Miao Chu

Chapter 57 Ask for advice
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Fellow foodies, please be aware! Although I update one chapter a day, I actually write two chapters, sometimes even three!! Look at the word count, fellow foodies, look at the word count o(╥﹏╥)o
***
Everyone in the Song Family Restaurant had their own plans, but a few streets away, at the Zhuque Gate patrol station, the situation was quite different.

Constable Ma and his men searched outside for half a day before finally returning home to slack off.

After accepting the money from the scoundrel, he actually followed through on his mission. As soon as he returned, he summoned the on-duty constable and asked, "Has the young lady from the Song family's restaurant been brought here? How did the questioning go?"

The constable in charge, unsure of his superiors' intentions, said, "We summoned her early this morning as you instructed and intercepted her at her front door. However, there's an academy right next to the eatery, and for some reason, students were coming out of there today. Fearing that the young lady would make a fuss due to the large number of people coming and going, we didn't dare to force her and simply brought her along with the cart."

Constable Ma ignored these details, but upon hearing the words "academy," his heart tightened, and he hurriedly asked, "Didn't those imperial students see it?"

"I didn't see her..." the constable said, then hesitated for a moment before continuing, "But I still want to ask, how serious is this matter concerning Miss Song?"

Officer Ma naturally wouldn't explain the details to his subordinates, only asking, "What happened?"

"Today, we brought the young lady of the Song family back, and after asking her only a few questions, those imperial students came knocking on our door."

"Nonsense!"

Officer Ma slammed his fist on the table.

"If they weren't seen, why would they come knocking on our door? These students, just because they can write a few words, are always meddling in this and ordering that around—are we supposed to let them have a say in our business?!"

He cursed a few times, but still nervous, he hurriedly asked, "Where are the people? How many people came? Has it gotten out of hand? Have they been sent away? If not, see if we can inform the Imperial Academy's headmaster and ask someone to help quell the situation!"

The police officer said, "They said they ordered breakfast from her, but it hadn't been delivered for half a day, so they came to our door."

He added, "It didn't cause a big commotion. Only one person came, but he brought people from the Kyoto government office with him."

Constable Ma's eyebrows twitched suddenly, and his voice lowered considerably as he asked, "Who is this person from the government office?"

"I don't know him either. He only showed me the waist badges of the Left and Right Military Patrol Detachments, and said his surname was Qin and his name was Qin Zong."

Constable Ma hurriedly asked about the person's appearance and then inquired about their attitude.

Upon learning that three people had arrived, including two government officials who had been invited by students of the Imperial Academy, and that one of them, surnamed Qin, was wearing official boots and exuded an air of authority, Constable Ma's face immediately turned ugly.

The constable, observing the situation, advised, "I don't think the leader is an ordinary official. He probably holds some position. Those students are already quite troublesome. Even if they don't have any ability, who knows if their teachers or friends know any high-ranking officials?"

He added, "There was that student surnamed Han who used to be a high-ranking official, and he would curse anyone he wanted. In our tiny place, unless it's really necessary, shouldn't we avoid confronting them?"

"I was just looking out for them, not wanting to cause them any trouble!" Officer Ma said angrily. "I was afraid that those students would be unable to resist a young lady, each acting like a hero and turning a small matter into a big one, which is why I had to call someone over!"

"The people from the Kyoto government office didn't seem like people to be trifled with. I went to ask them later, and it seems that a new judge has been appointed in the government office, and his surname is also Qin."

“The young lady is indeed very pretty. I’m afraid some student might take a liking to her and ask relatives and friends to help her out. I’m afraid she might say something inappropriate, so I don’t want to push her too hard. It just so happens that the patrol came by today, so I bought everything from that stall in the backyard. I also told her to set up a stall in our back alley from now on, so she won’t be hanging out with those students. What do you think, Ma Tou?”

Upon hearing the words "Judge Qin," Officer Ma's heart tightened.

If that scoundrel hadn't offered so much money, and if he hadn't known that she was truly just an orphan with no support, why would he have so easily agreed to help her for a few coins?

Now that he realized something was wrong, he immediately changed his tune, saying, "Students can be hard to deal with! Since the Kyoto government has come knocking, there's nothing wrong with that young lady. As long as she doesn't go around spreading rumors, let her be!"

The matter was resolved easily and effortlessly.

After sending the man away, Constable Ma still felt something was amiss, so he asked another person, who confirmed that the man's account was almost identical to that of the first constable.

He turned and left through the Vermilion Bird Gate, heading towards the Dezhou Bridge. He found an acquaintance and inquired whether the newly arrived Judge Qin had brought anyone with him to his post.

The acquaintance, who had a long-standing friendship with him, thought for a moment and said, "He did bring a few people, but it's not a big deal—there are piles of miscellaneous tasks in the government office, and he's just a few young men, what use are they? We old folks still have to rely on us."

Officer Ma then asked him if he knew where the people Judge Qin brought were placed and what their backgrounds were.

"I don't know about that," the acquaintance said. "But there's a young man inside who's also surnamed Qin, named Qin Zong. I don't know what his relationship is with Judge Qin, but he's been assigned to the Left and Right Military Patrol Offices. I heard he's a rich young master, very generous. Last time he treated me to drinks, he even invited people from outside the second gate."

Officer Ma's hands trembled for a moment. He thanked his acquaintance and immediately turned around.

He hurried along and immediately had someone bring out the scoundrel. He returned the heavy cloth-wrapped silver ingots, saying nothing else but that he had been busy with patrols lately, with soldiers coming and going and the higher-ups keeping a close eye on things, so he couldn't spare any time to help.

After returning the silver coins, Constable Ma breathed a sigh of relief. He went back to the Zhuque Gate patrol post and called over the constable who had been on duty earlier, instructing him, "Alright, I was just trying to be kind but got no reward. If that young lady from the Song family's eatery wants to set up a stall at the Imperial Academy gate, let her go. Don't interfere. These students can't be touched!"

Upon hearing this, the police officer exclaimed "Ah!"

“Since it’s a stall, it doesn’t matter where you set it up.” He couldn’t help but advise, “We had already agreed today that the young lady would set up a stall in our back alley. Many brothers said that her glutinous rice and shumai are good. In my opinion, we don’t need to worry about it. Let her come and set up a stall for a few days. Maybe after a while, she will find that our place is good and will not want to go back to the Imperial Academy!”

"Then we'll have a good breakfast, she won't cause any trouble, and you can finally relax. Wouldn't that be great?"

After hearing this, Officer Ma was completely stunned.

He couldn't help but glance at his subordinate across from him, thinking to himself: Is this person really trying to help me, or is he just siding with the Song family's daughter and craving her food?
***
Once Constable Ma of the Vermilion Bird Gate returned the silver, he would be free of a hot potato and feel completely at ease.

But holding those heavy silver coins was like holding a hot potato; he simply didn't know what to do.

Having been scolded by his boss before, he dared not use such frugal methods again. He had no choice but to ask a lawyer to help him sort out the sales documents from that day. Sure enough, the lawyer found many problems and discovered many omissions in the contract.

Once the problem is identified, it must be corrected.

But this time, the clerks in the Kyoto government office, who were used to dealing with such a problem, made an outrageous demand, asking for eighty strings of cash.

Originally, the other party was asking for an exorbitant price, but when I tried to negotiate, they turned hostile and yelled, "Don't stand there, I'm not going to talk to you. Call your boss, Liao, to talk to us."

If he didn't do his job well, his superiors would have to step in. Diao Zi was naturally afraid of being scolded. Before he could even say anything, the matter of Constable Ma shirking responsibility was added to the mix, making things even worse.

He had no choice but to put on a bitter face and go find Manager Liao.

This time, Liao the Master didn't slap him. Instead, he splashed the still-hot tea in his face with his backhand and cursed, "Useless trash!"

Diao Zi's face stung from the burn, but he dared not wipe it. He could only kneel and smile apologetically, "My lord, calm down! Calm down! I never expected it to turn out like this—everything was fine before. I thought you were easy to handle this time, but who knew..."

Liao, the head of the household, was so angry that his face trembled. He shouted, "Even a donkey is smarter than you! How much trouble have you caused me just to save that tiny bit of money?!"

He then asked, "So what should we do now?"

Diao Zi's scalp tingled. He said, "It would be best...it would be best to redo three contracts. The house contract and land contract should be renamed as soon as possible. Also, the sales documents should be stamped with the seal of the building management office."

"For such a trivial matter, Liu Er dares to ask us for 120 strings of cash."

Upon hearing that it was 120 strings of cash, Manager Liao was somewhat surprised, but quickly said, "Isn't it just money? Give it to him."

Diao Zi was stunned, and hurriedly said, "Master, it's not that I'm stingy, but if we start talking like this, and word gets out, won't everyone be competing with us when we do other things in the future?"

He added, "Besides, you didn't see his true colors today. It's one thing to tell the servant to get lost, but he keeps insisting that you, the head of the household, go see him in person. That's incredibly arrogant!"

He was about to speak again when he heard the head of the household, Liao, ask, "Can you do it?"

"What?"

"Change the name on that contract and affix the seal of the building management office."

Diao Zi immediately shut up.

"You know you can't do it? Now you know you can't?! What were you doing before?!" Liao the magistrate cursed, and couldn't help but kick him.

Although Diao Zi leaned back and wasn't hit hard, he still took half the kick. He felt a sharp pain in his mouth and face, and his mouth was full of blood. When he licked it with his tongue, he found that his front teeth were a little loose.

He was startled and hurriedly licked it with his tongue, only to find it loosened further, so he dared not move it anymore.

"I told you to be more careful! Don't be stingy with money! Hurry up and clean up the mess, and send that woman to Master Wu's mansion. If you delay any longer, I'll twist your head off and use it as a chamber pot!"

"That Liu Er only cares about the house because it used to be valuable. He doesn't even know what it was like before and what it is like now. Without the students, it's worth nothing! If it weren't for the fact that the venue is right across the street, making it hard to hide, who the hell would bother with it!"

"Give him as much as he wants. Once this is over, see how I deal with him!"

Once the master had spoken, Diao Zi naturally dared not utter another word. Seeing that the person opposite him was in a bad mood, he dared not say anything more about the matter of the imperial student and the constable Ma. He could only tuck his tail between his legs and hurriedly go to find Liu Er of the capital prefectural government to handle some business.

***
Diao Zi was busy going to the Kyoto government office, and Song Miao was also on her way.

She had only walked half a street out of Suanzao Lane when she saw Han Li sitting at the entrance of a teahouse ahead, a pot of tea in front of him, a few pages of paper in his hands, looking at them idly. Song Miao pretended not to see him and walked a short distance away. When she looked back, she saw that he was already far behind her.

The two of them arrived at the Kyoto government office one after the other.

Han Li went to report for duty, while in the building affairs office, the clerk checked Song Miao's name, told her to wait, and went to the back storeroom. However, after searching for a long time, he could not find the house deed or land deed on the corresponding shelf. Feeling strange, he hurriedly asked the storeroom manager.

The warehouse manager was startled by these words and hurriedly went to find his colleague on duty.

When the other party learned that it was a house in Suanzao Lane, he was clearly a little flustered and said, "It seems that Brother Liu said this morning that he needed to check something, so he came to pick it up."

They've all been working in government offices for years; everyone knows there must be something going on.

The warehouse manager was somewhat displeased and said, "Since we're both on duty, when he checks things, doesn't he need to go through me? Doesn't he need to register it?"

He then asked, "Now that the homeowner has arrived, what should we do?"

The man quickly replied, "Don't worry, it's your share, you can't escape it, we'll talk about it later."

He added, "I'll go and urge them!"

He ran off as fast as he could, talking all the while.

The clerk and the warehouse manager waited for half a day before the errand boy and Liu Er hurriedly arrived, bringing back the land deed for a certain house in Suanzao Lane, as well as a house sale agreement and a formal deed.

Just as the warehouse manager was about to verify the contents, the assistant next to him grabbed his hand and immediately understood. He glanced at the document quickly, said nothing, and handed it back to the clerk.

The clerk took the documents and left. Liu Er then quietly handed the warehouse manager a small cloth bag, which was quite heavy.

When the treasury was opened, it was indeed full of strings of copper coins, a whole bag full.

He silently accepted the money, then asked, "Who are they this time? Is it a safe bet? Let's not get ourselves into trouble."

"You can rest assured about what I do." Liu Er chuckled. "I only changed a name or two and added a few documents. There's hardly anyone left in that house, so it's practically ownerless. Everything else has been taken care of."

***
Ahead, Song Miao, who had been waiting for a long time, finally saw the archives of her family's house stored in the yamen.

Apart from the house title and land title, there were brand new house sale and purchase agreements and official contracts.

If this archive were followed, the house in Suanzao Lane would no longer belong to the Song family.

Song Miaoxian was not in a hurry; she simply carefully examined the sales documents.

The seller was indeed Song Dalang, and there was his signed book and his fingerprint on it.

She carried with her copies of the family's land deeds and house deeds, as well as a copy of the document from the day Song Dalang changed his surname. Although the text and fingerprints were copied exactly, they only had a superficial resemblance. However, when she took them out and compared them one by one, even the naked eye could see that they were completely different.

But now that Song Dalang is long dead and there is no way to provide evidence, it is impossible to use written words or fingerprints to prove anything.

However, precisely because Song Dalang died without being able to testify, there is another, even more obvious error on this paper.

Song Miao's gaze fell on the last part of the sales contract.

The date on which this contract was drafted is written there.

The eighteenth day of the first lunar month.

Song Miao remembered the date very clearly.

It was the day that Song Dalang's body lay in state, and also the day a group of thugs came to demand the house back.

The day before, the coroner had issued a document confirming that Song Dalang had accidentally fallen into the water and died.

How can a dead person in a coffin be allowed to buy and sell real estate?

Another explanation is that he himself lifted the coffin lid, got up, and insisted on selling the house. At that time, the house was still owned by Song Huaizhou and Song Miao, and had nothing to do with him, so there was no way for him to sell it.

But can you reason with the clerks in the government office?

Song Miao gave it a try.

"Sir," she asked, "my elder brother and I are the owners of the house and were unaware of this at the moment, but the house has already been sold. Who can we contact to correct this?"

The clerk frowned and asked, "You say you're the owner of the house, but do you have any proof?"

Song Miao showed the other party the copied document and explained her family situation.

After hearing this, the clerk threw the copy back and said, "I only recognize the records in the yamen. As for your family matters and business disputes, they have nothing to do with me. If you are not satisfied, find a lawyer and go to the yamen to file a lawsuit for a year or two. After you win, come back to talk to me with the judgment. Other explanations are useless."

After saying that, he urged Song Miao, "Have you finished reading it? If you have, don't waste time. There are plenty of people waiting behind you. I need to put this house deed and land deed away."

He urged him three or four times, his tone becoming increasingly harsh each time.

There's a saying that government offices are always open, but those with reason but no money shouldn't enter.

Song Miao had little time left, was short of money, and could not possibly place her hopes on going to court.

According to her previous plan, after confirming this now, she would wait until the Imperial Academy examination was over before going to find those Imperial Academy students and asking them to help inquire about the house, whether there was any solution, and where the problem was.

This is merely leveraging existing momentum; they don't actually need to solve the problem.

Whether they were students from the Imperial Academy or later students from the Nanlu Academy, after eating the glutinous rice and shumai, many of them were enthusiastic and some even became friends with her. In particular, Cheng Zijian and others were of excellent character. Even though they had no power, it did not prevent them from being passionate and kind-hearted.

Perhaps some people will seek help from friends, teachers, or fellow students.

If many people seek their help, and the word gets around, it's considered to have gained momentum, and those behind it won't be afraid of losing some respect.

Once she saves up some more money, she can buy some more articles—or perhaps she won't need to buy them, as someone will be willing to write them for her.

With so many articles and so much discussion on the streets, are we really afraid that the higher-ups won't know?

This is the capital city!

One article was enough to make Minister Cao request a reduction in his salary.

Even if I can't get Han Li to come, having ten or eight articles spread outside should be enough to get justice. It shouldn't be that difficult, right?
This is one of the solutions.

If all else fails, she has other backup plans. As long as she tries them one by one, she's not afraid of making a big fuss in the end.

At this moment, she is truly barefoot, while those who desire houses and other women are the ones wearing shoes.

At this moment, despite being urged and chased away by the clerk, Song Miao remained calm and composed.

Since there's a problem with the documents, and she's an orphan who doesn't know anything, of course she has to find someone to ask for advice!

The students were taking their exams, and we were supposed to wait until they finished before discussing it further.

But isn't there one that doesn't require an exam right now?

He had just eaten her stuffed pomelo peel and stuffed bamboo shoots that noon, and seemed quite satisfied. He was even very polite and wanted to have a meal with her.

Since she likes to eat it, she can make more.

You like stuffed dishes, right?

Any kind of stuffed vegetables, such as stuffed lotus root, stuffed snails, stuffed tofu skin, stuffed bottle gourd, and all sorts of other miscellaneous dishes, can be made when the season comes.

Those who take people have short hands and eat people with soft mouths.

Young Master Han, after eating my food, it's not too much to ask a few questions, is it?

I'll have to start by asking you for advice.

(End of this chapter)