I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 295 Qeru County Investigation

The morning light was dim, and the air was filled with the fragrance of dew.

The farmers who went to work in the fields in twos and threes chatted with each other while yawning.

At this time, there was a loud noise from the corner of the avenue, and it seemed that many people were coming.

This stimulation made their nerves tense, and they gathered together instantly. They took off the farm tools they were carrying, held them tightly in their hands, and stared solemnly ahead, not daring to step forward.

Bad things travel thousands of miles.

Especially eye-catching topics like murder and rape.

For example, there have been several murder cases in the county recently, and I heard that there was some commotion at the county government office the night before yesterday, which made the local people panic.

Farmers who need to go out to cultivate land under the morning glow were originally accustomed to traveling alone, but because they were afraid of encountering thieves on the road, they became accustomed to calling their neighbors to accompany them when they went out.

Not long after this group of farmers made a defensive posture, they breathed a sigh of relief when they saw a neat line of troops appearing in their field of vision.

As long as he's not a bandit.

In the procession, Qu Zhongyin, who was riding at the front, observed the expressions of the farmers and could not help but frown.

It is now past the fifth watch. If we were in Chang'an City, even the most cunning thieves and the most ferocious robbers would not dare to cause trouble again.

But if these farmers in the county are so nervous when they hear the commotion, it seems that the thieves have cast a big shadow on them.

The worry in his heart increased. Qu Zhongyin withdrew his gaze from the faces of the farmers. Without stopping, he rushed towards Qeru County Government without stopping.
Only by asking the county magistrate and county captain can we clearly understand the ins and outs of banditry.

Arriving at the government office in the county town, the houses here were a little shaky, the red paint on the door beams had lost color, and the stone roads were a little uneven. After all, the remote places were not as good as the Central Plains, and even less so than Chang'an.

Qu Chongyin arranged for the officers and soldiers who came with him to rest first, and only took his eldest disciple to follow behind Menzi.

About a quarter of an hour later, Magistrate Feng appeared with huge dark circles under his eyes.

Seeing Qu Chongyin, he bowed and said hello: "For example, the county magistrate Feng Xiao has met Shangguan."

He looked a little tired. He wanted to cheer up, but was unable to do so.

Qu Zhongyin said calmly: "I met Magistrate Feng when I arrested Qu Zhongyin.

The matter of banditry is personally handled by the Prime Minister. We don't need to be too polite and just get to the point.

Dare to ask where the county captain is? I want to ask him about relevant matters. "

The county magistrate is mainly responsible for political affairs and finance, while the county captain is in charge of public security issues.

He wanted to understand the current banditry problem, and he would naturally be more reliable than Magistrate Feng in front of him if he learned about the specific situation from the county captain.

When County Magistrate Feng heard the question, his eyes dimmed immediately and he lamented: "The bandits attacked the government office the night before yesterday. County Lieutenant Zhang was on duty at the time and unfortunately died in the line of duty."

"So bold?" Li Chi, the eldest disciple behind Qu Zhongyin, said in surprise, "Those barbarians in the south are not so rampant, right?"

When Chen Luo led his army south to conquer Vietnam, Qu Chongyin delivered news from Guanzhong. On the way, he met an astute soldier who he admired very much.

That soldier was Li Chi.

Later, after the war ended, he carefully considered Qu Chongyin's suggestion and felt that he was indeed suitable for the job of hunting down thieves and chasing murderers, so he went to Chang'an and worked with Qu Chongyin, nominally worshiping him as his teacher, but in fact he was more like a friend whom he had known for years. friend.

"Can Magistrate Feng explain the specific situation in detail?" Qu Zhongyin's expression did not change much, but his eyes were as sharp as arrows, locked firmly on Feng Xiao in front of him.

I had investigated a case in which the county lieutenant colluded with the bandits, killed several consecutive county magistrates, and relied on violence to control the power of life and death in the entire county.

And if the county might do a replica.

It’s just that the “county lieutenant” in this case became a county magistrate.

Magistrate Feng felt that he was being stared at, and secretly said that the rumored "Tiger Qu" was really scary.

He gathered his thoughts and said with a wry smile: "Those bandits came to Qeru County and committed their first crime. It happened to be ten days ago that King Cobbler in the west of the city was killed at night. In the next three consecutive days and nights, they committed five crimes in a row. , six households were wiped out.

Such a major case has never happened in the history of Qeru County, so after the fourth case occurred, I chose to send a letter to report to Daicheng.

Where the third incident occurred, a police officer was patrolling the surrounding area at night and caught a thief who had not had time to escape.

However, we tortured him for several days, but we couldn't get any information about the other party from him. We didn't know the number of people, their purpose, or their hiding place.

The thieves were quiet for the next two days. Unexpectedly, they attacked the county government office the night before and wanted to rob the prison.

Lieutenant Qiu was on duty that night. He ordered three or four of his officers to retreat to the cell, preventing the thieves from succeeding, but he himself was killed.

I have already sent this message to Dai City, but you may have been on the road at the time and did not receive it. "

The further he went on, the more depressed County Magistrate Feng became.

If such a major case occurred while he was in office, and even led to the death of a county captain, it could basically be said that his career, which had no prospects in the first place, was cut off.

Li Chi, who was standing aside, pointed out the key point and said: "The robber failed to rob the prison. Can you take us to the prison to see the thief first?"

Magistrate Feng was startled, shook his head and said hesitantly: "The thief committed suicide by hitting the wall yesterday."

"Suicide?" Li Chi turned his head to look at his master and found that Qu Zhongyin's expression remained unchanged, so he turned to look at Magistrate Feng and asked, "This is too much of a coincidence."

"This... I don't know about this either." Magistrate Feng's words were trembling. It was really difficult to explain this question.

Qu Zhongyin waved his hand and said comfortingly: "The thief knew that after the first rescue failed, the prison's guard strength would be greatly strengthened, and it would be impossible to escape safely, so he chose to commit suicide to avoid being unable to withstand the torture and betraying his companions. .”

"Well, it's somewhat possible." Li Chi was always convinced by Qu Zhongyin's inference, so he stopped questioning Magistrate Feng.

Feng Xiaogang was about to breathe a sigh of relief and thank Qu Zhongyin, but found that the other party was staring at him, and then started a new round of questions.

Qu Chongyin's round of questions was based on Magistrate Feng's initial explanation, and he constantly checked the details. Most of the questions were asked according to the timeline, but from time to time he randomly checked a question from a previous time point.

After going through this series of questions, Magistrate Feng felt that his mouth was a little dry.

Seeing this, Qu Zhongyin smiled and said, "Excuse me, Magistrate Feng, for answering so many of my questions. After all, I have a poor memory and sometimes I like to ask more questions."

"It's not in the way, it's not in the way." Magistrate Feng responded quickly.

Qu Zhongyin stood up and continued: "Please ask Magistrate Feng to take us to the prison, and then I want to see the thief's body, which must not have been buried yet.

By the way, there are also the police officers who caught the thief that day and the police officers who fought with the thief the day before. Can we invite them all?

I have something to ask them. "

"Of course it's okay. I'll go find them right now." Magistrate Feng wiped the sweat from his head and felt that the pressure around Qu Zhongyin was as heavy as a mountain.

Qu Zhongyin nodded slightly and said, "Thank you." Just now, he repeatedly asked Magistrate Feng, not only to understand the ins and outs of the bandit case, but also to make sure that the other party did not make up stories to deceive him.

To ensure that questions are effective, rhythm, eyes and body cues are all indispensable.

He first heard about such torture techniques from Yang Xiahou. After continuous practice over the years, as long as the other party is willing to speak, there is no way he can deceive him with fictional stories.

"Master, what about Magistrate Feng?" Li Chi asked in a low voice as they were the only two left in the hall.

Qu Zhongyin said calmly: "He didn't lie."

"It means that the county magistrate is not suspected." Li Chi said with a hint of disappointment in his eyes, "This means that we still need to investigate the real culprit."

Qu Zhongyin rubbed his chin and said: "He didn't lie, but it doesn't mean there is no suspicion at all. After all, the truth can cover up the crime.

But Xiao Chi, don't think that collusion between officials and bandits is the norm just because of certain past events. Whether it's Daichi or the Han Dynasty as a whole, this kind of situation is a minority among the minority.

And if Magistrate Feng really wants to collude with the bandits, then we may not be able to escape unscathed from the ensuing fire. "

His words were a reminder to this great disciple.

Li Chi had the best talent among all his apprentices, but because he was traumatized in a certain case, he began to distrust and even hate local officials.

Therefore, Qu Chongyin was willing to let his other apprentices go to local areas to investigate the case alone, but he kept Li Chi with him for a long time.

Inability to trust each other and cooperate sincerely with local officials, no matter how obvious other strengths are, it is difficult to make up for this shortcoming.

"I understand, Master." Li Chi lowered his head silently.

The two of them accidentally changed the topic back to the case. After a few words of conversation, Magistrate Feng returned to the hall.

"Those officers are coming over, but the thief's body is still in the prison and has not been moved out." Magistrate Feng then asked, "So I will take you two to the prison to have a look now?"

"Okay." Qu Zhongyin nodded in agreement.

And if the county prison is not far from the county government office and is also in the center of the county, it is hard to imagine how those thieves have the courage to come here to rob the prison.

Walking to the door of the prison, Qu Zhongyin felt a familiar chill.

He turned his head and sighed: "It seems that whether it is Chang'an, Daicheng, or this Qeru County, the prisons are always cool and refreshing."

"Indeed." Li Chi agreed.

Led by Magistrate Feng and a jailer, the two came to the prison where the thieves were originally held.

There was a bloodstain on the wall, which was obviously where the opponent hit the wall and died.

The jailer pointed at the prison and said: "We patrol every quarter of an hour, but every morning when the shift is handed over, there will be a gap of half an hour in between. The thief hit the wall during that time.

When we found out that the thief committed suicide, he was already out of breath. "

Li Chi answered: "What about his body? Didn't it say that his body is still in prison?"

The jailer replied: "Put it in the room at the end of the corridor. After all, this thief has done a lot of evil, and it is a clue to the case. We can't bury it privately.

Of course, he didn't deserve to be buried in peace. "

After saying this, he muttered quite angrily, "Awu people are very kind. He was the one who made the shovel in my house. I didn't expect to be harmed by these thieves."

Qu Zhongyin said nothing and walked silently to the end of the corridor, staring at the corpse inside.

The weather has been cool recently, and the other party committed suicide yesterday morning. It has been about [-] o'clock now, and the body shows no signs of decay.

"Xiao Chi, let's move this outside. It's too dark here." Qu Zhongyin half-turned around and said, then looked at the jailer, "You can unlock the door."

"Ah?" The jailer was surprised when he heard this. After he realized what he said, he still had an expression of disbelief, but he followed Qu Zhongyin's instructions.

When the cell door opened, Qu Zhongyin and Li Chi carefully carried the body and moved it outside the prison.

One of them has been hunting for thieves for many years, and the other has returned from the battlefield. They have no taboos about corpses.

After the two men moved the body out, they happened to see several guards walking in from the gate.

Seeing this scene, those people were stunned.

They then saw Magistrate Feng who was following closely behind him, his expression and posture were quite respectful. They probably understood the origin of this "corpse-moving duo".

After glancing around at the guards, Qu Zhongyin asked first, "Come here and identify yourself. This is the corpse of the thief. Is there no problem?"

After receiving a positive answer, he lowered his head and began to observe the corpse carefully.

The thief had an obvious Northern appearance, with a high nose bridge, broad cheekbones, and a rather stout build.

"Where did these wounds on his body come from?" Qu Zhongyin asked next.

Looking down from the collar of the corpse, he could see a lot of blood stains. Some of the wounds had scabbed over, but most of them had not healed.

After a moment of silence, the officers realized that they were being asked and hurriedly answered.

"Some of them were caused by resistance and struggle when we arrested him."

"When we tortured and interrogated him, he refused to tell us, so we had to keep beating him. Unexpectedly, he still refused to tell us."

"He did that on his forehead himself."

The officers chattered and answered the questions, and Qu Zhongyin nodded, indicating that he understood.

Then he squatted down, turned over the thief's palms, looked at them carefully for a while, and touched them lightly with his fingertips, as if he was feeling something.

This made the surrounding officers and Magistrate Feng shudder, who was standing behind Qu Zhongyin.

Why did the thief from Dai City do anything to the corpse?

Could it be that he has a special hobby in that area?

Qu Chongyin had long been accustomed to the surprised looks from everyone. When he first learned about this technology from Marquis Yang Xia, he felt as weird as these people.

But when I put it into practice, I realized that "corpses can also talk."

Qu Zhongyin stood up with his hands on his knees, directed Li Chi, and made a decision that shocked the officers on site.

"Xiao Chi, take off all the clothes on this thief."

(End of this chapter)