Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

Chapter 273. The County Magistrate
No hilltop smells as good as a farm. A farm means production, but what can you do with a hilltop?
In this godforsaken place, are we supposed to just become kings of the mountains?
"Do you think it's easy to buy a estate here?" Gu Kaiyuan had seen mostly poor people along the way. The powerful families didn't even look at this place. Even if there were small landowners here, they had worked so hard to build their businesses, so why would they easily sell them off?
However, not long after, an opportunity will arise, and that will be the time to test one's financial resources.

“We can ask the brokerage firm to keep an eye out for us,” that’s how they found this little courtyard. It was really a coincidence; they just happened to run into it right after the place was listed with the brokerage firm.

“Then go and tell them,” Gu Kaiyuan said casually, “If they have it, buy it; if not, just settle down first.”

The group arrived at the county government office and encountered Tian Zhuang, who was about to leave. Without saying a word, Tian Zhuang led them into the county government office.

"You mean you want to buy those mountains nearby?" Tian Zhuang was shocked to hear this. Many people wanted to buy estates, but few wanted to buy mountains, let alone several. Mountains were the least of their worries; why would they need to buy any?

"Well, my wife likes to eat fruit, and she heard that this area is also suitable for fruit cultivation, so she's thinking of buying those mountains." Gu Kaiyuan brought out the excuse he had prepared long ago.

“But your identities…” Tian Zhuang didn’t continue, as he knew he would offend someone if he did.

"It's under my mother-in-law's name. My mother-in-law is the head of the Bai family in Beijing."

Upon hearing the mention of the Bai family in Shangjing, Tian Zhuang finally understood why Liu Pingkang paid special attention to this family; it turned out there was this connection.

The Bai family is a well-known wealthy merchant family in their Rong Dynasty, but their area is poor, so they are unwilling to come here. They never expected that the person in front of them would be the Bai family's son-in-law.

"Of course there's no problem," Tian Zhuang said, not worried that they might regret their purchase later, as they weren't short of money.

"I'll take you to the advisor. Don't worry, he'll definitely give you the best price."

"If Madam Bai wishes to purchase property here in the future, please feel free to contact me."

Tian Zhuang wasn't trying to take on everything; rather, he wanted to leverage this connection to gain more credit from the county magistrate.

With Madam Bai's daughter here, she will surely acquire many properties in the future, which will all contribute to the county government's revenue.

Having acquaintances makes things easier. Tian Zhuang introduced them to the clerk. Upon hearing that they wanted to buy mountains, the clerk didn't hesitate. He quickly counted the abacus beads and asked for three thousand taels of silver for several mountains.

Once the calculations were done, both the advisor and Tian Zhuang were afraid that Gu Kaiyuan would change his mind. After all, with so much silver, they could build a nice courtyard and have no worries about food and drink.

Unexpectedly, Gu Kaiyuan was so straightforward and immediately took out silver to pay the bill. The clerk didn't dare to delay and immediately processed the contract for them, without even asking for a commission fee.

With these several thousand taels of silver, their county government can have a prosperous year.

This isn't someone coming to buy a mountain; they're practically a money-giving boy for the county government.

☆

Xu Zitian was furious. He was just a staff member of the prince's mansion. He was given some respect and was addressed as Lord Ming. How dare he put on airs in front of him?

He was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) who worked hard to get to this position. This clerk who flaunts his cleverness is just a Xiucai (a lower-level scholar) who dares to seize his position on his own turf and wants to be in charge.

“You are indeed the Third Prince’s advisor, but wherever you go, you must abide by the laws of our Rong Dynasty. You’re sending county yamen runners to protect an exiled criminal. Are you trying to disregard the people of this city?”

“Lord Xu, I only said that you should remove half of your men…” Ming Peifeng frowned. If he hadn’t lost so many brothers along the way, why would he have to put up with the magistrate’s attitude?

"How many yamen runners do you think there are in my county town?"
"More than half of the people in the county are exiled prisoners. They cause endless trouble every day. I don't even have enough men to spare, and you're asking for half of them outright? If anything happens in the county government, are you going to take full responsibility?"

Ming Peifeng said, "I know this puts Lord Xu in a difficult position, but this is the Third Prince's intention..." "Does the Third Prince have a written statement?" Xu Zitian reached out his hand. "You are not an official. You can't expect us to cooperate with you just by opening and closing your mouth."

Ming Peifeng would never have such things. Even if he did, he would never give them away, otherwise he would be giving others leverage against him.

"No, we don't have that..."

Xu Zitian's expression changed. "Then you're lying to me. You've got some nerve, daring to come to the county government office to lie to me."

"Guards, seize this man who is impersonating the Third Prince's advisor!"

He had already found a way to get to this remote little place, and he didn't want to get involved in the struggle for the throne again.

The constables guarding the door immediately drew their swords and rushed in. Ming Peifeng asked coldly, "Lord Xu, are you trying to oppose the Third Prince?"

“I wouldn’t dare,” Xu Zitian said, tilting his chin slightly. “The Third Prince is a prince, how could he protect and send people to protect His Majesty’s questioning of exiled prisoners? I suspect you are using the Third Prince’s name to do such despicable things.”

Arrest this man and throw him in jail first.

Two constables stepped forward to take the man away, but unexpectedly, Ming Peifeng suddenly moved, drawing his sword and pointing it directly at Xu Zitian, saying, "Let's see who dares to do this."

The constables dared not step forward, but one of them shouted loudly, "Assassin! Assassin! Someone has come to assassinate Your Excellency..."

Tian Zhuang, who was originally handling matters at the front, immediately drew his sword and led the constables walking in front to run towards the back.

Gu Kaiyuan stuffed the contract into his pocket, thought for a moment, and then followed.

Before they even got close, they heard Ming Peifeng's arrogant voice, "Lord Xu, are you really going to go against the master's wishes today?"

"Since you claim to be acting on the orders of the Third Prince, then please provide evidence. Otherwise, I will obey whatever random Tom, Dick, or Harry comes to me and makes up a story."
I am a county magistrate appointed by His Majesty, and I am loyal only to His Majesty.

Xu Zitian looked at the sword before him with a calm expression. "If you dare to make a move, you will be guilty of assassinating an official of the imperial court."

At this moment, he looked at the yamen runners rushing in from outside the door and shouted, "This scoundrel is impersonating the Third Prince's advisor, making our county yamen do things for him, and now he wants to assassinate me. Don't worry about me, take him down immediately."

If I am accidentally injured or killed, remember to report it to the Prefect.

Upon hearing this, Gu Kaiyuan immediately stopped and blocked Lin Wei and the others.

“Magistrate Xu, you are truly stubborn,” Ming Peifeng’s attitude immediately softened. He suppressed his temper, took out a token from his pocket, and threw it directly at him. “Take a good look. Can you afford to offend the Third Prince?”

Xu Zitian took it in his hand and flipped it open from side to side. "I'm really sorry, I don't recognize any tokens, and who knows if they're real or fake?"

Since things have escalated to this point, he can't possibly accept this loss, nor can he indirectly take sides; the only option is to deny everything.

Ming Peifeng: "...How could I forge something?"

"How could I possibly know that..."

(End of this chapter)