Chapter 2443: Chapter 2443: But It Will Lose a Lot

"In the village, it’s not just her family with a scholar!"

"Alright, alright, I will go... well, maybe I should go tonight; it’s more convenient," Third Master An thought it over and decided that it was indeed more convenient to act at night, so he chose to inquire then.

He only had a rough idea; he couldn’t really say how much land was listed under Scholar Que’s name.

...

County government.

An Jiuyue didn’t waste a moment. She rode with the secret guards straight to the county government, using her token to knock on its doors to meet with the County Magistrate.

The magistrate’s surname was Shi, a rare Upright Official who also knew An Jiuyue’s identity.

Upon hearing that someone had brought Prince An Yang’s token, he wiped cold sweat while coming to greet them, almost scared to death. Though he knew this area belonged to Prince An Yang, he was insignificant and had never met such a prominent figure.

An Jiuyue didn’t waste words, directly stating her purpose.

"Magistrate Shi, there’s a person in An Clan Village named An Que, whose knowledge and character are both of low-grade. As a scholar, he disgraces the scholars of the Daqing Kingdom, so Prince An Yang believes he shouldn’t possess the title of scholar."

"An Que?"

Magistrate Shi, wiping sweat from his forehead, murmured.

He had indeed heard of this Scholar An Que, though not because An Que was famous, but he knew that Prince An Yang hailed from An Clan Village, hence he always paid extra attention to its people.

Naturally, he paid even more attention to those with the title of scholar.

"Princess, erasing the title of a scholar is certainly possible."

How could a mere scholar contend with Prince An Yang? Forget about openly erasing his title, those with power can make some people disappear altogether, and what would happen?

"However, to my knowledge, under An Que’s name, there are many lands belonging to the people of An Clan Village. If his scholar title is erased, we must first have him return those lands, otherwise... the villagers of An Clan Village would suffer significant losses."

The interests of the people must be considered too, right?

Suddenly erasing someone’s scholar title, if An Que became unruly and refused to return others’ lands in his name, wouldn’t it be letting him gain advantage for nothing?

This seems contrary to the Princess’s intent to punish An Que, right?

"Well, isn’t that simple? Find a scholar close to An Que, let him get a hint that the royal court is strictly investigating scholars listing others’ lands under their name, and that if caught, they will certainly lose their scholar title. Surely, the first to return lands to the people will be him, An Que."

An Jiuyue spoke calmly.

Though she hadn’t seen An Que much, she could certainly deduce his nature and predict his actions.

Once his interests are threatened, An Que wouldn’t act at all.

"That’s a good idea, I’ll have someone take care of it immediately."

Magistrate Shi quickly summoned someone to handle it. An Que was also notorious in his jurisdiction, as the taxes on the lands in his name exceeded what their authorities collected.

The key was, the villagers of An Clan Village were unaware and were grateful to An Que.

If it weren’t for An Clan Village’s special status, he would have sought to deal with this Scholar An long ago. Now, he finally found a justifiable reason, at last.

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