The daughter of a noble family is reborn, and she is doted on by her godmother.

"Bribing government officials? That's a common method people use. How did Qingqing know about it?"

When Yun Yuke heard Yun Qingjin's words, her first reaction was surprise. After all, the child was still young, how could she know such things?

Oh no, I couldn't control my words and blurted it out.

Yun Qingjin inwardly cried out in alarm, but thankfully managed to control her expression somewhat.

"Um... well, it's from a book that Teacher Zhu recommended. I've been reading a lot of miscellaneous books lately."

There was no other way but to use Teacher Zhu as a shield. This wasn't entirely made up; there were indeed similar plots in recent miscellaneous books.

"The stories in that book seem to happen quite frequently?"

Yun Qingjin adjusted her state, looked Yun Yuke in the eye, and showed an innocent and inquisitive expression.

“Actually, what Qingqing said is quite right. Bribing officials is indeed a viable method.” Yun Yuke saw a different expression on Yun Qingjin’s face for a moment, but the expression was fleeting and hard to describe.

Children may have secrets, but if they don't want to talk about them, then don't interfere for now.

Since the child has a misunderstanding about these things, the parents should naturally educate him properly.

"However, the effectiveness of bribery depends on who the recipient is and whether there will be any subsequent dangers for oneself."

"What does it mean?"

Yun Qingjin's curiosity was piqued. In Yun Yuke's eyes, was this conditional? This was quite different from the situation in her previous life.

"That's right. Ultimately, this method is dangerous and violates laws and morals. If no one investigates, we might succeed using this method, but in today's society, who can guarantee that no one is watching you from behind to smear you?"

"Mother, I don't understand? What do you mean by 'to smear'?"

"For example, let's say I want to target a competitor, and I discover that this competitor has bribed the county magistrate with a large sum of money, and I have evidence of it. If you were in that situation, what would you do?"

Yun Qingjin lowered her head and thought for a moment before saying, "I will take this evidence to someone at a higher level and have that person deal with my competitor."

“Very good, using someone else’s strength against them, that’s it.” Yun Yuke nodded in agreement.

"Although Mother didn't go into details, do you think Mother has any competitors?"

Yun Qingjin paused for a moment, then nodded in acknowledgment, "There are definitely some. Even if there aren't, we should still consider the possibility of unknown opponents."

"Well said. That's why I rarely use bribery, but that doesn't mean I never use it. I have to see the situation clearly before I do. In short, I can't give others any leverage over me."

"Qingqing understood."

“Alright, the second issue to consider is the recipient of the bribe. If the person accepting the bribe is a greedy person, then this kind of low-level tactic can certainly be used, and the other party will keep it a secret for the sake of their own future. But the key is that our Magistrate Sun is upright and incorruptible. If I had to describe him in one word, he would be a person who practices the way of a gentleman.”

Yun Qingjin also recalled the time when they were in Huanghua Village, when Magistrate Sun wanted to ask Yun Yuke for sponsorship but was too embarrassed to ask. "Mother said before that Magistrate Sun wanted Mother to assist in disaster relief, but he didn't say it directly."

"Yes, I have seen some county officials who like to take small advantages, while others hide their actions behind their words. Of course, I believe there may be even worse ones."

“Our Magistrate Sun is not that kind of person. He is a true gentleman. He is wholeheartedly dedicated to the development of Xin’an City. So when he needs money to help with disaster relief, he will not ask ordinary merchants for money. Bribing such a person is simply superfluous and a waste of effort.”

Yun Qingjin understood. Although she had never met such a person in her previous life, if she had been able to encounter such an upright gentleman, perhaps she wouldn't have been so unlucky in her previous life.

“Mother, Qingqing understands now. In the future, whatever we do, we need to investigate and understand what kind of person the other party is. If we act rashly without understanding the other party’s situation, we will definitely be the ones who cause problems in the end.”

"That's right. For upright people, we should walk the right path, because it's the easiest path to walk."

That concludes their discussion for today. The remaining time will be spent assisting Miss Yuanchen in preparing the account books and other necessary documents.

The Yun family didn't waste any time and quickly submitted the relevant evidence directly to the county government.

Although there were only a few clerks in the county government office, Yuan Chen still reported the case, which meant that the case was registered with the authorities.

“Miss Yuan, I’m sorry, we’ve accepted your report, but we’re currently short-handed and may need to wait until Magistrate Sun returns before we can process it.”

The advisor looked embarrassed, but Yuan Chen was alright. "Yuan Chen understands. Right now, disaster relief is the most important thing. We're also using this time to sort things out. We need to find more specific evidence to clarify the situation."

After reporting the case, Yuan Chen calmed down a lot. The other shops also had various issues, but the problems with their accounts were relatively minor and within Yun Yuke's acceptable limits.

They only embezzled a few coins, and for the time being, there was no situation of cutting corners.

Yuan Chen returned from the county government office, having observed the situation in the city along the way.

The situation in the city has improved slightly, and life has returned to normal in all aspects, so it can be said that life has been restored.

And so, the entire Yun family waited for several days.

There have been many different reports in the past few days.

Vegetable prices in the city have skyrocketed, and even the prices of vegetables and fruits sourced by restaurants are very high.

Meanwhile, grain prices also rose. This heavy rain was essentially a catastrophe for Xin'an City and the surrounding area.

When Magistrate Sun returned from disaster relief, although he was embarrassed to ask for donations, he decided to go door-to-door to borrow money out of compassion for the villagers of Huanghua Village.

Magistrate Sun's pretext was to borrow money from each household, and then return the money to the households that had given him the money once the imperial court's disaster relief funds arrived.

The specific figures were even made public, with the main point being to allow the entire city to monitor the process.

“Magistrate Sun, we’ve lived in this city for so long and we know who you are. We trust your character.”

The merchants and residents in the city were aware of the magistrate's situation and would not make things difficult for him; they were also willing to donate generously.

Yun Qingjin naturally also contributed a considerable amount of silver.

“Boss Yun, we have received your report last time. Yesterday, I arranged for people to arrest that Manager Lin. They should have results today.”

Magistrate Sun went to Yun Yuke's jewelry shop to explain the situation.

"Very well, thank you for your hard work, Magistrate."

"There's one more thing. Now that we're done with these past two days, could you please ask Boss Yun to send a few craftsmen to the county government to repair those jewelry pieces from last time?" Magistrate Sun mentioned the request from the previous Gouchen Jun.

"Magistrate Sun, didn't you send these files to the higher authorities?"

"I did hand over the information about Fenglang Village, but I didn't hand over the information about Gouchen Jun," Magistrate Sun said in a lowered voice, explaining the situation.

"The case of Duke Wujing is too far-reaching, and the people above... it's hard to say. Those people... are really not like us."

Yun Yuke nodded, "I thought Magistrate Sun was inflexible..."

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh."

The two discussed it privately, which served as a way of communicating with each other and understanding the situation.

"Is Your Excellency the Magistrate at your residence? Please let me in; I have urgent news to report!"

A constable rushed in from outside, looking hurried and anxious.

"Reporting to the magistrate! We couldn't find Manager Lin himself... but at that address outside the city, we found... a corpse, and judging from the clothes, it seems to be Manager Lin's."