The Little Lucky Girl

"As long as you agree, it won't be difficult to find the traces of wild beasts." County Lieutenant Mu said, "The caravans of the Jin and Gu families often travel near the mountains and forests. They should know where wild beasts are."

The old clan leader was not optimistic. "But now your position in the county government is not as high as before. They may not help you."

County Magistrate Mu didn't have this worry. "If it were any other family, they might have raised questions, but not those two. Do you remember when the city was closed due to the epidemic last year, weren't they the ones who made the most trouble?"

He said, "Although the two families gave Magistrate Tao a large gift to apologize after the incident was settled, I saw from the sidelines that they were not completely convinced in their hearts, and I am afraid that their relationship with the county government will be difficult to restore to the way it was before."

"Now the county government is full of Magistrate Tao's people. I'm afraid I'm the only county lieutenant who can help these two families. For this reason alone, they will help us."

The old clan leader was persuaded. He felt that the current county magistrate was different from the officials he had interacted with in the past. He couldn't think of a better way at the moment, so he might as well bring more people together. So he nodded and said:

"Well, the sooner the better. You should go and discuss it with them today. While the personnel of the county government have not changed yet, we need to repair our relationship with the county magistrate as soon as possible."

As soon as County Lieutenant Mu came out of the clan leader's house, he sent someone to invite the managers of the Gu and Jin families to come for a drink.

A day later, he was invited back by the stewards of the two families.

Just after a round of drinks, the Jin family steward said, "Our master asked me to tell you something. He is old and powerless. And the master is away from home now. We don't know when he will come back. I am afraid that I will delay your important matter, so I came here today to apologize to you."

The housekeeper smiled and stood up and bowed, "It's been cold these days. My master and I may have caught a cold. We feel dizzy and have forgotten many things we heard. Please enjoy your meal and drink. Today's wine will be charged to my Jin family. I have something else to do, so I won't stay with you any longer. Goodbye, goodbye."

The other two people in the room watched him leave in silence. Steward Gu shook his head and said, "The Jin family doesn't want to get on board with you, Lord County Lieutenant."

Seeing that County Lieutenant Mu looked unhappy, Manager Gu tried to comfort him, "Don't worry, our family is happy to help you. But let's be honest, wild animals have become increasingly rare in recent years, and we really have no idea what the tiger you mentioned is."

County Magistrate Mu frowned. This idea was originally proposed by his ancestor Qiao'er, who then convinced the clan leader.

If he gave him other valuable things, not to mention that the clan didn't have them anymore, even if they did, they probably wouldn't be willing to give them to him.

"What's Master Jin's idea?"

"My master told you not to worry," Steward Gu filled his glass with wine. "You wanted to send a tiger over just to please the county magistrate. But our Lord Tao was originally an official in Beijing, so his vision is naturally much higher than that of ordinary local officials. I heard that tigers are not rare animals in Beijing. Street jugglers can even lead them through fire hoops for people's amusement."

County Magistrate Mu was shocked. He had forgotten about this. "What does Master Gu mean?"

"My master said that since we are going to take the risk to go into the mountains, we might as well find a rare and exotic animal," Steward Gu said leisurely, "For example... a peacock."

County Magistrate Mu couldn't help but take a deep breath, "Peacock? No one has seen one here for many years. Besides, this is the treasure of the Golden Tooth Clan. Aren't you afraid of being hunted down by their people?"

"Since it is a flying bird, who knows if it flew here by itself." Manager Gu smiled, "Such an auspicious bird, I'm afraid the county magistrate will be tempted. When the peacock is raised in the county government, no matter how powerful the Golden Tooth Clan is, can they still go against the court?"

County Magistrate Mu clenched the wine glass in his hand, with a struggling expression on his face.

Steward Gu filled his glass again and said, "Someone in my family has seen a few peacocks in the Jinshui River area. Now it depends on whether the county lieutenant has the courage to take his people there."

County Lieutenant Mu gritted his teeth and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp. "I will go back and discuss this with the clan leader."

......

Magistrate Tao was standing under the eaves. Seeing Ming Youyou playing around the peacock, he called him over and asked, "I heard that you have the custom of peacock dancing?"

Ming Youyou nodded, "Yes, I know how to do it. Sir, do you want to see it? How about I dance for you?"

Magistrate Tao stared at her and asked, "Are you sure that what you danced can be called a peacock dance?"

Ming Youyou followed his gaze and looked at herself... Her bulging belly made her snort angrily, "I, I ate more on purpose to gain weight in the winter. I will naturally lose weight when the weather gets warmer."

"That does make sense. Then you should eat more meat later." Magistrate Tao coaxed absentmindedly.

He turned to Master He and said, "This peacock is so famous in Lingnan, and people from outside are willing to pay a lot of money to buy it, but it has hardly been sold alive. This is not something that the Golden Tooth Clan can do alone. I'm afraid that the local people in Yuqing are intentionally protecting this rare bird."

Magistrate Tao narrowed his eyes and snorted coldly, "This gift is indeed thoughtful."

The master replied with a smile: "Then you may as well follow their wishes and send this rare bird to the capital. It will be a good thing to get a promotion."

Magistrate Tao chuckled. "I don't know where these people got their confidence from. They were so sure that I would accept this gift. Not to mention whether I would use it for anything, just the fact that I put this peacock in the county government office made me lose the support of the people without realizing it."

Master He understood and bowed, saying, "County Magistrate Mu may not have thought of this. I'm afraid he has been used by someone without knowing it. I'll have someone investigate right away."

Ming Youyou was listening blankly beside him, "You don't want to accept the gift, so you want to send the peacock back?"

Magistrate Tao nodded and said, "That's exactly what I meant. So you should take the time to watch and try to dance like a spirit bird."

He asked the county clerk, "Do you know where the Golden Tooth Tribe lives?"

"Your Excellency," the clerk said in embarrassment, "The Golden Tooth Tribe lives near the Jinshui River, which is already the edge of our Yuqing County. In addition, they are unwilling to contact the outside world, so the county government did not know much about the situation there before."

"Then do you know the way to their land?"

The clerk shook his head awkwardly.

Ming Youyou blinked, "My grandpa knows. He went there before to collect medicinal herbs. It takes half a day to get there from our village, crossing five or six mountains and walking along the river."

She chuckled and said, "Sir, if you want to go there, can you take us with you? My grandfather said that the river water under the sunset is very spectacular and beautiful, but it's a pity that he never takes me there."