The bright mirror hung high, shocking the hall and desk before it.
Slender fingers caressed the documents, flexible strokes left ink traces, the young master tirelessly outlined one name after another.
They were like Jiang Sheng of the past, maliciously abandoned, innocently left behind, forced to choose wandering.
They had no identity, could not work, relied on begging to survive.
The weak and small like Jiang Sheng, the arrogant and unreasonable like Pang Dashan, were just children who had lost their choices.
When the government reached out, most would be moved to tears, relying on this helping hand to get rid of the identity of a street urchin.
Xu Mo, who was once the magistrate of Xieyang County, had implemented such a strategy before.
Now that he was back in Anshui County as the magistrate, he was carrying out his increasingly improved plans vigorously throughout Anshui County.
"Sir, it's already midnight, you should rest soon," the private advisor said with tears in his eyes, yawning, "Tomorrow the commoners will come to sue again with trivial matters, there are so many things to do."
Xu Mo smiled helplessly and put down his brush.
It was only when he really sat in that position that he deeply realized how difficult it was to be a parent official and that the Lord on High was not easy to serve.
Being too fierce and strict made the commoners suffer unbearably and have unresolved grievances.
Being too easygoing made the commoners delighted, but it also led them to bring all kinds of trivial matters to the yamen.
Auntie Zhang's chicken was eaten by Second Uncle Niu's dog, and they had to fight it out in the yamen.
Third Uncle Liu's daughter-in-law had an affair with his nephew's son, and they also came to the yamen to fight it out.
The solemn and majestic yamen was turned into a vegetable market at the village entrance.
In the past, Xu Magistrate was also like this, loved by the commoners and busy for the sake of the commoners, and was a model official who worked tirelessly for the people.
But Xu Mo's father only governed one county, while he had to manage the entire county town, and could not attend to everything personally like his father did.
"Private advisor, stop watching the show." He waved his hand, "Giving household registrations to the street urchins is more important. As for trivial family matters, they should be kept out of the yamen as much as possible."
"That won't do." The private advisor passed the provincial exam this year and was only in his early twenties, "They came to ask Magistrate Xu to resolve these matters."
Sometimes, the affection of the commoners could be a heavy burden.
His father's teachings had reached their limit, and the rest of his life could only be figured out by himself.
Xu Mo had tried letting the yamen runners handle things, but the brawny guards could at most only threaten people with their long sabers.
He also let scholars act as persuaders, their glib tongues were very useful, but they were left speechless when faced with unreasonable women.
Looking at the entire county town, it was hard to find even a handful of capable and strategically-minded people who could handle things logically.
Let alone recruit them to work for the yamen.
After all, the county town was not the imperial capital with talents gathered from all over, nor did it have the imperial examinations to screen candidates.
Even if Little Fifth Brother was here, his talent for governing would not be able to flourish.
"Alright, alright." Xu Mo laughed bitterly, "Continue looking in the county town, I'll handle things personally for the time being."
Just handling the matter of street urchins required staying up late with lamps lit, not to mention the exhaustion and damage to health.
The two tidied up and blew out the candle flame, pushing open the door holding their lanterns.
The moonlight in the yamen was dim, and a graceful young lady stood there, holding two bowls of congee in her hands.
Finally seeing them, her eyes lit up brightly, and she called out in a clear voice like a bell, "Eldest Brother, Private Advisor, you're finally done with work, hurry and drink some congee to relax, it's time to rest."
"Jiang Sheng." The private advisor was surprised and delighted, "How long were you waiting out here, why didn't you go in and sit, beware of catching a chill in the night dew, and you even specially brought congee, you are too kind."
He bowed and solemnly accepted the congee, full of gratitude in his words.
Xu Mo, squeezed behind them, "..."
"You've been so busy these days, Second Brother is not home either, Third Brother is guarding the border, Fourth Brother is out seeing patients when he's free, leaving only me alone at home." Jiang Sheng chattered like a little bird, shedding her disguise.
"With nothing to do, I opened two more workshops, but among the long-term workers recruited this time, there was a strange auntie who was always slacking off, using the excuse that life was hard, and hiding in corners crying every day instead of working."
"The other aunties all felt she was pitiful and were very tolerant of her, I discussed it secretly with Cui Er Aunt and felt that she was taking advantage of our kindness, relying on feigned weakness, so we decided to fire her. But you know what, Eldest Brother? She actually scolded me at the workshop door, saying I bullied the commoners!"
Speaking of her anger, Jiang Sheng put her hands on her hips, "Who bullied her? If I really bullied her, could she still be jumping around at the workshop door? I have so many brothers, any one of them brought out would be enough to scare her to death."
Xu Mo nodded with a smile, "How did you resolve it in the end?"
"Ah, how did you know it was resolved?" Jiang Sheng was surprised, "It was Cui Er Aunt who helped, she ate enough of her mother-in-law's bitterness in the past years, and most hated others being unreasonable and arrogant. She rolled up her sleeves and scolded the auntie at the workshop door, then clearly explained everything, and the auntie ran away in shame."
As expected, evil people still needed to be grinded down with evil temperaments.
Just like disputes between neighbors, the brawny guards could not explain clearly, and the delicate scholars could not handle it. But what if it was replaced with a fierce and scolding woman?
There were not few intelligent women in this world, they could earn money by starting shops, and handle messy matters by scolding and shouting as they wished.
If the imperial examinations also allowed women to participate, if the officialdom also allowed women to join, who knows what the scene would be like.
"What a pity, if Auntie was a man, I'm afraid she would be much more outstanding than Uncle Zhang." Jiang Sheng concluded with regret.
Xu Mo's eyes suddenly stung, he could not change the customs of Great Yu Dynasty, nor could he allow women to stand in court. He couldn't even do as much as his sister.
Perhaps this was the difference in thinking between men and women, unable to understand each other in different circumstances.
But now, he wanted to make a bold decision - he would give some women real power.
Maybe insignificant, maybe hard to notice, but it was the first major step he could take on the difficult road ahead.
"Jiang Sheng." Xu Mo smiled. "There is something I need Auntie Cui Er and the aunties in the workshop to help with."
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