Chapter 175: Underestimating Her

When Magistrate Qiao arrived in Yun Bian Village, it was already the afternoon of the following day.

Most of the villagers had never seen the county magistrate before. Upon hearing that he had arrived, they quickly dropped what they were doing and rushed to the village head’s house to join the commotion.

Magistrate Qiao was inspecting the threshing machine at the village head’s home, while the villagers gathered on the wall outside to watch him.

The villagers were filled with curiosity and excitement, eagerly craning their necks to get a glimpse of the county magistrate.

In the yard, Magistrate Qiao wore a serious expression, displaying the authority typical of an official. He carefully examined the threshing machine’s structure, even stepping on it to experience its speed.

“This is a good invention, truly a good one!” Magistrate Qiao praised.

“Who came up with this threshing machine? Where’s the blue print?” he asked.

The village head didn’t answer immediately, but instead asked, “My lord, do you think we could promote this threshing machine throughout Yun Tong County?”

Magistrate Qiao, who had already been thinking the same, nodded and replied, “Not just Yun Tong County, I’ll report it to the prefectural office so that the prefect can see our threshing machine.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” the village head exclaimed, then called out to those gathered outside the wall, “Did everyone hear that? The magistrate said he would report the threshing machine to the prefectural office! Soon, our village will be famous throughout Tian Chang Prefecture!”

The villagers, who led simple and humble lives, had never dared to dream so far. Upon hearing the village head’s words, they all cheered enthusiastically.

Magistrate Qiao waved his hand, “Hold on. Don’t get ahead of yourselves with the fame. First, tell me, who exactly came up with this threshing machine? And where’s the blue print?”

Only then did the village head slowly respond, “The person, my lord, is actually someone you know, Ye Xin Ran’s brother. I’m not exactly sure of his background, but he seems to be someone of importance. You must know him, right?”

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Qiao’s smile instantly faded.

He had just learned that Ye Xin Ran had been recognized. Before that, he had never imagined that she was truly the daughter of the Marquis’s family, given the way the marquis had treated her.

However, the news had been spread by the Leng family.

Magistrate Qiao quickly started to speculate: this child had been recognized by the wife, but the marquis refused to acknowledge her.

He couldn’t fully understand the reasons behind this, but the confusion was real.

Magistrate Qiao was troubled.

“Being kind to Ye Xin Ran might offend the Marquis,” he thought.

“Being unkind to Ye Xin Ran might offend Madam Lu.”

Ye Xin Ran, originally an insignificant young girl, how had she become such an important figure now?

Magistrate Qiao couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.

“Magistrate! Magistrate?”

Seeing the magistrate remain silent, the village head had to speak up to remind him.

“Oh, yes, what is it?”

Magistrate Qiao finally snapped back to reality.

The village head said, “I remember you mentioning before that the Prefect cares greatly about the harvests of the people, and that he even went undercover on a tour of the counties to inspect things.

I was thinking, if you report this to the Prefect, he will surely look favorably on you!”

Magistrate Qiao was suddenly enlightened by these words.

That’s right, no matter who came up with the threshing machine, as long as it was reported, it could be a merit for him.

And as for the matter with the Marquis’s family…

He had previously placed his hopes on the Marquis, but the Marquis had repeatedly dismissed his concerns, saying that he didn’t have any real accomplishments and that promotion would be troublesome without opportunities.

Now, those opportunities weren’t forth coming, and Magistrate Qiao realized there was no hope from the Marquis.

He had to find another way.

Now that the perfect opportunity had presented itself, how could he not seize it?

“You’re right,” the magistrate nodded.

“That’s why I asked for the blue prints. I want to make another threshing machine and send it to the Prefect, hoping it will help the people.”

The village head grinned slyly. “Good, I’ll take you straight to the Xiao family now.”

Seeing the village head’s expression, Magistrate Qiao suddenly had a thought.

“You old fox, you brought me here on purpose for this, didn’t you?”

“Indeed!”

The village head replied matter of factly.

Magistrate Qiao said, “As long as you take the threshing machine to the county office, I’ll definitely report it to the Prefect. Why go through all this trouble?”

The village head waved his hand, smiling. “My lord, it’s not the same.”

He pointed to the villagers outside. “If I just take the threshing machine to the county office, who knows what will be said, what decisions will be made. But now, everyone is watching. The magistrate has come all the way here for the people’s welfare.

When this gets out, everyone will sing praises for you!”

Qiao Zheng Shan furrowed his brows. “I see you’re worried that I’ll take all the credit and leave none for your village, aren’t you?”

“If word gets out about this, and everyone knows the threshing machine came from your village, if you don’t get your share of the reward, it will ruin my reputation too!”

“Not at all!”

The village head hurriedly bowed to the magistrate and made a gesture of invitation. “My lord, I have no such intentions! Let’s head to the Xiao family now, shall we?”

The magistrate no longer argued and began to walk toward the outside.

When the villagers saw the magistrate walking out of the courtyard, they all knelt down.

“My lord!”

“Your concern for the people is a blessing for us!”

“Rise, please rise! There is no need for such formalities when you see me!”

Magistrate Qiao waved his hand to signal the crowd to get up.

Among them, 67-year-old Granny Zhang got up and, taking a few small steps, walked in front of the magistrate. She squinted her cloudy eyes at Qiao Zheng Shan, her hands trembling uncontrollably. “In my lifetime, I’ve never seen such a sight! I can’t believe I’m seeing the living magistrate in person!”

The villagers, worried that Granny Zhang’s words might upset the magistrate, quickly explained on her behalf. “My lord, Granny is just overjoyed. We never dreamed we could be so close to you.”

“No need for formalities,” the magistrate said warmly. “As the county magistrate, it’s only natural for me to care about everyone’s well-being.”

Qiao Zheng Shan smiled gently. Just as Zhang Ya Suo had said, he’d done everything, and leaving behind a good reputation was more important than anything else.

The two of them headed to Xiao Huai’an’s house.

When Magistrate Qiao saw the spacious yard of the Xiao family, he was taken aback.

The Xiao family’s house was the best in the village.

A tall gate, a courtyard paved with stone slabs, and even the building materials used were green bricks instead of mud bricks.

“The Xiao family really has it quite good,” the magistrate casually remarked.

The village head immediately explained, “This house was just built. You see, Madam Ye is knowledgeable in medicine, and after earning some money selling medicine, she was able to build this house.”

Qiao Zheng Shan knew about Ye Xin Ran’s previous business selling Snow Faced Ointment.

But looking at the yard, he truly realized the extent of her capabilities.

It seemed that he had really underestimated her!