Chapter 647: Unintentional
The setting sun is slanting.
As Sun Shaozong walked out of the corner gate on the east side of the Dali Temple, he felt a refreshing and moist air blowing towards him, which immediately relieved most of his fatigue.
I reported in yesterday, and only today did I officially start my duty. Naturally, all kinds of handover procedures and documents came one after another, and I didn't have a moment of leisure the whole day.
Having finally escaped from the cage, he was in no hurry to leave. He stretched out by the lake, ready to expel the last bit of tiredness from his body, but suddenly he heard Liu Xianglian mumbling from behind: "Second brother, I...I..."
Perhaps because he was stimulated yesterday, he changed back into his heroic cloak and looked less effeminate - but his expression was much uglier than yesterday.
Although the Liu family was in decline in the past, he had never suffered any hardship since he was a child thanks to the support of his aunt. Because of this, when he first encountered the mundane affairs, he was inevitably a little overconfident and unable to cope with them.
During the day, nearly half of his tasks were handled by Sun Shaozong.
It would have been fine if he had been replaced by someone shameless, but Liu Xianglian was a serious person, and he felt very guilty about it.
Sun Shaozong turned around and saw his tangled look, so he rolled his eyes at him: "Do you think that I asked you to be my advisor because you are experienced and adept at handling affairs? As long as you can gain experience in the future, it will be worth your visit to this government office."
After a pause, he smacked his lips and said, "But you really can't handle it alone right now - let's do this, I'll find you a helper tomorrow, and if there's anything that's not going well, you can discuss it with him."
This was said by Zhao Nan, who was born in the Wuxi barbarian tribe.
This barbarian was a smart guy. After turning from evil to good, he worked as a clerk for a while. It was perfect for him to be brought to Liu Xianglian as a hanger-on.
When Liu Xianglian heard that he had to ask for help, he was a little reluctant at first, but thinking about his poor performance today, he was too embarrassed to refuse, so he worked hard and said, "Just wait and see, second brother, I will definitely get started as soon as possible!"
The two chatted for a while, then parted ways in front of the door and got on their horses and carriages.
The coachman Zhang Cheng was about to whip his horse, but suddenly he saw a wealthy young man flashing from the side, smiling servilely and saying, "Master Zhang, I have something to report to you, Master. Please..."
Sun Shaozong had already seen this person when he came closer. He looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who he was.
"Why is it you?"
Zhang Cheng frowned and muttered something, then turned around and whispered something. Then Sun Shaozong suddenly realized.
It turned out that the person blocking his way was not someone else, but the role model he had set up in the beginning - the beggar chief Hong Jiu.
When Hong Jiu first fell into the streets, he was skinny and skinny with only a bit of energy left. Who would have thought that in just two years, he would become as white and plump as a steamed bun.
This guy has always been sensible. He always comes to the door with courtesy during festivals. However, he knows that his status is not up to standard, so he never even asks to see Zhao Wuwei. He just leaves a gift at the door and leaves.
Today, he went to the government office for the first time and asked to see Sun Shaozong. It must be something important.
So Sun Shaozong ordered in the car: "Let's find a teahouse nearby to talk."
Zhang Cheng agreed, turned the car around and headed for the nearest teahouse. Although Hong Jiu also came by car, how could he dare to show off in front of Sun Shaozong?
He ran like a lump of meat, chasing after him, and was out of breath after just a few steps.
Although he was tired, he looked around with a look of satisfaction - an ordinary person in the market would not have the blessing to run behind Lord Sun's car!
In this way, he chased all the way to the private room of the teahouse.
Sun Shaozong sat down in the middle, and Hong Jiu bowed and explained his purpose: "I accidentally heard that you and Judge Qiu were looking for a little beggar who got lost in the city, and suddenly I remembered a strange thing, which may be related to the case you want to investigate."
After hearing this, Sun Shaozong was cheered up, thinking to himself that this was really a case of an unexpected success - there was no clue from Qiu Yunfei, but he had made a casual move and got an unexpected reward.
So I hurriedly asked what was going on.
"I have a group of sisters who are most compassionate to the poor and the weak..."
It turned out that Hong Jiu's godsister Niu'er, after becoming rich, had never forgotten her roots and had taken good care of the old, weak and lonely beggars. As a result, many little beggars were particularly close to her.
Around the spring of this year, when Niu'er was chatting with some little beggars, she heard a strange story. It was said that there was a ten-year-old beggar near Jixiangfang who was suddenly reported dead by the head of the village. However, when the sent official came to check on him, he was still alive and kicking.
What’s even more bizarre is that not long after, the officials actually carried his body away.
At that time, Niu'er felt it was strange and told Hong Jiu when she got back. Hong Jiu did not delve into it at that time. After all, the masters had approved of it, so what could a beggar like him do ?
But two days ago, he heard that Sun Shaozong was investigating the unusual disappearance of the little beggar, and there seemed to be no progress, so he suddenly remembered this matter.
"I was afraid that I was overthinking, so I didn't dare to alert you immediately. Instead, I sent someone to investigate secretly. I found that in the past year or so, many of the beggars under the name of Chief Wang of Jixiangfang died suddenly."
At this point, he hesitated for a moment before continuing, "And the one who came forward to conduct the inspection was always Wei Shougen, the squad leader of Daxing County."
No wonder Qiu Yunfei couldn’t find out anything, it turned out that the culprit was an insider!
The sudden death of a young beggar was not a new thing, but it was unreasonable for a dignified head of the county government to personally check the body every time.
Sun Shaozong wrote down Wei Shougen's name, then suddenly pointed to the chair next to him and said, "Sit down and talk."
Just one sentence made Hong Jiu tremble with joy.
But he still didn't dare to take advantage of the situation, and hurriedly shook his head and said in a trembling voice: "I am so embarrassed, I am so embarrassed! How can there be a place for me in front of the master?!"
Seeing that he was determined to refuse, Sun Shaozong did not give in and asked again, "Have you ever checked the background of Wei Bantou?"
"How dare I investigate the background of the officer?!"
Hong Jiu tried to deny it at first, but then he said respectfully , "But I did ask around, and found out that Wei Bantou has been very generous recently, and even bought a moderately sized farm outside the city."
This guy really has a lot of background!
Sun Shaozong asked a few more questions, and seeing that there were no other clues, he stood up and said, "I've made a note of this matter. When you go back, pretend that nothing has happened, and don't continue to inquire - as long as this news is true, I will definitely not treat you unfairly in the future."
This is exactly what Hong Jiutu wanted, but he kept saying that he dared not take any credit for it. He also said that he could not achieve what he had today without the support of Lord Sun, and that he could never repay his kindness even if he worked like a slave.
As if worshipping Buddha, he respectfully escorted Sun Shaozong out of the teahouse and watched the carriage disappear at the street corner.
Hong Jiu then returned to the private room excitedly, slammed the table and shouted in a loud voice: "Hey, mate! Bring us tea, good tea, the best tea in your shop!"
