74 Going up the mountain to suppress bandits
◎They are not a good match at all!◎
Chen Jingshan raised his eyes solemnly and looked at the person sitting opposite him.
The man was wearing an ordinary long gown, with a hint of worry between his brows. On the table beside him was a medicine box he carried with him. His every move exuded elegance.
It cannot be denied that Dr. Li can indeed be called a "modest gentleman."
Chen Jingshan clenched his fists in annoyance. He looked at the man, and suddenly Cuihua's words rang in his ears: "Doctor Li and County Magistrate Ye are a perfect match. He is unmarried, and the woman is unmarried..."
Not a match at all!
How could he deserve it!
Li Xianjiang quickly sensed his hostility towards him. He looked at Chen Jingshan with an innocent face, not knowing where the hostility came from.
Who would have thought that when he did this, Chen Jingshan would suddenly feel a surge of anger in his heart.
Madam Cuihua noticed the subtle atmosphere between the two and was about to smooth things over when a man rushed into the house.
Butler Zhang panted, "Boss, our spies are reporting... reporting... reporting that County Magistrate Ye is injured in there!"
"What?"
"What!"
They both stood up at the same time and exclaimed in surprise.
Madam Cuihua said worriedly, "How could she be injured? She's the county magistrate. How can the government use lynching?"
Chen Jingshan glared at Li Xianjiang with hatred. In that instant, he immediately opened the medicine box and asked hurriedly, "Do you know what the injury is?"
Butler Zhang was stunned: "What...what injury?"
"Fever? Cold? Injury? Scald? Burn? Broken bone? Knife wound? Or something else?"
Chen Jingshan had naturally heard of the punishments in the government office. Now that his beloved had truly been hurt, a trace of hatred flashed in his eyes, and he urged with a look of heartache, "Speak!"
Butler Zhang came to his senses and said hurriedly, "I'll send someone to find out right away!"
"Wait." Li Xianjiang stepped forward to stop him, handing him the small porcelain bottle from the medicine box. "This is a recipe passed down from my family's ancestors. It's very effective for common wounds. If there's a way, could you send it in with me?"
Butler Zhang quickly took the porcelain bottle, stuffed it into his arms, and said gratefully, "Thank you, sir."
He turned and left, and only when he reached the door did he realize that he should obey Chen Jingshan's orders. Butler Zhang turned around belatedly and looked at the stiff-faced boss behind him, and said guiltily: "Boss, this..."
Chen Jingshan gritted his teeth and said, "Go quickly!"
"yes."
"Everyone, please go back to the guest rooms and rest for a while..." He stood there, and after saying this, he turned his eyes and said affectionately, "I will take care of Yun Zhao's affairs, so you don't have to worry about it."
After saying that, he turned and left. Li Xianjiang stood there, looking at Madam Cuihua at a loss, and asked curiously, "Did you say these words just now... specifically for me to hear?"
*
Yuezhou government office.
Tian Tongpan followed the prefect like a servile lackey. When he saw him heading towards the main house, Tian Tongpan immediately followed him, pushed the door open first, and said flatteringly, "Prefect, please come in."
The new prefect stretched himself and asked, "How's that guy in the prison?"
"In prison?" Judge Tian was at a loss for a moment.
"That little county magistrate..." The new prefect rolled his eyes, put away his folding fan, and hit him hard on the head, "Useless thing."
Judge Tian rubbed his head and said, "That man...ah...that man was very stubborn and kept shouting that he was innocent."
The new magistrate quickly opened his folding fan and said nonchalantly, "Can't you think of some way to make him talk? Or... commit suicide out of fear of punishment..."
Hearing this, Tian Tongpan's heart skipped a beat. With a bitter face, he stammered, "Sir, she...she is an official appointed by the court. She is afraid of the crime...isn't it a little inappropriate..."
"What's inappropriate?" The new magistrate gave him a look, and he hurriedly poured tea into the teacup tremblingly.
Fragrant tea splattered on the table. With trembling hands, Tian Tongpan handed the teacup to the new prefect: "Sir..."
The new prefect looked down at the tilted teacup, took it, drank it all in one gulp, threw the empty cup into his arms, and scolded him, "How could I have a magistrate as cowardly as you... Go and do it!"
Tian Tongpan hurriedly caught the empty cup: "Hey hey... I understand."
The new magistrate walked to the desk and was about to start painting when he saw a piece of straw paper on the table that looked quite out of place.
The handwriting was crooked, but the content was horrifying:
I know that you are troubled by the tragic death of the prefect, so I have a brilliant plan to offer you. There is a mountain outside Yuezhou City called Yanshan. There are more than 40 bandits in the mountain. The people of Yuezhou have been troubled by bandits for a long time.
If you lead a hundred or so yamen runners to the mountains to suppress the bandits, it will not only relieve your worries, but also become a good story in Yuezhou, and the people in the streets will surely sing the praises of your achievements.
If this plan succeeds, I hope you can donate some pancakes to the stone pier ten meters outside the east gate of Yuezhou City.
Although the writer of the letter did not leave his name, the new magistrate knew that this person was no ordinary person and might want to use him to get rid of the bandits.
If it were another prefect, he would definitely be suspicious, but he didn't care about the matter. Whether it was a special suggestion or he wanted to get rid of others with his own hands, he didn't have the leisure to think about the twists and turns in it.
He only knew that he had come here to gild his reputation and for his own career. Eliminating the bandits would bring him nothing but benefits, so what was there to fear? He knew better than anyone which choice would be more beneficial to his career.
What's more, it is not safe to blame the matter on the court officials. He suddenly remembered the person who told him that Ye Yunzhao was suspicious. Now - he needs a witness.
"Wait." The new prefect spoke slowly.
Tian Tongpan, who had been slowly moving to the door, stopped and immediately turned around and asked, "Have you changed your mind, sir?"
The new prefect smiled and said, "Bring over the witness from the backyard. I have something to ask."
After a while, the thin nanny followed behind Tian Tongpan tremblingly and entered the house timidly.
With a plop, she quickly knelt down, prostrating herself before the ground, and said, "Sir... Sir... I don't know... how I can help... Sir."
The new prefect asked her to stand up and asked, "You said earlier that before the previous prefect died, a mysterious woman came to the courtyard in disguise?"
"That's right." The thin nanny didn't know what this meant.
"But according to our investigation, the person you and the painter described—how come he looks exactly like the magistrate of Lingnan County?"
"What?" The thin nanny was stunned. "Impossible! If an official wanted to see the prefect, why would he disguise himself and enter through the back door? It must be a trick!"
Judge Tian pushed her down and said, "We've found the female magistrate. She looks exactly like the portrait the painter drew! Do you think the Lord is deceiving you?"
"I dare not! I dare not!"
The new prefect said, "These county magistrates insist they've never been to the prefect's house. This is quite strange. Why don't you tell me, which of you two deceived me?"
Before he could finish his words, the thin nanny fell to her knees with a plop.
She never thought that the suspicious person was the county magistrate. The bluestone slab under her knees was warmed by the charcoal brazier in the house, but she felt cold all over.
If this is true, I am afraid that the officials will protect each other and I will be charged with slandering an official appointed by the court. She closed her eyes, sweat dripping from her forehead, and could only say:
"I dare not deceive you, sir. I am just... just over fifty years old and my eyesight is sometimes blurry. Perhaps I... saw it wrongly... I hope you will forgive me!"
"Did you see it wrong?!" Tian Tongpan pulled her shoulders and asked, "I asked you so many times before, why didn't you say you saw it wrong?"
"Little...little..."
Seeing this, the new prefect said, "Well, I think this old woman didn't do it on purpose."
"It's natural! It's natural! I hope you will forgive me!"
The new prefect walked up to her and said with a smile, "I just want you to think carefully. Are there any other suspicious people in those few days?"
The thin nanny immediately fell to the ground: "No more! No more!"
He nodded his chin towards Pan Tian, shook his sleeves and stood up straight.
With a "swish!", Tian Tongpan pulled out the official sword from the waist of the yamen runner outside the door and put it to her neck: "Tell me! Who else is there!"
The thin nanny was forced to stand up straight because of the official knife. She stammered, "I'll think about it... think about it..."
"Think it over before answering!"
The blade was getting closer and closer to her skin, and she was shaking like a sieve. She only hoped that if these two gentlemen had someone they wanted to arrest, they would tell them quickly! Why bother making things difficult for a mere woman like her! If she had known this would happen, she would never have said there was a suspicious person in the first place!
The new prefect waved his folding fan and asked obliquely, "Have you ever seen a big, strong, and burly villain?"
"explain!"
Thin Mammy was holding her breath in deep thought when she was startled by the knife-wielding Tian Tongpan. Suddenly, a person popped up in her mind: "Yes! Yes, yes! There is another suspicious person!"
There is still one?
The new prefect became interested and asked curiously, "Who?"
The thin nanny glanced sideways at the official sword on her neck, and waved at Tian Tongpan with a tactful look.
Her shoulders lightened, and she said hurriedly, "It's a man!"
"Oh? What kind of man? Tell me about it."
Thin Mammy tried her best to describe the man's appearance: "Every time he comes, he wears satin..."
The new prefect was stunned. "Every time? He comes here often?"
The thin nanny shook her head: "It comes once every two or three months."
"Although this person's clothes are made of satin, his family is probably not rich..."
Before she could finish her words, Judge Tian asked, "Why?"
"Because his shoes and boots are very worn out, sometimes covered in dirt, they look like... like they just went to the mountains to pick wild fruit," said the thin nanny. "Think about it, sir, if you were wealthy, why would you go out to pick wild fruit yourself?"
The new prefect seemed to be in deep thought. Could it be that... this person was the bandit mentioned in the letter?
"And this man has a knife!" She regretted it as soon as she said this. The knife that man was wearing looked no different from the knife used by yamen runners. If this man was still an official, wouldn't she be asking for trouble?
However, she had secretly seen that man arguing with the prefect, and she thought that they must be in trouble, so she could at least escape this time...well.
"What kind of knife?" asked Tian Tongpan.
The thin nanny smiled awkwardly: "Sir, I only know kitchen knives. I can't tell the difference between other knives."
The new prefect waved his hand and told him to take the men away. He then said, "Gather all the yamen runners. Follow me up the mountain to suppress the bandits tonight!"
【Author’s words】
Shopkeeper Chen: My wife and I are the perfect match! The best match in the world! =3=
Doctor Li: You are sick...
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