A glimpse of opportunity: Start by marrying a mermaid bride.

The residence of the county magistrate in Tianjin.

As the second-in-command of Jinmen County, Magistrate Sun wielded considerable power.

Although his official rank was only eighth grade, the power he wielded was no less than that of a seventh-grade county magistrate.

Because he has very strong connections, most people can only stay in one position for three to five years.

However, Magistrate Sun had been in this position in Tianjin for ten years. Although his position had not changed, his power had grown. On the contrary, the newly arrived magistrate had become a figurehead.

For a qualified county magistrate, the two most important things are to grasp power and to make money.

He has no shortage of power now. Thanks to his skillful management and connections, he has gained control of some local military power, as well as the authority to manage finances and collect taxes.

As for the second point, making money, there are many explanations, such as taking a cut from shops outside, arranging for the army to do some private work, or doing some small business with foreigners.

He did it all, but of course he knew the rules. After taking the money, he would 50% have to bribe his superiors, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to keep his position as county magistrate.

After all, he bought his official position.

If the gifts were not delivered in time, he could be taken away by his superiors at any time. It was precisely because he followed the rules that he was able to stay in this position for ten years.

But Magistrate Sun is very unhappy today because someone broke the rules.

"Are you sure it was someone from the body retrieval team who secretly collected the reward money from the foreigner?"

At this moment, his trusted subordinate immediately replied, "That's right, many of the brothers in the patrol battalion saw it."

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Sun said, "I understand. You go down first and send someone to the corpse retrieval team to bring Zhao Zhen to me. If he dares to break the rules, I'll make sure he has the life to take the money but not the life to spend it!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a servant outside reported, "Master, Zhao Zhen from the corpse retrieval team requests an audience!"

"Hmm? I was just about to look for him!"

Magistrate Sun muttered something to himself, then said, "Go and call Zhao Zhen in."

Soon, Zhao Zhen trotted in, knelt down before the county magistrate, and said, "Lord Sun, I have failed in my duty to manage my subordinates. Please punish me!"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Sun was taken aback. He looked at Zhao Zhen and said, "I was just about to look for you, but I didn't expect you to show up on your own."

"Sir, I know everything that happened yesterday. That brat had the audacity to directly ask the foreigners for the reward. I have severely punished him and returned all the money to you, sir."

As he spoke, Zhao Zhen placed a bag directly on the ground.

When Magistrate Sun saw the large bag of silver dollars, his expression softened. He then weighed it in his hand and asked, "How much is this?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, one thousand silver dollars."

"Oh, I heard that the kid rewarded the patrol battalion with a hundred silver dollars yesterday, didn't he?"

"Sir, he may bestow his reward as he sees fit, but this thousand silver dollars belongs to you, and not a penny less. How you distribute it is your business, but the right to allocate it is yours, not his!"

At this point, Magistrate Sun nodded and said, "You're sensible."

"I've already set the rules. I'm asking the foreigners for 1,500 silver dollars per person. Normally, I'll take two-thirds and leave one-third for you."

"But that kid broke my rules, and I should have punished him severely for that."

"However, I have already given him too much face by going over my rank to deal with him. You can handle it yourself. Whether you do me a favor or punish him is none of my business."

"As for the money, I'll keep it all. You don't have any objections, do you?"

Zhao Zhen replied, "No, no."

Magistrate Sun said, "Zhao Zhen, you've worked under me for many years, you know the rules. This money isn't just for me. If I don't get it, my superiors won't get it. If my superiors don't get it, then the high-ranking officials in the court won't get it. If the high-ranking officials in the court don't get it, who will guarantee that we can stay in our positions?"

"So, the rules can't be broken, understand?"

Zhao Zhen nodded repeatedly. Magistrate Sun then said, "Good to know. By the way, besides the child's body, is there any news about the adult's body?"

Zhao Zhen shook his head and said, "No, the body retrieval team has all been deployed, and they're searching the entire Haihe River now."

Zhao Zhen then looked at Magistrate Sun and asked, "Sir, who exactly are these two people? Why are the foreigners spending so much money to salvage them?"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Sun chuckled and said, "Who cares what their relationship is? He pays us to do things, we don't ask about anything else."

"Alright, I understand."

"Alright, you can go now. Hurry up and retrieve that body. If we do, everyone will get some meat to eat."

"Yes, I will do my best."

"Step down."

Magistrate Sun waved his hand, and Zhao Zhen immediately stepped back and left the magistrate's residence.

Seeing Zhao Zhen leave, the trusted confidant who had initially reported the matter said to the county magistrate, "Is this matter just going to be dropped like this?"

At this moment, Magistrate Sun weighed the heavy silver dollars in his hand and said, "Not a penny of what is due has been taken, and the necessary warnings have been given. There's no need to cause a death; after all, it's all for my own profit."

As he spoke, Magistrate Sun counted out two hundred silver dollars from his pocket and said, "The main camp and the patrol battalion gave them three hundred silver dollars, and that kid gave us one hundred silver dollars. We saved it and it's safe to keep it in our pockets. That's what you call a good deal."

As he spoke, Magistrate Sun hummed a little tune and headed towards the back of the house.

Watching Magistrate Sun leave, his trusted subordinate shouted, "Sir, the foreigners are urging us to find the other person's body quickly!"

Magistrate Sun said, "We've sent soldiers and given them face. Whether we can find them or not is up to God. Tell those foreigners that we've done our best."

"yes!"

……

At this time, in the foreign concessions, there was a Catholic church.

On a swivel chair, a man in a white tuxedo holds a wine glass filled with blood-red wine. He gently swirls the wine glass, looking quite content.

Richard stood there respectfully below.

The man took a sip of red wine and said, "Richard, my most loyal servant, have you found those two men?"

Richard said, "The child has been found."

"The child? Where's that damned Wen?"

"Not found."

"What?"

The man frowned and looked at Richard, saying, "You mobilized so many people and spent so much money, and you couldn't find a single person? Richard, you've disappointed me greatly."

"Young Master, that guy is far too cunning, I..."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear your explanations. I want the man! He stole my experimental data and knows all our secrets. He must die! We must find him!"

"I don't want any stain on my Andrei family, do you understand?"

"Yes, young master, I will definitely find him."

Richard immediately said, and upon hearing this, Andrei took another sip of red wine and said, "I'm sorry, Richard, I didn't mean to get angry with you, but you know..."

"Yes, young master, I understand. It's all my fault. I promise I'll find him within three days."

"Very good, Richard, you never let me down. Get to work."

"yes!"

Richard left the house and returned to his room. There, he looked at the compiled data, which showed that all the possible retrieval areas in the Haihe River had been searched. If the person could not be found, they were likely hiding or had already escaped.

However, since he had already promised the young master, Andrei had to find the person.

As he thought about it, Richard's eyes began to turn blood red, and two fangs appeared in his mouth.

He is a vampire in the Western sequence, and his sequence level is very high. One of his abilities is the Vampire Will, which allows him to enter a state of absolute calm. In this state, he can recall many details that he had overlooked.

Last night, at the Hongqiao Bridge, hmm? I'm sure I've seen those two people before, but where?

Wait, that day when we were retrieving bodies from the Haihe River, Anthony and I chased away a Chinese body-retrieval boat, wait...

As Richard thought of this, his bloodshot eyes immediately turned cold: the water ghost Li and the young man behind him were on the same boat; they were in cahoots!