Going to Beijing to save his father, all the powerful officials in the city are vying to be his fath

Tong Zhongqian took this opportunity to shout, "Fellow villagers, I am Tong Zhongqian, the Minister of Justice. I am in charge of the disaster relief silver case. Please listen to my advice and don't make trouble. It will not benefit you. The court and the emperor will not ignore you.

If you have any questions, you can ask me."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone asked, "Have you found the disaster relief money?"

Tong Zhongqian shook his head: "No, the existing evidence proves that Su Jijing, the former Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, colluded with the imperial guards who were escorting the relief silver to steal the relief silver. I tried everything I could to get them to give it up but failed.

But just now I discovered many suspicious points. The person who embezzled the disaster relief funds may be someone else. So I, Tong, beg you to give me some more time. I will definitely get to the bottom of this case and give an explanation to all the people affected by the disaster.

His words were sincere, but for the victims who had no food to eat and were homeless every day, any guarantee was empty words and meaningless. What they wanted was real food and money.

"Why should we trust you? You are all officials. When have you ever cared about our lives?"

"Yes, let us wait. How long should we wait? If you fail to solve the case, are we just going to wait forever? How can we wait without food? Do you want us to starve to death so that you can swallow the disaster relief money?"

Tong Zhongqian: "I won't be unable to solve the case forever."

"We don't believe it unless you tell us a time. How long will it be? How long do you want us to wait?"

Tong Zhongqian: "Ten days, give me another ten days, and I will find the real embezzler."

"What if you still can't find it after ten days?"

Tong Zhongqian replied with a resounding voice: "I will bring my head to you."

Everyone present was shocked, even the other officials were startled. Someone tried to dissuade him, "Master Tong, you absolutely cannot do this. The disaster relief money case is no small matter and has far-reaching implications. Ten days is too short a timeframe. You don't need to risk your life on this."

Tong Zhongqian shook his head: "No need to persuade me. The delay in solving the case is due to my incompetence. I should explain to the people."

His words moved many disaster victims, but of course many people did not buy it: "Why do we want your life? If you die, we can't have enough food.

We don’t care who embezzled the money, as long as we have food to eat.”

Grand Tutor Yan stepped forward and said loudly, "I promise that I will collect money as soon as I return today. Regardless of whether I can find the money for disaster relief or not, I will serve porridge at the city gate and will not let anyone go hungry.

You must trust the court and the emperor, we will properly accommodate you."

The victims looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

Su Qin said to Xu Chunshan, "Uncle Xu, I think these two gentlemen are quite sincere. Let's trust them again and go back. It will be of no benefit to us to make trouble again. We can't defeat the court."

Xu Chunshan nodded, he understood this principle.

In fact, even if the imperial court did not provide disaster relief funds, they would have no other choice.

They stayed outside the city of Shangjing just to wait for a possibility, betting that the court would take care of them.

It would be good to control them, but if you don't, they will just have to leave and find another way.

He turned around and advised those around him: "Alright, let's all go back. Since that gentleman promised to provide porridge every day, let's wait a little longer."

The people around him were all from the same township and county. When he persuaded them, they all listened and turned to walk towards their resting place.

When someone moves, the people around him will follow suit.

Seeing the victims begin to disperse, Grand Tutor Yan and other officials and imperial guards all breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Er also squeezed back. He wanted to find Su Qin, but was stopped by Zou Tai: "Brother, please stay."

Wang Er looked at Zou Tai nervously and asked, "What's the matter, General?"

Zou Tai smiled at him and said, "Don't be nervous, it's nothing. Several adults are grateful to you for discovering the spy and preventing a riot. They want to see you."

Wang Er didn't want to go. People are afraid of officials. "Can you please not go?"

Zou Tai didn't say anything, just looked at him with a smile. Wang Er was scared and didn't dare to refuse anymore. He followed Zou Tai timidly.

Zou Tai brought Wang Er before Grand Tutor Yan and the others: "Grand Tutor Yan, Master Tong, it was this brother who just exposed the spy."

Wang Er was about to kneel down when he was stopped by Master Yan.

Grand Tutor Yan looked at him gratefully. "Little brother, what's your name? Thank you so much today. You've helped us so much. If you hadn't gotten into trouble today, I would have commended you to the court tomorrow."

Wang Er was both nervous and excited to be praised by such a high-ranking official. His face flushed and he kept scratching his hands nervously: "Sir, I can call you Wang Er. No, there's no need. I didn't find the person. A brother told me."

Tong Zhongqian interrupted: "Which brother is it?"

Wang Er: "It's Su Da."

"Su?"

Tong Zhongqian raised his eyebrows: "Is it Su with the grass radical?"

Wang Er shook his head: "Sir, I am illiterate and don't know which Su it is."

Tong Zhongqian: "How old is he? Where is he from?"

Wang Er thought for a moment and said, "He is about my age and is from Xiaoli Village in Tong County."

Tong Zhongqian seemed to be thinking about something. Su Jijing's ancestral home was in Long County, Chanzhou, which was far away from Tong County. It seemed that he was not the person he was thinking of.

Su Qin was washed away by the flood for a long distance before she stopped. The place where her grandmother was cremated was in Tong County, so when she went north, all the people she met were victims from Tong County. For convenience, she just called herself a Tong County native.

She didn't intend to hide her background, but her habit as a corporate slave for many years was not to tell the truth to anyone outside, so when someone asked her about her identity, she just made up a lie.

Unexpectedly, Hu Shuo's identity now relieved her of suspicion.

Tong Zhongqian had carefully investigated Su Jijing and of course knew that he had a daughter in his ancestral home, so when he heard the surname Su, he naturally thought of her.

Master Yan was in a good mood and said with a smile, "Since you two brothers discovered it together, then call your brother over and I will present a memorial to commend him together tomorrow."

Wang Er was suddenly happy and nodded immediately: "Thank you, sir."

Zou Tai said to him, "Come on, I'll go with you to find someone."

There were so many victims gathered that it would take a while for them to disperse. Everyone walked back one after another. Wang Er moved flexibly among the crowd, and Zou Tai followed closely behind him.

Soon he found Xu Chunshan: "Uncle Xu, where is Su Da? Because his discovery prevented a riot, Lord Yan wants to see him and said he wants to reward us."

Xu Chunshan looked at Zou Tai behind him and smiled kindly: "Su Da left, I don't know where he went."

Wang Er was dumbfounded: "Ah? Didn't he just come back? Why is he gone again?"

Xu Chunshan: "He still wanted to find his father and didn't want to wait here forever, so he left."

Wang Er felt a little disappointed, but he also understood. After all, no matter who it was, if they still had relatives alive, they would want to find them.

He turned around and said to Zou Tai apologetically, "I'm sorry, sir. My brother has already left."

Zou Tai waved his hand nonchalantly: "It's nothing, it's just that your brother is unlucky and can't receive the reward from the court."

Wang Er also felt a little regretful. The court had given him a reward. Even if it was only one or two taels of silver, it would bring honor to his family.

Zou Tai patted Wang Er's shoulder and said, "Brother Wang, please wait here for the next few days. When the imperial court commends you, we will call you to announce the decree."

Wang Er nodded excitedly: "Oh, fine, I won't leave. I'll live in the woods over there."

Zou Tai nodded, indicating that he understood, and left. Wang Er's matter was a trivial matter, just a whim of Master Yan, and not worth his worry.

What happens next is important. Zhao Liangchen has been implicated and should be suspended from his post. He is temporarily in charge of the imperial guards. They will be responsible for escorting Su Jijing and others back later. Something happened on the way here, and nothing can happen again on the way back.

After Zou Tai left, Su Qin came out from behind a tree not far away. Seeing her, Wang Er asked excitedly, "Su Da, didn't you leave?"