159 Tricky
Xie Jingrong, who had been thinking that one more helper might work better, expressed his gratitude politely but refused his help. He stressed repeatedly. “Please tell Officer Qiao that it is my private affair, and it is a big taboo to use public forces to deal with private matters. It is not good to hire so many people, otherwise I will feel really guilty about it! Those senior people in the family would blame me for it too!”
Strategist Lu was startled as he smiled and nodded. “You are right, absolutely right! Young Master Xie, don’t worry, I will never deal with private things using public forces, never…”
Strategist Lu informed County Magistrate Qiao about it, and the magistrate had to drop the idea of getting the staff to search for the plant or putting up the poster of offering prizes to those who found it.
But he was not going to drop the idea of sucking up to the Xie Family. So, he dispatched a few servants and several trustworthy policemen to seek the same in the mountains.
Then, he gave Strategist Lu some money to look around the mountains with some reliable villagers.
He even stressed that the Young Master Xie did not want this known to others, so everyone who was looking for the Chinese fleeceflower root should stay low-profiled rather than shout around, otherwise they would be punished!
Officer Qiao said to Madame Qiao happily, “There are so many mountains in the county. I believe that with so many people going into the mountains, they will definitely find one Chinese fleeceflower root over 500 years old!”
“If we find it…”
County Magistrate Qiao started to dream as his eyes sparkled. “I heard that Young Master Xie is planning to give the plant to Madame Xie, which should be a huge favor they would owe us!”
The Xie Family and the court in the capital were very related to each other. The Xie Family had enormous contacts in the capital, and Xie Jingrong’s grandfather was a lord who was in grace…
It would be easy for him to get a position in the capital, when he did this favor for that man.
Madame Qiao got excited as well. She crossed her fingers and said, “Please, Buddha, please give us the blessing! If it happens, all will work out so well!”
Madame Qiao’s eyes rolled as she smiled. “500 years or 400 years, or less, the year is not fixed. It is just a Chinese fleeceflower root that is old enough, as long as we can find one that is over 100 years old or just 50 years old, the Xie Family would owe us a big favor anyway!”
That was such a treacherous thing to say.
It basically meant that no matter whether the thing found was right or not, since they made some effort, they should receive some favor!”
Officer Qiao’s eyes sparkled. He laughed. “That is a good idea!”
After all, he was really willing to help Young Master, but it was never easy to find a Chinese fleeceflower root over 500 years old. If he managed to find one less than 500 years old, it could still be handy for Young Master Xie!
It was the effort he was exerting!
Young Master Xie was talented. He was young and could not stand being embarrassed. If they exchanged a few amiable words after this, the Xie Family would definitely have to owe them a favor, no matter what.