Peng Wang understood Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran's temperament. Although the two of them got along harmoniously with everyone on ordinary days, that was because no one had provoked them.
Especially He Zhiran. The scene of her roaring at the Eighth Old Zhou was still vivid...
In all his years as an escort officer, this was the first time Peng Wang had gotten along so well with prisoners on the road.
By now, he already regarded Mo Jiuye as a good brother and sincerely did not want them to be bothered and calculated against.
Therefore, Peng Wang felt that before going to Deputy Magistrate Cui to process the paperwork, he had to remind them first.
With this thought in mind, Peng Wang ordered the team to temporarily wait in front of the county government building while he went alone to the front of the Mo family.
Seeing Peng Wang come over, Mo Jiuye figured he must have something to say, so he took the initiative to ask:
"Big Brother Peng, is there something you want to say?"
Peng Wang edged closer into the crowd of Mo family members and said in a low voice:
"Brother, the officials in front of the county government building just said that the former county magistrate of Yun City has gone to take up a post elsewhere, and the new county magistrate has not yet arrived. So now, processing your paperwork will be under the full authority of Deputy Magistrate Cui here."
When the official had just told Peng Wang this, Mo Jiuye had also heard some of it.
"What's wrong with the deputy magistrate handling the paperwork?"
Peng Wang looked at the two officials at the entrance of the county government building, then whispered:
"Brother Mo doesn't know this. Deputy Magistrate Cui is greedy and lustful. In the past when I brought prisoners here to process paperwork, whichever cases were handled by Deputy Magistrate Cui, they would have to give him some benefits.
As for those families who don't care about their daughters, in order to be assigned a good place, they would offer up innocent young ladies..."
Upon hearing this, the Mo family's faces darkened.
Mo Chuhan moved past Mo Jiuye and came close to Peng Wang.
"What if my Mo family adamantly refuses to provide benefits?"
Peng Wang sighed.
"All the villages in Yun City accept exiled prisoners, and these villages are ranked from one to nine.
Without a doubt, Deputy Magistrate Cui would assign those who gave satisfactory benefits to villages with good environments and relatively superior conditions.
As for those families who really couldn't provide benefits but were willing to lower their stance and speak nicely, Deputy Magistrate Cui would be happy to assign them to mid-tier villages.
On the contrary, those unwilling to provide any benefits and also unwilling to lower their stance to curry favor would naturally be assigned to remote villages that no one wanted to go to."
After a short pause, it seemed Peng Wang recalled something. He continued:
"Also, I heard that there are a few particularly special villages here. The environments and such are quite good, but no one is willing to go there.
The reason is that the villagers there are difficult to get along with. Whoever goes there won't last long before getting ostracized and left homeless."
The Mo family grew increasingly angry as they listened.
Mo Chuhan clenched his fists and angrily shouted: "There really is no king's law! A petty deputy magistrate is actually so arrogant."
Seeing her husband showing signs of anger, the Eighth Sister-in-law promptly came forward to persuade: "Husband, we should carefully discuss this matter with Ninth Younger Brother and the others first, don't be impulsive."
Mo Chuhan forcefully suppressed the anger in his heart and looked towards his family members.
"Mother, Ninth Younger Brother, Ninth Sister-in-Law, all my sisters-in-law, what are your thoughts regarding this matter?"
The Second Sister-in-Law was first to voice her stance: "Such dog officials must not be indulged."
The Fifth Sister-in-Law also agreed: "Second Sister-in-Law is right, he can't be spoiled."
Old Lady Mo looked towards Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran.
"Jiuye, what do you and your wife think?"
After exchanging a glance, Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran replied: "Mother, we'll act according to the situation."
Old Lady Mo nodded: "Alright, act according to the situation."
Peng Wang didn't understand what the Mo family's "act according to the situation" entailed, but in any case, he had already clearly stated what he should warn them about. As for what the Mo family chose to do, that was up to them.
Without a doubt, the Fang Family and Xie Family would follow the Mo family every step of the way. Even if the Mo family really did end up in the worst place, they would certainly choose to follow.
Peng Wang went back in front of the county government building again and said a few words to the guards at the door. One official went inside to report.
Soon, the official returned and led the group inside.
Familiarly, Peng Wang entered a room. He quickly returned and beckoned for all the exiled prisoners to follow him inside the room.
Everyone stuck close behind Peng Wang as they entered the room.
The room was very big, probably arranged specifically for assigning these exiled people.
In the open space in the center, everyone stood without feeling crowded at all.
Sitting behind the desk at the head was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties with a slender build - undoubtedly Deputy Magistrate Cui.
Deputy Magistrate Cui lazily raised his eyelids, glanced over everyone present, then arrogantly nodded towards Peng Wang.
Peng Wang was rank eight while Deputy Magistrate Cui was rank nine, so Peng Wang naturally would not debase himself before him.
However, this was Deputy Magistrate Cui's territory where he usually acted with no regard for anyone, completely looking down on Peng Wang.
Peng Wang was already used to this abnormal behavior. After all, everyone understood the logic of how local tyrants bully outsiders. Returning to the capital to report back as early as possible was most important to him. He was too lazy to contend with petty people like Deputy Magistrate Cui.
Although Deputy Magistrate Cui didn't think anything of Peng Wang, Peng Wang similarly would not lower his stance.
He beckoned to the Eighth Old Zhou, who delivered a stack of documents to the desk.
Then Peng Wang sat in a nearby chair without saying a word.
Deputy Magistrate Cui picked up the documents and glanced through them briefly, then squinted as he sized up the group of exiled prisoners standing below.
"The Mo Family of the Duke Who Protects The Nation, the Fang Family of the Minister of War... Tsk tsk, all big shots!"
As he spoke, Deputy Magistrate Cui's expression suddenly changed.
He slammed the table heavily: "I don't care what kind of prominent families you were from before. Now that you're in my territory, you have to follow the rules here!"
Next, an official stepped forward and shamelessly stated the distribution conditions here.
First he read out the names of a few villages, then said: "Among all of Yun City, these villages are first-class places. Of course, whether you can live in this kind of place depends on your own conduct."
As soon as the official finished speaking, Liu, the elder daughter-in-law of the He Family, fawned over him and asked: "Sir, may I ask what conduct is required to be assigned to the villages you mentioned?"
The official looked Liu up and down several times. Seeing her tattered clothes, not an ounce of flesh on her skinny body, and the intolerable look of her face, his mood instantly soured.
"You were all once part of prominent official families. Do I really need to teach you how to conduct yourselves?"
Of course Liu understood the twists and turns in this, which was why she had politely inquired first to grasp the situation. She never expected that despite her courtesy, she would suffer ridicule!
Even so, Liu had no intention of giving up on currying favor.
The He Family had already suffered enough on the journey here. Having finally arrived in the northwest, they could not continue living such destitute lives. At the very least, their living conditions had to improve somewhat.
"Sir, don't get angry. Let's talk nicely... talk nicely..."
