Chapter 25
Dong Shan leaned against the cart, looking at Li Mingwei knocking on the back door of the county government building. He didn't know why she didn't let him follow her, maybe she was afraid of implicating him?
The attendant at the county government building soon opened the door. He took a peek at Li Mingwei through the crack of the door, and his eyes lingered on her face for quite some time before continuing to look her up and down.
Seeing that although she was dressed as an ordinary commoner, the master has always been kind to the common people. He was still relatively polite, afraid of ruining the master's reputation.
"What business do you have?"
Li Mingwei took out a gold hairpin from her bosom and handed it to the attendant: "Please relay to County Magistrate Tang Shan that Li Yi's granddaughter is here to visit."
"Li Yi?"
The attendant did not recognize Li Yi. But looking at her ornate gold hairpin, he thought she must be an old friend of the master who had fallen on hard times and came to seek refuge. He hesitated and went to relay the message.
Anhuai County Magistrate Tang Shan received the notice and immediately took the gold hairpin from the attendant's hand. Li's young miss has been missing for several months. Could she really have wandered into his jurisdiction?
Earlier he had already received a notice from the academy. Now looking at the imprint on the gold hairpin, what else was there to hesitate about? He waved his hand directly.
"Quick, quickly invite her in."
He used the word "invite", so the attendant did not dare to delay and quickly brought her in.
Li Mingwei walked in, looked over the middle-aged man at the head seat, and greeted with a curtsy, "Mingwei pays her respects to Sir."
Tang Shan recognized her identity almost instantly, because she looked so much like the famous beauty of the capital from years ago, Li Langyue, it was as if they were carved from the same mold.
He excitedly got up, walked around the desk, and helped her sit down, "No need for excessive courtesy, no need. I was also a student at Master Li's academy. Just call me elder brother, that would be appropriate."
Since he was so polite, Li Mingwei accepted it. She smiled, "Elder Brother Tang."
"Eh." Tang Shan laughed heartily and ordered the servants to serve her tea while he sat down beside her.
"This outfit you are wearing is...?"
Li Mingwei just smiled without answering. Tang Shan did not need her to answer either. "I received your mother's letter long ago asking me to help find you. But I never imagined you would wander all the way to my insignificant little place."
Although Tang Shan passed the imperial exam years ago, his ranking was quite low so he did not get assigned to a good position. He had his ups and downs in the beginning, before eventually settling down here. Now he was not striving anymore, placing his hopes on his son instead.
"I..."
Li Mingwei was somewhat at a loss for words. "Please don't tell my mother for now, elder brother. I don't want to go back for the time being."
"Because of Marquis Jian?"
Seeing her silent, Tang Shan assumed he understood and nodded, agreeing to her request. He asked eagerly for gossip, "After you left, the Li family can be considered to have formed a feud with Marquis Jian's estate."
This was the first person with news from the capital in months. Li Mingwei could not help asking, "What about the Cheng family?"
Tang Shan smiled and shook his head, saying in a low voice, "General Cheng called for a sedan chair and sent his daughter over in the middle of the night. He also publicly claimed that he and his daughter have severed ties."
Li Mingwei raised her brows. This General Cheng is a bit silly, not trying to curry favor with Marquis Jian's estate?
Of course, it was not something she could interfere with. She then asked about her grandfather's and parents' health, and was relieved to hear from Tang Shan that they were fine, only that they had been looking for her the whole time.
"Elder brother Tang, I'm currently staying in Qingshi Town under your jurisdiction. If anything happens with my grandfather's side, please send someone to notify me."
"Of course, of course." How could Tang Shan not agree? He was thrilled to have Li Mingwei owe him favors. He didn't care anymore, he still had a son! If his son could climb aboard the Li's ship in the future, that would be great!
"Since you don't want to go back to the capital, what business brought you to see me today?"
Wouldn't it be better to keep hiding?
Li Mingwei's smile disappeared as she looked straight at Tang Shan, "There is a man called Wu Dong in Qingshi Town. I don't want to see him again."
Hearing the displeasure in her tone, Tang Shan's face also darkened. "What offense did he commit?"
"He almost..."
Li Mingwei really could not bring herself to say it. But Tang Shan understood. He immediately stood up, "Nothing happened right?"
This young miss, don't let anything happen in his jurisdiction!
Li Mingwei shook her head, "Nothing happened, thanks to someone coming to my rescue."
"That's good! That's good!"
Tang Shan breathed a sigh of relief, then became furious again. He went out directly and called the yamen runners over, ordering them to immediately go to Qingshi Town and arrest Wu Dong and bring him back.
A bunch of yamen runners rushed off. They did not know what had happened, but when the master was angry, they dared not delay.
After arranging everything, Tang Shan returned to the study room. Li Mingwei thanked him again, knowing that he would handle everything well, so she took her leave.
Tang Shan did not keep her either, returning the gold hairpin to her and said, "Rest assured, your elder brother will definitely obtain justice for you."
"Thank you, elder brother."
Seeing her walking away, the teacher from the county yamen who had been hiding to the side finally came out.
"She really is Young Miss Li?"
"Yes, I would recognize that face anywhere." Facing his teacher, Tang Shan had already lost his earlier gentleness. He turned and instructed the teacher, "Find a way to figure out what happened to her in Qingshi Town. Have someone secretly keep an eye on her, we absolutely cannot let anything else happen to her."
The teacher frowned, "Should we not notify the capital?"
"Not yet. If people come from the capital, she will definitely know I was the one who leaked the news. Let's observe the situation first and not disturb the young miss's enjoyment of common life."
"Yes."
Sitting in the chair, Tang Shan kept tapping the table. Master Li's granddaughter really was a bit extraordinary!
As soon as Li Mingwei stepped out of the door, Dong Shan rushed up, looking at her with concern, "What did the county magistrate say?"
"The sir told me to go back first. He will take care of things."
Dong Shan was a little worried. Those kind of words, aren't they just brushing her off? But in order not to dampen Li Mingwei's spirits, he did not dare to doubt too much.
He secured the cart, "Come on up, don't refuse anymore. It's not early anymore. If you really walked back yourself at this pace, it would be pitch dark by the time you got back."
Li Mingwei...
What else could she do, she could only get on.
Dong Shan pushed her at a flying speed, nearly twice as fast as when they came. Li Mingwei felt insulted. Was she really that weak?
She thought she was already quite impressive to be able to walk here from the capital.
On the way back, there happened to be a steamed bun stand on the street. Dong Shan bought two for her and took two mantou buns for himself, stuffing them into his mouth before continuing on their way.
Li Mingwei watched him eating. She took small bites and finished one steamed bun, then handed the other one back to him, "Big Brother Dong, I can't eat anymore."
"Ah? Just one bun and you can't eat anymore? The bun isn't even that big."
Li Mingwei said aggrievedly, "Mm, I don't have much of an appetite."
Thinking that she must have been frightened last night, Dong Shan believed her and stuffed her leftover bun into his own mouth as well.
The snow on the road that afternoon had also melted somewhat, making the road easier to travel. Dong Shan moved fast, and they arrived at the town entrance before the sky even darkened.
Dong Shan stopped to wipe some sweat, when the yamen runners just happened to walk by escorting Wu Dong back to the county town, followed by a group of onlookers.
The yamen people actually moved faster than them!
Dong Shan looked at the composed Li Mingwei in disbelief, for the first time harboring some doubts about her identity.