The onlookers outside had watched the entire farce unfold.
After seeing the bailiffs drag away Wang Zimian, who had humiliated him, the county magistrate narrowed his eyes at the surrounding commoners.
"If so much as a whisper of what happened today gets out, you..."
Before he could finish, Wenren Luoshui produced a pair of shoes once worn by a beggar from somewhere and hurled them at him.
As though fitted with a tracking device, the shoes landed with perfect accuracy, dangling from the county magistrate's ears.
A beggar who had shoes to wear was already doing well for himself. Could anyone really expect him to have the time or inclination to wash them?
The fragrance wafting from the shoes was positively enchanting. The county magistrate reached up to pull them off his ears.
But the shoes seemed to have grown into his ears. When he tugged hard, a heart-rending pain shot through them.
"Such an imposing display of authority, County Magistrate Jiang!"
Wenren Luoshui stepped out of the crowd of onlookers and approached him, displaying to the fullest the noblewoman's bearing she had learned over the years.
Hearing her voice, the county magistrate stopped battling the shoes and sized up the two women and one man standing before him.
Whether in looks or bearing, these three were unlike anyone he had ever seen.
His character might have been lacking, but he still had some discernment.
His eyes darted about as he looked at Wenren Luoshui and her companions, realizing that they might be important people from the Capital.
He immediately scurried up to them like an eager lapdog and bowed obsequiously.
Seized by the urge to put on a performance, Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian covered their noses and took a large step back.
"You have rather niche tastes for a