Chapter 28: You are an undocumented person and cannot get married.
In Huang Qi’s sight, seven or eight people in official uniforms entered the gate. The leader was a young man around thirty, wearing a black gauze hat and a blue county magistrate’s official uniform. A lifelike mandarin duck pattern was embroidered on his chest. He walked with a sense of urgency, and the hem of his official robe kept flying. He was clearly a decisive person.
“This should be the renowned County Magistrate Luo Guoliang.”
Huang Qi, out of curiosity, took a closer look and found that this person had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, a fair face without a beard, and three-dimensional features as if carved by a knife. He was also much taller than ordinary men in Ping’an County. His handsome appearance alone was enough to generate favor, especially among certain women.
Luo Guoliang’s expression was solemn at this moment because he had ventured into the countryside to inspect the local conditions, only to find that the dozens of households in that village had disappeared overnight.
Luo Guoliang had made a wasted trip and was about to return to the yamen to discuss countermeasures when he saw a bizarre scene upon entering the public hall. His constable and several yamen runners were kneeling on the ground with bruised faces, surrounded by onlookers among his subordinates.
Even more excessive was that three commoners were sitting on the chairs nearby, two of whom were even “sound asleep,” while the remaining masked “village woman” was shamelessly crossing her legs.
“What is going on? Is this a public hall or a marketplace? What a mess!”
Luo Guoliang angrily reprimanded.
His subordinates were startled and quickly stood at attention on both sides.
“Public hall? This is probably worse than a marketplace.”
Huang Qi remained unfazed, sitting on the chair and satirizing. That “village woman” with crossed legs was him.
“Who are you, this village woman? How can commoners enter this public hall so casually? And you two ‘sleeping’ next to me, don’t be so arrogant. Desecrating the public hall is a capital offense.”
Luo Guoliang stepped closer and questioned, but his expression gradually turned to surprise because he noticed that although this “village woman” was masked, her figure was astonishingly good. The coarse cloth dress could not conceal her curvaceous and hot figure at all. She was truly a sight to behold, and such a woman was rarely seen in the hardship-stricken Ping’an County.
“So desecrating the public hall is a capital offense? Then you should execute this person surnamed Wang first!”
Huang Qi casually replied. Although the county magistrate was renowned, the events of today had disappointed him somewhat.
“Constable Wang, what is going on?”
Luo Guoliang turned and questioned Constable Wang again.
“I… I…”
Constable Wang stammered, afraid to speak.
“Allow me to explain.”
Just then, an uninvolved official nearby stepped forward and respectfully said, “Reporting to you, sir, these three villagers are from Huatian Village. They came to the county yamen to register their marriage status, but Constable Wang drugged the woman and attempted to defile her!”
“What? This happened?”
Luo Guoliang’s eyes widened in disbelief. He trembled like a sieve, then rushed to the official chair above and sat down. He slammed the gavel forcefully with his right hand: “Wang Kai, is this true?”
“Sir, I am framed! She is slandering a good person. We didn’t provoke her, and she beat us up for no reason.”
Constable Wang, perhaps seeing that his side had more people, suddenly mustered the courage to quibble.
“Are you saying that you yamen runners couldn’t even defeat a little girl?”
Luo Guoliang asked in disbelief.
“Uh… Sir… that’s not the point…”
Constable Wang was somewhat embarrassed and tried to quibble.
“Nonsense! If that’s not the point, then what is? If you can’t even beat a little girl, what’s the use of the yamen raising you useless people?”
Luo Guoliang cursed loudly. Ping’an County was not peaceful now, and it had a lot to do with this group of good-for-nothings.
Constable Wang was startled and stammered, afraid to speak.
“That village woman, do you have anything to say?”
Luo Guoliang turned his head and asked Huang Qi.
Huang Qi then put down his crossed legs and calmly walked forward. He took out the smaller packet of sleeping powder from his embrace and said, “Magistrate Luo, this is sleeping powder that Constable Wang had a yamen runner put into the tea. My in-laws were drugged and are currently unconscious. So they are not sleeping. If you don’t believe me, you can have someone investigate.”
Luo Guoliang was slightly stunned when he received the sleeping powder because he found that this “village woman” was very tall, almost as tall as himself. He had never seen a woman of this height in Ping’an County or even in the entire Huang Tian Prefecture.
Luo Guoliang withdrew his gaze and began to examine the sleeping powder, while also instructing a medical official to examine the two cups of tea and the physical condition of Huang Qi’s parents.
“Sir, there is indeed sleeping powder in this tea, and these two are indeed poisoned.”
The medical official reported after a moment.
Luo Guoliang’s breathing became heavier. He slammed the gavel suddenly and angrily rebuked Constable Wang: “Wang, what else do you have to say now?”
“Sir, it’s a frame-up. That’s her own sleeping powder. She deliberately used a bitter trick to frame me.”
Constable Wang still denied it.
“To frame you, I drugged my own father… my in-laws? Is this how you, a dignified constable, usually handle cases? I really worry about the people of the entire county!”
Huang Qi retorted sarcastically.
“Wang Kai, do you still dare to quibble? Isn’t this sleeping powder the same kind you confiscated from a human trafficker a few days ago? How could she have it?”
Luo Guoliang’s face flushed red and then white. He slammed the sleeping powder onto the hall table, furious: “You dare to steal from public property, you are simply outrageous!”
“This, this, this…”
Constable Wang was speechless. He knew the situation was bad and quickly pleaded: “Sir, spare me. I was momentarily blinded by lust and will never dare to do it again.”
“Blinded by lust?”
Huang Qi shivered slightly upon hearing this idiom.
“Yes, sir. Why don’t we spare him? This matter is better handled discreetly. Otherwise, if it gets out, it will be a huge blow to the reputation of our county yamen and even the imperial court,”
An old man in green official robes whispered in Magistrate Luo’s ear.
“Chief Clerk Yuan, are you getting senile?”
Magistrate Luo frowned and said, “He broke the law as a policeman and desecrated the public hall. If I don’t punish such a person severely, it will be a huge blow to the reputation of the imperial court once it gets out.”
“You are wise, sir!”
Chief Clerk Yuan was taken aback, then flattered.
“Alright, someone! Escort these implicated yamen runners to prison.”
Magistrate Luo waved his hand impatiently.
“It seems this county magistrate is indeed as strict in law enforcement as the rumors say.”
Huang Qi’s expression brightened somewhat.
“Also, help those two villagers who were drugged to rest, and find a doctor to examine them thoroughly.”
Luo Guoliang continued to issue orders. Seeing his subordinates start to busy themselves, he walked up to Huang Qi and said, “Miss, you should also go to the backyard to rest. We’ll talk about anything after your in-laws wake up.”
“Didn’t Your Excellency just call me a village woman? Why are you calling me a young lady now?”
Huang Qi whispered mockingly. He had practiced immortal cultivation before and was now a true cultivator, so he was not as afraid of these worldly officials as ordinary civilians.
“I apologize. It was due to my dereliction of duty today. I apologize to you.”
Luo Guoliang did not put on airs; instead, he bowed sincerely.
Huang Qi could no longer dwell on it, so he said resentfully, “Since that’s the case, I forgive you. However, when my in-laws wake up later, please do not tell them about this.”
“Why?”
Luo Guoliang was somewhat puzzled.
“For no reason. Don’t you want to keep today’s events from becoming common knowledge?”
Huang Qi retorted impatiently. He didn’t want his parents to know that his “daughter-in-law” had shown such power and beaten up several yamen runners, leaving them bruised and battered. His current identity was only suitable for keeping a low profile.
“Yes! Yes!”
Luo Guoliang nodded repeatedly. Of course, he would be delighted.
Not long after, Huang Kairong and his wife woke up. They were unaware of everything that had happened in the yamen and only thought they had had a good sleep.
Next, the family of three returned to the public hall to report Huang Qi’s marriage status. The person in charge of the registration was Chief Clerk Yuan, who was wearing a green official uniform.
Chief Clerk Yuan took out the county annals. After confirming the information of Huang Kairong’s family, he began to question Huang Qi in detail.
“Name?”
“Qi Huang. ‘Qi’ as in neat, ‘Huang’ as in phoenix.”
“Native place?”
“A native of Huang Tian Prefecture, Huang Tian Prefecture, Xihui Dynasty.”
…
Huang Qi had already fabricated his identity, so he answered fluently until…
“Father?”
“Cheng… No, no, no… Qi Yuan.”
“Mother?”
“Jiang… Jiang Liniang.”
…
Huang Qi was sweating profusely from these two questions because he knew that hesitation was not allowed in this situation. So he subconsciously blurted out the names of his parents from his dream.
Chief Clerk Yuan showed a hint of doubt on his face. No one would hesitate when stating their parents’ names. So he requested: “Can you lift your veil?”
“Why?”
Huang Qi asked excitedly. These officials were not as shallow as commoners. What if they recognized Hong Ling? So he absolutely could not show his face.
“For marriage registration, I must confirm your identity and age. Your voice sounds so tender. What if you are an underage girl? We officials must be responsible for your parents.”
Chief Clerk Yuan explained with reason.
“Wow! This guy makes so much sense, I can’t refute it at all!”
Huang Qi was almost moved. So he softened his tone: “I’m sorry, my face is swollen and it’s inconvenient to show it.”
“Yes, yes! My daughter-in-law just had a wisdom tooth removed and hasn’t recovered yet. Girls are more concerned about their appearance. I hope you can understand, sir.”
Li Fen next to him quickly chimed in.
“Then what about the tooth token? You must have that, right?”
Chief Clerk Yuan thought for a moment and asked again.
The so-called “tooth token” was an identity document issued to citizens of the Xihui Dynasty, on which the user’s identity information was recorded, including name, native place, and a simple portrait.
Huang Qi’s heart began to beat uncontrollably. As an undocumented person, where would he get a tooth token? However, he still pretended to be calm and said, “Sorry, I didn’t bring it. I left it at home.”
“Then I’m sorry, without a tooth token, you are an undocumented person and cannot get married.”
Chief Clerk Yuan slowly put down his pen.
