Worried about his mother's safety, Shen Qiu didn't waste a moment after getting the note from his father, and hurriedly left the house and rushed towards the Jinling Mansion Office.
Because he had helped manage the family property in the past and needed to often deal with secular officials, the prefect of Jinling was naturally an old acquaintance of his.
The name of this prefect is Tian Chaoguang.
He was more than eight feet tall, wearing a vermilion embroidered official robe, with a strong back and a long beard. He was sitting behind the large desk. He looked calm and intimidating, making people dare not look directly at him.
But Shen Qiu knew very well that Magistrate Tian's majestic appearance was just a facade.
He will only show this appearance in front of ordinary people.
After Shen Qiu crossed the threshold and walked into the government office, Tian Chaoguang immediately stood up and bowed to Shen Qiu. His majestic expression disappeared without a trace in an instant, and was replaced by an exaggerated smile like a rotten persimmon flower.
I only heard him say respectfully: "I don't know if Mr. Shen is here today. I'm sorry for missing you from afar. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
Shen Qiu didn't say anything and handed over the note expressionlessly.
Magistrate Tian took the note with both hands and read it carefully.
However, after reading the contents of the note, Magistrate Tian suddenly lowered his head and said in fear: "Mr. Shen, you are late. This woman named 'Ningxiu' had followed her to the north a day ago. The corvee team on the border left Jinling City."
Because Shen Qianren never revealed in front of Magistrate Tian that he and Ningxiu were married.
Therefore, in the eyes of Magistrate Tian, Ningxiu was just an ordinary maid who was kicked out of the house, and there was nothing special about her.
Because of this, Shen Qiu's next reaction far exceeded Magistrate Tian's expectations.
"Where is she now?" Shen Qiu narrowed his eyes and stared at him and asked.
There was substance in his gaze. Magistrate Tian could clearly feel the hidden anger; the aura of true energy he released also made Magistrate Tian feel even more stressed.
Instinct tells Magistrate Tian that as long as the other party has a thought, he, as a mortal, will immediately die in this lobby, and no one can save him.
"I...I don't know," Magistrate Tian trembled as he said, "Since...since Ningxiu left this government office, everything related to her...is not under my jurisdiction. So. Mr. Shen, I don’t know anything about her situation.”
"Then who is the person responsible for leading the corvee team?" Shen Qiu raised his voice and asked.
"I...I don't know him," Magistrate Tian continued to stumble, "He only showed me the government token, indicating that he was sent from the northern military camp, but he didn't tell me his name - "
"——What does that person look like?" Shen Qiu interrupted him.
Magistrate Tian frowned and thought for a moment, then replied: "The man leading the team... is a burly man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, dark and rough skin, wearing a pair of chainmail, and a scimitar on his waist. There is a strong smell of alcohol that can be smelled from a long distance away."
"Thanks for letting me know."
Shen Qiu said a word in a cold tone, then turned around and left, not staying in the Jinling Mansion Yamen for a moment.
Magistrate Tian was there, staring blankly at his leaving figure, and it took him a while to come back to his senses.
At this time, Magistrate Tian had realized that the relationship between the woman named "Ningxiu" and Shen Qiu must be extraordinary - Shen Qiu's words and expressions were filled with unabashed worry and anxiety.
Magistrate Tian felt increasingly uneasy.
Because he just lied to Shen Qiu.
The people who took Ningxiu away were not actually the burly men from the northern military camp, but a few practitioners from the He family in Lin'an.
The appearance of the so-called "leader" was made up by Magistrate Tian on the spot. In fact, this person did not exist at all. Because of this, he stuttered and was extremely nervous when answering questions, and did not dare to look at him directly. Shen Qiu's eyes.
However, the truth of the matter is this -
One day ago, Mrs. Shen asked her natal family to come to the Jinling Mansion Office, find Magistrate Shangtian, and said to him: "As the saying goes, family scandals should not be made public. The mistakes made by the maids in the family are due to our own lack of discipline. I hope the Magistrate can Leave her to us."
Magistrate Tian was a little puzzled by this.
The Shen family's maid made a mistake, why did someone from the He family want to take care of her?
Of course, Magistrate Tian did not dare to inquire too much about the grievances and hatreds among these wealthy families.
He only dared to ask cautiously: "But, I have already recorded this matter. If someone from the northern military camp asks about this woman, how should I explain it?"
The cultivator of the He family replied: "Just say that this woman named Ningxiu suffered from illness and unfortunately died on the road. Anyway, among the civilians who served in the Daqi Dynasty, countless people died of exhaustion and illness every year. No one will care about her."
While the He family practitioner was speaking, he also placed a stack of banknotes in front of Magistrate Tian.
He held his head high and looked arrogant, not like he was asking Magistrate Tian for his opinion or making a deal with him, but like he was condescendingly giving money to beggars on the roadside.
Magistrate Tian knew that he was not qualified to refuse at all.
In the Daqi Dynasty, the secular government and practitioners' institutions like the Exorcism Department were nominally on equal footing and each performed their own duties. However, in fact, the real status of the two was very different - the practitioners were the The real masters of the country, the mortal officials, are just a bunch of coolies who handle chores for them.
After all, no mortal dares to say "no" in front of a practitioner who has extraordinary power.
So Magistrate Tian could only accompany the smiling face and hand the woman named Ningxiu into the hands of the He family monks.
When Ningxiu left, her face was as pale as paper, her eyes were unfocused, showing a look of despair.
Magistrate Tian could imagine that something terrible would happen to her when she was taken away by the He family.
But he didn't have the courage or ability to help, so he could only watch silently as she was taken away from the lobby and disappeared from the end of the field of vision.
Because of this, when Shen Qiu mentioned Ningxiu in front of him today, Magistrate Tian was undoubtedly worried.
He had promised the monks of the He family not to disclose this matter to anyone.
He can only lie.
But at the same time, he was also afraid that if Shen Qiu discovered the truth in the future and saw through the lies, he would be retaliated against.
Thinking of this, Magistrate Tian sighed silently.
He deeply felt that the situation of the mortal officials of the Daqi Dynasty was simply to survive in a crack - silently working for the practitioners, no one dared to offend; if there was a conflict between the practitioners, they would become a group of Cannon fodder killed by the aftermath.
…………
at the same time.
Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin left "Shuchangfang" and returned to the headquarters of the Exorcism Department.
They first came to the Intelligence Department of the Exorcism Department and tried to search for information related to Shen Qiu's mother from various recent archives.
The Daqi Exorcist Department mainly has three channels to obtain intelligence information:
The first is a monk who practices the art of divine deduction;
The second is the information shared by various government offices in the Daqi Dynasty - many times, there may be ghosts hidden behind certain seemingly man-made cases;
The third is the patrol investigators within the Exorcism Department.
As Chief Luo's personal attendant, Shangguan Jin often needs to deal with the intelligence department, and is also familiar with the placement and search methods of various materials.
With several keywords such as "Jinling", "Shen family", "maid", etc., she quickly found "Ningxiu, the maid who once served in the Shen family, was tortured for committing the crime of theft and was sent to the north. "Frontier Service" case.
Although the head of the Shen family, Shen Qianren, rarely revealed the identity of Shen Qiu's biological mother to outsiders.
But after all, there are practitioners in the Exorcism Department who have mastered the art of heavenly secrets and can discern many secret things that are rarely known to anyone.
Because of this, this document specifically noted the key piece of information that "Ningxiu is Shen Qiu's biological mother."
"I stole three taels of silver more than 20 years ago, but I have to wait until now to report it to the government." After reading the contents of the document, Shangguan Jin showed a playful smile on his face and said in a slightly sarcastic tone, "Shen The family’s way of doing things is really interesting!”
"This should be the method used by the Shen family to force Shen Qiu to return home!" Gu Xu thought for a while and said, "When Shen Qiu defected to my house, it meant that he had no attachment to the family. For him, , his mother is his only concern and his only life
"But this matter is not easy to deal with after all. Whether Shen Qiu's mother is guilty or not depends essentially on the Shen family's word. If the Shen family does not express its position, it will be difficult for us to clear her name and rescue her."
While trying to think of a solution to the situation, Gu Xu was also worried about the lives of Shen Qiu's mother and son.
Because his own divination can only obtain simple answers like "yes" or "no", and cannot obtain more complex and comprehensive information.
So he consulted several monks in the Exorcism Department who specialized in the art of heaven and earth to inquire about the relevant situation.
The monks replied that Shen Qiu had just arrived in Jinling City not long ago and was currently safe and sound and had not encountered any threats to his life.
But Ningxiu's situation is not optimistic.
At this moment, she was in Lin'an City, in a coma, unconscious, and her vitality was extremely weak.
Gu Xu was quite surprised by this——
According to what was said in the case, Ningxiu was sent to the northern military camp.
But Lin'an City is to the south of Jinling City.
If Ningxiu really wanted to go to the north to serve as a labor force, it would be impossible for her to pass through Lin'an City. After all, this is completely opposite in general direction.
Why is this?
"Lin'an He family."
At this moment, Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin said the same word at the same time.
This is Mrs. Shen He Ru’s natal family.
The chaotic thoughts in their minds suddenly became clear at this moment.
"I didn't expect that Mrs. Shen, who has always been known as a well-educated and virtuous housekeeper, would want to take this opportunity to avenge her personal revenge." Shangguan Jin chuckled and said, "I thought this matter would be difficult to solve. But this Shen Madam’s actions made everything easier.”
Gu Xuying was extremely enlightened, and naturally he roughly guessed what happened, and could also understand the meaning of Shangguan Jin's words.
The Shen family wanted to use Ningxiu to force Shen Qiu to go home.
However, they did not want to violate the laws of Daqi and gain a bad reputation, so they decided to rely on the power of the secular government to convict Ningxiu. In this way, Ningxiu can be punished justifiably, and the Shen family will become a righteous party in the eyes of the world.
However, Mrs. Shen obviously has some thoughts of her own.
She wanted to take this opportunity to personally deal with this lowly maid who had seduced her husband.
So she quietly brought Ningxiu to her natal home.
If nothing else, Ningxiu should have suffered painful torture in Lin'an City.
"If Mrs. Shen is willing to follow the rules and send Ningxiu to the northern border," Shangguan Jin continued, "then if we want to rescue Ningxiu, we have to follow the rules - such as negotiating with the Shen family, or Use power to pressure people, or promise them more benefits to make them forget about the money they don't have.
"Now, Mrs. Shen broke the rules and cleverly got Ningxiu into her territory, thinking she could do whatever she wanted with her.
"But this also means that we can also choose some unruly ways to solve this problem. Even if we lead a group of bandits and rush into the He family's mansion in Lin'an and snatch Ningxiu back, Mrs. Shen will not be able to Accusing us in the name of justice."
Speaking of this, Shangguan Jin paused for a moment, and then said with emotion: "This Mrs. Shen is really a narrow-minded, short-sighted and stupid woman. No wonder she gave birth to a stupid son as useless as Shen Hua."
Gu Xu was thoughtful.
Then he thought about it, took out the rice paper and "Jinghong Pen" from "Xianyunju", picked up the pen and started writing on it.
"What are you writing?" Shangguan Jin next to him asked.
"I want to write a letter to Shen Qiu and tell him about his mother's current situation," Gu Xu replied, "Now that he has gone to Jinling and can't find his mother, he must be very anxious and maybe his brain As soon as I got hot, I took control of my natal creature and flew directly to the northern border to find someone."
Shangguan Jin was silent for a moment and said, "If I were you, I wouldn't write this letter for the time being."
"Oh why?"
"The relationship between Shen Qiu and you is not that of ordinary friends, but that of master and disciple. If you simply tell him the news, he may not be surprised.
"But if you rescued his mother first, and then suddenly appeared in front of him like a hero with his mother when he was most discouraged, then he would never forget it for the rest of his life. This favor.”
Shangguan Jin has been working hard in the Exorcism Department for many years. From an ordinary clerk to a personal follower of Chief Luo, Shangguan Jin relies not only on his spiritual talent and personal efforts, but also on many hidden tricks.
For example, if she helps a colleague, she will pretend to be giving silently without asking for anything in return, but secretly she will come up with an ingenious way to let others know and remember her kindness.
But after hearing her words, Gu Xu shook his head gently.
"Letters must be written and people must be saved," he said. "My relatives are missing and their lives are uncertain. In my opinion, this is an extremely painful thing. Comparing my feelings, I believe Shen Qiu is also eager to know his mother's condition as soon as possible.
"He abandoned his family and came to me because he believed in me and recognized me. He is my friend. Naturally, I have to treat him sincerely. There is no need to play tricks on this kind of thing. Things like favor and favor are not important."
Shangguan Jin looked at his firm eyes and unconsciously thought of his experience of cutting firewood at the Laoshan ruins not long ago.
At that time, the white-bearded old man in the pine forest commented to her: "I don't like people who are too smart."
She was suddenly curious about what kind of evaluation Gu Xu got in that pine forest; at the same time, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart that a person as handsome and flawless as Gu Xu could actually carry his life. A rusty broken axe, chopping firewood with your own hands in the forest - the image is really unimaginable.
After a brief silence, she smiled and said, "It's such a blessing to be your friend."
Gu Xu smiled modestly. He didn't know how to respond for a while, so he casually replied: "Thank you for the compliment."
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