When it was Shen Qianqian's turn to give the gift, the scribe became very polite. He personally took the carrot from Shen Qianqian and led Shen Qianqian through the gate.

After entering the mansion, Zhang Yangquan frowned even deeper.

You can't tell why from the outside, but the inside of the mansion is surprisingly big.

A wall silhouette is facing the direction of the gate, with a picture of green mountains and green water carved on it. In front of the wall silhouette is a small pool with crystal clear water and more than a dozen goldfish swimming in the water.

The middle-aged scribe sent him to the courtyard and then returned.

Zhang Yangquan and others walked around the wall and walked along a corridor. They saw that they were surrounded by beautiful buildings, jade buildings, rockeries and waterfalls. This mansion was much more luxurious than Oriole Garden!

"Miss Qianqian, can you tell me now who the owner of this mansion is?" he asked with a solemn face.

Shen Qianqian said softly: "The owner here is called Lu Changzhi, and he is a director of the Shipping Department!"

Zhang Yangquan raised his eyebrows and said: "Can a mere governor force the entire Jiangdu merchants to give him gifts?"

Shen Qianqian said quietly: "What you don't know is that he is responsible for reviewing the qualifications for Tongban. Who among Jiangdu merchants doesn't want to be Tongban now? If anyone offends him, he will not be able to obtain Tongban qualifications. Those who are originally qualified will also be squeezed out!"< /p>

Qin Lingjun said calmly: "Based on this alone, he shouldn't be able to threaten you and Cai Heng, right?"

Shen Qianqian nodded and said: "This Lu Changzhi is very smart. He will return the gifts that Cai Heng and I gave him afterwards. In this way, we can't argue with him too much!"

Qin Lingjun stared at her and said, "Then why did you bring us here?"

Shen Qianqian did not dare to look at her, lowered her head and said: "Qianqian feels that the situation in the Shibo Division is getting better and better now. If this person is allowed to continue to act recklessly, it will not be good for everyone."

"We still know you have good intentions." Zhang Yangquan sighed.

If it weren't for Qin Lingjun's sudden suggestion, if he hadn't met Shen Qianqian by chance, he would never have thought that someone was already taking bribes and bending the law right under his nose!

So blatant!

"Miss Qianqian, can you help me think about it from the perspective of a businessman, why other businessmen dare not report Lu Changzhi?"

Shen Qianqian was stunned for a moment and said: "It must be because he is afraid of offending Lu Changzhi. If the people's lawsuit against the government fails, they will never be able to get through again in the future!"

Qin Lingjun suddenly said: "No, not everyone is afraid of him. Just like shopkeeper Dong just now. Why didn't he sue Lu Changzhi?"

Shen Qianqian thought for a while and said: "Then it should be because there is no way!"

Zhang Yangquan asked curiously: "The connection?"

"Yes, if the people sue the people, they can go directly to the county government! But if the people sue the officials, this has never happened to the county government. I guess County Magistrate Guo may not go to court to investigate the case!"

Zhang Yangquan nodded. This speculation is reasonable. Currently, there are only two yamen in charge of prisons in the General Administration Office, one is the county yamen and the other is the official yamen.

The county government office is responsible for ordinary cases, and the cases heard by the four county government offices are then handed over to the official government office for review.

If there are any doubts about any of the cases, the official office will either call them back or investigate them personally to prevent unjust and wrongful convictions.

As for cases involving officials, they were originally handled by the Yushitai at the provincial center, and there was no relevant yamen in the General Administration Office.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yangquan had an idea in his mind and said to Shen Qianqian: "Miss Qianqian, you go to the banquet, we won't go."

Shen Qianqian was slightly surprised, but she didn't ask any more questions and said, "Then Qianqian is leaving." He bowed to the two of them and headed towards the lobby.

The two of them left the Lu Mansion together and found a tea shed nearby to sit down.

Zhang Yangquan ordered one of his guards: "Go and find Guo Huan and ask him to bring more government servants."

Qin Lingjun reminded: "Didn't you give them half a day off? Guo Huan must not be in the Yamen now!"

Zhang Yangquan was stunned for a moment, frowned and said: "Then we can only deal with this matter tomorrow!"

"It doesn't have to be tomorrow. You can ask Ma Yulin to come over. He should still be in the General Manager's Mansion!"

Zhang Yangquan wondered: "How do you know?"

Qin Lingjun smiled and said: "I have not been idle during the recent days in the General Manager's Mansion. I have gotten to know every official under your command."

"Oh? Tell me about it?" Zhang Yangquan became interested.

"Just like Ma Yulin, he goes to the Yamen every day at Xu hour. Sometimes even at Hai hour, when he is not married and has children, he still goes to the Yamen on holidays. So even if you give him a holiday, he will still go to the Yamen!"

Zhang Yangquan asked in surprise: "Why doesn't he get married and have children?"

Qin Lingjun shook his head and said, "I don't know, maybe I don't want to start a family and start a career too early?"

Zhang Yangquan pondered for a while and said: "Madam, please help pay attention to this matter in the future. We should take more care of officials like this who are conscientious and dedicated, so as not to let others suffer."

Qin Lingjun glanced at him and said, "I know!"

The sun passed the zenith and began to set towards the west. The sporadic chirping of cicadas could be heard in the trees, and there was still an endless stream of guests outside the Lu Mansion.

Suddenly, a luxurious carriage drove up the street, and a young man in rich clothes got out of the carriage. It was Cai Heng, the eldest son of the Cai family.

After Cai Heng got off the carriage, he glanced around and happened to see Zhang and Qin at the tea shed across the street.

He thought he had made a mistake and rubbed his eyes. When he looked again, he found that both of them were staring at him.

Cai Heng felt a shiver in his heart, and just as he was about to trot over to greet him, he suddenly felt something in his heart and looked up at the Lu Mansion's sign.

"Why did these two people suddenly appear here? Are they coming for Lu Changzhi?" he thought secretly.

After thinking about it like this, I didn't dare to go there blatantly, for fear of exposing the two people's whereabouts and ruining the big thing.

He pondered for a long time, then got back into the carriage and returned to the street along the original route.

When the carriage was far away from the Lu Mansion, he got off the carriage and cautiously came to the tea shed.

"Xiao Ke Cai Heng, meet Manager Zhang and meet the manager's wife!"

Zhang Yangquan saw Cai Heng being so cautious and couldn't help but secretly praise his carefulness.

"Young Master Cai, there's no need to be polite. Just pretend you haven't seen us and go do your own thing!" He waved his hand.

Cai Heng quickly agreed, not daring to ask any more questions, and returned in the direction of the carriage.

However, after walking a few steps, he suddenly turned around and walked over again.

"Please forgive me, manager. Xiaoke has something important and I want to report it to the manager!" He cupped his hands and said.

Zhang Yangquan wondered: "Could it be Lu Changzhi's problem?"

Cai Heng shook his head, took a few steps closer, and whispered: "Xiao Ke found a suspicious person, who is probably a Tatar spy!"

"Who?"

"Saltpeter merchant Shen Mao!"

Zhang Yangquan frowned and said: "Why do you suspect that he is a spy?"

Cai Hengdao: "When Xiao Ke and Jia Jiancheng were drinking a while ago, he told me something that two of his apprentices suddenly died at home."

Zhang Yangquan said thoughtfully: "Well, I heard someone report this before."

Cai Heng continued: "Actually, Xiao Ke also knew the two deceased people. One of them was named Li San. The day before he died, he came to my house for a banquet. Shen Mao also came at that time. A servant reported to me that

I heard Li San and Shen Mao arguing in the latrine!"

Qin Lingjun also became interested and asked: "What are they arguing about?"

"I only heard one sentence, it was Li San's voice. He said, 'Don't force me anymore, I can't go to that place.' After the servant reported it to Xiao Ke, Xiao Ke felt strange. When Li San died,

, Xiao Ke increasingly suspects that this matter is related to Shen Mao!"

Zhang Yangquan's eyes flashed and he thought to himself: "Could that place refer to the gunpowder workshop?"

"Master Cai, since you are suspicious of this matter, why don't you tell the city defense people?" Qin Lingjun asked.

Cai Heng hurriedly said: "Xiao Ke has been there, but it doesn't seem to have attracted much attention."

"Who was in charge of city defense when you went there?" Qin Lingjun asked again.

"Deputy Commander Liang!"

Qin Lingjun nodded and asked no more questions.

Zhang Yangquan said warmly: "The information you provided is very useful. If I can catch the spy, I will send someone to reward you!"

Cai Heng cupped his hands and said, "You're serious. Since you took charge of Jiangdu, everyone has benefited a lot. It's only right that we repay something in return!"

Zhang Yangquan smiled and said, "Are you here to attend Lu Changzhi's banquet this time too?"

Cai Hengdao: "Yes."

"Are you giving a gift too?"

Cai Heng smiled bitterly and said: "To be honest with the manager, he will return the gift to me afterwards. Our family is a merchant, so it is not easy to offend him!"

At this time, Qin Lingjun noticed that another carriage came outside the Lu Mansion, and a person got out of the carriage. His eyes were fixed on the direction of the tea shed, so he touched Zhang Yangquan's arm.

Zhang Yangquan looked at the man and found that it was Bian Yuantong, the second eldest son of the Bian family. He waved his hand to Cai Heng and said, "I don't mean to blame you. You go ahead!"
Chapter completed!