My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 75 Heading to Pingding Village

Pingdingshan is outside the city and quite a distance from the county government office. Normally, patrols are conducted on foot, but today the situation is urgent, so Magistrate Feng approved that everyone find a mode of transportation—riding mules.

The mule was considered public property of the county government, and a special person was assigned to take care of it. Only the heads of the six departments were entitled to ride it; others could only hold the reins and pull it around. Lin Ziping had only enjoyed the privilege of "riding a government vehicle" last time because of Inspector Chai's connections and the pretext of catching bandits at Maomao Mountain.

The group of thirteen arrived at the place where the horses were fed at the city gate.

As soon as I reached the door, someone called out to me, "Hey, hey, hey, what are you all doing?"

Lin Ziping looked at the man, who was wearing a tattered sheepskin hat, cracking sunflower seeds, and glancing sideways at the group.

Shi Yong stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Brother Shen, this is Xiao Shi. There's a case outside the city, and it's urgent. Magistrate Feng has sent us there on mules."

"County Magistrate Feng? Do you have any documents? Do you have any proof?" The man spat out a few sunflower seed shells.

"This...this...the situation is urgent, and Magistrate Feng didn't have time to write it to us. Brother Shen, please do us a favor," Shi Yong said with a smile.

"Oh dear, Xiao Shi, that won't do. The county government has regulations that require written documentation before you can enter," the man said, brushing the dust off his clothes. "Why don't you go back and ask Magistrate Feng for some documentation, or perhaps he could come and say so in person?"

"This is urgent. We're in a hurry to get out. Could you please complete the paperwork and receipts later?" Shi Yong asked anxiously.

“Xiao Shi, you know the county government’s regulations, there’s nothing I can do about it. If you have all the paperwork, I’ll take you in myself without a second thought, but… now look, don’t make things difficult for me.” Brother Shen said with a troubled expression.

“You…” The other constables couldn’t stand it anymore and wanted to step forward.

Shi Yong quickly stopped him, gave the man a deep look, and said, "Let's go."

"Brother Shi, this..." The constable who came out looked at Shi Yong with indignation.

"go!"

Shi Yong turned and left, and the others looked at each other and followed him.

"Brother Shi, this old Shen has been making things difficult for us because he's related to Registrar Shen. We can let it go normally, but today this was arranged by County Magistrate Feng." Someone caught up with Shi Yong and said angrily.

Registrar Shen? Lin Ziping recalled encountering this leader a few times in the county government office. He was stern and unsmiling, and even when reasoned with, he seemed indifferent and had a low profile.

Judging from the behavior of his relatives today, it seems that Chief Clerk Shen is also somewhat dissatisfied with County Magistrate Feng. They are both from the county government, so no matter how much they don't get along, with so many people here today, even a blind person would know that the situation is urgent. But he pretends not to see it and speaks in a very formal and proper manner. It is obvious that when gods fight, innocent bystanders are affected.

“Brother Shi, if we walk all the way to Pingding Village, the daylilies will be too cold. Qi Putou might even get there before us.” It would take about half an hour to walk from the county town, which Lin Ziping thought was too slow, so he leaned closer to Shi Yong and said.

Shi Yong sighed and looked at Lin Ziping helplessly, saying, "I know, but Lao Shen won't let us go, and we don't have any written proof. What do you suggest we do?"

If Lin Ziping had just graduated and barged in, he would have been full of courage and thought that things should be prioritized. In an emergency, he wouldn't have considered personal grudges. He believed that the leaders should handle their own problems and not delay things. As a result, he got things done but offended the leaders and was given a hard time several times. Things only improved after the two leaders were transferred.

"If we had two carriages, we could squeeze in and go," Lin Ziping sighed. "I just don't know which family in Fuchun County would be willing to lend us a carriage. Sigh."

The others nodded in agreement: "Yes, a carriage is a bit faster than a mule, but unfortunately the carriages in the county government stables are for the county magistrate, and we can only lead the horses with reins."

Shi Yong thought for a moment and said, "Old Huang, you and I will go to Fuchunlou. They should have carriages there. You two can set off for Pingding Village first."

Without waiting for anyone's reply, he hurriedly left.

"Let's hurry to Pingding Village," Lin Ziping said, seeing the remaining people unmoved and watching Shi Yong's departing figure. He couldn't help but remind them. He was inwardly furious. They usually seemed so clever, but why did they let him down at this crucial moment? Not only could they not "ride the bus," but now they weren't even in a hurry to leave. What was so interesting about their backs? Did Shi Yong have eyes in the back of his head? Did he know a bunch of people were watching him from behind? Lives were at stake; couldn't these guys have a little sense of urgency?

"Yes, Brother Lin is right. Let's hurry."

Seeing the way these people seemed to have just woken up from a dream, Lin Ziping secretly rolled his eyes.

After leaving the city gate, the group hadn't walked far when Shi Yong caught up with them in his carriage.

Seeing that more than a dozen people had been arguing for a long time about which carriage to get on, Lin Ziping was already tired and didn't want to complain anymore.

After rushing for about forty minutes, we finally arrived at Pingding Village.

Pingding Village is built on the top of a mountain, just like its name suggests. The top of the mountain is very flat, and there are not many people living there, only a few dozen households. It is the kind of place where if you fart at the entrance of the village, you can hear it at the end of the village.

As soon as they entered Pingding Village, they didn't need to ask anything; the place with the most people gathered around was Hu Xinhua's house.

"Make way, the government is handling a case."

When the crowd saw the yamen runners arrive, they quickly made way for them.

"Who is the village head?" Shi Yong asked the villagers as he jumped out of the car.

Every now and then, an old man would emerge shakily, bow, and say, "Master Shi."

"Zhang Dashun, tell these people to leave," Shi Yong said, frowning.

"Yes." Zhang Dashun nodded, then turned to the villagers and shouted, "Make way, make way! The officials are here, what are you doing here?"

The villagers stepped back a little, but still did not leave.

Lin Ziping jumped off the carriage and heard the crowd discussing amongst themselves.

"What a tragedy! Hu Xinhua, such a grown man, is dead, and so is that little girl from the Hu family, who was only twelve this year, she's dead too."

"Yes, how could Qinniang do such a thing? Hu Xinhua is such a kind and righteous person, how could she be worthy of him? She's still not satisfied, how could she do such a thing?"

"He's loyal and righteous, what is Hu Xinhua compared to him..."

When the people next to him saw Lin Ziping coming over, they tugged at the person who was speaking and gestured with their mouths in the direction Lin Ziping was coming from.

"What did you just say?" Lin Ziping asked the person who had spoken.

"N-nothing...it's nothing." The person speaking had evasive eyes.

Before Lin Ziping could ask any more questions, Shi Yong's voice came from behind him: "Ziping, come here quickly, let's go in and take a look."

"Okay," Lin Ziping replied, mimicking what he had seen on TV, and said to the villagers who were watching, "You are from Pingding Village, right? Don't leave recently, the government may summon you at any time."

After saying that, he walked towards Shi Yong.

"What did you say to them?" Shi Yong asked.

Lin Ziping scratched his head and chuckled, "They didn't say anything, just told them not to leave Pingding Village so the county government could summon them. How's the situation inside?"

"Old Huang took a few of his men inside; let's go in and take a look too."

"it is good"

A few tree branches form a wall, and you can see inside from the outside. The yard is relatively clean, with only two rooms, and once you go in, you can see everything.

"Ouch." Lin Ziping tripped over the threshold and almost fell.

"Are you alright? This threshold is a bit high; several brothers tripped over it." Shi Yong helped Lin Ziping up.

"It's nothing." Lin Ziping stood up and stepped over the threshold. "It seems to be that room."

"Let's go take a look."