The two of them came out of the restaurant, Feng Yan followed him with two guards dressed as servants, and the group ate wonton fritters on the roadside.
The wontons topped with sesame oil smelled delicious and tasted even better. Xiao Xixi was so happy that she ate two bowls in a row and refused to stop until she couldn't hold anything in her stomach.
When she raised her head, she saw that Leng Moran had finished eating and was looking at her silently.
Xiao Xixi stood up as if nothing had happened and said to Leng Moran: "Brother, let's go."
Leng Moran: "..." Now he becomes the eldest brother?
But when he looked at Xiao Xixi's slightly luxurious clothes, it seemed inappropriate for her to pretend to be a follower?
He didn't think about this when he was choosing clothes just now.
The group of people stopped in front of the county government office. Leng Moran showed his documents to the government official who was guarding the door, and the government official invited the people into the government office.
"We adults have gone out and will be back soon. Mr. Xiao, please wait a moment."
Leng Moran had no objection and was led by the yamen servants to the reception area to wait. Other officials from the county yamen came over to see the ceremony and continued to sit and wait for the county magistrate.
After waiting for about two-quarters of an hour, Xiao Xixi felt a little uncomfortable sitting there. Leng Moran glanced at her. Xiao Xixi immediately sat up straight and imitated Leng Moran's example of drinking tea.
There was movement outside. Xiao Xixi looked over and saw a thin, middle-aged man in official uniform walking over. What was strange was that this man was leading a donkey.
Xiao Xixi:???
Leng Moran also looked over, his eyes met the donkey's big eyes, and for a moment he heard the donkey's heartbeat.
He had obviously tried it before, but he couldn't hear the animals' voices.
Leng Moran behaved quite calmly, stood up and walked outside, greeted the county magistrate, and took a closer look at the differences of the donkey.
Xiao Xixi also followed.
Magistrate Tao was combing his donkey. When he saw two people coming out with unfamiliar faces, he could not help but frown slightly and asked, "I wonder who you two are?"
The Yamen servant quickly introduced Leng Moran's identity to Magistrate Tao.
As soon as he heard that it was an official coming from Dali Temple, Magistrate Tao immediately bowed and saluted, "I didn't know that Mr. Xiao is visiting, so I am not expecting you to welcome him from afar."
"Don't be polite, Mr. Tao. My sudden visit is really abrupt."
This was the first time Xiao Xixi saw Leng Moran being so polite to someone. She couldn't help but look at him in surprise, only to find that he was staring into the donkey's eyes.
Xiao Xixi:???For a moment, I thought why Leng Moran’s eyes were not cured?
At this moment, Leng Moran had already looked away from the donkey.
He had confirmed that he could indeed hear the donkey's heart.
This donkey is no ordinary donkey.
In its previous life, it was the wife of Magistrate Tao.
And looking at Master Tao's attitude towards the donkey, it shows that he already knows its identity.
Although this was the first time he had seen such a magical thing, Leng Moran remained calm. After all, it was possible for him to read minds, and it was not unusual for people to be reincarnated as donkeys after death.
After Leng Moran and Magistrate Tao exchanged pleasantries, the two went back to the house to sit down and discuss the recent disappearance cases in the county.
Consistent with the information received from the waiter at the restaurant, a total of twelve women have disappeared in the county recently. Except for the proprietress of Cao's bun shop, the rest are all unmarried women between the ages of thirteen and seventeen. Magistrate Tao suspects that the murderers are from the same gang.
No matter how many times I searched, I couldn't find any clues.
He just took the donkey out to go to the victim's home to inquire about the situation.
Leng Moran asked: "Has the case of the bun shop proprietress been investigated separately?"
"That's not true," Magistrate Tao said, "due to the large number of missing people recently, when Cao Jilai came to report the case, I sent an officer to inquire. Cao Ji claimed that his wife suddenly disappeared in the middle of the night, and the coat at home was still there.
The circumstances of her disappearance are consistent with those of other missing women, so I did not investigate alone, but made every effort to investigate this case."
Leng Moran pursed his lips and remained silent. He could see what the bun shop owner was thinking and knew there was something wrong with this matter, but without evidence, he could not punish the murderer for the time being.
He asked: "I wonder if Mr. Tao has any clues?"
County Magistrate Tao couldn't help but sigh and looked deeper: "I've been looking around recently, but I can't find any clues. The man committed the crime at night, there are no witnesses, and there is no news about the missing woman. I have no clues at all."
I don’t know what to do.”
Leng Moran said: "My wife was almost killed by a thief last night."
Magistrate Tao was so frightened that he almost fell off his chair. The wife of the imperial court official might have been granted a royal title. If something happened in the county under his jurisdiction, his black gauze hat would probably be lost.
Although he didn't care much about his external possessions, the county magistrate was doing a good job, and he didn't want to leave office just like that.
Magistrate Tao immediately asked with concern: "I wonder if Mrs. Xiao is okay? Where do you live? If you like, why not come and live in the county government office. The county government office is guarded, and the murderer would not dare to put his hand into the county government office."
Come."
Leng Moran didn't think that living in the county government was a good thing. On the contrary, it might make him more conspicuous, so he politely declined Magistrate Tao's proposal and asked his men to fight with the murderer. The murderer disappeared near Maoping Lane.
Magistrate Tao frowned and said, "The people living in Maoping Lane are old, weak, women and children. If thieves sneak in, they are likely to hurt the people. I will send someone there to keep an eye on them."
Leng Moran stopped him, "Don't worry, I want to ask your Excellency, is there anyone who can commit a crime living in this alley?"
Magistrate Tao was stunned for a moment, apparently not remembering it for a moment, but the government servant beside him reminded him: "Sir, Liu Juren lives in Maoping Lane."
Magistrate Tao glared at him, and the yamen servant shut up. He smiled and explained to Leng Moran: "There is a scholar named Liu who lives in Maoping Lane. He is an honest man and is well-known in the county. He does not know how to do anything.
This kind of thing."
Seeing that even Magistrate Tao recognized Liu Juren was enough to prove that he was really famous.
Leng Moran said: "I would like to go with the Yamen servant to visit Liu Juren's home."
The magistrate of Tao County is in a difficult position. Although they are officials, they can't just enter people's homes and search them, right?
Leng Moran added: "I can put on the clothes of a yamen servant, go there with other yamen servants, and pretend to ask questions."
When Magistrate Tao saw that Leng Moran had taken a step back, he agreed and asked someone to prepare a set of clothes for Leng Moran, and went with the government officials to Maoping Lane to inquire about the people's situation from house to house.
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Magistrate Tao asked the following to ask if they had enough clothing and food for the winter. If not, they could come to the county government office to get credit.
In order to maintain the business, the county government has also opened a credit business. People who cannot afford to eat can come to the county government to borrow grain and cloth on credit based on their household registration. They will pay it back after making money. The interest rate is very low. Some desperate people will choose to borrow from the county government, at least
Don’t worry about interest compounding.
At the same time, the county government also wants such people to survive and avoid freezing to death and starving to death.
As for whether he could pay it back, Magistrate Tao didn't particularly care. As long as people were alive, there was hope, and he wanted to give these people hope.
After opening the credit business, most of the grain and cloth loaned out in the past two years have been returned, and the results are pretty good.
