At the Qiao Mansion.
Officer Qiao and Madame Qiao were very distressed and kept sighing for the lack of money. They started with an amiable discussion, but soon the discussion developed into an argument. The whole backyard was filled with anger and darkness.
In the end, Madame Qiao came up with an idea.
"How about borrowing some money from those rich families again?"
Officer Qiao was startled.
He already did it once. Otherwise his coffers would have been empty ages ago. Officer Qiao did not think that it was good for his reputation if he turned to them again.
It was not a very good thing if a County Magistrate borrowed money from locals. It would turn him into a joke.
He had chosen five very rich, not tricky families when he borrowed the money for the first time. He got 1,000 liang from each of them.