Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 26 Drawing fire from the bottom of the cauldron
With just a few words, Magistrate Hong dealt with the Gu brothers.

Although it may not necessarily prove them guilty, it did offer Chen Qing some relief.

If we can't defeat them this time, then we can rely on our own methods in the future.

Magistrate Hong waved his hand, and the two Gu brothers were led away. He turned to Chen Qing and said with a smile, "Since Young Master Chen is here, let's ask about some things related to this case together, so that Young Master Chen won't have to make another trip."

Chen Qing nodded immediately and said, "Please ask, Your Excellency."

Magistrate Hong turned and walked into the county government office: "No rush, let's talk inside."

He turned and walked into the county government office. Chen Qing thought for a moment and followed behind him. The two quickly arrived at the back office, where Magistrate Hong's son was still sitting under the pavilion writing.

Magistrate Hong glanced at him from afar, then smiled and said, "It's rare that this mischievous monkey isn't slacking off. Let's not disturb him and go to the study to talk."

The two entered Magistrate Hong's study one after the other. After Magistrate Hong invited Chen Qing to sit down, he said, "The case of that child has actually been clarified about 70-80%."

"That day, someone lured him out and tied him up in a house, but their intention wasn't to kill him, but rather..."

He looked at Chen Qing without saying a word.

Chen Qing thought for a moment and said, "Is it that you want the child to disappear and pin the blame on me?"

"Perhaps."

Magistrate Hong lowered his head, took a sip of tea, and said calmly, "Gu Shouyi's sentence is only a few months. If the Gu family pulls some strings, he might be released in a month or two. By then, his son will have been missing for several months..."

"And then someone else stirs things up."

Magistrate Hong looked at Chen Qing, shook his head slightly, and clicked his tongue.

Chen Qing's face also darkened. He exhaled a breath of stale air and slowly said, "I had thought too highly of them."

"It seems they want to use Gu Shouyi to take my life."

He let out a long sigh: "Gu Shouyi is also pitiful. He was played like this by them, and in the end, they even wanted to ruin his family."

Magistrate Hong put down his teacup and said with a smile, "This is what Young Master Chen thought of himself. It has nothing to do with me. I have always valued evidence and facts."

Chen Qing also took a sip of tea, sighed and said, "There are many things that I never saw or even thought about in the prefectural city. After arriving in Deqing, I finally got to see them."

Magistrate Hong laughed and said, "This is nothing. If you were a county magistrate, you would see much more."

As he spoke, he sighed, "Last month, I just concluded a murder case. The victim had been hacked to pieces, and the scene was horrific. Young Master Chen, can you guess why?"

Chen Qing replied, "For a very small amount of money?"

Magistrate Hong shook his head and said, "For the sake of a few scoops of manure."

Chen Qing remained silent.

In the countryside, the manure used for irrigation is indeed a good thing, but who would have thought that it would be worth losing your life?

Although such actions are ultimately driven by anger and resentment, it is truly a great loss for someone to die over a few scoops of excrement.

"Therefore, Young Master Chen, you should be very careful."

Magistrate Hong warned, "The Gu family is more than just a few scoops of manure."

Chen Qing nodded and asked, "The county magistrate just said that the murderer has been identified. Who is the murderer? Is it Gu Shouzhou?"

Magistrate Hong shook his head: "It wasn't him."

"But... he's the one who gave it up."

At this point, Magistrate Hong took another sip of tea and continued, "In the end, even if the murderer himself is found guilty of manslaughter, he will only be sentenced to exile or military service."

He looked at Chen Qing and reminded him.

"Gu Shouzhou is guilty, but these two brothers won't be locked up for long today."

Chen Qing understood the meaning behind Magistrate Hong's words. He stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Magistrate."

"Thank you for your kindness!"

Magistrate Hong waved his hand and said with a smile, "Deqing is my first official post. I didn't know anything in my first year. Brother Gu helped me a lot. Otherwise, I might not have finished my term as magistrate and would have been driven out of the officialdom."

"I'm just returning the favor." He looked at Chen Qing and said with a smile, "Besides, Young Master Chen, you have a good personality and a good background."

At this point, Magistrate Hong paused and added, "I didn't do a good job as magistrate this term. I estimate that I will have to serve as magistrate of Deqing for another three years. If Young Master Chen stays in Deqing in the future, you might as well visit the county office more often."

“If I get too busy to take care of myself, Young Master Chen can help me watch my child read and write.”

"You're too kind, Your Excellency."

Chen Qing smiled and said, "If there's anything the county magistrate can do to help me, I will do my best."

…………

After chatting with Magistrate Hong for a long time, Chen Qing prepared to invite Magistrate Hong to lunch around noon, but Magistrate Hong politely declined.

Chen Qing invited him several more times, but Magistrate Hong still refused to go. He had no choice but to take his leave and leave the county office.

Walking along the road in Deqing County, Chen Qing randomly found a restaurant by the roadside, ate a meal, and rested for a while before arriving at Anrentang and meeting Manager Lu.

When Manager Lu saw him arrive, he hurried up to Chen Qing and said with a wry smile, "Young Master, you've finally arrived. What happened?"

He complained to Chen Qing, "So many people have been put under surveillance by the government, and there are far too few people to work in Anrentang."

Manager Lu sighed, "What exactly is the plan? Nobody has told me anything."

Chen Qing asked, "Has business been affected these past few days?"

"The biggest impact is that no one is doing the work. I haven't seen any other impacts yet. Also, there are a lot more idle people coming over to cause trouble, asking all sorts of questions."

Besides the Gu family members working at Anrentang, many of their family members also helped out at Anrentang, doing tasks such as making medicine or sorting medicinal herbs.

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing smiled and said, "As long as there are no major problems with the business, it's fine. Otherwise, when Uncle Gu comes back, he'll probably cause me trouble."

He looked at Lu Qing, thought for a moment, and said, "Manager Lu, since the shop is short of workers, why don't you hire some more people from outside to fill the vacancies?"

Manager Lu frowned upon hearing this and said, "Young Master, it's not difficult to recruit people, but once this case is over and the old staff return, there will be nowhere to place the newly recruited people."

Chen Qing narrowed his eyes and snorted, "Those members of the Gu family are more or less connected to this case, so it probably won't be so easy for them to get away from it. Besides, even if they do get away, we don't necessarily have to leave this job to them."

"Do as I say."

Chen Qing said something, then asked, "Can Manager Lu contact Uncle Gu? If so, please send him a message as soon as possible, firstly to explain the situation, and secondly to ask him to come back quickly and take charge of the situation."

Manager Lu thought for a moment and replied, "We can try to send someone to deliver the message, but I don't know where the owner has gone, so it might not be able to reach him."

"Then let's send it."

Chen Qing said helplessly, "There are so many messy things going on. If he doesn't come back, I'll have to run around doing all sorts of things."

Chen Qing explained the situation to Manager Lu and spent the afternoon at Anrentang. In the evening, he set off to return to the Gu family compound. He was stopped by Xiao Yue not long after arriving at the compound gate.

"Oh, young master, you're finally back."

She stepped forward, grabbed Chen Qing's sleeve, and pulled him inside: "Miss has been waiting anxiously. How is it? Where are the two young nephews?"

Upon hearing this, Young Master Chen laughed and said, "He was taken to jail by the county magistrate."

Xiaoyue gasped, almost jumping up. She turned to look at Chen Qing, her eyes wide: "Young Master, you..."

"My nephew and the others..."

She was very surprised and couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

Chen Qing couldn't help but pat her head and said with a smile, "They deserve it all."

"Go tell your young lady."

With his hands behind his back, Young Master Chen said, "The government has almost finished investigating this matter, and the trial is expected to begin in a few days."

"This mess will be put to rest soon."

Xiaoyue seemed to understand but not quite, but she still nodded.

"I'll go tell Miss right away."

(End of this chapter)