Chapter 63 Returning the Jade to Zhao
The problem now is that Liu Ji knows better than anyone that the official seal is not in Deng Jian's hands. That official seal...

And now, the official seal is held by him, which means... Now everyone knows that the guardian of the official seal has been transferred from Deng Jian to him.

Liu Ji was no fool. He understood immediately that once the official seal... was lost... of course no one would blame Deng Jian. Deng Jian risked his life to put out the fire, and everyone knew that the official seal was kept by him, Liu Ji. From now on, if the official seal was lost, it would not be Deng Jian's head that would be at stake, but his head as the county magistrate.

Even if Deng Jian's behavior was inappropriate, he still could not escape blame. At most, Deng Jian and Liu Ji, who lost his official seal, would be beheaded together.

The responsibility for the loss of the official seal...has been transferred.

Liu Ji opened his mouth wide and his head was buzzing.

At this time, the thick smoke caused by the fire was already blowing in the face, bringing a pungent cough.

Subconsciously, he wanted to open the box immediately and reveal in front of everyone that there was no official seal in the box.

But right now, the situation was urgent, there was thick smoke, darkness, and chaos here. Just as he was about to open the box.

His face suddenly turned dark, and he began to curse in his heart: "You bastard, this box is locked."

It can't be opened for a while.

At this time, Deng Jian did not give him any time to react, but shouted: "Liu County Magistrate, protect the official seal. If you lose the official seal, the court will exterminate our entire family. Son, and other fast officials, come with me to put out the fire."

They took wet wipes, covered their mouths with handkerchiefs and started heading towards the well.

Inspired by Deng Jian, people around him also took action.

Suddenly, everyone dispersed.

Only Liu Ji, holding the box, was still a little confused.

Under the firelight, his face looked grim and extremely scary.

So, he tried hard to open the box. After a lot of effort, he finally opened the box. Unfortunately... the box was empty, just as he had guessed.

"You're like a dog." Liu Ji cursed in a low voice.

But soon, he shuddered.

Losing the official seal will result in death.

The chief officer went to put out the fire and asked the assistant official to keep the official seal. However, Liu Ji, the assistant official, lost the seal. What crime was he guilty of?

The problem was that he had no place to appeal for justice for this matter. If he went to the imperial court, he would find that Deng Jian, who came to the rescue, had given him an empty box without any seal on it.

Do you think anyone would believe it?
Could someone who doesn't care about other people's lives and personally puts out the fire have any bad intentions?

Even if we take a step back, Deng Jian was a new official, while Liu Ji had been in the political arena for a long time. The former was a bookish county magistrate, while the latter was an old official.

Who will everyone believe?
Liu Ji took a deep breath and cursed in his heart, but he looked around and then disappeared into the darkness holding the box.

Zhu Yuanzhang could vaguely see what was happening here from a distance. He couldn't help but take a breath. Perhaps he understood something in his mind.

He was impressed by Deng Qianqiu's operation.

"Secretly keep an eye on Liu Ji." Zhu Yuanzhang gradually felt relieved.

Then, he said calmly, "Send a few more people to pretend to be local residents to help put out the fire."

"Here."

…………

A fire comes quickly and goes away quickly.

Finally... Deng Jian and Deng Qianqiu returned to the yamen, panting.

Someone had brought tea to Deng Jian, and he took a sip before he calmed down. In front of the other officials, Deng Jian said with great joy, "Fortunately, the fire has not spread yet. It only burned a firewood hut. However, the fire broke out at night. This is my fault. I will report it to the Yingtian Prefecture and ask the Prefecture to punish me."

Outside the yamen, the night watchman and several runners who were on duty that night were already feeling very nervous. They were on duty at night, and now that a fire had broken out, they could not escape blame.

But after hearing Deng Jian's words, they felt a little relieved. The county magistrate did not intend to pursue them. If there was a connection, the county magistrate was willing to take the responsibility himself.

In their hearts, they gave Deng Jian a thumbs up, and at the same time, they felt a little grateful to the newly appointed county magistrate.

The other officials were terrified.

But Deng Jian took another sip of tea and looked around: "Where is County Magistrate Liu?"

Everyone looked around, and someone said, "We saw him just now."

Another person said, "When we were putting out the fire, I saw County Magistrate Liu running out of the government office."

Then, everyone couldn't help but shake their heads in their hearts.

There was a fire in the government office, and the county magistrate set an example by leading the troops. However, the county magistrate, who was the assistant to the county magistrate, fled.

Alas...I am not responsible enough.

Deng Jian smiled and said, "It's OK. Maybe something happened to him in the fire. Someone, go and look for him. Don't let County Magistrate Liu get hurt. Oh, my official seal is still in his hand. Don't make any mistakes."

This Jiangning County is a capital county, and the assistant officials assigned to it are different from those in other counties. In addition to the usual county magistrate, clerk, chief clerk, county lieutenant, and teacher, there are also patrol inspectors, treasury ambassadors, warehouse ambassadors, tax ambassadors, post station magistrates, river officials, etc. Now everyone is gathered together, and those who don't know about this, of course, look indifferent, but in this yamen, of course, there are also the confidants or close people of County Magistrate Liu, who seem to know a little bit of the inside story, but at this time they all deliberately lowered their heads to cover up their abnormal expressions.

Finally, at the first light of dawn, the county magistrate Liu Ji came in breathlessly. When Deng Jian saw him, he immediately smiled and said, "Where has County Magistrate Liu gone? It's easy to find him."

Liu Ji looked embarrassed, but he still held the box in his arms like a treasure and said, "Your subordinate..."

Without waiting for him to explain, Deng Jian asked, "Where is my seal?"

Even though Liu Ji was furious, he had no choice but to hand over the box honestly.

Deng Jian took the box, but opened it in front of everyone. At this time, an official seal suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

Deng Jian smiled and said, "I thought... County Magistrate Liu had lost the seal."

Liu Ji hurriedly said, "No, no, no, even if I lose my head, I will never dare to... joke about this seal."

Everybody started laughing.

Deng Jian smiled and said, "What County Magistrate Liu said makes sense. This official seal is a certificate issued by the court to officials. It is the most important thing. You and I would rather lose our lives than lose the official seal. Otherwise, it will be a capital crime. Well, you have worked hard all night. Let's all go and rest first. It will be dawn and we will have official business during the day."

Liu Ji... knew that the responsibility had shifted to himself, so he had no choice but to find a way to find the stolen official seal and put it back in the box to create the illusion that he had returned the seal intact.

But he knew very well that he had stolen the official seal first, and then was tricked by Deng Jian, who found the official seal and made him suffer a loss. He had to suffer this loss in silence, but he was like a dumb person eating bitter herbs, unable to express his pain. Therefore, although he still had a smile on his face, his eyes flashed with resentment when he looked at Deng Jian.

Deng Jian ignored him and returned to his residence with Deng Qianqiu.

When only the father and son were in the room, Deng Qianqiu couldn't help but say, "Dad, we only found the official seal, isn't that too good for him?"

Deng Jian said calmly, "There is a long way to go, and I will take care of things myself. Qianqiu, you have worked hard this time."

Deng Jian looked at Deng Qianqiu with a gentle look in his eyes.

Deng Qianqiu smiled and said, "Speaking of which, this time it was all thanks to my brother. Without this helper, this might not have been possible. Wait a minute, I'll go find my brother... and let Dad meet him. Dad, my friends are all very righteous and loyal. Haha, if Dad meets my brother, he will definitely like him very much."

Deng Qianqiu was in a good mood after getting the official seal back. After that, he ran out to look for Zhu Yuanzhang.

But after searching the entire backyard, there was no sign of anyone.

Deng Qianqiu was a little disappointed. He couldn't help but scratch his head and sigh.

…………

In Wuying Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang had not slept all night. He had taken a bath and changed into new clothes.

At this moment, he was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, his face changing from gloomy to happy. This was his habit when thinking. His pair of tiger eyes now held a majesty that made it impossible to look directly at him.

"Your Majesty." A guard hurried into the hall, bowed and saluted, saying, "We have found out that the official seal is hidden in the well in Liu Ji's mansion. I saw him take the official seal out of the well with my own eyes..."

"Ah."

A moment later, the first one hurried over, holding a stack of documents in his hand, and said, "Your Majesty, I have retrieved Liu Ji's resume. He is from He County. He joined the army in the 21st year of Emperor Zhizheng's reign. He was originally a clerk under the left prime minister Li Shanchang. Later, he dispatched military rations and made great contributions, so he was promoted to the position of county magistrate of Jiangning County."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and asked slowly, "What other official positions did he hold?"

He should have said first: "I worked as a clerk in Ningguo County, and then as the ambassador of the warehouse in Ji'an..."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly sneered: "It's very interesting. He is from Huaixi and has been in Ningguo County and Ji'an..."

He should have looked at Zhu Yuanzhang carefully first, and then asked, "Your Majesty, have you informed the Yiluansi to send an imperial decree to arrest the man?"

"Arrest him?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked calmly, "What crime?"

I should be speechless first.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Do you think he stole the official seal? If he did, someone would have lost the official seal. The person who stole the official seal should be sentenced to death, but how should the person who lost the official seal be dealt with?"

I should also hurriedly say: "This servant...is too talkative."

Zhu Yuanzhang paced a few steps, but said coldly: "You are so bold to frame your superiors and even dare to bully me."

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was dark and deathly, and his pair of tiger eyes were like soul-catching ropes.

Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes and seemed to calm down gradually: "Wait a little longer and see how Deng Jian will act. I want to see whether he will swallow his anger or take action."

You should also be surprised first.

If it were any other day, Your Majesty would have beheaded Liu Ji long ago.

But who would have thought that His Majesty would actually show such great patience.

Just to hone Deng Jian?
Deng Jian...seems to be getting more and more complicated.

Zhu Yuanzhang then sat up straight and began to curse again: "Deng Qianqiu, this bastard, dared to burn the county government office today, who knows what he will dare to do tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)