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

Old Liu couldn't help but laugh, "Captain Wu, your injury was well worth it! Fifteen strings of cash! Good heavens! That's half a year's worth of rations!"

Wu Yan glared at him, but Lao Liu just chuckled and continued laughing, not afraid of him at all.

Wu Yan carefully put the invitation away. "Old Liu, call all the brothers. We're at a snack shop tonight, all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-eat! Sanlang, are you free to come?"

Zhang Sanlang shook his head and took out another receipt. "Registrar Gu hasn't forgotten the brothers in the archery battalion either. Here's twenty strings of cash. Let them go to the county treasury to collect it themselves."

Old Liu craned his neck to listen, and his mouth stretched from ear to ear with delight. He rubbed his hands together, calculating, "Twenty strings of cash! We can each get one string. Now we can have some meat, hehe!"

Xiao Zhao was squatting by the wall, his head nodding off, when he heard the words "one string of cash". He suddenly raised his head, his eyes wide open, and all his sleepiness vanished instantly.

"One string of cash?" He swallowed hard, counting on his fingers. "That's enough for my mother to take medicine for half a year."

Wu Yan slapped him on the head. "You talk too much. We'll have all-you-can-eat food and drinks at the snack shop tonight. Don't try to pay the bill."

Xiao Zhao shrank his neck and chuckled twice.

Wu Yan waved his hand and said, "Although the brothers on night patrol didn't contribute much, we can't just stand by and watch. Here's what I'll do: take two strings of cash from my reward money and give them to them."

Old Liu had already turned and run towards the barracks, shouting, "Brothers, Commander Wu is treating! Snack shop..."

The sound bounced back and forth in the corridor, growing farther and farther away.

Wu Yan chuckled and cursed a couple of times, then turned away, his laughter fading. "Sanlang, we still haven't caught Scarface Feng. Be careful tonight. The old, weak, women, and children in your yard might not be able to be relied on if something happens."

Zhang Sanlang responded and went to Sun Qianxing and the others, handing out the receipts to each of them and exchanging a few pleasantries.

When Zhang Sanlang returned to Kujing Lane, it was already dark.

The oil lamp in the main room was lit, casting a shadow on the window paper.

Zhou Qing was squatting by the door twisting hemp rope. Seeing him come in, he hung the rope on the doorframe, stood up, and rubbed his hands together. "Brother Zhang is back. Have you eaten yet?"

Zhang Sanlang smiled and waved his hand, "There's something I need to tell you two."

Zhou Qing quickly ushered him into the house, saying, "Alright, come inside and let's talk."

Zhou Chenshi came out from the inner room, carrying an oil lamp. She placed the lamp on the table and then used a needle to adjust the wick, making the main room a little brighter.

As soon as Zhang Sanlang sat down, Zhou Qing deftly brought a pot of hot water from the stove to make tea.

After Zhang Sanlang waited for him to sit down, he glanced at Zhou Chenshi before pulling out a judgment document from his sleeve and spreading it on the table. "The Chen family's matter is settled. Chen Youde is exiled to Shamen Island, and his family property is confiscated by the government."

Zhou Chenshi paused for a moment in her teacup.

She didn't look up, but simply placed the teacup back on the table, her finger slowly circling the rim. Zhou Qing glanced at the judgment document, then at his wife, his lips moving but no sound escaping.

"What did my father say before he passed away?" Zhou Chenshi asked softly.

Zhang Sanlang shook his head.

Zhou Chenshi nodded, then suddenly smiled, but two lines of tears involuntarily streamed down her face. "Third Brother Zhang, I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me if I tell you this."

"I, the third young lady of the Chen family, have never had to worry about food or clothing since I was a child, but every time I go back to the village and see the tenant farmers' children barefoot picking firewood in the snow, my heart aches."

"One winter, I stole a string of cash from my father's cupboard and gave it to the two poorest families in the east of the village so they could buy grain and firewood."

"Later, my father found out and tore up the leases of those two households in front of me, saying that since they stole money from the Chen family, they were not worthy of farming the Chen family's land. I was also grounded for half a year."

She picked up her teacup and took a sip. "Over the years, my father took two concubines, who had several children, but not a single male offspring lived past their first birthday. My mother said it was retribution when she passed away... But he was still my father after all..."

Zhou Qing rubbed his hands together, looking at his wife and then at Zhang Sanlang. "Brother Zhang, the Chen family's matter is settled. The old house and land have been returned to the government. Now my wife and I can live here in peace, right?"

Zhang Sanlang knew he was worried about Zhou Chenshi's feelings, so he smiled and changed the subject, "I'm afraid you can't stay here anymore. The Zhou family's sixteen mu of land should be returned to its rightful owner."

"The Chen family mansion, as for which Registrar Gu has also been awarded to the third young lady, has over a hundred rooms, most of which will be vacant. I'd like you and your husband to take care of it."

Zhou Qing was stunned. The hemp rope slipped from between his fingers and dangled on the edge of the table, swaying twice.

Zhou Chenshi raised her head, her eyelashes still glistening with tears.

Zhang Sanlang pushed the appendix to the judgment towards the two of them. Zhou Chenshi was not very literate, but she could still make out the boundary map of the residence in the appendix, which was the place where she had lived since childhood. "Brother Zhang, do you mean we should go to the Chen family mansion to manage the tenants?"

Zhang Sanlang nodded. "That's right. If the confiscated farmland is to be rented out, someone needs to manage it nearby. I think Zhou Qing is very suitable. Third Miss, you are from the Chen family, and all the servants and tenants know you."

"The county government's idea is to clear out some empty rooms, clean them up, and establish an almshouse to take in elderly people living alone and orphans without parents from the nearby villages. Rice and grain will be allocated from the government land by the Household Department, and you will be responsible for taking care of it on a daily basis."

Zhou Chenshi's tears hadn't even dried before they started flowing again. She stood up and solemnly curtsied to Zhang Sanlang, saying, "Brother Zhang, I thank you on behalf of the old tenant farmers of Chenjiazhuang."

"You've put me in charge of this almshouse, and my husband and I will do our best. Not for anything else, but to pay off the Chen family's debts! We'll move there first thing tomorrow morning and clean out the empty rooms first."

After settling the business, Zhang Sanlang cupped his hands in greeting to the two men, then turned and left the main room.

The next morning, Zhang Sanlang took the tenancy agreement signed by Zhou Qing to the county government office.

He had intended to go to the signing room to report the matter of the government land lease and the almshouse to Registrar Gu, but when he got to the door, he found that Xu Kai was also inside.

Gu Yansheng sat behind his desk with an official document spread out in front of him. When he saw Zhang Sanlang enter, his face darkened. "You've come at the right time. The clerk from the prefecture has just arrived. Kong You'an, the clerk of the criminal office, has been transferred to the position of prison warden."

Zhang Sanlang was startled upon hearing this. He picked up the official document and read it from beginning to end, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Kong Youanqian's misdeeds were no less numerous than Chen Youde's, yet he was only transferred to a prison.

He went from being a clerk in the criminal investigation department to a head clerk in the prison camp, in charge of receiving and managing exiled prisoners. His rank remained the same, and he still had his duties, but he was no longer in his old base of Juancheng.

Xu Kai leaned back in his chair, his thin face expressionless. "The land requisition and tax exemptions that Chen Youde brought up all only went back to Kong Jiulang, the steward of the Kong family."

"This person went to the state government office a few days ago to confess his crimes, saying that all the misappropriation of property and private transactions were handled by him using Kong Youan's name, and Kong Youan himself was unaware of them."