All the bailiffs stormed into the storehouse and began searching, while Chu Qiguang's guide stood frozen in panic.

However, none of the bailiffs were able to find anything. They searched the entire storehouse thoroughly, but there was no sign of Chu Qiguang.

He Wenyan joined the search himself. As he passed a certain bookshelf, his attention was caught by a book that looked unusually clean, standing out like a sore thumb among the dust-covered tomes.

He pulled it out and examined it with a puzzled expression.

Why the second year of the Yong'an Era?

This statute record was from over ten years ago, and even this was only a copied version of the original. He couldn't understand why someone would choose to read this particular year's statute record.

He turned to Chu Qiguang's guide and asked coldly, "Who came to read this statute record? Did he say why he wanted to read it?"

***

In the back alley behind the county office, Chu Qiguang jumped down from a wall as he sighed inwardly, Thank heavens you were keeping watch outside, Master Qiao. Otherwise, I would've been caught red-handed.

Qiao Zhi had been keeping watch outside the county office. The moment he saw He Wenyan and the bailiffs approaching, he had alerted Chu Qiguang, giving him enough time to escape.

But how did He Wenyan know to come to the storehouse? This couldn't have been a coincidence. Did someone tip him off? Qiao Zhi asked confusedly.

Perhaps, Chu Qiguang replied.

He had already spotted Hao Fulai, who was still waiting by the rear entrance of the county office.

Hao Fulai was clearly surprised to see Chu Qiguang come out unharmed, but he quickly hid it and said, "Good thing you managed to get away in time. Remember to pay a visit to the Hao Manor tomorrow."

With that, he left at once.

"That bastard was the one who threw us under the carriage, wasn't he?!" Qiao Zhi snarled.

"That's very likely, but we need to gather concrete evidence before we can make such accusations," Chu Qiguang replied.

"What evidence do we need?" Qiao Zhi snapped. "He's clearly trouble! I don't know why, but he obviously has something against you! If you ask me, we should just kill him and be done with it!"

"You're being too hasty," Chu Qiguang said in a resigned manner. "We can't just go around killing people without solid evidence of wrongdoing."

***

After returning home with Qiao Zhi, Chu Qiguang sat at his desk and began going over what he had seen in the statute records, as well as the contents of the account books he had read over the past few days.

He gathered his thoughts, then began writing.

About fifteen minutes later, Chu Qiguang looked down in dissatisfaction at his own handiwork.

Look at this terrible handwriting! No one's going to read what I've written if it looks this bad!

Unfortunately, Chu Qiguang wasn't good at brush calligraphy. He had spent all his time on Earth writing with pens, and in this life, Ergou had never even touched a writing brush before.

If I want to improve my calligraphy, it'll probably take at least a year or two of hard work. Forget it, I'll just explain everything at the Hao Manor tomorrow.

With that, Chu Qiguang continued writing down his thoughts, ignoring how terrible his handwriting looked. After finalizing what he planned to say to Hao Wen, he gave himself a satisfied nod.

Now for the Ding Clan...

Chu Qiguang hadn't forgotten about his vendetta against Ding Daoxiao.

He had gone through the Ding Clan's taxation records and found that they only paid seventy-five taels of silver each year in trade tax, which was far below what they should've been paying.

According to the information gathered by Big Head and the others, the Ding Clan has large-scale trade convoys transporting their goods all over the Spirit Province, and business seems to be booming for them. That said, all the wealthy clans in the Great Han Empire are evading taxes, so this isn't exactly something I can use to bring them down.

With that in mind, Chu Qiguang let out a quiet sigh. He knew that he would have to find another way to deal with Ding Daoxiao.

Later that night, Qiao Zhi returned after taking a stroll outside, then reported, "Big Head and the others told me that they've been taking turns following Hao Fulai, but so far, none of them have noticed anything suspicious."

"Tell them to keep observing him," Chu Qiguang instructed with tightly furrowed brows. "There's definitely something off about him. While they're at it, have them keep an eye on his wife, children, and close relatives as well."

***

The next day, Hao Fulai came again at night to invite Chu Qiguang to the Hao Manor. When Chu Qiguang arrived at the guest hall, he saw that not only were Hao Wen and Hao Yongtai present, Ding Daoxiao was there as well.

"You've met Brother Ding before, Brother Chu. He came today to discuss the land reforms with us," Hao Yongtai explained.

"Aren't you... one of the new students at Wise Hero Academy?" Ding Daoxiao asked, looking surprised.

"That's right," Hao Yongtai confirmed. "His name is Chu Qiguang, and he was the one who found the fox fiend that killed Yongnian."

"I see," Ding Daoxiao replied with a nod.

"You've read the county chronicles and statute records. Have you come up with a plan?" Hao Wen asked.

"I have," Chu Qiguang replied. "Our focus will be on the annual fiend tax collected by the county office—" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Before he could continue, Ding Daoxiao cut in, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but is it really appropriate for us to be discussing these matters with him? Are we sure that he's trustworthy? What if he's a mole sent by the county magistrate? If that's the case, then we'd all be screwed if we rely on him!"

"I heard that County Magistrate He arrived not long after Chu Qiguang entered the storehouse yesterday and stayed there for nearly fifteen minutes. Who knows if he discussed anything with Chu Qiguang during that time," Hao Fulai added.

"Is that true, Chu Qiguang?" Hao Wen asked with a surprised expression.

Chu Qiguang paid no attention to Hao Fulai's blatant attempt at sowing distrust and dissension, remaining calm and collected as he confirmed, "The county magistrate did come, but I was able to get away in time, so we didn't run into each other."

"I suppose we're just expected to take your word for it then," Hao Fulai scoffed.

"All the bailiffs present at the time can vouch for me. If you have so little trust in me, then why don't you go ask them?" Chu Qiguang challenged. "It seems like you really don't want me to tell Clan Leader Hao my plan. Do you have some sort of ulterior motive? In any case, why don't I share my plan first, and you can all make a decision afterward?"

Hao Wen glanced at Hao Fulai from the corner of his eye, then turned to Ding Daoxiao as he consulted, "What do you say, Nephew Ding?"

At the moment, the Ding Clan had a higher-ranking backer in the imperial court, so its status naturally stood above that of the Hao Clan.

"I'm willing to share my thoughts, but this is a very serious matter," Ding Daoxiao said. "These land reforms are part of national policy, and even Secretary Wu doesn't have much influence over them. At the very least, County Magistrate He must have the backing of a high-ranking official from one of the six ministries. If we mishandle this in any way, the consequences will be severe for all of us."

As he spoke, Ding Daoxiao fixed his gaze on Chu Qiguang, exerting immense pressure on him with his aura as a fourth-state martial artist.

In the face of such a massive difference in cultivation base, the average person would've felt like a helpless mouse cornered by a cat, so intimidated and fearful that they wouldn't even be able to speak without stuttering.

Chu Qiguang's brows furrowed slightly at Ding Daoxiao's unrestrained provocation, and he could feel his own body and thoughts becoming slightly more sluggish under the weight of Ding Daoxiao's aura.

"Given how important this matter is, if Chu Qiguang says anything here that's even slightly amiss, then he'll be asked to leave and take no further part in this discussion," Ding Daoxiao continued.