The man, who had just been slapped to the ground, spoke weakly, " Shopkeeper Jin, you're a good person, please help him."
Jin Shanyao, expressionless, said, "I'm a pervert..."
The man choked, "Then... then I'll apologize, okay? Fortune telling doesn't cost anything, it's just a matter of using your brain. He looks so pitiful, so don't take his money?"
Jin Shanyao her eyes. " Anzhi, what do you mean by being generous with other people's money?"
Before Meng Anzhi could answer, Meng Anci in, "Taking other people's money and benefits, doing favors and acting generous, while not contributing a single penny to oneself, suffering no loss and even gaining a 'good person' title—that's just being generous with other people's money."
The man was so ashamed that he took out five coins, put them into a pile of silver, and retreated into the crowd without saying another word.
The woman with the Jin Shanyao, "Old man, what are your daughter's birth details? Which river did she die in? Where did she live?"
The old man answered each question, and with the Spiritual Power of his Jin Shanyao, he followed the divination to the river. It was more of a dry canal than a river, and next to the canal was a mass grave.
Jin Shanyao an eyebrow. She seemed to have a special connection with this mass grave. It wouldn't be kind of her to drag the ghost out for questioning during the day.
She channeled her Spiritual Power into the roots of the surrounding trees, seeking detailed information about events that had occurred nearly thirty years ago.
The old man was a farmer named Shen Gensheng from Stone Gate Village. His daughter, Shen Xiaoman, married Cao Wentian, a scholar from the same village, at the age of fifteen. Over five years, she wove cloth and spun yarn, finally supporting her husband to become a scholar.
Just when she thought her good days were coming, her in-laws wanted to divorce her on the grounds that she hadn't conceived in five years. Naturally, Shen Xiaoman Shen Xiaoman refused to agree.
The situation escalated to a point where, one day, the scholar said he had come to his senses and wanted to live a good life with Shen Xiaoman. So he took Shen Xiaoman Shen Xiaoman to the river to catch fish, but unexpectedly pushed her directly into the ditch, where she drowned.
Because it was an accident, the authorities couldn't find any clues and the matter was dropped. As time went by, the story faded from memory, but the old man was still searching for the truth.
Jin Shanyao looked at the old man's expectant eyes and said calmly, "Go report to the authorities and take Lord Su to the place where your daughter died. Dig down to about a meter high, and you'll find a broken pottery jar. Inside is what you're looking for."
The old man staggered to his feet, "I... I... I'll go right now..." He was so excited that he lost his balance and fell several times.
Jin Shanyao gathered the silver coins from the ground, counted them, and called out to the old man's retreating figure, "Hey, you owe me eighteen taels of silver. Let Lord Su pay it for you."
These words drew collective contempt from those around him!
As the saying goes, "The government office remains, but the officials come and go."
Su Wenqian didn't recognize the old man, but everyone else in the government office knew him very well, and they all complained bitterly when they heard that he had filed a police report.
Every three years, this has to be done. Who can stand it? The gatekeeper led the old man into the main hall, skillfully retrieved the case files, and presented them to Su Wenqian.
When Su Wenqian learned about the situation, he heard that Jin Shanyao had already pointed out the location, so he led his men to the crime scene that very day.
The constables and yamen runners, carrying shovels, reluctantly began digging. "Sir," one of them said, "This ditch has been dry for decades; the soil is rock hard, we can't dig it up at all."
Su Wenqian said coldly, " Jin Shanyao said there's something here, so there must be something. Dig quickly."
A group of people from the government office took turns digging, and finally unearthed the pottery jar before dark. The jar was filled with soil, and Su Wenqian, fearing it was important evidence, did not dare to smash it.
The old man took the pottery jar back to the government office and soaked it in water. The soil inside the jar fell off, revealing half of a jade pendant. The jade pendant was of rough quality and worthless, but the old man recognized it at a glance.
He cried out, "This is Cao Wentian's jade pendant!"
This jade pendant, as key evidence, revealed for the first time the contradictions in the case file. Su Wenqian followed the clues and investigated further, thus solving a long-standing murder case involving his wife.
The case was solved and Cao Wentian was executed in the autumn. The entire process, including the trial and service of documents, took less than half a month.
For this case, Su Wenqian was commended by the imperial court and awarded 300 taels of silver. He secretly gave all of the reward silver and the old man's 18 taels of fortune-telling money to Jin Shanyao.
And Jin Shanyao earned a nickname in the prefectural city. "Unyielding to pluck immortal feathers, a miserly rooster."
A month passed in the blink of an eye. The ginseng competition ended, Qin Baitang returned to Qingzhou Prefecture in a flurry of activity.
Anzhi Hall Study.
Qin Baitang slammed a stack of papers on the table, picked up a teacup and gulped down half of it, then wiped his mouth and smiled, "These are the orders I've secured."
Jin Shanyao picked up the two sheets, flipped through them, and handed them to Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci. The two little ones looked serious, quite like little bosses.
Jin Shanyao and said, " Old Qin, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. You are truly talented. Tonight, I'll host a welcome dinner for you at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion..."
Qin Baitang had been away from home for over two months and was already homesick. He laughed it off, saying, "What are you waiting for? I brought a batch of medicinal herb seeds from the capital. I have to go back and plant them, otherwise I won't be able to deliver next year."
As he spoke, he took another big gulp of water and got up to leave, but Jin Shanyao stopped him. She asked Qing He to bring five bottles of face cream and gave them to Qin Baitang.
"This was specially made by Anzhi for your aunt. It has whitening and skin-care effects. She's been waiting for you to come back so she could bring it back."
"This..." Qin Baitang looked at Meng Anzhi gratefully, "I thank you on behalf of my wife, young master."
Meng Anzhi smiled warmly, "I've been wanting to go back to Willow and Poplar County to visit Grandma Qin, but I haven't had the time. Could you please pass on a message for me, saying that I want to eat her ginger milk curd?"
Qin Baitang laughed heartily, "You silly child, if you like it, I'll give you the recipe."
Meng Anzhi, "No, I'll eat Grandma Qin's cooking. It tastes like home."
Hearing this, Qin Baitang sighed deeply. These two children had lost their parents at a young age and had grown up alongside Jin Shanyao, struggling and suffering along the way. It was truly pitiful.
"Okay, I'll bring her to see you next time you submit the ledgers," Qin Baitang said, stuffing the face cream into his bag.
Looking up, he saw the seventy-year-old ginseng... Xiaoqi was stunned. "Master, what is this?!"
Jin Shanyao and said, "I saw that you liked it very much, so I gave it to you..."
Qin Baitang's heart skipped a beat. A surge of joy and emotion overwhelmed him. Many Aristocratic Clan families had offered a thousand taels of silver to buy this ginseng at the ginseng competition, but he hadn't been willing to sell it.
I was thinking of displaying it at the Anzhi Hall as a living signboard, but unexpectedly Jin Shanyao gave it to him. "Master, this..."
"Don't say anything, Old Qin, you're the first person I ever befriended... I wouldn't trust anyone else with the Anzhi Hall business; I only trust you."
Qin Baitang was so moved he almost cried. " Old Qin, don't worry, even if I have to go through Mountain Foot Fire, I will manage Anzhi Hall Lush Mountain well."
Jin Shanyao patted Qin Baitang's shoulder, "Don't overwork yourself... Your health is more important than those medicinal herbs."
Qin Baitang held Xiaoqi in his arms, deeply moved. At that moment, he wished he could die for the Anzhi Hall, and even as he left, he did not forget to express his loyalty.
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci a glance. When it comes to hiring, they still had to rely on their aunt!
That night, the Jin Shanyao its Spiritual Power to irrigate the entire Lush Mountain, ensuring that every plant was free from disease and disaster and grew strong and healthy.