Xi Qingyue had not killed any of the county office’s bailiffs. The main reason was that they were being reasonably cooperative and had not shouted for her to be arrested or killed.
She picked up Xi Weilan and set her down on the table, then turned back to the bailiffs in the hall. “Release everyone who has nothing to do with this. If I catch you arresting people at random again, I’ll kill the lot of you.”
At her words, the bailiffs hurriedly helped the shopkeeper, who was still kneeling on the floor, to his feet. They were all terrified of the two little commandery princesses. These princesses would start killing without a word of warning—people like them simply could not afford to provoke them.
The common people were still in shock. They never would have imagined that two children could kill their county magistrate so decisively. And not only were the two children commandery princesses, but the detestable Duan Pu and the others had also been killed by them.
The people were deeply grateful to Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan. The two princesses had rid them of a scourge. In their eyes, the county magistrate had never been a good man either.
Some of them had previously gone to court to seek justice, but whenever the opposing party bribed the county magistrate, they would lose their case—and still be beaten twenty times with a rod. With a magistrate like that, they had no use for him at all.
Suddenly, someone at the entrance of the county office shouted at the top of his lungs, “Long live the princess!”
One by one, the other townspeople joined in. “Long live the princess!”
Outside the county office, the people cheered loudly. Inside, the bailiffs wiped the sweat from their foreheads one after another. The fact that they had managed to keep their lives today was truly a stroke of luck.
Liu Bingchun, the owner of the Liu Family Eatery, walked excitedly up to Xi Qingyue and dropped to his knees with a thud. “This commoner thanks the princess for saving his life!”
He had nearly thought that he was doomed, but who would have expected a reversal? His heart was now filled with gratitude toward the sisters.
Xi Qingyue smiled. “There’s no need for that. Your food is delicious, and my little sister is still looking forward to having crab soup tonight. You should go home early. Besides, we were the ones who killed them. You suffered because of us this time, so it’s enough if you don’t blame us.”
The shopkeeper shook his head repeatedly. “No, this has nothing to do with the princesses. You may have killed those men, but it was the county office that investigated the case. If they had handled it fairly, there was no reason they should have arrested me. I should be thanking the two princesses for saving me in time. I’ll return home now and prepare a sumptuous meal for you both tonight. I’ll await your arrival with the greatest pleasure.”
He bowed deeply to the two sisters, then wiped away his tears and left.
He had to hurry home and prepare a feast for the two princesses. He could never repay them for saving his life, so since they liked his food, he would simply have his cooks prepare more of it.
Xi Qingyue watched him leave and nodded in satisfaction. Very good. He knew how to be grateful and had not taken his anger out on the wrong people. Someone like him was worth saving.
The sisters were not the sort to meddle in every affair. This time, they had not come to his rescue solely because they wanted to eat his food. If they had been ordinary people without martial arts skills, the shopkeeper’s warning the previous night would have saved their lives. Good deeds brought good consequences.
Moreover, they had indeed been the ones to kill those men, and those men had deserved death. The county magistrate had ignored their usual crimes and misdeeds, yet after they died, he had casually arrested an innocent person and treated him as the murderer. A man like that was unworthy of holding office.
Xi Qingyue did not leave the county office immediately. Instead, she sent someone to summon the other officials.
Not only that, she also informed the townspeople outside that anyone with a grievance could come forward and seek justice.
When County Assistant Meng Qingbiao was summoned, he still had no idea that the county magistrate was dead. The bailiff had merely told him that two little commandery princesses had arrived at the county office and wished to see him.
The moment he entered the main hall, he saw Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan sitting side by side on the table. He was astonished. The little commandery princesses were far younger than he had imagined.
Because the two girls were sitting on the table, they completely blocked the county magistrate’s corpse from view. Meng Qingbiao did not notice it at first.
He was only puzzled as to why the county magistrate would allow two children to sit there. Even if they were commandery princesses, they ought to observe proper etiquette, shouldn’t they?
He respectfully bowed to the two girls. “Meng Qingbiao, County Assistant of Yongfu County, pays his respects to the princesses.”
At the sound of his surname, Xi Qingyue narrowed her eyes slightly. The previous night, she had heard those men say that Young Master Meng was looking for young girls and that they should capture her and deliver her to him. Could this be someone from the Meng family?
She looked at Meng Qingbiao with a beaming smile. “There’s no need for such formalities, Lord Meng. I was merely passing through. I heard that Yongfu County is rife with unsolved grievances, so I came to take a look. Fortunately, I arrived in time. Otherwise, the county office would have gained another innocent death today.”
Meng Qingbiao’s heart jolted. He had a feeling those words were directed at him.
He looked past the two girls toward the magistrate’s seat, wanting to see how the county magistrate intended to handle the matter, but the view was blocked.
He shifted slightly and looked toward the seat again. This time, he saw clearly. The person sitting there was indeed the county magistrate—but he was a dead county magistrate.
Meng Qingbiao staggered back several steps, staring at Xi Qingyue in utter disbelief.
Before he could ask anything, the County Lieutenant came storming in with more than a dozen men.
The moment they arrived, they charged toward the sisters. The County Lieutenant shouted furiously, “Even if you are commandery princesses, you cannot simply kill our county magistrate! You have no authority to do so!”
Meng Qingbiao was stunned. He retreated several more steps.
Xi Qingyue merely snorted. “Your county magistrate arrested people at random and falsely accused them of crimes. I killed him to cleanse the imperial government of a parasite. If you’re dissatisfied, feel free to make your move.”
Just then, a bailiff with a swollen, bruised face ran into the hall. He was the very man who had gone to summon the County Lieutenant.
When he saw that the other bailiffs were unscathed, he inwardly lamented his own bad luck. When he had gone to summon the County Lieutenant, the man had insisted that he explain what had happened at the county office. After hearing the story, he had beaten the bailiff senseless. Afraid that Xi Qingyue would mistake him for someone trying to sow discord, he had hurried back despite the pain. The injuries all over his body were proof enough of what had happened.
He called out loudly to Xi Qingyue, “Princess, the County Lieutenant’s cousin is the county magistrate’s fifth concubine!”
Xi Qingyue understood at once. She had thought the County Lieutenant was simply thickheaded, but it turned out he was a relative of the county magistrate. In that case, things had just become much more convenient.
She immediately drew a small pistol from her sleeve, then took the one at Xi Weilan’s waist as well.
Xi Weilan was eating a lollipop nearby. Her eyes lit up when she saw what Xi Qingyue was doing, but she made no move. She simply continued happily eating her candy.
Only the bailiffs who had witnessed the pistol’s power before recognized the danger. Without drawing attention to themselves, they began edging backward. The men the County Lieutenant had brought, however, did not move.
The County Lieutenant’s face had turned livid with rage. That insignificant bailiff had not kept his head down and behaved himself; instead, he had announced the identity of his cousin. What was he trying to do? Did he really dare treat the County Lieutenant with such contempt?
He shot the bailiff a cold look and sneered inwardly. Just wait. I’ll deal with you later.
Then he pointed at the sisters and shouted furiously, “Where did these two little wild girls come from? How dare they pretend to be commandery princesses! Seize them!”
As soon as his words fell, the men he had brought rushed forward and surrounded Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan.
