The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 881 - 859: Can I Say It?

Chapter 881: Chapter 859: Can I Say It?

Manbao and Bai Shan stared wide-eyed.

County Magistrate Tang gave a slight smile to the two and they anxiously asked, "So, did you find out anything?"

"Find out what? Did I find out who County Magistrate Bai met with in the other courtyard twelve years ago, and what they talked about?" County Magistrate Tang said, "Do you know who Guan Yan is?"

The two shook their heads together.

County Magistrate Tang poked Bai Shan’s head impatiently and said, "Guan Yan is the Old Master Guan you’ve been talking about. He’s been working under the Prince of Yizhou for nearly twenty years, ever since the Prince established his court; he’s been by his side from the beginning. If I directly asked him, and if he’s still with the Prince of Yizhou, guess what would happen to us?"

Bai Shan said, "Whatever happened to my dad back then, the same would happen to us."

County Magistrate Tang nodded and said, "Exactly, which is why I merely passed by the Guan Family Estate to take a look and asked for a bowl of water to drink. You don’t need to go there; it’s best to stay away from them at this time."

County Magistrate Tang looked at the two of them, then turned his head and signaled to Bai Erlang, who was squatting outside, and said, "Now that you know there’s danger, don’t drag your companion into it. You should think about protecting yourselves instead of obsessing over investigating the case all the time. These matters are for adults to deal with."

Bai Shan and Manbao also turned their heads to glance at Bai Erlang outside the window, "We are not the same as him."

They were investigating this case not only because so many people had died because of it, but also because their fathers or mothers had died because of it. Even now, there was a sword hanging over their family’s head. They had no choice but to step into it.

But Bai Erlang could stay out of it; he truly should not have been involved.

County Magistrate Tang obviously understood their underlying meaning and asked, "Then why did you bring him along?"

He chuckled and said, "If you didn’t want to bring him, surely you could find various ways to send him away?"

Manbao sighed and said, "I’ve been reading storybooks since I was little, and the characters in them always say to one another, ’This matter has nothing to do with you, don’t interfere.’"

"But in the end, the matter often ends up involving everyone, yet those who get involved are completely unaware and often die very unjustly," Manbao said. "I once asked my teacher about this, when I encounter such things, should I tell people or not?"

County Magistrate Tang was silent for a long while, then asked, "What did your teacher say?"

"Our teacher said, ’Talk about what may be spoken of, and remain silent about what shouldn’t be mentioned,’" Manbao asked, "But is what we’re doing something that may be spoken of, or not?"

County Magistrate Tang replied without hesitation, "It’s naturally not to be spoken of."

"Why not be spoken of? Is it because it harms someone’s rights or breaks moral laws?"

County Magistrate Tang paused before saying, "Neither."

Manbao asked, "Then what makes it unspeakable?"

County Magistrate Tang was at a loss for words for a moment; he vaguely understood Mr. Zhuang’s point.

Manbao said, "Mr. Zhuang said that leaving aside power, threats, and bribes, just considering whether it harms the interests of good people, or whether it breaks moral laws, we will find that most things in the world may be spoken of, yet they can’t be spoken of."

County Magistrate Tang sighed and said, "So Mr. Zhuang is still so radical - that really surprises me."

Bai Shan said, "In storybooks, the things that people don’t want to be known eventually become known, and the people they don’t want to involve are eventually involved. So Manbao and I often think, if everyone is going to be involved in the end, why not let them know?"

"If the other party had known from the beginning, maybe they could have avoided a lot of dangers," Bai Shan also turned his head to glance out the window. "The teacher always says that we have grown up, and he turns a blind eye to many things, letting them pass. He understands everything in his heart and hopes that we act with a sense of proportion. I often wonder, why is our teacher so clever? He knows everything without us saying anything or him asking anything."

County Magistrate Tang replied without hesitation, "Is it because of experience?"

Bai Shan and Manbao nodded vigorously, "Exactly, it is experience. So, are we trying to deprive him of his experience?"

Manbao said, "What if he could have become a very clever and formidable figure, but instead he becomes someone as generally intelligent and ordinary as us?"

County Magistrate Tang didn’t know where they were getting all these questions from and, after composing himself, asked, "What storybook are you reading?"

Manbao blinked and, without a bit of blushing or skipping a beat, said, "Just some storybook I picked up randomly."

County Magistrate Tang waved his hand in disapproval, "Better to read fewer storybooks. If you have questions, go back and ask your teacher. You can do as you please with these matters. If you want to tell him, then tell him, but there’s no need to purposely bring it up to me, especially after having rattled off so much reasoning."

Manbao then chuckled.

Bai Shan swiftly changed the subject, asking, "Lord Tang, how did you trace it back to the Guan family?"

The topic finally returned to normal, and County Magistrate Tang breathed a sigh of relief. Teaching children was much more difficult than solving cases. "That was easy, wasn’t it? You just had to head west out of town to find out."

There were quite a few courtyards built in the western suburbs, mainly because there was a mountain with warm springs there, and many families built health-preserving villas in that area.

The day before, County Magistrate Tang had turned over a village under his jurisdiction and unearthed a theft case, so he took his confidants down to the village.

After walking west for about forty-five minutes, guessing they were close to the place Erji had mentioned, they began to look around, taking note of every courtyard they saw, then sketching them out. They planned to take the sketches back for Erji to identify the right one.

However, County Magistrate Tang felt something was off as he continued to walk forward.

Unlike the bustling vibes of other courtyards at least well-maintained from the outside view of the walls, there was one in a remote corner in the east that was quite different.

From outside the wall, you couldn’t see inside, but the abundance of weeds growing wildly and numerous branches reaching out from within suggested to County Magistrate Tang that the courtyard had not been tended to for a long time.

Courtyards in the west suburbs were very popular; even if a family no longer needed theirs, they could still sell it off. It would never be left to fall into disrepair.

Thus, County Magistrate Tang found it quite strange, so he sent someone to knock on the door for a while, but there was no response.

That courtyard was secluded, with the nearest neighbor being about thirty yards away. In the end, County Magistrate Tang had to knock on the door of another house to find out that this neglected courtyard belonged to Old Master Guan of the Guan Family Estate.

Once it was revealed to be Old Master Guan’s belonging to the Guan Family Estate, County Magistrate Tang thought for a moment and remembered him. If there was anything he didn’t know, he just needed to call his subordinates and inquire for the details.

Old Master Guan was a servant of the royal manor; he had been working under the Prince of Yizhou since his time in the capital and was thus considered an old retainer.

County Magistrate Tang first solved a case in the countryside and caught a thief, reprimanded the Land Officer, then returned to the city. The very next morning, he took the drawn maps and quietly went to consult Erji. Confirming the neglected courtyard was indeed where they had been before, he turned back to the County Governmental Office. Then, taking the opportunity of a nearby dispute at the Guan Family Estate, he led a grand procession down to the countryside.

But as a County Magistrate who only occasionally passed through, even if he entered the Guan Family Estate and met Old Master Guan, there was much he couldn’t ask directly. He could only look around and engage Old Master Guan in idle chat, probing his character.

He dared not even mention Bai Qi’s name momentarily, let alone inquire about other matters.

However, Manbao and Bai Shan’s trip this time was obviously not to directly question Old Master Guan. Moreover, by using the pretext of seeking medical advice, they could ask many more questions.