The guard did not even bother to act polite, he simply placed his hand on the staff that he was carrying and then waved it in front of Su Wan as if he was really going to hit her if she did not leave soon.
Seeing the actions of the guard, Su Wan's eyes turned cold. Even if the guard could not allow her to enter the office, he was supposed to listen to her before coming to a conclusion.
And more importantly, Yan Zhao was the vice-county magistrate of this town, and he was responsible for listening to the complaints of the commoners, if the vice-county magistrate was not available then the official under Yan Zhao should have been called, the county office existed for the commoners and not just for show!
Were the officials sitting inside the warm hall and drinking tea?
" I am the county magistrate appointed by the Emperor, you dare stop me?" Su Wan threw another chance at the guard, since he was a commoner, she did not want to make it look like she was bullying someone beneath her position.
The guard on the other hand seemed to have come to work today after swearing that he would either lose his job or his life. He turned to look at Su Wan with a stern look in his eyes and took a threatening step forward before saying, " You b*tch, I am giving you a face by asking you to leave politely. If you don't want to then I can show you the difference between the officials and commoners!"
The guard had been working in the county office for a long time, what was more he was a close relative of the Lai family. Even Qi Zhen who was the patriarch of the Lai family treated him with respect, for a long time he was used to taking bribes and praise from others. Want to go inside the county magistrate? Hand him the shiny silver!
Su Wan looked at the guard who was glaring down at her, she did not say anything and simply stared into the eyes of the guard which made the guard pretty annoyed as he had never seen a woman as tough as Su Wan.
" What are you looking at you lowly b*tch!?" The guard questioned angrily.
" Whats the matter Baihu? Why are you getting angry?" A calm voice spoke from the threshold of the county magistrate and everyone turned to look at the middle-aged man who was climbing down the stairs before coming to a stop in front of the guard. " Baihu, is everything all right?"
Lai Baihu turned to look at Qi Zhen and then said with dissatisfaction filling his voice, " Patriarch Qi, it is this woman who is bent on making trouble. She comes to see some officials but keeps on lying that she is the county magistrate. How can a woman be the county magistrate? Clearly, she is taking me as a fool."
A woman's job was to stay at home and look after children. She was not allowed to show her face in public as a woman's incompetence was a sign of virtue.
So, how can Lai Baihu believe that Su Wan was the county magistrate?
While Lai Baihu was complaining to Qi Zhen, Lin Chen and Lin Rui were assessing the man in front of them. Even if they have never seen Qi Zhen before they could still identify him. Their father had spoken about Qi Zhen and even asked them to stay away from him as he was a man with a snake-like personality.
And honestly, they agreed, a man who could leave his own brother to die for the sake of his own life, how could he be a good person?
Lin Chen wanted to teach a good lesson to Qi Zhen but he was stopped by Lin Rui who shook his head. Qi Zhen hadn't done anything yet if they were to make a fuss with him then he might end up creating trouble for them.
When Qi Zhen heard Lai Baihu's words, he too thought that Su Wan was lying. He turned to look at Su Wan and then smiled politely before saying, " Madam, it's not a good thing to lie. Even if it's an emergency, you should ask for an appointment."
" And how am I going to get an appointment by handing silver or myself?" Su Wan questioned coarsely as she looked at Qi Zhen and Lai Baihu. Don't look down on her, even though she did not have many skills, she was highly perspective. Just now she noticed that the guard was eyeing her rather vulgarly and the women who were entering the office, they were keeping a distance from him.
Previously, she thought that he was a simple man but now that he was related to the Qi and Lai family, Su Wan had no qualms beating him to the ground anymore.
" You…what nonsense are you saying?" Though Lai Baihu indeed did those things he would never admit it!
Even Qi Zhen frowned, he looked at Su Wan who was dressed in beautiful clothes that looked rather expensive and then turned to look at the carriage behind her. Was this woman really the county magistrate? No, that was impossible.
Women were not allowed to be officials. How can the law be bent for a single woman? He did not believe that Su Wan was powerful enough to be appointed as county magistrate!
With that, he calmed down and then turned to look at Su Wan before addressing her in a rather cold voice, " Madam, what you are doing is maligning a member of the Qi and the Lai family. If you continue to speak without evidence then I would have no choice but to invite you to tea in yamen."
Lai Baihu's eyes lit up when he saw that Patriarch Qi was supporting him and immediately turned to look at Su Wan with his chest puffed. Seeing Lai Baihu's actions, Su Wan was speechless.
She turned to look at Qi Zhen and smirked before saying, " And what about you? You are deliberately stopping the county magistrate from entering the county office. Acting like the boss of this place when you are not, are you sure that you want to invite me to the Yamen?"
--------------------