After He Zifeng finished his brief conversation with Miss Piao Piao, he left the place.
Early the next morning, all the bailiffs went to repair the city wall. The county magistrate also knew what kind of character his subordinate bailiffs usually had. Without his supervision, they would definitely show their lazy true colors. So he went early, and once he arrived, everyone’s work efficiency was very high.
The craftsmen and workers needed to thicken and reinforce the city wall for a second time, and the work was very tiring. Even Captain Zhu would carry stones and work, so the others could only grit their teeth and follow suit – they couldn’t act more important than Captain Zhu, after all.
Among those present, except for He Zifeng who had done manual labor before, the others simply didn’t have this kind of strength. They either strained muscles or twisted their backs. They kept busy until noon.
Since they were bailiffs after all, they naturally didn’t want people to see them looking weak. At noon they returned to the government office to rest briefly, and only then did everyone show their grimacing expressions. Not caring about dirt, they just sat down anywhere on the ground. Each one was exhausted like a dead dog.
He Zifeng looked normal, having worked up quite a sweat during the morning. He fetched a basin of water to wash his face and hands, then began eating the meal prepared by the kitchen woman.
They were all brothers from the county office, sitting together in groups of two or three. Someone said: “Why didn’t the secretary come?”
Although the secretary and county magistrate didn’t get along in the past, he never missed putting on appearances when needed. With such a big commotion in the county, his not coming would invite gossip from the common people – it wasn’t worth it.
One of the secretary’s subordinates said: “The secretary was planning to come, but yesterday someone threw rotten vegetable leaves at his door for some reason. It made him angry.”
When he spoke, everyone was nearby, and they loved hearing such things. With some schadenfreude, they said: “Ha, who would be so bold?”
The only old man who came to cause trouble had already been detained by the government office.
“Who knows?” The secretary usually acted cold and aloof at the government office, but now after encountering such incidents repeatedly, he had lost face.
He Zifeng saw a person dressed in jailer’s clothes come to find him, saying: “Brother He, you should go take a look quickly. Gong San is in bad shape.”
Everyone immediately looked over in surprise.
He Zifeng said: “What happened? Did you torture him?”
The jailer said: “How would we dare torture him? His body couldn’t take it. He was foaming at the mouth when he woke up this morning.”
If something happened in their prison, the jailers couldn’t escape responsibility either, so they hurriedly came to find someone.
The county magistrate had been supervising work under the blazing sun all day and was taken back by carriage at noon. When Captain Zhu saw the county magistrate leave, he also departed. Now the only one who could take charge was He Zifeng.
He Zifeng said: “Let me go take a look first.”
His several subordinates wanted to go with He Zifeng, but when they just stood up, their legs were trembling. Seeing that they had been exhausted today and hadn’t even eaten, He Zifeng told them to rest more. He went alone with the jailer.
When he arrived at the prison, they had already carried the person to an open area and called a doctor from Rejuvenation Hall to treat him.
When He Zifeng arrived, Xiao Li finally felt relieved. He said: “Brother He, we didn’t touch him at all! I don’t know why he became like this!”
He Zifeng said: “When was this discovered?”
“Just now when we were serving meals.”
When the doctor saw He Zifeng arrive, he said to him: “This person, in shock and anger, stirred up liver fire and literally made himself sick with rage.” Various emotions mixed together, plus not eating for a day and night.
He Zifeng said: “Can he be saved?”
The old doctor said: “Yes, but the medicine to brew is rather troublesome. And he needs quiet rest.”
He Zifeng said: “Please trouble yourself to brew the medicine first, doctor.”
The old doctor agreed, then wrote a prescription and had his young apprentice brew the medicine.
He Zifeng said to Xiao Li: “You all take care of him first.”
Xiao Li and the other jailers had been terrified before, all afraid of being held responsible. Now seeing He Zifeng remain relatively calm, they felt much more at ease.
Just as He Zifeng went out, a little beggar ran toward him. He Zifeng had seen him earlier, but with the small jailer nearby it wasn’t convenient. Now going to an alley, the little beggar followed him in.
This was He Zifeng’s lookout. His porridge shop had provided warmth and food for the little beggars. These people were all very grateful to him.
He Zifeng had seen several young, clever-looking ones and had mentioned beforehand that there might be places to use them. The little beggars were worried about not knowing how to repay He Zifeng’s kindness of a meal and all hoped to be useful to him. It wasn’t until yesterday that He Zifeng finally contacted them!
The little beggar in front of him said: “The secretary went to Willow Leaf House early this morning. Soon after, we saw their brothel keeper run out saying the secretary wanted to buy cakes for Miss Piao Piao. He ran back and forth six or seven times during the morning.”
He Zifeng said: “Is he still there now?”
The little beggar nodded.
He Zifeng said: “Very well done.” Then he took out thirty coins from his body, saying: “Here, ten coins each for you three.”
The little beggar hadn’t expected that just watching someone and delivering a message could earn reward money. Happily he said: “Thank you, benefactor. I’ll definitely give them their full share. Do you need us to do anything else?”
He Zifeng said: “Continue watching him, but stay far away so you’re not discovered.”
These little beggars had been surviving on the streets since childhood. They were more clever than ordinary people. If they set their sights on someone, most people really couldn’t escape.
It seemed Miss Piao Piao had already begun acting. Their planned strategy was to exhaust the secretary’s energy. The woman was originally a delicate beauty, and occasionally acting up could arouse a man’s indulgent interest.
Yesterday Miss Piao Piao had also told He Zifeng something incredible. Although the secretary had many women in his household, he was “incapable.” When with her, at most he would just touch and embrace. Even when he got excited sometimes, he would quickly cut it short. Afterward his expression would be extremely ugly.
Miss Piao Piao also said the secretary took some kind of medicinal powder. After taking it, he became mentally agitated, his complexion frightening, and his expression carried a touch of madness. Already at that age, plus with such an appearance, he really wasn’t a good match when you thought about it.
Miss Piao Piao wanted to quickly break ties with the secretary so she could compete for the top courtesan position on the pleasure street.
When the secretary faced various frustrations, he would go to the pleasure quarter to find some comfort, and Miss Piao Piao would act up more. His mental energy would be consumed even faster, making it convenient for He Zifeng to deal with him.
After He Zifeng finished talking with the little beggar, he returned to the prison and called the jailer from before, saying: “Go report Gong San’s situation to the county magistrate.”
The Gong family’s influence in the county was too great. If something really happened to him, it would be hard to explain.
He had two others go to the government office entrance to inform everyone, had another person go to the secretary’s house to report, and finally found Xiao Li to go to the Gong family to notify them.
Soon everyone knew. The county magistrate, who had been supervising work outside and had gotten a bit of heat stroke, had just drunk some heat-relief soup and wanted to sleep when he heard someone disturbing his rest. He was already irritated, but when he heard about the situation, he couldn’t sit still either.
He immediately went to find other officials in charge. But the servants only found He Zifeng – Captain Zhu had gone somewhere to slack off. The secretary wasn’t home either. In the county office, only He Zifeng was available to take charge.
He Zifeng said: “Gong San has already been given medicine. He’s still unconscious, but his heartbeat is there. I notified the Gong family to prevent any problems and them demanding we hand over the person.”
The county magistrate nodded and said: “You did very well.” Fortunately there was still one capable person by his side, otherwise if something really happened, it would be too late.
He Zifeng said: “It’s just that…” He hesitated to continue.
The county magistrate valued He Zifeng highly and said: “What is it? Speak directly.”
He Zifeng said: “The secretary went to the pleasure street. At a time like this, if he’s discovered, it wouldn’t look good.” Appropriate embarrassment.
This made the county magistrate even angrier. Even he, a superior officer, was doing manual labor. Gong San’s matter was originally caused by the secretary, yet he was off enjoying himself. He said: “At his age, how shameless.”
Just as they were talking, people from the Gong family arrived. It was Gong Xiyuan. This was He Zifeng’s first time seeing Wan Hai’s biological father. Probably due to diligent self-care, he looked quite spirited. At this moment, tears were streaming down his face: “Your honor, my worthless scoundrel son has caused you trouble. Please just let me take him back for proper medical treatment.”
What good doctor could the prison provide? If it was delayed further, it would be too late for regrets.
The county magistrate didn’t want to deal with the hot potato that was Gong San either, so he just said: “This official sympathizes with your parental affection and specially approves this matter. However, the case is not finished, and he may be summoned at any time. If your son dares to fake illness to deceive this official, his crime will be unforgivable then.”
Gong Xiyuan repeatedly thanked him: “Thank you, your honor.”
The county magistrate casually said to He Zifeng: “Go bring the secretary back. If he continues lingering in the pleasure street, this official can no longer protect him.”
He Zifeng acknowledged and withdrew from the room.
Who was Gong Xiyuan? He naturally knew these words were specifically meant for him to hear, but he couldn’t help feeling resentful. Every year he provided the secretary with no less than five hundred taels of silver. His son had been in prison for just one day and was made into this condition, yet the secretary was still out enjoying wine and women. It was simply a resounding slap in his face.
Gong Xiyuan was angry in his heart, but at this moment the more important thing was to bring his son back. With the county magistrate’s verbal order, he went to the prison to redeem the person. He had people carry a soft sedan to take him home!
He Zifeng brazenly went to Willow Leaf House to find the secretary. He went straight to the second floor, and the madam naturally refused and repeatedly tried to stop him. But how could one woman block a tall, strong man? He forced his way in.
The secretary’s hair was disheveled, completely different from usual.
He Zifeng said: “This is bad, Secretary! Gong San is dying, the Gong family is causing a big disturbance at the county office, the county magistrate is furious, and the county magistrate is summoning you. You should hurry over.”
The secretary was very angry at He Zifeng for barging in without reason, but hearing his words, his heart also skipped a beat. With the woman and madam present, he repeatedly told them to get out and had He Zifeng say it again.
He Zifeng repeated it once more, and even the secretary sucked in a cold breath. He had already told the jailers to take care of Gong San, wanting him to stay for a couple more days before finding an excuse to release him. Who would have thought Gong San was so useless that he would nearly die after being confined for just one day?
The person absolutely couldn’t die. If he really died, he and the Gong family would definitely become enemies.
Not caring about anything else, he straightened his hair, put on his clothes and shoes, and even forgot to question He Zifeng about the serious offense of barging into the room. He hurried back.
This left He Zifeng alone in the room.
Miss Piao Piao gave He Zifeng a packet of medicinal powder after this performance, saying: “The secretary just took some a while ago. I saved a little.”
He Zifeng said: “Thank you.”
Miss Piao Piao said: “No need – I’m also doing this for myself.”
He Zifeng turned and left. When he opened this medicinal powder, he went to medicine shops to have it analyzed, but several pharmacies said it didn’t look like medicine and they didn’t know what it was.
When He Zifeng returned, he happened to encounter the fat Taoist, who was even fatter than when he last saw him. You could tell at a glance that his life was going well.
The fat Taoist greeted He Zifeng. Ever since he cooperated with Lingshan Village, his days had become comfortable.
He Zifeng suddenly said: “This packet of medicine – can you tell what’s in it?”
Although the fat Taoist read feng shui, he also understood medical arts. And his level was no lower than ordinary sitting doctors. He smiled and said: “Oh, let me take a look.”
When he saw the medicinal powder inside, his expression changed: “Master He… how do you have this kind of thing?”
