Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 22 That Little Truth
Dong Shuben urged Jia Chuan to hurry up and not keep the county magistrate waiting for too long. Jia Chuan said, "Wait a minute. I'll ask the county magistrate to prepare some food and wine for you. I'll come over after I'm done."

Old Zheng waved his hand and said, "It's a national mourning period now. Who dares to drink and have fun? Officials and common people alike are not allowed to marry or eat meat during the period. The ban will be lifted after a hundred days. After receiving the obituary, the county magistrate must change into plain clothes and kowtow four times. That's not enough. He must also mourn. After that, he must get up every morning, light three incense sticks, and cry for a while. This must be done for three consecutive days. And you still want wine and food? No..."

Jia Chuan thought about the black and white screen of his mobile phone in his previous life, said nothing, and left silently.

Old Zheng turned to look at Dong Shuben and asked in confusion, "Last year...did you secretly eat meat and drink?"

Dong Shuben quickly waved his hands. He knew Old Zheng was referring to the period of national mourning for Zhu Di last year, and said hastily, "No, no, he simply forgot. We've been isolated from the world for years, so we can't remember some of the rules."

……

In the back hall of the county government office, Cui Youzhi was dressed in plain clothes, a black gauze hat, and a black horn belt, with an expression that seemed to want to be enthusiastic but was extremely restrained.

Just as Jia Chuan expected, Cui Youzhi's vegetarian dishes had a purpose. He kept talking about the trial in court today.

Jia Chuan doesn't have a life creed of keeping his promises. He understands the idea of ​​making promises, but he doesn't have many opportunities to put it into practice. Tonight is a good time to practice.

When the two of them were having dinner, Cui Youzhi was very happy. Although he tried hard to suppress his expression and not let his smile spread, the corners of his mouth never fell.

Every word of the young man in front of him touched his heart. When people are happy, they tend to nod their heads easily. So, not only were there a few side dishes in Old Zheng's yard, but Jia Chuan also asked Cui Youzhi to arrange people to accompany Jia Chuan on this trip early tomorrow morning.

Gao Yuntian saw that there was no seat for him at the dinner table and that he was just following orders when he was called, which made him very unhappy.

Jia Chuan felt that his goal had been achieved and did not want to stay for a moment. He said a lot of auspicious words in a hurry, patted his chest, and made a few promises seriously, which he forgot after saying them. Cui Youzhi was satisfied. Jia Chuan frowned again and said that he was very tired, so Cui Youzhi didn't want to stay any longer.

Jia Chuan followed the servant back to the official residence. As soon as the servant left, Jia Chuan immediately walked quickly towards Old Zheng's yard. If he said he didn't know any other places, he was familiar with Old Zheng's yard.

Seeing Jia Chuan enter the courtyard, Old Zheng smiled and waved, saying, "Come and sit down. I'm indebted to you. Although there's no wine today, these dishes are not something I can usually eat."

Jia Chuan looked at the small table in the yard. There was a plate of fennel beans, a plate of lotus roots, and a plate of fried leek sprouts, and nothing else. It was quite different from the previous table.

Jia Chuan had just sat down and picked up the well water poured by Old Zheng. Just as he was about to drink it in one gulp, he heard a voice behind him that made him frown.

"You pretended to be tired and fooled the county lord, and actually came here to drink. I will report this to the county lord immediately..."

"Go quickly! Don't waste a moment. Just say that I drank big bowls of wine. If the county magistrate doesn't care, you can go to the provincial government to file a complaint. If that doesn't work, go to the capital to file a complaint." Jia Chuan said without turning his head.

Gao Yuntian didn't know what to do.

Old Zheng stood up and said, "My place isn't clean, so they're the only ones who don't mind. I wanted to ask Captain Gao to come over and have a bite..."

"I won't come even if you call me."

"Yes, that's why I didn't call you." Old Zheng said with a smile and sat down.

The atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly became awkward. Although Dong Shuben had met Gao Yuntian before, they had never spoken to each other. For a moment, he didn't know how to ease the atmosphere. He could only make some "hmm, ah" noises to break the silence.

Shunzi didn't say a word. He shrank his neck and didn't dare to breathe.

Gao Yuntian stood for a while, perhaps tired of standing, so he looked around in the night, as if looking for a stool to sit on.

Dong Shuben saw this and quickly stood up and said flatteringly, "Captain Gao, please sit here. I'll go find another stool."

Gao Yuntian didn't hesitate and walked over and sat down directly.

Old Zheng had no choice but to get up and find another stool for Dong Shuben.

"If I hadn't seen that you had made great contributions to the investigation today, I would have gone to the county magistrate to file a complaint against you."

Jia Chuan tilted his head back and drank half a bowl of well water in one gulp. He said, "I have to thank you."

"That's not necessary, but... don't act on your own from now on. Consult me ​​on everything..."

"Who are you?" Jia Chuan turned his head and looked at Gao Yuntian with disdain, asking, "Are you blind or blind? County Magistrate Cui always shows me some courtesy. Your uncle is no more polite to County Magistrate Cui, right? Your uncle treats me the same, so I wonder how a nephew like you can get the confidence to ask me to obey you?"

Gao Yuntian's face turned pale and blue after what Jia Chuan said, but fortunately the night covered the view, and one could only see him swaying his upper body restlessly, but he did not refute.

This surprised Jia Chuan. He looked at Gao Yuntian inquiringly and asked, "What do you want from me?"

Gao Yuntian coughed lightly and said, "I'm going to Huangluling tomorrow. The Ministry of War hasn't decided yet whether to reinstate the Inspection Office there, and the court hasn't ordered anyone to investigate the case. I feel..."

Jia Chuan picked up a fennel bean and threw it into his mouth and said, "It must be me who checked it."

"You investigate? You investigate such a big case?" Gao Yuntian suddenly raised his voice, scaring Old Zheng so much that his hand holding the wine bowl trembled and several drops spilled out. He quickly licked the edge of the bowl.

"How can you investigate it?" Jia Chuan asked unhappily.

"I am..."

"Your grandfather is useless. Your uncle can only be a county magistrate at best. What about me? Compare yourself to me!"

Gao Yuntian opened his eyes wide and wanted to refute, but he didn't know where to start, and his expression looked as if he was choked.

"What do you want from me? Don't you want to go to Huangluling tomorrow? Or do you want me to hand over the investigation to you?"

As Jia Chuan spoke, he poured himself some well water, and Dong Shuben and Old Zheng sat down again.

"No, since the county magistrate ordered me to go with you again tomorrow, of course I have to go. Even if you give me this kind of case, I won't take it." Gao Yuntian unceremoniously picked up Jia Chuan's water bowl and brought it to his mouth, took a big sip, and said, "I just came to remind you that if you have no roots or foundation, you should not get too involved in some things. This is not like the county government investigating a case. You have your own way forward and retreat. You..."

"You are such a nice person. Come on, tell me what you want from me?" Jia Chuan snatched the bowl of water from Gao Yuntian's hand and said impatiently.

Gao Yuntian looked at Old Zheng with an unpleasant expression. Old Zheng said hurriedly, "I only have a few broken bowls. If you don't mind, there are more in the mortuary..." Gao Yuntian waved his hand in disgust, turned his head and whispered to Jia Chuan, "Since I'm going with you tomorrow, when this case is made public, my name should naturally be mentioned..."

"Don't worry, I will report everything about the horses and donkeys that came before."

Shunzi couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"You! I thought you were a useful person, but I didn't expect you to be so sharp-tongued. Don't think that just because you're favored by the Crown Prince, you'll have a bright future. I'm afraid you know very little about the ways of the officialdom. If one day your head goes off, you might not even know why. I'm trying to persuade you with kind words, but you don't appreciate it..."

"You knew this case would involve a wide range of people and might not end well, but you still wanted to leave your name behind? I'm asking you, how can you say such hypocritical things?"

"What do you mean?" Gao Yuntian asked in confusion. As if he had finally grasped the meaning, he straightened up and explained, "This case involves the murder of the crown prince. The crown prince will not tolerate this. Anyone who contributed will naturally receive a credit, but the leader is a bit more difficult to say."

Jia Chuan tilted his head and looked at Gao Yuntian, chuckled twice and said, "You're not stupid."

Gao Yuntian shrugged his shoulders proudly and said, "I've already told you, how could a mere clerk like you know all this stuff going on in the officialdom? Don't underestimate the Crown Prince's trust in you now. Once you've investigated everything, hmph, the bow is put away after the bird is dead, understand?"

"Just based on this sentence from you, I will let you walk ahead of me." Jia Chuan took a sip of water.

Gao Yuntian immediately became anxious: "I'm doing this for your own good..."

"Since you're well-versed in the rules of officialdom, you should know how to keep your mouth shut... Let me correct you. There's no need to wait for the investigation to be complete. During the investigation, you might go to see Grandma. For example, tomorrow, who knows if someone will be waiting at Huangluling? I honestly don't know how much money and compensation you'd get if you died in the line of duty."

Gao Yuntian stood up suddenly. He seemed not to have thought of this. He just turned around on the spot and left in a hurry.

Jia Chuan turned around and shouted at him, "Don't be late tomorrow!"

Dong Shuben's face had already changed after hearing what he said. Seeing Gao Yuntian leave the courtyard, he hurriedly asked, "What he said... sounds reasonable. If you investigate further..."

"Is there any way to stop investigating?" Jia Chuan tilted his head back and drank the water in the bowl.

Old Zheng shook his head and said, "You should have hidden more."

Jia Chuan didn't say anything. Those two days and two nights were so thrilling that he had never experienced in his two lives. Not to mention that he didn't have time to think it through carefully, even if he could figure it out, would he give up his life?
The person he saved was never Zhu Zhanji, but himself.

"Will someone really ambush Huangluling tomorrow?" Shunzi asked anxiously.

Jia Chuan smiled and said, "I was trying to scare that fool. Since they left the guy in the morgue behind, they meant to lead me in the wrong direction. How could they be willing to kill me for the time being?"

"Do they know who you are? Do they know...that you will be responsible for investigating this case in the future?" Dong Shuben asked with wide eyes.

Jia Chuan pursed his lips, moved his butt, coughed lightly and said:

"I'm saying they won't kill anyone who goes to the Inspection Office to investigate. But, well... outside Bazhou City, I was introduced with great ceremony. I think that person will have heard about it soon. A mere clerk like me will naturally not be taken seriously by them. Besides, the capital must be in turmoil right now. The funeral of the late emperor and the enthronement of the new emperor will definitely attract a lot of their attention. So for now, we're safe."

"We?" Dong Shuben's tone changed: "You still want to take me with you?"

Jia Chuan looked at Dong Shuben inquiringly and said, "Even a fool can understand this principle, and you haven't figured it out yet?"

Dong Shuben was stunned for a moment. Old Zheng put down his wine bowl and said seriously:
"There are countless officials in the two capitals and thirteen provinces who could investigate this case, yet the Crown Prince wants to choose you... I didn't believe it at first. I'm just a coroner, I haven't seen much of the world. Let alone a major case like this, even for a murder case, the higher-ups, the provincial governors and the judicial and supervisory commissioners would have their people strictly investigate... A higher rank can crush a higher position. Even if you can successfully investigate this case one day, how will those officials with you obey you? The officialdom has its own rules. Even if the Crown Prince wants to promote you, he can't let you rise to the top and become a third or fourth rank official overnight. And you can't report everything to the Crown Prince in person. Sigh, your future is not going to be easy."

Shunzi nodded repeatedly after hearing this and said, "We can only look up at the sky above our heads. If something really happens, how can we get it?"

Jia Chuan asked, "Has the common people heard that the King of Han is eyeing the throne?"

Old Zheng snorted and said:

"To be frank, what does being an emperor have to do with farming? Who has the time to care about these things when they're still hungry? Over the years, some people in the government have discussed this privately, but it was just drunken talk. I always felt that the Prince of Han was restless, but now it's out in the open. But until there's solid evidence, the Prince of Han is still the Prince of Han. You really should be careful."

"He wants to kill me as easily as crushing an ant. It's not something I can handle by being careful. If I want to save my life, I still need someone to back me up. But, Shunzi is right, the sky... is too high. I can't reach it."

"The more you talk, the more confused I become. Why can't anything go well no matter what I listen to you or what I do?" Dong Shuben asked anxiously.

Shunzi said, "I think you're overthinking it, Jia Chuan. Your Highness might have just said that that day. What was the situation at the time? Anyone would be confused. When Your Highness returns to the capital, there will be many people he can use. How could he still remember you? Even if he did remember you, being promoted to the chief clerk of the county government or the county magistrate would be a great thing."

Dong Shuben nodded repeatedly and said:
"I think that's the truth. How could a clerk like you be asked to investigate such a major case? Even if you were promoted to the position of County Magistrate, it wouldn't be your turn. Your Highness said that, and you just took it that way. I'm not saying anything bad about you, but Captain Gao has been in the county office for many years and is very familiar with the county magistrate. You might be able to be promoted to a clerk in the future, or even better, a chief clerk. You spend a lot of time dealing with him. Most of the errands in the county office are done by them. You're new here, so don't offend them too much."

Old Zheng smiled and said nothing.

Shunzi asked, "Are we going to Huangluling tomorrow?"

"Go!" Jia Chuan straightened his back and answered with raised eyebrows.

"So everything we said just now was in vain?" Dong Shuben was a little anxious.

……

It’s not that Jia Chuan didn’t listen to the advice, but he knew very well what the consequences would be if he didn’t participate.

He is so persistent because he chooses the lesser of two evils.

He remembered that Zhu Zhanji seemed to be a little willful, otherwise he would not have been given the nickname of the Cricket Emperor. People with this kind of personality would never make excessive decisions, so there was definitely a possibility that he would continue to participate.

This is an opportunity to take destiny into their own hands. What Dong Shuben and Shunzi can see in the future is the future in which the three of them will survive.

What if he is dead?

　Today is the Northern Minor New Year, and tomorrow is the Southern Minor New Year. I wish you all a warm Minor New Year, a prosperous year, peace, and happiness!
　　February hugs!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)