Chapter 442: Chapter 442

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Gao’s lips turned pale, yet he couldn’t argue back, and could only kneel with cold sweat, "I am guilty."

Zhao Hanzhang’s smile faded slightly as she watched him solemnly and asked, "What is County Magistrate Gao guilty of?"

County Magistrate Gao was at a loss for words; truth be told, he didn’t really know what his guilt was.

Is indulgence guilty?

The winter days were long, cold and dull; be it warming by the fire, drinking wine, or admiring beauty, these were all part of life, weren’t they?

Why live poorly when one can live well?

Then where does his guilt lie?

Gao Cheng couldn’t help but ponder seriously; Zhao Hanzhang undoubtedly disliked official extravagance, but at most it was not to her preference, so...

Gao Cheng silently thought, so he actually had no tangible crime, right?

If it was merely a clash in personality, at worst he wouldn’t hold this official position.

As soon as the thought arose, Gao Cheng’s ears buzzed, and his fingers tensed nervously; he gathered the courage to raise his head and look directly at Zhao Hanzhang, "Governor Zhao, I..."

Zhao Hanzhang lowered her gaze and calmly met his eyes, "Hmm?"

With just this light "hmm," it blocked many of Gao Cheng’s words in his chest.

Zhao Hanzhang stood up, her face solemn, "Call in the County Magistrate, Chief Clerk from the county, find all the announcements and documents you’ve received since I took office, and have the village chiefs and village elders come see me."

Seeing Gao Cheng still kneeling and unmoving, Zhao Hanzhang squatted in front of him, "What’s wrong, County Magistrate Gao, are you unwilling to leave this warm room, or unwilling to heed my orders?"

"I wouldn’t dare," Gao Cheng snapped back, trembled as he crawled up, and stumbled out the door.

Zhao Hanzhang snorted lightly, eyed the carved beams and painted rafters, and fell into thought.

When Fu Tinghan brought a group of refugees into the city, the Chief Clerk and County Magistrate had also just arrived at the county government, accompanied by several village chiefs and village elders from within the city; those outside were not notified. To gather everyone, at least two days were needed.

County Magistrate Gao stood with them compliantly in the hall, head lowered, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead; clearly he had gone out for air, but as long as he was in front of Zhao Hanzhang, he couldn’t help but feel terrified and guilty.

County Magistrate Gao kept mentally fortifying himself, telling himself he was not wrong, not guilty, at worst resign...

Just as he was lost in thought, Zhao Hanzhang stood at the table, picked out two documents, and casually tossed them onto County Magistrate Gao’s chest.

County Magistrate Gao instinctively reached out to catch them.

Zhao Hanzhang tilted her chin and said, "Read them."

County Magistrate Gao unfolded them blankly, and upon seeing the contents, his hand trembled, causing him to drop to his knees directly. At this moment, thoughts of his innocence and guilt vanished from his mind.

He prostrated himself on the ground, trembling, "I am guilty!"

Behind County Magistrate Gao, the County Magistrate, Chief Clerk, village chiefs, and village elders covertly raised their heads to look, hearts racing wildly.

Zhao Hanzhang looked down at him, sighed deeply, and in a candid manner said, "County Magistrate Gao, what should I do with you? As the parent-official of a county, you failed to fulfill my orders, failed to appease and aid the people, and only indulged in the profits of the people. Even if you readily admit guilt, I find it hard to be lenient." Content orıginally comes from 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽

Just reaching the door, Fu Tinghan: ...

He couldn’t help but stop, seeing the person kneeling on the ground trembling, likely due to Zhao Hanzhang’s image as a killer being too deeply ingrained; only hearing him say, "Please, Governor, give me another chance, I will deeply change and never dare neglect your orders again."

Zhao Hanzhang asked, "How will you change? How many refugees have been expelled by you, and how many merchants blocked on the road?"

Gao Cheng immediately replied, "I will immediately order their release and open the city gates to let the refugees in."

Zhao Hanzhang sneered, "Let all the refugees into the city? You think I’m a naive child, Xie County welcomes so many refugees, is that to save them, or to have the city’s populace sink along with them?"

Gao Cheng’s sweat fell, he quickly amended, "I will properly arrange all the refugees and maintain city order, ensuring no chaos."

Zhao Hanzhang pondered, so the question remains, should she kill him or not?

Perhaps sensing Zhao Hanzhang’s inner struggle, Gao Cheng, sweating profusely, said, "I know, presently the urgent task is gathering relief supplies, especially food and cloth, as many of the refugees fleeing from the north lack adequate clothing and food, needing aid."

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him, her fingers lightly tapping the table, nodded, "Continue."

Gao Cheng quickly spoke, "But to calm the people’s hearts, grain and cloth alone aren’t enough; we must settle them down, only then can they be at ease."

"We need to find a way to give them land, to stabilize their hearts," after a brief breath he continued, "With heavy snow coming, the dilapidated houses inside and outside the city must be organized to prevent major disasters, and besides that, we also need to organize the refugees here to integrate into Xie County."

Zhao Hanzhang slightly raised the corners of her mouth, yet her heart grew increasingly angry; her fury peaked, causing her to become calmly composed, "It seems County Magistrate Gao is not completely ignorant, he has quite a clear plan."

But why hadn’t he acted sooner?

Gao Cheng gave Zhao Hanzhang a flattering smile.

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him warmly, the anger on her face wholly disappeared, she nodded, "Then carry out County Magistrate Gao’s suggestions, I entrust this matter entirely to you."

Seeing Fu Tinghan standing at the door, Zhao Hanzhang smiled slightly and stood up, "Mr. Fu has brought the refugees, they are the ones we encountered on the way, over three thousand people. County Magistrate Gao, first arrange for this group."

Gao Cheng paused, then quickly accepted.

Zhao Hanzhang said to Fan Ying, "You stay to assist County Magistrate Gao, when we arrived, we saw, barren wilderness outside the city, evidently there are quite a few displaced people; I believe Xie County is large enough to arrange for these three to four thousand people."

Gao Cheng’s forehead broke out in sweat once more; even if there were issues, under Zhao Hanzhang’s sword, he could only express no problems.

Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze swept over the County Magistrate, Chief Clerk, and village chiefs and elders; she originally planned to have a good talk with them after executing Gao Cheng, but now it seemed unnecessary.

So she laughed lightly, directly pulling Fu Tinghan, "Let’s go, after a long journey, we should find a place to rest."

Everyone lowered their heads, stepping aside; Gao Cheng regained his senses, hurriedly ran from behind, enthusiastically saying, "Governor, Mr. Fu, why not the back courtyard, I’ll have the main courtyard vacated."

Zhao Hanzhang promptly nodded and accepted, "Very well."

As soon as she agreed, Qiu Wu led people over, enclosing the back courtyard, and replaced everyone in the main courtyard with their personnel.

Zhao Hanzhang nodded satisfactorily, when away from home extra caution was needed, especially with family in tow.