But if it succeeded, there was hope that Mianyang would improve, and by then, he, the Prefect, would also benefit from it.
"That’s not being timid, that’s clearly selfishness. But it’s not wrong for him to be selfish, that’s just how people are."
"Regardless of what the prefecture thinks, after the autumn harvest and once the tax revenue cos in along with the money I’ve raised this ti, we will be able to start working on so things."
"By the way," Yang Chuxia said when she heard about the tax collection, "when you were away, so people from Peach Blossom Village in Yanghe Town ca to seek help. They said their village was taxed twice a year, and each ti the amount was more than what other villages paid. It was only because their village had offended the brother-in-law of Principal Clerk Zhou. I had Fugui look into it, but there’s been no word yet."
"Principal Clerk Zhou..." Ye Zi’an thought to himself, it seed that Principal Clerk Zhou could not be kept on any longer.
"Those people are still at the mansion. Do you want to et with them?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Zi’an nodded imdiately, "I’ll go take a look first."
~~~~
Just yesterday they had said Fugui had not returned, and today, Fugui was back.
After hearing his investigation report, Ye Zi’an’s handso face imdiately darkened.
"What do you plan to do?" Yang Chuxia asked. This Principal Clerk Zhou was clearly a corrupt official and couldn’t be kept around. Otherwise, this year’s taxes wouldn’t need to be handed over to the court—no telling how much less would end up in his hands.
Indeed, upon hearing that Mianyang would not need to hand over tax revenue to the court for the next five years, Principal Clerk Zhou was ecstatic beyond asure. Heaven only knew how much he had profited from his position.
This year, not having to submit to the court ant he could embezzle even more.
However, he was unaware that Ye Zi’an was already gathering evidence of his cris.
"Punishnt! He has been in that position long enough. If there is an issue under my watch, how could I possibly not know? Last year, when I had just arrived, I held back from making a move against him because it might have caused restlessness among the other officials in Mianyang. But he shouldn’t even dream of touching this year’s taxes, and he must cough up not only this year’s but also last year’s and prior years’ taxes. I’ve been worried about how to squeeze so more money for the Mianyang county governnt, and I guess a good amount will co out of his family’s pockets."
Listening to Ye Zi’an, Yang Chuxia found that she had worried for nothing—it seed like he had Mianyang well under control.
"So when do you plan to make your move?" Yang Chuxia then asked another question.
Ye Zi’an just rubbed her head, "You’ll see. Those two concubines from the Zhou Family, isn’t one of them surnad Cao?"
"Eh, how did you know?"
"Guessed it."
Thinking of the Zhou Family’s troubles, Yang Chuxia laughed, "Exactly her, such a disgusting woman. She did despicable things and now tries to shift the bla on you. Even Madam Zhou backed her up. In the end, Cao Lingling countered and bit back. As for the other concubine, I sent her myself. The Zhou Family started quarreling yesterday, and it’s probably going to get even worse in the next few days."
As expected, the Zhou Family has been quarreling day and night since yesterday, and Principal Clerk Zhou was exceedingly annoyed.
The three concubines vied for favor together and even banded together, completely disregarding Madam Zhou. Moreover, when Madam Zhou went shopping, she was beaten up on the street and her face was so swollen that her original appearance was unrecognizable.
But the person who beat her let slip that it was Concubine Cao who had ordered the beating, so the brainless Madam Zhou went ho and punished Cao Lingling. But who knew that Lingling was pregnant, and due to the punishnt, not only did she lose the child, but she also beca unable to conceive in the future.
Principal Clerk Zhou was imrsed in the joy of having a child late in life, only to be inford that night that the child was gone.
Needless to say, he was so angry that he wanted to divorce his wife!
Yet before he could do so, the Mianyang county governnt officials arrived with an arrest warrant and raided his house.
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