I became famous for writing ridiculous stories in ancient times

The noises started one after another.

Fu Wenyu's guess was correct. A total of three people in the village were deceived.

One was Fu Qingshi, who had discovered it last night and stayed up all night; the other was Fu Qingqi, who slept until dawn after coming back, only to find out the bad news in the morning; as for the remaining person, he was not much better, he had it this morning Under the expectant gazes of the seven or eight members of the family, a pile of rubble was smashed on the ground. In the end, not even a single jade fragment was found, not to mention a large piece of jade.

But in the end, this person Fu Wenyu was not very familiar with, because he was not from the Fu family, but a cousin of Zou Tongsheng.

All three were deceived for the same reason.

When I was shopping on the streets of Chen County, someone approached me and said that I had stones stolen from Yushan. Because the government refused to sell them, I had to change hands privately.

Those who were not interested were ignored, but those who were interested were taken in a large circle around the streets and alleys, entered a dark room, and then discovered the "luminous stone". But the stone sellers didn't realize it and said that these stones were all carried down from Jade Mountain and let them choose at will.

Several people have heard of the storybook "Legend of the Divine Eye".

So when they saw the 'glowing stone', they were excited and didn't think too much. They even thought it was their chance and paid without hesitation.

And because the price offered by the other party was not high, and they could negotiate the price even if they didn't have enough money, the three of them spent all their savings to buy it. Among them, Zou Tongsheng's cousin Zou Sanlang didn't have enough money at that time, so he gave his fiancée a silver hairpin he bought as a betrothal gift. Unexpectedly, this morning he discovered that the stone he bought was fake. Now he He was squatting in the corner with a sad face.

As for the other people, the situation is similar.

Fu Qingshi, who had not slept for two days, was now sitting there with a pale face and bloodshot eyes, saying nothing. Fu Qingqi, on the other hand, was jumping up and down, pestering the clan leader and Fu Qingqi together with other family members, asking them to help get the money back.

"Clan leader, we can't just let it go!"

"We were lied to!"

"The head of my family was defrauded of five taels of silver, and that's five taels of silver!"

"My son was also defrauded of four taels and a silver hairpin. That was the money he used to marry his wife. The silver hairpin was also agreed upon as a betrothal gift for my daughter-in-law. If the future in-laws find out about this, His mother-in-law is afraid that she is going to break off the engagement and kill a thousand liars, why won’t they be killed by God?”

"The patriarch and I and I also want to marry a wife. I am already thirty. Bronze, we are all going together. You can't ignore me!"

Fu Wencheng and Fu Qingtong were given a headache by their words.

"Okay, everyone, be quiet."

Fu Wencheng said with a livid face: "I warned you that day, be careful when you go out, and don't be alone. Bronze and the others are fine, but as for you, one is thinking about buying jewelry for his fiancée, and the other two are thinking about Wander around and watch the fun.”

"Who can I blame if I'm cheated?"

Several people's expressions were stunned, but they soon became reluctant. One said that was most of my family's savings, one said that without money, my son would not be able to marry a wife, and the other said that you proposed to go to Chen County for the bronze. , you can't ignore me.

After Fu Wenyu entered the door, he saw this scene.

Of course, in addition to the victims who came here anxiously carrying stones early in the morning, there were also villagers who came to join in the fun at the door.

They were either holding bowls or clasping their hands, gathering at the door and looking around with interest. They were discussing how the three people were so unlucky to be deceived, and how much money they had been defrauded of.

Fu Qingtong's daughter-in-law, Wen Shi, who loves to join in the fun and talkative, is standing at the front. Although she didn't dare to go in due to the clan leader's instructions, she still poked her head around and said, "Chunhua's father was defrauded of five taels of silver. Five taels of silver is enough to buy half an acre of land."

"Hey, Zou Sanlang was cheated out of a hairpin. His unmarried wife is really unlucky."

In addition to her, the other villagers also curiously discussed, "Hey, do you think they can get back the money they were defrauded? If you add it all together, it will be more than ten taels, right?"

"It's hard for me to see," someone answered bluntly: "Although Chen County is in Liuzhou, it's only a day's journey from us. How can we just go there? And they don't know those scammers. I don’t know where I took him, and even if I went to Chen County, I couldn’t find anyone.”

"How can I recover the money if I can't find anyone?"

"And if you want to find someone in Chen County, it will probably take ten days and a half. Do you still want the land at home? They all came back for spring plowing."

“If I don’t farm, will I go hungry this year?”

"Yeah, it's difficult."

"And my son also said that people in Chen County are very united."

"How do you say it?"

There was a lot of noise inside and outside the house, as if there were a hundred ducks.

Fu Wenyu did not go over, but walked to the pile of stones piled on the ground and looked carefully.

Originally, these stones were three different sized stones, the largest one was about the size of an adult's head, and the smallest one was the size of two fists, but now they are all broken into pieces, including the two that Fu Wenyu saw last night. Now that the stones are gathered together, it is easy to find that they are all made of ordinary pebbles, and the color of the layer of things on the surface is also consistent, all black with a hint of green, obviously from the same place.

Last night, the light was dim and I couldn't see it carefully.

Now, if you look closely under the sun, you can find that these things on the surface are still sticky and rough, and you can see the clues if you look closely.

No wonder the transaction took place in a dim room, and the people chosen were all outsiders who were eager to leave Chen County. Those people were also worried that they would be discovered by the transaction person during the day or after a long time.

Once it is spread in Chen County that someone is using "glowing stones" to deceive people, then their business will definitely be affected. And one advantage of choosing outsiders is that it is not so easy to cut the stones. Some people, in order to go back earlier and not to show their wealth, will carry the stones back directly like Fu Qingshi and others.

After all, these stones are not big.

And it will be too late to find them after carrying them back.

Fu Wenyu thought secretly.

And when he finished watching here, the quarrel over there also had a result.

Fu Qingtong frowned and said helplessly: "... I will go to Chen County with you to report to the police." He was also pestered to no avail. After all, he was the one who led the way before, and now he couldn't avoid it if something happened.

Fu Wencheng reminded, "You have to think clearly. Now is the spring plowing season. If you go to Chen County this time, if you delay too long, you will not be able to catch up with the spring plowing when you come back. Which is more important, a few taels of silver, or this year's harvest?"

Several people were stunned again.

But later, the unwillingness in their hearts drove them, and they all said they wanted to seek justice.

Seeing that they had already discussed a result, Fu Wenyu also walked over, "Uncle Qingtong, I will go with you, I will write the petition." Hearing his words, Fu Qingshi looked over with a complicated expression, "Wenyu..." Fu Wenyu felt a chill when he looked at him, thinking that this second uncle might have misunderstood something. He had no other intentions. The reason why he wanted to go with them was just to solve the problem better, so that no one could use the "glowing stone" to cheat in the future. Without further ado, everyone packed up and set off that day. Because there were five or six people going together, Fu Wenyu did not invite Fu Wenshu and Fu Wenhe as Zhou wanted. After all, there was no need to worry about safety with so many people going together. But before leaving, he made a suggestion. "I want to visit Zhang, the shopkeeper of Kaiyuan Bookstore first."

"Kaiyuan Bookstore is the shop of Tang Yuanwai's family. It is not only in Liuzhou City, but also in other places. I remember hearing Zhang mentioned that there is a branch shop in Chen County. So if we can get Zhang's introduction, then we will have acquaintances in Chen County, and we will have channels to find out any news."

Before leaving, because Wen Shi didn't let him go, the two quarreled so much that Fu Qingtong's eyes lit up, "This is a good idea, Wen Yu, you hurry up, we will wait for you outside the bookstore."

So Fu Wen Yu went.

After hearing his purpose, Shopkeeper Zhang was surprised and said, "...Is there such a thing?"

Fu Wenyu smiled bitterly, "Yes, so I came to Uncle Zhang to ask you to help write a letter to the shopkeeper of the branch store in Chen County. I thought that if I could get help from the locals, things would be much easier."

Shopkeeper Zhang nodded approvingly, "Yes, there is indeed a branch store over there."

He thought carefully and said, "I went to Chen County once with my boss. The people there are stubborn and xenophobic, and they are not easy to get along with. I heard that when County Magistrate Mu first went there, he suffered a lot. By the way, County Magistrate Mu is It is the current magistrate of Chen County. He took office two years ago.

He wrote a letter in a few words and handed it to Fu Wenyu, reminding him: "In addition to the branch of the bookstore, there are other shops of the owner in Chen County. I don't know which one it is, but the one with the word "Tang" written on the plaque is considered. If you encounter difficulties, you might as well go and find them.

"For the sake of the owner, they will not ignore you."

"As for the owner, you don't have to worry. I will make it clear to him for you."

Fu Wenyu thanked him solemnly: "Thank you, Uncle Zhang."

After receiving the letter from Zhang, the group set off.

Chen County is not far from Liuzhou City. It takes about a day and night by boat. After arriving in Chen County, several people first found a place to stay, and then went to the county government to submit the petition.

There was also a process for reporting a case in ancient times.

As shown on TV, after beating the drum to complain, the county magistrate immediately put on his clothes, went to the court to try the case and made a judgment, but not many. After all, as a county magistrate, his daily work is not just about hearing cases in court. In fact, according to the procedure, the petitions will be reviewed by the lawyer first.

Especially for cases like theirs where there is no defendant and the county government needs to send someone to investigate, it is not surprising that they have to wait ten days or half a month to get a result, or it is left unresolved.

The complaint was written by Fu Wenyu in advance. In addition to the fixed format, he also attached a piece of paper to write down some details he summarized through simple reasoning and deduction. He deduced it based on the ideas of some modern crime-solving TV shows and detective novels, hoping that it would be helpful to solve the case.

For example, "the criminal is a local", "their target is a foreigner who is alone or in pairs, and is about to leave Chen County", "they can contact a kind of glowing stone and a very strong gelatinous substance", "they may have spies in the shed over the quarry", etc.

After handing in the complaint, several people began to act separately according to the plan.

This is also Fu Wenyu's suggestion. He hopes that everyone will not wait foolishly, but take the initiative to find clues and strive to catch those scammers as soon as possible.

According to the agreement, Fu Wenyu took the letter from Zhang and the stone evidence he brought to the shopkeeper of the bookstore branch to ask him for advice. For example, is there a kind of glowing stone in the local area, and if so, where is it. For example, have you heard of anyone being cheated by the "glowing stone" recently?

The remaining Fu Qingtong and others wandered the streets in pairs to see if they could meet those scammers again. Unfortunately, they didn't know if those people had left, so they didn't get anything.

On the contrary, Fu Wenyu, after not getting any useful information from the shopkeeper of the bookstore branch, was introduced to the shopkeeper of the silver shop under the Tang family, and heard the news about the glowing stone from him.

"I have heard of the things you are talking about."

Fu Wenyu was shocked, "Where is it?"

The shopkeeper thought for a while and called a clerk over, "Erlang, come and take a look at this thing, is it the one you saw last time?"

A clerk ran over quickly, listened to Fu Wenyu's description and looked at the "samples" carefully, and said hesitantly: "I don't know if it is..."

"The sand that man brought last year does glow. He said he found it in a cave over in their village. The man asked us if we would accept it, but the shopkeeper said that these things are not gems, and the light they emit is not as bright as fireflies, let alone night pearls. We can't sell them even if we accept them."

"Then he left disappointed."

Fu Wenyu asked eagerly, "Then do you know the name of their village?"

The clerk scratched his head, "I don't remember it very well. It seems to be, it seems to be Hong, Hong, Hong what village?" After thinking for a long time, he still only remembered the word "Hong", and he couldn't remember more.

Fu Wenyu was a little disappointed, but it was good to get such news. He left gratefully, and then hurried back to the inn.

In the inn, the others were already a little anxious.

After arriving in Chen County, they were excited at first, thinking that after catching the swindlers, they would beat them up first, and then get back the money they were cheated of. But after submitting the petition, there was no response, and they couldn't find anyone. Then came the cost of food and lodging, and the worry about spring plowing, which all wore away their enthusiasm. Especially for food and lodging, even if they had booked a large bunk bed with more than a dozen people in a room except Fu Wenyu, it would cost nearly ten coins a day plus dry food.

This is not a long-term solution, and some people have already persuaded them to go back first.

Just when everyone was hesitating, the messenger from the yamen came to inform that the county magistrate had summoned them.

County Magistrate Mu was a middle-aged man of about forty years old and thin.

He was different from the scholars generally known in the world. His skin was bronze and almost black, and there were several deep lines in the shape of a river between his eyebrows. At first glance, he knew that he was the kind of serious and old-fashioned person who was difficult to get along with.

After reading the petition submitted by Fu Wenyu, he did not ask about the content of the petition first, but asked: "Are you the one who wrote the storybook "Legend of the Divine Eye", Fu Wenyu from Liuzhou?"

Fu Wenyu, who was thinking about how to tell County Magistrate Mu about their investigation results in recent days, did not expect him to ask this. He was stunned for a while before answering.

"My Lord, it is my student."

At the same time, he was also thinking vigilantly in his heart that if the other party asked about Wang Po and Chen County Yushan, he would insist that it was just a coincidence. If the other party asked again, he would tell him that he had written hundreds of "wishes" for others, but only Li Si's wish came true by coincidence.

But unexpectedly, County Magistrate Mu did not ask about the storybook again, but started talking about the case instead.

"I have read your petition."

"It contains several speculations, namely that the perpetrators are locals in Chen County, the targets are outsiders who are about to leave Chen County, and they even have spies in Yushan. Who is thinking these things?"

His eyes fell on Fu Wenyu and Fu Qingtong, and he obviously thought it should be these two people.

Fu Qingtong looked at Fu Wenyu, and Fu Wenyu took the initiative to stand up, "My Lord, this is what I wrote."

Mr. Mu looked at him and said, "Tell me about it."

So Fu Wenyu started to talk in detail, "My Lord, the three people in our village who were deceived not only carried bags but also spoke with foreign accents. I have carefully asked them, and those scammers actually asked them where they were from and when they were going to go back before taking them to the place where they picked stones."

Zou Sanlang plucked up the courage and said, "Yes, Wenyu is right."

"On the way, he asked me where I was from, whether I had just arrived in Chen County or was going back. He also said that the county magistrate forbade cutting stones privately, and if discovered, I would be thrown into jail, so I should not make it public after I bought it."

Fu Qingshi and Fu Qingqi also nodded, "We are the same."

After talking about the key points, Fu Wenyu explained why he thought that 'the criminals are locals', 'they can access a kind of glowing stone and a very strong colloid', 'they may have spies in the shed over the quarry', etc. The former is the accent, and the latter is a reasonable inference.

However, he himself is not sure about the spies.

Finally, Fu Wenyu told the results of his investigation, "Sir, I asked the shopkeeper of the silver shop, and he said that someone brought glowing gravel to sell last year."

"But because the light emitted by the gravel was too weak, the shopkeeper of the silver shop did not accept it, but the waiter who received it at that time still remembered that the other party came from a village with the word "red". The man said that the gravel was found in a nearby cave."

Hearing this, County Magistrate Mu, whose expression had been calm and unchanged, stood up and asked solemnly: "There is a kind of glowing gravel near the village with the word "red"?"

Fu Wenyu nodded affirmatively.

County Magistrate Mu pondered, and his frown loosened a little bit.

At this time, a master next to him asked: "Sir, do you need me to report to the household registration?" The household registration is the person in charge of the household registration of a county, and he can know how many villages with the word "red" in Chen County.

Unexpectedly, County Magistrate Mu shook his head, and the serious expression on his face became much warmer.

He took a piece of paper, wrote some words and handed it to the lawyer, "Take it, these are the only villages with the word 'red' in this county, you can ask someone to go and have a look first."

The lawyer bowed respectfully, "Yes, sir."

After the people left, County Magistrate Mu smiled at Fu Wenyu.

"You are not the only ones who have been deceived."

"In fact, I knew about this a few days ago and had intended to arrest them. But they acted carefully and cautiously. I was originally having a headache, but I didn't expect that I would get something else out of my curiosity to meet you today."

Fu Wenyu suddenly realized that this was the case. No wonder he felt that County Magistrate Mu was too indifferent to the case just now. It turned out that he had known about it for a long time.

It seems that if he hadn't followed him, he would have to wait for the group to show their feet.

Fu Qingtong, Fu Qingshi and others also understood what County Magistrate Mu meant, and their minds were a little complicated for a while.

After returning from the county government, they waited for another two days, and then a messenger came to inform them that the scammer had been caught. There were five people in the group, two of whom were from Hongshu Village, the village with the glowing gravel. They were responsible for making glowing stones. The other three were responsible for selecting outsiders and bringing them to the house.

Why was it "glowing stones"?

The reason was that they had heard the story of "The Legend of the Divine Eye".

At first, the two thought that the glowing gravel in the cave was also jade, and they thought they would get rich. But when they went back to ask, they found that as early as the beginning of last year, some villagers had taken it to the silver shop for inquiry, and the result was that the people said it was just sand.

So they were very disappointed.

It happened that the government was recruiting people to mine stones, so the two went. As a result, they met three other people with bad intentions in it. During the chat, they talked about the glowing gravel as a fun thing, and the three encouraged them to join.

Because of their covert and careful actions, this group of people has cheated a lot of money.

But they also spent a lot.

So in the end, the case was closed, and Fu Qingshi, Fu Qingqi and Zou Sanlang only got back 70% of the money.

Zou Sanlang was very happy about this unexpected surprise. He was smiling all the way back and touched the purse on his chest from time to time. Fu Qingqi was very dissatisfied and cursed all the way. He also said that those who didn't come shouldn't be left with money, and they should give all the money to him. Of course, no one paid attention to him.

As for Fu Qingshi...

Fu Wenyu found that this second uncle looked at him with strange eyes again, and he hesitated from time to time. He said helplessly: "Second uncle, why are you looking at me like this?"

Fu Qingshi looked left and right and whispered: "Wenyu, second uncle wants to thank you this time."

Fu Wenyu was surprised. This was really fresh.

He thought that this second uncle would only take advantage of others and his brain was not normal. He didn't expect him to thank him.

Facts have proved that Fu Qingshi not only thanked him, but also reflected on himself. "When your father passed away, your second uncle felt that your family was small and weak. And you are a person who can only study and nothing else. I am afraid that you will have to sell your land in the future. Second uncle is really afraid of poverty, so he did some stupid things."

Fu Wenyu: "......?"

He didn't want to play the "clearing the grudge" game with the other party. After all, the main purpose of his going to Chen County was to solve the scam, not to help him as the other party might think, so he interrupted: "So second uncle, now you know you are wrong, do you have to recalculate the division of the family?"

"For example, those lands..."

"No!"

Fu Qingshi jumped up immediately, "What was given to me is mine, and besides, I am still supporting your grandfather!" The latter sentence seemed to give him a lot of confidence, so he emphasized it again, "Your grandfather is old, and it is inevitable that he will see a doctor and get medicine in the future, and there will be wine and meat on festivals, and make new clothes, all of which cost money."

Looking at Fu Wenyu's half-smile, he gritted his teeth and said, "At most, at most, your grandfather won't have to pay for medical treatment and medicine in the future. This is very cost-effective. Really, the elderly in the village spend hundreds of coins a year on medicine."

"Wenyu, you are getting a great bargain!"

Fu Wenyu: "..."

You are worthy of it, Fu Qingshi.

Fu Wenyu simply ignored him and turned to think about this trip to Chen County.

This trip to Chen County was undoubtedly very rewarding.

First, the "glowing stone" scam was solved. When they left, County Magistrate Mu had arranged people to patrol the streets, and while patrolling, they also promoted the scam, so now many outsiders have already known about it, and even if similar scams emerge in the future, they will not be able to deceive anyone.

The second is to improve his status in the village.

This is a very subtle feeling.

If before the departure, these tribesmen, especially Fu Qingtong, who has a good relationship with the village, still treated him as a child and a nephew, then this feeling had disappeared on the way back. They began to respect him, and if it was his own opinion, they would listen carefully and even implement it.

You know, most of them were of the "Qing" generation, and he had to call them "uncle" and "uncle".

This change started when he took the letter from Zhang, the shopkeeper, and became particularly obvious after several people came out of the Chen County government office. Obviously, while recognizing his ability, County Magistrate Mu's special treatment of him also helped a lot. Fu Wenyu was very happy about this, after all, the increase in his voice in the village was very good for him.

And the third thing was that he felt that he had to study hard.

You don't have to be an official, but you should pass the imperial examination, otherwise it will be very inconvenient to go out in the future.

And people with an imperial examination have another advantage, which is "not kneeling when seeing an official". This time, County Magistrate Mu exempted them from the ceremony, but others may not necessarily do so. He didn't want to kneel down to every official he met, which would be too aggrieved.

It happened that the family was not short of money now, so he could devote his mind to studying.