Chapter 381: Chapter 381: A Silver Note of Ten Thousand Taels Chapter 381: Chapter 381: A Silver Note of Ten Thousand Taels As soon as the Advisor heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily, and he thought to himself, “Country bumpkins will be country bumpkins. The county magistrate is in charge here. Could the silver note he provided possibly be wrong?”
Therefore, once everything was properly handled, the village head bade farewell to the county magistrate and left the Yamen together with Big Bull and Xuexue.
Glancing at the dead tiger lying on the ground and then at their departing figures, the Advisor asked puzzledly, “My lord, they are just a few peasants, why did you…”
In truth, what he wanted to say was that even if the tiger was valuable, it was worth only several thousand taels of silver at best, not ten thousand taels of silver. “My lord, has your mind gone awry?”
Of course, these candid thoughts, the Advisor dared not voice in front of the county magistrate.
The county magistrate waved his hand and said, “Although they are peasants, they have a powerful backer.”
“A backer?” Furrowing his brows in confusion, the Advisor asked.
The county magistrate replied with a fearful expression, “Hmm! You don’t know, last night a man in black snuck into my room, showed me a badge from the Imperial Forbidden Guards, and commanded me to handle this matter well. Otherwise, I would be stripped of my position as county magistrate. I am merely a lowly seventh rank official; they could crush me like an ant if they so desired. How could I dare not do as they say?”
The Advisor was taken aback and secretly shocked, thinking to himself, it was hard to believe that these simple peasants had connections with high ranking officials in the Capital. He had underestimated them before; thankfully, he hadn’t offended them, otherwise, it would have been disastrous.
Frowning in contemplation, he then came up with a plan: “My lord, haven’t you always wanted to leave this poor and remote place?”
“Hmm! Yes, that’s right.”
The county magistrate nodded; he had been stuck in this backwater for over a decade, troubled by the lack of progress in his career.
With a triumphant smile, the Advisor said, “As long as the lord is willing to listen to his subordinate’s advice, I guarantee you a chance for promotion and wealth.”
Upon hearing this, the county magistrate perked up, leaned in, and asked joyfully, “Advisor, please do tell me.”
The Advisor quickly leaned closer to the county magistrate and whispered into his ear for quite some time.
As the county magistrate listened, he began to smile more and more broadly, repeatedly saying, “Excellent, excellent, excellent!”
Big Bull, Xuexue, and the village head walked out of the County Yamen, and the onlookers who had followed them to see the excitement had not entirely dispersed yet. When they saw the trio leaving empty-handed, curiosity drove them to approach and ask, “Heroes, how much silver did the county magistrate reward you for that huge tiger?”
“Ten thousand taels,” Xuexue proclaimed loudly, reasoning that the government’s reward was supposed to be made public anyway, so she spoke out openly.
The crowd immediately exploded in astonishment, and behind the envy and jealousy, they began whispering amongst themselves…
“Ten thousand taels, really? A couple of years ago, a hunter from the next town over caught a tiger and brought it to the County Yamen to claim his reward, but the county magistrate didn’t give him a single Copper Coin and even seized his tiger.”
“I’ve heard about that too; in the last few years, even when hunters caught tigers, they dared not go to the County Yamen to claim their reward. They would sell it themselves and earn at least several thousand taels of silver.”
“Exactly, why is the county magistrate suddenly so generous this time? Giving them a sky-high reward is simply unbelievable.”
Listening to the crowd’s diverse opinions, Xuexue too began to wonder why the county magistrate treated them so differently than others.
The village head also overheard the surrounding people’s negative comments about the county magistrate and, with a look of solemn dignity, said to Big Bull and Xuexue, “The county magistrate is a good man! Don’t listen to their nonsense.”