"Oh? There really is a problem. " Li Longji didn't read the contents of the telegram. He was convinced by Luo Bin's words. He looked at Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, who had just sat down and were about to eat sashimi.
Zhang Xiaobao hesitated for a moment, but still stuffed the sashimi into his mouth. He chewed hard and swallowed before saying, "Could it be that Xiaobei saw wrongly? Is there something else going on? "
"Could it be that Yan Zheng's crime is even worse, and Xiaobei didn't find out?" Li Longji frowned.
"Xiao Bao means that Xiaobei is wrong. Yan Zheng might not have committed such a serious crime. He might have offended Xiaobei. Otherwise, how would a county head dare to destroy the embankment and take the people's money?"
Wang Juan explained.
Li Longji waved his hand and said, "How is that possible? My Xiaobei can't be wrong. If he says that someone is guilty, then that person must be guilty. I have long suspected that there was something wrong with Hong Nong. Who knew that he would be so daring? "
'How did he become your Xiaobei?' Zhang Xiaobao cursed silently, but he also knew that the possibility of Xiaobei lying was very small. Other than Xiaobei and the other nine people, there were also many adults who would not allow Xiaobei to fool around. Once it was confirmed, Yan Zheng's family would be exterminated.
Wang Juan looked over and met Zhang Xiaobao's eyes. The two of them nodded at the same time.
"Your Majesty, I think it's better for Juan Juan and I to make a trip there personally. If Xiao Bei's actions aren't steady, I'm afraid he'll get into big trouble." Saying this, Zhang Xiaobao stopped eating and stood up to leave. Wang Juan followed behind.
Li Longji was stunned for a moment and asked, "Then, what about the fall examination?"
"Next year, the two of us will take the spring examination." Zhang Xiaobao was actually afraid that the bold Yan Zheng would do something even more daring and put his younger siblings in danger.
Seeing Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's figures disappear from his sight, Li Longji pondered for a moment. He then picked up his chopsticks again and ordered, "Pass down the decree. This year's autumn exam will be delayed by a month. All students who apply for the exam can go to the Imperial College and obtain a certificate for food and lodging. They can eat and drink at Zhang Xiaobao's and Wang's businesses. Yes, that's it.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Gao Lishi thanked him from the side. As for the expenses of the students, since his godson could treat all the people of Chang 'an to food and drink for ten days, he naturally wouldn't care about the expenses of the students.
*****
"Xiao Bao, are you really going to Hong Nong?" Wang Juan, who had followed Zhang Xiaobao out, asked for confirmation.
"Let's go. I suspect that there's more to this matter than meets the eye." Zhang Xiaobao's brows furrowed in worry as he quickened his pace.
"What do you mean?" Wang Juan didn't bother to open her umbrella. She wiped the rain from her forehead and asked.
"Do you still remember ten years before we came? The mayor of a city blew up the dam and flooded three counties with the excuse that the dam was rusty due to the strong flood? "Zhang Xiaobao reminded her.
Wang Juan rolled her eyes and tried to recall. She said, "At that time, he wanted to destroy a group of buildings. Even if he didn't release the water, the buildings wouldn't be able to withstand the heavy rain. The quality of the buildings was too poor. He was too involved in it. Could it be that Yan Zheng from Hong Nong also intervened in the local construction? It's impossible. The quality of the construction projects nowadays can still be guaranteed. People aren't that bad. "
"Maybe he wanted to cover up other facts." Zhang Xiaobao hurried to the carriage that had picked him up. He unloaded two horses from the shaft of the carriage and gave one to Wang Juan. He rode the other one himself and galloped towards the train station.
*****
It was still raining. Flashes of lightning lit up the dark night sky. In an inn in Hongnong County, Li Bai, who was covered in layers of clothes and sweating, felt much more comfortable.
Pretending to be a man sent by Zhang Family and Wang Family, Li Bai was eagerly taken care of by the waiter of the inn. He was not only given a bigger room and a new bedding, but also two lampstands, which lit up the room.
Li Bai drank bowl after bowl of ginger sugar water. When he was hungry, he didn't eat but drank soup. The bedding wrapped around him was changed every time it got wet. Although there was no electric light in the room, it was still better than other places.
Seeing the waiter being so attentive, Li Bai was so moved that he wanted to tell his real identity several times. However, he was afraid that the waiter would suddenly change his attitude, so he had to apologize secretly.
"Your Excellency, are you cold?" A waiter who was waiting to serve Li Bai in the room sat in front of the lamp for a while and asked Li Bai.
"No, I'm hot." Li Bai maintained his sitting posture, with his eyes still looking out of the half-open window. Then he asked, "Do you think Ma San is lost? He has been gone for an hour. He hasn't come back yet. "
"Your Excellency, don't worry. Maybe it's because the water outside is too strong. Ma San ran out to hide from the water. He will be back soon." The waiter comforted him.
"That's good. That's good. Don't have any conflicts with the people in the Yamen." Li Bai said, but he was still worried.
Since he was mistaken by the waiter as a man from Zhang Family and Wang Family, Li Bai heard a lot of unbelievable things from the waiter.
First of all, he knew that the flood in Hongnong County was caused by someone. There were many people sent by the Yamen to guard around Hongnong County, especially the railway station. No one was allowed to leave.
This was a serious crime. Yan Zheng, the county magistrate, dared to do it.
Second, before the flood, there was a popular game in Hongnong County. It was not a lottery controlled by the state, but something called goods tickets.
Money was used to buy tickets for various goods. When buying tickets, the prices would fluctuate. Every ten days, the yamen would announce the prices of various goods. Some prices would rise, while others would fall. Those who held tickets for goods that had risen in price would naturally make a profit if they sold the tickets. Otherwise, they would lose money.
Interestingly, the price fluctuation of goods tickets did not affect the prices of various materials in the county. If people who bought the tickets did not sell them, there would be goods delivered. After several times, more and more people bought the tickets.
The reason was that the price of the tickets was very low the first few times. Even if the price of the goods went down, as long as they did not sell the tickets, the price of the goods would be lower than the normal price of the goods in the county. It was very cost-effective.
But recently, the price of many things in the county had gone up. The price of the tickets had also gone up. The increase was not small, and it had far exceeded the normal price.
Li Bai did not know what was going on for a while. He only felt that it was abnormal. He was worried that Wang Wei would not be safe in the Yamen, so he asked a waiter to check and try to find out some information.
He waited anxiously for another quarter of an hour. When Li Bai was about to ask another waiter to help him, Ma San, who went to inquire, finally came back with rain all over his body.
"How is it?" Li Bai asked nervously when he saw Ma San.
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