Chapter 138: Chili Pepper 1/4

It had been a month since Magistrate Zhang unleashed a reign of terror in Linhu County.

Initially, Magistrate Zhang had stayed in Linhu County, handling various matters there. Even when people came from the capital to investigate him, he was still in Linhu County.

Magistrate Zhang confessed to what he had done, but he didn’t admit any wrongdoing.

While dealing with the investigators from the capital, he also managed the affairs of the people in Linhu County. It wasn’t until ten days ago that he returned to the prefectural city.

After being busy for half a month and learning about so many tragedies… Magistrate Zhang, who was already in poor health, fell ill.

However, despite being tired and sick, Magistrate Zhang remained calm.

After all, he had long accepted the possibility of his own death.

But now… what did this person say?

He was promoted to governor?

Magistrate Zhang doubted he had heard correctly.

The Assistant Magistrate of Hexing Prefecture, who had a grudge against Magistrate Zhang, also doubted he had heard correctly.

The Assistant Magistrate was the magistrate’s assistant and held a position in the prefectural government only slightly lower than the magistrate.

The magistrate held a fourth-rank official position, while the assistant magistrate held a fifth-rank official position. As for being promoted to governor… that was a second-rank official position!

With Zhang Zhiru killing so many people and causing such a big incident, how could he possibly be promoted? And to governor, no less!

This person refused to believe it. He was about to ask, but the leader of the local military, Commander Chen, spoke up before him, “Sir, Magistrate Zhang has been promoted? Promoted to governor?”

The messenger smiled, “Yes, His Majesty has decreed that Magistrate Zhang shall become the governor of Jiang’an Province.”

“This is impossible!” The assistant magistrate still couldn’t believe it.

The messenger ignored him and turned to Magistrate Zhang, saying, “Magistrate Zhang, congratulations!”

Chen, with a full beard, was even more overjoyed, “Magistrate Zhang, congratulations! I truly apologize for before, I misunderstood you based on some unfounded rumors!”

Magistrate Zhang: “…”

Previously, Magistrate Zhang had taken the local military to Linhu County, but once the Lou family left and Linhu County was no longer in danger, he sent the local military away.

It had been a while since he had seen this military leader, and he had intended to apologize properly, but the situation suddenly changed.

“Oh, Magistrate Zhang, we’ve traveled a long way and are a bit tired. Could you find a place for us to rest?” The messenger on horseback spoke up.

Magistrate Zhang finally snapped out of it and immediately led the man and his entourage to the prefectural government office.

Once inside the government office, the messenger asked to speak with Magistrate Zhang alone, “Magistrate Zhang, His Majesty has sent something for you.”

“What reward does His Majesty have?” Magistrate Zhang asked.

Realizing he wasn’t going to die, Magistrate Zhang felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

His Majesty not only spared him but also promoted him… His Majesty approved of what he had done!

For His Majesty’s great favor, he had no way to repay but to serve diligently as governor in the future, working for the welfare of the people.

He hoped that Daqi could enjoy lasting peace and prosperity.

“Magistrate Zhang, His Majesty has supplemented you with a secret decree.” The messenger handed a scroll of secret decree to Magistrate Zhang.

Seeing this secret decree, Magistrate Zhang understood why he was safe.

His Majesty stood by his side, issuing him a secret decree. With this, his actions were no longer considered wrong!

“Thank you for His Majesty’s kindness.” Magistrate Zhang’s eyes welled up with tears. Although he was guiltless in his heart, the fabrication of an imperial decree was indeed inappropriate…

“Magistrate Zhang, do you know what’s happening in the capital?” The messenger asked with a smile.

Magistrate Zhang listened attentively.

The messenger didn’t beat around the bush and recounted what had happened in the capital.

As a confidant of the emperor, he naturally stood by the emperor’s side: “His Majesty first received your report about the King of Jin exploiting Lihu Stone, which led to the deaths of many people. He was angry with the King of Jin at first, but not long after, he received your self-reproach report. His Majesty knew you loved the people like your own children and wouldn’t wrong Magistrate Yan, but this matter was indeed difficult to handle. So he pretended to be ill and let Eunuch Lu spread rumors about the Lou family’s guilt.”

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Zhang felt immense guilt.

As a subject, he shouldn’t have burdened the emperor by making him feign illness.

“But unfortunately, not long after, the Lou family arrived in the capital…” The messenger recounted the recent events in the capital.

All of this was within Magistrate Zhang’s expectations, so he didn’t feel particularly surprised when he heard it.

“Magistrate Zhang, your safety is actually related to a book. Originally, people in the capital were saying you were seeking personal revenge, but Eunuch Lu produced a book and even hired storytellers to spread the word… Officials and commoners in the court now know about the situation in Linhu County and say you’re a good official. That’s why His Majesty was able to protect you smoothly.”

“A book?” Magistrate Zhang was somewhat surprised.

“Yes, this book is called ‘Record of Injustice.'” The messenger took out several books from his sleeve and handed them to Magistrate Zhang, then casually added, “Magistrate Zhang, because this book was produced by Eunuch Lu, many people now think you’re under Eunuch Lu’s influence.”

Magistrate Zhang didn’t pay much attention to what the person said afterwards. He stared blankly at the book in front of him for a while and then picked it up and opened it.

The book was poorly bound, and the printing inside was also poor.

After a simple glance, Magistrate Zhang noticed that there were some typos in the text.

Of course, the typos didn’t affect readability. The most important thing was… this book was written by Li Qingzhi!

Previously, when Li Qingzhi came to Linhu County to find him, he saw Li Qingzhi writing this book with his own eyes!

He knew that Li Qingzhi wrote the book to help him, but he felt it was too late, and yet… Li Qingzhi actually finished writing the book? And even had it printed?

Seeing that Magistrate Zhang’s attention was all on the book, the messenger breathed a sigh of relief.

He was actually afraid that Magistrate Zhang would be furious when he inexplicably became associated with Eunuch Lu.

“This book is… Magistrate Zhang, if you had sent this book to the capital earlier, the King of Jin would have acted against himself righteously, and you wouldn’t have had to dirty your hands.”

Magistrate Zhang opened his mouth but said nothing.

He couldn’t reveal that Li Qingzhi was the one who wrote the book.

It was also impossible for him to send the book to the capital earlier.

After all, many of the cases written in the book were ones he had judged while interrogating the Lou family. Before that, neither he nor Li Qingzhi knew about these cases.

After Li Qingzhi escaped from the quarry, he returned to Chongcheng County. He didn’t know much about the situation in Linhu County. At first, when he wrote to complain, he only wrote about the quarry.

Later, Li Qingzhi got to know Chang Zhan and learned a little about the situation in Linhu County, but it wasn’t much.

The detailed writing in the book… was probably because Chang Duan, Chang Zhan, and those laborers had seen him interrogate the cases!

Five whole books, so many words… Magistrate Zhang didn’t know how Li Qingzhi managed to finish writing them and how he got them sent to the capital.

Magistrate Zhang’s mood was extremely complicated and deeply moving.

He was keenly aware that he had done the right thing.

He helped those people, and those people were repaying him.

While Magistrate Zhang was chatting with the people from the capital, Fang Jinniang was holding Fang Xiuniang, who was crying non-stop.

“Sister, I’m fine. I feel quite good now. In the future, I can do whatever I want.” Fang Xiuniang comforted her sister.

“Sister… does it hurt?” Fang Jinniang continued to cry.

Fang Xiuniang had such a big scar on her face, it must have hurt a lot!

In fact, Li Qingzhi wasn’t very familiar with Fang Jinniang.

Although Fang Jinniang married Jin Xiaoshu and still worked at Jin Xiaoye Embroidery, they were of different genders, and Fang Jinniang was not talkative… Li Qingzhi had very little contact with Fang Jinniang, much less than with Sister Wang.

As for Fang Xiuniang, he was even less familiar…

Standing here was quite awkward. Li Qingzhi said to Jin Xiaoshu, “Xiaoshu, you stay here and watch over your sisters. Chang Zhan and I are going out for a while.”

He and Chang Zhan came to the prefectural city to visit Magistrate Zhang. They even prepared a lot of braised dishes for Magistrate Zhang.

In this era, without refrigerators, it was better to send the braised dishes over earlier.

“You two go ahead, Brother-in-law.” Jin Xiaoshu said.

Upon hearing this, Li Qingzhi took Chang Zhan outside.

“Let’s go see Magistrate Zhang’s house first,” Li Qingzhi said. Given the current situation, Magistrate Zhang might not be in the prefectural government office; he might be at home.