The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Wei Zhan was sitting in a chair near the entrance of the County Government office, asking, “Tell me, who are they?”

The ragged man saluted, “My lord, some of them are the servants of Zhang, our village’s gentry, two others are close relatives of Zhang’s son-in-law. The rest I do not recognize.”

Wei Zhan scrutinized the man, “Where are you from? Why do you know them?”

The poorly dressed man retaliated, “I used to be a fellow villager of Zhang. Then his family had taken away our farmland, and my old father died at Zhang’s hands. Since then, I’ve been begging for a living in the county town. I remember all the people from Zhang’s family clearly.”

Wei Zhan remained silent, lifting his head, he saw his wife coming, accompanied by a crowd of people.

“What brings you here?” Wei Zhan immediately stood up and came over to his wife.

Yingbao looked at him briefly and asked, “Why are you sitting outside?”

Wei Zhan smiled, “The county magistrate claimed to be ill and didn’t come out, so I had to sit outside.”

Yingbao looked around and said, “In that case, let’s set up a court outside the county office and personally handle this assassination case.”

After her words, she invited Song, a senior historian, and the rest of the officers from the Princess Residence.

They brought a long table and set it up in front of the county office.

Dozens of guards lined up on both sides. Yingbao and Wei Zhan sat next to the tribunal table. Behind them were palace maids holding fans, eunuchs holding umbrellas, and ceremonial attendants.

An eunuch shouted, “The Princess will hear the case here. If you have any grievances, please submit your petition. The Princess will help you. Today, she will hear the case of the assassination. There is currently one eyewitness. If anyone else recognizes the assassins on the ground, please step forward.”

After a while, as the surviving assassins were being dragged over, two more men stepped forward, claiming to recognize these people.

“I know them! This one is Zhang’s tenant farmer!” An individual roared, “They often followed Zhang and committed atrocities. The heavens finally see this and decided to take them down!”

Another agreed, “Correct! These are the thugs of Zhang’s family. Whoever dares to disobey gets hurt by them!”

Yingbao looked at Song and said, “Song, record all their testimonies and press their fingerprints.”

Song didn’t say a word this time, let a boy bring the pen and ink, and started writing by himself.

With more and more witnesses, Yingbao not only listened to them accusing Zhang, but also guided them to say who was close to Zhang’s family and whether there was evidence of collusion and joint crimes.

Therefore, several people recounted that Zhang’s family was in the grain business, owning the largest grain shop in the county. Zhang measured grain in large units when buying, but in small units when selling. If anyone was dissatisfied, he would send his servants to beat them up.

Others said that Zhang had many illegitimate daughters who he often sent to officials to become their concubines. One such daughter had been taken into the back yard of the county office half a year ago.

No wonder!

Yingbao and Wei Zhan exchanged glances and immediately issued the order: Arrest the entire Zhang family and bring them to trial.

This time, the arrests were made solely by the guards of the Princess Residence, a total of over two hundred men, rushing to Zhang’s mansion in the county town.

All the men of Zhang’s family in the county town were arrested and a seal was placed on their main gate.

By the next day, the guards left the city and arrested all the men of Zhang’s family in the countryside, throwing them into the county jail.

At this point, Magistrate Mei appeared, explaining to Wei Zhan that he was genuinely sick and bedridden, not deliberately absent.

Magistrate Mei saluted Wei Zhan, “Great General, you can hand over Zhang’s case to me, I will surely handle it properly.”

Wei Zhan glanced at him lightly, “I have already reported the case of Zhang’s assassination to the imperial court. I’m sure the court will send someone soon, so Magistrate Mei, it is no longer necessary for you to interfere.”

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Mei flinched and instantly said, “That’s impossible, sir. I am the parent official of this county. Your move to take over would be too presumptuous…”

Wei Zhan sneered, “You? Worthy of being the parent official of Zhouhe County?”

He then ordered his men, “Search the inner courtyard of the county office and arrest the fugitives hiding there.”

If his guess was correct, the now elusive Zhang should be hiding in the courtyard of the county office.

“Yes!” The guards complied and stormed into the inner courtyard of the county office, indeed finding two men and one woman.

Among the two men, one was in his fifties with white whiskers – he was indeed Zhang. The other was a young man in his twenties with a clean-shaven face – Zhang’s legitimate son.

The woman turned out to be Zhang’s illegitimate daughter, whom he had gifted to Magistrate Mei as a concubine.

Seeing that Wei Zhan suddenly let people search his residence, Magistrate Mei knew things were not good, he didn’t dare to make a sound, wishing he could shrink himself into an unnoticed quail.

When Zhang was dragged out, he was first beaten with a wooden board, then brought over for questioning.

Wei Zhan sat behind the desk, slamming the gavel, “Zhang Jin! Confess honestly about your hiring of assassins! Who instructed you to do it? What was your goal?”

Zhang Jin was initially reluctant to talk, but after being beaten with a wooden clapper, he confessed truthfully.

In fact, during the last assassination attempt, three wealthy landowners were involved. They all contributed archers, totaling sixty or seventy men. However, they were scattered on impact.

Those men, committing their first assassination of a government official, were somewhat timid. Many fled when they saw the unfavorable situation, no matter how Zhang Jin’s son called them, they refused to turn back. This is the situation they ended up in.

After hearing the confession from Zhang Jin and others, Wei Zhan thought, The county jail is almost full now.

Even if it doesn’t fit anymore, it needs to fit, and not one person can be missing.

Until the end of the summer harvest, the assassination case involving Zhang Jin and three wealthy landowners finally came to an end.

The masterminds were sentenced to death with execution pending, the accomplices were sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane and exiled for 3,000 miles, and everyone who participated had their family wealth confiscated for the state. Family members over three years old were sold as slaves.

This judgment was personally approved by the Emperor, treating it as treason. The severity of the punishment made the ministers draw their breaths.

In addition, the county magistrate of Zhouhe County was dismissed for investigation, sent to Beijing, and awaited trial.

Since then, the officials and wealthy gentlemen of Zhouhe County have been silent and dared not have any tricks.

Yingbao took the opportunity to officially transform the forty or so temporary workers into formal positions, making them her left and right arms.

Time flies, and before they knew it, two years had passed.

Now, like the people of Qinchuan County, 20% of the households in Zhouhe County are growing mushrooms, and 60% of the farms have a highly efficient loom.

Almost all the farmers in the county planted varying amounts of cotton, sesame, pepper, and other crops, and people’s lives are getting better day by day.

Those farmers who had fled also returned one after another, choosing to live in their hometown again.

The young boy is now sixteen, still a young man, working as a scribe in the county office. After work, he still stays in the Princess Residence.

Wuyang is already over three years old, looking chubby and roly-poly. He spent the whole day with Wei Fanzhi and Jiang Bao, and they were inseparable, even eating and sleeping together.

One day, a group of people suddenly arrived outside the Princess Residence. The person leading the group was the eldest son of the Lun family and an imperial envoy.