“Eat!”
Bai Yunyun pinched her nose with one hand while using a stick to disdainfully poke a clump of ‘Divine Pill,’ intending to force-feed it to the young master.
Looking at the filthy object getting closer and closer to his face, the young master’s eyes bulged.
Beside them, Lin Ling wrote: “Consider that every bowl of porridge and every meal is hard-won; remember that every thread and every strand of fabric represents arduous labor!”
She then signaled for Bai Yunyun to feed it to him immediately.
Outside the door, the master of the house and his wives were incredibly anxious.
However, Gu Xiao and Zhao Yuyu, dressed in their official uniforms with their hands resting on the long blades at their waists, stood valiantly at the door to prevent them from entering.
They had no idea what was happening inside.
Under Lin Ling’s wave of threats, the young master finally broke down and began to wail about why he had done this.
The youth knelt on the ground, weeping loudly. Bai Yunyun grabbed a nearby handkerchief and tossed it to him to wipe his nose while she turned to look at the sky.
She had cut that handkerchief from someone’s curtains.
The youth was so emotional that he didn’t seem to notice.
“Immortal, I have no feelings for the Miss of the Li family. My father only cares about family status and is forcing me to marry her. However, I had already privately entered an engagement with the younger daughter of the Zhao family. After my father found out, he secretly persecuted the Zhao family without my knowledge, forcing Miss Zhao to marry into the Wang family,” Xu Yi sobbed as he spoke.
After listening, Lin Ling could only reach out and pat his shoulder.
Even an honest official finds it hard to settle family matters; there was nothing she could do about this kind of situation.
In any case, she finally understood what was going on.
Lin Ling led Bai Yunyun out of the room.
She glanced at Squire Xu, her expression unpleasant.
{To think these guys know so many tricks. They’re even more ruthless than the things I did back when I was a bandit.}
Xu Yi had informed Lin Ling of some of the secret methods his father and the Wang family had used.
For instance, business suppression, overt and covert threats, and even an incident where Old Man Zhao was ambushed and beaten by masked men.
Such events had repeated constantly against the Zhao family over the past year, scaring Old Man Zhao until he had wasted away.
Once Xu Yi found out, he had personally taken Old Man Zhao to the County Magistrate to seek justice.
However, the official had accepted bribes from the Xu and Wang families and dismissed the case immediately.
Ultimately, the Zhao family could only submissively marry their daughter into the Wang family before dejectedly leaving Yue-shan County.
“It is suppressed for now. For the time being, let him have his way in everything. Do not force him, or the ghosts will return. We need to go back and retrieve a magical treasure to cure this problem at its root,” Bai Yunyun read the words Lin Ling had written for her, her eyes darting toward Squire Xu.
They saw the family members expressing their gratitude one after another, trying to stuff silver into the hands of Zhao Yuyu and Gu Xiao, who were standing by on official duty.
The two women didn’t move a muscle.
Lin Ling waved her hand, signaling that they were leaving, and made it clear they would not accept any extra money.
“Lingling, are we just leaving like this?”
As the four of them took a carriage back to the Inspection and Prayer Bureau, Zhao Yuyu, who was driving the carriage, spoke gloomily, feeling unwilling to let it go.
Lin Ling turned to look at her, smiled slightly, and took out a note that said: “We cannot be certain if what Xu Yi said is the truth. Therefore, we will first verify his story. Then, the remaining matters will be handed over to Xiu Jiming.”
“He was in such a state; it didn’t seem like he was lying,” Gu Xiao sighed.
“Before it’s confirmed, nothing is certain,” Lin Ling wrote. Suddenly, she recalled the scene when her own family was exterminated.
Her father hadn’t looked like such an ambitious person either; it was simply because he had some dealings with Shi Ying-huan.
However, once a person dies, their light goes out.
She had been young when their home was raided, and her family hadn’t told her about those matters.
No one knew the specific details anymore; Lin Ling was simply speaking from her feelings.
At the Yue-shan County yamen, the County Magistrate was about to lose his temper when he saw Lin Ling slap a Rank 6 Supervisor of Blessings medallion onto the table.
He instantly withered like a piece of deflated cabbage.
“Why is the Inspection and Prayer Bureau getting involved?” the Magistrate muttered.
“Is the evidence collection finished?”
Lin Ling sat on the edge of the desk and wrote with the official’s own brush.
“Who wrote the records?”
Gu Xiao looked at the trembling Magistrate.
“Uh… Uh… It was this county’s Chief Secretary.”
His heart was in his throat, wondering what wind had blown these four here.
“You remember the case where the Xu family’s son brought an elderly man named Zhao to report, right?”
Gu Xiao narrowed her eyes at the Magistrate.
“I… I remember.”
Cold sweat poured down the Magistrate’s face as he suddenly realized something.
“No need. Looking at him, this is evidence enough,” Zhao Yuyu sneered, looking at the Magistrate with contempt.
“Let’s go.”
Lin Ling sighed, turning to lead them out.
“Lingling, what do you plan to do?”
Zhao Yuyu followed behind Lin Ling, unable to hold back.
Bai Yunyun sneered, “Official business, of course. We’ll have this Magistrate dismissed, and let Old Man Zhao settle his grievances.”
Gu Xiao stared at Lin Ling without speaking.
At a time like this, it was better to listen directly to the superior.
Lin Ling was silent for a moment before taking out her pen to write: “This is not within our official duties. Do not meddle in things that aren’t our business.”
“But…”
Bai Yunyun hesitated.
“Exceeding one’s authority is a very sensitive matter, especially in our situation. The Inspection and Prayer Bureau is a special institution, just like the Linxiu Guards. If we overstep too much, those above will have plenty of ways to discipline us,” Gu Xiao reminded them in agreement.
“So, we’ll leave the rest to Xiu Jiming. He’s been in the imperial court for so many years; he must have his own network of connections,” Lin Ling wrote with a smile.
“This is as much as we can help him with.”
“Also, I want to ask… do we usually handle these kinds of incidents?”
Lin Ling asked silently.
“Big Sis, this is exactly why we’ve given up on trying hard. They even have us handle neighborhood disputes. People don’t go to the county yamen unless it’s a major issue,” Bai Yunyun shrugged, looking as if she were already used to it.
{We really are like neighborhood committee meddlers.}
Lin Ling rolled her eyes.
Returning to the Inspection and Prayer Bureau, the three women withdrew after explaining everything to Xiu Jiming.
Lin Ling was about to go back to playing cards when Xiu Jiming called out to her.
“Ling’er, what do you think? How do you want to handle this Magistrate and the Xu and Wang families?”
Xiu Jiming asked.
Lin Ling thought for a moment and wrote on the paper: “Good and evil have their rewards. The marriage agreements of the Xu, Zhao, and Wang families have nothing to do with us, but the Xu family’s secret use of methods to harm people must be dealt with.”
“Reasonable. The philosophy of our Inspection and Prayer Bureau is to protect the nation and the people. However, let me ask you: the Grand Yu is so vast. If something like this happens again in the future, can you manage it? Our ultimate goal is to deal with demons and filth,” Xiu Jiming asked with a smile.
“I can’t manage it all,” Lin Ling replied very bluntly.
“Then?”
“But if I see it before my eyes, I must act,” Lin Ling looked at him seriously.
{If I don’t, how am I supposed to eliminate my karmic debt? How am I supposed to cultivate toward immortality?}
Although she understood that she had simply returned to her physical body from her previous life, she still felt in her heart that being a man was better.
The memories of ‘Lin Ling’ felt like a dream to her, without much sense of reality.
“I understand,” Xiu Jiming replied. He then drank his tea, a satisfied smile playing at the corners of his mouth.