Chapter 649 Confusing
Chapter 649 Confusing
Shi Xiaozhen nodded and said to the captain, "Don't worry, we will go and destroy the bandits. You can just stay here and recover from your injuries."
Shi Xiaozhen took his wife out of the small courtyard. As soon as they left the courtyard, Zhao Juaner whispered, "Husband, leave quickly!"
She pulled her husband and quickly left the yard and walked to the street. Shi Xiaozhen broke free from his wife's hand and asked, "What's going on?"
"Husband, I found that the captain's injury was fake. He was not injured at all. Also, that room was decorated with a secret room. I suspected that someone was ambushing inside, so I asked you to leave quickly."
Shi Xiaozhen pondered for a moment and said, "There are indeed loopholes in his words. Ma Yuan is an experienced official. He would definitely notice the change of boatmen. He would not drink tea brought by a stranger. Moreover, six people were poisoned. This kind of thing rarely happens. There is always a sequence for drinking tea. On such a hot day, some people would not drink hot tea temporarily. He is making up a story. There must be something wrong with it."
Shi Xiaozhen had no men with him. Worried about his wife's safety, he and his wife rushed to the dock and immediately fought back with a hundred soldiers.
Unexpectedly, when they rushed back to the courtyard, the captain had disappeared without a trace, there was no one in the courtyard, even the shopkeeper Mao was missing.
The internal security searched the town for a day, but there was still no trace of the ship captain and the shopkeeper Mao. The waiters in the restaurant also didn't know the whereabouts of the shopkeeper. Shopkeeper Mao was hired from outside the town, and his family was not in Wuhu Town. The waiters and the chef were all locals, and after checking, nothing unusual was found, so Shi Xiaozhen ordered them to be released.
At night, Shi Xiaozhen sat at the table and wrote notes. This was a habit he had developed. He would record every case he handled to avoid missing anything.
Zhao Juan'er felt a little resentful. If she hadn't taken her husband away and exposed the captain on the spot, the captain and Manager Mao would not have been able to escape. She was too cautious and ended up missing the opportunity.
Shi Xiaozhen glanced at his wife and comforted her, "You are right to be cautious. The secret room is large and can hide more than a dozen people. I don't know if there are any people hiding inside. But if there is an ambush, once we are exposed, our lives will be in danger. Besides, the net of heaven is vast and they can't escape!"
Zhao Juaner sighed and said, "What does that captain mean by meeting us?"
Shi Xiaozhen sneered, "He wants to mislead us and make us think that it was the Yangtze River pirates who harmed the officials of the Death Penalty Department. Once we believe him, we will go to Jing County to hastily handle the case, and then focus on catching the pirates in the Yangtze River, and he will achieve his goal."
Zhao Juan'er said thoughtfully: "Whether it is the officials from the Ministry of Justice or the Internal Guards, their purpose is not to let us go to Jing County. There must be something hidden in Jing County?"
Shi Xiaozhen put down his pen and smiled, "I discovered something today. The person who collected the bodies of the eight drowned people was actually Shopkeeper Mao. This is interesting. Who were the dead people?"
The next morning, two large ships carrying 300 soldiers left Wuhu Town and sailed south along the Qingge River to Jing County.
Three days later, three hundred internal security soldiers entered the county seat of Jingxian. Jingxian was not big, with a circumference of the city wall of only a dozen miles and a population of three thousand households. However, there were vast undeveloped mountainous areas surrounding Jingxian. In the past two years, Jingxian had received more than two thousand refugees from the north, who brought advanced farming techniques. Soon the wastelands were developed, and the originally deserted Jingxian gradually became lively.
The county magistrate, Zhao Houcai, was about thirty years old, from Xuancheng County. He was not tall, looked a bit rat-like, and had an irregular face.
He first accepted the questioning of the internal guards. Zhao Houcai looked at the petition and said after a pause, "General Shi, there is indeed a loophole in the refugee resettlement regulations. Can the land being reclaimed be sold? There is no clear provision in the regulations.
But this situation is rare. After all, in addition to the law, there are also human moral constraints. Others are working hard to open up wasteland, but you secretly buy the land and let others do the wedding dress for you. This is very immoral. The reason why the Wang family did this was not because they were targeting the 120 acres of land, but because they bought a large area of surrounding mountains and forests. The 120 acres of land happened to be in the middle of this mountain forest, in a valley. "
"Did the county notify Chen Gui's family?" Zhao Houcai sighed, "How could they not notify them? Besides, the county had to measure the land and determine the boundaries of the forest that the Wang family would purchase. Many people from the village came to help. It was a big event. How could the Chen family not know? I told the Wang family at the time and asked them to negotiate with the Chen family on how to compensate them. The Wang family agreed immediately. I remember it very clearly. It happened in March this year. The wheat seedlings in the field grew well, but the Chen family didn't come to complain, so I thought they had negotiated it out."
Shi Xiaozhen said, "This involves the second matter. Chen Gui said that the Wang family promised that all the wheat harvested this year would belong to him, but they wanted Chen's daughter-in-law to work as a maid in the Wang family for three months. The conflict was intensified because of these three months of maid service, right?"
Zhao Houcai nodded, "To be precise, she is not a maid, but a helper. The Chen family's daughter-in-law is very strong. The Wang family happened to be preparing a birthday gift for the head of the family for his 60th birthday and needed help, so they proposed to let the Chen family's daughter-in-law work as a helper for three months. The Chen family agreed, and both parties signed an agreement."
"But Chen Gui said that his daughter-in-law was raped that night. Is this what a maid would do? His son went to save his wife and was mauled to death by a dog. Has the county investigated this?"
Zhao Houcai said after a while, "Some things in this mountainous area have always been agreed upon. It is normal for the master to sleep with the maids. Generally, the people do not sue and the officials do not investigate. Basically, they promise in advance and pay money afterwards. The maids themselves are also willing. There has never been a lawsuit for this kind of thing, because the Chen family is a refugee from the north and cannot accept the customs here, but this clause is included in the agreement they signed."
County Magistrate Yaoguang walked over quickly and placed a copy of the agreement on the table. This was the agreement signed by Chen Gui and the Wang family. Zhao Houcai pointed to the last clause and said, "It is clearly written here that the Chen family's daughter-in-law is required to do things such as cleaning, cooking, carrying water, and keeping watch."
Shi Xiaozhen frowned, "I didn't see any mention of a sleeping companion clause?"
Zhao Houcai smiled bitterly and said, "In Jing County, keeping watch means sleeping with someone."
"Does keeping vigil mean sleeping with me?"
Shi Xiaozhen asked in astonishment, "What do you call guarding a house and staying up all night?"
"That's called being a night watchman!"
Zhao Houcai explained: "Some words in the southern part of Xuancheng County have specific meanings. When you say "keep watch" to a woman, it means that. General, you can go to the streets and ask. Everyone knows it."
Shi Xiaozhen nodded, "But as the county magistrate, you should have considered that the Chen family is not from here, and they don't understand the local idioms. More importantly, the Chen family's daughter-in-law was raped against her will, and that is not a matter of agreement. You just said that if the people don't sue, the officials won't investigate. But why didn't you investigate the Chen family's complaint? Also, did you investigate the death of the Chen family's son by a dog? Was the dog killed by someone, or was there some other hidden reason that led to the death of the Chen family's son? How do you explain it?"
Zhao Houcai said after a long while: "I finally ruled that the Wang family should compensate the Chen family 10,000 wen for funeral expenses, and the Chen family's daughter-in-law should be released as soon as possible."
Shi Xiaozhen said coldly: "You are taking human life lightly. Because the Chen family is an outsider and is a refugee resettlement, you dare to collude with local bullies to bully them at will."
Zhao Houcai's face turned red and white, "I will reopen the case and investigate it thoroughly!"
Shi Xiaozhen shook his head. "This is already a small case. The Ministry of Justice sent people to investigate, but they were all killed in Wuhu Town. His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin was furious and ordered the inner guards to investigate the truth. County Magistrate Zhao, if you can't explain it clearly now, please go to the Ministry of Justice to explain it."
Zhao Houcai and the county magistrate were both stunned.
(End of this chapter)