Lu Qing and the others followed Cao Song to the Magistrate Office. The annihilation of Green Dragon Stronghold had even alerted the county magistrate. After all, it was Green Dragon Stronghold—a notorious thorn in the side of both Luliang and Jinchuan Counties. And now, a few villagers from Manglong Village had managed to wipe it out?
“The magistrate is here!” someone shouted.
Lu Qing and the others immediately stood.
Soon, a middle-aged man in official robes entered. He looked around forty years old and had a rather plump figure—understandable, given that he was the magistrate and certainly ate better than ordinary folks.
“This is Lord Feng Zhijie, our magistrate of Luliang County,” Cao Song introduced.
“My lord, these are the villagers from Manglong Village I mentioned. This is Lu Qing, a Xiucai. He was the one who planned everything,” Cao Song explained in detail.
“Lu Qing greets the magistrate,” Lu Qing bowed.
“Excellent, excellent. Young and promising, very impressive. If everyone were like you, there wouldn’t be any bandits left in Luliang,” Feng Zhijie praised with a smile.
“It was simply our duty,” Lu Qing replied with a smile.
“Lu Qing, would you be interested in working at the Magistrate Office?” Feng Zhijie asked with a grin. From what Cao Song had told him, Lu Qing was clearly a man of talent.
Wu Facai and the others looked at Lu Qing in surprise. None of them expected the magistrate himself to extend such an invitation. That was equivalent to being paid by the imperial government—a dream countless people couldn’t even begin to hope for.
“Your grace flatters me, but I’m used to living freely,” Lu Qing declined politely.
Everyone was stunned, even Cao Song hadn’t expected Lu Qing to refuse. This was something most people would dream of, yet Lu Qing had turned it down so casually.
“You’re really not going to reconsider?” Cao Song couldn’t help but ask again.
“No,” Lu Qing waved his hand. In his previous life, he’d worked himself to death. This time around, he just wanted to live freely. If he joined the Magistrate Office, he’d be stuck working day and night, with no personal freedom left. And such places were also breeding grounds for grudges—it would be a thankless job. Why should he go out of his way to suffer?
“Very well then,” Feng Zhijie chuckled and waved it off. “Since that’s the case, I won’t force you.”
Half an hour later, Lu Qing and the others came out of the Magistrate Office with their bounty.
Zhao Tiezhu, Tian Erwang, and the rest couldn’t take their eyes off the bundle in Lu Qing’s hands. Chen Tong’s bounty was 100 taels, Xing Dagou’s was 30 taels, and the remaining 52 bandits were worth 5 taels each. That made a total of 390 taels. On top of that, they were awarded an extra 10 taels, making it 400 taels in all.
They found a place to settle for a moment.
“We’re finally rich. This is the first time I’ve ever seen silver,” Tian Erwang rubbed his hands, excited.
“Gentlemen,” Wu Facai spoke up, “we all know how everything happened. It was Lu Qing who devised and arranged everything. We just did the manual labor. Those bandits had already lost their ability to resist. Even without us, Lu Qing could’ve wiped out Green Dragon Stronghold by himself—it was only a matter of time.”
This method of division was fair. It had been Lu Qing leading them to earn this money. Splitting it evenly wouldn’t be right.
“I agree,” Zhao Tiezhu nodded.
“Brother Qing should get more,” Liu Feng added.
“No objections here,” Tieniu said quickly.
Tian Erwang laughed, “What’s there to hesitate about? That’s how it should be.” Even though he was a bit reluctant in his heart, he could see clearly that as long as he followed Lu Qing, he’d earn big money eventually. So, better to start showing goodwill now.
“Uncle Facai…” Lu Qing understood that Wu Facai was playing the ‘bad guy’ for his sake.
“Just listen to me,” Wu Facai looked at him.
“Alright then,” Lu Qing didn’t argue. Even if he had divided it himself, he would’ve done the same.
Each of them took 15 taels—105 taels total. Lu Qing kept the remaining 295 taels.
Once the silver was divided…
“Brother Qing, what’s the next move? Should we target another stronghold?” Wu Hai looked at Lu Qing excitedly. His family alone had just gotten 30 taels—this was wealth!
“Are you crazy?” Wu Facai smacked Wu Hai on the back of the head.
Going after another stronghold? Was he mad?
“Father, I was just joking,” Wu Hai said, rubbing his head in grievance.
The group had a meal in Luliang County before heading back to Manglong Village. It was already evening when they returned. Everyone went home.
Tonight, Manglong Village was destined to be anything but ordinary.
“Husband’s back!” As soon as Lu Qing returned, Han Qiuniang, Zheng Yulan, Cheng Su’e, and Dong Chunhua all stood up to greet him.
“Husband, where did you go today? The doors and windows have all been installed—we were just waiting for you to check them!” Han Qiuniang looked at Lu Qing curiously. He had disappeared for a whole day with an entire sheep in tow. The source of this chapter is NovelPing.
Not only Lu Qing, but also Uncle Facai, Wu Hai, Wu He, Liu Feng, Tian Erwang, Zhao Tiezhu, Tieniu… the whole village had been searching like mad.
“I went out to earn a bit of money,” Lu Qing smiled.
“Sold the mutton? But that mutton wasn’t edible anymore,” Zheng Yulan guessed.
“No,” Lu Qing waved his hand. “I paid a visit to Green Dragon Stronghold.”
“What?” The four women were all shocked. Green Dragon Stronghold? Just the name was terrifying. Why would he go there?
“Husband, why would you go there? It’s far too dangerous. What if something happened to you? How would we go on?” Although Han Qiuniang was relieved to see Lu Qing safe, she was still filled with fear.
“There were no accidents. There won’t be any in the future either,” Lu Qing explained.
“What do you mean?” Dong Chunhua didn’t understand.
“I took Uncle Facai and the others and wiped out Green Dragon Stronghold,” Lu Qing said casually.
“What?!” The four women exclaimed again, even more shocked this time.
Wiped out Green Dragon Stronghold? How was that possible? Everyone knew how terrifying that place was, yet Lu Qing and just a few people had wiped it out?
“Husband, don’t joke with us,” Zheng Yulan couldn’t believe it.
“Why would I joke?” Lu Qing opened the bundle—inside was gleaming silver.
“Silver?” Cheng Su’e’s eyes widened in astonishment as she stared at the silver in front of her.
“This is the bounty from the Magistrate Office for taking out Green Dragon Stronghold. A total of 400 taels. Each of them got 15 taels. The remaining 295 taels are all here,” Lu Qing said without hiding anything from them. With the matter resolved, there was no need for secrecy.
Han Qiuniang stared in shock at the pile of silver.
The silver confirmed that Lu Qing hadn’t lied—it was real.
“This much money?” Dong Chunhua felt her breath quicken.
Silver. She had never imagined she’d see this much wealth.
Compared to Dong Chunhua’s shock, Han Qiuniang, Zheng Yulan, and Cheng Su’e were a little calmer—they had already been stunned by Lu Qing more than once.
“But it was still too dangerous,” Han Qiuniang said, looking at Lu Qing with deep concern.