On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Lin Yi jumped off his horse, his face looking rather grim.

He hates these wasteful and extravagant welcoming and farewell ceremonies the most.

"Get up, everyone! It's so hot, why are you leaving these villagers here in the sun? They'll all get heatstroke soon. Make them move out of here."

Muramasa stood up, his face beaming with smiles.

"Your Highness is compassionate towards the people, and on behalf of my fellow villagers, I thank you. But we are all farmers, we are not afraid of the sun, and we came to welcome Your Highness spontaneously. Your Highness has allocated land to us and only charges 20% rent; Your Highness is truly our second parent!"

Lin Yi didn't respond to his words, but instead glanced around the village entrance.

At the entrance of the village, several new saplings had been planted, and the yellow soil in the tree pits was covered with a layer of green netting.

"What's with this green cloth?" Lin Yi asked, pointing to the tree pit.

Muramasa followed Lin Yi's finger and quickly explained.

"Your Highness, this is to prevent dust. Your Highness is a person of noble birth, and you have come to inspect our poor and remote area. We were afraid that the wind would blow away the yellow dust and dirty Your Highness's clothes. So we specially had the tree pits covered."

Lin Yi: ...

Lin Yi almost laughed out of anger after hearing this.

dust-proof?

How to prevent dust on rural dirt roads?

Who the hell came up with this brilliant idea?

"Where did this green netting come from?" Lin Yi stared into Muramasa's eyes.

Muramasa swallowed hard, feeling a little guilty.

"Yes...it was someone I asked to buy it in the county town."

"How much per foot?"

"This...this..." Muramasa stammered, unable to answer.

The fat man could tell that Lin Yi was unhappy. Although he didn't know why, he figured that something practical would be the best course of action.

So he rushed up and kicked Muramasa in the hip and elbow!

"Ouch~~"

"Damn it, my brother's asking you a question, why are you stammering? Trying to lie?"

"No, no, this humble subject wouldn't dare!" The village head trembled with fear and quickly explained, "Your Highness, this netting... was sent down by the county magistrate. He said it's a rule from above; whenever a high-ranking official comes to inspect, this must be done. This humble subject was just following orders!"

Lin Yi sneered.

"Heh heh heh, what a fine example of following orders! The common people can't even get enough to eat, yet they still have spare money for these vanity projects. It seems the officials in Ping'an County are living quite comfortably."

Lin Yi ignored Muramasa and said to the fat man, "Fatty."

"Why."

"Send someone to invite the county magistrate over. Let's learn a few tricks from him today."

"Alright."

"You! Get going right now." The fat man assigned a retainer, then glared at Muramasa.

Seeing Lin Yi continue walking forward, he said to Muramasa, "Old man, I told you to get ready, but who told you to get ready like this?"

"I……"

"If it weren't for your little girl, I would have torn you to pieces today. Hurry up and go serve me."

"Yes, yes, yes..."

Muramasa quickly ran over.

He thought to himself, "This young prince is really hard to please."

When Lin Yi entered the village, he found that the earthen walls had been freshly painted with a layer of whitewash, and some parts were still wet, dripping water.

The road was also swept clean, and there wasn't a single chicken or cow droppings to be seen.

This isn't a normal village at all; it's practically a film studio set up to pass inspections.

A surge of anger welled up in Lin Yi's heart.

The land reform was implemented at that time to ensure that the people had enough to eat and to win over the hearts and minds of the people.

But these bureaucrats below actually turned his good policies into an excuse for formalism, making life difficult for ordinary people every day.

Besides these, there are many others, which I will not list one by one.

As the sun set, the sky gradually darkened.

The county magistrate arrived, sweating profusely, and accompanied Lin Yi on a walk around the village, visiting several households.

These villagers should have all received the notice. No matter what Lin Yi asked, they all said "It's great," "Life is wonderful," "The blankets are not thin at all," and "We are well-fed and warmly dressed."

He was starving and skin and bones, but he insisted on pretending that he was "as good as could be," as if he was just short of hiring a few maids and taking a few concubines.

Once that's over, you'll know you won't see the real thing.

Lin Yi was not interested.

The county magistrate invited him to stay at the county government office, but Lin Yi refused and instead moved into the village head's house.

The village head's house is the only large brick and tile house in Martin Village. The yard is very large and kept very clean.

An eight-immortal table was placed in the main room, and the table was already full of wine and dishes.

Braised carp, stewed free-range chicken, braised pork hock, four-happiness meatballs... a dozen or so dishes in total, plus two unopened jars of aged liquor.

This level of lavishness is considered abundant, not only in the countryside but even in the homes of minor officials in the capital.

Lin Yi sat in the main seat, looking at the dishes on the table, feeling a mix of emotions.

The village head stood to the side, bowing and smiling broadly: "Your Highness, this is a rural place, we don't have anything fancy to offer. This is just a small token of our appreciation from the villagers, please make do with it."

Lin Yi snorted coldly.

Is this what you call making do?

The people have just been allocated land and haven't even harvested any grain yet. Where are they going to get the money to buy chicken, duck, fish, and meat?

This table of food probably emptied the entire village of eggs.

The fat man ignored everything else, grabbed a meatball and stuffed it into his mouth, eating with great relish.

Just then, a young man in a long gown came in carrying a plate of stir-fried vegetables.

Lin Yi looked over and saw that the young man was fair-skinned and clean-cut, completely different from the men in the village who toiled in the fields.

"Father, the dishes are ready." The young man placed the dishes on the table and stood respectfully next to the village head.

Muramasa quickly introduced it to Lin Yi.

"Your Highness, this is my son, Ma Youcai. He is a well-known scholar in our village. A few days ago, the village wanted to choose a representative to visit Your Highness, so they chose him."

This time, Lin Yi responded.

"Was it chosen by the entire village?"

"Yes, the whole village voted. I thought that from now on, if there are any major or minor events in the village, the villagers can report them to me. Then I will organize them and report them to the Prince's Palace. This way, I can reduce the burden on the Prince's Palace and solve the villagers' difficulties in a timely manner."

Lin Yi picked up his wine glass and toyed with it in his hand: "Heh, what a great idea! Who came up with that?"

Ma Youcai stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

"Your Highness, this is my own idea. I have studied the classics for a few years and am well aware of the drawbacks of poor communication between superiors and subordinates. I am willing to act as a bridge, to share Your Highness's burdens, and to serve the people of my village."

That was a perfectly eloquent and watertight statement.

But who is Lin Yi? He's seen this kind of tactic many times in his previous life.

It also means, frankly, that they just want to make money.

He monopolized information channels and deceived his superiors and subordinates. When the people's demands reached him, he reported whatever he wanted and suppressed what he didn't want to report. Whoever touched his interests, he would find ways to get rid of them.

Normally, you wouldn't want to see it, but since I've caught you today, you're out of luck.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi glanced at the fat man who was stuffing himself.

The latter was shoveling rice into his mouth when he saw his gaze and paused, then put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth: "I know, big brother, Fatty will go right away."

"Um."

The fat man turned and ran out of the yard.

Muramasa and Ma Youcai exchanged a glance, unsure of what Lin Yi was up to.

Even the county magistrate standing next to him was stunned; he didn't dare move his chopsticks, just like the person.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Lin Yi waved his hand and laughed, "Hehehe, don't be nervous, it's just some business to take care of. Everyone, please sit down, don't waste such good food."

"Yes, yes, yes." The county magistrate immediately greeted him, "Old Ma, come sit down quickly, and call your son over too. Hahahaha, this lad, he looks like a fine young man! Not bad! Hahahahaha."

The county magistrate was a shrewd man with a distinctive, savory laugh.

Everyone started eating, and Lin Yi picked up a piece of meat, looked at it, but really couldn't swallow it.

The villagers spoke against their conscience and ate the unpalatable bran not far from us.

Meanwhile, I am here eating delicacies and drinking wine that costs ten taels of silver a jar.

Ugh.

Lin Yi's reluctance instantly overwhelmed him, and his hatred for the Ma family father and son grew stronger.

It's all because of these people that the government's orders from above have become a mess.

A short while later, the fat man carried in a thin, dark-skinned man as if he were a chick.

The man was wearing a tattered short shirt, his trousers were rolled up above his knees, and his feet were covered in mud; he clearly had just come back from the fields.

"Brother, we've brought him. This kid was squatting at the village entrance taking a dump when Fatty grabbed him and pulled him over." Fatty threw the man to the ground.

The man was so frightened that he trembled all over and lay on the ground, not daring to lift his head.

"My lord, spare me...my lord, spare me...I haven't broken the law..."

Lin Yi didn't get up, but sat there and spoke with great authority.

"Don't be afraid. I summoned you here to ask you a few questions. Answer truthfully, and I will reward you handsomely. If you dare to lie, you'll be dragged out and beheaded."

The man was even more frightened when he heard about beheading, and he stammered his reply.

"Yes, yes, yes, I... I will definitely tell the truth."

Lin Yi pointed to Ma Youcai standing next to him.

Do you know him?

The man looked up, glanced at Ma Youcai, and shook his head: "Uh... I don't know him."

Ma Youcai immediately panicked!

He knew what Lin Yi was going to do!

Oh no, this is terrible!