"No, that's not what I meant!" the clerk quickly said. "What I meant was that Bai Nuo and his group are all very influential people. If you impulsively pronounce a verdict, you will offend the people behind them!"
Lord Li looked at him suspiciously.
Seeing that he couldn't explain it clearly, the clerk had no choice but to say to Lord Li, "Sir, you'll understand once you go inside the room!"
Lord Li went inside and saw a person standing in the room where he often rested, with his back to him. Only after hearing the noise of someone coming in did he turn around and look at them.
Lord Li asked, "Who are you?"
The visitor said, "I am the chef of Duobao Pavilion!"
"A cook dares to come into my room? Do you believe I will charge you with trespassing?" Lord Li glared angrily at his clerk, seemingly blaming him for making a fuss. Then, he plopped down on his usual stool.
"If one cook can't come, then how about this one?" The person who came was none other than Old Man Dugu. After hearing that Hu Mingmei and the others had an accident, Old Man Dugu released all the employees and closed the doors of Duobaoge. Then, he went back and rummaged through the chests and cabinets, taking out all the most important things.
"This thing should finally arrive, right?" Old Man Dugu placed his things on the table in front of Lord Li.
"This..." Upon seeing this, Lord Li was taken aback and immediately stood up, staring in shock at the object before him. "A gold medal?"
As he spoke, Lord Li reached out to take it, but to his surprise, Old Man Dugu moved even faster. Just as Lord Li was about to touch the gold medal, Old Man Dugu snatched it back.
Lord Li said unhappily, "What's wrong with you?"
"Do you think you can touch this?" Old Man Dugu looked down at him arrogantly.
"You!" Lord Li was furious. Compared to the gold medal, the gold medal was definitely more important, since it represented His Majesty. However, the person in front of him was just a cook. No matter what, he was still a local official, and this cook dared to act arrogantly in front of him.
"You can tell whether the gold medal is real or fake, right?" Old Man Dugu asked calmly. "Didn't you receive His Majesty when he traveled ten years ago? You saw the gold medal there!"
Speaking of the past, Lord Li was quite surprised. Ten years ago, he had not yet entered the officialdom. He was just a minor clerk who followed his superior and received His Majesty when he was traveling all over the country. It was because he did a good job that His Majesty specially granted him the privilege of becoming a seventh-rank county magistrate, and from then on he had the power to make his own decisions.
But he hasn't told anyone about this.
"How did you know?" Seeing that the old man Dugu had brought up such a secret matter, Lord Li called his advisor down as well. When the two of them were alone in the room, Lord Li immediately asked.
"Because I was there at the time!" Old Man Dugu said calmly.
"You are...you are..." Lord Li looked at the old man Dugu in disbelief. Ten years ago, he was in his prime, the envy of all. His superiors had even tried to curry favor with him. How could he have changed so much in just ten years?
"Times have passed, let's not talk about it anymore!" Old Man Dugu had no intention of mentioning what had happened to him in the past few years, but simply asked, "Do you acknowledge this gold medal or not?"
Although Lord Li was a bit greedy, he wasn't so lawless as to be this outrageous. "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"
"I'm here today for Bai Nuo and the others!" Old Man Dugu said. Seeing that Lord Li still wanted to say something, he immediately explained his purpose. "They are not stupid. This matter happened suddenly, and there are many suspicious points. You should carefully look for the unreasonable parts and give them justice!"
Lord Li said with a wry smile, "You hold the gold medal in your hand. Whether or not to release them is entirely up to you."
The old man Dugu said, "I don't want people to think they are all bad people, because that would affect the business of Duobao Pavilion!"
"Yes, I understand!" Lord Li nodded.
Having achieved his goal, Old Man Dugu was about to leave when Lord Li quickly stopped him and said softly, "My lord, I was fortunate enough to taste one of your dishes years ago, and I still remember it fondly. Could you please make me another one?"
As the old man looked at him, Lord Li's heart pounded with anxiety. But then the old man said, "After this matter is settled, come to the Treasure Pavilion to find me, and I'll make it for you!"
Lord Li was overjoyed and repeatedly said, "Thank you, sir!"
"I haven't served in the court for a long time, so there's no need to call me 'Sir.' Besides, I've been a cook since then, so there's no need to call me 'Sir'!" With that, the old man Dugu left.
After Old Man Dugu left, the clerk came in and asked slyly, "Sir, what were you talking about? Who is that person?"
"You don't need to worry about it!" Lord Li said in a deep voice. "You must do your best to investigate the matter of the Treasure Pavilion and strive to exonerate them!"
"Innocent?" This time, the advisor was surprised.
"What? You can't do it?" Lord Li looked down at his advisor, just as the old man Dugu had looked at him earlier.
The clerk thought to himself, "The murder case at Duobao Pavilion might not ultimately fall on their shoulders, proving their innocence. But Bai Nuo still has a murder case on his hands; he won't be given a lenient sentence!"
However, seeing Lord Li's gloomy face, the clerk dared not speak out, and only said, "Yes, your subordinate will definitely handle this matter well and strive not to wrong an innocent person."
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
