The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 179 Missing
Upon hearing that a woman surnamed Shang had come looking for him, Shan Dajun put down his teacup, pondered for a moment, picked up his hat from the table, put it on, and strode out with his knife in hand.

Shang Wan came to inquire about the news; she wanted to know if Lin Jianshui had revealed the whole mess behind the scenes as agreed.

Of course, she couldn't ask that openly, since in Shan Dajun's eyes, she shouldn't know these things.

"It's been two days without any news. The villagers are worried about being implicated, so they asked me to come and inquire whether the case of the Lin family forging official seals has been settled?"

Dan Dajun gave her a cryptic look. “That family has been protesting their innocence ever since they were arrested and imprisoned. They claim they were framed and never forged the official seal.”

Shang Wan pretended not to notice the deeper meaning in Shan Dajun's eyes, raised an eyebrow, and asked curiously, "What does the county magistrate mean? If I find out, I can go back and explain to the villagers. We've been living in fear all day, and we can't even sleep well."

Seeing that Shang Wan's expression remained unchanged, Shan Dajun's eyes flickered slightly. He looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention, whispered, "Does Your Excellency mean that the witnesses and evidence are conclusive?"

After saying that, he casually bent his finger and tapped the hilt of the official knife.

Seeing his movement, Shang Wan lowered her eyes, her mind racing.

Since the Lin family refused to admit to forging the official seal, they naturally had no confession. With only physical evidence, how could they be considered to have conclusive witness testimony and physical evidence?
The reason Shan Dajun is saying this is simply to give her a heads-up that something has gone wrong in the case.

The phrase "knocking on the official's knife" likely has two meanings: either the Lin family is doomed to die, or the incident is related to the authorities.

It seems that Lin Jianshui did indeed keep his promise and exposed the matter while in prison.

This case involves a wide range of issues. Unless the county magistrate is an idiot, he will suppress the matter immediately, regardless of whether he investigates it or not.

As for how to deal with it afterward, either keep it under wraps forever, or get rid of this hot potato.

Shan Dajun had always wanted to be transferred to the prefectural city to work for Lord An, because Lord An treated her differently and was willing to do her a favor in many matters.

Now that Shan Dajun has given her a heads-up, the magistrate must have chosen the second option: to bring the matter to Lord An's attention and have Lord An intervene.

With Lord An taking over, they won't have to worry about this case anymore.

Having figured out the intricacies, Shang Wan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that her efforts over the past few days had not been in vain.

"That way I can give the villagers an explanation when I get back. Thank you, officer." Shang Wan smiled, flicked her wrist, and took her leave of Shan Dajun.

Watching the oxcart drive away, Shan Dajun reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small piece of silver, weighing it in his hand and estimating it to be about two taels.

This merchant lady is not only good at agility, but also quite skilled with her hands.

He smiled slightly, put the silver back into his sleeve, and leisurely returned to the county government office with his hands behind his back.

The sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly, embracing the earth with great enthusiasm.

People couldn't handle the enthusiasm, and as the sun rose higher, fewer and fewer pedestrians appeared on the road.

Shang Wan stopped the oxcart in front of a restaurant and said to the three people in the cart, "Let's eat here for lunch. There are quite a lot of people, so the food should be pretty good."

Although the restaurant's storefront was small, it was very clean, and the aroma of food wafted out, tempting one's mouth.

"Gululu~"

Chu Xu's stomach growled appropriately, and he clutched his stomach, his face flushing red.

Shang Wan smiled, patted his head, and picked the child up.

Xiao Huan also got off the cart with Yuan Yuan in her arms. A worker came out to lead the oxcart and tied the reins to a tree trunk next to it. With someone watching over it, there was no fear that the things on the oxcart would be stolen.

The restaurant had a wide variety of dishes, so Shang Wan told the three of them to order first while she went out for a bit.

Xiao Huan didn't ask her what she was going to do, and focused on ordering food with the two children.

Shang Wan walked out of the restaurant, turned into the alley, leaped onto the roof, and ran like a gust of wind, disappearing in a flash.

"Longling Escort Agency?" The gossip squatted at the alley entrance, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth. "If we're talking about big news, it's said that the second-in-command of Longling Escort Agency has gone missing, and the agency is searching for him everywhere." Missing?

At this critical juncture, why is he going missing? Did Sang Qi receive some kind of tip-off?
Shang Wan frowned, crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, staring at the swaying blade of grass, and asked, "Where is he?"

"Add more money." The informant turned around and simply held out his hand.

Shang Wan's eyes darkened slightly. The people Qiao Yu'an sent to keep watch had all been lost, but the informant knew Sang Qi's whereabouts. This person was indeed quite capable.

She stared at the inquisitive man's outstretched palm and asked, "How much more?"

"Ten taels." Bao Datong spat out the straw in his mouth, as if he knew what Shang Wan was going to say, and waved his index finger at Shang Wan. "One price, no bargaining."

Shang Wan narrowed her eyes slightly and began to move her wrists expressionlessly.

Seeing this, the gossip's eyelids twitched, and he quickly said, "Buy one get one free, I can send you a message."

Shang Wan paused, glancing at him sideways. "What news?"

"It's related to you." The gossip quietly backed away, feeling safer against the wall.

"I've put in a lot of effort to find out where Sang Qi is. For the sake of my regular customers, a buy-one-get-one-free deal at ten taels is already a great deal."

"Five taels." Shang Wan cut off half of it as soon as she opened her mouth.

The gossipmonger: "..."

He cursed and ran away.

Shang Wan swayed and grabbed the person back like a chick.

"You can't do business like this!" The informant struggled angrily under her grasp, secretly regretting that he hadn't brought any guards. "Let go! I'm not selling the information!"

Seeing that she had truly angered him, Shang Wan said calmly, "Four ounces."

The gossip doubted his own ears.

Four ounces should be less than five ounces, right?
He stopped struggling and looked up at Shang Wan with an expression of disbelief.

How could someone so young have such a mental problem?

Shang Wan raised her hand and slapped him on the forehead. "Two ounces, plus a favor for you. Deal?"

The gossipmonger's head was buzzing from the slap. He was about to refuse, but upon hearing the additional conditions, he immediately stopped struggling and lowered his eyes to think.

He twisted his body with a sour face, "Let me go."

Shang Wan released his grip as instructed. Bao Datong bent down to straighten his disheveled clothes, regaining his respectable appearance, and then looked at Shang Wan, "I'll do anything you ask?"

Shang Wan rolled her eyes at him and added the condition, "It must not violate morality, nor endanger your family."

After a moment's thought, the informant nodded. "Okay, deal."

He took out paper and pen from his pocket, quickly wrote a note, and handed it to Shang Wan for her to sign.

Since deciding to learn to read and not be illiterate, Shang Wan has never stopped.

With her daily efforts, although her handwriting is still terrible, she can now write basic, commonly used characters without any difficulty.

After all, she wasn't really starting from scratch. Once she grasped the patterns, she could recognize some characters fairly well, even if she had to guess.

The note contained her agreement with the informant. After glancing at it and finding no problems, Shang Wan took the pen and signed it.