Chapter 258: Visit by County Magistrate
Chapter 258: Visit by County Magistrate
Xiao Xia looked at the dozen or so constables scrambling to escape, feeling both angry and amused. He grabbed the slowest constable and said, "Don't run so fast. I'm just wearing a mask!"
The constable trembled with fear until he saw Xiao Xia's appearance clearly. He breathed a sigh of relief, his legs went limp, and he sat down on the ground.
He wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Oh my god, that mask of yours is so scary!"
Xiao Xia's mask was indeed an extremely scary green-faced ghost. He asked a master to draw the picture and asked a famous craftsman to make it, just to intimidate the enemy on the battlefield. Unexpectedly, it scared the group of constables to death.
Xiao Xia put away his mask and asked, "Why did you detectives come to arrest me?"
The constable suddenly thought that the other party might be a murderer and became nervous again.
"The innkeeper came to report that a murderer covered in blood appeared in their store."
Xiao Xia then realized that he had frightened the innkeeper. He laughed dumbly, took out the imperial censor's badge and asked, "Look at what this is?"
More than a dozen detectives hid at the stairs and looked up, pushing and shoving each other, and unwilling to take a step forward.
"What's wrong with you?"
Captain You walked up from downstairs quickly, glared at the detective and asked, "Can't you catch one with more than a dozen people?"
All the detectives said with bitter faces: "There is an evil ghost hiding in his room, which has frightened everyone. Let's discuss asking Maitreya to catch the ghost."
"Bullshit! Those bastards are the devils. Where's Zhao San?"
"Zhao San was in the room and was caught by the evil ghost."
Captain You walked over quickly, and saw the arrested constable Zhao San slowly walk out of the room. He came to the captain and said, "Boss, it's a misunderstanding!"
The detectives hurriedly grabbed Zhao San, dragged him down the stairs and asked, "Is there a human or a ghost in the room?"
"Of course it's a human, and he's wearing a mask!
The captain finally understood and turned around to curse, "What a bunch of idiots! I told you there would be no ghosts. You are bringing shame to me!"
No one dared to talk back. The captain had refused to go upstairs just now, but now he was scolding them.
"Who is he?" Captain You asked again.
The constable sighed and said, "He held a silver plate and said he was an imperial censor from the capital. Since I couldn't read, he let me go and told me to notify the county magistrate to come see him."
"Silver plate!"
The captain was puzzled. He mustered up his courage and walked to the door and asked, "Excuse me, who is this distinguished guest in the room?"
At this time, a young man appeared in front of him, wearing a leather belt around his waist, holding a sword, and wearing a gauze hat, with an extraordinary aura.
The captain did not dare to neglect him and bowed, "My name is You, and I am the captain of Luoyang County. May I ask who you are, sir?"
Xiao Xia took out the imperial silver medal and placed it in front of the head of the police, "I know this, right?"
After all, he was a constable from Luoyang, and he had seen a lot. When Constable You saw the Imperial Censor's badge, he immediately stood up in awe and bowed, saying, "It turns out to be the Imperial Censor. We are so rude. Please go to the inn to rest!"
"No need, I'll wait here for my men and ask your county lord to come see me!"
"I humbly obey my orders!"
Captain You hurriedly took the police downstairs, but he still had doubts in his heart. How to explain that this Imperial Censor Pei was covered in blood? In addition, this Imperial Censor was too young! He looked less than 20 years old. Could he be a fake Imperial Censor?
The captain of the police didn't dare to act rashly. What if it was true?
He had no choice but to take the constables to set up surveillance outside, and sent another man to the county government office to inform the county magistrate.
Not long after, the county magistrate Zhao Bolun hurried over. Zhao Bolun had already received a detailed description from the constable and had a general idea of what was going on.
"Is anyone still at the inn?"
Captain You nodded, "He should still be there. I didn't see him leave!"
"Are you sure the Imperial Censor's badge is silver?"
"I am not mistaken, it's white silver, and he is very young, less than 20 years old!" Zhao Bolun understood immediately that the silver token of the Censorate was usually used by Assistant Censors, who were sixth-rank officials who had risen step by step from the seventh-rank Supervisory Censors. The youngest one must be in his thirties.
Captain You said that the other person was at most twenty years old. There was only one possibility: a low-ranking official was equipped with a high-level censor. This kind of situation usually involves investigating a major case.
"Come with me and take a look!"
Captain You brought several detectives and escorted County Magistrate Zhao Bolun to Xiao Xia's room, and the door was still open.
Zhao Bolun clasped his fists at the door and said, "I am Zhao Bolun, the magistrate of Luoyang County!"
Xiao Xia walked forward and said with a smile: "Sorry to bother you, please come in!"
Zhao Bolun winked at Captain You and walked into the room. Captain You was standing outside the door waiting.
Xiao Xia asked Zhao Bolun to sit down and put the silver medal on the table. It was already dawn, and a ray of morning glow shone through the window onto the censor's silver medal, making it sparkle.
Zhao Bolun squinted his eyes and looked at it for a moment. He had worked as a secretary in the Censorate for two years. He was very familiar with this kind of silver medal. It was indeed real.
To be able to get the silver medal that only Imperial Censors can use at such a young age, he must have a good background!
The smile on Zhao Bolun's face immediately became lively, "May I ask your name, sir?"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "I'm registered at the inn, my last name is Pei!"
"It's Envoy Pei. There is an inn in Luoyang. Please go to the inn and have a rest!"
Xiao Xia shook his head. "My duty is to conduct secret investigations. The killing of cattle in Mangshan angered the emperor, but the Luoyang government has never been able to find the truth. Does the county lord have any explanation?"
Three months ago, more than a hundred slaughtered oxen were found in a valley in Mangshan Mountain in Luoyang. In the Sui Dynasty, killing oxen was a serious crime, let alone killing more than a hundred oxen, so this case immediately shocked the court and the public. The emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation. The Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the local officials of Luoyang have all investigated, but the truth has not been found out until now.
The Censorate sent people to investigate twice. The second investigation was before Xiao Xia set out. It was led by Attendant Censor Wang Tao and Supervisory Censor Pei Yao, who came to Luoyang for a secret investigation. It has already ended. Xiao Xia pretended to be Supervisory Censor Pei Yao, who was only in his early twenties.
The Censor's silver medal is not an identity card, but an investigation authority card. The gold medal has the highest authority, followed by the silver medal and then the bronze medal.
However, according to general convention, only the Attendant Censor had the investigative authority of the silver medal, so the Attendant Censor was given the silver medal, but there were also special circumstances where a small official was given a high position to investigate a major case.
Although Zhao Bolun was a fifth-rank county magistrate, both the sixth-rank Assistant Censor and the seventh-rank Supervisory Censor were lower in official rank than Zhao Bolun, but Zhao Bolun had to be polite to them because he was afraid of the power of the Censor's badge.
Zhao Bolun sighed and said, "I'm ashamed. So far, there has been no progress in the investigation. We have traveled to all the surrounding villages and found no clues. Some things are just speculations. But there is no evidence for speculation, so we dare not report it."
"What's your guess? Please tell me more about it."
“First, the cattle were shipped from the Yellow River and unloaded in the middle of the night, so no one saw them.
Second, the cattle were slaughtered for sacrifice. In the valley where the cattle were slaughtered was a group of tombs of Northern Wei nobles, and the slaughter of cattle happened to be in February, the month for sacrifice.
Third, the people who killed the cattle were not locals. After they killed the cattle for sacrifice, they immediately left by boat, so there is no clue at all. "
Xiao Xia nodded. "I investigated a lot of butchers yesterday. They all thought that the way the cows were slaughtered was very professional. They were not killing them for meat, but for blood, which is mainly used for sacrifices. This coincides with the county lord's guess."
Zhao Bolun suddenly realized, "No wonder the envoy was covered in blood and caused the shopkeeper to misunderstand."
At this time, Xiao Xia's twenty men all arrived, and Xiao Xia asked the shopkeeper to arrange accommodation for them.
Zhao Bolun smiled and said, "Envoy Pei has a lot of subordinates, so let's live in the post house! The conditions there are better."
Xiao Xia shook his head. "I have been ordered to investigate privately. Otherwise, if there is a misunderstanding and the police come to my house, I will not even meet the county lord. The county lord does not need to worry about us. I will return to Chang'an after the investigation is completed."
"Okay! I won't bother you anymore. If you have any needs, please let me know. I'll take my leave now."
Zhao Bolun left in a hurry.
Xiao Xia fell into deep thought. He heard clearly the group of detectives shouting, "Go and invite Maitreya!" when they ran away. Could it be that the Maitreya these detectives were talking about was the Maitreya in the cult?
(End of this chapter)