Chapter 145 Human life is like grass
After getting instructions from her mother, Xiao Qin hurried away. She called the servants and asked them to prepare a carriage. She changed her clothes, went out and took the carriage to Dongchang Marquis' Mansion.
Qin Wei was just about to go out when Xiang's mother came over.
After listening to my mother's words, I waited for my sister to arrive at home.
When Xiao Qin arrived, Qin Wei dismissed the servants and said, "Sister, tell mom that you said this was a trap. What do you mean?"
"Brother, this matter is my fault. I underestimated that evil creature. Those people were simply baits he set for me." Xiao Qin said with a grim expression.
Qin Wei got anxious when he heard this and said, "What should we do? Although they won't betray me, their identities won't stand up to scrutiny."
After all, the Dongchang Marquis Mansion has been passed down for a hundred years. Even if it has fallen on hard times, it still has some trusted servants.
The people he sent were the guards of his family. They were all family members and there was no way they would betray him, but their identities were not difficult to find out.
"Brother, the more you can't panic at this moment." Xiao Qin said, "I already have a solution."
"Sister, it's already this late, don't keep us in suspense, just tell me what you have planned," Qin Wei urged.
"Brother, do you know anyone in the Kaifeng government office? It must be someone with whom you have a very good relationship." Xiao Qin asked.
"You know what those civil servants are like. How can I have any good connections with them? The only one with whom I have some connection is Guo Zixuan, the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture. Brother Liang got into some trouble before, so I gave him some gifts and asked him to help settle it." Qin Wei said.
What matters when choosing a lord is not the rank of the noble, but whether one is valued or not.
Qin Wei is a marquis, but now he is only the commander of the East City of the Five Cities Army.
Although he seems to be of high rank, he actually doesn't have much power at all.
The Wucheng Bingmasi was responsible for the public security in the city of Bianjing, and it did not even have the power to make decisions.
The Sheng family felt that the Yuan family was out of their reach because Sheng Hong was only a sixth-rank Tongpan at the time.
If Sheng Hong had his current official position, he would look down on the Yuan family at all.
The civil servants and the lords kept to themselves and were only polite to each other on the surface.
"Just having this relationship is enough, brother, you..." Xiao Qin explained her method in detail.
Qin Wei's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he praised: "Sister is really smart."
"Brother, the sooner the better, you should go quickly. Remember to be generous and don't be reluctant to spend money. I will give you whatever you spend when the time comes." Xiao Qin said.
"Got it. Don't worry, I will definitely handle this matter beautifully." Qin Wei promised.
After seeing off Xiao Qin, Qin Wei went to the Kaifeng government office and asked to see Guo Zixuan.
When Guo Zixuan learned that Qin Wei was looking for him, he frowned slightly and didn't want to see him.
He didn't have much contact with Qin Wei, and he had only helped his son solve a problem before.
This kind of thing is very common. There are many nobles and officials in Bianjing, and there are always some playboys who will cause trouble.
Qin Wei must have come to him for something. Now that Zhao Xing is the prefect of Kaifeng, he doesn't want to get involved in these trivial matters before the situation becomes clear, so as not to bring himself trouble.
But Qin Wei was a marquis after all, so he couldn't avoid seeing him.
Guo Zixuan hesitated for a while and finally went out to greet him. He had made up his mind not to agree to anything Qin Wei asked for.
"Meet the Marquis of Dongchang!"
Kaifeng Prefecture is an important place in the capital region. Although Guo Zixuan's position as Tongpan is higher than that of other places and is a fourth-rank official position, the rank of Marquis is a third-rank official position.
Therefore, when he met Qin Wei, he also had to bow.
But he just bowed slightly.
"President Guo, you are too polite." Qin Wei returned the greeting.
After a few pleasantries, Guo Zixuan invited Qin Wei to the training room.
After the waiter brought tea, he sent the man away and asked Qin Wei why he came.
"It's really embarrassing to say this. Last night, several servants in my house stole some valuables and ran away from the mansion. We only found out today. I came here to report to the authorities." Qin Wei said. "Huh?" Guo Zixuan was stunned and said, "Dongchang Marquis did this for this?"
Cases of escaped slaves happen all the time. Even if Qin Wei wants to report to the authorities, there is no need for him to go there in person, right?
"I'm just afraid that it will be embarrassing if it gets out. Please, Judge Guo, please take some effort to find these evil servants as soon as possible. Once I find them, I will beat them to death." Qin Wei said angrily.
Guo Zixuan did not think there was anything wrong with what he said. The escaped slave had stolen valuables from his master, and the master had the right to beat him to death.
"This is what the Kaifeng government should do. I will pass the instructions on." Guo Zixuan said.
He originally thought that he would not agree no matter what Qin Wei said, but he didn't expect that Qin Wei did this for this.
Just as he said, this matter itself was within the authority of the Kaifeng government and did not violate any regulations, so there was naturally no reason to refuse.
"Then I'll trouble Panist Guo. Once we catch the person, I will reward him handsomely." Qin Wei said with a smile.
"Marquis Dongchang is too polite. This matter is within my authority and I don't deserve your thanks." Guo Zixuan said righteously.
Under normal circumstances, he would naturally accept everyone who comes, but now he really doesn't dare to accept it.
Besides, it was just a small favor, so Qin Wei couldn't possibly give a very big thank you gift.
"I still have to thank you. There are four fugitives in my house, all of them are young and strong. I have also brought their portraits." Qin Wei said as he took the portrait from the follower behind him.
"Four, and young and strong?"
Guo Zixuan was stunned when he heard this. Last night, they caught several criminals who broke into houses and committed crimes. It happened that all four of them were young and strong. Could they be the escaped slaves from the Dongchang Marquis Mansion?
He only learned about this matter after coming to the yamen today, but he didn't take it too seriously.
After all, there are only civilians there and no one has died yet.
This kind of matter was not something that he, a judge, had to handle personally.
"To be honest with Marquis Dongchang, we caught several thieves who broke into houses in the west of the city last night. When we asked them about their identities, they refused to say a word. I asked someone to take their portraits to check if they were escaped slaves from Marquis Dongchang's mansion." Guo Zixuan said.
"Oh? That would be great." A hint of joy flashed in Qin Wei's eyes.
Guo Zixuan called Master Jin in and asked him to take the portraits Qin Wei brought to check whether the people captured last night were escaped slaves from the Dongchang Marquis Mansion.
Master Jin left with the portrait, and soon came back and said, "Sir, the people in the portrait are the ones we captured last night."
"I understand. You can leave now." Guo Zixuan waved his hand.
After Master Jin left, Guo Zixuan looked at Qin Wei and said, "Marquis Dongchang has also heard that the escaped slaves from your mansion have been caught. But I remember that the yamen runners didn't find anything valuable on them last night. Now they are also involved in a burglary case. I will have someone investigate it together."
"Guo Tongpan, to be honest, these people didn't steal anything. Instead, they found out some ugly things about our family. As the saying goes, family disgrace should not be made public. If we continue to ask, it's inevitable that..." Qin Wei paused here and said, "I'd like to ask Guo Tongpan to find a way to convey a message to them and provide them with convenience."
Guo Zixuan frowned when he heard this, but he was not surprised by Qin Wei's words.
According to the law, masters are not allowed to execute slaves at will. Even if slaves make mistakes, they must report to the authorities before being killed.
However, no one cared about the lives of slaves. If someone beat a slave to death, the government would not investigate further as long as the reason was acceptable and a fine was imposed.
It was normal for slaves to be beaten to death for doing things they shouldn't have done.
Although he was somewhat curious about what scandals those servants knew about the Qin family, he had no intention of exploring it.
Who doesn’t have some scandal that they don’t want others to know about?
The message Qin Wei said was nothing more than threatening them to commit suicide.
As for convenience, it was to let him give those prisoners a chance to commit suicide.
Under normal circumstances, this would be a trivial matter, just a few slaves, or runaway slaves, so if they died, they were dead, and no one would pursue the matter.
It was just a small matter to him.
But now he doesn't want to agree.
Just when Guo Zixuan wanted to refuse, Qin Wei made a gesture and said, "After the matter is completed, there will be a generous reward."
(End of this chapter)