Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

Under the porch of the main hall, the county magistrate, the county assistant magistrate, the registrar, and the county lieutenant stood in order.

Magistrate Shen Jue wore a scarlet official robe with a silver fish-shaped pouch around his waist. He had a fair complexion, a slight beard, and a slightly plump figure.

He held a scroll of prayer text in his hands, bowing his head as he silently recited it one last time, muttering to himself. After a few sentences, he stopped, looked up, and glanced at the sky.

County Magistrate Sun Lian stood half a step behind him. He was tall and thin with a slight hunchback, wearing a green official uniform. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, and he was looking down at the ground as if searching for something.

Registrar Gu Yansheng stood behind the county magistrate, holding a booklet in his hand. He flipped to a certain page and then closed it, his face expressionless.

County Lieutenant Xu Kai stood at the back, dressed in a blue official uniform with a short sword hanging at his waist. His lean face was expressionless, and his gaze swept across the terrace, lingering on Wu Yan for a moment before moving away.

The officers and attendants of each room were arranged on both sides of the terrace according to their rank.

Song Zhao of the Personnel Department, Zhang Sanlang of the Revenue Department, Zhou Quan of the Rites Department, Sun Zhonghe of the Military Department, Kong Youan of the Criminal Department, and Yan Shizhong of the Works Department.

Wu Yan stood on the outside of the terrace with four archers, short sticks at their waists, responsible for maintaining order.

He saw Zhang Sanlang and nodded slightly.

It wasn't until 2:45 AM that Zhou Qian stepped forward, bowed to Shen Jue, and said, "Your Excellency, the auspicious time has arrived."

Shen Jue raised his head, rolled up the congratulatory letter, held it in his hands, and strode onto the terrace.

Sun Lian, Gu Yansheng, and Xu Kai followed behind, with the clerks and attendants from each department following in turn.

Zhou Qianxing stood beside the table, opened the ritual manual, and loudly proclaimed, "The winter sacrifice begins; proceed to the ablution area!"

Shen Jue walked to the basin of water beside the table, washed his hands, dried them with a cloth, and returned to the table.

"Offer incense before the altar!"

Shen Jue stepped forward, took three incense sticks from the incense table, lit them over the candle flame, and placed them in the bronze incense burner. The smoke thickened, rose into the air, and was dispersed by the morning breeze.

"Go to the wine bottle shop!"

Shen Jue picked up the first cup of wine from the table, raised it above his head, and loudly proclaimed: "In the fourth year of the Taiping Xingguo era, the year of Ji Mao, on the winter solstice, Shen Jue, the magistrate of Juancheng, respectfully offers this sacrifice to Heaven and Earth."

After reading it, he poured the wine onto the ground in front of the table. The wine seeped into the cracks in the blue bricks, spreading out a dark color.

"Ah Xian!"

County Magistrate Sun Lian stepped forward, picked up the second cup of wine, raised it above his head, recited a few words, and then poured it on the ground.

He read very quickly and in a low voice, as if afraid someone would hear him.

"Final Offering!"

Registrar Gu Yansheng stepped forward, picked up the third cup of wine, raised it above his head, recited a few words, and poured it on the ground. His voice was steady, unhurried, and he enunciated each word clearly.

After the three offerings, Zhou Qianxing sang again, "Read the blessing!"

Shen Jue unfolded the prayer text and read it aloud.

The prayer was written in parallel prose, with four-six lines in antithesis, starting with the favorable weather of this year and moving on to national prosperity and peace in the coming year. It took the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to read it. After reading it, the prayer was folded and placed in front of the incense burner.

"Hope for a breakthrough!"

The servant carried forward a copper basin filled with paper money, ingots, and other items.

Shen Jue threw the prayer text into the basin, and flames shot up, sending paper ash flying into the air before falling down in a flurry.

Zhou Qianxing then sang, "The local gentry offer incense!"

Chen Youde stood up from the viewing platform, straightened his clothes, and walked onto the terrace.

He wore a gray silk robe, walked to the incense table, took three sticks of incense, lit them on the candle flame, inserted them into the bronze censer, stepped back two steps, and bowed.

Following him was Old Master Liu, his hair white, leaning on a cane, shakily offering incense. Next came the heads of the Sun family in the east of the city, the Zhao family in the south, and the Ma family in the north, one after another, taking turns offering incense.

As Chen Youde stepped off the terrace, his gaze swept over Zhang Sanlang, who was standing in the procession accompanying the ceremony, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

"The ceremony is complete!"

Shen Jue turned around, glanced down at the terrace, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the various clerks, yawned, covered his mouth with his sleeve, and turned back to the main hall.

Sun Lian followed behind, head down, walking at a moderate pace, as if stepping on his own shadow.

A moment later, Zhou Qianxing stood beside the table and sang again, "Distribute the sacrificial meat!"

The servants carried up the prepared sacrificial animals, arranged according to their rank.

Shen Jue, Sun Lian, Gu Yansheng, and Xu Kai were official officials of the county government. As per custom, they were all given a leg of lamb, two large pork ribs, four pig trotters, and two fish, which were already delivered to the back office by servants.

The clerks and attendants from each section stepped forward in turn. The clerks were one rank below the officials and did not receive lamb legs. The attendants from each section were one rank below them and did not receive either lamb legs or pork ribs.

Zhang Sanlang wrapped the pig's trotters and fish in oil paper and carried them in his hand.

Zhou Qianxing leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Zhang Qianxing, you've had a hard day. After you finish your shift, come to the gift room and get an extra reward: a pot of official wine, twenty catties of pork, and three hundred coins."

Zhang Sanlang nodded. "Thank you, Brother Zhou."

The people in each room gradually dispersed.

The servants began to dismantle the incense table on the terrace, collect the lanterns, and sweep away the ashes.

The ashes from the paper on the terrace were stirred up by the broom, drifted in the morning breeze for a while, and then settled into the cracks between the blue bricks, where they could no longer be swept away.

Just as Zhang Sanlang turned to leave, Kong Youan's voice came from behind him, "Zhang Qianxing, wait."

Zhang Sanlang turned around and looked at him with some confusion.

Kong Youan walked over, a slight smile on his lips. "I heard that Chen Family Village owed sixty-three shi of grain, and you collected it in just three to five days. Truly impressive!"

Zhang Sanlang smirked and cupped his hands in greeting, "Guard Kong is well-informed."

Kong Youan gave a forced smile. "The Criminal Investigation Department is in charge of arrests, so their information network is naturally excellent. However, there is one matter: the department received a petition yesterday from a tenant farmer in Chenjia Village."

"It is said that the collection of taxes from the household registration office was excessive, doubling the amount of taxes owed and forcing tenants to sell their children. In another case, someone else accused Zhang Qianxing of extorting bribes from the Chen family under the guise of investigating land taxes."

Zhang Sanlang's brow twitched. "Extortion?"

"Hmm." Kong Youan looked at him. "Some people said that when you went to Chenjiazhuang to urge the collection of taxes, the Chen family slaughtered chickens and sheep to entertain you, and even gave you several bushels of white flour before you left. Although these things are not worth much money, if word gets out, it will probably not sound good to your reputation."

Wu Yan stood behind Zhang Sanlang, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but Zhang Sanlang raised his hand to stop him.

"Officer Kong, those few bushels of white flour were a reward from Officer Tao to urge the collection of taxes. As for the hospitality at Chen Family Village, hmph, let's not even mention it! Both of these matters are recorded in the Household Department and also have files in the County Granary. The Criminal Division wants me to cooperate."

Kong Youan nodded. "It's good that there's a record. The criminal investigation department will always check the case when they receive a complaint. I'm afraid we'll have to trouble Zhang Qianxing to send over a copy of the original file."

After saying that, he put his hands behind his back, turned around, and left.

Wu Yan appeared behind Zhang Sanlang at some point. "Sanlang, what does this guy surnamed Kong mean by this?"

Zhang Sanlang watched Kong Youan's retreating figure and said, "Someone filed a complaint, and someone was the first to report it, so the criminal investigation department naturally has to investigate."

Wu Yan frowned. "Should I speak to County Commandant Xu?"

Zhang Sanlang shook his head. "No rush. Let's see how he plans to investigate first."

A morning breeze blew across the terrace, and the ashes from the paper rolled up from the ground, floated into the air, and landed on Zhang Sanlang's shoulder.

He dusted himself off and turned to walk towards the household.