Worried about his mother's safety, Shen Qiu got the note from his father's hand, and without delay, he hurriedly left the house and rushed towards the Jinling Mansion.

Because he had previously assisted in the management of the family business, he had to deal with the secular government frequently, and the prefect of Jinling was naturally also an old acquaintance of his.

This prefect's name is Tian Chaoguang.

He was more than eight feet long, wearing a scarlet brocade official robe, born with a tiger's back and a long beard, and sat behind the wide table, looking not angry and arrogant, so that people did not dare to look at him directly.

But Shen Qiu knew very well that the majestic appearance of Tian Zhifu was just an appearance.

He will only show this face in front of the mortal people.

After Shen Qiu crossed the threshold and walked into the mansion, Tian Chaoguang immediately stood up and bowed to Shen Qiu, his majestic expression disappeared without a trace in an instant, replaced by a pompous smile like a rotten persimmon flower.

I only heard him say respectfully: "I don't know that Shen Gongzi is here today, and he has missed the distance, please forgive me." I don't know where I can help you? ”

Shen Qiu didn't say anything, and handed over the note with an expressionless face.

Tian Zhifu took the note with both hands and read it carefully.

However, after reading the contents of the note, Governor Tian suddenly lowered his head and said in a sincere panic: "Shen Gongzi, you are late. This woman called 'Ning Xiu' had already left Jinling City with the conscription team that had gone to the northern frontier a day earlier. ”

Because Shen Qianren has never revealed in front of Governor Tian, there is a husband and wife between himself and Ning Xiu.

So in the eyes of Governor Tian, Ning Xiu is just an ordinary maid who was kicked out of the house, and there is nothing special about it.

Because of this, Shen Qiu's next reaction far exceeded Governor Tian's expectations.

"Where is she now?" Shen Qiu narrowed his eyes and stared at him and asked.

His gaze is substantial. Governor Tian could clearly feel the anger hidden in it; The true yuan aura he released also made Governor Tian feel pressured.

Intuition told Tian Zhifu that as long as the other party's mind moved, his mortal self would immediately die in this lobby, and no one could save him.

"I ...... I don't know," Tian Zhifu said as he shuddered, "Self-...... Since Ning Xiu left this mansion, the next things related to her have ...... It's not under my jurisdiction. So, Shen Gongzi, I don't know about her situation. ”

"And who's the guy in charge of leading the conscripts?" Shen Qiu raised his voice and asked.

"I ...... I don't know him," Governor Tian continued to stumble, "He only showed me the official token, indicating that he was sent by the northern military camp, but he didn't tell me what his name was-"

"—what does that man look like?" Shen Qiu interrupted him.

Governor Tian frowned and thought for a moment, then replied, "The person who led the team...... He was a burly man, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, dark and rough skin, wearing a pair of chain mail, wearing a scimitar at his waist, and exuding a strong smell of alcohol on his body, which could be smelled from afar. ”

"Thank you for informing me."

Shen Qiu dropped a sentence in a cold tone, then turned around and left, without stopping in the Jinling Mansion for a moment.

Tian Zhifu was in place, looking at his departing back in a daze, and it took a while to come back to his senses.

At this time, Tian Zhifu had already noticed that the relationship between the woman named "Ning Xiu" and Shen Qiu must be extraordinary—between Shen Qiu's words and expression, there was undisguised worry and anxiety.

Tian Zhifu's mood became more and more worried.

Because he lied to Shen Qiu just now.

The person who took Ning Xiu away was actually not a burly man from the northern military camp, but a few cultivators from the Lin'an He clan.

The appearance of the so-called "team leader" was made up by Governor Tian on the spot, and in fact, this person did not exist at all - it was precisely because of this that when he answered the question, he would stammer, be extremely nervous, and dare not look into Shen Qiu's eyes at all.

However, the truth of the matter is this-

A day ago, Mrs. Shen asked her mother's family to come to the Jinling Mansion, find the prefect of Ueda, and say to him: "As the saying goes, family ugliness should not be publicized. The maidservant girl in the family has committed a wrong thing, and we have not disciplined her well, and I hope that the prefect will leave her to us to deal with. ”

Governor Tian was a little puzzled by this.

The maidservant of the Shen family made a mistake, why did someone from the He family want to take care of her?

Of course, the grievances and hatreds of these wealthy families, Tian Governor did not dare to inquire too much.

He only dared to ask cautiously: "However, I have already recorded this matter." If someone from the northern barracks asks about this woman, how can I explain it? ”

The cultivator of the He family replied, "You just said that this woman named Ning Xiu suffered from illness and unfortunately died on the way. Anyway, among the civilians in the Great Qi Dynasty, countless people die of exhaustion and illness every year, and no one cares if she is missing. ”

While the He family cultivator was speaking, he also put a stack of silver tickets in front of the Tian Governor's Mansion.

He held his head high and looked arrogant, not like he was asking for the opinion of the prefect of Tian and making a deal with him, but like he was condescendingly giving money to a beggar on the side of the road to ask for food.

Governor Tian understood that he had no qualifications to refuse at all.

In the Great Qi Dynasty, secular government and cultivator institutions such as the Exorcism Division were nominally equal and performed their own duties, but in reality, the real status of the two was very different - the cultivators were the real masters of the country, and the mortal officials were just a group of coolies who handled chores for them.

After all, no mortal would dare to say a single "no" in front of a cultivator who wielded transcendent powers.

So the prefect of Tian could only accompany the smiling face and hand over the woman named Ning Xiu to the hands of the monk of the He family.

When Ning Xiu left, her face was as white as paper, her eyes were unfocused, revealing a look of despair.

Tian Zhifu could imagine that when she was taken away by the He family, she would definitely encounter something very terrible.

But he didn't have the guts or the ability to help, so he could only watch in silence as she was taken out of the hall and disappeared into view.

Because of this, when Shen Qiu also mentioned Ning Xiu in front of him today, Governor Tian was undoubtedly panicked.

He had promised the monks of the He family that he would not disclose the matter to anyone.

He can only lie.

But at the same time, he was also afraid that if Shen Qiu found out the truth and saw through the lies in the future, he would not be retaliated against.

Thinking of this, Governor Tian sighed silently.

He deeply felt that the situation of the mortal officials of the Great Qi Dynasty was simply struggling to survive in the cracks—silently doing things for the cultivators, no one dared to offend; If there is a conflict between the practitioners, they will become a group of cannon fodder who will be killed by the aftermath.

…………

Meanwhile.

Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin left the "Shouchangfang" and returned to the Yamen, the headquarters of the Exorcism Division.

They first came to the intelligence department of the Exorcism Division, trying to find information related to Shen Qiu's mother from various recent archives.

There are three main channels for the Great Qi Exorcism Division to obtain intelligence information:

The first is a monk who cultivates the art of heavenly deduction;

The second is the information shared by the various official offices and yamen of the Great Qi Dynasty - many times, behind some seemingly man-made cases, there may be ghosts and ghosts;

The third is the patrol investigators within the Exorcism Division.

As a personal entourage of the head of Luo, Shangguan Jin often had to deal with the intelligence department, and was also familiar with the location and search methods of various materials.

With a few keywords such as "Jinling", "Shen's", and "maidservant", she quickly found the case of "Ningxiu, a maidservant who had served in the Shen family, was tortured and sent to the northern frontier to serve labor because she committed the crime of theft".

Although Shen Qianren, the head of the Shen family, rarely revealed the identity of Shen Qiu's biological mother to outsiders.

But after all, there are cultivators in the Exorcism Division who have mastered the Heavenly Skill Technique, and can gain insight into many hidden things that few people know.

Because of this, this information specifically indicates the key information of "Ning Xiu is Shen Qiu's biological mother".

"I stole three taels of silver more than 20 years ago, but I didn't report it to the government until now," After reading the content of the information, Shangguan Jin's face showed a playful smile, and said in a slightly sarcastic tone, "The Shen family's style of doing things is really interesting!" ”

"This should be the means used by the Shen family to coerce Shen Qiu to go home!" Gu Xu thought for a while and said, "When Shen Qiu defected to my mansion, he said that he had no attachment to the family. For him, his mother is his only concern and his only life

"But it's not going to be easy to deal with after all. Whether Shen Qiu's mother is guilty or not is essentially a sentence of the Shen family. If the Shen family doesn't take a stand, it should be difficult for us to clear her name and rescue her. ”

While trying to think about a plan to break the situation, Gu Xu was also worried about the lives of Shen Qiu's mother and son.

Because his own divination can only obtain simple answers such as "yes" or "no", and cannot obtain more complex and comprehensive information.

So he consulted with several monks in the Exorcism Division who specialized in celestial techniques.

The monks replied that Shen Qiu had just arrived in Jinling City and was currently safe and sound, without any threat to his life.

But Ning Xiu's situation is not optimistic.

At this moment, she was in Lin'an City, falling into a coma, unconscious, and her breath of life was extremely weak.

Gu Xu was quite surprised by this-

According to the statement in the case, Ning Xiu was assigned to the northern military camp.

But Lin'an City is to the south of Jinling City.

If Ning Xiu really wanted to go to the north to serve in labor, then it would be impossible for her to pass through Lin'an City. After all, this is diametrically opposed in the general direction.

Why is that?

"Lin'an He's Clan."

At this time, Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin invariably said the same word.

This is the maiden home of Mrs. Shen He Ru.

The chaotic thoughts in the minds of the two suddenly became clear at this moment.

"I didn't expect that this Mrs. Shen, who has always been known as a knowledgeable and virtuous housekeeper, would want to take advantage of this opportunity to declare her personal vendetta," Shangguan Jin chuckled and said, "I thought this matter would be difficult to solve." But this Mrs. Shen's actions made everything easier. ”

Gu Xuying's understanding was outstanding, so she naturally roughly guessed what happened, and she could also understand the meaning of Shangguan Jin's words.

The Shen family wanted to use Ning Xiu to force Shen Qiu to go home.

But they didn't want to violate the laws of Daqi, and they didn't want to lose a bad reputation, so they decided to rely on the power of the secular government to condemn Ning Xiu. In this way, Ning Xiu will be punished justifiably, and the Shen family will also become a righteous party in the eyes of the world.

However, Mrs. Shen obviously had some careful thoughts of her own.

She wanted to take this opportunity to personally clean up this lowly servant who had seduced her husband.

So she quietly got Ning Xiu to her mother's house.

If nothing else, Ning Xiu should have suffered a painful torture in Lin'an City.

"If Madam Shen is willing to follow the rules and send Ning Xiu to the northern frontier," Shangguan Jian continued, "then if we want to save Ning Xiu, we must also follow the rules - such as negotiating with the Shen family, or using power to suppress people, or promising them more benefits, so that they can forget about the three taels of unwarranted silver."

"Now, Mrs. Shen broke the rules and cleverly got Ning Xiu to her territory, thinking that she could do whatever she wanted.

"But it also means that we can also choose some unruly ways to solve this problem. Even if we rushed into the mansion of the Lin'an He clan with a group of bandits and snatched Ning Xiu back directly, Mrs. Shen would not be able to accuse us in the name of justice. ”

Speaking of this, Shangguan Jian paused for a moment, and then sighed with emotion: "This Mrs. Shen is really a stupid woman who is narrow-minded and short-sighted, no wonder she will give birth to a stupid son like Shen Hua." ”

Gu Xu was thoughtful.

Then he thought about it, took out the rice paper and the "Jinghong pen" from the "Xianyunju", picked up the pen and began to write on it.

"What are you writing about?" Shangguan Jin next to him asked.

"I'm going to write a letter to Shen Qiu and tell him about his mother's current condition," Gu Xu replied, "Now that he has gone to Jinling, he can't find any trace of his mother, and he must be very anxious. ”

Shangguan Jin was silent for a moment and said, "If I were you, I wouldn't write this letter for the time being." ”

"Oh, why?"

"Shen Qiu's relationship with you is not an ordinary friend, but a lord and a guest. He may not be surprised to simply tell him the news.

"But if you go and rescue his mother first, and when he is most disheartened, suddenly appears in front of him like a great hero with his mother, then he will never forget this favor for the rest of his life."

Shangguan Jin has been working in the Exorcism Division for many years, from an ordinary official to the personal entourage of the head of Luo, relying not only on his cultivation talent and personal efforts, but also on a lot of hidden care.

For example, if she helps a colleague, she will pretend to be giving quietly and not expecting anything in return, but in private she will come up with a clever way to make sure that others know and remember her favor.

But after hearing her words, Gu Xu shook his head slightly.

"Letters must be written, and people must be saved," he said, "and the disappearance of relatives and the uncertainty of their lives and deaths seem to me to be extremely painful." Comparing hearts to hearts, I believe that Shen Qiu is also eager to know his mother's condition as soon as possible.

"He left his family and came to me, because he believed in me, recognized me, and was my friend, so I naturally had to treat each other sincerely, and there was no need to play tricks in this kind of thing. Favors and favors are not important. ”

Shangguan Jin looked at his determined eyes, and unconsciously thought of the experience of chopping wood at the Laoshan ruins not long ago.

At that time, the white-bearded old man in the pine forest commented on her: "I don't like people who are too smart." ”

She was suddenly very curious about what kind of evaluation Gu Xu had received in that pine forest; At the same time, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart, a handsome person like Gu Xu would even carry a rusty broken axe and chop wood in the forest with his own hands - that picture was really unimaginable.

After a brief silence, she smiled and said, "It's a blessing to be your friend. ”

Gu Xu smiled modestly, and didn't think about how to respond for a while, so he replied casually: "Thank you for the compliment." ”

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