Li Xiaotian took a quick step and stopped him, saying, "It's just a matter of raising hands, why bother? You are hungry for a long time and are weak. You don't have to give such a big gift. You should eat something first and nourish your spirit."
After talking, Geng Nian and Lei Ming, who had nothing to do, walked to the pot at the same time. After looking at each other awkwardly, they made a bowl of porridge and handed it to the mother and the two of them.
Li Xiaotian couldn't help but smile, and he could not have thought that a cold face and a chattering mouth were so kind.
The mother and son took the hot porridge with both hands and thanked each other repeatedly.
I don’t know if the two of them were too hungry or the porridge was made too delicious, but probably because they had both, and in a short while, a bowl of porridge was wiped out.
The boy was still trying to ask for it again after eating, but his mother immediately gave him a meaningful look. The boy was naturally conscious and said sensible: "Uncle, we are full, you can eat."
As soon as he finished speaking, the boy's belly betrayed him and made a big drum.
Seeing this, Li Xiaotian and Lei Ming couldn't help laughing. Even Geng Nian, who had always been serious, showed a rare smile.
Li Xiaotian said: "You can eat it with confidence. We are not hungry. These porridge are specially cooked for you."
"Come on, give me the bowl and I'll serve it for you." Lei Ming took the initiative to be the waiter.
"How can this work? Let's do it ourselves."
After the woman finished talking, the boy was quite eye-catching and took the bowl from his mother's hand to get up to make porridge.
Li Xiaotian forced the bowl from the boy's hand, then handed it to Lei Ming, and said, "It's okay, let him serve it, he just likes the feeling of scooping porridge."
Lei Ming gave Li Xiaotian a blank look and echoed: "He is right."
Then he went to pretend to be porridge.
After a while, the pot finally came to an end, and the mother and son were full, and Li Xiaotian began to ask the question: "By the way, what happened to you when you came to this wilderness in the middle of the night?"
The woman lamented and said, "Sir, I'm not to hide it. My son and I are here to find someone."
"Looking for someone?" Li Xiaotian asked again.
When it comes to finding someone, the woman looked frustrated and said, "About half a year ago, someone went to our village to recruit workers. The wages are very high. One month is equivalent to half a year. Our family relies on my hard work to make a living. Although
Life is hard, but I feel very satisfied with my son being sensible and loving, but I am a very responsible husband. I heard that there is such a high wage, so I went with the foreman in order to improve my life.
There seemed to be many people going to the village next to the same village, but now half a year has passed, and no one of the people who went to work with me has returned. I have no news. In desperation, I took my child to climb a long distance and set foot on this husband's search.
We were traveling, sleeping in the open all the way, and we had not eaten for two days until we were here. Fortunately, we met kind-hearted adults, otherwise, we two would probably become lonely ghosts."
The woman is an emotional person, and when she talks about this, she burst into tears.
Li Xiaotian continued to ask, "So, do you know where your husband works?"
The woman calmed down and said, "I heard him mention it, saying it was Youzhou."
When Li Xiaotian heard Youzhou, he frowned slightly and fell into thought.
Seeing this, Lei Ming thought he was hesitant and hurriedly said, "Youzhou, we are going there too. Since we are on the same journey, we will be destined to meet you. We can take you along the way. And I will tell you a secret, don't look at the guy in front of you.
He is not very old, and he is the newly appointed Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and a first-rank minister. He is also going to inspect Youzhou. Our Minister of Revenue is patriotic and loving the people. When encountering this, how can he sit idly by and ignore it? I believe he must
Will help you find your husband, the father of the child.”
The woman was both surprised and happy when she heard this high-ranking official, and hurriedly pulled the child to kneel down: "Thank you, sir, sir, and the people's wife will remember it forever!"
Li Xiaotian gave Lei Ming a blank look, turned his head to the mother and son and said, "No need to be polite. As a parent, if I encounter such a strange thing, I will definitely find out the truth."
The woman heard it and she burst into tears of gratitude.
The boy also looked up at Li Xiaotian with a respectful look.
"I think it's getting late. You have just recovered from a serious illness. If you want to replenish your spirit, you need to rest early. Let's go together tomorrow. As for your husband's affairs, you can rest assured. Since we, the Secretary of State, are determined to find it, we will definitely find it." Lei Ming agreed.
.
Li Xiaotian glanced at Lei Ming and signaled him not to praise him too much.
Lei Ming shrugged helplessly.
The next day, early morning.
As the sun rose, everyone began to pack up and was about to rush.
The carriage space is still there, and it is more than enough for both women and children.
"What's your husband's name?" In the carriage, Li Xiaotian asked the woman, and of course he had to know the name of the woman when he was looking for someone.
The woman replied, "Sir, my name is He Dazhu."
Li Xiaotian asked again: "So many people have not come back, you should have reported to the officials, right?"
"I and other family members went to the county yamen to report many cases. We did not prove that the population was missing. We did not file a case. You said that this person had no news for more than half a year, so isn't there enough evidence?" When it comes to the government's sloppy eyes
The woman was a little excited.
"Oh, by the way, sir, there is another situation I think I should report to you." The woman suddenly remembered something important and continued: "I climbed mountains and wade through many villages, and found that it was not only
In our area, even in many other villages in other places, many of them were hired to work in Youzhou and never returned, and they lost news."
"So many powerful forces have disappeared, and no one dares to investigate. It seems that the lord of Youzhou City is extraordinary." Li Xiaotian sighed to himself, and then reminded the woman: "This matter is quite relevant, and Youzhou is not a good deal."
It's quite big, far from the point of your mother and son. After you arrive in Youzhou, you will settle you down. As for your husband's affairs, I will try my best to investigate. You can just wait patiently for my news."
When the mother and son heard this, they quickly got up and wanted to kneel down and thank him. Li Xiaotian stopped him in time.
At this time, Lei Ming was about to speak, but Li Xiaotian immediately closed his eyes. There was no way, so he could only forcefully shut up and then closed his eyes.
Youzhou.
After traveling for more than a day, I finally arrived at my destination before sunset.
He went to the city to show his identity and led the way to the provincial governor's office.
However, it was different from before. On the way, Li Xiaotian asked Lei Ming to take the mother and son off the carriage, which was self-evident. Of course, he wanted to settle the two of them and then come to the provincial governor to find him.
Before getting off the bus, Li Xiaotian suddenly remembered a question, which was what he needed to know every time he entered the city, which was the taxes in Youzhou.
Although the woman was surprised by the question, she still answered the truth.
From his answer, I learned that Youzhou’s taxes are normal.
Youzhou Prefecture.
Li Xiaotian and his team stopped in front of the provincial governor's mansion with majestic momentum. After the guards came in to report, the person who came out to greet the provincial governor was not the provincial governor, but the officials in charge of the mansion.
"Sir, the villain is the housekeeper of the provincial governor's office. It's really a coincidence that our provincial governor went to work in Dongcheng District and would not come back for a while. Please go to the hall to wait first. I'll send someone to inform the provincial government now.
Lord Mu arrived." The housekeeper bowed his head and said.
"It's okay."
Li Xiaotian said as he got off the carriage with Geng Nian.
When everyone in the provincial governor's palace saw Li Xiaotian, their faces were full of surprise. Seeing that he looked less than twenty years old, he was actually a first-rank minister. How could it not be so young?
After being surprised, everyone was actually more suspicious, but looking at this team of people, they were all wearing military armor, with extraordinary courage and no longer looked like they were fake.
Hesitate, they will definitely not ask these questions. It’s okay to say that if it is fake, it will be a disaster if it is true, and it will be thankless and will also take your life. As long as the head doesn’t get water, who will
They will choose to remain silent and leave it to the provincial governor to solve it themselves.
As soon as he entered the mansion, Li Xiaotian began to look around habitually and look all the way to the lobby. It was all in a normal manner and there was no extravagance. At least, Li Xiaotian did not notice it.
"The tax is normal, the mansion is normal, I wonder if I am normal?"
"There are so many missing people, and the report will not file a case. If someone had not deliberately forced the case to suppress it, it would have been impossible for all counties to refuse to investigate?"
In the hall, Li Xiaotian sat down, thinking.
Not long after, a man hurried into the lobby wearing a state governor's office. When he saw Li Xiaotian, he was stunned. It was obvious that he was surprised by the age of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Like other state governors, he saw the Geng year, and this person was forbidden.
The commander of the Guards believed that the young man in front of him was the real Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Let me ask, if it were not for the king's compliment, who would have been protected by the commander of the Imperial Guards?
"Fan Tong, the governor of Youzhou Prefecture, met with the Minister of Shangshu, and commander Geng." As soon as he entered the hall, Fan Tong bowed to worship.