"Alas, speaking of this, the new County Magistrate replaced everyone with his relatives." This was indeed the most bizarre appointment of a County Magistrate he had ever seen.
Some County Magistrates take office alone, bringing only a few followers, or at most bring their wives and children.
But this County Magistrate, he brought almost his entire family of relatives.
"Let me tell you, now our Quanyaās constables, one is the County Magistrateās brother-in-law, the other is his young uncle. As for the bailiffs, all of them are his various cousins, maternal uncles, brothers-in-law, even his future brother-in-law is among them."
"Do his brother-in-law and young uncle have any skills?" Ye Ziāan questioned whether the bailiffs and constables at the county yamen could be someone easily appointed without actual skill, especially since constables are required to be highly capable.
"What skills? I could take down a bunch of them single-handedly." Constable Hong felt frustrated just thinking about it; he wouldnāt have been so discontent if it werenāt for this reason.
Originally, his wife fell ill, and he didnāt want to be a constable any longer so he could take care of her, but thereās a difference between leaving on his own accord and being dismissed by the yamen.
Especially since the people who replaced him were such individuals, how could cases in Quanya County be investigated or tried properly from now on?
"Whatās the background of this new County Magistrate? To be able to pull off such things, nepotism shouldnāt work like this. At the very least, there should be some genuinely capable people in those positions."
Yang Chuxia was speechless too. Did the new County Magistrate have a hole in his head?
Constable Hong said, "On the surface, he seems to be a County Magistrate who passed the exam from the countryside, and so the saying goes, āWhen one man gets a government position, all his cronies come into power too.ā Not sure if there are people backing him."
"Since these people arrived, have they done anything harmful to the common people?" Ye Ziāan was most concerned about this, afraid that relying on the County Magistrate as their backing, they would bully others with their power.
"As of now, nothing has happened in Wangquan Town, but I canāt say for other places."
Ye Ziāan nodded and then asked, "So Uncle Hong, what do you plan to do next?"
"For now, I canāt think of anything else, just staying home to take care of Auntie Hong. She was able to get out of bed and walk around before the New Year, but now she canāt. A doctor just visited a few days ago and fears that she may not make it through the year. Iāll wait and see. If Auntie Hong... then Iāll decide what to do next."
"Uncle Hong, if you have any difficulties, remember to tell us." She felt powerless when it came to life, aging, sickness, and death; she wasnāt a miracle doctor after all.
Then she thought, wait, she might not be a miracle doctor, but Mu Shaoling was, and that man was still in Quanya County. She just didnāt know if she could invite him to take a look. That man was quite proud and might not agree. Better not to mention it to Uncle Hong for now and bring it up if Mu Shaoling was willing.
"Ah, I understand. We can still get by for now, the salary from being a constable isnāt bad, and I have saved quite a bit over the years, enough for Auntie Hongās medicine."
After finishing his words, Constable Hong didnāt stay any longer, worried about his wife at home.
"We should go to the pharmacy later and see if we can buy some good ginseng, and then visit Auntie Hong. Uncle Hong took good care of us back in the day."
"We should definitely pay a visit," Ye Ziāan nodded in agreement.
Thus, shortly after Constable Hong had just reached home, Ye Ziāan and Yang Chuxia arrived at his door, causing Constable Hong to feel somewhat embarrassed, thinking he shouldnāt have mentioned his troubles.
However, Ye Ziāan reassured him that it would have been wrong not to tell them, for they regarded Uncle Hong as their own uncle, which relieved Constable Hong of some of his embarrassment.