Chapter 61: Arriving at the Destination
Magistrate He kneeled on the floor, "Commander..."
He was staring up at Commander Leng in horror. "I..."
"I can explain!" His eyes darted around, and he suddenly bolted toward the mansion’s gate.
However, as soon as he arrived there, he abruptly stopped. Fear crept to his heart, and his limp foot started to feel painful again. The adrenaline coursing in his veins wore off at the thought of reality sinking in.
"Magistrate He, what happened to you?" The thin, malnourished people were startled when they saw Magistrate He’s huge figure appeared from his mansion in such a disheveled appearance.
They instinctively took a few steps back.
Just this morning, they saw some supplies appear in their home and were surprised with a mix of fear. Most of those who lived with family members instantly questioned them.
As a result, no one knew where these supplies had come from. Their family members were also confused.
They secretly went to sneak around the magistrate’s mansion, trying to find clues from there.
Although it sounded ridiculous and unbelievable, the thought of someone taking pity on their plight and sending them these supplies crossed their minds.
They just didn’t expect that there were so many people in front of the magistrate’s mansion that it ended up forming a small gathering. Not everyone found a place to hide, so some of them ended up standing in front of the opened gate.
And Magistrate He just happened to be running outside, scaring them.
"Get away, get away!" He gasped for breath already, trying to get up.
The imperial guards behind him didn’t seem to be in a hurry, already expecting that Magistrate He wouldn’t be able to run far away.
Amidst the bewildered looks of the people outside, the imperial guards caught Magistrate He who had successfully stood up after some struggle.
"We will be taking him with us," an imperial guard said. "Are you people from this county?"
They all nodded carefully, wondering what happened to Magistrate He. Has his wicked deeds finally been exposed?!
"Stay here. Our commander will have something to say to you later." After saying that, the imperial guards dragged Magistrate He back inside.
The people glanced at each other, noticing the hint of glee and gloating in other people’s eyes. They all sat down, waiting for good news from the imperial commander.
They ignored Magistrate He’s pig-like screams.
"Help me! If you help me, I will give you supplies!"
Seeing no one moved, Magistrate He added more bargains.
"I will share half of my supplies with you!"
Still, the people stayed sitting on the ground, staring at Magistrate He as though they were watching an opera.
Commander Leng also called the yamen after that, interrogating them for disobeying the country’s law.
They were going to arrive at the destination soon, anyway, so they tied up Magistrate He and brought him along with the bandit leader.
The yamen officials were also shaking when they heard Commander Leng summoning them. They immediately spilled out everything they knew about Magistrate He, sealing his fate.
"New here, huh?" The bandit leader greeted Magistrate He as the imperial guards tied up the latter not far from him.
Magistrate He let out muffled noises; his mouth was stuffed with a rag so he couldn’t speak.
Commander Leng went to meet the people after that. The crowd had increased considerably, and people were curious what Commander Leng was going to say.
They were quite excited because they had seen him arresting Magistrate He.
"Magistrate He has unjustly charged too much taxes on all of you." Commander Leng began. "So, we will return some and only take what you need to pay. Everyone, line up."
Fortunately, they had found the tax record somewhere in Magistrate He’s study. It would make things easier to return the supplies to people.
Everyone lined up, not daring to make trouble in the presence of the imperial guards.
However, although they would divide the supplies, they still needed to take into account the fact that Magistrate He had sold some of the supplies to other regions.
Not to mention there was also a high number of people living in the county, so they reduced the amount of supplies, less from the record.
Still, people were quite grateful because they didn’t expect that such a day would actually come.
Commander Leng already ordered to restrain the magistrate’s hired thugs too, and also, leaving a few imperial guards in charge of distributing the supplies to people.
After they took what they needed as supplies, they finally departed again.
Zheng Huizhen still occasionally made a fuss, asking the second and third branches to give some more clothes and other items to them.
Ye Lanxi had to secretly stuff some sleeping powder from Ye Lingrui just to make the shrewish woman be quiet.
"Two more days, and we will arrive there," Commander Leng announced.
The scout team he sent had returned.
Along the way, Ye Lingyue saw some abandoned markets. The shops and stalls were mostly already gathering dust, and there were only a few stalls open there.
Considering they were now heading to a remote place, this market should be the only market available around here.
"These houses look like abandoned houses," Ye Lanxi muttered.
The more they walked, the more solemn their faces became. Their future there... seemed to be bleak.
Water sources were scarce and the ground was barren, cracked.
Even Ye Lingyue also restrained her playful nature, secretly feeling pity for the Ye family. Such a difficult life in a famine-stricken place...
She might be able to leave this place once the system’s binding process finished.
Two days passed rather quickly. The exile convoy had spent so many months together, and now they had to part ways.
The exile party had finally arrived at their destination.
An abandoned village.
Commander Feng only took a rest for a few days before he and his men planned to return to the Capital.
Ye Lingyue glanced at the system’s interface and subconsciously held her breath.
[System binding process: 65%.]