Li Ce was a little worried and kindly advised: "Wouldn't Si Bao go with my sister-in-law to cause trouble? It will delay my sister-in-law's errands, so let her stay at home."
Hearing this, Xiao Sibao quickly glared at Li Ce and shook his head, and quickly promised with a small mouth:
"I will definitely be obedient."
Chu Nanzhi didn't plan to change what she had planned, so as not to make the little guy cry again, and said to Li Ce:
"It doesn't matter, I just leave family matters to Saburo."
She was thinking about how Magistrate Hu and Magistrate Sun were plotting against her, and now that she was taking a child to investigate the case for him, it would just make them feel a little guilty again.
With this thought in mind, he took Si Bao into the carriage with peace of mind.
The carriage drove slowly through the village. When it entered the official road, the coachman suddenly shouted and started galloping, and entered the city in less than two-quarters of an hour.
When passing by a steamed bun shop, Chu Nanzhi first bought some meat-filled steamed buns for Si Bao. Seeing that there were small toys nearby, she also bought a few items.
Si Bao was sitting in the carriage, holding a hot bun in one hand and shaking a rattle in the other. After a while, he went to look at a pair of beautiful little puppets standing next to him, feeling very happy.
The bad woman was getting better and better towards her, and she suddenly had the urge to call her "mother".
But she was also afraid that Dabao, Erbao and Sanbao would scold her if they found out, so she quickly gave up the idea.
After finishing the buns, she suddenly puffed her mouth and said to Chu Nanzhi:
"How about you don't make peace with dad?"
Last night, she was lying in bed and secretly overheard the conversation between the bad woman and her father. She had been holding it in all this time, and now she finally spoke out.
Chu Nanzhi looked surprised, this little guy is really thoughtful.
No wonder, the little guy insisted on coming with us today.
She smiled a little embarrassedly: "Even if I divorce your father, I will still think about you and Dabao, the second treasure, and the third treasure in the future. I will buy you new clothes and delicious food."
"I know what harmony is. My second aunt told me about it before."
Xiao Sibao looked dejected and said unhappily: "If you and dad break up, you will leave our house and live your own life."
"Wouldn't you be very happy that way? No one will hit you or scold you again in the future."
Xiao Sibao lowered his head silently.
They used to think that the bad woman could leave the house, but now she doesn't seem to want to anymore.
And yesterday, my brothers and sisters all cried because they thought the bad woman would not come home.
She felt that Dabao, Erbao, and Sanbao actually didn't want her to leave.
Therefore, she must keep a close eye on the bad woman for everyone and not allow her to sneak away.
When the carriage arrived at the county government office, the county magistrate and the county magistrate were waiting at the gate of the government office.
When they saw their carriage, the two of them and several government servants immediately came up to greet them.
Before Chu Nanzhi got out of the car, Magistrate Hu first greeted her with an ardent greeting:
"Thank you, Madam Chu. It has been a long journey. Madam Chu, you have had your breakfast. I have prepared it."
But when he saw Chu Nanzhi holding a little girl in his hand, he immediately frowned, and his high mood immediately dimmed:
"This is this?"
"Reporting to the County Magistrate, this is my little daughter Lin Ruijia."
"I have met the county magistrate grandpa. The magistrate grandpa just calls me Si Bao."
Xiao Sibao looked at Magistrate Hu with a smile, his mouth was as sweet as honey.
"It turns out to be your young lady, just..."
Magistrate Hu hesitated and looked at Sun County Cheng: "Am I that old?"
"The county magistrate's grandfather has one. The county magistrate's grandfather has a beard, but my father doesn't have a beard."
"this"
Magistrate Hu and Prime Minister Sun looked at each other and laughed bitterly.
He got married relatively late, marrying his first wife in his early thirties. The eldest son in the family was actually four years older than this little girl.
It was really miserable for him to be called grandpa before he reached the age of 40.
Chu Nanzhi knew that he was eager to solve the case, so she didn't chat with him and went straight to the topic: "The civilian woman wants to go to the Zhao Mansion in person today."
After saying that, he handed the briefcase back to Sun Xian Cheng with both hands.
"Well, I'm afraid the information recorded by the guards is not comprehensive enough, so I might as well go there in person."
Magistrate Hu glanced at Si Bao inadvertently, feeling a little embarrassed: "Is it just Si Bao?"
"It doesn't matter, my four treasures are very well-behaved and won't cause trouble."
"Yes, Grandpa County Magistrate, I am really well-behaved."
Magistrate Hu gritted his teeth and thought for a while: I'm afraid the Zhao family would be unhappy if I brought a child to do this.
However, in order to let the Chu family's wife investigate the case for him, he could only bite the bullet and nodded heavily: "Forget it, I will accompany the Chu family's wife there."
So he sent people to prepare horses and called a few officers to go in the direction of Zhao Mansion.
Zhao Mansion is located in the bustling area just east of the county government office. It is also the most expensive and prosperous place in Luyan Port.
When Mrs. Zhao first came here, he took advantage of the official authority of the county's governor and spent a lot of money to forcefully capture this treasure land and build the most magnificent mansion in the county.
The carriages and horses were moving slowly in the busy city, and they were still far away from the Zhao mansion. Seeing that they were people from the county government, the servants of the mansion went in early to report.
When Chu Nanzhi got off the carriage, everyone in the Zhao family was already waiting at the main entrance.
Chu Nanzhi took Si Bao's hand and walked to Magistrate Hu, and saw him greeting an old man in white in the center of the crowd with a warm face.
The old man's face was covered with wrinkles, and age spots covered his cheeks and neck. He looked like he was probably in his sixties.
Chu Nanzhi looked at his majestic and solemn figure and already guessed that it was the famous Taigong Zhao.
And standing next to him was a pretty woman with a noble look on her face. She must be her remarried wife.
It's just that although this woman is deliberately dressed to appear mature and dignified, her skin is firm and delicate, and her brows and eyes are flashing, and you can still feel the lingering charm of an innocent girl. She is probably only in her twenties.
If she hadn't known the family's background information in advance, she would have thought it was a father-daughter relationship.
After Magistrate Hu and Taigong Zhao bowed their hands in greeting, they immediately put on a humble and ashamed posture:
"Mr. Zhao, my official has been concerned about the case of your son's disappearance recently. He has been unable to sleep day and night. He is quite worried. Just because he has been searching for many days to no avail, he boldly visited today and wanted to come to the house to learn more about the case in person.
If you are troublesome, please forgive me."
Unexpectedly, when Zhao Taigong saw him coming with a woman and a child, he immediately became dissatisfied. He tore his face off in front of everyone and scolded:
"Hu Maoxi, I asked you to find my son for me. Instead of trying your best to catch the bandits who kidnapped my son, you brought a woman and a young girl to investigate the case. Are you deliberately teasing me?"
"Your Majesty's words are wrong."
County magistrate Hu explained repeatedly: "This lady is none other than the Chu family, the daughter of Lin Dalang's family who investigated the tax and bank case for this county a few days ago. It is precisely because I want to sincerely relieve my grandfather's worries that I specially invited her here."
, see if we can find any clues."
When he heard that it was the woman who solved the tax case, Taigong Zhao looked at Chu Nanzhi and his eyes became friendly, and he said in a lower voice:
"Even so, you should take her to find the traces of the bandits who kidnapped my son. What kind of scandal can you find when you come to the old man's house? Maybe the old man hid the child in the house to deliberately make things difficult for Magistrate Hu."
"Don't dare."
Magistrate Hu replied solemnly.
When Chu Nanzhi saw that the always majestic Magistrate Hu had been scolded by a rich man and had lost his official authority, Chu Nanzhi immediately stepped forward without being humble or arrogant, bowed to the old man, and said with a smile:
"Tai Gong Zhao kept saying that his son was kidnapped by kidnappers, but as far as the woman knew, Tai Gong Zhao was not at the house on the day of the incident. How did he determine that the incident was the work of bandits? Isn't it inappropriate to make random accusations?
?”
Zhao Taigong knew that this theory was untenable, but there was no other strategy that could put pressure on Hu Maoxi.
He thought deeply about his son, so he could only insist on his belief.
If the county magistrate cannot find his son, he will certainly be able to embarrass him in front of the prefect and the postal governor.