I Just Won't Play By The Book
chapter-287

The dilapidated and mottled low mud houses, the black bottom of the stove, chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs were running around unscrupulously on the road. As far as the eye could see, the sand and mud piled up in a desolate manner.

Standing in front of the village, Jiang Beiran frowned.

The reason why he frowned was not because of the desolation, because even if he implemented a large number of new decrees, it would not be effective so quickly. The desolation of the countryside could not be completely changed in a short period of time.

The reason why he frowned was because there were almost no males in the village. In broad daylight, there were only a few old women farming in the fields.

Such a scene was common in Jiang Beiran's era before he personally led his troops to war. Many places were like a country of women, where not a single man could be seen.

However, after he began his inspection, this kind of situation had become very rare. Most officials would put some men in the village even if it was just for show. It had been a while since he had seen a " village of women " like this.

At this moment, Deng Xianghan stepped forward and said,""Emperor, I'm afraid…"

"There's no need to say anything." Jiang Beiran reached out to stop Deng Xianghan.

Jiang Beiran knew what Deng Xianghan was going to say. Under such circumstances, it was very likely that someone who dared to blatantly ignore the new decree had the backing of a sect or a demonic sect. If they went in, it was inevitable that there would be conflict.

However, Jiang Beiran would have to touch the sect's territory sooner or later. It was just a matter of time. Now that they had bumped into each other, there was no harm in going in to take a look.

The system didn't give him any notifications anyway.

He brought Deng Xianghan and the others into the village. The children who were playing by the roadside immediately scattered when they saw Jiangbei, as if they had seen a ferocious beast.

Then, the few women who were chatting quickly ran back to their homes and slammed the door shut.

Jiang Beiran's brows furrowed again. He had ordered people to post news of his inspection of the counties everywhere. Everywhere he went, the villagers would look forward to it, waiting for the Emperor to bring hope to them.

However, this village seemed to have never seen such a notice before. When they saw people dressed in luxurious clothes, they felt that they were here to harm them.

"You bastard! How dare you come to our village and harm the villagers! I'll fight it out with you!"

Just as Jiang Beiran was about to go look for the village chief or the head of the security guards, a farmer suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of him. After a series of curses, he picked up a pitchfork and started stabbing him.

However, the pitchfork pierced through his chest like a phantom.

"Oh? Is this a spirit body?"

Ever since he had obtained the [Psychic] point, this was the first time Jiang Beiran had encountered such a spirit, and he felt that it was rather novel.

'It seems that the effect of telepathy is indeed to communicate with the soul.'

Understanding this, Jiang Beiran turned to Deng Xianghan and the others and said,""Go around the village and take a look. If there are poor families, help them."

"Yes."

After the three women left, he looked at the farmer in his soul form and said,"Do you know that you are already dead?"

"Of course I know that I'm dead, but I won't let go even if I become a ghost…Huh? You can see me?" The farmer shouted in horror.

"Yes, I saw it clearly."

" People!!!!"

The frightened farmers ran away like crazy.

"You were clearly making a fuss just now…What a coward."

Jiang Beiran didn't chase after the ghost. Instead, he wandered around the village.

The village had all the basic facilities. There was a pond in front of the door, a paddy field and vegetable field behind the door, a yard outside the house, and fruit trees in the yard.

Unfortunately, the pond had completely dried up, and the rice fields and vegetable fields had become barren. There were a few good fruit trees, but most of them were bare.

"Sigh, this place is too desolate." Jiang Beiran sighed.

"It's all because of you dog officials!"

Turning around, he saw the farmer who had been scared away earlier running back and shouting at Jiang Beiran from afar.

"You're not running anymore?"

The farmer straightened his neck and replied,""Anyways, I'm already dead! Do you still have the ability to make me die again?"

"That's indeed not possible." Jiang Beiran replied.

"What are you doing in the village? The valuable things in the village have already been robbed. What else do you want??"

"Didn't your village put up a notice that the emperor was inspecting the counties?"

"Notice? We can't understand that thing, so why are we looking at it?"

Just as Jiang Beiran was about to ask something, an old woman suddenly followed Muyao over. She knelt down the moment she saw Jiang Beiran.

"Your Majesty! Please be merciful and save us. We really can't live anymore."

Jiang Beiran quickly went forward to help the aunt up and said,""Aunty, if you have something to say, I will help you solve it."

"Aiyo! The heavens have finally opened their eyes. Your Majesty, all the men in our village have been taken away, leaving behind some women who can't do anything. The spring plowing is about to end, but the fields are still barren."

"Who kidnapped the men in the village?"

"We don't know either! Last year, a group of thugs suddenly came to the village and rushed in to capture my son. I chased after him to get my son back, but those thugs were very evil. In the end, we had no choice but to watch as the men in the village were captured by them."

'Don't you know…'

As they spoke, more and more women and old women ran over and knelt around Jiang Beiran, crying and crying.