Naturally, the elder took action with great force. Since Shan responded to Jia Zhu's request, it was completed before the Lantern Festival. Even though he was just a small ninth-grade official in the Imperial College, he also had a formal official status.
This is a good thing for Jia Zhu. At least he will have a formal job to do in the future, instead of sitting in the house all day long and being treated like trash.
Li Wan was also very happy and went back to his parents' house to talk about the matter. Although his father, who had always been rigid and serious, did not say it explicitly, he also wanted to take care of his son-in-law.
At least Jia Zhu works in the Imperial College, so she doesn't have to worry about being squeezed out and wasting her energy.
On the other hand, Mrs. Jia Zhengwang was very dissatisfied after hearing the news, thinking that the elder was humiliating them. A mere ninth-grade official with an idle official position would not be able to attract their attention at all.
However, after seeing the always sick Jia Zhu going to the Yamen with a happy face, and her mental state and body getting much better within a few days, she did not argue with the elder and remained silent.
The elder didn't care either. After running to the official position for Jia Zhu, he put all his thoughts on the Shuntian government office.
Soon, the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month arrived, and the whole capital became lively.
Especially at night, from the palace to the homes of the powerful, to the families of officials, as well as on the streets and in the homes of merchants and civilians, all kinds of lanterns are lit up, either high-end and classy, small and exquisite to show their craftsmanship, or simple and rough.
, lighting up the entire capital city like a fairy scene in the sky.
On this day, it seemed as if the entire capital city had taken to the streets, blocking several main avenues with crowds of people everywhere.
Not only the businessmen and common people, but also the ladies and ladies of the noble families rarely went out to watch the lanterns on the street today. This made a group of well-known libertines in the capital very excited, and all of them had bright eyes, hoping to 'encounter' them.
A lady from an official family fantasizes about the wonderful thing of getting both people and money.
The eldest man took Mrs. Xing and Aunt Qian, as well as the two little guys Yingchun and Jia Cong, and under the protection of a group of servants, went to the lively street to join the procession of viewing the lanterns.
Fortunately for Mrs.
They all wanted to run to the crowd to join in the fun.
"Be careful, don't run into the crowd!"
Aunt Qian was frightened for a while and followed Yingchun and Jia Cong closely, fearing that the two children would suddenly disappear.
"Relax, there are servants and guards here, the two children can't escape!"
The elder gave a sigh of relief. Seeing that Aunt Qian couldn't listen at all, he didn't bother to talk nonsense.
"Master, there are too many people and it's too noisy outside. Why don't you find a restaurant to take a rest?"
Mrs. Xing didn't like the lively atmosphere on the street very much. She looked at the two excited and sweaty children and suggested carefully.
"That's fine!"
The old man nodded and went to a good-quality restaurant. He went directly to the second floor and asked for a few private rooms. He stood at the window and admired the lively scene of "bright lights" outside.
Fortunately, the two children are young and have limited physical strength. The excitement of watching just now has already consumed too much salutes from them. It is estimated that Aunt Qian has a lot of restraint on them on weekdays, but at this time, it is rare for them to be well-behaved and not make a fuss, which saves money.
It took a lot of coaxing trouble.
In such a crowded and noisy scene, children who cannot resist the temptation are most likely to get lost, and those photographers who mix in the crowd will not be polite.
It's just that this year, the eldest master is in charge of the daily affairs of Shuntian Mansion. He has already made targeted arrangements and is about to take action against those lawless patriots and make a big splash.
Climbing high and looking far away, with the eyesight of an old man, one can clearly see children running happily among the dense crowd on the street. Their family members are either following them carefully to protect them, or they are careless and watching the fun on their own.
But he ignored his children's play.
There were also many richly dressed men and women, holding children's hands and being escorted by servants, walking around in the dense crowd. They were curious about each strange-shaped lantern and the lantern riddles attached to it, and laughed and guessed.
Playing lantern riddles.
The Lantern Festival is definitely a happy day for children in Beijing, but for some children, it is also a day of transition from heaven to hell.
The elder hated Paihuazi who specialized in kidnapping and trafficking children. He would not be polite to any of them if they were caught. At the very least, they would be punished by having their limbs and limbs picked off, or they would be sold to a black coal mine to die of exhaustion.
The Lantern Festival task assigned by the eldest master to the officials of Shuntian Prefecture is to minimize the number of lost children in the capital. It is best to catch some organized flower-making groups and catch them all in one fell swoop.
For this purpose, he even let go of arresting petty thieves on the street, and put most of the Shuntian government's efforts into investigating and arresting Paihuazi. It would be good if one less child could be lost.
Every busy street intersection is guarded by government officials in official uniforms. There are also many official officials in regular uniforms who blend into the flow of people, observing all unreasonable things in the crowd, and being ready to deal with unexpected changes at any time.
This is all he can do, hoping to achieve the desired results.
As the Prime Minister of Shuntian Mansion, he is also responsible for the general management of Shuntian Mansion and knows a lot of information that is unknown to outsiders.
Every year, there are hundreds of children lost in Sunchonbu, sometimes even hundreds, but they are scattered throughout the Gyeonggi area and seem inconspicuous.
Especially on the Lantern Festival, the number of missing children is even more astonishing, accounting for three to four of the missing children throughout the year, so I can’t help but ignore it.
Some of the children who disappeared during the Lantern Festival were children of officials and powerful families. As for how they disappeared under the protection of their servants, needless to say, in short, the impact was quite bad.
That is to say, Shuntian Mansion suppressed the news and it never spread and caused a big mess. This is not the modern Internet era, otherwise it would have caused a lot of trouble and no peace in the sky.
The fate of missing children is usually quite miserable. It is better to be sold to a troupe. Although they are classified as low-income, they can still live like human beings.
But for those children who are sold into brothels and men's houses, their future can only be described as dark.
Every year during the Lantern Festival, dozens or hundreds of children go missing in the capital, including some children of officials and powerful families. It is impossible to say that the Shuntian Prefecture has not traced the case. However, a lot of paihuazi have been caught so far, but they still happen every year.
It is very strange that there are many cases of missing children.
It was easy for the elder to make a bold guess. This should be one or several organized and large-scale flower-making groups. It has formed a certain scale and power, otherwise this kind of prevention would not have been ineffective.
The phenomenon.
If this is the case, then the identity of the mastermind behind the Beijing Paihuazi Group is by no means simple, otherwise it would not be able to create such a big momentum, and the Beijing Paihuazi Group could still survive.
Knowing this information, the elder naturally had thoughts of taking action and made precautionary preparations before the Lantern Festival.
As long as he seizes a breakthrough, he will not let it go easily, regardless of the identity of the person behind them.
…
At the intersection of a busy street, Lin Sanyi was standing on the street corner dressed in official uniform, looking bored at the lively crowds and all kinds of strange lanterns, feeling itchy in his heart that he wanted to blend in with the crowd and have some fun.
It was a pity that he had a mission and did not dare to act rashly. He had to squat on the street corner and check the passers-by for anything unusual.
"Hey, Mr. Fu Cheng is so strict that he doesn't even ask us brothers to be light and brisk during the Lantern Festival!"
My ears were filled with the lively and noisy festive sounds on the street, and my heart became more and more longing for it. I couldn't help complaining to my companions: "What's the point of guarding the corner? The cold wind makes my body stiff!"
"Then you go and play, since Mr. Fu Cheng isn't around to monitor you anyway!"
The companion next to him said angrily: "Don't be wordy, keep your eyes open and keep a close eye. If you find something wrong, maybe we can still make meritorious deeds and receive rewards!"
"What's there to keep an eye on?"
Having said that, Lin San put away the displeasure on his face and searched the crowd on the street with his eyes, trying to find anyone behaving abnormally.
But he kept talking. In this cold and windy night, it was really hard to talk to his companions to relieve his loneliness.
"Speaking of which, my lord has sent us brothers to guard the streets, but I'm afraid it won't have any effect!"
"What are you thinking about? It's not up to you to decide whether it will be effective or not. You should just be honest and do your job!"
"Aren't I just talking about it? Your Excellency wants to clean up the street photographers, and I support it with both hands!"
"..."
While patrolling the crowds and chatting, I finally felt less cold.
"Hey, there's something wrong with that guy. Are the clothes on the child he's holding in his arms silk?"
Suddenly, Lin San seemed to have discovered something extraordinary. He pointed to a simple-dressed, short-set man in the crowd and said to him, "Come on, let's go over and ask!"
"Stop, what about you, the one holding the child?"
The two officials walked over in a swaggering manner, stopped in front of the hurried target, and coldly snorted: "Why are you in such a hurry? Whose family does the child in your arms belong to?"
When the man saw the two officials surrounding him, a trace of panic flashed in his eyes. He calmed down and replied with a smile: "This is my young master. He is tired from shopping and wants to go back home!"
"Oh, is it so?"
Lin San spoke casually, and suddenly struck the middle-aged man on the forehead with an iron ruler, hitting the middle-aged man so hard that he was shaken for a while, and the child in his arms also fell to the ground.
Another official kicked the middle-aged man to the ground, stepped forward and stomped on his spine, directly dispelling the man's thoughts of resistance.
"This child is unconscious, take this guy away quickly!"
Lin San picked up the child who fell to the ground but made no sound. He took a look and immediately understood what was going on.