Zhao Minggong and Qin Luoshuang

Zhao Minggong and Qin Luoshuang

Of course, the rebels' show was merely over; his own had only just begun. Everything until now had only been a warm-up before the main act.

Lin Wen glanced at Yuan Zhimen, the deputy director of the Commandery Governor's Office, who was closest to him and desperately shrinking backward, trying to hide himself like a turtledove.

"Director Yuan."

Lin Wen smiled.

"Go call the commandery governor's guards. This bald bastard colluded with the rebels to attack the commandery governor during the meeting, intending rebellion. Take them all away and throw them into the death cells."

"Ah? Ah! Ah, yes, understood! This subordinate understands! This subordinate will go right away."

The fat Yuan Zhimen seemed to wake from a dream, his flesh jiggling as he ran out.

"Chief eunuch of the Inspectorate, what was your name again?"

A pale-faced young man shook like a sieve and answered in a trembling voice, "M-my name is Xu Kangxing."

"The director and deputy director conspired in rebellion. Did you know?"

"I... I... I-I-I, n-no, know, I-I..."

Chief Eunuch Xu Kangxing stammered for a while before his wits finally returned. "This subordinate failed to notice! Those two traitors have always been arrogant and lawless, never putting this subordinate in their eyes. This subordinate endured humiliation to survive, merely waiting for..."

Lin Wen did not want to spoil his mood at this moment, so he immediately said, "I understand. Go back and investigate them carefully, as well as this bald bastard and his accomplices—their every criminal and treasonous act in the past. They did not turn traitor only today; their crimes have long been beyond forgiveness. That they were allowed to remain until now is your failure in duty."

Chief Eunuch Xu Kangxing immediately realized that his opportunity had come. "This subordinate will certainly make up for my failings through merit! This subordinate... uh, this subordinate will go now."

He saw the fat Yuan Zhimen leading the commandery governor's guards in, and immediately leaped up to join them, dragging away the rebels sprawled across the floor to lock them up.

"All right. Back to the main topic. I will now continue explaining the arrangements for post-disaster reconstruction."

Lin Wen returned to the podium and began laying out his plan.

Naturally, this plan was only a rough outline, and the little practical content it contained had been copied wholesale from the previous plan.

Only after his Primordial Spirit recovered in a few days and all preparations were complete would he use [Immortal's Guide] to obtain the complete plan.

The people present, however, found it utterly absurd, as though they were dreaming. The fierce coup just now seemed as insignificant as children squabbling.

They waited nervously for the commandery governor's real substance, and instead no one listened to the reconstruction plan Lin Wen had painstakingly copied out until his hair turned white.

About ten minutes later, the sound of a large number of footsteps rose and rapidly approached the meeting room.

With a bang, the doors were forced open. Fang Weiwei entered barefoot, the document granting mobilization authority in her left hand and her high heels dangling from her right, accompanied by Long Mountain Commandery's garrison commander Fang Dashan. Behind them, Imperial soldiers armed with loaded guns filed in.

Though she looked somewhat disheveled, she still resembled a queen arriving with her guard to rescue her sovereign.

Garrison Commander Fang Dashan looked honest and simple, but he was in fact extremely shrewd. After entering, he swiftly surveyed the scene. It was a standard meeting of officials, yet the overturned tables and chairs, the disordered floor, the drag marks, and the people still lying on the ground awaiting removal all proved one thing: a riot had indeed taken place here.

The victorious side was clearly the commandery governor seated on the podium, speaking.

Too late!

Garrison Commander Fang Dashan felt a trace of regret, but there was still room to make amends. He immediately waved his hand. "Surround the meeting hall! Protect Officer Lin! Battalion Commander Xu, take a squad and assist in guarding the prisoners."

Then he bent forward and dropped to one knee before Lin Wen, declaring loudly, "Long Mountain Commandery Garrison Commander Fang Dashan arrived late with reinforcements. I beg Commandery Governor Lin to punish me."

Lin Wen nodded and gave him a look. The aura around this garrison commander was a vivid bluish-green, like an inflated balloon. It should mean that he was extremely adept at maneuvering for advantage and desperately wanted promotion. Yet there was no black aura, meaning he had not done anything wicked or cruel.

He should be usable.

Lin Wen felt a slight regret as well. He would not get to stage an immortal's battle of holding up the heavens with one hand.

But this was good too. It would save a great deal of good karma, along with the brainpower needed to figure out the aftermath.

Lin Wen first said to Fang Weiwei, "You've worked hard. Find a seat." Then he activated the Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart and exchanged a few simple words with Fang Dashan.

His main purpose was to reassure him and make clear that his decision to take Lin Wen's side was welcome.

Very soon, Imperial soldiers marched in neat steps to guard all sides of the meeting hall, while Fang Dashan personally led twenty elite soldiers to stand behind Lin Wen.

Every soldier stood tall and straight, fully armed, cradling a MAK63 Rifle diagonally across his chest. Thanks to the rifle's specialized design, it was easy to see that each was loaded with live ammunition; all they had to do was flick off the safety and raise their rifles to fire.

Lin Wen soon discovered that the atmosphere of unease floating throughout the hall had vanished. Every official could now listen to him calmly, as though the soldiers standing around them were not watching them, but protecting them.

What a strange bunch.

Lin Wen could not be bothered to study it. He hurriedly finished reciting the plan, then said, "Next is the roster for the work group."

"I will serve concurrently as team leader. Deputy team leader: Yuan Zhimen, deputy director of the Commandery Governor's Office. Team member: Lei Tiantong, director of the Finance Department."

Lin Wen read through the prepared list in order. Since he did not know many people, the list was short and quickly finished.

Lin Wen raised his head and began calling people out. Anyone whose black aura exceeded one-fifth was put into the group.

These people were not being sent to handle reconstruction. They were the high-ranking officials Lin Wen intended to purge. If an official in a high position harbored corrupt intentions, he would inevitably harm people.

Yet they were not entirely black, so Lin Wen could not simply cut them down with one stroke. He would first strip their power and transfer them away, lest these scoundrels remain in high positions within the commandery administration and wreak havoc in every direction.

All that could be heard in the hall was a rapid string of words.

"You, you, you-you. Not you. You, you. Not you. You-you."

Lin Wen's finger was like the finger of death. Every time it pointed at someone, that person's face swiftly turned ashen.

Before long, seventeen people had been stuffed into the work group.

Lin Wen clapped his hands. "The seventeen people named above are to complete their work handovers within one day and report to the Commandery Governor's Office at the Commandery Administration Hall before 5 p.m. tomorrow. Those who fail to report by the deadline will be deemed to have abandoned their posts and will bear the consequences themselves."

"Starting today, Long Mountain Commandery's priority is post-disaster reconstruction. Everyone must do their utmost to cooperate."

"Anyone who deliberately drags us down will be uniformly convicted of treason."

"Any other questions? If not, this meeting is adjourned."

Unexpectedly, the big fat Yuan Zhimen raised his hand.

"Governor Lin! The Governor's Office no longer has anyone in charge! The former director transferred away with Zhao Anping. Once I join the task force, that department will have only staff left—there won't be any official to hand over the work."

Lin Wen fell silent for a second, then asked, "Who is on your staff?"

"Li Xiaoli, Ning..."

"Then it's her. Hand the work over to Li Xiaoli."

If he had not been so obese, Lin Wen felt he could have stuck his head into Yuan Zhimen's gaping mouth and inspected the roof of it.

"Th-this, sh-she's only..."

"It's settled. Does anyone else have a question?"

Another hand went up. Lin Wen glanced over helplessly and found that it was Lei Tiantong.

Lei Tiantong said, "Governor Lin, while I'm away, I hope you can specifically assign someone to supervise the Finance Department's work."

"Fine."

Lin Wen agreed at once. That deputy director truly did not inspire confidence. His aura was mixed with far too many impurities; without the granite-like department director keeping him in check, there was no telling whether he would make mistakes.

This was something Lin Wen had failed to consider thoroughly.

The problem itself would not be hard to solve—but who should he choose?

Before he could think it through, a whole crowd of people stood and raised their hands again.

"Governor Lin, Huai Town doesn't have a deputy town mayor anymore!"

"Governor Lin, Changle Town has neither a town mayor nor a deputy town mayor!"

"Governor Lin, East Grain Town is currently short of daily necessities!"

"Governor Lin, the Imperial Second Engineering Corps has already sent three letters asking us to inspect and accept the repaired dike!"

As though a switch had been flipped, more and more people raised their hands with questions. An endless mass of affairs surged toward Lin Wen like a river bursting through its dike.

Long Mountain Commandery had already been beset by troubles. Before Zhao Anping left, he had dealt with only the immediate major matters. After Lin Wen arrived, he had focused on raking in money and had not reorganized the administration. Posts across the commandery had long been vacant, and with the unstable situation, impending conflict, and widespread panic, affairs everywhere had piled up into mountains.

Now that the situation had stabilized, all those matters erupted at once.

Governor Lin, who usually appeared wise and valiant, calmly directing matters from afar, instantly revealed his true shut-in nature and exposed the fact that he had no idea how to handle any government affairs at all.

Of course, no one had noticed this yet. Even if they had, they would only suspect that the commandery governor had some other plan in mind.

Lin Wen was also smart enough not to force his way through it. This was unlike the miscellaneous chores in Changle Town; it was not as simple as helping townsfolk solve their problems and doing good deeds. It was far more complicated and troublesome, and likely would not earn much good karma either.

Moreover, there was an enormous threat hanging over him—if he handled it poorly, it would generate bad karma.

Thus, faced with the surging flood of government affairs, Lin Wen immediately chose to seek help from [Immortal's Guide].

"Other than myself, who near me is best suited to become the commandery governor of Long Mountain Commandery?"

This was an absolutely concise question, brimming with wisdom.

Only after countless setbacks, after already shedding his old bad habit of asking grand but empty questions, could he have come up with such a question.

He did not directly ask how to solve all these problems. The answer to that would surely have cost an astronomical amount.

Instead, he asked who was most suitable to be commandery governor.

Wasn't a commandery governor precisely the person meant to solve these problems?

Once he knew who was best suited to be commandery governor, he could simply have that person handle everything. Naturally, he himself would still remain the commandery governor.

This was called employing people!

Lin Wen had even specifically restricted the scope: "near me." Without that restriction, it would probably have cost another enormous amount.

Even "Long Mountain Commandery" would not do. Choosing one person from 1.3 to 1.5 million people versus choosing one from tens of thousands—the difference in cost was obvious.

If he became financially comfortable in the future, he could cultivate an acting commandery governor specifically to handle such mundane affairs for him—but not now.

Sure enough, this question required only 23 points of good karma.

That was still acceptable.

Lin Wen thought so, but the moment he confirmed it and watched his good karma vanish, it felt as though a piece of flesh had been carved from his heart.

[Zhao Minggong and Qin Luoshuang]