Chapter 693: Each Time Brings More Surprises (Patreon)

Chapter 693: Each Time Brings More Surprises

Shu Yu's face was filled with confusion as Qi Chan continued, "The first time was at the inn where you warned me and saved my life."

Shu Yu waved her hand, thinking that it wasn't really saving his life. Even if she hadn't discovered the presence of the assassin at the time, Qi Chan's guards weren't pushovers.

"And the second time was when you encountered the giant beast the other day. And now, this is the third time, where you brought Yao Tianqin here, which is such a great gift to me."

Qi Chan looked at Shu Yu with increasing satisfaction. Although they had only met three times, this young girl surprised him more and more each time.

Originally, he had thought that, given his status, he would be the one bringing benefits to Shu Yu. But it turned out to be completely the opposite.

Shu Yu was perplexed. "The big tiger we encountered? Is that also considered a gift?"

However, Qi Chan clearly had no intention of answering.

The tiger had indeed been an unexpected encounter. That day, due to waiting for Shu Yu to come down from the mountain, along with giving rewards to the tiger-hunting team, it had become quite late by the time they returned to the county town.

The county magistrate had already received news of their arrival in Heichang County and had prepared food and drinks at his residence, waiting for Cheng Xian to arrive.

Little did they know that magistrate Cheng would bring a big tiger into the yamen. The creature had been shot with an arrow, and blood was gushing out, making it look especially eerie, as if it was staring at them with bloodshot eyes that refused to close.

The sky was dark, and the county magistrate was already quite nervous. But when faced with the appearance of the giant creature, he took a few steps back in fright and blurted out, "It's none of my business."

That was a strange thing to say. Normally, when a huge creature was caught, the county magistrate of Heichang County should have been delighted. Even if he was afraid of the creature, his reaction shouldn't have been like that.

Although the county magistrate quickly regained his composure and made up an excuse, pretending that nothing had happened, Magistrate Cheng and Qi Chan, being seasoned officials, were like old foxes. If they couldn't see through this abnormality, then they shouldn't be officials.

Magistrate Cheng had left a few people to keep an eye on the county magistrate. As expected, they reported that the county magistrate had left and discussed the matter of the giant beast with his confidant.

As it turned out, two years ago, the county magistrate, who was audacious and corrupt, had killed an undercover officer sent by his superiors. He had too many unsavory dealings, and the officer wasn't originally planning to investigate him. He had come for other reasons.

But as the officer continued his investigation, he unexpectedly found evidence that pointed to the county magistrate. Fearing exposure, the magistrate resorted to desperate measures and secretly killed the officer.

This incident had caused quite a sensation in Linzhang Prefecture at the time. The authorities could only conclude that the officer had gone missing in the neighboring county town. As a result, the county magistrate of the neighboring county was immediately dismissed from his post.

Later, someone somehow traced the trail to the nearby mountains. It seemed that the officer had indeed entered the mountains before his disappearance, but nobody knew what he had done there. The county magistrate of Heichang County was in a panic and came up with a plan to dispose of the officer's body by feeding it to the tigers in the mountains.

At that time, Magistrate Cheng was not yet the governor. The previous governor had been demoted by this incident, and Magistrate Cheng had taken his place as the governor.

Unexpectedly, two years later, this incident was brought up again, and the culprit himself mentioned it.

Magistrate Cheng had originally planned to deal with the county magistrate, but so far, they had only found evidence of minor offenses, which wasn't enough to apprehend him.

(End of the chapter)