"Look at you, it's been over a year since you've seen your brother, can't you speak properly?" Hu Da hastily rebuked his wife. This time, they had come to ask for help from this brother-in-law, so they should speak nicely, shouldn't they?

  "Your sister-in-law is worried about you all day at home, always afraid that you will be bullied." Hu Mingde pushed Zhao Hongqing to sit down, saying with a smile, "Brother was annoyed by his sister-in-law's nagging, so he drove the car and brought your sister over to see you. Your wife is not virtuous, and your sister-in-law is afraid that she will come to see you this time and cause another conflict between you two. Let's just have a meal here and chat, so as not to say something wrong again and make things difficult for you."

  Zhao Hongqing nodded continuously as he listened to Hu Mingde, and his heart finally settled down. He looked at his sister and hurriedly tried to please her: "You mentioned last time that you wanted to eat Zhou Shu's cured sausage, so we had her make 50 kilograms and send them over. Mother asked Zhou Shu to dry them in the Zhang family's courtyard, and you can bring them back later..."

  "What's the point of showing off in front of everyone? Your wife is not virtuous, is she? How can I, who only think about my mother's family, also make a fuss?" Zhao Dajie was unhappy and before she could finish speaking, Hu Mingde suddenly interrupted her with a loud cough. "Dajie, it's not easy to see Hongqing Ge, why bring up these unpleasant things as soon as you meet? You always talk about how much you care for Hongqing Ge at home, but when you see him, you speak like this."

  Zhao's wife immediately knew she shouldn't be arguing about this now, and busied herself with her mouth shut, watching Hu Mingde's expression, accompanying him with a smile, not daring to say another word.

  "Hong Qing Ge, I came with Big Brother and Sister-in-law this time, there's something important I need to tell you." Hu Mingde decided to say it himself, and straightforwardly got it over with, lest his not-so-bright sister-in-law get angry later and ruin things.

  "It's like this, Hongqing brother also knows that I'm now in the Xian Si Yu Men, mainly handling the documents of the Xian Si, it's a very important task. Hongqing brother also knows that now the Empress Dowager and Prince Qin are living in our Hangzhou city, and soon it will be Chinese New Year, from the Shuai Si to our Xian Si, everyone is so tense."

  Hu Mingde looked at Zhao Hongqing, who was listening with wide eyes and a face full of envy, and slightly raised his chin, continuing: "Nowadays, our two Zhejiang roads, especially our Hangzhou Prefecture, can't afford to have even the slightest trouble, whoever causes any trouble..."

  Hu Mingde made a beheading gesture with his hand and said, "You'll lose your head!"

  Zhao Hongqing was frightened by a clever trick.

  "Yesterday, coincidentally, I was serving a document when the official mentioned this licentious cult. He said that this licentious cult is the most detestable thing, harming the common people and being the source of chaos. He also said that if it's discovered that any village or town has such a cult, they wouldn't mention the cult first, but would instead interrogate those with official titles in that village or town. If there aren't any with official titles, then they'd take those who have read books, saying that these people who have read books should be good at being virtuous and educating the common people for the country. If not, it's a great crime."

  Zhao Hongqing nodded in agreement, but didn't think about himself at all.

  Hu Mingde had no choice but to get straight to the point, "I came over this time because I remembered what Eldest Sister said last time, that Hong Qing's wife was going around everywhere asking for children and whatnot. Hong Qing, that place where she went to ask for children is a brothel, and in this Creek Mouth Town, you're probably the only educated person, right?"

  "Ah?" Zhao Hongqing had read a few books, not too stupid, and suddenly understood, also scared to death. "Ah! What can be done? I didn't know...I just accompanied your sister-in-law a few times..."

  "Hong Qing Ge, don't be anxious, look, I've come to help you." Hu Mingde saw that he was so frightened and secretly let out a sigh of relief. It's settled then, this matter is 60-70% successful.

  "This temple was built right in the town of Xigou, and it's all your fault, Hongqing. Who told you to be the only literate person in this town? You're the only scholar here. Don't be afraid, I'm here to help you. In my opinion, not just the county magistrate, but all three magistrates are the same. You can't ignore this matter, and you need to take care of it early. Although you've read books, you don't have any official title, so even if you want to take care of it, all you can do is report it to the county government and ask them to send someone to investigate. Once you've reported it, it's not your problem anymore."

  Hu Mingde got straight to the point. Zhao Hongqing nodded continuously, "Then I'll go to the county..."

  "Hong Qing, this licentiousness in Xikou Town has been going on for more than a day or two. You're only reporting it now, and when the higher-ups investigate, they'll find that you've been accompanying your sister-in-law back and forth, which is another serious offense. I think we should go see Wu County Magistrate of Hengshan County, with whom I have had a few dealings. He's a very righteous person. If we ask him to intervene, saying that you reported this licentiousness to the county government office long ago, then there won't be any problem here."

  "Thanks a lot, Sanlang! Thanks to you, Sanlang! This is all thanks to your help." Zhao Hongqing kept bowing and nodding, not knowing how to thank him enough.

  "This matter should be done quickly, the sooner the better. Let's go now." Hu Mingde wished he could take Zhao Hongqing to Hengshan County government office in one step, see Wu Xianwei, sign his name and stamp...

  "Wait a minute." Zhao's sister-in-law grabbed her brother Zhao Hongqing and looked at Hu Mingde, "This is a matter of asking for help, there's no reason to ask for help with empty hands. Hongqing, this is a matter of saving your life, Sanlang has already given you a free pass, who made you my own brother? But you can't let Sanlang pay the silver for you again, that's not reasonable. Besides, Sanlang's life isn't easy."

  Hu Mingde heard Da Sao say this, and had a few moments of hesitation. Mr. Yao said that he had already arranged for the Wu County Wei side, so this silver would definitely not be given, but this silver... his own life was indeed not prosperous.

  Zhao Hongqing was in a dilemma. Zhao's wife glared at him, "Hongqing, this is a matter of life and death! You think it over yourself!"

  Zhao Hongqing was startled and hastily nodded, "Sister, Sanlang, you two wait here for me, I'll go back to get the silver, how much silver do we need?"

  Zhao Hongqing looked at Hu Mingde, who hesitated and wondered how much would be good. The Zhao family was quite wealthy... but he had no idea how much silver Zhao Hongqing had in his hands...

  "This... you deal with it... think about it..." Hu Mingde hesitated, and Zhao Dajie interrupted him, "You go back and get 500 taels of silver first. I have some here too, and I'll give some to Sanlang later. If 500 taels are enough, then that's it. If not, use my silver as a deposit first, and you can return the silver to me later. Alas, all this is for your own good!"

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