Chapter 112 Asking The Brother Who Is Pitiful
Fallen sparse light snow spun in the north wind; the fast horse and slow sword, hitting against the face. Yesterday a boat moved with the water; today, sitting or lying, it was hard to search for money.
When he got up in the morning, Magistrate Jia rushed to the Between The Water And Clouds, and went to find Han Wang'zhu himself. Before he could speak, the person said, "How are you feeling? I heard that you fell into the water yesterday and was rescued by the Young Prince. How fortunate, how fortunate."
"I'm alright. I had an entire night's rest but my head is still a little muddled. I choked on water yesterday. Today, I ca because I have to have sothing to say." Magistrate Jia laughed and he planned to talk about the lost items, but he was unsure how to begin. Extending a hand to ask for money felt different compared to being given money.
Han Wang'zhu imdiately answered, "If my lord has sothing to say, then go ahead and speak. Could it be that my lord is feeling unwell so you are looking for so dicinal herbs?"
"No, no. When I fell into the water yesterday, the two items I was carrying on my body fell off. The items should have fallen into the water. Those two items are the items you gave to the day before yesterday. Uhh, it might be hard to find it, so I'm informing you, lest the money gets taken away by soone else."
Magistrate Jia was embarrassed to directly ask Han Wang'zhu to give him another item to trade in for money, so he used this excuse.
Han Wang'zhu smiled and said, "My lord, what you said is very true. I will let soone go over there to deliver the ssage. My lord, please stay here for one more day. I will go back to get another item first. Sorry to trouble my lord."
"No, not a problem at all. I can take the chance to taste the wine and food here. Go quickly then, and I'll leave too." Magistrate Jia was relieved now; he always had a hard ti confronting others. He got up and left.
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Han Wang'zhu didn't dare to delay. When he ca here, it was explained to him that the Zhang and Wang manors were not that simple. If anything happened, even the slightest matter, he had to pay close attention to it, otherwise, they could be taken advantage of without even realizing what happened.
Yesterday the Magistrate fell into the water, and he ca here today saying that he had lost the two items. Did he really lose it or did he pretend to lose it? Did the items fall into the water, or did soone take it? Even if the person who took it didn't know what the items were used for, he still had to take precautions.
Thus, Han Wang'zhu found the person who he ca with and got him to quickly ride a horse to notify the shops. He told the person to leave quickly and return soon since the Magistrate was waiting.
Outside, the light snow was blown by the wind. When it hit the face, it felt like being slashed by a knife. That person brought three horses with him. By the ti he arrived there, the snow and wind had left several cuts on his face. Along the journey, two horses were left behind at so farrs' hos. But once the ssenger got there, the big news almost made him faint on the spot.
At noon yesterday, the money had already been taken away by soone and that person walked towards the wharf, but it was unknown where he went afterwards.
The ssenger drank a sip of hot soup. He found sothing to cover his face, and then took three new horses to go back. When Han Wang'zhu heard this, he was also befuddled. His household's 5,000 strings of coins and the Yuan family's 8,000 strings of coins was not a small amount of money, and it was taken away by soone else just like that.
It wasn't taken away by Magistrate Jia too, or at least that was what he claid. He said that he lost it when he fell into the water. Did he really lose it or did he send soone to go back to the county the night before to take the money? This was the only reasonable explanation since others wouldn't know where to get the money.
Could it be that Magistrate Jia felt that the money was too less, so he wanted more? If that was the case, then he was a bit too greedy. Was it even a good idea to cooperate with a person like this?
Han Wang'zhu held the two items that were assembled together in his hand, and after thinking for a while, he asked soone to go back and tell the master about this matter. Then he got up to go find Magistrate Jia, who perhaps knew sothing.
Magistrate Jia was sitting in a room on the second floor of the Between The Water And Clouds. At this ti, it was already almost night. He was waiting. He was waiting for Han Wang'zhu to bring him a new item so that he could claim the money.
After waiting for a day, the more he waited, the more anxious he beca. Food was placed on the table, but he didn't have the appetite to eat. He just took a sip of wine once in a while and he was a bit tipsy already, yet he still didn't see Han Wang'zhu arrive. Just when he planned to find soone to chat with and subtly ask for the ti, Han Wang'zhu finally ca.
As soon as Han Wang'zhu entered the room, he saw Magistrate Jia's slightly drunk appearance and his suspicions about him reduced by a bit. He seed like he was anxious about claiming the money. If he already redeed the items once, he wouldn't appear this anxious.
"Hey~! You're here? What did you find out?" Magistrate Jia heard the door open, and he looked over and saw that it was Han Wang'zhu. He asked with drooping eyelids.
"My lord, look at this." Han Wang'zhu put the pieces of wood and jade on the table.
Magistrate Jia was still confused, but when he saw the thing, he imdiately beca happy. He touched it with his hands, separating the assembled objects. He picked up the two pieces that once belonged to him and spoke with a smile,
"Your master is truly a trustworthy person. He sent what belonged to back. I don't need the other two halves. I'll keep it as a backup. All of you are really amazing. I fell into the water, and you also... No, that's not right. These two halves. Why are they here? Could it be...?"
Magistrate Jia finally ca to his senses as he spoke. He looked at the other two halves on the table, and an idea suddenly appeared in his mind. Soone took the two halves from him and went there to withdraw the money.
"My lord has guessed correctly. These four pieces were taken from the Forever Blue Porcelain Shop and Wu'feng Pawnshop in the county. They appeared there at noon yesterday." Han Wang'zhu looked at Magistrate Jia as he spoke.
Magistrate Jia was stunned. He shouted abruptly, "Impossible, it's impossible. The items were on before I fell into the water. I looked at them when I woke up yesterday morning. How did they arrive at the county seat within half a day?
Are you suspecting that I sent soone to collect the money, and then I continued to ask you for more? I only have bailiffs by my side and no one else. Do you think it is possible that the bailiffs will do this for ? I would be courting death if I let the bailiffs know that I'm taking money from the Han and Yuan families. It's definitely not . "
"My lord, don't worry. What you said is not wrong. My lord does not have anyone on your side who you could use. You would not give this item to anyone. I suspect that when we were discussing the night before, the bailiffs who were standing guard outside the door heard what we said. Perhaps normal people would not be able to hear our words, but my lord's bailiffs are not ordinary people. How do we know if there was soone with good hearing?"
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When Han Wang'zhu heard this, he thought that it made sense. Furthermore, the people he brought with him yesterday were watching them in secrecy, and they didn't see any bailiffs leave. The only people that were seen leaving were the people at the Zhang manor's restaurant. It was not possible that the Magistrate was so close with the Zhang family that he would tell them about this matter and also give the items out to them.
The only possibility was that the bailiffs outside the door heard the conversation, so when the Magistrate fell into the water, soone took the two items and rushed to the county seat to claim the money.
Han Wang'zhu told Magistrate Jia what he was thinking about, and Magistrate Jia shook his head, "Yesterday, the one who rescued was the Young Prince's n. If the Young Prince had the intention, then he could directly ask for it and I would not dare say anything. There is no issue with giving it directly to the Young Prince. Then it must be that soone else who was a good swimr saw the two objects fall off of and into the water, and dived into the water to fish the items out.
In addition, the bailiffs overheard us, so the Zhang manor sent soone to the county seat to take the money. If I had known this, I would not have tried to go to the pavilion. Why bother. We will know the answer if we ask who went into the water yesterday. "
"My lord, more than 100 people jumped in yesterday. In the end, only the Young Prince's n managed to pull you out. Is it possible to even ask each one? Do you think the Zhang family will let us?" Han Wang'zhu shook his head and talked about yesterday's situation.
Seeing the dazed look on Magistrate Jia's face, he continued to speak, "My lord, you wanting to go to the pavilion yesterday was not as simple as it seed. Everyone knows that loud noises should not be made when people are fishing, but how long did the firecracker sounds last yesterday? The room where you ate in happened to be facing the pavilion. Do you think this was a coincidence?"
Magistrate Jia listened and thought about it. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was not simple. Yesterday, he was supposed to leave, but he suddenly heard the sound of firecrackers. When he thought about the waiter's response, it seed like the waiter was trying to get him to look over there. There was only one fishing boat on the river. Why did it happen to stop at that place?
Were there any fish there? That's right. That person was casting a spinning net, but the water was moving so fast, so why didn't he use a fixed net? The fish were all at the bottom because of the cold weather, so didn't he use a dragnet? When Magistrate Jia was younger, he ca from a fisherman's family. Who would foolishly cast a net to fish in that place? This was planned, it must have been planned.
"Zhang Zhong, you have gone too far. I will fight you. I..." Magistrate Jia finally found out what was wrong. He stood up and rushed outside, shouting loudly.
Han Wang'zhu hurriedly put his arms around him, and then he freed up a hand to cover Magistrate Jia's mouth. He couldn't let him shout like that. People would only laugh at him. Both of them were seventh rank officials, so what can be done? Shouting out like that will only make Magistrate Jia appear weaker.
"My lord, don't create a commotion. Do you want the Zhang family to laugh at you? My lord, there's nothing to be afraid of even if the money is gone. My lord, sit down first." Han Wang'zhu persuaded him.
At this ti, the waiter outside the door ca in and asked, "What's the matter, my lord?"
"Everything is fine, you can leave. Don't co in unless you are called for. My lord just wants to find soone to have a drinking competition with him. He drank too much." What else could Han Wang'zhu say? He asked the waiter to leave and tried to persuade the Magistrate in a low voice.
"My lord, if you act like this, they will be happier. Once my lord calms down, we will deal with them together. Money is a small matter, don't worry about it."
Magistrate Jia pursed his lips like a child. He sat on the chair, raised his head and drank another goblet of wine. He muttered, "They have bullied too much. When I took office, they didn't leave a single coin. I didn't dare to touch the Chang'ping warehouse; there is a lot of food there, but it cannot be exchanged for much money. If I take a bit, it's not enough to do anything, but if I take a lot, it would be troubleso.
The Magistrate Assistant, the Recorder, the clerks, and those bailiffs none of them are my people. When I stroll around, I would be followed. When I say that a person should be imprisoned, the bailiffs would all object. I don't dare to judge any cases. When my mother wanted to eat so blood tofu, I had to help them slaughter pigs.
"Wimpy. Then let's...sigh, the Zhang manor is difficult to deal with." Han Wang'zhu felt quite sympathetic towards the Magistrate after hearing what the drunken Magistrate Jia said.
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