Chapter 144 Magistrate Yang personally delivers household registration documents
Chapter 144 Magistrate Yang personally delivers household registration documents
Wen Dashan moved with Wen Linshi to Wen Yunhong's house in Gujia Village, Fancheng. Yang Shi, Wen Zibai, and Wen Zihua also moved into their new house with their families.
Entrusted by Xia Yichen, Zhang Jinxuan personally went to Fancheng to handle the household registration for Wen Dashan and others. At the Fancheng County Government Office, Zhang Jinxuan took out his waist token and flashed it to the two constables at the door, then said coldly, "Looking for Magistrate Yang."
The waist badge only had the character "辰" on it. Neither of the two constables knew the meaning of the character, but the fact that it was made of pure gold was enough to show that Zhang Jinxuan was of extraordinary status.
Officer A turned and entered the county government office. Officer B respectfully invited Zhang Jinxuan into the hall, offered him hot tea, and bowed and scraped, saying, "Young master, please have some tea."
Upon hearing the nameplate, Magistrate Yang immediately led his clerk and everyone in the county office out to greet him. As they walked, the clerk asked, "Sir, who is that person at the gate?"
Magistrate Yang replied irrelevantly, "Only members of the royal family and dukes, marquises, and nobles are qualified to use pure gold for their waist badges. Think about it carefully, whose name is 'Chen'?"
The clerk's mind raced, and then, with a look of surprise, he whispered, "Could it be that the person who came is a subordinate of the Crown Prince?" Magistrate Yang nodded slightly.
Xia Yichen made a total of five pure gold waist tokens. Three are with him, and two are kept at Yunyi Tower. Zhang Jinxuan and Li Jiating, who do not hold official positions, must carry these waist tokens when going out to do errands for Xia Yichen.
Magistrate Yang walked to the entrance hall, extended his right hand in a gesture of invitation, and said with a smile, "Young master, please come in."
After learning of Zhang Jinxuan's purpose, Magistrate Yang personally registered the household registrations for Wen Dashan and the others. He then asked ingratiatingly, "Young master, will you take the household registrations to Gujia Village, or shall I deliver them to you?"
Considering that the Wen family was unfamiliar with Gujia Village, Zhang Jinxuan said with a faint smile, "Wen Dashan, the head of the Wen family, is Princess Muhua's biological grandfather. Magistrate Yang personally delivering the household registration is a good opportunity for him to become familiar with the area."
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Yang's eyes lit up immediately. Princess Mu Hua was the only princess in the Great Xia Dynasty to come from the common people, and the Wen family was actually related to her. He had to curry favor with them properly.
After seeing Zhang Jinxuan off, Magistrate Yang made careful preparations and went to Gujia Village early the next morning with the Wen family's household registration and the gifts he had prepared.
Upon arriving at Gujia Village, Magistrate Yang did not immediately go to Wen Dashan's house. Instead, he ordered his carriage to be driven to the door of Village Chief Gu's house.
Village Chief Gu was flattered and invited Magistrate Yang into the main hall, asking obsequiously, "What brings you to my humble abode, Your Excellency?"
Magistrate Yang's entourage consisted of two carriages. In the first carriage sat Magistrate Yang and his advisor, Zhang. Just now, the wind had blown the curtains, and he had spotted the gift boxes piled up in the second carriage.
He knew everyone in Gujia Village and had never heard of anyone having any connection with the county magistrate, except for the Wen family who had just built a new house. Could it be that Magistrate Yang came for the Wen family?
They conspired with the villagers to target the Wen family, overcharging them for building their house and falsely claiming that all the prime residential land in the village had been bought up by villagers, thus luring the Wen family to buy a plot of land at the foot of the mountain to settle down...
Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Village Chief Gu's forehead. He looked at Magistrate Yang with a fawning expression, hoping that what Magistrate Yang said wasn't what he thought.
Magistrate Yang smiled faintly and said, "I'm here to deliver household registrations on behalf of Master Wen." He then gestured for his clerk to produce the household registrations for Village Chief Gu to register.
Village Chief Gu was eager to know the relationship between Wen Dashan and Magistrate Yang, but he dared not ask. With trembling hands and a heart full of trepidation, he wrote down the names of Wen Dashan and the others in the register.
"Sir, the names have been registered. Should I deliver the Wen family's household registration documents, sir, or should I do it?" Village Chief Gu asked ingratiatingly.
Magistrate Yang's lips curled into a smile. He had come here to make his presence felt, so how could he possibly delegate the task of delivering household registrations to someone else?
Before leaving, Zhang Jinxuan told him that the Wen family only wanted to live a peaceful life and not to tell anyone about the Wen family's relationship with Princess Muhua. He also asked Zhang Jinxuan to take care of the Wen family as much as he could within his means.
As the county magistrate, he couldn't possibly come to Gujia Village every day to keep watch. If the Wen family wanted to live happily in Gujia Village, they would have to rely on the village chief to take care of them.
"I will personally deliver it," Magistrate Yang said after a slight pause, "You should also go; the Wen family still needs your care in Gujia Village."
Village Chief Gu's face turned deathly pale. It was all over; Magistrate Yang really was connected to the Wen family. "Old woman, quickly go and catch me two chickens. I need to go and congratulate Master Wen on moving to his new house!"
Village Chief Gu's wife had been sewing shoe soles in the yard. She had overheard the conversation between Magistrate Yang and Village Chief Gu in the main room. Upon hearing this, she quickly got up and went to the backyard. A moment later, she returned to the front yard carrying two old hens.
The Wen family was helping Wen Dashan and his wife clean the house and pack their belongings when they heard Village Chief Gu knocking at the gate: "Master Wen, Master Wen, are you home? The county magistrate has brought you the household registration documents."
Upon hearing that the county magistrate had arrived, Wen Dashan was somewhat confused. Yesterday, it was Zhang Jinxuan who took the land deed and house deed to register the household registration; today, it was the county magistrate who came to deliver the household registration documents.
Isn't Zhang Jinxuan a businessman? How dare he order the county magistrate around? Wen Dashan shook his head vigorously. Forget it, if he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't think about it anymore. Welcoming the county magistrate was the priority.
With his family in tow, Magistrate Yang, all smiles, helped Wen Dashan, who was about to kneel, and said kindly to Wen Zibai and the others, "No need for formalities, no need for formalities, please rise quickly."
Wen Dashan invited the people into the main room and instructed the three sisters-in-law of the Yang family to serve tea to Magistrate Yang and his entourage.
Magistrate Yang picked up his teacup, took a sip, and handed Wen Yunhong's land deed, house deed, and the household registration documents of Wen Dashan and his wife to Wen Dashan.
Turning to look at Wen Zibo and the others, he called out, "Wen Zibo." Wen Zibo bowed slightly and said, "This humble one is here." Magistrate Yang smiled and handed him the land deeds, house deeds, and household registration, saying, "Brother Wen, there's no need to be so formal."
Afterwards, Magistrate Yang ordered the names of Wen Zihua and Wen Yunjiang to be handed over to them the land deeds, house deeds, and household registration records of their families.
"Master Wen, Young Master Zhang has important business to discuss and has specifically asked me to bring you your land deeds, house deeds, and household registration. Oh, and I've also prepared a small gift to congratulate you on moving to your new home,"
After distributing the household registrations, Magistrate Yang began to distribute the congratulatory gifts he had brought. There were four sets of household registrations, and he had also prepared four sets of gifts, one for each of Wen Dashan, Wen Zibai, Wen Zihua, and Wen Yunjiang.
Standing in the courtyard watching Magistrate Yang distribute gifts, Village Chief Gu's face showed a rare hint of embarrassment. He was struggling to divide the two old hens he was carrying into four portions. Could someone teach him? He was in a real hurry.
Perhaps God heard Village Chief Gu's heartfelt words, for his eldest grandson was outside the yard carrying two old hens, shouting loudly, "Excuse me, make way! Excuse me, make way!"
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