Chapter 120: County Magistrate of Forest Town Getting Punished

Lu Lin had a good time in Sha County, but he didn't know that county magistrate of Forest Town was dismissed from his post.

The county magistrate of Forest Town went too far on cooking up some schemes against the wealthy merchants in Forest Town because he was about to retire, he just wanted to seize the last opportunity to make a fast buck.

Chen Xiao Mai mentioned this matter casually to Ji Yun An before, and Ji Yun An secretly told Ji Cheng Kang who was devoted to maintaining fairness and justice in official circles. He wrote a letter to his friends in the capital city regarding this matter.

The Ji Family was one of the most influential and privileged families, Ji Cheng Kang associated with a few officials in the Imperial College.

Ji Cheng Kang's friends weren't exactly the Prime Minister, but it was not hard for them to probe deeply into a seventh-ranking county magistrate.

It didn't take much effort for them to find out how the county magistrate of Forest Town took corruption through misuse of law. As a result, the county magistrate along with the Secretary-General were both dismissed from their posts and convicted.

The news provoked an uproar in Forest Town. The people were confused and curious while the merchants who were once blackmailed all clapped and cheered.

As a matter of fact, the people didn't care that much because officials were out of reach, they were just confused and curious more than anything. However, the news affected the Lus greatly.

After the county magistrate was sent to jail, the Secretary-General was also sent to jail as an accomplice.

The Secretary-General's offense was not as serious as the county magistrate's. His family was not implicated into this, but his property was confiscated and the family was kicked out.

Li Ru, one of the Secretary-General's concubines, led a comfortable life. Especially during the past few months, the county magistrate would give a small portion of the illicit money to the Secretary-General. Li Ru had been dreaming about a better future when her husband was thrown into prison.

'Husband and wife are like birds in the woods, when trouble comes, they flee separately.' Li Ru and the other concubines had to live on their own after the Secretary-General's residence was confiscate. Two of Secretary-General's concubines worked in brothels before, they had to go back to prostitution after they were kicked out from the Secretary-General's residence.

......

The people in Big Stone Village knew that Lu Cheng Yu and Secretary-General were brothers-in-law. They couldn't help inquiring this matter with Lu Cheng Yu.

Lu Cheng Yu was annoyed by the questions and decided not to go out.

Tang looked at Lu Cheng Yu and said, "Cheng Yu! What happened to the Secretary-General?"

Lu Cheng Yu said unhappily, "He and the county magistrate were too greedy."

Lu Cheng Yu thought to himself, "The county magistrate framed quite a few plots against the big merchants in town recently, probably he went too far and some victim had reported him.'

"The heaven is high and the emperor is far away, I heard it's because His Lordship has offended someone and this is retaliation!" " Tang said.

Lu Cheng Yu said coldly, "He is not some lordship now. He is nothing but a prisoner."

Tang snorted and said, "They are both too greedy, but Cheng Yu, have you thought about what you are going to do in the future now that it's impossible for us to count on the Secretary-General?"

Lu Cheng Yu shook his head and said, "This doesn't concern me, it's not like we used to rely on him or he had actually offered us any substantial help."

Tang let out a sigh. After Li Fang Yue married into the family, it was true that they didn't get much help from the Secretary-General. However, the villagers still thought a great deal about their family.

Tang sighed and said, "This all happened too fast without any warning."

Tang had a hard time digesting the news, she always regarded the county magistrate as absolute authority, she couldn't understand how a big shot like the county magistrate could end up in jail overnight.

"Cheng Yu, do you have any updates about Lu Lin?" asked Tang.

Lu Cheng Yu's heart sank as he heard that then he shook his head. Lu Lin went to Sha County a long time ago, but the villagers still took great delight in elaborating this matter.

The villagers kind of took everything for granted when Lu Lin was around. But they soon started to miss him after he left, because they had lost means of making extra money.

The villagers would mention Lu Lin with great admiration, they had no idea where Sha County was and how the situation was, they just assumed it must be somewhere nice. They all felt honored that one of their fellow villagers had become an official, it was a shame that Lu Lin hadn't been keeping in touch with them or showed any interest in sharing the glory.

Lu Cheng Yu said unhappily, "Lu Lin is just an illiterate person, I think it's just a matter of time that he makes a terrible political blunder and gets dismissed."

Tang's face darkened. "This punk, how can he be a government official in the first place?"

Tang was always indignant about the fact that Lu Lin had become an official. Every time she thought about it, she felt nauseous.

......

The people in the village sighed at the news of the County Magistrate was sent to jail.

"Life is really unpredictable! The biggest official in our town just fall from power overnight!"

"Yeah! His property was confiscated!"

"Humph, he is the reason why Lu Lin left Forest Town, I say it's high time this greedy official should be removed from his post. If not for him, Lu Lin should still be running his store in town."

"Lu Lin indeed is a man of great resolution! Such a big store, but he just sold it in a blink of an eye. He didn't have to leave if he waited for a while."

"But we should feel happy for Lu Lin. He is a government official now."

"I heard that the County Magistrate had offended someone, that was why he was removed from his post, could it be Lu Lin?"

"How could it be Lu Lin? Lu Lin is also a county magistrate, they are on the same ranking!"

"It's a pity that Lu Cheng Yu's brother-in-law is implicated."

"That's hard to say. I heard that it was the Secretary-General who had instigated our county magistrate to become more and more greedy."

......

Lu Lin who was happy and contented in Sha County had no idea what had become of the county magistrate of the Forest Town, he would most likely sigh with emotion if he had heard of that.

The weather was getting colder and colder, Lu Lin started to use kang.

In this time and space, people usually struggled in winter, especially the poor. They could only afford to make a bonfire if they had collected enough firewood. Lu Lin started to use kang early this year because it was windy in Sha County.

In the military camp, the soldiers always kept warm by the fire, but they would only do that at the time of bitter winter.

Ji Yun An thought to himself, This County Magistrate really knows how to enjoy life! It's just early winter, he has always used kang. But the kang is just so comfortable, it keeps you warm the whole night!'

Ji Yun An used to share a room with the Qins, but Lu Lin asked Yuan Bao to share a room with him since they found out he was General Ji's nephew.

Yuan Bao looked at Ji Yun An, "My Little Uncle's room is just across the hall."

Ji Yun An frowned and didn't understand why Yuan Bao said this.

"Don't accidentally grope into my Little Uncle's room in the middle of the night and take advantage of my uncle."

Ji Yun An blushed and thought, 'What happened back then was an accident! I had no idea Xiao Mai was a Bio, and now everyone sees me as a playboy! I just wish I could do time travel!'

"Don't worry. I won't."

Yuan Bao snorted and said, "Who knows? But I need to remind you, Little Uncle is very powerful. If you don't want to be beaten up, just behave yourself."

Ji Yun An was rendered speechless by that childish warning.

......

Lu Lin stood in front of the window and looked at the snowflakes outside.

"Has Sha County always been so cold?" Lu Lin asked Ji Yun An.

Ji Yun An nodded and said "Yes, it is much colder than the capital city." The border district is bitter cold, so no one is willing to come!

Lu Lin looked at Ji Yun An and asked, "Will anyone be frozen to death?"

Ji Yun An nodded and said, "It is possible. Many locals have moved away for better living conditions, and those who haven't moved are old and sick.

Lu Lin nodded and said, "That's so sad."

Ji Yun An nodded and said, "Yeah! Winter is a trying time for a lot of people. Many soldiers in the military suffer great joint pain on cold days.

Ji Yun An shook his head and couldn't help worrying about the people in the military camp. Seeing Ji Yun An's sad expression, Lu Lin also felt a bit sympathetic.

Lu Lin summoned several female servants at home, and then found a few female villagers who were good at needlework to make knee pads for the soldiers.

Lu Lin bought some old quilts and used the cotton inside for the knee pads.

Chen Xiao Mi looked at a pai of finished knee pads and asked curiously, "How do you use these?"

"They will protect your knees from cold wind. See, you just use the two straps here and tie them at the back of your knee area then you tighten the straps like this," Lu Lin said.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "It's good stuff, but we don't go out often in winter."

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm making them for the soldiers who need to go patrolling several times per day."

Chen Xiao Mi curled his lips and said sullenly, "I heard that people in the patrolling camp don't like us."

The military officers in this patrol camp were of a much higher rank than Lu Lin. Most villagers in this county only respected the patrol camp, not the county magistrate. Chen Xiao Mi have the greatest esteem for border defense, but it was inevitable for him to feel hurt when he heard they didn't like his husband.

"It takes time to eliminate prejudice, Mi, we can be the bigger person in this situation and make the first move. What was more, the general of the patrolling camp is a great person, we can start trying to have a conversation with them, right?"

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "You are right."

Chen Xiao Mi thought to himself, 'Winter is coming, the soldiers really need something to defend against the cold. Plus the old quits are not expensive."

Lu Lin asked the female workers to make 100 pairs of knee pads and he put the knee pads together with 100 pairs of gloves he had taken from Forest Town in a few boxes.

When they left Forest Town, Lu Lin had stored some gloves in the convenience store. And he figured not it was a good time to put them into use.

Chen Xiao Cai had been sending tofu to the military camp on a regular basis. On this day, Chen Xiao Cai put the boxes on the cart and send them along with the tofu to the military camp.

Liu Yun was surprised when he saw the gloves and knee pads.

Several officers and soldiers also gathered around to have a look at the stuff inside the boxes.

Chen Xiao Cai explained how to use the knee pads and gloves to the soldiers. Everyone was amazed, they couldn't wait to put them on.

......

Liu Yun took the things reported this to Ji Cheng Kang.

"General, this new County Magistrate is very thoughtful!" Liu Yun said.

Liu Yun meant to stand on ceremony with Chen Xiao Cai in the beginning and rejected the kindness verbally, but some soldiers had always put them on before he could say a word to Chen Xiao Mai.

Seeing the situation, Liu Yun had to ditch the plan and thank Xiao Cai profusely.

Liu Yun originally wanted to give Chen Xiao Cai some money, but Chen Xiao Cai said these gloves and knee pads were gifts from his brother and brother-in-law, and they weren't expecting any reward.

" Let's accept his kindness with gratitude," said Ji Cheng Kang.

Liu Yun shook his head and said, "Those soldiers in our camp are so uncouth."

Ji Cheng Kang shook his head and said, "They left their hometowns since they were very young and vowed to protect the border. They are suffering a great deal, let not..."

With that Ji Cheng Kang got a bit emotional.

Liu Yun sighed and said, "That's right!"

In the camp, several soldiers were putting on the gloves and knee pads. "This thing is great! Thick and warm. Wearing this thing on your body, the wind won't be so bone-piercing."

"It's great! The new County Magistrate seems to be much more virtuous than the previous ones."

Most of the military officers and soldiers in the military camp were wild and intractable, but they were easy to curry favor with. Lu Lin's gifts had won their hearts immediately.

There were only 100 pairs of knee pads, only the patrolling team had access to that.