

It was more than just doing well. These girls, just by looking at them, seemed like city dwellers now!

It had only been two months, so how had they changed so much?