Qing Yao

Chapter 129 Teacher Zhao is not fighting alone
Sending them to the leper colony was Zhao An's decision, as he had lived two lives and was kind-hearted, unwilling to cause any more deaths.

If it were up to Lao Ding, he would probably have imprisoned all the women of the Qian family, and might even have wiped out the entire Qian family in the end.

In feudal times, the prisons for female prisoners were even darker than those for male prisoners. Once you were in, no matter what your original status was, unless your family bribed them in time, you would almost certainly become the plaything of the prison guards. Some women even spent their days in prison but were taken to brothels to work part-time at night.

Their fate was even worse than that of a girl who couldn't be chosen as a "skinny horse" (a euphemism for a young woman), as they had no control over their own destiny.

Old Ding is absolutely capable of wiping out the Qian family; didn't you see him quietly have Qian Lao Er killed?

Ultimately, Zhao Anxin was too kind and couldn't reach the level of "one general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand."

With his backside in a bind, what could Lao Ding do? He immediately summoned Jiang, the clerk in charge of criminal matters, and asked him to go to the prison to persuade Qian Laosan. He also had the household registration office fetch a three-hundred-tael silver note.

Since it was inconvenient for Zhao An to go to the prison, he instructed Master Jiang to use incentives to lure the prisoner and explain the pros and cons.

Two male members of the Qian family have already died. If you, Qian Laosan, still don't know what's good for you and insist on losing your own life, then you can't blame Professor Zhao for being ruthless.

To be honest, it's not his fault. It's just that Boss Qian was so stubborn and insisted on walking into the line of fire.

Although the real lawbreaker was not Mr. Qian, but Professor Zhao, who was impersonating someone else to become an official.

But since things have come to this point, there's no point in discussing who is guilty and who isn't; it's better for both sides to face reality.

No matter how capable you are, Qian Laosan, you can never beat Zhao An, a professor who is a Jinshi graduate!
Because Professor Zhao wasn't fighting alone, but with three others!
Three officials.

There's also a professor and a county magistrate on the outside. If we give Professor Zhao a few more years, I reckon he'll be able to take the idiom "officials protecting each other" to new heights and come up with new tricks.

Jiang the clerk arrived at the prison quickly and had the jailer take the weak and hungry Qian Laosan to the duty room for a private talk. During the talk, he also had the jailer give Qian Laosan half a roast chicken to replenish his nutrition, so that he wouldn't look like a sickly ghost when he was released.

The conversation went fairly well. Compared to the two older brothers who had been in the underworld for a long time and mistakenly thought they were very powerful, Qian Laosan was much more pragmatic.

They accepted the conditions offered by the county, but made two demands.

"Qian Xiude said that firstly, he wanted the county to arrange a job for him, and secondly, he wanted his elder brother's son to study at our county school."

After stating Qian Laosan's request, Master Jiang remained silent, because he was not the one in charge.

"This is it,"

Before the county magistrate could speak, Zhao An interjected, "It's alright, agree to it! The county magistrate can arrange the job, and we'll trouble Instructor Song with the schooling."

"it is good!"

Old Ding and Old Song exchanged glances and had no objections. They weren't afraid of Qian Laosan making demands; they were afraid that Qian Laosan wouldn't make any demands.

Because making demands is itself a guarantee of mutual trust between the two parties.

You brought it up, I did it, so I won't bring it up again.

If you bring it up and I don't do it, then it's my fault.

If you keep making a scene, you're in the right.

With the county's guarantee, Master Jiang went to the prison again. Before long, Qian Laosan was released and given a new set of clothes. He was escorted out by two yamen runners who had been arranged in advance.

Upon seeing her husband, who had been suddenly released, Qian Laosan's wife was both surprised and delighted, and the plot took a dramatic turn from there.

In front of the onlookers, Qian Laosan took the initiative to refute the rumors, and then directly took his elderly father and mother back with his wife.

Without the two elders' "support," the eldest daughter-in-law of the Qian family immediately calmed down. After some kind persuasion from several plainclothes officers, she finally took her indecisive second daughter-in-law home. With the parties involved home, what was the point of the onlookers making a fuss?

Treat it as watching a grand show.

A potential major incident involving a siege of the county government office was thus averted.

The three parties involved in the case did not raise their glasses in celebration, but instead studied the pile of forged asset certificates.

"So, as long as we keep producing land deeds and property certificates, we can keep borrowing silver from the bank? Hey, if that's possible, let's borrow a few million taels! With a few million taels, we might even be able to buy a position as a prefect!"

Looking at the pile of new "asset certificates" on the table, Old Song's eyes lit up as if he had discovered a new continent.

How could he not have thought of such a simple and blatant way to scam money!
"Hengli only has two million taels of silver at most. If you lend it all out at once, won't Hengli go out of business?"

Zhao An chuckled and patted the pile of fake property certificates and fake land certificates. “Borrowing money has to be a long-term thing. It can’t always be just the few of us borrowing. We need to get some new people to borrow later, otherwise the head office will find out about the problem sooner or later.”

"Newbie?"

Old Ding and Old Song were both taken aback: What do you mean?
"Does Lord Zhao mean to find other officials to work with us?"

Old Song felt this was unreliable. He and the county magistrate boarded Zhao An's pirate ship not voluntarily, but because they had no other choice and had to bite the bullet.

Other officials don't have as many problems as them, so why would they act as loan sharks?

Zhao An shook his head: "A new person is not necessarily a new official, nor is he necessarily a person. I mean, he is not necessarily a living person; a dead person can also be one."

"How can a dead person be used?"

Old Song shook his head, feeling that this was too absurd and unbelievable.

"Why can't dead people be used?"

Zhao An casually picked up a property certificate and said seriously, "As long as these things are genuine, that's fine. You two should know that the money exchange isn't looking at people, but at these things."

"."

Old Ding and Old Song exchanged a glance, as if they had just gained new knowledge.

"Putting everything else aside, take these things and borrow money from the bank first. Lord Song and I will go to borrow money separately in the next day or two. We'll discuss things further after we've borrowed all the money."

Old Ding meant that, aside from the water conservancy project, the three of them should discuss how to spend the money borrowed, and it couldn't be decided by Zhao An alone.

At the very least, we need to ensure they have the right to know, so that they don't end up losing so much money after borrowing it all; otherwise, it would be a nightmare to pay it back on time.

Zhao An had no objection. He put the fake asset certificate on the table into the brown leather bag he had prepared in advance. He was about to go to the guesthouse to find Teacher Lou to get a small loan when the county magistrate stopped him and said kindly, "It's lunchtime. You can leave after you have a meal."

"It's okay, I'm not hungry. The sooner you lend the money, the sooner you'll feel at ease."

As Zhao An was speaking, he was already heading outside when the county magistrate spoke again, clearing his throat lightly: "It's rare for Madam to prepare such a feast, please eat before you leave."

"Huh? I'm not hungry at all,"

Zhao An turned his head and found that the county magistrate was acting so awkwardly, like a young girl.

Ai?
Why is her face red too?
Just as he was wondering, Old Song came over and gently tugged at his shoulder, winking and saying, "The county magistrate invited you to dinner, so why shouldn't you stay? What's there to be embarrassed about? A mother-in-law shouldn't have to look at her son-in-law."

(End of this chapter)