A Jiu had no mood to be sad when she said this. She looked around, made sure no one was there, and then asked.
"I really didn't make a move. I was just taking my men to do a routine inspection. That old guy was so scared when he saw me that he knelt down and said he'd give me anything I asked for."
"I just kicked him twice, to make him leave me some salt. For half a month..."
"That's good then." A Jiu didn't wait for Tuoba Yan to finish speaking.
"You, you blocked the knife his subordinate drew last time, so of course he would let you have your way." A Jiu smiled faintly.
"That's right!" Little Yan Yan was happy to hear praise again.
"You, be more low-key." A Jiu poked Tuoba Yan's forehead with her toe, speechless.
"Got it, Ninth Sister." Tuoba Yan happily touched his forehead.
"Go to work quickly, lest your superior punish you." With that, A Jiu turned to leave.
A colleague hurried forward from behind and said, looking at A Jiu's retreating back, "Tuoba Yan, you have a sweet tongue, and the boss likes you, but we're different."
"Yes, we must take this person away today. You need to know how many people will die if this plague spreads."
"If things get out of hand, even our boss will be in trouble."
"Tuoba, you know this as well as we do. The Prince himself ordered it. If it gets big, no one will get away with it."
A Jiu stopped and looked up at Tuoba Yan. She remembered the Nanming Prince, who looked so much like Little Yan Yan.
Tuoba Yan scratched his head and asked, "What does the Prince do?"
"..." In an instant, several people looked at each other, and the scene froze.
A Jiu complexly dismissed the thought that he was related to the Nanming Prince:
"He's the feudal lord here, in charge of several cities. Even the land you're standing on belongs to the Nanming Prince."
"Tuoba, he's a Prince, much higher than our boss. The county magistrate and the prefect all report to him. If we mess this up, do you think our boss can protect us?"
"Alas..." A Jiu sighed and shook her head, worried. He was so old, yet he knew nothing.
"Such a high-ranking official?" Tuoba Yan looked at A Jiu, a signal for help in his eyes.
"No matter how high-ranking he is, he can't manage such a small matter for now. I said I'll wait until tomorrow morning. At worst, you can all stay here."
As A Jiu spoke, she took out five pomegranates she had hidden in her spatial ring and stuffed one into each person's hand:
"I have nothing else to entertain you officials with. Let these pomegranates be your dinner. If there's no improvement by tomorrow... I... I'm powerless to help. You can just do your job."
Everyone had their own difficulties. A Jiu couldn't disregard the law just because of her own personal feelings.
"Oh, these are pomegranates."
The eyes of several people lit up.
"My Ninth Sister is so kind. You guys are lucky." Tuoba Yan added fuel to the fire from the side.
"Then we must thank Miss A Jiu."
"We won't be polite."
"You all wait here. I'm going home." Tuoba Yan happily walked home with A Jiu.
"Ninth Sister, here." Tuoba Yan took out a money bag from his embrace: "I pawned that jade pendant for six taels."
A Jiu immediately opened the money bag and saw a large pile of silver ingots, exactly six taels. Heavens, six jin of wheat seeds didn't cost that much.
As they spoke, the two arrived at their doorstep.
Meng Shaode came back with a bow and arrow on his back and a fox in his hand. He saw their expressions from afar and said indescribably, "Are there only foxes on this mountain and nothing else?"
"Uncle, why did you catch a fox again?" Tuoba Yan greeted him with a smile, circling the fox. He was really hitting where it hurt.
"I'm wondering too why I keep catching foxes. Little Yan, if I caught a pheasant or something, your aunt would definitely be happy."
Meng Shaode also wanted to catch something else to supplement his daughter-in-law's health.
Muttering, Meng Shaode entered the house, intending to prepare it himself.
"A Jiu, I have something else for you." Tuoba Yan pulled A Jiu back as she stepped over the threshold and mysteriously reached into his embrace.
He took out two taels of silver: "This is my first month's salary. For you."
A Jiu looked at his beaming smile and felt something was not quite right.