Su Zhi Qiu was startled and quickly asked what was going on.
Upon learning that it was Fan Hutu's subordinate who had kidnapped Qin Chuan, he and Zhang Shuban immediately rushed to the prefectural government office.
Zhang, the clerk, was very excited the whole way, as if he had done a great service.
He thought to himself all the way, "Fan Hutu, you've really been stuck in this little Jianglin County for too long. You don't know the immensity of the outside world. You even dared to kidnap the prefect's fifth son-in-law, the current imperial advisor. Heh heh, let's see how you get out of this mess later..."
Upon arriving at the main hall, Fan Hutu bowed deeply to Su Zhiqi, cupping his hands in greeting: "Your Excellency, Prefect!"
When Su Zhi Qiu saw Qin Chuan, she took two steps forward, wanting to ask what was going on.
Qin Chuan glanced at Fan Hutu, meaning, let's watch his performance first...
Su Zhi Qiu then sat down behind the desk, and without striking the gavel, directly asked Fan Hu Tu what was going on.
Fan Hutu asked Fan Jinxi, who had been following behind him, to speak.
"Your Excellency, Prefect." Fan Jinxi first bowed to Su Zhiqi, then said, "My master came to Jiangzhou to pay his respects to Your Excellency. The New Year has just ended, and he would like to ask Your Excellency for advice on the arrangements for this year's county affairs in Jianglin County."
Su Zhiqi said, "This matter will be sent to all counties in the form of official documents. Fan Hutu, this prefecture did not summon you. You have neglected your post."
"Your Excellency, I confess my guilt!" Fan Hutu knelt down.
Seeing the master kneel down, Fan Jinxi quickly knelt down as well.
"What... is going on now?"
Su Zhi Qiu pointed to He Wu and his daughter, as well as Qin Chuan and Li A Niu.
Fan Jin said happily, "Reporting to the prefect, I saw this man named He Wu selling his daughter on the street. Since my master's mansion is short of maids, I took it upon myself to buy one for my master. However, this man has been interfering and injured two of my men."
After saying that, Fan Jinxi looked at Qin Chuan and Li Aniu and shouted, "You two, how dare you not kneel down in front of the prefect?"
Li Aniu knelt down.
Qin Chuan smiled, slowly lifted his shirt, and said, "Alright, let me wish my father-in-law a Happy New Year. You've worked hard, and you'll be busy with cases again right after the New Year."
Seeing that he was really about to kneel, Su Zhi Qiu was startled and quickly came out from behind the table to help Qin Chuan up: "My dear son-in-law, you mustn't kneel! You are the Imperial Advisor, second only to the Emperor, above all others. I cannot accept this..."
Qin Chuan knelt down once before slowly getting up.
Zhang, the clerk who had been watching from the sidelines, quickly untied Qin Chuan's ropes.
Su Zhi Qiu observed this and was quite satisfied with Secretary Zhang...
At this moment, Fan Hutu and Fan Jinxi stared at each other with their mouths agape, completely stunned!
The man before us is none other than Qin Chuan, the virtuous son-in-law of the Prefectural Governor and the current Imperial Advisor!
This mess... it's gotten out of hand!
Fan Hutu's eyes darted around, and he stood up, slapping Fan Jinxi hard across both sides: "You scoundrel! You don't even recognize the Imperial Advisor! You dare to steal the person the Imperial Advisor wanted to buy!"
Fan Hutu wasn't just putting on a show; he really fought with all his might.
Fan Jinxi's lips were swollen on both sides, and his face was full of grievance, as if to say, "I've never met the Imperial Advisor, how would I know he was the Imperial Advisor? On the contrary, it's you, the Imperial Advisor said he's seen you, but you have a bad memory, and now you're blaming me for making a scene like this?"
Looking at the two of them, Su Zhi Qiu waved his hand: "Alright, stop with the act in front of me!"
Fan Hutu immediately kowtowed to Qin Chuan: "This humble official was blind and did not recognize your greatness. I have offended the Imperial Preceptor once again. Please forgive me, Imperial Preceptor..."
Qin Chuan couldn't help but sneer: "You still know it's twice? Fine, it's not a capital offense, why are you so afraid? I know you're very talented, it's really a waste of your talent to be a county magistrate."
Fan Hutu cautiously raised his head, thinking that the Imperial Preceptor was going to promote him, and quickly kowtowed to express his gratitude.
To his surprise, Qin Chuan's next words were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head—
"You should become a prefect. I've long heard that Hainan is a place of dense jungles and rampant wild beasts. At the southernmost tip of Hainan is Leizhou, where lions and elephants are said to still exist. The registered population there is less than five thousand; the rest are wild men. They've always needed a prefect there. I believe that with Lord Fan's talent, he can definitely govern Leizhou well, convert the wild men into good citizens of our dynasty, and tame the wild beasts into domesticated animals..."
"Lord Fan, you should go back and complete the handover. I will return to the capital in a few days, and the Ministry of Personnel's transfer order will be in your hands. Congratulations on your promotion!"
Upon hearing Qin Chuan's words, Fan Hutu collapsed to the ground. This wasn't a promotion; it was a death sentence for him...
As the Empress's trusted advisor, he was bound to do what he said.
Thinking of this, Fan Hutu burst into tears: "I was so foolish! I was so foolish! Imperial Preceptor, please forgive me!"
The main reason Qin Chuan wanted to send Fan Hutu to Leizhou, Hainan, was that this guy had no real skills whatsoever. Just by handling cases, he had harmed countless good people. Letting him manage Jianglin County, which had a population of over 100,000, would only harm the people of Jianglin County.
Although Leizhou had a registered population of 5,000, they were actually not well-behaved and sometimes acted like savages, sometimes like law-abiding citizens. The imperial court did not even dare to send a county magistrate there, as doing so would mean certain death.
Qin Chuan felt that all incompetent and corrupt officials should be sent there...
Although many people in the court impeached him, the Ministry of Personnel still listened to the Empress, and the Empress listened to him. All he needed to do was inform the Empress or the Ministry of Personnel about this matter.
"Get down here!"
Su Zhi Qiu glanced at Fan Hu Tu with disgust.
Fan Hutu walked out of the hall crying, and Fan Jinxi came over to help him: "Master..."
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