Ang Lee was very satisfied with the delicacies provided by Xipu County Magistrate and also praised him. However, he also expressed his dissatisfaction that the County Magistrate had wasted so much time and was still unable to find the hiding place of the pirates. He told the County Magistrate not to waste too much energy on the delicacies and to find the pirates as soon as possible. He also encouraged the County Magistrate to not be so nervous.
"Assistant Minister Li, these yamen runners are really useless. They actually can't find the pirates after such a long time. Why don't we just let them leave and I'll personally lead the soldiers to look for them? I don't believe that we can't find these pirates."
Chen Long had just returned from his patrol and had lunch with Ang Lee. At this moment, he really wanted to perform well, which was why he said such words. He was very confident and felt that he was definitely better than these yamen runners.
Ang Lee shook his head. He obviously didn't think that Chen Long's searching ability was better than these local yamen runners. After all, Chen Long wasn't a yamen runner and had never searched before. Moreover, he wasn't born and raised here and wasn't very clear about the situation in Xipu County. The yamen runners here, especially the 20 leading yamen runners, were all cunning old foxes. They were best at searching. If even they couldn't find the pirates, it would be even more impossible for Chen Long to find them. Although it wasn't a big deal to try, if Chen Long couldn't find the pirates, it wouldn't be embarrassing for him, but Ang Lee's. After all, Chen Long had accompanied Ang Lee. If Chen Long couldn't find the pirates, it would mean that Ang Lee was incompetent. Even if he found the pirates, it would only mean that Ang Lee's ability was better than the people of Xipu County. There was nothing to be proud of. It was like an adult beating a child. If he lost, it would be embarrassing. Even if he won, it wasn't something to be proud of.
Therefore, Ang Lee only waited in the county yamen and handed the task of finding the pirates to the county magistrate and bailiffs. They were all professionals in catching pirates. If they couldn't even handle such a small matter, then they would have wasted their time. What was the use of keeping them?
Seeing that Ang Lee didn't allow him to do so, Chen Long could only go out for a walk. He was too full just now and needed to go out for a walk to digest his food. Ang Lee patiently waited in the county yamen for the good news from the bailiffs.
Although these bailiffs hadn't found any traces of the pirates, Ang Lee still chose to believe in them. He felt that as long as these bailiffs worked harder, they would definitely be able to find the pirates' hiding place. Xipu County was only so big and had a population of less than two thousand. It shouldn't be too difficult to find a person. As long as they worked hard, they would definitely be able to find the pirates' hiding place.
The county magistrate and the county magistrate forced the bailiffs to work harder. At the same time, they did their best to scare all the commoners in the county to get everyone to join in the search. In this way, the efficiency of the search would be greatly increased and the possibility of finding the pirates' hiding place would also be greatly increased.
Although it was a threat, in a county, the county magistrate was the local tyrant. What the county magistrate said was an imperial edict. The commoners didn't know much about the law and naturally couldn't tell if the county magistrate was just scaring them or if he was telling the truth. As a result, these commoners were really frightened and kept searching in their homes. They checked all the boxes and cabinets in their homes. If there was a pile of firewood in their homes, they took it apart and checked it again. In short, no matter where people could hide or where they couldn't, they all carried out a detailed inspection without missing a single corner.
The commoners who only had one residence were naturally not nervous after a thorough inspection. However, those who were well-off and had many properties were very nervous. They had more than one house, shops, and warehouses. With so many places, as long as they were found to have pirates in any one of them, they would be exiled and the women in their homes would become official prostitutes. This punishment was too severe and made them extremely nervous.
As a result, these people hurriedly split up and searched their properties. The masters and servants of the house were all mobilized. The women who stayed behind at home kept searching while the male masters and male servants went to the various properties to check carefully. They didn't miss a single corner.
Everyone worked very hard. Even the servants didn't dare to slack off. After all, the servants were the vassals of the masters. If the masters were convicted, these servants would also be unlucky. They would also be exiled and become official prostitutes.
Seeing that everyone in the county was mobilized, the county magistrate heaved a sigh of relief. With so many commoners joining in the search, he didn't believe that they wouldn't be able to find the pirates who were hiding. Unless these pirates could really fly out like birds, they were definitely still hiding somewhere in the county. As long as everyone searched together, they would definitely be able to find something.
"This county magistrate isn't trying to scare you. If we can't find the pirates, everyone will have to bear the consequences. Harboring pirates is a serious crime …"
The county magistrate walked on the streets and shouted from time to time. When he saw a place with a lot of people, he would shout a few words. It was to warn the commoners and also to warn the bailiffs to search properly. Whoever had problems in their area would be in big trouble.
The pirates who were hiding at the side of the well were in a very low mood. They could still hear the movements outside. There were footsteps all around them. From time to time, there would be sounds of chaos coming from their neighbors' houses. This made them very nervous and also very afraid.
"These soldiers must have eaten iron weights. If they don't find us, they won't give up!"
"These despicable soldiers. Even if they find us here, we will kill a few of them."
"Boss, we can't just wait here. Let's continue digging! Even if we can't dig out of the county, we can dig to the neighboring county! "
A few pirates said nervously.
The pirate leader nodded and said, "We are just small pirates. I didn't expect the soldiers to go through so much trouble to catch us. Do they have nothing better to do? Dig, then let's continue digging! The bigger we dig, the more comfortable it will be. After all, we have nothing better to do. "
Since the leader had said so, the pirates below immediately got to work. They continued to dig the soil and made the hole they were hiding in bigger. Anyway, they had nothing to do. What if it became easier to dig down and they dug all the way out of the city? Then they would be able to escape.
However, the closer they got to the front, the slower the digging progress. This was because these pirates were also very tired. After digging for a while, they lost their strength. Most importantly, there was no food to replenish their energy. They never planned to hide in the well for too long, so they naturally didn't prepare a large amount of food. They only prepared some dry rations, which wouldn't last for long.
After digging for a while, each side of the wall could accommodate at least ten people. At this time, the pirates felt that instead of digging three, it was better to dig one hole. This way, they could dig faster and take turns to save a lot of energy.
Just as these pirates were digging hard, the owner of this house returned. When he saw that his house was empty, he was immediately filled with doubts. He had clearly rented out the house, so why was there no one at home? Why was the door cut with a knife? The door lock was also cut off. What was going on?
The more the owner thought about it, the more afraid he became. Could it be that the two young men who had asked him for help were the pirates that the government wanted to catch this time? After thinking about it carefully, these two people were eager to ask for help. Moreover, their appearance was very burly and valiant. It was indeed very compatible with the characteristics of pirates. It was very likely that they were pirates.
The moment he thought about how he had rented his house to pirates, the owner became extremely nervous. This wasn't a joke. If the soldiers found out, it would be terrible and the consequences would be very serious. He had to report this situation to the soldiers before the soldiers found out. This way, he could remove his suspicion. However, he was also worried that the soldiers wouldn't be reasonable. In this case, even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he wouldn't be able to clear his name. Perhaps the people who rented his house weren't pirates and only left temporarily, or perhaps they were pirates and had already left long ago. In this case, this matter had nothing to do with him.
Ordinary people always followed the principle that it was better to have less trouble. As long as it wasn't particularly necessary, they definitely wouldn't want to cause trouble. They always felt that living a peaceful life was the happiest thing. It was best not to cause any trouble.
He pushed open the door of his house and walked around. Sure enough, there was nothing unusual. This was an empty house that no one lived in. This made him heave a sigh of relief. However, when he walked to the entrance of the well in the backyard, he suddenly heard a sound from the well. This gave him a fright.
Thus, he quietly walked to the entrance of the well and stuck his head out to observe. This observation was amazing. He actually saw that the side wall of the well had some soil falling into the well water. As the light was too dim, he couldn't see the specific situation in the well clearly. However, he could still hear the sound of the soil falling into the well very clearly. This kind of situation definitely wouldn't happen for no reason. This seemed to indicate that there was something going on in the well. It was very likely that someone was moving inside. Thus, the sound was produced.
As from entering the door to walking to the entrance of the well, the owner of the house was very careful and didn't make any sound, so the pirates in the well didn't attract any attention. He also didn't feel that there was anyone outside. Only then did he feel relieved and boldly pour the soil into the well water. However, he didn't expect that this would be heard and seen by the owner of the house.
The owner of the house quickly retracted his head. Then, he anxiously lay on the ground and pressed his ear to the ground, carefully listening to the movements below.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle …"
There was clearly the sound of digging below. This sound was clearly the sound of people digging a tunnel and definitely not the sound of rats digging a hole. This movement was too big. Rats didn't have the ability to do so.
After confirming that there was someone digging below, the owner of the house was sure that he had really rented the house to the pirates. If this was discovered by the authorities, wouldn't he really be exiled?
Pirates were masters who killed without blinking. The owner of the house didn't dare to stay for long. He quickly and quietly left his house. He stood outside the door in a daze. Various thoughts ran through his mind. It seemed that every situation was very bad, causing him to hesitate.
If he immediately reported to the bailiff, would he really be fine? It was hard to say if he would be implicated. However, if he didn't report to the bailiff and the bailiff found out in the end, he would be in big trouble. His whole family would be in big trouble. After working hard for a lifetime, he finally managed to get a few properties. In the end, he would be exiled. This was too much of a loss. It seemed that it was better to report to the bailiff immediately.
However, on second thought, if these pirates had accomplices, and these pirates were captured by the bailiff, he would have done a meritorious service. However, in the eyes of the pirates' accomplices, he would be their enemy. Would he be retaliated against? Would his family be retaliated against by the pirates? Once he thought of the pirates' accomplices breaking into his house and cutting down his entire family, his forehead was full of sweat.
At this moment, he was worried whether he reported to the bailiff or not. He was so anxious that he didn't know what to do.
If he couldn't find the pirates, the county magistrate didn't dare to return to the county office. It wouldn't be good if he returned. Other than being reprimanded, he would still be reprimanded. As such, he might as well obediently patrol the streets and personally supervise the bailiff to look for the pirates. If he encountered any bailiff who wanted to slack off, he would go up and reprimand them. He would even kick them a few times to vent his anger.
"Why are you in a daze instead of staying at home?"
The county magistrate walked to the front of a house and saw the worried owner. He opened his mouth to reprimand him.
"Oh, it's the county magistrate! I … "
"Why are you hesitating? What do you want to say? "
The county magistrate reprimanded.
"This morning, I rented this house to two young men. However, I just checked the house. There's no one in it! The lock on the door was smashed, but I clearly gave them the key! "
The owner deliberately pretended that he didn't know anything in an attempt to clear his name.
"Oh, there's such a thing?"
The county magistrate said with a frown. He seemed to take this matter very seriously.
After taking a closer look, wasn't this the house that he had personally searched and found a little strange?
"County magistrate, be gentle. There's no one in it, but it seems to be haunted. It's better to be gentle."
The owner said.
"Haunted? How can there be ghosts in broad daylight? Don't scare yourself."
The county magistrate said disdainfully.
"County magistrate, there's really a ghost. There's an unusual movement in the backyard. Rustle, rustle, rustle, it's scary."
The owner said.
"I don't believe in ghosts, unless it's a human doing it."
The county magistrate said as he walked to the backyard. As expected, he heard movement in the well. Although it wasn't loud, he could hear it. This made the county magistrate very surprised. There was an unusual movement in the well. There must be a situation. After quietly walking to the well, the county magistrate confirmed it and then returned to the main door.
"All of you, come over here."
The county magistrate shouted. He called over a dozen bailiffs and asked them to follow him to the backyard. He didn't dare to take the risk alone. It would be safer to find a few more bailiffs. Moreover, he would definitely ask the bailiffs to go down and check the situation. He definitely wouldn't go down himself.
"County magistrate, are the pirates in the well?"
A bailiff asked.
The county magistrate looked at the bailiff, causing the bailiff to feel numb all over.
"Why don't you go down and take a look?"
The county magistrate said.
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