Chapter 50 – Getting Ready to Stir Up Trouble

“I told you, I’m not a scammer! If it wasn’t because I was looking for someone, do you think I’d want to go there?” Jingxin snapped back, shooting Zhao Hu a glare.

No trust at all between people—too much! And to think he’d even considered this guy a friend!

“Who are you looking for?” Zhao Hu still looked unconvinced.

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.” Jingxin turned his head away, not bothering to explain.

“Cheh!” Zhao Hu pushed past Jingxin and stood in front of Xiaojiu . “Village chief, can we leave now?”

“Before we leave, there’s something important we need to do first,” Xiaojiu  said.

The moment she spoke, A Dou and the others exchanged glances—they knew exactly what she meant.

Cause trouble!

Cause trouble!

Shi Xian and Qin Xu didn’t know what sort of mischief these brats were planning again, but they could only follow silently behind.

Shi Xian touched the mask on his face, feeling a little relieved. No matter what bad idea they were about to pull, as long as no one could see his face, he wouldn’t have to feel embarrassed.

Earlier, Xiaojiu  and the others had asked around and learned that the young heir who had insulted the Shi family army was currently in the county yamen.

Apparently, he’d been robbed by mountain bandits and was now demanding that the magistrate send troops to wipe them out.

The group snuck over to the county yamen, peeking from a distance and hiding in the shadows.

Using her spiritual sense, Xiaojiu  scouted the area and discovered that there was a dog hole in the back wall of the yamen, half-hidden by grass.

She pointed at it. “There’s a hole here.”

Without a second thought, Zhao Hu and the others started crawling in. Xiaojiu  followed right after.

Jingxin: “…”

Seriously? This is a dog hole! Couldn’t they at least hesitate for a moment?

Seeing that they’d already gone in, Jingxin reluctantly crawled in after them.

Shi Xian and Qin Xu, two grown men, absolutely refused to get on their hands and knees to squeeze through. In silent agreement, they stayed outside to keep watch.

Meanwhile, inside the yamen…

The heir of Marquis Pingnan sat at the head seat, his expression full of impatience.

“Your Lordship, it’s not that the yamen is unwilling to deal with the bandits—it’s just that we really don’t have enough men. You’ve seen for yourself, our county yamen is dirt poor. How could we possibly have the funds to maintain so many constables?” The magistrate sat below him, speaking in a low, deferential tone.

“Hmph! Can’t even handle a few measly bandits? Sounds to me like you don’t want to keep your job!” the young heir said, his voice dripping with threat.

Sweat trickled down the magistrate’s forehead. He knew too well how troublesome these idle noble brats from the capital could be.

He wiped his sweat and forced a smile. “Please calm your anger, Your Lordship. It’s not that I don’t want to help, but I truly lack the means. Still, if you give the order, I will certainly do my utmost to share Your Lordship’s burden.”

“Then send all the yamen’s men to wipe out the bandits! What’s the point of the court paying them if they can’t even catch a few?”

The magistrate wanted to cry but had no tears. No one in the imperial court had spared a thought for Pingyang County in years, and who knew which thieving official had pocketed their stipends? The funds that reached the county had been shrinking year after year, and most of the yamen staff had already left.

Outwardly, his face was full of fear, but inwardly he cursed. Why don’t you take out some money yourself if you want to deal with bandits so badly?

The magistrate called all the remaining constables into the front courtyard.

A ragtag crowd of barely a hundred gathered—each as skinny as if they had just escaped a famine.

“They’re all here. What do you think?” the magistrate asked carefully.

The young heir of Marquis Pingnan looked them over with open disdain. “With this bunch of useless layabouts, what could you possibly accomplish? Forget it, I won’t count on you. I’ll just write to my father in the capital and have him send someone to take care of this.”

The county magistrate, upon hearing this, secretly sneered in his heart but did not dare show it on his face.

A few years ago, the Shi family army had made glorious achievements in battle and won the hearts of the people. Especially in several counties near the border, they were regarded almost like gods. This stirred resentment among certain nobles, and the heir of Marquis Pingyang was one of them. From the moment he arrived, he had subtly provoked and tried to undermine the Shi army’s prestige—no wonder the mountain bandits had robbed him of every last coin.

Those bandits, when robbing passing merchants or nobles, usually left their victims with half of their belongings. Only those who had committed heinous crimes would be stripped of everything.

Now this man had publicly slandered the Shi family in Yangping County—never mind the bandits, even the county magistrate himself felt like throwing a sack over his head.

The heir of Marquis Pingnan ignored whatever expression the magistrate had and called for his men to leave. It looked like he planned to return to the capital immediately to submit a petition to the imperial court, requesting troops to wipe out the bandits.

Xiaojiu  and her companions, squatting in the corner, heard the whole conversation.

Their impression of the Marquis Pingyang’s heir had dropped even further.

Xiaojiu  quietly jotted his name down in her little notebook.

When they saw the group heading out of the county office, they immediately followed.

“Come on, let’s wait outside.”

So Xiaojiu ’s group crawled out of the dog hole again and carefully tailed the heir of Marquis Pingnan and his entourage.

Shi Xian and Qin Xu saw the little rascals, once outside, huddling together and whispering about something.

Then they saw the Daoist priest called Jingxin pull several burlap sacks out of his bundle.

Xiaojiu  and the others looked at Jingxin with suspicion.

Wait a second!

Why would a Daoist priest carry sacks around?

Is he even a real Daoist?

“What’s with those looks? These are for self-defense.”

“Who uses sacks for self-defense? Village chief, I told you he’s a fraud—these sacks must be for shady business,” Zhao Hu quickly tattled to the village chief.

“When I run into unreasonable people, I sometimes throw a sack over them. Is it wrong to carry a few spares?”

Jingxin was indignant. If it weren’t for fear of being recognized—which could tarnish the reputation of Qingshan Temple—or of people seeking revenge later, would he really bother with the sack trick?

“I’m telling you, sacks are a must-have when going out! If someone annoys you, you can use them for a beating. They can also be used to carry things, and if you sleep outdoors at night, they can shield you from the wind and rain…” Jingxin genuinely believed sacks were excellent, and earnestly tried to sell the idea to everyone.

After hearing this, the others felt… well, it kind of made sense.

Xiaojiu  was already planning to stock a dozen or so in her storage bag for future use.

Qin Xu glanced at Shi Xian, as if to say: You’re just going to watch? Your nephew and niece are about to be corrupted.

Shi Xian motioned for Qin Xu to look at his junior apprentice.

Jiang He was busily rolling up the sacks, looking more eager than anyone else to cause trouble.

“There are four of them—one sack for each of us,” Xiaojiu  said, pointing to Zhao Hu, A’Dou, and Iron Ox.

“What about me?” the chubby boy asked, wanting to join in.

“You guys can be in charge of the beating.”

After saying that, Xiaojiu  exchanged for eight or nine funny emoji masks from the shop. She had seen food delivery riders in yellow uniforms wearing these before online and found them hilarious. Now she finally had a legitimate excuse to wear one herself.

She put on an “Oh-ho!” mask, and the others burst out laughing, pounding the ground with their fists.

Oh heavens!

How could something be this funny?

On the village chief’s head, it looked both dopey and adorable.

The rest quickly put theirs on as well.

A’Dou looked at Zhao Hu, who was wearing one with a big toothy grin, and laughed so hard he hit the ground: “You look like an idiot—hahaha, too funny!”