The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 801 - 779: Everyone Knows

Chapter 801: Chapter 779: Everyone Knows

"But I can’t be entirely blamed," said County Magistrate Tang, "How was I supposed to know that Zhou Jin was her father and Zhangbo was investigating Zhou Man?"

The attendant, baffled, asked, "Young Master Yang is investigating Miss Man?"

County Magistrate Tang, holding his forehead, replied, "Let’s head back, that girl is cunning, and Bai Shan is no easy target. It won’t be long before their family finds out."

County Magistrate Tang paused thoughtfully and added, "So, was the longevity lock worn by Manbao? Then this isn’t a current case but an old one from years ago. Lai Tou is timid, yet even under torture, he wouldn’t speak, likely because many familiar people are involved."

The attendant said, "My lord, couldn’t you just say it involves people from their village?"

County Magistrate Tang glanced at him, "Who said it was only people from their village? We still don’t even know what crime has been committed, Zhangbo hasn’t told me anything."

At this point, County Magistrate Tang did not know that Yang Heshu also knew nothing.

Manbao and Bai Shan discussed and felt that County Magistrate Tang had ulterior motives, thus they lost interest in reading books in the Book Collection Tower.

Manbao, out of habit, climbed through the window, while Bai Shan subconsciously entered through the main entrance.

The teacher on duty saw Bai Shan enter and squinted, asking, "When did you go out?"

Bai Shan paused, then nonchalantly replied, "Just now. I went to relieve myself, didn’t I greet you earlier?"

"Did you?" The teacher furrowed his brows, wondering if he had been too engrossed in his book to notice.

Bai Shan nodded affirmatively, "Yes."

Then he went inside, quickly tidied up the desk, picked up the three books he had found earlier, and went to the front to register them.

Bai Shan was still in class A3, but his rank there granted him the privilege to borrow books from outside.

The teacher on duty at the Book Collection Tower always liked lending books to Bai Shan because he borrowed legitimate books, read them quickly, and returned them without damage.

Thus, unless the books were particularly precious, they always allowed him to take them out.

Having registered for him, the teacher handed over the books with a smile, "Keep it up, Mr. Zhai boasted to us that you could make it into the top five in next year’s final exam."

Bai Shan looked up, gave a bashful smile, put the books in his basket, bid farewell, and left.

The two county magistrates were relying solely on the longevity lock and Lai Tou’s testimony to infer that a case existed, but they were clueless about the actual case. However, the Zhou family was fully aware of it, so when Manbao returned home and spoke to Zhou SiLang about this, Zhou SiLang broke into a cold sweat.

He swallowed and asked, "You mentioned County Magistrate Tang asked about father and about uncle?"

Manbao nodded, "Has something happened to father since we’ve been away? Fourth Brother, maybe I should return home with you."

"Don’t," Zhou SiLang calmed down a bit and forced a smile, "There are many brothers at home, what could possibly happen? If something really did happen, they would send someone to call us back. Yizhou City isn’t far from Luojiang County; we could be there in a day."

Bai Shan also said, "Exactly. If you’re worried, I’ll have Daji go back with your Fourth Brother."

Daji: ... He didn’t quite understand; what could he do if he went back?

Zhou SiLang, unable to think too much at the moment, subconsciously nodded in agreement.

Daji frowned, "Young Master, if I return, I can only run errands, which is less helpful than a letter from you. If you’re really concerned, why not write a letter to the Old Madam? Her word would be far more effective than me going there personally."

Zhou SiLang and Manbao looked eagerly at Bai Shan.

Bai Shan immediately nodded, "Alright, then I’ll write a letter for Fourth Brother Zhou to take back."

Daji then stepped back.

The next morning, Zhou SiLang left early, but his pace was much slower than that of County Magistrate Tang.

His messenger had set off the previous afternoon, carrying his handwritten letter at full speed towards the capital, changing horses whenever he encountered a station. By the following evening, he finally caught up with County Magistrate Yang, who was traveling with five horse-drawn carriages.

After running for a day and a night, he could barely stand when he dismounted.

Wantian dared not delay and hurriedly had people support him and take him to see Yang Heshu.

Yang Heshu, with a furrowed brow, asked, "What urgent matter made you rush like this?"

The messenger was breathless and could not speak; he pulled out the letter from his bosom and presented it.

Yang Heshu quickly took the letter, skimmed through it, then stared blankly at it.

Wantian nervously called out, "Young Master?"

Yang Heshu then clenched his teeth and bitterly said, "Tang Zhihe!!!"

Wantian immediately lowered his head, silent.

Zhihe was County Magistrate Tang’s courtesy name. While the two men used to be close and addressed each other by their courtesy names, this combined use of surname and courtesy name indicated that the Young Master was very angry.

Yang Heshu tossed Tang He’s letter aside, visibly angry at his presumption but still managed to suppress his anger, ordering, "Prepare the ink and brushes."

Wantian promptly withdrew to prepare the Four Treasures of the Study, while Yang Heshu pondered for a moment, then told the messenger, "I will have them send the letter back, this matter is no longer urgent."

The messenger breathed a sigh of relief; had he been sent back overnight again, it might have cost him his life.

Yang Heshu wrote two letters, one for County Magistrate Tang and another for Luojiang County, which he sealed with his stamp.

He handed the two letters to Wantian, instructing, "You personally take these back, first make a trip to Yizhou City, then return to Luojiang County."

He murmured, "Even if it causes some disturbance, the Zhou family has no power or influence; they can’t interfere with the investigation. But keep an eye on Tang He, make sure he doesn’t take any measures against people."

Leaning slightly forward, he whispered, "The new wheat variety came from the Zhou family. When he came before, I reported it as it was; nobody knows how much he remembered."

Wantian was startled, knowing full well whom his master meant by "he," and quickly agreed.

Yang Heshu then straightened up and said, "You don’t need to go to the capital, just stay in Luojiang County and help Tang He a bit."

Solving a case naturally didn’t require Wantian’s involvement; most likely, he was to stay to keep an eye on Tang He, to make sure he didn’t stir up too much trouble in Luojiang County.

Of course, Wantian wasn’t capable of that; all he could do was to linger near Lord Tang more frequently, reminding him to be wary of his young master and not to overstep.

Following the orders, Wantian picked two men and rode back quickly. Although the Young Master had said there was no rush, he still rode hard for over an hour until it was too dark to see the road and had to stop to spend the night outdoors.

Meanwhile, at the Zhou family home, the adults sat quietly around the stove, distressed.

Ever since Zhou SiLang’s return, the atmosphere at home had been heavy. Old Zhou heaved a sigh, and Ms. Qian glanced at him before saying to Zhou Dalang, "You and Erlang go to Laizi’s house and bring him here."

"Should we inform the village head as well?"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.