Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 374 Jinling Prefect handles the case
In Jinling City,

prefect yamen,

Jia Yucun covered his mouth and sat on the chair in the hall, sucking and gasping for air.

Down the hall,

Leng Zixing came over with the prepared medicine, put a few candied dates on the table, and said,
"Master, the medicine is ready. You'd better drink it first. If you feel sleepy, you'd better rest more. Don't think about those things."

"Well, I don't want it either. It's so painful."

Jia Yucun pinched his nose and drank the bitter medicine in one gulp. Then he took a piece of candied date and put it into his mouth. Only then did he feel better.

In those days, I was busy with college affairs, thinking about the case with Ma Captou, but I didn't have a clue. Those gangsters were useless, and I couldn't find out why the person was dead. So many days have passed, and despite the weather It's not hot. I even touched some secret medicine, but there is still a peculiar smell wafting out. It will stink until the case is solved.

Leng Zixing didn't know how anxious he was about this matter. Seeing that the adults couldn't sleep at night and were overworked, he had to think of a way and tried to say;

"Master, we can't delay this matter any longer. The longer it is delayed, the more troublesome it will be. Marquis Luo Yun has now returned with his troops. You said that if you delay it any longer, you are afraid that it will attract the attention of the Marquis or the thoughts of those behind you, so Master We need to cut through the mess quickly, and the best solution is to close the case."

Jia Yucun touched his beard, his face twitched, and there was still some unbearable pain in his mouth, but his eyes lit up, it was a good idea, and he asked urgently;
"Master Leng, do you have any good ideas? Let me tell you."

When Leng Zixing saw no one around him, he came over, leaned down and whispered in his ear;
"Master, I still remember how the Xue family's case was handled. There were so many people in the cell, and there were many felons. It would be better to beat them up, put their fingerprints on them, attach a file to the file, and interrogate and kill them immediately, or commit suicide in prison. , won’t this matter be over, the yamen will provide some more money to compensate the academy and those students, please tell the mountain chief, and this matter will be over, won’t it?”

"Okay, okay, good idea. Master, go quickly. Aren't there still two water town gangsters in jail who are facing life-threatening lawsuits? It's just the two of them. Let's have a good trial today. Capt. Ma just came back. Let's He will do it himself.”

Jia Yucun suddenly felt that his mouth no longer hurt, and he immediately became energetic and shouted to Master Leng.

"This matter is easy to handle. It's nothing more than torture to extract a confession. It's really not possible. As long as you have your fingerprints pressed, it's just a hand. But I'm afraid it won't be easy to handle in the academy. The mountain leader Lian Yuming is a famous scholar, so I'm afraid If he doesn’t want to, then I will no longer be a human being inside or outside.”

"Oh, sir, what you think is wrong. This matter has little impact on us, but it is a big deal for the academy. Now the imperial examination is coming soon. My lord, tell me, isn't the mountain chief in a hurry? Even if he Don't worry, aren't those students in the academy afraid, so the sooner the case is settled, the better it will be for the academy. Even if something happens in the end, it's inevitable that the adults care about the academy."

Before Leng Zixing finished speaking, Jia Yucun stood up and walked around the hall twice. He weighed it again and again in his mind. The master was right. If this matter can be done flawlessly, it must be done by no small force. , if I continue to investigate further, I am afraid that my seat will not be guaranteed.

"Master, what you said is not exaggerated. In this case, we will settle the case today and do it neatly. Master Leng, please go and make arrangements."

"Yes, sir, I will make arrangements right now."

Leng Zixing nodded, and asked the yamen servant to call Ma Shatou and ask him to bring the two gangsters. The case was settled today. This would prevent the rumors from spreading to the prefect's yamen and avoid long nights and nightmares.

Ma Baotou has also been very busy these days. He has searched through the entire academy, but there is no clue. The pressure can be imagined. Hearing the words of the Yamen servant, he also understood in his heart. It seemed that the prefect had thought of a way, so he brought Following the police, he went to the prison, escorted the person out, put on the shackles and went straight to the court.

The government officials on both sides shouted "mighty". Not to mention, the momentum was well controlled. In the strict courtroom, the two of them were scared to death.

Ma Bao's head kicked the two of them to the ground. Jia Yucun took a wooden board and hit the table hard, making a crisp "snap" sound.
"Who is this person in the hall? Why did he kill people in Bailu Academy? Come here quickly to avoid suffering the pain of flesh and blood. Tell me quickly."

The two gangsters had never seen any academy and killed someone. They only killed a bully from the same village, and they made a mistake. They were caught in prison and sentenced to frontier labor. Why were they re-arraigned today? Being wronged,

"My lord, this is unfair. I have never been to any academy. My lord, am I mistaken?"

Jia Yucun's face turned cold and he snorted coldly,
"Hmph, you still dare to quibble, come here, I will be punished."

"Yes, my lord."

The yamen servant downstairs directly brought the wooden clamps that had been prepared, put them on the two people's fingers, and then pulled hard. As the wooden sticks were clamped, screams immediately sounded, and the two people's fingers The blood dripping from the clamp, he begged for mercy,

"Ah, my lord, have mercy on me, have mercy on me."

"Sir, weren't we sent to the frontier for labor? What's wrong?"

Seeing that the two of them dared to speak harshly, Jia Yucun gave Leng Zixing a wink, and then Leng Zixing signaled and said in a deep voice to the Yamen servant,

"Why, you haven't eaten yet, are you tired?"

When the officer who was being executed heard what Master Leng said, he was so frightened that he immediately pulled hard. The two of them were still talking for a moment, and all they could hear was screams of pain.

After a while, the two of them were lying on the ground twitching. Leng Zixing took the dossier that had been prepared, pressed their fingers on it and put their fingerprints on it, and then nodded to Jia Yucun.

Jia Yucun stroked his beard and said;
"Now that you two have admitted it, I will no longer make things difficult for you. I'll push the person down and kill him directly. The speed must be fast, but you understand."

"Yes, my lord, my little one understands."

Ma Baotou and others took the two people down who were lying on the ground and were as angry as silk.

thrown into prison,

After entering the cell door and seeing the cell leader drinking at the table, Ma PuTou immediately said to the old man: "Old Wang Tou, these two people have committed a capital crime. The magistrate has given an order and they will be executed tomorrow." , but I’m just afraid that the two of them won’t be able to endure it.”

The prison head coughed and waved his hand, and the jailer from his own cell took him over.

"Don't worry, Ma Captou. Wait a moment. You are on your way out to report to the Lord. You won't be delayed for long. I, Old Wangtou, have been in prison for a lifetime, and my brothers are very stable."

"Haha, that's true, but Lao Wangtou, don't make any mistakes at special times, otherwise the peanuts you eat will end up in your teeth."

As the prisoner Ma was talking, he sat at the dilapidated table, pointed at the cooked vegetables on the table, and gave a reminder. The prisoner stretched out his withered palm, pinched a peanut and put it in his mouth.

"Don't worry about arresting the head. I, Old Wang Tou, have been in prison all my life, but I haven't knocked out a tooth yet."

“You can’t go wrong if you look carefully,”

Ma Catou was still giving instructions. Before he finished speaking, the jailer shouted from inside;
"My lord, my lord, it's not good, it's not good, the two criminals just committed suicide out of fear of crime."

Old Man Wang took a sip of wine and said with a smile;
"Ma Captou can go back and resume his life. The matter is settled."

Ma Baotou quickly stood up and walked towards the cell. He saw that the two people he had just brought in had already fallen to the ground of the cell, their foreheads cracked and died. When he saw a mass of blood on the wall, he knew that they had hit the wall and died, so he remained silent. He returned to Lao Wangtou without saying a word. He took out two taels of silver from his body and put it on the broken table. He bowed and walked out with the others.

Lao Wangtou was drinking wine by himself, singing a ditty with a smile on his face. He touched a handful of peanuts with his hands, and the two taels of silver disappeared in an instant.

In the magistrate's office hall, Jia Yucun was still anxiously waiting for news.

Outside the hall,

Ma Captou hurriedly walked in with his people, and naturally told the whole story about the two committing suicide in the cell out of fear of crime.

Jia Yucun pretended to be angry and cursed;
"Well, Ma Hong, I think you don't want to be a head catcher anymore. Is this how you handle things? Both of you can't stand it. I want you to serve the public whole. For the sake of your hard work, I will give you a fine." A monthly salary is a slight punishment, but it will not be the same next time."

Ma Hong's face was overjoyed, and he immediately knelt down to accept the crime. He did not beg for mercy, but kowtowed to thank him.
"Thank you for your kindness, sir. I know I was wrong."

Leng Zixing quickly came over, helped Ma Hong up, stuffed a small bag of silver into him, and then said;
"Ma BaTou has been working hard these past few days. He has been busy in and out of work. It can be regarded as a great achievement for his hard work. Although this matter was handled with some negligence, the truth is revealed after all. Now that the case has been closed, I will work hard again and go to the academy to explain it clearly. , bury those bodies again, and this matter will be over."

"Yes, Master, please rest assured, my subordinate will go right away."

Without saying a word, Ma Hong secretly accepted the money, then turned around and led the policemen out of the yamen, leaving the prefect Jia Yucun and the master Leng Zixing looking at each other and smiling, all in silence.

By closing the case in this way, although there were some oversights, the matter was resolved and all parties were given an explanation.

White Hart Academy,

Just after lunch,

Many students in the dining hall hurriedly left the dining hall after lunch, looking uneasy as if someone was chasing them from behind.

Lan Xinwen went to the pavilion in the courtyard, came inside, and sat on the stone bench. The stone table was already filled with prepared food. He took a look at it and saw that it was all his favorite food. After sitting down, he picked up the bowl. He started eating with chopsticks, took a few bites and asked,
"Tell me, at the magistrate's office, is there any clue about the case?"

The little book boy took out the brocade cloth to clean his hands and put it on the table. He served it carefully and replied when he heard the young master's question;

"Sir, I took someone to inquire about it. There is no movement at the Yamen yet, but the headmaster and Master Jiang in the academy didn't bother to ask. They seemed not to care about the matter. It's a bit strange."

Lan Xinwen took a mouthful of vegetables and chewed it slowly. He was also curious about Master Jiang Yan's behavior. Since Master came out of the woodshed a few days ago, he did not go in. Instead, the yamen's wife kept going in. Although the cause of death has not been found yet, , but it’s impossible not to discover it for such a long time.

It can only be said that Master Jiang Yan has discovered it a long time ago, but for some reason he can't say it, and those frauds may or may not have it, and I don't know what they are covering up. It's strange.

Lan Xinwen picked up a steamed bun, broke it open and put some vegetables in it, handed it to the bookboy, and asked,

"I know, come on, take it and eat something first. It's from the academy. Master Shiben has been observing it for a long time. It's not the academy disciples who did it. It should be someone from outside. By the way, are there any other rumors in Jinling City?"

The little book boy took it, took a bite, and replied vaguely;
"Young master, there must be some. In addition to the innocent souls who claimed their lives before, they are all saying that the water in the city is extremely cold this year, and that there are evil ghosts sneaking into it to do evil. There is mist rising in the mirror lake in the early morning, and many people have seen someone. It’s really scary to float around in there,”

"Have you ever seen it with your own eyes?"

How could Lan Xinwen believe this? When he asked, the little book boy shook his head hastily.

"Sir, I've never seen him before. It's so early. He's too scared to go."

Seeing the little book boy's cowardice, Lan Xinwen picked up the chopsticks and hit the book boy on the head, cursing;

"It's really worthless. There are no ghosts anywhere. It's nonsense."

(End of this chapter)