Cure the cold-faced general by solving crimes

Chapter 14 She is lively in his mind

Ping'an County Government.

When it was time to hold the lantern, Pei Zhizhao called Liu Qing.

Liu Qing has been honest since being lectured by Pei Zhizhao. When he heard Pei Zhizhao calling him, Liu Qing ran into the study carrying a pot of hot water.

"Master Pei, are you calling me? This is freshly boiled hot water. Do you want me to make a pot of tea for you?"

The candlelight in the inner hall was dim. Pei Zhizhao was sitting on a chair. The teacup in his hand had already gone cold. "No need."

Liu Qing stepped forward and filled the tea cup skillfully, only to find that there was no tea in Pei Zhizhao's tea cup.

"Master Pei, where are the tea leaves?"

Pei Zhizhao shook his head, "There is no tea."

Liu Qing was puzzled, "There are countless tea houses in Ping'an County. How can there be no tea here, Mr. Pei? I will wait for you tomorrow, my filial piety."

Pei Zhizhao didn't want to say too much, so he changed the subject, "Liu Qing, you are in charge of the punishment room, but I just went to the admissions room and looked at it, and only part of the official document file was sorted out. What's going on?"

Liu Qing was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat. He left these things to Jiang Xihe so that when he had free time, he could go to Changlefang to gamble.

"I just asked other people..." Pei Zhizhao picked up the tea cup and opened the tea lid. The rising water vapor raised a white smoke in the dark room.

Liu Qing knelt down and said, "Master Pei, please spare me for once. I don't dare to hide it. I can't do the job of sorting out the files, so I asked Miss Jiang to help me here when I have time."

Pei Zhizhao lowered his face and said in a cold tone, "Your brother died in the line of duty, and Mr. Qi took you in to work in the Yamen. This is not the confidence for you to do whatever you want, but because you don't want to make your mother sad."

Liu Qing lowered his head.

"Your mother is in poor health. Mr. Qi feels guilty for your brother and reluctantly lets you take his place and earn some salary here. But what did you do?"

Liu Qing slapped himself, "I'll be honest with Mr. Pei, I can't control myself."

Pei Zhizhao looked out the window and said quietly, "There is nothing that is impossible for people. It just depends on whether you want to do it or not."

"Master Pei, I know I made a mistake. From today on, if I don't gamble anymore, if I can't do it, please punish me, Master Pei."

"Think about your brother, think about your mother." Pei Zhizhao said in a heavy tone, with a trace of sadness hidden in his eyes. Liu Qing gave him a confused look.

Pei Zhizhao then asked, "Jiang Xihe works for the yamen, how can he be given money?"

Liu Qing quickly pointed to the persimmon tree in the courtyard, "Those two trees can be sold for a lot of money every autumn. Although they grow in the county government, they were planted by the old lawyer Jiang. Mr. Qi paid the money to the county on the surface. Yamen, if you need anything, just call Miss Jiang, and the money will come out from there."

"It should come from your salary."

Liu Qing smiled sarcastically, "Master Pei, I won't dare to do this anymore. Please allow me to continue working here, Master Pei."

When Pei Zhizhao saw that the beating was almost done, he asked, "Tell me about the day Meng Fang's accident happened."

Liu Qing no longer dared to hide anything and said in a low voice, "I was on duty that day, but there was nothing going on at the Yamen. My hands were itchy, so I went to Changlefang to spend the night. The servants of the Fang family found the county government and went to Changlefang to call me. , I was having fun at the time, but the servant was afraid of delaying things, so he forced me to give me a few taels of silver."

Liu Qing rummaged through his pockets and took out a few coins, "Damn it, little one. I spent all those scraps of silver. This is all that's left. I collected the money and followed the servant to Fang's house."

Pei Zhizhao was secretly angry, "If the servants hadn't given me the money, wouldn't you still be working?"

Liu Qing put all the coins in his hand on the table, "Master Pei, I will never dare to do this again."

"What was the situation when you arrived at Fang's house?" Pei Zhizhao put the copper plate in his sleeve and asked.

"The Fang family was in chaos, and neighbors came to watch. Our county clerk had been sick for a long time and didn't go to work at all. I entered the house and saw Mrs. Fang lying on the bed, covered in blood. I was shocked and quickly sent someone to the Yamen. Inform Sir Qi."

"Do you still remember the expressions and attitudes of Fang Lianqing and Mrs. Fang's family at that time?"

"The Fang family's wife has been standing in the yard crying, but Fang Lianqing is doing okay, helping from inside and outside." Liu Qing thought about it and replied. “What special feeling did you have when you entered the crime scene for the first time?”

Liu Qing recalled the scene with lingering fear, "It was nothing special. I was also panicking at the time. Although our Ping'an County is large, there are almost no murders. This was the first time I encountered a dead person on duty."

"Where are the files after the incident?" Pei Zhizhao searched many places but couldn't find them.

Liu Qing shook his head, "Master Qi is about to leave office, and the county government is in chaos. On the day Meng Fang's accident happened, the Meng family came to complain, and Master Qi arrested Fang Lianqing. Master Qi held a court meeting yesterday, and Master Pei took office. It seems that no one has written the file yet."

Pei Zhizhao rubbed his brows. The autopsy has not yet come out. Now there are only one-sided statements from Fang Lianqing and Meng Liang. Even Liu Qing, who is on duty, cannot provide any strong clues.

Pei Zhizhao felt that being the county magistrate was much more difficult than leading troops to fight.

After Liu Qing left, the candle burned out.

Pei Zhizhao just sat in the darkness thinking about the murder. It wasn't until a dog barked outside the empty government office that Pei Zhizhao stood up and lit the candle again.

Holding the lampshade in one hand and holding the candle in the other, Pei Zhizhao walked out of the inner hall and came to the reception room.

This is where Ping An County files are stored.

Five rows of wooden shelves are neatly placed on the four walls and in the middle of the room.

As soon as I entered the room, I was hit by the strong smell of ink and rice paper.

Pei Zhizhao raised the candlestick and started looking at it from the first shelf.

He came here once this afternoon. Before he could take a closer look, he was called away to deal with other matters. At this time, there was no sound at all during the recruitment, and a gust of wind blew through the open door, making the top roll of paper rattle.

The particularly old files had become moldy, and Pei Zhizhao went back in time to five years ago.

There are many long and short papers, large and small, stacked here, some of which have been strangled by strings so that the edges are broken.

Pei Zhizhao moved the candle closer and found that this year's files were still there, covered with dust.

After taking down the half-stack of files, the dust fell. Pei Zhizhao's slender fingertips were covered with black ash, and sand flew. Pei Zhizhao held his breath, but was still choked and coughed twice.

Taking the stack of files and walking to the table at the door, Pei Zhizhao put down the candlestick, opened the files and flipped through them one by one.

After half a stick of incense, Pei Zhizhao was disheartened.

There were all kinds of documents mixed in here, and the chronological order was also messed up. Some were from the year before, some were last year, and some were this year. Pei Zhizhao couldn't find what he was looking for. He looked at the dense wooden shelves again, feeling a little disappointed.

He has seen all these government officials in Pingan County today. Five years ago, the only person who served here was brother Liu Qing. Unfortunately, he is no longer alive.

Pei Zhizhao's heart ached a little.

A few patrol gongs sounded in the distance, and curfew time had arrived.

Pei Zhizhao walked to this year's files by the dim light of the candlelight.

Picking up the top few pages, the beautiful and neat small characters fell into view.

This is a dispute between neighbors over occupying a ditch. The content is very simple and the handling is very appropriate. In the lower right corner is written the recorder: Jiang Xihe,
  The little girl's voice and smile appeared in Pei Zhizhao's mind.

In Pei Zhizhao's opinion, such a smart girl's handwriting should be as public as her person. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Jiang Xihe's handwriting is restrained and elegant.

Pei Zhizhao felt inexplicably inconsistent when he thought of how Jiang Xihe buried his head, pursed his lips, and recorded carefully when he wrote these things.

She should be lively, cheerful, even a little noisy.

(End of this chapter)