In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

Although it's called a county town, it's more like an old market town that's been hastily fenced off.

The city wall was not high, the rammed earth had turned black, and a section of the north corner had collapsed, which was temporarily repaired with wooden fences and rubble.

Above the city gate hangs half an old plaque, the words of which are long illegible, and it creaks when the wind blows.

There weren't many people waiting to enter the city outside the gate.

There was a crooked shed with two wooden tables under it. A man dressed in a short brown robe, who looked like an accountant, was writing something down. Two idle men with short sticks were sitting next to him.

Several trucks arrived at the gate, but no one checked their travel permits or asked where they came from.

The first question they asked was what was inside.

"How many baskets of medicinal herbs?"

"How many packets of salt?"

"Put down the wedding fee."

"Road repair fees, ditch cleaning fees, and well water fees are calculated together."

The businessman in one of the cars immediately changed his expression.

"Didn't we just receive this last month?"

The man under the shed didn't even raise his head.

"What we received last month was from last month."

"If you think it's too much, you don't have to come in."

The merchant's lips moved a few times, but he didn't dare to argue any further and could only grit his teeth and hand over the money.

Afu's eyelids twitched as he read it.

"This is what you call a county town gate?"

"This is a crossroads."

Han Jitong said in a low voice.

"Nominally it's for repairing city walls and moats, but in reality, most of it ends up in the hands of a few outside companies."

"The government may not be unaware of this, but they are too lazy to care, nor do they dare to really care."

Yang Xuan remained silent, simply sitting in the car watching.

The person under the canopy finally looked up when the main vehicle arrived at the door.

He had initially maintained an indifferent demeanor, but when he saw the official wooden plaque hanging beside the carriage in front and noticed the female relatives accompanying him in the carriage behind, his expression changed slightly.

"This is……"

Cui Shen rode forward on his horse and handed over the document.

"By imperial decree, the new magistrate of Yanjing County has arrived."

The man was taken aback at first, but instead of immediately getting up to bow, he subconsciously glanced into the city gate.

It's like they want to figure out who should take on this task first.

Yang Xuan saw it, and Han Jitong saw it too.

Han Jitong's lips curled slightly.

This shows that even the few people at the city gate didn't think that "the arrival of the new magistrate" was a major event that required them to stand up immediately.

Two breaths later, the man hurriedly stood up, forcing a smile onto his face.

"So it's the county magistrate who has arrived."

"My eyesight is poor; I didn't recognize it."

"The government office hasn't received any news yet, so we haven't prepared enough manpower..."

Cui Shen said calmly:

"The document is here, and the person has arrived at the city gate. Does the yamen really need to ask again whether it's genuine?"

The man's face froze, and he hurriedly said he dared not, then turned and told a bystander to run inside.

But the errand runner didn't seem too flustered.

He jogged along, but his posture was lazy, as if he wasn't reporting the arrival of a new county magistrate, but rather that another cart of cloth had arrived at some shop.

Yang Xuan withdrew his gaze and said calmly:

"Enter."

As the convoy passed through the city gate, the county's stench intensified.

It's not just salty.

It was also mixed with mud, medicine residue, animal dung, and a layer of indescribable dampness and stench.

The street was narrow, and the shops on both sides were set up haphazardly. There were vendors selling coarse salt, buying and selling furs, and selling medicinal roots in broken wooden basins.

There were also a few storefronts that looked like teahouses, but inside sat not people drinking tea, but a group of men in short shirts with eyes like the back of knives, scanning anyone passing by on the street.

The strangest thing was that even though a new official had arrived in the county, not many people on the streets gathered to watch.

It's not like I didn't see it.

It's not that they're surprised, but rather that they're used to it.

Or perhaps they simply don't believe that the convoy can actually control them.

Afu felt increasingly awkward looking at it.

"Young master, this place doesn't look like a county town."

"Like a broken market that anyone can take a bite out of."

Yang Xuan said:

"If a county town is only used for collecting money and moving goods, it naturally won't resemble a county town anymore."

When the group arrived at the county government office, Afu realized that the previous statement about "broken market" was an understatement.

The main gate of the county government office is still standing.

But the stone steps in front of the door were already chipped at the corners, and the skin of the grievance drum on the left was cracked, covered with dust.

Wild grass grew half a foot high along the door frame, and even the plaque that read "Yanjing County Government Office" was crooked, one side higher than the other, as if it could fall down at any moment.

Several people were standing inside the door.

Two old servants dressed in black robes, one a doorman dozing off with his sleeves tucked in, the other a minor clerk who looked like a clerk, and a middle-aged man with a slightly protruding belly and a quick smile.

What's truly jarring isn't that they're dressed in old clothes.

It's because they're standing too loosely.

It doesn't resemble welcoming officials.

Like watching a spectacle.

The middle-aged man came forward first, cupping his hands in greeting three steps away from the car, his smile not unpleasant.

"This humble official was unaware that the magistrate would arrive today; I am late in welcoming him."

"The county magistrate was still tending the well in the south field last night and hasn't returned yet; the registrar has caught a fever and can't get out of bed either. We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the yamen and hope the county magistrate will forgive us."

With those few words spoken, the time was ripe.

The people have arrived.

There are also courtesies.

But the county magistrate was absent, and the registrar was ill; there was only one explanation.

Even though you've arrived as the new magistrate today, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to take control of the government office today.

Yang Xuan didn't rush to get out of the carriage, but only glanced at the person from behind the curtain.

"Who are you?"

The man hurriedly bowed again.

"I am merely a clerk in the yamen, helping with daily miscellaneous tasks."

"For the next few days, I will be accompanying you throughout the county to help you navigate the situation."

He had neither fame nor official rank.

But he stood at the door first.

Han Jitong watched from the passenger seat, his eyes suddenly turning cold.

He recognized this type of person.

Not the biggest.

But it must be the slipperiest.

When faced with a tough situation, he's the first to back down; when it comes to relaying messages from the outside or changing one's wording from the inside, he's the one who runs the fastest.

Yang Xuan finally lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage.

He wasn't fully recovered from his injuries, so he landed slowly and his face was pale.

But as soon as he stood still, the old guards inside the door, who had been relaxing their shoulders, subconsciously straightened up.

It wasn't because they were genuinely afraid of the new magistrate.

Instead, he finally remembered that no matter how much this person had been demoted, he was still a county magistrate.

Yang Xuan stood at the bottom of the steps, not entering the door at first, but only glancing up at the crooked plaque.

When did the plaque become crooked?

The clerk was clearly taken aback.

No one expected that when the new official arrived at the door, the first question he asked was not about receiving the official seal, his lodging, or how many wells there were in the county, but about this plaque.

"Well... the wind was strong a few days ago, and the old nails came loose. We haven't had time to fix them yet."

"Why was it too late?"

"The government office has been very busy lately..."

"It takes half a day to straighten a plaque."

Yang Xuan withdrew his gaze.

"Your government office is certainly busy."

The smile on the clerk's face immediately faded.

Yanhe then got off the car behind.

She didn't speak, but stood aside, glanced into the room, and her gaze swept over the faces of the doorman, the old servant, and the clerk.

Two of those who had dared to peek earlier now lowered their eyes.

Han Jitong witnessed this scene from the side, and his heart stirred slightly.

The couple, one looking at the shell and the other at the person, were quite different.

None of them are here just to go through the motions.

Upon entering the county government office, it appeared even more dilapidated.

The cracks between the bricks in the front yard were full of grass, the desk was covered in dust, and several cracked wooden barrels were piled up in the corner.

The window paper of the public housing on the east side was torn in half and was haphazardly patched up with old cloth.

The door to the west office was open, and on the desk inside was a stack of damp, curled documents, with a wine jug confiscated the night before.