Chapter 3154 Investigation
Both of them were sweating profusely, their hearts were pounding, and they felt very uncomfortable.
They both lived in Beihai County, surrounded by neighbors. Living deep in the alley, they could even know how many vegetables they had bought that day.
They had all accompanied County Magistrate Fang at Longchi Wharf. Although there were many merchants and farmhands there, and the personnel were complex, if they really had to divide them, most of them were farmhands who obeyed Bai Shan's orders.
Not to mention the nearby villagers who set up stalls to sell food there. As long as you say you are being questioned by the county government, they can enthusiastically give you answers to several questions if you ask one.
As long as they have come into contact with the interested party, Bai Shan doesn't believe that he won't be able to find out. It's just a matter of time.
Bai Shan is rich now, and recently some salt officials from other provincial governors have come to him to buy salt, so he is not worried at all and has plenty of time to play with them.
He waved his hand and said, "Send him back to jail."
The bailiff pushed the man down.
County Captain Dong watched them leave and shook his head, thinking that they were too pessimistic. Beihai County was no longer the same as before. They could still follow County Magistrate Fang to Longchi and had access to such secrets. It was obvious that they were trusted by County Magistrate Fang.
Their contributions will be indispensable to the construction of Longchi Wharf in the future, and promotion is just around the corner. I don’t know why they are so pessimistic.
County Lieutenant Dong quickly found clues. "...In the county town, neighbors on both sides say that the two families have been eating meat more often than before, and the Sun family even bought new clothes last month."
Who would make new clothes if it’s not a festival?
Oh, apart from wealthy families like the county magistrate, even high-ranking officials like him and County Magistrate Fang rarely buy new clothes at home, let alone petty officials like them.
"Have you asked them where their family's money comes from?"
County Magistrate Dong paused and said, "I've asked around, and everyone in their family said they were making some money in Longchi by taking advantage of the dock."
Bai Shan was curious, "How much is one point?"
"One hundred thousand yuan."
Bai Shan clicked his tongue twice, "Where's the capital?"
County Magistrate Dong shook his head.
Bai Shan snorted and said, "Longchi Wharf is profitable, but even a hen that lays golden eggs needs to be fed. Only when it's well fed can it lay golden eggs. If they don't take the capital, how can they make a profit?"
"Doesn't anyone in their family suspect anything?"
County Magistrate Dong nodded. "No one doubts it. They don't usually ask about what happens outside."
"Forget it, what about Longchi Wharf?"
"I checked. It turns out that a foreign merchant came to visit them and had breakfast with them. He left by boat half a month ago, but..."
Seeing that he stopped talking, Bai Shan asked, "But what?"
"But it's strange. When I looked up his background, I found that he came to Beihai County on the eighth day of May, left on the eleventh day, and didn't arrive in Longchi until the fifteenth day."
Bai Shan sat up straight, his face darkening. "It took a total of four days. It took one day to get from the county town to Longchidingtian. Where did he go for the remaining three days?"
County Magistrate Dong shook his head. "I've already sent people to investigate along the way, but there's no news yet."
He paused and said, "Sir, Beihai County is different now than it used to be. In the past, there were few people on the official road. If someone passed by, the villagers along the road would pay more attention and, by looking at the marks on the road surface, they could more or less tell where they were going. Now, there are too many merchants and travelers, and some villagers don't recognize people. If they look similar, they might not recognize them."
Bai Shan thought for a moment and said, "Ask more villagers along the official road at the fork in the road. They haven't gone to Longchi in the past three days, so they must have gone somewhere else. There are many business travelers, but most of them only take the official road from Longchi to the county town. So if someone changes lanes, it will definitely attract attention."
When County Magistrate Dong heard this, he immediately went to look in that direction.
Two days later, he ran back to Bai Shan excitedly, "Sir, I found him. Guess where he went?"
Bai Shan didn't guess and asked directly: "Where?"
County Magistrate Dong didn't think he was interesting at all, so why not at least give him a guess?
But he still said: "He went to Shunping Village."
Bai Shan was puzzled, "Why did he go to Shunping Village?"
County Magistrate Dong lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "You'd never guess, he went to see Aunt Qi."
Bai Shan raised his eyebrows. He always had a good memory and said with a slight smile: "The fish finally came out."
"But it's not obvious on the surface. I've carefully asked the people at the farm, and the merchant said he was passing through Qizhou and was asked by Madam Qi's husband's family to deliver a letter to her. He then stayed at Guantian Farm for an extra day before leaving."
Bai Shan seemed to be thinking about something and asked, "What has Aunt Qi done recently?"
County Magistrate Dong's expression was indescribable. "She...she's getting married."
Bai Shan's eyes widened, "With whom?"
"Zhu Liulang." Since County Magistrate Dong had gone to investigate, he naturally had to investigate thoroughly and thoroughly, especially since Aunt Qi's situation was rather special. She behaved very abnormally when she appeared, so the people at Guantian Manor were keeping an eye on her.
Zhou Man seemed to smell the scent of gossip and brought a bowl of noodles from the dining room and greeted County Lieutenant Dong, "County Lieutenant Dong, have you had lunch yet? Would you like to eat something together?"
County Magistrate Dong quickly refused with a smile.
Bai Shan glanced at Zhou Man who was holding the noodles, then stood up, patted County Lieutenant Dong on the shoulder and said, "Let's go eat some and talk while we eat."
Since his immediate superior said so, County Lieutenant Dong naturally had to follow.
The kitchen brought up two more bowls of noodles and a few side dishes. County Captain Dong ate while talking, and Zhou Man and Bai Shan pricked up their ears to listen.
"When Aunt Qi first arrived at Guantian Manor on the outskirts of the city, she was quite popular, especially with the Zhu brothers. One of them was Zhu Erlang, a widower with a son, so the matchmakers in the manor wanted to introduce them together." County Lieutenant Dong said, "Zhu Erlang also carried water for Aunt Qi for a while and helped her with chores for several days, but later she announced that she would not marry again and would stay with her daughter, so Zhu Erlang stopped going, and many young men in the manor stopped going."
Bai Shan nodded and asked, "And then?"
"Because Lord Zhou promised them that they could go to Yushan Hall to learn weaving and embroidery, they went there for a long time last year. However..." County Lieutenant Dong said, "Neither of them had any talent in this area, so they gave up after studying for a while."
It should be said that he has no talent.
This surprised County Captain Dong. He thought that as a woman, she would know some sewing and mending. However, according to his investigation, Aunt Qi and her daughter were indeed mother and daughter. They had no talent in this area.
Anyway, they couldn't continue studying, so they could only work diligently in the official farm.
"Because they no longer attend Yushan Hall, they were assigned to Shunping Village last November," County Lieutenant Dong said with a light cough. "The Zhu family was also assigned here."
"Because there's less work to do in winter, Zhu Liulang and Aunt Qi and her daughter were assigned to the same group to make compost. Anyway, they're currently discussing marriage."
There is still one chapter left. It will be very late. Let's go to bed first.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
