Chapter 242

On the second day after Ye Xiaotian agreed to impersonate the Ai Dian Shi, the officials of Hulu County, who were used to shirking responsibilities, worked together to publicize the news of the Ai Dian Shi's arrival. Magistrate Hua even put up a notice at the city gate.

Ye Xiaotian officially became the Warden in charge of the three bailiffs in Hulu County: the Soap, Kuai, and Zhuang. He was also the direct subordinate of County Magistrate Meng. Other than the officials who showed up at the second hall of the county government and a few of their confidants, no one in Hulu County knew that the Ai Dian Shi was a fake.

Considering that Ye Xiaotian did not understand the rules of the county government, County Magistrate Meng transferred Li Yuncong to his side to help him deal with the chores. This was to prevent the Warden from showing any fear. At the same time, Su Xuntian, who was originally the head of the Soap Squad, was also transferred to Ye Xiaotian's side and became his assistant.

Su Xuntian was the younger brother of the County Magistrate's wife, Su Ya. Although he was born in a scholarly family, he was ignorant and incompetent. He had no choice but to become a petty official and follow his brother-in-law to the southwest. Petty officials did not always have the opportunity to become an official. They had to accumulate experience and achievements. Occasionally, there would be a few minor official positions left for them. Although the chances were slim, it was still an opportunity.

Unfortunately, in Hulu County, even Su Xuntian's brother-in-law, Hua Qingfeng, was just a puppet. There was no chance for him to be promoted. Moreover, Su Xuntian was also a failure. He was only good at gambling and eating. In the beginning, Magistrate Hua still put in a lot of effort to train him. But now, he was disappointed in him. He only hoped that Su Xuntian would not cause him any trouble.

Ye Xiaotian began his career as a Warden in Hulu County with Li Yuncong, who was responsible for monitoring him, and Su Xuntian, who was responsible for finding trouble for him.

Ye Xiaotian knew very well that he was just a fake official. Ai Feng had a family, a teacher, and too many social connections. He did not have the same appearance as his twin brother. Even if all the officials in the second hall of the county government agreed to let him pretend to be Ai Dian Shi forever, it was impossible.

Ye Xiaotian did not believe County Magistrate Meng's judgment of Ai Dian Shi's death. Ai Dian Shi's death was clearly murder for money, but Magistrate Wu said that it was premeditated murder. But what if Magistrate Wu's judgment was correct? Why would he put himself in danger to be the bait?

If Ai Dian Shi's death was really an accident, and the officials in Hulu County also knew this, then it was probably a conspiracy for them to ask him to pretend to be Ai Dian Shi. Ye Xiaotian could not guess their real intention, but he could guess that if that was the case, they must be up to no good.

Ye Xiaotian did not expect that they would "kill" him. At that time, almost all the officials in Hulu County had gathered in the second hall of the county government. Which official would be so unscrupulous as to kill someone?

Ye Xiaotian had obviously underestimated the courage of the officials in Hulu County. But it was not his fault. Most of the officials he had interacted with were from the capital. They might be greedy or treacherous, but they were under the rule of the emperor, so it was inevitable that they would be more cautious. How could they be as lawless as these local officials?

For a small fry like Ye Xiaotian who had swum his way out of the Ministry of Punishment, he still needed to constantly explore and adapt to this unfamiliar environment. He needed to continuously grow in these games before he had the chance to stand at the top of the food chain.

Today, Ye Xiaotian went to the Shi family to investigate a case.

Shi Bixing, the head shopkeeper of the "charity shop" grain store, was the number one grain merchant in several nearby counties. Yesterday, while he was taking a walk in the pine forest in the backyard, he suddenly died. Ye Xiaotian had already gone there yesterday. The body was brought back to the county government office and was examined by the coroner. The coroner said that Shi Bixing's throat was crushed.

Although Shi Bixing was dead, his family members were all safe and sound, and there was no damage to their property. This was very different from the murder case in the neighboring county. This made County Magistrate Hua, County Magistrate Meng, and the others heave a sigh of relief. If it was really the evil star of the murder case in the neighboring county that escaped to their county, then it would be troublesome.

However, Shi Bixing was a very influential and influential person. For him to suddenly die in his own back garden, even though it was not a very sensational case compared to the murder case in the neighboring county, it still had to be investigated. No matter what, they had to give an explanation to the higher-ups.

Magistrate Hua, as the county's official, was under a lot of pressure. County Magistrate Meng, as the official in charge of public security, was also duty-bound. But for this kind of thing, they could not personally investigate it, so they could only entrust it to Ye Xiaotian. In their hearts, Ye Xiaotian, this fake Warden, was fake, but in the hearts of the people of Hulu County, he was real. How could they throw him aside?

Yesterday, Ye Xiaotian led some people to take away the body and investigate the scene. Today, he brought some people to visit the Shi family, ask for details, and visit some of Shopkeeper Shi's close friends.

Leading a group of bailiffs, Ye Xiaotian suddenly saw a group of people gathered at the intersection in front of him. It was the critical moment of the murder case in the neighboring county, and the murder case in their own county. The bailiffs did not dare to be careless. They immediately gripped their weapons and shouted, "The Warden is on a mission. Unauthorized personnel, please leave."

Among the people were a few Miao and Yi villagers, and there was also a brother of the county's tyrant, Qi Mu. If they were to be arrogant, they would not leave. Their salaries were often in arrears, and they could not afford to offend the patrol officers. Qi Mu's men did not dare to offend the Miao and Yi villagers. The bailiffs and bailiffs could only pretend that they did not see anything and protect the Warden as he passed by the roadside. But today, with this shout, the group of people gathered at the roadside immediately moved away.

"This county's new Warden is so impressive? Everyone is giving him face. "

The bailiffs were surprised at first, but then they understood. It was just a fox borrowing the tiger's might.

The murder case in the neighboring county had shaken the entire Guizhou officialdom. The administrative commissioner and the chieftains had all issued orders, and with the sudden murder case in their own county, who would be willing to cause trouble at this time?

The crowd moved aside and saw a youth standing at the intersection. His face was bright red, and his clothes were coarse. He was clearly a youth from the mountains, simple and unadorned. But although he was in the middle of a busy city, he gave off a kind of tranquility that did not match his age and status.

Ye Xiaotian immediately recognized this person. He even remembered this person's name: Hua Yunfei.

This was the first time in his life that he had seen someone use a long knife to catch fish, and this person had even gifted him four fish. Although it was night and he had only seen him once, under the blazing firelight, that young and tender face with a strong personality was still fresh in his memory.

Ye Xiaotian smiled and walked towards him. After only three steps, Ye Xiaotian's gaze was attracted to Hua Yunfei's feet. There were a few game at Hua Yunfei's feet, a few brown crowned falcons, a few golden pheasants and wild rabbits. These game were not rare, but what attracted Ye Xiaotian's attention was the brightly colored tiger lying at Hua Yunfei's feet.

It was a real tiger, with a round head, short ears, four thick and powerful limbs crouching on the ground, a long tiger tail at the side of its body. Its entire body was covered with orange and black stripes, which shone faintly under the sun. On the tiger's head, there was a large "Wang" character.

Ye Xiaotian could not help but reveal a look of surprise. When he saw this youth that day, he only thought that he was a fisherman, a fisherman who would catch fish in the turbulent mountain stream, but he did not expect that this person was actually a skilled hunter of tigers.

"You … are …" Hua Yunfei had clearly recognized Ye Xiaotian, but at this moment, Ye Xiaotian was wearing an official's robe, surrounded by people, and looked completely different from the desolate appearance of that night, Hua Yunfei could not immediately identify him. Because of his ostentatious appearance, it was difficult for a person to really be calm and at ease in front of a superior person, no matter how indifferent and detached one was. How much cultivation was required to keep everything in one's heart? And this young man was just a child in the mountains.

Ye Xiaotian smiled and said, "The kindness of four fish is still in my heart, don't you recognize me?"

Hua Yunfei was shocked and said, "Ah! It really is you! You … how did you … "

Ye Xiaotian said, "I am actually this county's Warden. When I first took office, in order to understand the situation in this county, I was traveling incognito for a few days, but I did not want to let a thief steal my travel expenses, so that I ended up in this situation."

Hua Yunfei suddenly understood and said, "So that's how it is, so that's how it is, so you … you are that Lord Ai that the county government announced."

Ye Xiaotian smiled and said, "You don't need to be reserved, I treat you as my friend. Between friends, there is no need to talk about official status."

Li Yuncong's ears pricked up, like a hunting dog, listening to the side. Although he saw that Ye Xiaotian did not say anything out of line, but he was impatient that Ye Xiaotian was chatting with a poor hunter in the mountains, so Li Yuncong immediately stepped forward and interrupted, "Lord, it's getting late, we still have to go …"

"Shut up! I am talking to someone, it's not your turn to interrupt, you bastard! "

Ye Xiaotian's face darkened, he did not give Li Yuncong any face at all. Not to mention the previous conflicts between the two, Ye Xiaotian did not want to save him face, anyway, he would not last long as the Warden anyway, sooner or later he would leave, there was no need to be polite with this villain.

Li Yuncong's face changed, but there was nothing he could do, he could only retreat to the side with a pale face.

Su Xuntian, who was at the side, said with a smile, "You don't know the rules, you have no manners!"

Li Yuncong stared at him hatefully, he knew that Ye Xiaotian did not like him, but he did not dare to cause any more trouble.

Su Xuntian and Ye Xiaotian got along very well, so well that even his brother-in-law Hua Qingtian found it unbelievable.

This bastard did not have any ability, but because his brother-in-law was the county magistrate of this county, he was a little arrogant to everyone. Unfortunately, his backer was also a powerless puppet, he wanted to intimidate others, but no one would listen to him. Therefore, in the past three years in the county government, he did not get along well with anyone.

However, he was very respectful to Ye Xiaotian. As the county magistrate's brother-in-law, Su Xuntian naturally knew Ye Xiaotian's real identity, not to mention that even if Ye Xiaotian was really the Warden, he would not necessarily curry favor with them. County Magistrate Wu and Register Wang were both officials with real power, didn't he not care about them? But when he saw Ye Xiaotian, he was so convinced, it was really puzzling.

Magistrate Hua and Ye Xiaotian naturally did not know about Su Xuntian's attitude. It started when he went to visit his sister in the back courtyard of the county government office and unexpectedly saw Ye Xiaotian's "second sister", Ye Shuiwu.

After reprimanding Li Yuncong, Ye Xiaotian turned around and said to Hua Yunfei in a pleasant manner, "Brother Yunfei, I still have work to do, so I can't talk to you anymore."

"Alright! Please … please have a safe journey! "

Hua Yunfei's face was a little red. A Warden of the county calling him brother was something that even the village chief would envy if they talked about it when they returned to the village. Hua Yunfei, who was usually calm and collected, could no longer keep his cool.

When Ye Xiaotian turned around to leave, Hua Yunfei impulsively blurted out, "I'll catch this fierce tiger and sell it to have money to marry a wife. When the time comes, I'll invite you to my wedding. "

As soon as Hua Yunfei said this, he immediately regretted it. Who was Li Yunfei? Did he really think of Li Yunfei as a friend just by saying a few polite words to him?

Ye Xiaotian stopped and turned around with a smile, "If you want to call me big brother, call me lord. I won't go."

Hua Yunfei's face was very red, but his eyes were shining, "Big brother!"

Ye Xiaotian nodded, "On the day of your wedding, I'll definitely be there!"

Ye Xiaotian waved at him and was about to turn around to leave when he heard a scream from the street, "Help! Someone's been beaten to death!"