“He held his position but neglected his duties. As a county’s father-official, he had no compassion for the people and was extraordinarily greedy and cruel. Should he not be executed?” Zhao Hanzhang’s expression was somber as her gaze swept over the Chief Clerk and other officials who had hurried over. Suppressing her anger, she said, “I don’t care what the customs are elsewhere, but under my jurisdiction, since you occupy these positions, you must properly perform the duties of those positions.”

“If you don’t want to work, get out early. Don’t occupy the latrine without taking a shit!”

Wu Erlang was shocked by Zhao Hanzhang’s vulgarity, but couldn’t help silently praising her in his heart. That’s right—don’t occupy the latrine without taking a shit.

Fu Tinghan stood there with a calm expression, flipping through the papers in his hand, then handed them to the seated Zhao Hanzhang. “These are the cases accumulated on the desk.”

Zhao Hanzhang took them and looked through them, her expression growing even worse. She angrily threw the papers in her hand at everyone’s faces. “Houshan Valley had one hundred twenty-eight households, and now only thirty-nine remain. Of those thirty-nine households, nearly half have turned to banditry and robbed passing merchants. The village head reported this seeking relief for the remaining villagers, and yet you still say there are no problems in the county. Are your eyes and brains merely for decoration?”

Everyone hung their heads in shame, trembling with fear.

Qiu Wu soon returned carrying County Magistrate Hu’s head and reported, “My lady, the man has been beheaded.”

Zhao Hanzhang: …

She turned her head away, finding it offensive to look at, and waved her hand. “Let the Hu family collect the remains. Why did you bring his head back here for no reason?”

Qiu Wu’s body stiffened. He had thought his master would want to see it, after all, this was the first county magistrate she had beheaded.

However, Zhao Hanzhang had no intention of humiliating County Magistrate Hu. She directly had Qiu Wu take the head back and have the body delivered to the Hu family.

Then she paid no more attention to the matter and instead asked Liang Hong, “How much grain is currently in the county office granary? How much money? Can we immediately purchase enough grain in the county to provide relief to the people?”

Liang Hong’s mind was still occupied by the sight of County Magistrate Hu’s head he had just seen, so his face was pale and he didn’t know what he was saying. “Only about two hundred more shi of grain, there’s not much money in the treasury. To buy grain, we’d have to buy from the Guo family and Ma family. Those two families have very good relations with the county magistrate, so if the county magistrate comes forward, it should be possible to get a cheaper price…”

Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow and asked, “Who were the two people drinking and taking drugs with County Magistrate Hu just now?”

Liang Hong’s head was still buzzing, and he replied with a dazed expression, “It should be Master Guo and Master Ma. They often discuss philosophy and drink wine with the county magistrate—they’re close friends.”

Fu Tinghan had already quickly flipped through the ledgers on the desk. He spread open a page of accounts and placed it before Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at it, her eyes narrowing slightly. “So Biyang County’s silk and satin are so renowned that every summer and autumn you can collect this many silk cocoons. Where did the money and cloth go?”

Liang Hong said, “Most of it is at the county magistrate’s home…”

“County Administrator Liang!” Chief Clerk Ma couldn’t help but shout, trying to bring him back to his senses!

Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze fell on Chief Clerk Ma, her expression half-smiling. “It seems one life isn’t quite enough. Chief Clerk Ma is so anxious—could it be you miss County Magistrate Hu and want to go below to keep him company?”

Chief Clerk Ma’s expression changed repeatedly, but he held his head high and said, “The County Administrator may kill if she wishes. Hmph, governing through terror—in the end, it’s a woman’s cunning, vicious in the extreme!”

Zhao Hanzhang was so angry she placed her hand on her sword hilt. Fu Tinghan, however, reached out to press down on her hand and shook his head slightly at her. His gaze fell on the accounts before her as he said, “I need all the ledgers and household registries from the Household Registry Office.”

Zhao Hanzhang then calmed down. Yes, she had a ready-made reason to kill County Magistrate Hu—it was open and aboveboard. Whether from a legal or moral standpoint, she was justified.

But to kill Chief Clerk Ma, she currently had no reason. Killing someone merely out of temper would, if word got out, likely cut off all talented people who might come to serve her and cause the common people to fear her. The losses would outweigh the gains.

Zhao Hanzhang suppressed her anger, smiled at Chief Clerk Ma, and said, “You’re quite right—this County Administrator is indeed vicious. Guards! Place the Household Registry Office and the county magistrate’s office under guard. No one is permitted to touch the documents inside. From now on, everyone in the county office is to follow Fu Tinghan’s orders.”

Qiu Wu acknowledged and immediately led his subordinates to seal the Household Registry Office.

Chief Clerk Ma’s expression changed. The core materials of the entire county office were mostly in the Household Registry Office.

Once the Household Registry Office was secured, Zhao Hanzhang said to County Administrator Liang, “Take people to confiscate the Hu family’s property.”

County Administrator Liang hadn’t reacted yet when Chief Clerk Ma was already widening his eyes and shouting, “How dare you! Disasters don’t extend to family members. Zhao Sanniang, you dare to humiliate the gentry like this…”

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand. “Chief Clerk Ma is too agitated. Guards, let him clear his head and reflect on himself in the prison!”

“You dare!”

Zhao Hanzhang sneered. She couldn’t kill him right now, but couldn’t she imprison him?

Zhao Hanzhang looked at Qiu Wu, who waved his hand. Two strong soldiers stepped forward to grab Chief Clerk Ma and began dragging him away.

Chief Clerk Ma couldn’t help but shout and yell. Fu Tinghan frowned and said to Qiu Wu, “Gag his mouth—it’s too noisy.”

Zhao Hanzhang immediately said, “Yes, gag him.”

Liang Hong: …

Qiu Wu didn’t hesitate. He casually pulled off a clerk’s belt, wadded it up, and stuffed it into Chief Clerk Ma’s mouth.

Liang Hong wanted to speak but held back. For a scholar, this was the ultimate humiliation. If humiliated in this way, what if Chief Clerk Ma committed suicide?

Most importantly, if word of this got out, it would be very bad for Zhao Hanzhang. No one had ever gagged a scholar’s mouth before, although many people wanted to.

The cloth was stuffed into his mouth. Chief Clerk Ma made a couple of muffled sounds before being dragged away. In the hall, all the officials were drenched in cold sweat, trembling and not daring to say another word.

Only then did Zhao Hanzhang look at them again. “Who will go confiscate the Hu family’s property?”

Everyone mumbled, not daring to speak. Liang Hong gritted his teeth, and with a hardening of his heart, he steeled his resolve and stepped forward. “This official is willing to go.”

Only then did the corners of Zhao Hanzhang’s mouth lift slightly as she nodded. “Good, you may go.”

Liang Hong led yamen runners to the rear courtyard of the county office. Qiu Wu also brought several soldiers to follow. Before long, earth-shaking cries and curses came from the county office’s rear courtyard.

Zhao Hanzhang sat unmoved like a mountain, organizing the ledgers together with Fu Tinghan.

Wu Erlang kept looking outside, and even Ting He curiously glanced out several times.

Seeing this, Zhao Hanzhang said to her, “If you want to go look, go ahead.”

She paused before adding, “The ledgers haven’t been sorted out yet, but County Magistrate Hu wasn’t staging a rebellion, so it won’t implicate his family.”

Ting He immediately said, “Yes, this servant will definitely watch them closely and not let them harm the Hu family members.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded slightly.

Ting He left.

Wu Erlang’s face was full of longing and regret—he also wanted to go look.

Zhao Hanzhang, however, seemed not to notice at all and assigned him tasks. “Go outside and investigate the situation, especially regarding the Ma family and Guo family.”

Wu Erlang’s spirits lifted, and he immediately acknowledged. Being able to go outside was good—the excitement outside was no less than in the county office’s rear courtyard.