As dawn broke, Landlord Wang, still worried, called his servant to help him over, only to find Jiutian drawing talismans on the table.
"Jiutian, you are so diligent." Landlord Wang thought to himself with envy, how wonderful it would be if Wang Can could have a child like that.
It looks good and it works well.
Landlord Wang had made up his mind: once he had a grandson, he would have his grandson become a disciple of a Taoist priest.
"Landlord Wang, you've arrived?" Jiutian said happily. "My second uncle fell ill last night. He had a headache all night and didn't fall asleep until dawn."
"Oh, should we call a doctor?"
"No need, I just need a good night's sleep," Jiutian said. "Is there something you needed me for?"
Landlord Wang was actually fine; it was just that Jiutian was too capable. People naturally admire strength, and he was no exception, wanting to get closer to Jiutian.
Before he could answer, he heard a burst of hearty laughter outside: "Jiutian, we're here again."
It was Magistrate Wang and Magistrate Li, along with a skinny, middle-aged man.
Magistrate Wang said, "Jiutian, you really can make shoes without an awl, you're really something!"
Jiutian happily showed off his tiny teeth.
"The dry well you mentioned that was filled in has already yielded remains. Magistrate Zhu, this little boy is Jiutian."
The thin old man excitedly bowed and greeted Jiutian.
"That day, I led some people to dig up the dry well in the southwest area of the Hu family's land, and we actually dug up two skeletons one after the other. The upper one was the skeleton of a woman, and the lower one was the skeleton of a child."
Jiutian's eyes widened as well: "Two bodies?"
"Yes, two! The skeleton of the child below is that of Madam Wang's younger brother, while the one above is that of a woman from the town where Scholar Wang lived."
The woman witnessed Lady Wang's stepmother committing murder, but instead of reporting it to the authorities, she tried to extort money from Lady Wang's stepmother. The stepmother, having no other choice, killed the woman as well and threw her into the well.
If Jiutian hadn't pointed this out, Magistrate Wang would never have been able to solve these two disappearance cases from ten years ago, even until his death.
The woman and Madam Wang's younger brother went missing, and the locals all said that they had been kidnapped by human traffickers. Little did they expect that they would both die at their doorstep.
Magistrate Li's eyes burned with desire as he asked, "Little Jiutian, would it be alright if I invited you to stay at the county office for a few days?"
Before Jiutian could speak, a loud crash came from inside the house.
The group rushed inside and saw Yin Jin'an glaring angrily at the door.
A candlestick lay on the ground.
Because the building floors are all made of wood, the candlestick makes a particularly loud noise when it hits the floor.
"Second Uncle, what's wrong?"
"You still want to bring Jiutian to the county office to help you solve old cases?" Yin Jin'an looked at Magistrate Wang and Magistrate Li, her eyes practically spitting ice, and said, "She's only four and a half years old."
Magistrate Li felt somewhat ashamed and immediately said, "I'm sorry, I got a little carried away and blurted it out."
Yin Jin'an is too thin now, but that doesn't diminish his majesty and ruthlessness.
Even if he changed his appearance, he was the biggest playboy in Tokyo, a king who hunted down fugitives in the wilderness and dealt a heavy blow to bandits in the north. How could the fool Xiao Jin'an have the majesty of a superior?
At this moment, Magistrate Li and Magistrate Wang felt a tremor, as if they were about to meet the king.
My knees went weak involuntarily.
"Young Master in Brocade Robes, please rest assured, we know she is young and we will not tire her out."
"But you've already exhausted her!" Yin Jin'an said sternly. "Do you know that by revealing heavenly secrets, she will suffer the backlash herself?"
“I’m sorry, that day, Jiutian told our fortunes, and my father said he would give her 30,000 taels of silver as compensation, but Jiutian said she would buy things to give to the poor, so she didn’t take it back…”
He meant that he hadn't wasted his nine days.
Thirty thousand taels of silver? Is that a lot?
Yin Jin'an's imposing presence erupted, and his questioning voice was deafening.
Thirty thousand taels of silver? He and the Living Guanyin made a profit of thirty million taels of silver from a single voyage on their large ship.
His little Jiutian, only four and a half years old, spent an entire day calculating their fate, saving their family and giving them a future.
Whether they used the 30,000 taels to help the poor is another matter. Here's 30,000 taels for you to change my fate, how about it?
Magistrate Wang belatedly realized that it was truly inappropriate of him to have Jiutian detained in the Wang family courtyard that day to save the life of the landlord, to tell fortunes for Madam Hu, to examine the feng shui of his own home, and to search for a way to continue his lineage.
He and Landlord Wang felt that offering 30,000 taels of silver was enough to show their sincerity. But in this world, how much silver can buy a life?
Could you buy the lives of those powerful and wealthy people?
Three lives at once? And even the future of a family!
Magistrate Wang's initial willingness to give alms had vanished.
When Yin Jin'an rejected him so angrily, he realized how wrong he had been.
Just because she's young, does that give me the right to exploit her without restraint?
Just because her parents aren't around, does that give her the right to repeatedly go too far? Even recommending her to her friends for exploitation?
Thinking that he has paid a little money and that he is a county magistrate, he can take advantage of other people's hard work.
“Young Master in Brocade Robes, I am truly sorry. I… I can make amends. No, the Nine Heavens saved three of our lives, and we will forever regard them as our benefactors,” Magistrate Wang said with shame.
At just the right moment, Magistrate Zhu handed a bag of silver to Jiutian.
"This is a reward from our county government. The case of the dry well was solved, and two missing people were found in one fell swoop. You have accumulated great merit, and you should take this silver."
Jiutian asked, "Are there any Taoist temples or Buddhist monasteries nearby?"
"There are no Taoist temples, and no Buddhist temples either."
"Oh, then I'll take it first." This time, Jiutian didn't stand on ceremony and put the silver into his bag.
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