Finally returned to Tanyang County at sunset.
Gu She's carriage put Tao Mo down at the gate of the yamen, said that Xu Shi would come to pick him up, and went back to the mansion.
Seeing the long-lost county government, Tao Mo felt warm in his heart.
But when the guard at the gate of the county government office saw Tao Mo, he immediately shook his head and ran inside, while the other one looked at Tao Mo excitedly, "My lord!"
Tao Mo said, "Is everything alright in the county government office?"
"This..." the guard hesitated to speak.
Tao Mo had a bad premonition, "What happened?"
"Master!" Under the guidance of the guard, Master Jin came out in a hurry, bowed and said: "My master has been exhausted all the way, thank you for your hard work!"
Tao Mo hurriedly said: "It's not hard work. It's Master Jin who works day and night for the county government, which is even more hard work."
Master Jin smiled wryly and said, "It is entrusted by my master."
Tao Mo's bad premonition came true, "What happened?"
Master Jin looked at both sides of the door and said, "Let's go inside and talk about it in detail."
Tao Mo followed him to the study room full of curiosity, but saw that Cui Jiong was also in the study room. Seeing Tao Mo come in, Cui Jiong hurriedly stood up and saluted.
"What happened?" Tao Mo couldn't help asking.
Master Jin said: "It's a long story. Half a month ago, that is, on April 12th, the Yang Liu family, together with their daughter Zou Qiong and her son-in-law Liu Bao, sued her husband Yang Tianyuan for withholding his daughter Zou Qiong's dowry."
Tao Mo was confused, "It's not bad that Yangliu's husband's surname is Yang, why is his daughter's surname Zou?"
Cui Jiong explained: "The former husband-in-law of the Yangliu family was surnamed Zou, but later her husband passed away. She dragged her daughter along and found it hard to support herself, so she took the property left by her ex-husband to marry Yang Tianyuan. Fortunately, the money is Zou Qiong's dowry, and it will be kept by Yang Tianyuan temporarily. It will be returned when Zou Qiong gets married."
Tao Mo said: "So that's the case. This case is very easy to judge. When I am promoted tomorrow, let Yang Tianyuan return the dowry."
Master Jin and Cui Jiong looked at each other.
Master Jin coughed dryly: "There is more to this matter."
Tao Mo said: "Master, please tell me."
Master Jin said: "According to the laws of our dynasty, April 1st to July 30th is the busy farming period. The yamen does not accept small matters such as household marriages and land, but only accepts serious and serious cases."
Tao Mo frowned.
Mr. Jin said: "What's more, the owner's family was not in the Yamen at that time, so I made my own claim and rejected their pleadings with this one."
Tao Mo saw that his expression was slightly uneasy, and asked, "Then what happened?"
Cui Jiong said: "The Yangliu family saw that the Yamen didn't accept the details, so they were so heartbroken that they threw themselves into the well!"
Tao Mo screamed "Ah".
Master Jin hurriedly said: "Fortunately, someone else found out and rescued him. He only hurt his head, and it's not a serious problem."
Only then did Tao Mo feel relieved, "Why bother? It won't be too late to report after July 30th."
Master Jin said: "Because Yang Tianyuan took a fancy to a girl from a family, he promised Zou Qiong's dowry as a dowry, and the wedding date was set on the third day of July. And Zou Qiong's husband Liu Bao repeatedly forced their mother and daughter to come forward. , asked for the dowry, and even threatened that if Yang Tianyuan didn't hand over the dowry, he would ask for the dowry back."
Tao Mo shook his head when he heard that, "Yang Tianyuan and Liu Bao are both hateful, but Yang Liu's mother and daughter are very pitiful."
Master Jin said: "What is the owner's intention?"
Tao Mo said: "I think the reason why I didn't take over detailed cases during the busy farming season was because I was afraid that the common people wouldn't be able to concentrate on the busy farming season. But how can they concentrate on other things when the mother and daughter of the Yangliu family suffer like this? Jing can be saved once, but not forever. If she is to be saved, the case needs to be cleared up as soon as possible. Since I promised the emperor to manage Tanyang County well, I must do it!"
"emperor?"
Master Jin and Cui Jiong exclaimed in unison.
Tao Mo scratched his head and said, "It's a long story, let's talk about the Yangliu family first."
Master Jin said: "If the master decides to accept the case, I suggest that the master should be quick rather than slow, sooner rather than later, quiet rather than noisy."
Cui Jiong summed it up in one sentence: "Master, you mean to interrogate secretly?"
Master Jin said: "Exactly. Although my boss has good intentions, there is no guarantee that no one will use me to make a fuss about the law. Therefore, we have to settle the case before they make a fuss."
Cui Jiong felt that Master Jin glanced at him indistinctly after he finished speaking, and his heart immediately became clear, knowing that the "someone" he mentioned included himself. He hurriedly said: "Master Jin's words are very true. Although the weather in Tanyang County is now smooth and the county government is united, there is no guarantee that there will be no unexpected accidents, so it is better for you to make a quick decision."
Seeing that both of them said so, Tao Mo immediately settled the matter. He remembered in his mind that Gu She had said that he would come to pick him up at Xushi, so he briefly asked about some business affairs, and hurriedly left.
Sure enough, Sang Xiaotu was waiting at the door in a carriage.
Going back to the mansion in the carriage, I found that Gu She was waiting for dinner.
Tao Mo felt distressed and regretful, and said, "It's getting late, why wait for me on an empty stomach?"
Gu She lazily said: "Who said I was empty stomach?"
It was only then that Tao Mo spotted a plate of snacks missing a piece in front of him, "Actually, if you're hungry, eat first."
Gu She put a piece of braised pork in his bowl, and said, "I didn't get married to eat alone."
Tao Mo smelled the smell of meat, and his heart was sweet, and even the entanglement of encountering a difficult case as soon as he returned to the county government was forgotten.
After the meal, a chessboard was placed between the two of them.
Tao Mo couldn't help but talk about the case, and then waited impatiently for Gu She's opinion.
Gu She concentrated on looking at the chessboard, seemingly ignoring other things.
Seeing his silence, Tao Mo felt a little uneasy, and asked, "Is it wrong to do this?"
"What's wrong?" Gu She asked.
Tao Mo couldn't come up with a word, and it took him a long while before he said, "The imperial court originally stipulated that it is not allowed to handle small cases during the busy farming season. My doing so is inconsistent with the imperial court's laws."
Gu She said: "So what?"
"This..." Tao Mo was speechless. If he knew so what, he would not have made such a decision.
Gu She looked up at him and said, "It's okay to say whatever you have in mind, don't worry about it. Anyway, I will never write a divorce letter in this life."
Tao Mo's face flushed, and he said softly, "I just saw that you didn't speak up just now, so I thought something was wrong."
Gu She said indifferently: "You have never caused any trouble, nor encountered difficulties, why should I speak?"
Tao Mo held Heizi's hand in mid-air.
Gu She saw that he was staring at her, not moving, so she shook his hand.
Tao Mo loosened his fingers, and the sunspots landed on the chessboard.
Gu She continued to play chess on his own.
"The reason why I want to be a good official is not only to fulfill my father's last wish, but also for myself. I don't want anyone in this world to encounter such unfortunate things as me. But now I think clearly, in fact, the real misfortune is my father He has accumulated countless good deeds in his life, but he has a son like me." Tao Mo paused, fixed his eyes on Gu She and said, "I am lucky. Because I have a father like him, and you as a lifelong partner !"
Gu She raised his eyebrows, "Did you just find out now?"
"Uh." A flash of light suddenly flashed in Tao Mo's head, which was not very bright, and said, "I just, have a deeper understanding."
Gu She said: "Put on the horse."
Tao Mo said: "Speak from the heart."
"Even so," Gu She pointed at the chessboard and said, "I won't let the water go."
"It's natural." Tao Mo picked up a sunspot with a smile, and was about to play it, when he realized that the situation on the chessboard had changed drastically, and it was not the situation he had seen before, "Well, when did I play this chess piece?" ?”
Gu She said: "Just now."
Tao Mo thought of the seed he had left behind, and suddenly broke out in cold sweat.
Gu She jokingly said calmly: "Destroy yourself at a glance, is this kind of method called putting yourself to death and then reborn?"
Tao Mo thought hard for a long time, and Tou Zi conceded defeat, "There are probably ways to do this, but I don't know how to do it."
With a faint smile on the corner of Gu She's mouth, he tapped his fingers lightly on the chessboard, "One more game."
"Okay." Tao Mo enthusiastically cleaned up the chessboard.
Gu She drank tea leisurely.