As soon as the government officials left, those who had walked a long way did not see the disaster relief carriage from Lenan Prefecture that Magistrate Li said.
"drive!"
"drive!"
With fast horses all the way, the yamen servant from Jinhua Mansion has rushed to Lenan Mansion City and is about to go to the yamen.
Although people were coming and going on the streets of Lenan Prefecture, the yamen official knew that this matter was related to the lives of the people of Jinhua Prefecture, and even more so to the lives of officials in the prefecture's yamen.
"Get out of the way!"
"Get out of the way!"
The yamen servant rode a fast horse towards the yamen, shouting all the way, scaring away the people around him.
Seeing the government servant riding a fast horse in a hurry, these people did not complain, but were worried.
In the minds of the people of Lenan Prefecture, the reason why the government officials rode such fast horses must be because of something urgent.
No matter what the emergency is, it can ensure that the people live in peace, and that is the approval of both hands and feet.
"What happened?" Auntie asked worriedly.
After hearing this, the people on the side shook their heads: "I don't know."
After the government officials left, the people returned to their original order.
Seeing that they were approaching the Yamen, the Yamen servant from Jinhua Mansion rode a fast horse and shouted loudly: "Prefect Yan!"
"Prefect Yan!"
As soon as they arrived at the yamen gate, the yamen servant pulled the reins tightly. The horse still couldn't stop, so the yamen servant hurriedly jumped off the horse.
Looking at the two yamen guards guarding the yamen gate, he hurriedly took the letter and handed it to the yamen servant.
"This is a letter from our Jinhua Prefect. Please pass it on to Yan Prefect. This matter is very important." said the Yamen servant.
Listening to the words of the colleague in front of him, the yamen guard who followed the letter hurriedly picked up the letter and ran towards the yamen.
Seeing the anxious look of the yamen servant in front of him, the yamen servant who had not left asked curiously: "What is this? In such a hurry?"
Thinking that it was not a confidential matter, the Yamen servant said: "The relief food shipped by your government has not arrived at our house. I also asked about it along the way, but I didn't see the relief food from your government."
"No way. This disaster relief food will be transported in a few days." said the guard.
Just when the yamen officer of Jinhua Mansion wanted to say something else, the yamen officer who had delivered the message hurriedly walked out.
"Our prefect calls you."
Without thinking much, the yamen officer followed him.
After passing through several doors in the Yamen, we arrived at the place where Yan Zhifu was.
Yan Zhifu, whose surname is Yan and given name is Kangping, is now in his forties.
In the eyes of the people of Lenan Prefecture, he is a truly good official.
If it weren't for the wealth of Lenan Mansion, I don't know what kind of person Yan Zhifu is.
"Prefect Yan, we have been brought here." The guarding officer said.
"Okay, let's get down."
The prefect Yan Kangping raised his serious and worried face and looked at the government servant in front of him.
"Are you a government servant of Jinhua Mansion?" Magistrate Yan asked.
Standing next to Magistrate Yan was a man wearing a hat, a brown robe, a thick beard, and a thin face. He must be the Master of Magistrate Yan.
The officer nodded: "Exactly."
After hearing this, Magistrate Yan looked at the Master at the side. Although he did not say anything, it could be seen on his face that Magistrate Yan had handed over the question to the Master.
When the master who had been with Magistrate Yan for many years saw this, he looked at the government servant in front of him and asked: "This disaster relief food has been transported for many days, how could it not arrive?"
"It's really not here. When I set out, Magistrate Li specifically told me to take the official road and ask about the carriages carrying food when I saw them. Along the way, I asked about many carriages, and we walked to Le In Nanfu, there have been no carriages delivering food for disaster relief."
"That letter was written by Magistrate Li, who once told me that if you meet the Lenan Prefecture's disaster relief carriage, you don't need to send this letter. If you haven't encountered it, you have to deliver this letter to you, Magistrate Yan." "
Listening to the words of the yamen servant in front of him, the master also felt a little strange.
The government servants who transported relief food were carefully selected by the government. If something happened, someone would always come back to report it, but there just wasn't one.
Magistrate Yan took a deep breath and looked at the handwriting of the Magistrate of Jinhua Prefecture on the table, feeling at a loss for words.
"Prefect, what do you think?" The master looked at Magistrate Yan with a confused look on his face.
Looking at the face the master looked at, Magistrate Yan didn't know what to do. He looked at the master with a bewildered face and said, "You can do whatever you want."
After hearing this, the master thought for a while and then said: "Let's send someone to find out. If it is true as he said, it would be better to report it to the court."
"Okay. Just do as you say." Yan Zhifu replied.
The government servant standing in front of him stood for a long time, listening to the words of the two men, but he did not dare to leave without permission, waiting for their orders.
"Here comes someone!"
As soon as the master shouted, several government servants carrying knives came over quickly.
"Lock him into the firewood shed. He cannot be released without orders from me and Magistrate Yan!" The master looked at the yamen servant.
Upon hearing this and looking at the actions of the yamen servant, the yamen servant of Jinhua Mansion was shocked and confused: "Prefect Yan, what did I do wrong? Why are you locking me up?"
Seeing the yamen officer walking away, Magistrate Yan asked: "Master, what do you mean? Why are you locking him in the woodshed?"
The master looked calm and replied: "We don't know whether this government officer's identity is true or false, so it's better to be careful. Lock him in the woodshed first, and then consider whether to release him after the matter is found out. Besides, then ...None of those government officials said a word to us, so it’s best to be careful.”
Listening to what the master said, the method was good, but it was a bit inappropriate, which made Magistrate Yan a little dissatisfied: "Master, does he know? He is not from our yamen. If he is really a yamen servant of Jinhua Mansion, we will do this , isn’t this considered a crime of…detaining local officials privately?”
"Don't worry, if he is real, this is a last resort. Besides, it's better to find out the situation clearly before making a decision." Master explained.
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Yan didn't know what consequences his actions would bring to him, but at the moment, he was the only one who could be trusted.
If what the yamen servant told was a lie and Magistrate Yan urgently reported it to the court, and the court sent officials to investigate and found out that what the yamen servant told was a lie, then Magistrate Yan would be guilty of lying about the case.
At that time, at least he will receive a few bans, and at most he will be demoted to several ranks.
But if the yamen officer told the truth and Magistrate Yan didn't believe it, and it caused big consequences afterwards, not only Magistrate Yan was responsible, but also the Magistrate of Jinhua Prefecture, Li Jianyuan, who was responsible for the disaster relief food.
Thinking of this, Yan Zhifu sighed, looked at the master beside him, and said angrily: "Master, I leave this matter to you. Check whether it is true or false as soon as possible, and don't delay it for a while. Otherwise, I will The officer must be punished.”
"Prefect, don't worry. I will be there soon." Master vowed.
"Okay. You do it quickly. If it's true, reply to me as soon as possible. If it's false, let the government officer handle it for you."
"yes."
After answering, the master hurriedly went to work. The first thing he did was to send someone to investigate.
After giving the instructions, the master hurried to the woodshed and started asking.
I saw that the yamen servant didn't look scared at all, and looked at the master with a puzzled expression.
"Why are you locking me up here?" the officer asked.
The master smiled slightly and asked, "Are you really telling the truth?"
"Of course it's true. If you don't believe me, look at my clothes. They are the clothes of a yamen servant. How can they be fake?" the yamen servant said aggrievedly.
"The clothes are not fake, but I really don't know whether they are fake or not. You came all the way, but you really didn't see the relief grain truck from Lenan Mansion to Jinhua Mansion?" Master asked.
The officer shook his head: "How dare I lie to you?"
"You really didn't see it?"
The officer shook his head again: "I really didn't see it."
Seeing the yamen servant's resolute look, the master stood up, looked at the yamen servant sitting on the ground, and said, "You have to be aggrieved for now. I will let you go when the matter is found out."
"I said, why are you like this? This is a letter written by Magistrate Li. Doesn't this prove the truth of what I said?" The Yamen servant was very aggrieved.
"No one can believe it until the matter is investigated. Also, all the people sent by our government are powerful people. If there is any danger along the way, someone will always come back and report it to the prefect. But there was no such thing. How can we trust you? Besides, the handwriting on the letter is indeed Magistrate Li’s, but if someone didn’t deliberately imitate the handwriting, then we don’t know.”
The master said again: "Okay. You have to apologize first, and I will let you out after the investigation is clear."
After finishing speaking, the master walked out of the woodshed.
People from the Lenan Mansion also hurriedly investigated, but after a few days, no useful news was received.
On the other side, Magistrate Li of Jinhua Mansion couldn't wait any longer, and finally realized how difficult it was for the people.
"Here comes someone!" Magistrate Li shouted.
"The little one is here."
"It's been so long, why hasn't the government official come back yet?" Magistrate Li Jianyuan asked the government official in front of him.
The yamen servant shook his head, sighed, and said: "The people outside are starting to make trouble again. If there is no food anymore, something will happen."
"I know, there is no need for you to remind me." Magistrate Li Jianyuan became a little impatient: "Go! Watch the people for me, and don't allow them to approach the Yamen."
"yes."
After the Yamen servants left, the prefect Li Jianyuan muttered to himself: "When will this day end? I really can't control them if they don't have enough to eat."
At this time, the prefect Li Jianyuan suddenly became angry: "Why is this government servant getting worse and worse? He has been here for several days!"
After thinking about it, Magistrate Li Jianyuan's temper dropped slightly, and he began to speculate: "Could it be that someone blocked the relief food, or did the Lenan Prefecture Magistrate not provide food at all? Did the government officer die on the road?"
Various speculations left the prefect Li Jianyuan at a loss.
It has been more than ten days since the disaster occurred. There is no food at all, and the officials in the yamen are beginning to be nervous about food.
The people sent by Master Lenan Mansion searched for several days but there was no news about those people.
In the end, in order to avoid delaying too long, the master informed Magistrate Yan and quickly reported it to the court.
