Jiang Yushu saw a small object flash past her eyes, and was immediately caught by Pei Wenfeng. She asked in surprise, "Seal?"
She looked closely: a white jade seal, about the width of a thumb, broken into pieces, with only half of it remaining, with the words "Wen Feng" clearly engraved on it.
"right!"
Guo Honglei tossed the whip to his attendant, and the guard, familiar with the route, quickly led the horse into the stable. He approached and flicked the snow off her snow cap with his fingers. "Brother Pei, take a closer look. It should be yours."
"Yes." Pei Wenfeng was very surprised. He turned it over and over to identify it, and asked doubtfully: "Yes, this is my private seal. How did it end up in your hands?"
"I found it while patrolling the border. As per custom, I turned it in. After a series of inquiries, the general ordered me to hand it over to the authorities." Guo Honglei looked around cautiously and whispered, "The items were found at the border between the two countries. Also found was a horse carcass and a bundle. Based on the contents, the owner is likely that—that—" He hadn't been paying attention and turned to his wife, "What's the last name of the girl who's been giving Brother Pei a headache lately?"
Jiang Yushu quickly replied, "The daughter of the Longshun Escort Agency, Du Feiyan! I wonder why she went to the border between two countries? Where is she?"
"I don't know where it ended up."
"She might have gotten lost. It's freezing out here. If she can't find a place to rest, she might freeze to death. Tuning is a remote area. If someone gets lost, they might freeze to death in the Dagan area or even in the Beijiao area." Guo Honglei calmed down. "Of course, this is just my speculation. The government should be responsible for verifying whether it was her."
"I found something, but the owner is nowhere to be found?" Pei Wenfeng frowned. "Where's the thing?"
Guo Honglei replied, "The rest of the stuff is at the entrance of the alley, and my men are guarding it. Do you want to send it to the county government? Or somewhere else?" He paused, his expression serious, and reminded, "Tuning is a border area. According to the law, everything that happens at the border between two countries will be recorded in detail by the military. Brother Pei is a smart man, so I won't explain the hidden dangers."
"From now on, you must keep the seal properly. Once it is lost, it will be a big trouble." Guo Honglei said with good intentions.
The border, the missing woman, the private seal... Jiang Yushu pondered for a moment, frowned in fear, and blurted out in a low voice: "Not really? Miss Du is just an ordinary citizen."
Guo Honglei spoke bluntly, "People's hearts are unpredictable, especially in official circles. If someone were to use this matter to make a fuss, at the very least, it would slander your personal morality, and at worst, it would accuse you of treason. Brother Pei would be unable to defend himself. After all, the seal does belong to you, and Miss Du's whereabouts are unknown."
"Trouble, such trouble." Jiang Yushu became more and more apprehensive as she thought about it. At the same time, she couldn't help but speculate: Miss Du has been missing for a long time. Could it be... that she really froze to death? Such an unexpected death at such a young age, her family must be devastated.
Pei Wenfeng sighed and carefully tucked the seal into his pocket. He looked at Guo Honglei, hesitant to speak, and finally said, "I understand. Thank you."
"There's no need to be polite between relatives." Guo Honglei glanced at the two sedan chairs. "Where are you going?"
Pei Wenfeng pulled himself together and said, "Please ask your people to help send the physical evidence to the county government office. I will summon the Du family later to identify the physical evidence and investigate further to close the case as soon as possible."
Guo Honglei answered cheerfully, "Okay!" He tilted his head and immediately ordered, "Changxing, tell them to deliver the things to the government office."
"Yes!" Peng Changxing bowed and accepted the order.
Guo Honglei asked in a low voice: "What about you? Are you going out too?"
It was a rare occasion for the two of them to get together, and Jiang Yushu shook her head decisively, "No! It's not a big deal anyway, I can do it tomorrow. Cousin, go get busy."
"I'm afraid I won't be back until tonight. Please tell my uncle." Pei Wenfeng frowned, got into the sedan chair in a hurry, and rushed to the yamen to check for new clues.
Jiang Yushu waved at him, "Oh!"
After a while
Guo Honglei pushed her forward and said, "Come on, let's go inside. It's windy outside."
"Are you on a business trip or visiting relatives?" Jiang Yushu walked briskly.
"I'm on a mission and going home to see you and the kids."
"When will we return to camp?"
Guo Honglei held her shoulders and said, "Tomorrow morning."
Jiang Yushu bit her lip and said, "Not bad, at least I can stay for a day and a night."
"Is my father-in-law in good health?"
"He's still doing well. He's in the east room entertaining the kids. The two of them are very close, like they're in a great relationship."
Guo Honglei smiled happily, "Let's go and join in the fun!"
Unexpectedly, just as they walked outside the east room and had not yet chatted for a few words, the maid reported:
"Sir, Madam, Magistrate Sun and his wife are here."
Jiang Yushu sighed, "Here we go again?"
"Yes." The maid suppressed a laugh, "Here we go again."
Guo Honglei frowned, "If you don't want to see him, I'll go and tell him."
"Don't! You rarely have time to spare, you should take a break. Come inside and rest. I can handle it myself." Jiang Yushu took a deep breath and ordered, "As usual, please have some tea. I'll be there soon."
The maid understood and withdrew.
"Do he and his wife often come to disturb us?" Guo Honglei was a little unhappy.
Jiang Yushu nodded and said helplessly: "It was mainly to discuss official business, grain storage and river engineering, and secondly to discuss marriage."
"What?"
"Marriage?" Guo Honglei raised an eyebrow. He stepped over the threshold with his right foot, then stepped back. "Whose marriage?"
Jiang Yushu couldn't help but sigh and answered distressedly, "County Magistrate Sun is particularly optimistic about our family. He first wanted to marry his daughter to you as a concubine. When that didn't work out, he then set his sights on my third and fourth brothers. Although I'm your sister-in-law, my mother-in-law is still alive, so how can I make the decision? Frankly speaking, I think it's inappropriate. It has nothing to do with Miss Sun. I just think her father is too utilitarian, so I simply declined. But he doesn't seem discouraged. I guess he'll nag me again today."
"You're right to refuse! I don't think it's appropriate either."
Without hesitation, Guo Honglei said solemnly, "Although the Guo family is no longer a marquisate, even commoners must be cautious when choosing a wife. Mother is arranging the marriages of my third and fourth brothers. If we pay more attention, we will definitely find dignified and virtuous girls. We can then help marry Azhe and Xuan into the family. They will be good companions for you and your eldest sister-in-law. It will be more lively with four sisters-in-law."
One mother-in-law, four daughters-in-law, and an undetermined number of concubines. It is certainly lively, but I am afraid it will be too lively.
Jiang Yushu smiled and said, "Yes. I hope that my third and fourth brothers can get married and start their own families soon, so that mother-in-law will be happy and you can rest assured."
The next moment, a childish voice suddenly came from the room: "Daddy——"
"Good boy, that's right!" Jiang Shisen sat cross-legged on the warm kang with his grandson, and taught him earnestly, "Your father is back. He's at the door. Call him again and ask him to come in and play with you."
Guo Ye understood and nodded obediently. He turned towards the door curtain and shouted in a baby voice, "Daddy! Play!"
outside the door
Jiang Yushu burst into laughter, pushed him, and urged: "Listen, Ye'er is calling you, go in quickly and play with him for a while."
"County Magistrate Sun—"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it!" Jiang Yushu brushed her hair sideways. "Actually, he's always been quite tactful. He's always polite and always smiles when talking to people. It's not difficult to deal with him."
Guo Honglei was about to speak, but she decisively persuaded him, "You can't show up! If you do, you'll definitely be pestered by the county magistrate, and you'll probably end up getting drunk. Why bother?"
"Okay then." He began to untie his cloak. "I'll go pay my respects to my father-in-law first."
"See you later!"
In a moment, the living room
In just over a month, the county magistrate and his wife visited more than a dozen times and became more and more familiar with each other.
"Regarding the marriage," Sun's wife leaned forward and asked cautiously, "I wonder what your family has thought about it?"
Jiang Yushu was well prepared and replied apologetically, "Alas, it's really unfortunate. I heard from my sister-in-law that my mother-in-law has already started arranging marriages for my two brothers-in-law, and they are already in sight, so... Alas, I'm sorry."
"Is that so?" Sun's wife had originally been reluctant about her daughter marrying far away, but she had only reluctantly agreed for the sake of her husband's future. Upon hearing this, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief, secretly delighted, and then replied with regret, "Alas, my daughter is unlucky."
Sun Jie understood and said tactfully, "It seems that our two families really are not destined to marry."
Jiang Yushu tried to smooth things over, and both sides exchanged some polite words and worked together to let the private matter go.
"I have thought carefully about what we talked about last time. To be honest, I think it is a bit difficult to deal with." Sun Jie hung the jade ring around his waist and rubbed it worriedly.
Jiang Yushu asked seriously, "What's going on? River work or grain storage?"
"General Song will be in charge of the canal excavation. This county will only need to provide assistance as much as possible." Sun Jie frowned. "Alas, the problem lies in food!"
"Not only is Tuning impoverished, but there are also Northern bandits lurking on the grasslands. Merchants are obsessed with profit, and there's nothing profitable in this county. How could they be willing to come here to do business?" Sun Jie slapped his thigh and said with a wry smile, "I can't threaten or force them."
Jiang Yushu smiled and replied, "Of course we can't force them, but we can try to bribe them."
"Right now, our county really can't offer any decent benefits as bait." Sun Jie was embarrassed but also worried. "Besides, the relationship between officials and businessmen, well... since ancient times, officials and businessmen have had a bad reputation. The government has to be cautious."
Jiang Yushu laughed. "When making decisions, the government should be cautious, but why be afraid? I didn't suggest that Lord Sun collude with profiteers to exploit the people!"
"No, no, no, I dare not. I absolutely dare not. I will lose my head." Sun Jie shook his head hurriedly.
Jiang Yushu was confident and even more motivated than her opponent. "Yongzhou is in need of development, and a far-sighted businessman will surely spot opportunities. In the entire northwest, there are currently four imperial merchants registered with the Ministry of Revenue. Among them, the Wen family in Xicang is the closest to Tuning. As far as I know, the Wen family is a grain merchant and has invested in military farms in Xicang Heqin, Yongzhou Chujie, and other places to reclaim wasteland."
"Lord Sun, you can give it a try. If you can convince the Wen family to invest, you don't need tens of thousands of hectares. As long as you have a leader, you can attract other merchants."
"As the merchant settlement prospers, the population naturally increases, gradually driving all walks of life, especially leather and medicinal materials. Tu Ning is rich in them and has long been famous. How can merchants be 'unprofitable'? Given time, I believe the poverty situation can be reversed." Jiang Yushu talked freely.
After hearing this, Sun Jie rubbed his hands together and said awkwardly, "This is certainly a good idea, but I have no friendship with the Wen family. I'm so presumptuous to suggest this, I'm afraid, I'm afraid... they may not agree."
If the imperial court doesn't provide relief, does that mean the county government is helpless? Jiang Yushu, a man of decisive character, frowned. "Whether we agree or not, we'll know after we try. Your Excellency is usually so decisive, why are you suddenly so hesitant?"
"I'm not hesitant, but the matter is of great importance and we need to take a long-term view." Sun Jie smiled awkwardly.
During the conversation, Sun's wife quietly sipped her tea, rarely speaking. But now, she hurried to chime in, "My master is old and rarely travels far. He's not as smart and adaptable as the special envoy, so things are a bit more difficult."
Sun Jie cleared his throat awkwardly, "Ahem, indeed, indeed."
"We met by chance and have no relationship with each other. It is rare that Special Envoy Jiang is able to help us and is so enthusiastic to offer advice. We are deeply grateful." Sun's wife was so grateful that she was afraid of offending the female official.
Jiang Yushu waved her hand and said gently, "No, actually, I came up with this plan for the sake of Xiping Granary. If Tu Ning continues to have poor harvests, not only will we be unable to pay the grain reserves, but we will also have to request relief. When the court holds us accountable, we will be implicated. A good harvest means everyone is happy."
"In short, I am grateful for the generous guidance of Special Envoy Jiang. Otherwise, I don't know when I can figure things out." Sun Jie took the opportunity to express his gratitude.
Jiang Yushu was used to hearing this, and without a trace of complacency, she waved her hand and reminded him, "The Beginning of Spring has passed, and spring plowing is about to begin. A year's plan depends on spring. If you miss the spring plowing, you will lose an entire season's harvest in vain."
"Understood, the county will act quickly!" Sun Jie clenched his fist and continued to discuss countermeasures. Lacking powerful relatives and friends to support him, he could only exchange his political achievements for promotion, so he was quite ambitious and motivated.
Otherwise, Jiang Yushu would not bother to attend endless social events.
At the same time, Heqin County, Guofu
"vomit!"
"Ugh, cough, cough—"
Wang Qiaozhen stayed alone in the bedroom, squatting beside the bed, suppressing her vomiting into the spittoon. She vomited so much that she couldn't straighten her back and was in so much pain that tears came to her eyes.
"vomit……"
After a long time, the nausea and vomiting finally stopped.
She turned pale and slowly leaned against the bedpost, holding her stomach with both hands. She was panic-stricken and thought to herself:
Oh no, is it really...pregnant?
It's over, what should I do?
The author has something to say: My sister-in-law is young and has been widowed for many years...
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