Magistrate Hu once again invited Chu Nanzhi to take a seat, and then slowly spoke in detail with a sad face:
"Mrs. Chu must have heard about a missing person case that occurred in the county recently."
Chu Nanzhi bit her thin lips and nodded slightly.
I didn't expect that she would be invited here just for this matter.
"Since the crime occurred, I have sent people to search the whole city and put up notices everywhere. It has been nearly ten days and I have not found any clues."
While Magistrate Hu was speaking, Chu Nanzhi couldn't help but interrupt him:
"I wonder whose child went missing and made the county magistrate so embarrassed?"
Missing persons were unavoidable even in her time, let alone this era. There were many cases every year.
As public servants of the people, they cannot cover everything and find every missing person. They can only do their best.
At this time, Sun County Cheng, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke from the side:
"It would be fine if he was just a child from an ordinary family, but that young man is the only bloodline of the Zhao family."
"Zhao Dahu?"
Chu Nanzhi has a vague memory of such a number one person, but there is not much specific information. She only knows that he is a very wealthy owner.
"Yes, Mr. Zhao is the richest man in the county. His first wife, Mrs. Wu, is the biological sister of our prefect Wu in Pingning County. She died of illness at an early age, leaving behind her only heir. Although Mr. Zhao has been married for many years, his wife has not given birth to another child.
He has a son and a half daughter. The family loves this only son very much, and I heard that the prefect would bring him into the mansion for reunion every year."
Speaking of the details, Prime Minister Sun seemed to know more than the magistrate and was very talkative.
Seeing that Magistrate Hu was frowning all the time, Chu Nanzhi was a little curious: "No matter how rich and powerful Mr. Zhao is, he can't blame the adults for the loss of his child."
"Who says it isn't?"
Magistrate Hu's face was filled with sorrow and he rubbed his hands anxiously:
"I tried my best to search. Seeing that there was no result, Zhao Taigong insisted that I was not doing well in handling the case. Now the news got out and he actually said that bandits came into the city to rob and kidnapped his young husband."
"The robbers robbed for money. Even if they kidnapped the young man, they should have sent a message to redeem the money."
"This is certainly reasonable, and I have eliminated bandits since I took office. When I talk about the bandits, I think it is because Zhao Taigong has enmity with others. Some people want him to cut off his descendants, but people are terrible."
Magistrate Hu half-squinted his eyes, feeling helpless:
"Autumn is about to come, and when the year-end assessment is over, the county's postal supervisor will come to the county for inspection. I wanted to get a promotion through this tax and bank case, but if Zhao Taigong takes advantage of this matter to join his official position,
Ben, I said that I have allowed bandits to enter the city without permission, and I am afraid that the black gauze hat I just picked up will be lost again."
"It turns out that my lord is worried about this matter."
She also knew in her heart that for an official to make political achievements, the security of a place was particularly important, and banditry was the most taboo.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but smile bitterly: "It's just that civilian women can't share your worries for adults in this kind of thing."
"Ms. Chu is too modest."
Magistrate Hu walked around her with his hands behind his back and vowed:
"I can still vividly remember the scene of Mrs. Chu's tax-deposit case that day. It really opened my eyes. Now, if Mrs. Chu can't find out anything about this case for me, I'm afraid this Lu
There is no one in Yangang who can relieve my worries."
"Your Excellency really praises women of the people."
Chu Nanzhi didn't mean to be modest. This kind of case is indeed difficult to investigate.
After all, this was not her era, with surveillance and advanced information.
The conditions here are appallingly crude.
An injury to the leg can kill someone, let alone anything else.
"I won't let Mrs. Chu's efforts go to waste."
Magistrate Hu was afraid that she would refuse and left no room for change, so he immediately said:
"Tai Gong Zhao is one of the largest households in Luyan Port. If the child can be found, everyone will be happy and the reward will be huge. Not only that."
After saying that, he asked Sun Xian Cheng to fetch four ingots of patterned silver and put them on the table, and continued: "I have already prepared twenty taels of patterned silver for Madam Chu. All expenses during the handling of the case will be borne by me."
"Oh, there is money, there is money."
Chu Nanzhi stared intently at the twenty taels of silver.
This kind of decadent officialdom communication.
It’s really annoying!
He smiled happily: "It's easy to talk about it if you have money."
These days, any ordinary woman can earn so much money at once, which is almost Lin Jinxiao's salary in three months.
If you don’t earn it, you won’t earn it.
So, I am a temporary worker hired by the county government?
Moreover, after one job, he can earn more than people like Lin Jinxiao and Li Ce.
Looking at a few white coins, her tone suddenly became serious:
"Please ask the county magistrate to bring the file to the civilian woman for review. The civilian woman is brave enough to try, but there is no guarantee that she can give you a satisfactory explanation."
"It doesn't matter, as long as Mrs. Chu is willing to share my worries, I will be extremely grateful."
When the county magistrate and the county magistrate heard that she was willing to intervene in the case, they were very happy.
After all, she was the strange woman who solved the tax bank case, so they were still full of expectations.
These days, although the group of people below are not afraid of wind and rain, they have almost turned the entire county upside down, but so far they have not found a trace. Seeing the Zhao family pressing harder and harder, they are really anxious.
Taking advantage of the opportunity when Sun County Magistrate went to get the files, County Magistrate Hu pushed the silver to Chu Nanzhi and gestured generously:
"Mrs. Chu, please accept this money first. If you can find the young man for the Zhao family, I will be very grateful."
At present, Chu Nanzhi has not even read the files, and seems to have no idea, how can she dare to accept money from others.
Just as she was hesitating, Magistrate Hu pushed the silver in front of her again and said with a sincere smile:
"I said that I would not let Madam Chu waste her efforts in vain. In fact, I should not have troubled Madam Chu to come out and show up for me. I have been really anxious about this matter recently and had to take this step. Therefore, this officer has the right to come out and show up for me."
Madam Chu will definitely accept your kindness."
Chu Nanzhi stared at his earnest and sincere expression, knowing that this time was different from the past.
If he didn't accept the money, he would definitely feel that he was trying to deal with him.
After thinking about it, in order to ease his heart, she had no choice but to take the money: "Thank you so much, sir."
But the matter that the entire county government is helpless must be very difficult.
She wasn't completely sure.
Not long after, Sun Xiancheng brought all the files.
He explained while passing the files one by one into Chu Nanzhi's hands:
"This is the entire case history that has been recorded since the case occurred, including the confessions of the Zhao family and others, as well as the patrols of the government officials that night and the information obtained from the visits in the past few days. They are all recorded in the case, verbatim. Please take a look at Madam Chu.
"
Well, it's quite comprehensive.
Chu Nanzhi nodded with satisfaction and browsed the file roughly.
The dossier is divided into two volumes:
The first volume records the specific personal information of the Zhao family’s young man and the description of the Zhao family’s life before and after his disappearance;
The second volume records the patrols of the government officials that night and some important information from their visits and inquiries over the past few days.
To sum up, the young man of the Zhao family is ten years old, filial, benevolent, intelligent, and physically strong. He disappeared from his house in the early morning eight days ago. There was no movement in the house the night before, and the city was peaceful.
At 2:00 p.m., the servants of the Zhao family discovered that Xiao Langjun was missing, and reported the case to the county government office at 12:00 p.m. At 3:00 p.m., the county government office immediately sealed off the four gates, strictly checked and interrogated passers-by, and dispatched three squads of government officials to conduct extensive searches in the city.
Immediately afterwards, notices were posted and orders were sent to each township to visit various villages.
A very important piece of information recorded in the file also caught Chu Nanzhi's attention: the night before the incident, there were no signs of theft or robbery in the county.
From this, she could determine that it was not the thieves who entered the city and robbed the young man of the Zhao family.
As she just said, if it was a kidnapping, after so many days, the Zhao family should have received a message to pay for the ransom.
However, there is no such information recorded in the file.