Chapter 295 Scheming
Worried about his mother's safety, Shen Qiu didn't waste a moment after getting the note from his father, and hurriedly left the house and rushed towards the Jinling Mansion Office.
Because he had helped manage the family property in the past and needed to often deal with secular officials, the prefect of Jinling was naturally an old acquaintance of his.
The name of this prefect is Tian Chaoguang.
He is more than eight feet tall, wearing a vermilion embroidered official robe, with a strong back and a long beard. He is sitting behind the large desk. See.
But Shen Qiu knew very well that Magistrate Tian's majestic appearance was just a facade.
He will only show this appearance in front of mortals.
After Shen Qiu crossed the threshold and walked into the government office, Tian Chaoguang immediately stood up and bowed to Shen Qiu. His majestic expression disappeared without a trace in an instant, and was replaced by something like a rotten persimmon flower. exaggerated smile.
I only heard him say respectfully: "I don't know if Mr. Shen is here today. I'm sorry for not being able to welcome him from afar. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
Shen Qiu He didn't say anything and handed the note over expressionlessly.
Magistrate Tian took the note with both hands and read it carefully.
However, after reading the above content, Magistrate Tian suddenly lowered his head, returned the note to Shen Qiu, and said with fear and fear: "Mr. Shen, you are late. This one is called 'Ningxiu' The woman had already left Jinling City with the corvee team going to the northern border one day ago."
Because Shen Qianren never revealed in front of Magistrate Tian that he and Ningxiu were married.
So in the eyes of Magistrate Tian, Ningxiu is just an ordinary maid who was kicked out of the house, there is nothing special about her.
Because of this, Shen Qiu's next reaction far exceeded Magistrate Tian's expectations.
"Where is she now?" Shen Qiu narrowed his eyes and stared at him and asked.
His gaze seemed to have substance. Magistrate Tian could clearly feel the hidden anger; the aura of true energy he released also made Magistrate Tian feel even more stressed.
Intuition tells Magistrate Tian that as long as the other party has a thought, he, as a mortal, will immediately die in this lobby, and no one can save him.
"I...I don't know," Magistrate Tian said while trembling, "Since...since Ningxiu left this government office, everything related to her has...never happened. It's under my jurisdiction. So, Mr. Shen, I don't know about her situation."
"Then who is responsible for leading the corvee team?" Shen Qiu raised his voice and asked.
"I...I don't know him," Magistrate Tian continued to stumble, "He only showed me the government token, indicating that he was sent from the northern military camp, but he didn't tell me his name - "
"——What does that person look like?" Shen Qiu interrupted him.
Tian Zhifu frowned and thought for a moment, then replied: "The man who led the team... was a burly man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. His skin was dark and rough. He was wearing a pair of chainmail and a belt around his waist. A scimitar, with a strong smell of alcohol that can be smelled from a distance."
"Thank you for informing me."
Shen Qiu said in a cold tone. , then turned around and left, not staying in the Jinling Mansion Yamen for a moment.
Magistrate Tian was there, staring blankly at his leaving figure, and it took him a while to come back to his senses.
At this time, Magistrate Tian had realized that the relationship between the woman named "Ningxiu" and Shen Qiu must be extraordinary - Shen Qiu's words and expressions were full of unabashed emotions. Worry and anxiety.
Zhifu Tian felt increasingly uneasy.
Because he lied to Shen Qiu just now.
The people who took Ningxiu away were not actually the burly men from the northern military camp, but a few practitioners from the He family in Lin'an.
The appearance of the so-called "leader" was made up by Magistrate Tian on the spot. In fact, this person did not exist at all. Because of this, he stuttered and was extremely nervous when answering questions, and did not dare to look at him directly. Shen Qiu's eyes.
However, the truth of the matter is this -
One day ago, Mrs. Shen asked her natal family to come to Jinling Mansion Office, find Magistrate Shangtian, and said to him: "As the saying goes, family disgrace Don’t tell anyone. The maid in the house made a mistake because we didn’t discipline her well. I hope the magistrate can hand her over to us.”
The magistrate Tian was a little confused about this.
The Shen family's maid made a mistake. Why did the He family want to take care of her?
Of course, Magistrate Tian did not dare to inquire too much about the grievances and hatreds among these wealthy families.
He only dared to ask cautiously: "But, I have already recorded this matter. If someone from the northern military camp asks about this woman, how should I explain it?"
The cultivator of the He family replied: "Just say that this woman named Ningxiu suffered from illness and unfortunately died on the road. Anyway, among the civilians who served in the Daqi Dynasty, countless people died of exhaustion and illness every year. No one will care if she is missing."
While the He family practitioner was speaking, he also placed a stack of banknotes in front of Magistrate Tian.
He held his head high and looked arrogant. It didn't look like he was asking Magistrate Tian for his opinion or making a deal with him, but like he was condescendingly giving money to beggars on the roadside.
Magistrate Tian knew that he was not qualified to refuse at all.
In the Daqi Dynasty, the secular government and practitioners' institutions like the Exorcist Department were nominally on equal footing and each performed their own duties, but in fact, the real status of the two was very different. ——The practitioners are the real masters of this country, and the mortal officials are just a group of coolies who handle chores for them.
After all, no mortal dares to say the word "no" in front of a practitioner who has extraordinary power.
So Magistrate Tian could only accompany the smiling face and hand the woman named Ningxiu into the hands of the He family monks.
When Ningxiu left, her face was as pale as paper, her eyes were unfocused, showing a look of despair.
Magistrate Tian could imagine that something terrible would happen to her when she was taken away by the He family.
But he had neither the courage nor the ability to lend a helping hand. He could only watch silently as she was taken away from the lobby and disappeared from the end of the field of vision.
Because of this, when Shen Qiu mentioned Ningxiu in front of him today, Magistrate Tian was undoubtedly worried.
He had promised the monks of the He family not to disclose this matter to anyone.
He can only lie.
But at the same time, he was also afraid that if Shen Qiu discovered the truth in the future and saw through the lies, he would be retaliated against.
Thinking of this, Magistrate Tian sighed silently.
He deeply felt that the situation of the mortal officials of the Daqi Dynasty was simply to survive in a crack - silently working for the practitioners, no one dared to offend; if there was a conflict between the practitioners, they would They will become a group of cannon fodder killed by the aftermath.
…………
At the same time.
Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin left "Shuchangfang" and returned to the headquarters of the Exorcism Department.
They first came to the Intelligence Department of the Exorcism Department and tried to search for information related to Shen Qiu's mother from various recent archives.
The Daqi Exorcist Division obtains intelligence information through three main channels:
The first is the monks who practice the art of divine deduction;
The second is the various channels in the Daqi Dynasty. Information shared by the government yamen - many times, there may be ghosts hidden behind certain seemingly man-made cases; the third is the patrol investigators within the Exorcism Department.
As Chief Luo’s personal attendant, Shangguan Jin often needs to deal with the intelligence department, and is also familiar with the placement and search methods of various materials.
Relying on several keywords such as "Jinling", "Shen's", and "maid", she quickly found "Ningxiu, the maid who once served in the Shen family, was sentenced to death for committing the crime of theft. tortured and sent to the northern frontier for hard labor."
Although the head of the Shen family, Shen Qianren, rarely revealed the identity of Shen Qiu's biological mother to outsiders.
But after all, there are practitioners in the Exorcism Department who have mastered the art of heavenly secrets and can discern many secret things that are rarely known to anyone.
Because of this, this document specifically noted the key piece of information that "Ningxiu is Shen Qiu's biological mother."
“I stole three taels of silver more than 20 years ago, but I have to wait until now to report it to the government.” After reading the content of the information, Shangguan Jin showed a playful smile on his face and said with a slightly sarcastic He said in a tone of voice, "The Shen family's way of doing things is really interesting!"
"This should be the method used by the Shen family to coerce Shen Qiu to go home!" Gu Xu thought for a while and said, " When Shen Qiu came to my house, he said that he had no attachment to the family. For him, his mother was his only concern and his only destiny
"But this matter will not happen after all. Too easy to handle. Whether Shen Qiu's mother is guilty or not is essentially a matter of words from the Shen family. If the Shen family does not take a stand, it will be difficult for us to clear her name and rescue her. ”
While trying to think of a solution to the situation, Gu Xu was also worried about the lives of Shen Qiu’s mother and son.
Because his own divination can only obtain simple answers like "yes" or "no", and cannot obtain more complex and comprehensive information.
So he consulted several monks in the Exorcism Department who specialized in the art of heaven and earth about the relevant situation.
The monks replied that Shen Qiu had just arrived in Jinling City not long ago and was currently safe and sound and had not encountered any life threats.
But Ningxiu’s situation is not optimistic.
At this moment, she was in Lin'an City, falling into a coma, unconscious, and her vitality was extremely weak.
Gu Xu was quite surprised by this——
According to the narrative in the case, Ningxiu was sent to the northern military camp.
But Lin'an City is to the south of Jinling City.
If Ningxiu really wanted to go to the north to serve as a labor force, it would be impossible for her to pass through Lin'an City. After all, this is completely opposite in general direction.
Why is this?
"Lin'an He family."
At this moment, Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin said the same word at the same time.
This is Mrs. Shen He Ru’s natal family.
The chaotic thoughts in their minds suddenly became clear at this moment.
“I didn’t expect that Mrs. Shen, who has always been known as a well-educated and virtuous housekeeper, would want to take this opportunity to avenge her private revenge.” Shangguan Jin chuckled and said, “I thought this matter would be difficult. Solved. But Mrs. Shen’s actions made everything easier.”
Gu Xuying was extremely enlightened and naturally roughly guessed what happened, and could also understand the meaning of Shangguan Jin's words.
The Shen family wants to use Ningxiu to force Shen Qiu to go home.
But they did not want to violate the laws of Daqi, nor did they want to have a bad reputation, so they decided to rely on the power of the secular government to convict Ningxiu. In this way, Ningxiu can be punished justifiably, and the Shen family will become a righteous party in the eyes of the world.
However, Mrs. Shen obviously has some small thoughts of her own.
She wanted to take this opportunity to personally deal with this lowly maid who had seduced her husband.
So she quietly brought Ningxiu to her natal home.
If nothing unexpected happened, Ningxiu should have suffered painful torture in Lin'an City.
"If Mrs. Shen is willing to follow the rules and send Ningxiu to the northern border," Shangguan Jin continued, "then if we want to rescue Ningxiu, we must also follow the rules-for example, go with The Shen family's negotiations either used power to pressure others, or promised them more benefits to make them forget about the unwarranted money.
"Now, Mrs. Shen broke the rules and tricked Ningxiu out of her own cleverness. He got it on her territory and thought he could do whatever he wanted with it.
“But this also means that we can also choose some unruly ways to solve this problem. Even if we lead a group of bandits, rush into the He family’s mansion in Lin’an, and rob Ningxiu directly Even when we come back, Mrs. Shen cannot accuse us in the name of justice.”
Speaking of this, Shangguan Jin paused for a moment, and then said with emotion: "This Mrs. Shen is really a narrow-minded, short-sighted and stupid woman. No wonder she gave birth to a stupid son like Shen Hua."
Gu Xuruoyou Thoughts.
Then he thought about it, took out the rice paper and "Jinghong Pen" from "Xianyunju", picked up the pen and started writing on it.
"What are you writing?" Shangguan Jin next to him asked.
"I want to write a letter to Shen Qiu and tell him about his mother's current situation," Gu Xu replied, "Now that he has gone to Jinling and can't find his mother, he must be in a bad mood. I was very anxious, maybe my brain got hot, I took control of my life object and flew directly to the northern border to find someone.”
Shangguan Jin was silent for a moment and said: "If I were you, I would not write this letter for the time being."
"Oh, why?"
"The relationship between Shen Qiu and you , not an ordinary friend, but the master and retainer, he may not be surprised if you simply tell him the news.
"But if you rescue his mother first, he will be the most disappointed. When he was cold, if his mother suddenly appeared in front of him like a hero, then he would never forget this favor for the rest of his life. ”
Shangguan Jin has been working hard in the Exorcism Department for many years. From an ordinary clerk to a personal follower of Chief Luo, he relies not only on his spiritual talent and personal efforts, but also has many hidden secrets. A hidden secret.
For example, if she helps a colleague, she will pretend to be giving silently without asking for anything in return, but secretly she will come up with an ingenious way to let others know and remember her kindness.
But after hearing her words, Gu Xu shook his head gently.
“Letters must be written and people must be saved,” he said. “My relatives are missing and life or death is uncertain. In my opinion, this is an extremely painful thing. Comparing my feelings, I believe that Shen Qiu is also eager to know his mother as soon as possible.
"He abandoned his family and came to me because he believed in me and recognized me. He is my friend. Naturally, I have to treat him sincerely. There is no need to play tricks on this kind of thing. . Things like favors and favors are not important. ”
Looking at his firm eyes, Shangguan Jin unconsciously thought of his experience of cutting firewood at the Laoshan ruins not long ago.
At that time, the white-bearded old man in the pine forest commented to her: "I don't like people who are too smart."
She was suddenly curious, what did Gu Xu get in that pine forest? What kind of evaluation; and at the same time, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart that a person as handsome as Gu Xu could actually carry a rusty broken ax and chop wood with his own hands in the forest - that scene was really shocking. It is unimaginable.
After a short silence, she smiled and said, "It's such a happy thing to be your friend."
Gu Xu smiled modestly, not thinking of how to respond. , and replied casually: "Thank you for the compliment."
(End of this chapter)