Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Looking at the two constables, Shen Zheng laughed out loud: "Have the chief clerk and these two laborers eaten?"

When Xu Zhubu heard Shen Zheng's words, he turned to look at the two constables. He was only thinking about returning to the county government office and did not notice that the two men were so dusty.

He also chuckled and replied, "The two laborers and I were just thinking about returning to the county government office first, and we haven't even had dinner yet."

"Sir!" The two detectives were unhappy. They worked hard all day and were still laughed at by the adults when they returned to the county government office.

Shen Zheng looked at the two people's aggrieved expressions. She and Xu Zhubu were wrong to make fun of them. "You go back to the dormitory and clean up first. I'll go get us some food."

Although the county government was poor, when it was first built, it was planned to have resting quarters for the constables. They would rest here when they were busy late at night.

When the two detectives heard that Shen Zheng wanted to cook, they quickly declined: "Don't bother your lord, don't bother your lord, the two of us will just go out and have something to eat."

Shen Zheng looked at the two people's panic and couldn't help laughing:

"I'm not cooking for you two. Xu Zhubu and I are hungry. Uncle Lai is not here today, so we'll just eat something. Go and clean up."

The two constables did not refuse any more and trotted back to the house.

Xu Zhubu, who was standing by, didn't know that Shen Zheng could cook, so he turned around and asked curiously, "Master, can you cook?"

Shen Zheng raised her head confidently: "Just wait, your parents know a lot."

After saying that, she raised her leg and walked towards the public kitchen behind the county government office. She didn't know whether Uncle Lai had left any vegetable leaves for them.

"I'd better let you go. My Lord, just wait here."

Xu Zhubu was not as thick-skinned as the two constables, and was still embarrassed to ask Shen Zheng to cook for them.

Shen Zheng's rebellious nature was aroused by Xu Zhubu. She had been here for more than a month and had never cooked, but she was determined to try it today!

She picked up the case file that had just been written on the desk and slapped it in front of Xu Zhubu.

"You stay in the court and look at this. If there is no problem, we will go to the cell to greet Liu Bucktooth after dinner. The trial will start the day after tomorrow!"

Xu Zhubu looked at the densely packed small characters on the case file, wondering where Shen Zheng got so much information in just one afternoon. Out of curiosity, he stopped cooking and began to read it carefully.

After Shen Zheng arrived at the public kitchen, she took out the extinguished firewood in the stove. When Uncle Lai was here, he would always keep the water in the pot on the stove warm, so the firewood would not go out.

But from today on, Uncle Lai rarely went back to the public kitchen. Whenever the laborers came to dig canals in a village, he would lead his men to borrow the kitchens of the surrounding villagers to cook meals.

Shen Zheng can handle cooking today, but she probably won't be able to handle cooking every day for more than a month to come.

It seems I have to hire another temporary cook, she thought.

Shen Zheng first lit the stove to a high fire, then washed the rice and steamed it.

She looked at the vegetables on the shelf next to her, which included leeks, mustard greens, and wild vegetables such as ferns. There were also a few eggs in the basket next to her.

In Shen Zheng's memory, sesame oil and soy sauce were already available in this era, but she couldn't find them after searching the public kitchen.

She sighed and said that they were too poor and had to use lard to cook.

Shen Zheng simply made a dish of scrambled eggs with leeks, a dish of stir-fried mustard greens, and some wild vegetables mixed with salad, then went to the hall to call people to eat.

Four people sat around the table. The other three had no expectations for Shen Zheng's cooking skills and thought that as long as they could fill their stomachs, it would be enough.

But when they put the scrambled eggs with leeks into their mouths, they couldn't help but widen their eyes. How could it be so delicious and smooth!

It was so delicious that they almost bit their tongues off!

Xu Zhubu and the two constables looked at each other, and the three of them stopped talking and started eating.

When there was only one piece of mustard greens left on the three plates of food on the table, everyone stopped and the three looked at Shen Zheng in unison: "Please come in, sir."

As soon as Shen Zheng put down her bowl, the three of them looked like starving ghosts. Each dish she made was quite large in portion, and she almost couldn't grab the food from them!

Now there is only one leaf left on the plate, and they are pretending to refuse. Why didn’t they know how to be humble just now?

She stood up and wiped her mouth: "I'm done eating, you guys clean up the public kitchen and come out, let's go to the prison to meet Liu Bucktooth."

The three of them instantly raised their chopsticks and started fighting for the last piece of vegetable leaf.

Shen Zheng couldn't stand it anymore, so she rolled her eyes at them and went out.

After they cleaned up the public kitchen, the group of four walked towards the prison cell of the county government office. As soon as Shen Zheng walked in, she shuddered.

She raised her hands and rubbed her arms. It was true that the prison cell in ancient times was cold and gloomy. The air in the cell also gave off an unpleasant odor, like the smell of fermented feces and urine mixed together.

Shen Zheng couldn't help but think that staying in this cell, even without the torture instruments, the smell and mental torture were severe.

The cell where Liu Buckya was imprisoned was small and cramped. The constable guarding the cell took the key from his waist and opened the door.

Liu Bucktooth, who was dozing off on the ground, was suddenly awakened. When he saw the people standing at the door, he immediately got up and wanted to rush forward to beg for mercy.

The constable standing behind Shen Zheng reacted quickly and kicked him. The constable probably used 100% of his strength in this kick and actually kicked Liu Bucktooth into the wall behind him.

The two detectives looked at each other, then turned to Shen Zheng and Xu Zhubu and said, "My lords, could you please go out and wait for me for a while?"

Shen Zheng and Xu Zhubu knew that the two were about to fight, so they left the cell together tacitly.

Shen Zheng turned his back and chatted with Xu Zhubu: "The only person imprisoned in this cell is Liu Bucktooth. He is the only one in our county jail."

Xu Zhubu nodded and said maliciously, "He must be treated very well."

"Ouch! Ouch! Sir! Please stop hitting me!" Liu Buckya's voice begging for mercy was heard from behind the two men, followed by an even louder sound of a club hitting him.

Shen Zheng ignored the noise behind her and continued, "Does the Chief Clerk think there is anything wrong with the case file?"

"Ah! You are resorting to lynching. I will go to the government office to sue you!" Seeing that begging for mercy was useless, Liu Bucktooth behind them thought of using the government office to pressure them.

"Bang!" followed by an even louder blow from a club.

Shen Zheng looked back and saw a constable named Zhao Xiu picking up the half-dead Liu Bucktooth and patting his face with the stick in his hand: "You are quite capable."

Then he wielded a flower stick and hit Liu Bucktooth with it again.

Liu Bucktooth immediately changed his expression and begged for mercy: "I won't sue you anymore! Stop hitting me."

Xu Zhubu happened to have the case file with him. He took it out and counted the crimes Liu Buckya had committed. There were twelve known cases in total.

He first said to Shen Zheng in a gentle voice: "Nothing is wrong."

Then he walked into the cell and said to the two constables, "You just gave him ten slaps, and we still need two more. Oh no, he offended the county magistrate, so he should be given eight slaps, and we still need ten more."