Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

Late at night, in the county magistrate's study, a flickering candlelight illuminated a table full of files. Behind the pile of files lay Zhang Jingwei's tired yet focused face. He clutched a case file in his hand, his brow furrowed.

"Strange..." He muttered to himself, his fingers lightly running across Xiao Kewei's resume on the page, "What he has done in the past six months is completely different from before."

The sound of a midnight clapper came from outside the window. Zhang Jingwei rubbed his sore eyes. Suddenly, a pair of soft hands wrapped around his shoulders from behind.

"Aren't you going to sleep yet?" Huangfu Ling rested her chin on his shoulder, her voice filled with sleep, "It will be dawn in two hours."

Zhang Jingwei held his wife's hand and sighed softly, "It's okay. I can't sleep anyway. I'm almost done with the file. Xiao Kewei was unknown before the previous county magistrate was overthrown. Just as Wang Ergou said, he had no faults or merits. But all his crimes..." He paused, "were committed in the past six months. It's like he cleaned up someone's mess and made himself unclean."

Huangfu Ling walked around to the table and gently lifted his chin with her bare hand: "It's not too late to investigate the case tomorrow. You haven't had a good rest these days, and your eyes are red."

Zhang Jingwei was about to retort when he saw Huangfu Ling had already picked up the cloak and put it on him and said, "I'll accompany you."

"No need to accompany me," he smiled helplessly, "Reading the files is very boring."

Huangfu Lingmei glared, then suddenly leaned over and closed the case file: "If you don't let me accompany you, then you can sleep with me. Choose one yourself."

"Okay, okay," Zhang Jingwei raised his hands in surrender. "Next time I'll watch it directly at the government office. I'm still influenced by you at home."

"You're the one who's affecting me." Huangfu Ling poked his chest in dissatisfaction. "How can I sleep in a strange place with an empty pillow beside me?"

Zhang Jingwei laughed, suddenly stood up and picked her up horizontally: "I know, you are such a nuisance."

Huangfu Ling cried out in surprise, then threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. Zhang Jingwei carried his wife through the corridor, the moonlight filtering through the carved window lattices, casting mottled shadows on the ground.

"Actually..." Huangfu Ling whispered in his arms, "I just had a nightmare. I dreamed that you left me and you didn't respond no matter how I called you..." Her voice became smaller and smaller.

Zhang Jingwei lowered his head and kissed her forehead: "I'm here, always here."

In the bedroom, Zhang Jingwei gently placed his wife on the bed and tucked in the quilt for her. Just as he was about to stand up to blow out the candle, he was grabbed by his sleeve.

"Don't look at it," Huangfu Ling blinked sleepily, "Lie down with me for a while..."

Zhang Jingwei looked at his wife's breathing gradually becoming steady, and finally blew out the candle.

In the darkness, he whispered, "Sweet dreams."

Outside the window, a bright moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the ridged beasts on the eaves of the county government office. In the nearby detention room, Xiao Kewei was wailing through the iron bars as a young man pinned him to the ground and beat him violently. Several yamen runners were unable to hold him down.

Yamen Runner A grabbed the boy's arm tightly and shouted, "You little bastard, this is the Chief Clerk! Let go, let go!"

The young man's eyes were red, and he bit Xiao Kewei's arm tightly, yelling incoherently: "Murderer, he is the murderer who killed my sister!"

Xiao Kewei grimaced in pain and kicked the boy in the stomach: "Shi Jingcheng, the man your sister married, died by hanging himself. Why the hell are you biting me?"

"It's all because of you!" The young man stumbled back after being kicked, but he still struggled to rush forward, "You made her a concubine, you forced her to death! I will kill you, I will kill you!"

Xiao Kewei hid behind the yamen runner in embarrassment: "Quickly pull him away! Ah! He bit me again!"

Bailiff B drew his sword and said viciously, "Kill him! I think he's had enough of this."

Yamen runner C quickly held his companion's hand and said, "The new county magistrate has a bad temper. It's not worth it for you and me to be buried with him."

At this moment, Qian Ming, wrapped in a large coat, stormed in and kicked the cell door open: "Are you making a scene? What are you doing instead of sleeping?"

Yamen runner A hurried forward to explain: "Master Qian, this lowly slave has some grudges with Master Xiao, you see..."

Qian Ming frowned and shouted, "Stop! Boy, didn't you hear me telling you to stop?"

The young man raised his head, his face covered in blood, his eyes filled with hatred: "Who the hell are you?"

Qian Ming straightened his back and said: "I am not an official, but my young master is. My young master is the new county magistrate." Then he bowed respectfully towards the air.

The young man sneered and spat out a mouthful of blood foam: "Your young master is a dog official!"

"Bullshit!" Qian Ming flew into a rage, ripping off his coat and throwing it on the ground. "Damn it! Open the door and let me in to practice with him."

Bailiff B hesitated and said, "Master Qian, this guy is very fierce. I'm afraid you are no match for him."

Qian Ming snorted disdainfully: "Tsk, a big, strong man is afraid of a little brat? Open it!"

It took Qian Ming half an hour to realize how wrong he had been. Though small and thin, the young man was like an enraged beast, his attacks ruthless and brutal. Qian Ming took several punches to the face, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth.

"That's enough!" Qian Ming finally seized the opportunity to push the boy to the ground, panting and asking, "What's your name?"

The yamen runners quickly chained the boy, but he still held his head high and said, "Kill me if you want. Even if I become a ghost, I won't let you, the corrupt officials, go!"

Qian Ming rubbed his blue eyes and sighed: "Don't call me a dog official. My young master is a good official. If you have any grievances, you can tell him and he will take care of it for you."

"I don't believe it!" The young man struggled against the chains, making a rattling sound, his eyes filled with flames of hatred. "None of you officials are good people!"

Qian Ming shook his head and ordered the yamen runner beside him, "Believe it or not, lock him to the wooden stake with two chains." He looked around and frowned, "Why are your cells connected? Find someone to partition them tomorrow!"

The yamen runners looked at each other in confusion, and one of them asked cautiously, "Master Qian, this... this is against the rules, isn't it?"

"Rules?" Qian Ming sneered, "My young master is the rules! Do as I say!"

After the boy was locked up, Qian Ming finally wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and found that his clothes had been torn to pieces. He picked up the cotton jacket that had fallen to the ground, sweating profusely, patted the dust off it, and walked out dejectedly.

The night wind bit him. Qian Ming wrapped himself tightly in his cotton-padded jacket and limped toward the government office. He was temporarily staying in a side room of the government office, where the conditions were very simple. Thinking about having to find a house for his family tomorrow, he couldn't help but sigh.

What made him even more troubled was that Zhang Jingwei had assigned him a task. When he thought about it, he said to himself: "This task is really not easy to handle..."

As he passed by the backyard of the county government office, he saw the light still on in Zhang Jingwei's study. Qian Ming hesitated, but ultimately didn't dare to disturb him. "Young Master has been busy enough with Gao Yang's affairs. Let's deal with this little matter tomorrow."

Back at his residence, Qian Ming lit the oil lamp and examined the injuries on his face in the bronze mirror. His left eye was swollen and closed, and the corner of his mouth was also broken. He smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This little bastard, he was really cruel..."