Su Nianyuan successfully brainwashed Lin Wenbin, and he returned to the yamen with a solemn expression, going in first to make his report.
While he was gone, Lin Shoufeng asked anxiously, “Little village chief, what on earth are you trying to do? You know how much the magistrate detests our Qingzhu Village. You want a man like him to be your dad? He’s not even worthy of carrying your shoes!”
He squatted down to look Su Nianyuan at eye level, earnestly advising, “Little village chief, actually the village chief is very good to you. Even though he has no money, a biological father is definitely better than an adoptive one. Magistrate Zhou might have money, but he has a lot of children.”
The more Su Nianyuan listened, the more amused she became. “Uncle Lin, do you really think I want to live a good life just so I can ask Magistrate Zhou to be my godfather?”
Lin Shoufeng asked, “Then why?”
Su Nianyuan shook her head. “That’s not it.”
She was simply continuing to exploit a system loophole.
The “Day by Day Wealth” system’s display mechanic operated by distributing money based on the headcount within the host’s jurisdiction.
Even though people called her the little village chief, she was just a five-year-old girl with no actual political authority. So why was the system still distributing money to her?
Because her father held real authority.
Therefore, Su Nianyuan wanted to see if the system would change if Zhou Qiyuan formally acknowledged her as his adopted daughter.
Cangwu County had a population of around twenty thousand. If this succeeded, she could receive two hundred taels a day, which would allow her to accomplish quite a few things.
“Uncle Lin, relying solely on our 58 people in the village, how long do you think it would take to transform all of Qingzhu Village?”
“At least a year…” Lin Shoufeng replied in a soft voice.
Su Nianyuan stated, “Exactly. So as long as Magistrate Zhou believes my explanation, with his backing, the pace of Qingzhu Village’s overhaul can be sped up by at least tenfold.”
Lin Shoufeng agreed with this point, but he still didn’t quite understand. “Even so, Zhou Qiyuan, he…”
He wasn’t a good person.
Knowing what he wanted to say, Su Nianyuan patted his shoulder, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, “If you want to make someone fall, first let them go mad.”
Once she was done utilizing Zhou Qiyuan, she would make sure he met his karmic retribution.
Lin Shoufeng looked at Su Nianyuan. The child was short, yet the weight she carried in his heart had grown significantly at this moment.
The little village chief was truly far too clever.
Those exact words were something he had thought of, too! Choosing to follow the little village chief was the absolute right decision!
In the backyard of the county yamen, Lin Wenbin walked inside weeping. “Magistrate! This is terrible!”
Zhou Qiyuan hated hearing those words the most; he, Zhou Qiyuan, was doing just fine!
Frowning as he looked at Lin Wenbin, Zhou Qiyuan said impatiently, “Registrar Lin, you’d better actually have a serious matter.”
He had originally taken a liking to this young man’s scholarly talent and the fact that he had passed the provincial examination at a young age, intending to cultivate him as his own confidant.
As it turned out, this fellow’s brain didn’t work well, and he handled work with rigid inflexibility. He was starting to despise him!
Recalling what Su Nianyuan had instructed him, Lin Wenbin dropped to his knees with a thud right at Zhou Qiyuan’s feet, hugged his legs, and burst into tears.
“Lord Zhou, I have failed you!”
Seeing him cry so genuinely, Zhou Qiyuan truly couldn’t sit still any longer. “What on earth have you done?”
Seeing that Zhou Qiyuan had taken the bait, Lin Wenbin wiped away a tear and spoke with a choked voice. “Today is my day off, and I was thinking of going to pray for blessings for you and the commoners of Cangwu County. As a result, I drew the lowest possible fortune stick!”
“Just as I was thinking of finding a master to help me interpret it, the moment I took a step forward, I walked right into a world of pure white mist!”
Listening with rapt attention, Zhou Qiyuan shuddered all over and asked, “Really?! Who did you see?”
Zhou Qiyuan was a man whose devotion to Buddhism had reached its absolute peak. Every single month, he would take his entire household to the temple to pray for blessings, wishing for his Zhou family line to flourish and prosper.
Perhaps due to a guilty conscience, he also knew he had wrongfully taken human lives, which was why he needed to beg for the Buddha’s forgiveness.
This detail had actually been mentioned earlier by Xiao Qi at Yifu Temple.
The Buddha statues inside Yifu Temple were plated with gold leaf, and the money had come out of Zhou Qiyuan’s own pocket, winning him the praise of the Cangwu County commoners.
Where that money actually came from was something only Zhou Qiyuan himself knew.
Therefore, he had to be treated with a targeted remedy.
Swallowing hard, Lin Wenbin cast a cautious glance around his surroundings as if afraid a secret would be leaked. Seeing that there was no one nearby, he lowered his voice and said, “I saw the True Warrior Emperor! He wore black robes and golden armor, his hair loose and his feet bare, stepping upon a turtle and a snake while holding a precious sword, staring right at me!”
The True Warrior Emperor was the largest deity enshrined in Yifu Temple and also the deity Zhou Qiyuan devotedly worshipped the most.
He warded off evil spirits, controlled floods, protected mountain forests, and cured malaria.
In the hearts of all the commoners of Cangwu County, his status was exceptionally high.
Zhou Qiyuan was trembling all over. Quivering his lips, he asked, “What did the Emperor say to you?”
Lin Wenbin didn’t speak immediately; he just stared straight at Zhou Qiyuan, his gaze seeming to say: *You’re done for.*
Zhou Qiyuan’s legs went soft, and he collapsed straight to the ground. Propping himself back up with sheer willpower, he forced himself back into his seat, trying desperately to calm his mind. “N-No, it can’t be! The Emperor wouldn’t treat me like this!”
Internally, Lin Wenbin marveled at how identical the magistrate’s reaction was to what the little girl had predicted. It was truly miraculous.
He let out a sigh. “The Emperor said that this natural disaster is aimed squarely at you. Because of your offerings over the years, he is willing to step in and help you weather this crisis.”
“A crisis? What crisis could I possibly have?” Zhou Qiyuan’s voice sounded somewhat dry.
His thoughts were actually identical to Lin Wenbin’s initial reaction.
Aside from a few people dying, what other consequences could there be? Hadn’t the magistrate been doing things this way for the past five years?
Normally, he wouldn’t bother listening to such nonsense, but right now, he felt as though the blood and vital energy were being drained from his body, and terror had already set in. Thus, he listened with extraordinary earnestness.
Looking deeply at Zhou Qiyuan, Lin Wenbin said, “In Qingzhu Village, there is a True Dragon’s Daughter! The deaths of other people might not matter much, but if the True Dragon’s Daughter dies, and His Majesty happens to trace things back one day and discovers it happened under your jurisdiction, how do you think you will fare?”
“Furthermore, the Emperor said that Qingzhu Village is a land that truly possesses great fortune. If you manage it well, your future will be boundless. Otherwise…”
He left the “otherwise” unsaid.
Zhou Qiyuan found it a bit hard to believe. He wasn’t a fool; the emperor’s daughter would be a princess, so how could a princess end up destitute in Qingzhu Village? Could the emperor possibly be an idiot?
Seeing the skepticism in his eyes, Lin Wenbin gritted his teeth and spoke again. “My lord, even I wouldn’t believe it myself, but you truly ought to handle this matter properly.”
“Why?” Zhou Qiyuan frowned.
“Terms of office last three years, and I recall that the previous patrolling imperial censor was replaced this year. If this new one turns out to be strict and learns that this natural disaster in Cangwu County resulted in so many deaths, do you think he will impeach you?”
The earlier warnings were psychological intimidation.
What followed next, however, was something Lin Wenbin had thought of himself—and it was the unvarnished truth.
The previous patrolling imperial censor had accepted bribes and completely ignored the actual conditions in Cangwu County, allowing Zhou Qiyuan to act like a local king on his mountain.
Now that a replacement had come, without knowing the person’s character, one naturally had to treat them with utmost care from the start—especially since this natural disaster was more severe than any previous year.
If an impeachment actually went through, heads would roll.
This time, Zhou Qiyuan believed it completely—with absolute conviction.
Leaning back in his master chair, he breathed heavily. “Then… did the Emperor suggest any solutions?”
“He did.”
Lin Wenbin affirmed, “The Emperor said that the True Dragon’s Daughter has already perished, but he has found a substitute for you! As long as you take her as your adopted daughter, within a year you are guaranteed to receive praise from the Emperor and a flourishing official career!”
*Perished? The emperor’s daughter perished?*
He collapsed back onto the floor, feeling as though his life had lost all hope.