roccoschili Chapter 251 Taking a Seat
Chapter 251 Taking a Seat
"Haha, no need to be so polite, Su Hehua. Guan Xiao said that the two portraits she brought were painted by you?"
Su He glanced at the two people opposite him and replied respectfully with his head lowered.
"My Lord, I drew these. I heard from the old lady of the Zhao Mansion that Zhou Tianfu had escaped. I happened to meet Guan Xiao who was about to report to the authorities, so I drew two portraits. I hope to help you catch the traitor as soon as possible."
"Well, this isn't drawn with a brush. What tools did you use to paint it?"
"Your Excellency, it's a charcoal pencil. I picked it up from the stove."
After hearing this, the lawyer turned around and left. County Magistrate Ge said to Su He.
"Here is some rice paper. When the charcoal pencils come, you can draw another one."
Su He smiled and took out the charcoal pencil wrapped in oil paper from her arms.
"My Lord, I have brought it. I can paint it now."
Magistrate Ge was a little surprised, then he smiled and said, "Then just draw on the table."
Su He took a piece of paper and started working. County Magistrate Ge did not check it, but handled his official business there.
He was looking at the assets left by Zhou Tianfu. Apart from anything else, Zhou Tianfu was quite wealthy. He had eight farms of various sizes, thousands of acres of paddy fields, and six shops in the city. They found 20,000 taels of silver notes and several hundred taels of change. Logically, the Zhou family should not have only this little money. It seemed that the traitor had been prepared.
County Magistrate Ge looked at the land deed with regret in his eyes. They were still too cautious. If they had known this would happen, they should have arrested the person the moment they found the account book. Usually, this job was done by Chen Shi. He was stubborn and the emperor protected him, so he did the job of confiscating the property very quickly.
I don't know where this brat has gone to carry out his mission again. It seems he needs to find a replacement to do this job for him.
County Magistrate Ge's thoughts flew away for a moment. After Su He called out to him twice, County Magistrate Ge finally came back to his senses.
"My Lord! I have finished the painting."
Magistrate Ge was amazed when he saw the portrait Su He handed over.
“You drew me?”
Su He smiled and nodded, "My lotus painting skills are average, sorry for the poor performance."
County Magistrate Ge looked at himself on the rice paper and felt like he was looking in a mirror. His painting skills were just average, and there was no one outstanding in the entire Dayong.
"Haha, the painting is very good, Lotus. Are you interested in coming to the government office to do some work? I heard that you can read, too."
What? She can actually eat public food?
"Sir, I am a woman, is that okay?"
Su He was a little surprised. This dynasty was very friendly to women.
"Haha, the emperor said that anyone with talent can become an official. You haven't been to the capital, so you may not know that there are also female officials in the capital, and there are quite a few of them. It's just that there are fewer in our southern part. Most of them get married when they reach a certain age."
Su He was a little tempted, but she didn't want to get up early, not to mention that she wanted to go back to the village from time to time.
"Sir, I am willing. Do I have to come to the government office every day? This government office shouldn't have so many portraits for me to paint, right?"
Although Su He was quite excited, he still wanted to ask clearly.
"Well, when we need you, we will find you. If you don't need to, you can do your own thing."
What does it mean? It’s still a temporary worker.
"Sir, what is my treatment like?"
Su He decided to get to the bottom of it, as it was not okay to work for free.
"Haha, two taels of silver a month, you can rest on holidays, but your situation is special, if you are needed to paint a portrait, you must come immediately."
This means that she can no longer live in the countryside, but she can sleep in. However, this is temporary, she plans to occupy a position first, and when she has trained an apprentice, she will be free.
As for the selection of apprentices, of course they will be chosen from the clan, so that the benefits will not be wasted on outsiders.
"Thank you, Master Ge. I will work hard."
Su He's face was full of loyalty, "Sir, I will definitely do my best for our government."
County Magistrate Ge was very satisfied. They had originally planned to go to the capital to recruit people, which was not cheap. They had to pay 50 taels of silver for travel expenses. Now they have saved all that money, hahahaha.
"Sir, I have made it clear that Guan Xiao did not lie. There were a total of fifteen victims in the past year. Except for Guan Xiao who escaped, the others died and their bodies were buried in the backyard."
The lawyer originally went to look for charcoal pencils, but the constable suddenly came back to report that a body had been found, so he came back after dealing with it.
"Sir, among the fifteen victims there are maids who signed a contract to sell themselves, and women who were deceived. The maids are not mentioned, so how should the compensation for the women be calculated?"
Magistrate Ge sighed, "First, we'll go through the government account. Once the identity is verified, the family can get 60 taels. Guan Xiao will get 20 more taels. Even though the maid signed a contract to sell herself, she should also be given 10 taels. Let the family bury the victim properly."
The lawyer was about to say that there was not enough money in the public account, but seeing that Su He was still there, he could only grit his teeth and bear it. He seriously suspected that his senior brother wanted him to use his old capital.
"Sir, I have a suggestion regarding this pension."
Magistrate Ge and the lawyer both looked over and said, "You go ahead."
"I just heard from you that the maids also get 10 taels of silver for burial expenses. You meant well, but most families that sell their daughters are not good. I was deceived and sold by my family when I was a child, so I understand this. If I were a victim, I would not want this money to fall into the hands of the cruel parents who sold me. It would be better for the government to directly allocate this 10 taels of silver to the coffin shop so that the victims can rest in peace with dignity."
"Secondly, for women like Guan Xiao who come from good families, were deceived into entering the mansion. Are their families really unaware of it? If they are also aware of it, then wouldn't the adults' kindness be in vain?
Since both of you are so kindhearted, He Hua dares to suggest that we ask Guan Xiao herself what she really needs. "
After Su He finished speaking, he knelt down in front of the two men and waited quietly.
"Haha, Ming, what Lotus said makes some sense, what do you think?"
Magistrate Ge asked the lawyer, who nodded with a smile, "Your Excellency is right. In that case, let's listen to the victim's wishes."
After the lawyer finished speaking, he went out again, and it was obvious that he was going to summon Guan Xiao.
"I heard that your brother wants to be a constable. The requirements for a formal constable in our yamen are very high. Is your brother qualified?"
County Magistrate Ge didn't want to handle official business at this moment. He felt it necessary to get to know his new subordinates.
Su He thought of Wang Zhi's bruised nose and eyes and smiled awkwardly.
"We are peasants. We can definitely do well in farming, but we are still a little short of being proper constables. Fortunately, Lord Chen Shi gave us a horse. My brothers have been practicing and have learned some martial arts. If we are to be temporary workers, we still have some confidence. My brothers are very hardworking. Hard work can make up for lack of talent. I believe in them."
Su He didn't dare to brag. What if the magistrate chose to trust her and let her brother become a formal detective? If he messed up in the future, he would cause trouble for her. After thinking about it, she decided it was better to be down-to-earth.
There will be plenty of opportunities in the future, so don't be too anxious.