The top-level junior sister also wants to act weak today

Just when everyone was at a loss, the county magistrate suddenly rushed in, looking anxious and with hurried steps: "Oh no, oh no!"

Before he could finish his words, he was stunned by the scene before him. The hall was in a mess, with wood chips, paper, and porcelain fragments flying everywhere, and tables and chairs knocked all over the place.

The county magistrate stood at the doorway, eyes wide open, unable to react immediately. The things he had been eager to report were shattered by the chaotic scene before him.

The Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery cleared his throat guiltily. "Well, I'll compensate you for any damaged items. Don't worry about that. By the way, why were you so panicked just now?"

The county magistrate finally came to his senses. He hurriedly stood up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "Lord Zhongyong, please listen to me! Those villagers who lost their children suddenly became crazy, rushing into the government office with hoes and sticks to seek justice!"

At this point, he swallowed and said, "They're starting to smash the government office now! Fortunately, Marquis Zhongyong came to my house early this morning and stopped me. Otherwise, they were so prepared... that they would probably kill me!"

Yan Chuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said, "No, they are not crazy, they have become normal. If their child is missing, any normal person would come to make a fuss. They must have been controlled by some evil spell, which is why they were so abnormal before."

Jiang Jinchen pondered for a moment, then stood up, his eyes becoming sharp: "Let's go and take a look."

-

"mighty..."

In the court, runners on both sides were hitting the floor quickly with water and fire sticks, and the sound was sonorous and powerful.

The villagers practically filled the door frame, their emotions raging and their shouts deafening. Women with tearful eyes and men with furious glares, all with furrowed brows and suffused with resentment.

"My son's been missing for over a month. Have you even bothered to look for him?" A woman practically threw herself at the yamen runners at the door, her voice trembling with anger. "It's not just one or two people missing here, it's one or two hundred! You've all turned a blind eye. How can you treat us civilians like this?"

"That's right!" A middle-aged man waved his stick, almost bursting through the fence in excitement. "They say the county magistrate is the people's father and mother. Is this how you act as an official? Why don't you go find them? Why did you abandon our children?!"

"An irresponsible person like you is unfit to be an official!" a white-haired old man cursed angrily, her words harsh. Her voice was hoarse but sharp, and she pointed directly at County Magistrate He: "Anyway, my beloved grandson is gone. I have nothing to fear at my age. I will fight you to the death!"

As soon as the old man finished speaking, the people outside pushed and shoved like a tide, and their anger erupted like a volcano. The angry shouts, cries, and shoves almost broke through the protection of the yamen.

Seeing the crowd about to rush in, County Magistrate He's face turned even paler.

In a panic, he grabbed the gavel and slammed it hard on the desk. With a bang, the wooden table shook and emitted a crisp echo. "You...bold and unruly people! How dare you disrespect me!"

Suddenly, an angry shout was heard from the crowd: "You are just a dog official, what's wrong with being disrespectful to you!?"

When County Magistrate He heard this, his eyes went dark and he was so angry that he could hardly breathe.

"You, you, you!" County Magistrate He was so angry that he stood up from his seat: "Come here! Tie that man up for me! You dare to insult an official of the imperial court? I will give you ten lashes with the cane!"

The yamen runners around looked at each other in bewilderment. One of them said with embarrassment, "County Master, that man is surrounded by a crowd. We can't bring him up now. Besides, the people are so excited. If we punish him with a stick at this time, it might not be a good idea."

Another voice rang out from the crowd: "Hahahahahaha, a yamen runner is more sensible than you. How did you manage to be an official? Why don't you take off your official hat and let me take over for you!"

"You!" County Magistrate He was furious and pointed his finger at the villagers outside.

However, his fingertips paused for a moment. He suppressed the anger in his heart, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down.

"Alright, since you keep blaming me, let me ask you, when you first reported the case, did I lead a team of people to search every village and street? Did I search almost the entire county?"

He demanded loudly, his voice resonating like thunder. However, as soon as he finished speaking, a fierce rebuttal came from outside: "So what! Who would only search for someone once?! And you searched the entire village and the streets, didn't you search Mengshan?"

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate He raised his eyebrows and asked with gritted teeth, "You ask why I only looked once? Then I also want to ask why you only reported it to the authorities once! You unruly people lost your children and were only worried for the first two days. What happened after that? Did you look for them yourself?!"

After saying this, County Magistrate He walked down from the hall, approached the group of people who were stopped, and pointed at a man at random: "You, let me ask you, what have you been doing in the past month since you lost your child? Have you gone to look for someone?"

"I--" The man was stunned for a moment, as if he wanted to open his mouth to refute, but he could only open his mouth and finally said nothing.

"You're speechless, aren't you?" County Magistrate He said with a hint of sarcasm, "Because you guys didn't even look for him! Because I felt guilty, I even went to your village to check, and what happened? I found that you cared less than an official like me."

He grew increasingly angry as he spoke, his voice rising in pitch. "You two, each one of you, acted as if nothing had happened. Some were farming, some were chatting. I say, everyone, weren't you also indifferent and did nothing? And now you come here to complain to me?"

He paused and sneered, "I didn't give birth to the child. The child is missing, and you don't care about it. Why should I care?"

County Magistrate He became more and more angry as he spoke, but the arrogance of the people was obviously reduced.

However, just when County Magistrate He thought he had completely suppressed these people, a sudden cry broke the silence.

A woman suddenly covered her face and cried, her body trembling uncontrollably. "I don't know... I love my Yingzi so much, but I don't know why I don't feel anything at all. I don't want to care about this at all. It's like I've been possessed by a demon. I didn't even think about it until I woke up this morning."

However, County Magistrate He remained unmoved. "Oh, you don't know. How could I know if you don't know? Could I cast a spell to bring evil upon you? How ridiculous."

He snorted coldly, adjusted his slightly tilted black hat, then turned around and walked back to his seat.