Chapter 16: Only Money Matters, Not People

Qin Mingyue couldn’t fathom what exactly Hua Qinci was up to and hurriedly asked, “Qinci, do you really have a solution?” She remembered clearly that without money, it was never easy to deal with government officials. Now the Qin family was penniless; even the money Hua Qinci spent on treating their wounds was still owed.

Qin Youtian also wore a worried expression. At this point, he had no idea what to do. His only plan was to quietly kill the constable in the remote mountains and then leave this place with Hua Qinci and his mother to find some secluded place to live in hiding.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked.

“Well, you…” Hua Qinci hesitated, unsure how to address Qin Youtian, “Could you go distract those officers for me? Try to buy as much time as you can.”

After she spoke, she suddenly felt too embarrassed to meet Qin Youtian’s gaze.

“Alright, that’s easy enough,” Qin Youtian replied, not noticing her discomfort. He didn’t know why, but somehow, he trusted this woman deep down to handle the situation.

Hua Qinci nodded and pulled Qin Mingyue toward the house. “Mother, come inside with me. I have something to ask you.”

Qin Mingyue felt lost but didn’t know what else to do. If it would save her son, she was willing to do anything—even give up her own life or go to prison.

When the constables had come earlier, if not for Qin Youtian and Hua Qinci’s firm intervention, she would have confessed to the murder herself.

Hua Qinci had also promised that as long as she didn’t say anything reckless, she could resolve the matter.

Seeing Hua Qinci lead Qin Mingyue into the house, Qin Youtian smiled and went over to Chief Zhao.

Not far off, he could hear the three men sitting under a large tree talking among themselves.

“Chief, why are we supposed to trust that girl? Just look at her—she’s so poor, do you really think she can come up with any silver?”

“Twenty taels? I bet she couldn’t even scrape together two!” another chimed in.

“Hah! What do you two know?” Chief Zhao crossed his legs, a stalk of wild grass between his teeth, leaning comfortably against the tree with an air of leisure.

“Chief, stop keeping us in suspense! Come on, tell us!” one urged.

“Yes, tell us, Boss,” another joined in, crowding closer.

Chief Zhao uncrossed his legs, pulled the grass from his mouth, and sat up with a mysterious smile. “Are you two really that dense? What kind of backwater is this anyway? And why do you think we were sent to this godforsaken place, instead of someone else?”

“Why?” they asked eagerly.

“Why else? Because you’re fools, obviously!”

“Chief, are you saying that you’re a fool, too, since you’re here?” the more handsome constable asked guilelessly.

Chief Zhao froze for a moment, then reached out and rapped both of them on the head. “You’re the fools. How could you compare yourselves to me? Otherwise, why aren’t you the boss?”

“Yes, yes, the chief is always right!” the tall, thin constable quickly grinned, flattering him. He then patted the handsome constable’s head. “The boss says you’re a fool, so you are, got it?”

“Got it!” The handsome constable rubbed the spot where he’d been hit, looking a little wronged, but soon returned to his sycophantic manner.

“Chief, just tell us already.” As he spoke, he reached up to knead Chief Zhao’s shoulders.

“Alright! Since you’re so perceptive, I’ll let you in on it. Here’s how it is: we’ve been sent to this place where not even chickens lay eggs or birds pass by, to handle a case. Why should we work ourselves to death? Only fools would. The county magistrate only cares about money, not people. There’s nothing we can do about it. Even if we hauled everyone back, our colleagues would just sneer at us, and the magistrate would still look down on us. So, wouldn’t it be better to just take some silver and call it a day? Besides, would you rather sit here and handle a case, or spend all day staring at a maggot-infested corpse, breathing in that putrid stench?”