Chapter 27 Officially Changing Names

On the other side, Steward Ren Ping had already taken Qin Ruo and her group to the gate of the county office.

The journey from the Xie Mansion to the county office was not far, and the carriage was also fast, so they arrived in about a quarter of an hour.

Yu Zhengyang and a few constables had just returned from patrolling outside, and they saw the Xie Mansion’s carriage parked at the gate of the county office from afar, their hearts pounding.

He naturally recognized the Xie Mansion’s carriage, let alone the Xie Mansion’s emblem on it.

He also recognized Ren, the Xie Mansion’s steward, who was driving.

He would almost every day take his men to patrol the area around the Xie Mansion. He even had some impression of the Xie Mansion’s servants, even the maids.

The Old Lady Xie came from the Marquis’ Mansion in the capital, and she had been living in Taihe County for the past two years.

The day the Old Lady returned, even County Magistrate Jiang came out to greet her personally with great respect.

Afterwards, he repeatedly instructed the constables to be alert and pay more attention to the Xie Mansion, afraid that someone would offend them without knowing better.

Although he didn’t know the Old Lady Xie’s specific background.

But County Magistrate Jiang had said that if anything happened to the Old Lady Xie, forget about keeping his official hat,

It was uncertain whether he could even keep his head.

Fortunately, in the past few years that the Old Lady Xie had lived in Taihe County, everything had been peaceful and uneventful.

No one had been foolish enough to provoke the Xie Mansion.

Today, the Xie Mansion’s carriage was parked here, Yu Zhengyang thought that something must have happened to the Xie Mansion.

So he quickly smiled and greeted Steward Ren.

“Steward Ren, how are you? What business brings you here today? I’ll go and invite County Magistrate Jiang out.”

“You’re thoughtful, Constable Yu, there’s no need to disturb County Magistrate Jiang. The Old Lady from the mansion instructed me to send Miss Qin here to take care of some business. So, here I am.”

Steward Ren jumped off the carriage and bowed to Yu Zhengyang with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, Constable Yu saw Qin Ruo and her group getting off the carriage one after another.

Constable Yu had been impressed by Qin Ruo’s performance in Changhe Village yesterday, and now seeing that she was connected to the Xie Mansion, he was even more cautious.

He politely invited Qin Ruo into the county office, took her fingerprints according to procedure, and then handed her the two taels of silver reward and the wolf skin that had been peeled off.

Qin Zimu and Zhou Dazhu waited at the gate of the county office.

After entering the county office, Steward Ren stayed by Qin Ruo’s side the whole time, and the whole process went smoothly.

As they were about to leave, Qin Ruo casually asked, “Constable Yu, could you tell me how to go about changing my name in the household register?”

Qin Ruo just asked casually, she felt awkward using the original owner’s name all the time.

Changing her name was inevitable, and since she was at the county office today, she might as well ask.

“Miss Qin, changing your name in the household register is not complicated. You just need to file a report with the headman and then report it to the county office…”

Constable Yu saw Qin Ruo’s brow furrow slightly, and he glanced at Steward Ren, who was standing beside Qin Ruo and smiling.

He immediately changed his mind and added, “But, since you’re here today, just wait a moment, I’ll have the clerk register it for you, so you don’t have to make another trip.”

Changing names wasn’t a big deal, the Xie Mansion’s steward had personally come, even County Magistrate Jiang would give him face.

Constable Yu asked Qin Ruo for some of her household registration information, then went to find the clerk to handle it personally.

Qin Ruo was stunned, this was a pleasant surprise.

She had just thought about the unpleasant things with the Wang family, and thought that going through this process might not be so smooth.

Headman Wang was clearly a biased person, he had just been fined five taels of silver, and he might be secretly plotting to get back at her.

She hadn’t expected to be able to do it so quickly this time, but the opportunity came right away.

After a cup of tea, she saw the two characters “Qin Ruo” on the new household register, and a rare smile of joy appeared on her face.

The household register in the Great Sheng Dynasty was only used for registration by the county office, to prove that a person existed in that place.

It was like a modern ID card, ordinary people didn’t have one.

This was something Qin Ruo had just learned.

However, she was satisfied.

Leaving the county office, Qin Ruo silently made a wish for Qin Qiuxi in her heart.

May the fifteen-year-old Qin Qiuxi live a long and happy life, blessed with good fortune and longevity.

For the original owner, Qin Qiuxi, using her body and erasing her traces, Qin Ruo could only say sorry in her heart.

She really didn’t want to live with the name Qin Qiuxi.

She decided that if she had the chance in the future, she would build a cenotaph for Qin Qiuxi and offer sacrifices every year.

Constable Yu escorted Qin Ruo and Steward Ren to the gate of the county office, and then all the way to the carriage.

He suddenly remembered something important, so he quickly stopped Qin Ruo, who was about to get on the carriage.

“Miss Qin, a few days ago, a group of criminals escaped to Taihe County. The county office is organizing constables to capture them with all their might, they might escape to the surrounding villages and then go back to the mountains, be careful when you go into the mountains in the future.”

He then took out a few wanted posters from his pocket and showed them to Qin Ruo.

The county office had already issued a notice about this, and it would be sent to all the townships and villages in a couple of days, he reminded Qin Ruo as a gesture of goodwill.

No matter what Qin Ruo’s fate would be in the future, it was always better to be on good terms with this girl.

“Thank you for reminding me, Constable Yu, you’ve worked hard today. This is a small token of my appreciation, please have some tea with the constables.”

Qin Ruo smiled and openly handed Constable Yu a small pouch of money.

The amount of money she gave wasn’t extravagant, just three hundred coins, which was in line with her current identity as a country girl.

When she was at the county office, while waiting for the household registration to be processed, she had quietly prepared it.

She had originally planned to give it to him when she got on the carriage.

Constable Yu repeatedly waved his hands in refusal, and Steward Ren spoke up to help.

“Miss Qin’s kindness, Constable Yu, please accept it if you don’t mind.”

“Speaking of which, the Old Lady has been living in Taihe County for the past few years, and your county office has taken good care of the Xie Mansion. When I came here today, the Old Lady specifically asked me to greet County Magistrate Jiang. I’m to tell him that if his wife is free, she is welcome to visit the Xie Mansion and have tea with the Old Lady.”

“Constable Yu and the constables of the county office have worked hard to protect the peace of Taihe County. It’s a coincidence! Before I came here, the Old Lady specifically instructed me to invite Constable Yu and the constables to have a drink.”

Steward Ren, with a smile, took out a pouch of money from his sleeve and stuffed it into Constable Yu’s hand without hesitation.

With the words spoken to this point, Constable Yu couldn’t refuse anymore.

He still accepted Qin Ruo’s small pouch of money.

There was an unwritten rule in the county office, you could accept a voluntary reward, but you couldn’t extort or blackmail anyone.

He thought for a moment and understood, the Old Lady Xie was clearly trying to support Qin Ruo.

Constable Yu thanked Steward Ren and Qin Ruo, said a few more polite words, and then hurried back to the county office to report to County Magistrate Jiang.

Although the Old Lady had lived in Taihe County for several years, she had never attended any outside banquets.

It was rare for her to invite the County Magistrate’s wife.

Qin Ruo felt a sense of admiration at this moment, look at Steward Ren’s art of speaking.

She couldn’t compare to him in this aspect.