For a moment Fan Changyu could not work out the crux of it, and asked, “Why say that?”

Yu Qianqian analyzed for her: “The county magistrate is extorting the people’s wealth; if those above him wanted to be corrupt, then the county magistrate would not need to collude with bandits to block the road to Jizhou Prefecture. Even if the matter were made big, those above the county magistrate could easily put it down.”

“As for using the old man’s death to pressure me, it is nothing more than that they set their sights on Yixiang Tower’s financial resources, because among the wealthy merchants in this town, its foundation is the shallowest and easiest to manipulate. The favors I usually give to those officials make them willing to help with ordinary difficulties; when such a matter falls on them, they naturally dare not wade into the muddy water. Once Yixiang Tower falls, the county magistrate can go to the other wealthy merchants one by one to extort silver. If those wealthy merchants do not want to be reduced to ruin and suffer prison as I might, they will have no choice but to obediently hand over money.”

Fan Changyu suddenly understood the stakes, and slapped the table, saying, “Then we must quickly bind together with the other wealthy merchants of Qingping County into a single rope!”

Yu Qianqian shook her head: “This matter must be considered long-term. I am only a merchant; I have no idea how much grain the prefecture orders each household to provide under the grain requisition order. If you had not said that the county magistrate’s levy is so much that it might be greed, I would not have thought so deeply. After all, if he bullies a mere merchant like me, the court may not pursue it much, but if he preys on the people of the whole Qingping County and no one above protects him, once the matter is exposed he will certainly be doomed. The county magistrate cannot be unaware of this logic. After thinking it through, the only possibility I see is that he intends to defect to the rebel king.”

She paused there, then looked at Fan Changyu: “Only those officials know how much grain the army must requisition. Changyu sister, how do you know the county magistrate has over-collected military grain?”

Fan Changyu produced the reasons Xie Zheng had said, and added one sentence: “The county magistrate blocked the road to Jizhou Prefecture; that too certainly shows a thief’s guilty conscience!”

Yu Qianqian pondered for a moment and said, “With the added fact of blocking the prefectural road, we can basically determine the county magistrate has treacherous intent, but as long as the county magistrate denies it and only says it was mountain bandits who waylaid the road, we have no evidence to prove he and the bandits are in league; we cannot make the people believe it. The only thing that can implicate the county magistrate is that grain requisition order. Simply saying this year’s levy is more than in past years — the Jizhou officials would not force the people to this extent — cannot be used as evidence to finger the county magistrate. After all, Huizhou has just suffered a defeat, the grain routes are blocked, and no one knows what those officials are thinking.”

When Fan Changyu heard Xie Zheng’s analysis she thought his words made sense; hearing Yu Qianqian now, she suddenly felt Yu Qianqian’s words were also correct.

She carefully pondered Xie Zheng’s and Yu Qianqian’s words, and a few odd feelings rose in her heart.

Yu Qianqian said only the officials knew how much grain the army required, but Yan Zheng had spoken earlier as if he clearly knew how much the prefecture was to requisition?

Secondly, Yu Qianqian worried that the Jizhou officials, for the sake of war, would not care about the lives of the lower people, whereas Yan Zheng was very confident the Jizhou prefecture would not drive the people to such an extent.

Was it because Yu Qianqian, having done business for many years, thought things through more thoroughly, and Yan Zheng, with less experience than Yu Qianqian, held such high expectations of the prefecture?

Putting the facts together, Yan Zheng’s words also seemed right: the amount Jizhou Prefecture required was not as much as the county magistrate had collected.

She frowned and thought over these things so hard her eyebrows were nearly at war.

Seeing this, Yu Qianqian thought she was fretting over how to point the finger at the county magistrate, and comforted her: “Changyu sister, don’t be anxious on my account; I will think of ways about the Yixiang Tower matter slowly myself.”

Judging by the county magistrate’s posture of using the old man who died of an epileptic fit to throw dirt on Yixiang Tower, it was plainly to send Yu Qianqian to prison.

Fan Changyu pressed her lips and said, “That Adviser He is the county magistrate’s lackey; hiring people to throw dirt on you was also done by Adviser He. I think that Adviser He probably knows exactly how much military grain Jizhou Prefecture truly ordered. If not, why don’t we start from Adviser He?”

Yu Qianqian was puzzled: “How do we do it?”

Fan Changyu said, “Knock him unconscious with a stick, put a sack over him, drag him back to the building and question him under duress. What do you think?”

Yu Qianqian looked at the honest, coquettish-looking girl before her, and found it a little hard to believe these words had come from her mouth.

Thinking that she had just used this same method to deal with a few hoodlums for her earlier, the subtle astonishment in her heart lessened slightly.

After thinking it over carefully, she nodded and said, “Forget it, let’s treat a dead horse as if it were still alive and try to cure it.”

She looked toward Fan Changyu. “But you must not get involved in this matter. I’ll hire someone to handle it. The county magistrate is extorting most of his money from the wealthy merchants of Qingping County right now. If something goes wrong and it’s traced back to you, it could also implicate your husband and your younger sister.”

A retort rose to Fan Changyu’s lips, but she swallowed it back at the latter half of Yu Qianqian’s words.

She herself feared neither heaven nor earth, but once it involved Changning, she dared not act recklessly.

If something happened to her, Changning would have no one to rely on in this world.

And there was Yan Zheng—he was about to leave soon. She could not let him become entangled in such a lawsuit because of her either.

In the end, Fan Changyu could only say, “Then, shopkeeper, is there anything else I can help with?”

Yu Qianqian smiled at her. “Haven’t you already helped me enough, giving me all this advice? Don’t call me ‘shopkeeper’ anymore—it sounds so distant. I may be six or seven years older than you, but don’t make me sound old. Just call me Qianqian.”

Fan Changyu could clearly feel that Yu Qianqian was treating her more warmly than before. She didn’t dwell on the form of address and said right away, “Qianqian.”

Yu Qianqian smiled until her eyes curved. Then she said, “I heard you brought a cartload of braised meat. Since my restaurant can’t sell anything today, it’d be a pity if your goods spoil unsold. Here—send them to the Zuili Restaurant. I know the owner well; he happens to have a banquet today and could use that meat.”

As she spoke, she called over one of her shop hands to go with Fan Changyu to the Zuili Restaurant, and even settled the payment for the braised meat: “I’ll pay you first on behalf of the restaurant’s owner and collect it from him later.”

Fan Changyu declined. “You should deal with your restaurant’s troubles first. Once the Zuili’s owner pays you, you can give it to me then.”

Yu Qianqian put the money pouch into her hand. “Take it. If Yixiang Tower really can’t be saved, I might have to bring Bao’er over to your place to scrounge meals for a few days. I can’t owe you money first.”

Since she said so, Fan Changyu had no choice but to accept it.

After delivering the braised meat to the Zuili Restaurant, Fan Changyu had the old driver send Yu Qianqian’s shop hand back to Yixiang Tower. Then, after some thought, she decided to stop by Head Constable Wang’s home.

It wasn’t to ask him to help Yu Qianqian—Fan Changyu knew Head Constable Wang was a righteous man. If the county magistrate had ordered him and his constables to do something cruel or unjust, and Wang didn’t know the magistrate harbored treasonous intent, he might unknowingly become the magistrate’s blade. Then he’d spend the rest of his life wracked with guilt.

If he were further branded a traitor, it would be even more disastrous.

Fan Changyu knocked on the Wang family’s door. The same old woman answered, but this time she wasn’t as cheerful as before. Her face was troubled. “Oh, it’s Miss Fan.”

Fan Changyu asked, “Is Head Constable Wang at home?”

The old woman said, “He is.”

She led Fan Changyu inside. Both Wang and his wife were in the main room. Whether it was her imagination or not, Fan Changyu thought Head Constable Wang seemed somewhat dejected, lacking his former vigor.

Madam Wang, however, greeted her with a smile. “Changyu, you’re here—have you run into some difficulty?”

Fan Changyu shook her head. “No, I came to ask Uncle Wang a few things about the county yamen.”

At that, Madam Wang’s face showed some unease. “Your Uncle Wang… I’m afraid he can’t help you anymore. He’s no longer serving at the county yamen.”

Fan Changyu exclaimed in astonishment, “When did that happen?”

Madam Wang sighed, “On the second day of the month your uncle went to the yamen to take his post and was told he need not go anymore. They said his handling of the case about the treasure-map murder was ineffective, and the men who followed your uncle were all replaced. That county magistrate is usually quiet as a mouse; only now that he is about to be transferred does he make such a move.”

Fan Changyu’s eyelids twitched at this; it was obvious the county magistrate, aware of Head Constable Wang’s nature and fearing Wang would spoil his plans, had sent Wang away early.

She asked, “Does Uncle Wang know where those new yamen runners came from?”

Head Constable Wang shook his head, “I didn’t inquire, but I heard they were specially recruited—people with decent martial skills.”

Fan Changyu pressed her lips, “Those people might be mountain bandits.”

This remark stunned the Wang couple.

Madam Wang was the first to recover, smiling wryly, “What nonsense is this child talking about?”

Fan Changyu’s expression remained grave. “Aunt, I’m not talking nonsense. The county magistrate colluded with bandits to block the prefectural road, and while requisitioning grain for the army he extorts the people’s wealth; now he has his eye on all the wealthy merchants of Qingping County. He plainly intends to take these funds and go over to the rebel king.”

When her words fell, the whole room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Head Constable Wang remained stunned for a long while, muttering, “This… how could this be possible?”

Fan Changyu then recounted Yu Qianqian’s predicament. “He’s no longer merely forcing the Yixiang Tower’s shopkeeper to pay; he wants all of Yixiang Tower’s money. He’s also blocked the prefectural road, cutting off the route from the county to Jizhou Prefecture.”

Wang was already somewhat convinced, but the news was so shocking he still tried to persuade himself: “Blocking the prefectural road might only be to stop that shopkeeper Yu from going to Jizhou Prefecture to accuse him?”

Seeing this, Fan Changyu also felt Yu Qianqian’s worries made sense: without concrete evidence, relying on mere threads of suspicion to conjecture, most people—even if doubtful—would not dare take sides without ironclad proof.

She recalled the requisition order Yu mentioned and said, “Uncle Wang, have you ever seen the grain requisition order sent from Jizhou Prefecture to Qingping County? If the amount the county magistrate has requisitioned is inconsistent with the amount on the requisition order, that would be conclusive proof.”

Head Constable Wang shook his head, “Where could I see such a thing? It’s handled by the county magistrate and that Adviser He; they examine it then directly order the men below to collect grain. But all the documents are kept in the county yamen’s archives. I have some acquaintance with the chief clerk who manages the records, he should be able to see the requisition order.”

Fan Changyu’s heart thudded; her palms unconsciously broke out in a film of sweat. “Can we go find that Chief Clerk?”

Having worked cases for many years, Head Constable Wang had a steady temperament and said, “We must not alarm the birds. If I was suddenly removed from my post and then I went straight to Chief Clerk Liu’s house, if the county magistrate truly harbors treasonous intent, someone might pass the word to him from the moment I go to Liu’s house.”

Madam Wang suddenly said, “We haven’t gone to Liu’s to pay New Year’s respects yet—this gives us a reason. It’s almost midday; you stay home, old man. I’ll take Changyu and the New Year’s gifts to Chief Clerk Liu’s house. That should not let the county magistrate notice anything.”

Head Constable Wang nodded, “This plan will work.”

Madam Wang gathered a few New Year’s gifts and, taking Fan Changyu with her, went to Chief Clerk Liu’s house.

Chief Clerk Liu was also greatly astonished after they explained their purpose, then said: “Indeed the Jizhou Prefecture did send a document ordering the requisition of military grain, but I have not seen that document myself; the requisition order has always been kept with the county magistrate.”

That the county magistrate kept hold of the document and would not hand it to Chief Clerk Liu only further confirmed the county magistrate’s treacherous intent.

Fan Changyu and Madam Wang left Liu’s house, both walking back with heavy hearts.

Without the requisition order, all hope could only be placed on Adviser He.

Madam Wang said sadly, “The damned county magistrate plans to take the money and grain to the rebel king—those farmers whose seed grain has been seized, how will they live?”

Fan Changyu glanced at the sun and wondered whether Yu Qianqian had managed to catch Adviser He.

Just as the thought surfaced, another idea suddenly flashed through her mind.

She looked at Madam Wang and said, “Aunt, why don’t we just bind the county magistrate ourselves?”

The redness in Madam Wang’s eyes had not yet faded. She looked at the obedient, gentle-looking girl before her, opened her mouth, and for a long while could not utter a single word.