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Zhou Jia reached out to hold Li Yu’s hand and looked at her affectionately. “Yu’er, it’s been hard on you to run around with me.”

Li Yu said reproachfully, “We’re husband and wife. This is how it should be. Don’t say such things in the future.”

The leader of the Green Dragon Stronghold, Zuo Qing, waited in the lair for a few days, but the bandits did not return. Zuo Qing said to his trusted aide, Tu Gang, “Tu Gang, did Third Brother bring anyone back to the village?”

Tu Gang recalled and said, “Big Brother, I didn’t see anyone coming back. Could Third Master have been betrayed by those people from Tiger Head Stronghold?”

“No, Tiger Head Stronghold won’t know that someone is coming.” Zuo Qing recalled the situation when he received the news from Huang San. At that time, only Third Brother and his two trusted aides were present. Logically speaking, the news wouldn’t have been leaked to Tiger Head Stronghold. However, he had been out for three to four days and hadn’t returned. Could he have been killed by those people?

Zuo Qing said to Tu Gang, “Go out of the city and see what’s going on with Third Brother and the others. Also, go to the city and see if the new county magistrate sent by the Imperial Court has taken office.”

“Yes, Master.” Tu Gang left the village and rode down the mountain on a big green mule, heading towards Qingchuan City.

In the Tu family, Scribe Tu picked up a piece of braised pork and placed it in his bowl. He took a bite and it melted in his mouth. Scribe Tu smiled and narrowed his eyes. “Oh! It’s delicious! I haven’t eaten such delicious braised pork in a long time.”

Zhou Jia and Mr. Qian smiled at the scribe. After they finished eating, they walked towards the county office opposite.

Li Yu looked at the lush oleander in the corner of the backyard. The branches were filled with pink flowers. There was a small door beside the flower tree. Xiaoyu boiled the bath water and sent it to the room. Seeing Li Yu standing in front of the flower tree, she walked over and smiled at Li Yu. “Madam, the hot water has been sent to the room. Go and wash up quickly.”

Seeing that Xiaoyu was sweating profusely, Li Yu smiled and said, “You must be tired! Tomorrow morning, let Ruyi go to the brokerage house to take a look and buy two women so that they can help you do some housework.”

Seeing that Li Yu was considerate, Xiaoyu smiled sweetly. “Seriously, it’s such a small job. It’s not tiring. Why would you spend so much money?”

Li Yu tapped the tip of Xiaoyu’s nose. “Little money-grubber, it’s settled.” She smiled and walked into the room.

Li Yu leaned against the bathtub and thought about what she had seen and heard after arriving in Qingchuan City. She thought about the mountain bandits they had encountered when they were about to reach Qingchuan. Those mountain bandits had been waiting there for a long time. With so many people here, wasn’t it too much to rob a few carriages? Also, this place was worse than she had imagined. She should go out of the city tomorrow morning to take a look. How many commoners had returned to their hometown after the disaster?

Zhou Jia, Mr. Qian, and Scribe Tu sat in the dilapidated hall of the county office. Zhou Jia looked at the walls that were leaking air and thought to himself, “Fortunately, it’s autumn. I’ll be frozen if I sit here for another two months.”

Scribe Tu took out a few stacks of dossiers from the cabinet and placed them on the broken wooden table. “My lord, the other dossiers and records were all burned by the bandits who went down the mountain to plunder. Those bandits smashed and looted in the city and tore down the city walls.” Scribe Tu paused for a moment and pointed at the few stacks of dossiers. “These are the dossiers that I snatched back home before the bandits rushed into the city gate. The other members of the government office have long run away. The last four bailiffs have also fled. Even if they didn’t flee, the Imperial Court hasn’t sent anyone over for a long time, and no one has given them a salary. They have long quit. Now, this Qingchuan County Magsistrate Office is just an empty shell.”

Zhou Jia flipped through it and thought to himself that fortunately, all the important files were still there.

Zhou Jia bowed to Scribe Tu and said, “Scribe Tu, thank you for risking your life to protect these dossiers. As for the rest, I’ll get someone to go to the Qingzhou Prefecture’s magistrate office tomorrow morning to ask for instructions.”

Scribe Tu’s eyes were red as he said, “Sir, my daughter’s family was also killed by the bandits. I’m the only old man left. I only hope that you can invite soldiers to destroy the Green Dragon Stronghold as soon as possible to avenge my daughter’s family and those who died in the hands of the bandits.”

Zhou Jia looked at the aggrieved and angry Scribe Tu and said seriously, “Don’t worry, I’ll report to the Qingzhou Prefecture and invite soldiers to eliminate the bandits.”

Mr. Qian said to Scribe Tu in confusion, “Scribe Tu, I heard that there are two groups of bandits around Qingchuan County. One of them is called the Green Dragon Stronghold, and the other is called the Tiger Head Stronghold. Is the Green Dragon Stronghold the only one who burned down the county city?”

Scribe Tu nodded and said, “There are only two large bandit lairs. One is the Green Dragon Stronghold, and the other is the Tiger Head Stronghold. The bandits of the Green Dragon Stronghold commit all kinds of crimes. The citizens north of the county city can’t even eat their fill and still have to pay them with food for protection. The bandits of the Tiger Head Stronghold are similar to them. The citizens south of the county city pay them protection food, so the county government can’t collect taxes at all.”

Mr. Qian looked at the scribe in surprise. “Oh! We still have to hand over the protection food to them. The bandits are so arrogant. Didn’t the state government send soldiers to eliminate them?”

“Of course they did! But what’s the use of coming? When the officials came, the county government still had to entertain them. After eating and drinking, they went to the mountains to take a look. They didn’t even see the bandits.” Scribe Tu slammed the table in anger. “As soon as the officials left, the bandits started taking revenge on those commoners. In the past, they secretly collected food. In the first year of the drought, after scaring away the county magistrate, the bandits openly collected food outside the city. Now that there’s no city gate, it’s even more convenient for those bandits to collect food.”

When Zhou Jia and Mr. Qian heard this, they both thought in unison: There’s something fishy. The soldiers and bandits appear to be pally with each other.

After the few of them sorted out the dossiers, they closed the door and returned to the Tu Residence opposite.

Zhou Jia returned to his room and told Li Yu what he had heard from the official. “Yu’er, I think those officials and mountain bandits must be colluding!”

Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia and said, “I’ve always suspected that there was an inside story about us being intercepted by the bandits two days ago. Hearing what you said, it makes sense. The news that we came to Qingchuan might be because they don’t want us to go to Qingchuan and destroy their interests. Write to Shen Wu and ask which general’s soldiers were sent to suppress the bandits over the years. You’ll know who took the food in a county and why the bandits burned the county office.”

Zhou Jia nodded and said, “Alright, take a rest first. I’ll write a letter to the Qingzhou Prefecture to ask for money to repair the city wall and submit it to the government office. I also have to prepare to recruit officials.”

Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia’s thin face and felt her heart ache. “Go! Don’t stay up too late. Rest early.” Zhou Jia held Li Yu’s hand and walked to the bed. “I know. You must be exhausted. Rest early.”

Li Yu took off her shoes and climbed onto the bed. The couple snuggled together for a while. Zhou Jia kissed Li Yu before getting up and going to the study.