When Qin Fang came back during dinner, Yang Haiyan told him about this. Qin Fang was also stunned after hearing it: "This county magistrate of Laiwang County is so weird. Does he think I will give him the power to act as the county's imperial grain agent for a servant?"
Yang Haiyan said: "I also find it strange. I don't know what this county magistrate is thinking. But if he is stupid, he must have other ideas. I just don't know what he is going to do. Husband, no matter what he is going to do, first of all, the matter of Aunt Fan's son-in-law must be caused by us. Secondly, even if it is caused by us, Aunt Fan is a servant in my family. You have to look at the owner when you beat the dog. The other party has come to our doorstep to bully us." People should indeed be patient when they should be patient, but there are some things that cannot be backed down.
Qin Fang nodded: "Yeah."
Yang Haiyan looked at him calmly, and somewhat understood: "What do you mean, husband? How do you think we should deal with this?"
Seeing her anxious, Qin Fang used the serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of food for her: "Eat first, and I'll tell you after you're done. I know you're worried about this kind of thing, so just leave it to me."
Qin Fang's confident tone made Yang Haiyan very curious. She felt itchy, as if a bug was scratching her. She wanted to know right now. But Qin Fang seemed to be not ready to tell her now. So Yang Haiyan, who had always been eating slowly, sped up her eating speed. This was the first time she had eaten so fast. Qin Fang was dumbfounded: "Are you saying that we should chew our food slowly and eat it slowly? This is good for our health."
Yang Haiyan snorted: "You are asking even though you already know the answer. You know I want to know your method as soon as possible."
When Qin Fang heard her say this, he couldn't help but smile: "Okay, I'll tell you."
Yang Haiyan pinched him and said, "You are really pretending. Tell me now."
Qin Fang said: "My approach is to just ignore it."
"Who cares?" Yang Haiyan felt that her IQ was sufficient.
Qin Fang said: "Teacher said that the best way to be an official in the court is to not interfere in other people's affairs. I am the general guarding the city of Yunxiang County. Unless someone attacks Yunxiang County, nothing has anything to do with me. If the county magistrate of Laiwang County wants to do this, naturally let his superiors punish him."
Yang Haiyan was really shocked when she heard this. How could it be like this? But... why could it be like this? She gave Qin Fang a thumbs up: "Husband, you are so smart."
Qin Fang said modestly, "Of course, I am your husband. Well, I will write a letter and ask someone to deliver it to Lord Liu. For the next thing, we just need to wait for Lord Liu's news. I will go to the outer courtyard first."
Yang Haiyan: "I'm going for a walk, come over later."
Qin Fang: "Okay."
When he turned around and left, Qin Fang's smile faded and his face darkened. In front of her, he acted very calm, just because he didn't want her to worry, not to mention that she was pregnant now, even if she wasn't pregnant yet, he didn't want her to worry.
Qin Fang was a naive person to begin with. After he became Du Ke's apprentice, the magistrate of Laiwang County still dared to do such a thing. It was obvious that he was not afraid of his teacher. Then who would not be afraid of his teacher
People from the capital.
Qin Fang returned to the outer courtyard, and Kun Shi and Tao Shan arrived soon.
Qin Fang told them about the Laiwang County incident, then wrote a letter and said to Tao Shan: "Take a few people with you to handle this matter. Just do two things. First, go to Hedong Prefecture and give this letter to the prefect, Lord Liu. Then you wait for Lord Liu's reply in Hedong Prefecture. Second, take the people you take with you to Laiwang County and investigate the matter between the county magistrate and Aunt Fan's son-in-law. Remember not to alert anyone, and if you have any clues or evidence, record and collect them."
Tao Shan: "Yes, I will set off right away."
Qin Fang nodded.
After Tao Shan left, Qin Fang said to Kun Shi: "Recently, we have to strengthen the defense of the mansion. Especially since Xiangjun is pregnant and Aunt Fan is back, we must strictly prevent any accidents from happening."
Kunshi: “Yes.”
Aunt Fan's daughter and granddaughter stayed in the general's mansion. Because of what happened, Aunt Fan wanted to go back to the kitchen, but Yang Haiyan asked her to take care of her daughter and granddaughter and did not let her go to the kitchen.
Hedongfu
The imperial grain agent of Chengfu is the Liu family. Even if the position of the prefect will change, the agency will be given to someone else after he is transferred. At least he can still make money during his tenure. In this regard, Liu Zhifu owes Qin Fang a favor. Liu himself also admitted this.
So when Tao Shan came with Qin Fang's letter, Lord Liu met him first. However, after he finished reading Qin Fang's letter, his face looked very ugly.
Qin Fang did not exaggerate the facts in his letter, but instead recounted Aunt Fan's story. How to deal with the matter specifically naturally depended on Lord Liu.
Lord Liu is the prefect of Hedong Prefecture. The magistrate of Laiwang County is his subordinate, but he is in charge of it.
In fact, Lord Liu is not a person who likes to make trouble. From his attitude towards County Magistrate Yang and Qin Fang, we can see that he likes to save trouble. If others make trouble for him, he will also make trouble for others. But Qin Fang's letter is now in front of him, so he must take care of this matter, even if it is to save Qin Fang's face. Besides, this is originally within his jurisdiction.
Lord Liu slapped the table and said, "Someone, go to Laiwang County and call Magistrate Cheng for me."
"yes."
Lord Liu turned around and said to Tao Shan, "When County Magistrate Cheng arrives, I will give General Qin an explanation. Guard Tao will stay at the mansion for the time being. What do you think?"
Tao Shan said: "Then I will respectfully obey your command."
County Magistrate Cheng came early the next morning. The prefect sent someone to call him, so he had to put aside his busy schedule, after all, the prefect was related to his previous evaluations. Moreover, since Lord Liu took office, he had never sent anyone to summon him, so he thought something big might have happened. However, the person sent by Lord Liu was very tight-lipped and could not get any information out of him, and he did not dare to force him.
When County Magistrate Cheng arrived at the Liu Mansion, he was directly invited to Lord Liu's study, where Lord Liu was already waiting for him. After County Magistrate Cheng entered, just as he was about to pay his respects, Lord Liu called him back, "There's no need to be so polite in private. I don't want to ask you in a roundabout way. Just tell me directly, did you send someone..." He then told him about Aunt Fan.
Speaking of which, County Magistrate Cheng really knew that Lord Liu would know about this matter, so he asked in a disguised manner: "What is the prefect saying? I don't understand."
Lord Liu said, "You don't need to care how I know this. Now that I know about this matter, I will definitely investigate it. You can hide it even if you want to."
Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Cheng no longer tried to hide the truth, but he also did not admit it. His attitude was a little tougher than before, but he still advised, "I advise you not to mind your own business."
"How dare you." Lord Liu was a very proud official. Even though County Magistrate Cheng had no ill intentions in what he said, he felt very embarrassed to say that he was meddling in other people's business. "County Magistrate Cheng, even though Qin Fang is a fifth-rank general and his wife is a third-rank lady, you should know that you are a student of Minister Du."
County Magistrate Cheng also heard the anger in Lord Liu's words. He said tactfully, "He is just a student of Minister Du. If someone wants to touch him, I can do nothing about it."
Lord Liu understood immediately after hearing this: "Looking at the entire court, how could someone dare to touch Minister Du's student?" Besides, Qin Fang was only in the remote Yunxiang County and would not harm anyone's interests at all. Who was so cruel as to not even give Minister Du any face
County Magistrate Cheng naturally didn't say much: "Master Liu, since the other party dares to make a move, they are naturally not afraid of Minister Du. So Master Liu, do you still need to care about this matter?"
Lord Liu swallowed his words. What was he supposed to do? The other party wasn't even afraid of Minister Du. If he did, wouldn't he be sending his head to the other party? "Okay, go now."
County Magistrate Cheng bowed and said, "Then I'll take my leave."
Lord Liu waved his hand and didn't want to pay any attention to him.
After County Magistrate Cheng left, Lord Liu sent someone to call Tao Shan over. When Tao Shan arrived, he had already written a letter: "I have already written down what General Qin mentioned in the letter. If you hand this letter to General Qin, he will surely understand."
Tao Shan took the letter and hid it: "I'm leaving now."
Tao Shan rushed back to Yunxiang County without stopping his horse. When he came out, the people he brought with him went to Laiwang County for investigation. So when he went to Yunxiang County, he went to Laiwang County to say hello, and then turned around and went back to Yunxiang County.
Because we were riding horses, it only took one day to get there. But when we arrived at the general's mansion, it was already dark.
Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan had already finished dinner and were taking a walk to digest the food. When they heard that Tao Shan had returned, Qin Fang went to the outer courtyard and asked Nanny Lian to accompany Yang Haiyan.
As soon as he arrived at Taoshan, he waited for Taoshan to salute, but Qin Fang waved his hand and exempted him from the salute, saying: "You came back so soon, which shows that Lord Liu has not yet resolved the matter."
Tao Shan handed over the letter and said, "The general is very good at predicting things. I went to visit Lord Liu yesterday morning. After Lord Liu read your letter, he sent someone to call County Magistrate Cheng from Laiwang County. This morning, County Magistrate Cheng arrived at Liu's mansion. After he left, Lord Liu summoned me. Lord Liu looked very bad at the time. I guess the matter was not settled. This is Lord Liu's letter to you. He said that he had already written down the issues in your letter in his mind."
Qin Fang opened the letter. Lord Liu's reply was very simple:
General Qin:
I am helpless to help. I have inquired with County Magistrate Cheng and learned that this matter is directed at you, and the other party is not afraid of Minister Du. I hope you can forgive me.
After reading the letter, Qin Fang was not surprised that the other party was coming for him, but he was surprised that the other party was not afraid of Minister Du. He crumpled the letter into a ball and said to Tao Shan, "I will write another letter, you can send it to the teacher. But I also know where the teacher is now, you have to ask around along the way."
Tao Shan said: "Don't worry, General. I will send a letter to Lord Du."