In the inner courtyard of the county government office, Liu Zongyi, the magistrate of Zhengning County, was still sleeping soundly in bed, when suddenly the call of a servant came from outside.
"Master, master!"
The boy rushed into the bedroom in a panic, ran to Liu Zongyi's bed and pushed it while shouting: "Master, wake up quickly, someone is here!"
Only then did Liu Zongyi wake up. When he slowly opened his eyes, he frowned and asked, "Who is it, coming so early to pay New Year greetings..."
The boy knelt on the footrest beside the bed and replied anxiously: "Master, I'm not here to pay New Year's greetings, I'm here... the sexton of Wude Division!"
"What Wudeji... Wudeji?"
Liu Zongyi's eyes suddenly opened wide in an instant, and the next moment he sat up with a surprised expression, which really startled the boy.
At this moment, Liu Zongyi was completely sleepless and full of energy, but he still couldn't believe what the boy said, so he said with a straight face: "On the first day of the Lunar New Year, how could Lord Wude come to our place? You can't be mistaken.
Alright?"
The boy knew that the master would not believe it easily, so he reached out and showed a wooden sign in front of the master.
Liu Zongyi was startled and hurriedly took it and turned it over and over.
"Oh my god, it's really Wu Desi's waist card..."
Liu Zongyi was sitting on the bed wearing only a thin undershirt, but he didn't feel the cold at all. At this time, he was only concentrating on thinking about why the people from Wude came to Zhengning County.
"Chai Yan...the sexton named Chai? Why haven't you heard of it before? Could it be that he is new?" Liu Zongyi was still thinking.
The boy took off the clothes from the screen beside the bed and helped the master put them on. He said carefully: "Sir, the concierge said that the sexton named Chai is very cruel. He kicked down the gate of our county government office.
....”
"Ah? What did you say? Say it again!" Liu Zongyi was stunned.
The boy wanted to talk while helping him get dressed, but Liu Zongyi lost his patience and snatched away the clothes. He said anxiously: "What's going on, tell me!"
The boy didn't dare to hesitate and quickly repeated the concierge's words.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no."
It's not unreasonable for Liu Zongyi to think so. If he hadn't come to pay New Year's greetings on New Year's Day, who would have visited so early?
Even if you are visiting to pay New Year greetings, you should do so in a friendly manner and not break in at all costs!
Besides, as a rural county magistrate, how could the sexton of the Wude Department come to wish me New Year greetings? If I wanted to do so, I would have to take the initiative to go find them!
Therefore, something must have happened, something big!
Liu Zongyi figured it out quickly, stretched out his hand and shouted: "Quickly, change your clothes..."
In about a quarter of an hour, Liu Zongyi led his servants and several government servants to the front yard. The concierge also followed Liu Zongyi with a livid face and his head drooped.
Liu Zongyi took a look from a distance and saw that there were no people wearing military ethics in the front yard. What stood out was a group of prisoners strung up by ropes. They all looked in a mess, some were squatting and some were standing. Many of them were still standing.
Stop yawning.
Liu Zongyi didn't know what was going on, so he asked the boy next to him: "Where is the Chai Secretary?"
The boy didn't know who Mr. Chai was, so he asked the porter: "Where is Mr. Chai?"
The porter quickly pointed to a young scholar next to a group of prisoners and said: "That... that is..."
Liu Zongyi looked at what the concierge was pointing at, and was suddenly surprised. Why is he so young? And he is dressed like a scholar? Why is there a blindfolded woman?
But the next moment Liu Zongyi felt relieved. There were all talented people in the Wude Department, so there was nothing strange about dressing up like this.
Chai Yan was discussing with Yuan where to go for breakfast after handing over the prisoner. When he heard the sound, he saw that several people from Zhengning County Magistrate were already walking towards them quickly, so he stopped talking, turned around and rushed towards them.
When Liu Zongyi saw Chai Yan and the other two seeing him, he quickly put on a friendly smile, came to Chai Yan, bowed his hands and said: "Your Majesty, Liu Zongyi has seen Secretary Chai, but I didn't know that Secretary Chai is here today.
I hope you will forgive me for missing your welcome."
"Master Liu is too polite. I broke the latch just now because I lost my temper. Please don't be offended, Master Liu." Chai Yan bowed his hand in return.
Liu Zongyi said hurriedly: "No, no, no, it's all because the concierge is ignorant and has nothing to do with Secretary Chai... Where are the people? They haven't apologized to Secretary Chai yet!"
The concierge was so frightened that he quickly stepped forward and bowed to apologize, and then held his badge in front of Chai Yan's eyes with great respect.
Chai Yan took back his badge, pointed at the captives beside him and said, "Master Liu, these are bandits from Xingyangang. Yesterday my husband and I happened to meet each other while passing by, so we captured them all. I will hand them over now."
Let Mr. Liu deal with it!"
Chai Yan said it in an understatement, but Liu Zongyi and the people around him were all surprised.
"Secretary Chai, you said..." Liu Zongyi looked at the prisoners in disbelief, swallowed secretly and said: "You said they are bandits from Xingyangang..."
?”
"That's right!" Chai Yan nodded and pointed: "The biggest and tallest person is their first boss, and the one next to him is their third boss..."
Liu Zongyi was curious when he heard this and asked where the second in charge had gone.
However, Liu Zongyi only dared to ask in his heart and never dared to say it out loud. God knows what was going on here. If he offended this young and irritable sexton, he couldn't afford it.
When Liu Zongyi saw Chai Yan looking tired without rest, he was immediately shocked and asked quickly: "Secretary Chai, Xingyang Gang is not close to Zhengning County... Could it be that Secretary Chai is escorting these people?"
Traveled all night?"
"Yes, it was indeed a long night's journey! But now it's better. We can rest assured that the person is in Master Liu's hands!"
After Chai Yan finished speaking, he said to Yuan: "Let's go, madam, let's go to the street to eat something and find an inn to have a rest."
With that said, Chai Yan and Yuan were about to leave.
Liu Zongyi quickly stopped the two of them and said politely: "Secretary Chai, Mrs. Chai, please stay!"
Chai Yan thought that Liu Zongyi stopped him because he was about taking the bandits into custody, but now he was very hungry, so he turned around and said: "Master Liu, can we talk about other things later? My wife is too weak to be hungry...
..”
Yuan Yuan was stunned, and immediately bumped Chai Yan lightly with the hilt of his sword, and whispered: "You are obviously hungry on your own, why do you rely on me?"
Chai Yan smiled silently and whispered back: "Madam, we are husband and wife. If I am hungry, you are hungry, and if you are hungry, I am hungry. There is no need to tell the difference so clearly, hahaha..."
"Screw you, who is one with you?" He said this in front of outsiders, and Yuanyuan's face immediately turned red.
Liu Zongyi turned a blind eye to this scene and said politely: "Sir Chai misunderstood, I want to invite you two to stay for dinner. Today is the first day of the new year, and most of the shops and stores on the street outside are closed.
And it’s still early. Mr. Chai went to the streets to look around. It’s better to stay and have a meal. I asked the cook to do it. Soon..."
When Chai Yan thought about Liu Zongyi's words, he did make sense. Today is not the future. Very few people open their doors for business on the first day of the lunar new year. The earliest they have to wait is after the fifth and sixth day of the lunar month.
"Madam, what do you think?" Chai Yan asked Yuan.
Yuan said, "I'm free to do whatever I want."
"Uh... wouldn't that disturb Mr. Liu too much?" Chai Yan wondered.
Liu Zongyi immediately shook his head and said happily: "No, no, no, don't bother! It's too late for the subordinate to be happy if Secretary Chai can stay here as a favor!"
After that, Liu Zongyi gave a few instructions to the boy beside him, and the boy immediately obeyed and left.
Then, Liu Zongyi gave an order to the government officials behind him, ordering them to immediately take all the bandits to the county jail.
After everything was settled, Liu Zongyi turned aside and invited with a smile on his face: "Secretary Chai, Mrs. Chai, please come in!"
Chai Yan smiled and nodded, and walked with Yuan to the county government office.
When the two of them walked forward, Liu Zongyi finally breathed a sigh of relief, raised his hand to wipe his forehead and said to himself, luckily it was a false alarm...