Jiangbei Port was almost full of ships, but Song Lang’s ship was the only merchant ship that left the port tonight.
The steward who managed the port tried to persuade him for a long time, but the ship still left the port.
The steward looked at the big ship that disappeared into the night, and sighed deeply: “This weather is going against the wind, I’m afraid they’ll have bad luck!”
That night, Chu Yan and Zhou Awu rushed to Jiangbei and arrived at the port overnight.
Zhou Awu said: “His Royal Highness, let’s go to the Jiangbei government first to ask about the situation.”
At this time, there was no one in the port. Even if they stayed here, they couldn’t find anyone to ask questions. It was faster to go to the government office first and let the government officials come forward to find people, rather than blindly looking for someone.
Chu Yan nodded: “Okay, go to the government office.”
The two galloped on the horseback, and after entering the city, they went straight to the government office.
Unexpectedly, at such a late hour, the government office was brightly lit, with a large crowd of people kneeling in the hall, as if they were trying cases.
The hall was very lively. Some said this person was reasonable, while some said it was the other one who was reasonable.
No one gives way to the others.
The Prefect who tried the case had a terrible headache. He didn’t know what to do with the case, so he just let them quarrel, wishing they could come up with a result by themselves.
At this time, a servant came over to report: “Sir, Prince Jin has come, and he is outside.”
The Prefect, who was already confused, immediately widened his eyes: “What did you say?”
The servant quickly repeated: “Sir, this slave said that Prince Jin has come and is outside.”
The drowsiness of Prefect Niu dissipated immediately. His face was filled with shock, and the gavel in his hand fell on the table in fright. With a crisp ‘bang’, the noise in the hall was immediately silent.
At this time, Chu Yan and Zhou Awu had already come in, and they said to Prefect Niu, who was standing behind the table: “It’s so lively, Prefect Niu is a great leader who loves his people like a son. He doesn’t rest even after the sunset and still trying to solve a case. I wonder, what is this case all about?”
He stood outside and watched for a while, and saw that Prefect Niu was dozing off during the trial. The people in the hall were so noisy but he could still fall asleep, which showed how lazy he was.
Prefect Niu laughed dryly. Although this sounded nothing wrong, why did he always feel that something was wrong? As for what was wrong with it? He thought about it for a while but couldn’t come up with a reason.
“I didn’t know that Prince Jin is coming, this minister didn’t prepare a warm welcome. I hope your Highness will forgive me!” Prefect Niu Zhifu quickly walked to the hall and when he walked in front of Prince Jin, he knelt and salute.
Chu Yan waved his hand: “Don’t be too polite, you continue to try the case, I’ll take a look first.” He heard a few words, talking about cheating, buying, selling, and deceiving customers. Among them, someone mentioned how the other table’s guests behaved. He was curious and always felt that the table of guests they were talking about was somewhat familiar.
That style was not like the style of the people in Jiangbei.
Chu Yan walked up to the guy and asked: “The guest who said he would give 10 taels of silver as long as you finish eating the pan-fried buns, where are they now? Are they in this hall?”
The guy shook his head: “They are not locals, they should be merchants passing by, and now they have left.”
Chu Yan asked again, “What does this person look like, do you remember?”
The guy nodded his head: “Naturally I remember, one man and one woman, the man is tall and handsome, and the girl is very beautiful, it’s hard to forget them.”
Chu Yan hurriedly took out Song Lang’s painting image from his sleeve and handed it to the guy: “Look at it, is it him?”
Just as the guy was looking, the shopkeeper on the side also leaned over and immediately shouted: “It’s him, it’s him, I blame him for what happened today. If it wasn’t for him, how could I be beaten by these unscrupulous people?”
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