"Second Young Master, what do you think of this county magistrate?" Zhao Yu asked. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Don't dare to compliment, you may be a foolish official, you may be wise and foolish. How, exactly? Let's take a look first. Zhao Renjie said.

The three of them followed the people of the Yamen to the Four Seas Inn, and they didn't dare to get close, but just watched from a distance.

This county magistrate is named Qian Fugui, and his family is wealthy, and in order to get an official position, he spent a lot of silver taels. Qian Fugui is a person who does not learn and has no skills, and since he paid to buy a flower feather, he has done a lot of things that lack virtue.

Qian Fugui's cousin is the prefect of Yangzhou, and the backstage of the prefect of Yangzhou is said to be a member of the imperial court. Qian Fugui relied on his cousin's support to loot the people's fat and ointment, and the people of Linjiang dared to be angry but did not dare to speak.

Qian Xian Ling came to the door of the Sihai Inn with a catcher, looked up at the words written on the gatehouse: "Time-honored Sihai Inn", and pretended to read: "Old Sihai Inn". The officials laughed secretly.

"Is there any gasping in the house? Get out of here. Qian Xian Ling stood at the door and shouted loudly.

When the shopkeeper heard this voice, he hurriedly came out and saw the county lord standing at the door with the officer, I don't know what happened?

"Sir, is there something wrong?" The shopkeeper asked, bowing.

"Shopkeeper, call all the people in the house out, this master is going to set up a court here today." Qian County Ling said.

When the shopkeeper heard this, he looked surprised and asked, "Master, this store is doing legitimate business and has not broken the law, why do you want to set up a court here?" ”

"Don't you know that something is wrong? There was a homicide in Qingshui Town, and two outsiders were killed in the early hours of this morning. Someone reported that the deceased stayed at your inn last night, and I suspect that you killed him for money. Qian County Ling said.

"Master, this store has been operating in Qingshui Town for decades, and it has always been a rule-by-the-rule, customer first, how could he ever make money and kill himself? Besides, this store is a time-honored inn, with a good reputation, and it is an inn that customers from the north and south can trust. The shopkeeper said.

Qian County Ling has also heard of the name of "Four Seas Inn", it is said that the words on the gatehouse are still written by the emperor of the previous dynasty, and ordinary people dare not be unreasonable to the Four Seas Inn. Besides, the shopkeeper was in his sixties, and his face was honest, not like a traitor, so he said: "Shopkeeper, in that case, you can follow me to see the deceased and confirm their identities whether they were the people who came to the inn last night to stay overnight." ”

The shopkeeper listened to the promise.

"You guys keep watch here for me, don't let anyone out of the inn, and arrest those who don't listen to advice." Qian County Ling spoke, and a few catchers did not dare to slack off, they guarded the door and did not let anyone in or out.

The shopkeeper followed Qian County's order to identify the body, and the shopkeeper took a closer look and shouted, "My lord, it's wrong!" It wasn't the two of them who came to stay at the inn last night. ”

Qian County Ling listened to it and shouted: "Shopkeeper, don't talk nonsense, someone proves that the two of them are the people who stay there, what do you think is the difference in dress?" ”

"The dress is the same, but the appearance and age are different. One of the people who stayed last night was an old man in his sixties and a man in his forties, they came from Henan, and I heard that they were going to Yangzhou to do silk trading. The old man had a fat head and a fat face, and a goat's beard on his chin, but the man was in his forties and had a single build. Besides, the middle-aged man was not like this, he had a strong body, thick eyebrows, and a high nose, but this man was a young man, and the dead had nothing to do with the two tenants. The shopkeeper said.

Qian County's order was skeptical when he heard it. The master whispered a few words in his ear, and Qian Xianling nodded frequently.

"Shopkeeper, although you are right, how can you believe your words? It's better to take the deceased to the Four Seas Inn, let all the tenants identify it, if what you say is true, the official will not hold you responsible, if you deliberately conceal it, then the official will be unkind to you. Qian County Ling said.

"My lord, the Four Seas Inn is a place to do business, take two dead people to the inn and tell the grass people how to do business in the future? Aren't you going to smash the signboard of our time-honored store? This signboard was inscribed by the emperor of the previous dynasty, and we cannot be disrespectful to the emperor. The grass people had the audacity to beg the adults not to do this, and if they needed witnesses, they could call the guys and tenants of the store here to identify them. The shopkeeper said.

"Master, according to you—" Qian County Commander asked.

"My lord, it is indeed inappropriate to carry the deceased to the inn, so it is better to call an eyewitness and let him confront the shopkeeper. I think one of them must be lying. Master said.

"Who said that these two people went to the Four Seas Inn last night to stay overnight?" Qian County Ling asked.

The master looked around and disappeared from the eyewitness.

"Sun Er, you are the land protector of Qingshui Town, do you know the person who was corrected just now?" Master asked.

"I know, his name is Ma Lao Wu, and he is a well-known gambler." Sun Er said.

"It turned out to be that kid, big man, this Ma Lao Wu is not a good thing, he often comes to my store to ask me to borrow money, the day before yesterday afternoon, he came to my store to ask me to borrow money, I told the guy to kick him out, I think this Ma Lao Wu must be holding a grudge and wants to take revenge on me, so he planted the blame." The shopkeeper said.

When the master heard this, he felt that it was very likely that Ma Lao Wu was to blame the shopkeeper, otherwise as soon as the shopkeeper came, Ma Lao Wu would be nowhere to be seen, and this case was confusing, maybe Ma Lao Wu owed gambling debts and couldn't pay it back, and when he saw that these two people were rich, he wanted to kill himself.

"Master, this case has eyebrows, the suspect is likely to be Ma Lao Wu, he deliberately corrected others in order to escape involvement." The master said.

"This makes sense, Sun Er, this official will give you a chance to atone for your crimes, and you will be limited to arrest Ma Lao Wu within one day." Qian County Ling said.

"My lord, is the day too rushed? What if Ma Lao Wu hides? Besides, Ma Lao Wu has a group of fox friends and dog friends, and I am not Ma Lao Wu's opponent at all. Sun Er was a little embarrassed.

"I don't care, even if you dig three feet into the ground, you have to find him out, there are not enough people, you are the land security, you can mobilize the people to act together. The shopkeeper, these two people are dressed exactly the same as the two tenants in your store, they are also outsiders, and the two tenants also have a relationship, you are limited to find those two tenants within one day, life to see people, death to see corpses. Qian County Ling said.

"Sir, those two tenants left the inn early in the morning, and they don't know where they are at the moment? Where did you tell me to find them? The shopkeeper was also embarrassed.

"Shopkeeper, if you want to clear your suspicion, you must find those two people, didn't they say to go to Yangzhou? You go to Yangzhou to get the two of them back. Qian County Ling said.

The shopkeeper complained bitterly, and the master said: "The shopkeeper, it's better to find someone than to go to jail!" You can do it yourself, but the master is the only one. ”

The shopkeeper had no choice but to comply.

"Master, what should you do with this Shandong person?" Master asked.

"Bring it back to the yamen, lock it up first, find the real murderer, he can clear the suspicion, if he can't find the real murderer, he is the murderer." Qian County Ling said.

"What about—corpses?" Master asked.

"Are you stupid? It's so hot, and the corpses will decompose quickly, do you want to put them here to smoke everyone to death? Sun Er, quickly ask a few people to bury the body. Qian County Ling said and covered his nose and walked away.

"Master, can the grass people go back to the inn?" The shopkeeper asked.

"It's okay to go back, but—pay the bail of two hundred taels of silver first." Qian County Ling said.

The shopkeeper was distressed when he heard this, and he had to find someone and pay the silver, wouldn't it be a big loss? He knew that Qian County's order had a backstage, and it was not easy to mess with, so in order to survive, he had to comply.

Qian Xianling took the yamen tolerance to the Four Seas Inn together, and Zhao Renjie, Zhao Yu, and Ying'er followed.

Qian Xianling turned around and saw Zhao Renjie and the other three sneakily following behind, and thought in his heart: "The three of them have been following this official, I don't know where they came from?" Maybe it's a murderer. My cousin wrote to me that Zhao Renjie, the governor of the Eight Provinces, was going to Yangzhou to investigate the case, Zhao Renjie was a young man, and he liked to pay private interviews with micro-services, maybe they were Zhao Renjie and others, why don't I take the plan and arrest them for interrogation, maybe catch a big fish. ”

"Master, the three people in the back are suspicious, you take a few people over and arrest them." Qian Xianling whispered.

The master comprehended, and with a wave of his hand, several officials followed and outflanked him from both wings.