"Officer, she isn't here," Zong Guangye replied to Constable Jia. "She has a father with a broken leg at home who she’s looking after. Should I have someone go fetch her?"
"Forget it then," Constable Jia said, patting Zong Guangye on the shoulder. "If there’s an emergency at home, we won’t disturb her. You’ve captured so many bandits here in Hehua Village, and with the prisoners we have, you’ve done a great service. I’ll report this to the magistrate when I return, and we’ll see that your village is rewarded."
The eight constables had arrived with three ox carts. Two were already piled high with corpses that needed to be identified and registered. They herded the remaining captives onto the third cart and, without even stopping for a drink of water, set off. They had captured so many bandits that their workload back in town would be heavy; a busy time surely awaited them.
Chapter 40