The village chief suddenly fell silent.
The hearts of the other village heads sank instantly.
"Village chief, aren't you going to answer Village Chief Qin's question?"
"Could it be that the taxes have increased this year?"
Qin Yao also furrowed her brows.
The village chief signaled everyone to sit down, left his son to entertain them with tea, turned around, and went into the inner room to retrieve a document scroll.
Not all village heads have the ability to read documents, so the village chief did not hand the document over for them to peruse.
He unfolded the document and began to read its contents aloud.
The official-style wording on the document was barely understandable to Qin Yao, but the phrase "grain tax collected at one twelfth" was clearly heard.
After reading it all, the village chief respectfully rolled up the document, placed it into a bamboo tube for safekeeping, and finally sighed deeply, saying in a serious tone:
