Early the next morning

Before the sky was clear, the county magistrate was woken up by the housekeeper at home.

Here's how it happened:

Earlier today, around the fifth watch, when the maids in the house began to clean the garden, they found that the upper body of a person was placed on the big stone on the ground that was used to calm the feng shui.

There were two legs padded under the torso, and several maids who were cleaning the garden were frightened to death by this sight, and after a while, one after another, the maids, together with the guards, rushed over.

There was such a big commotion early in the morning, and after the old housekeeper was woken up by the noise outside, he immediately dressed and went to the garden to check, and after learning the basic situation, he immediately woke up the county master who was still asleep.

"You go and call the two headcatchers. Surrounded by a group of guards, the magistrate saw the scene of the corpse placed on the stone in front of him, and then commanded the housekeeper beside him.

The butler nodded in response, then turned around and left the backyard.

"Wait a minute, go to the private school, and call Mr. Wei over as well. The magistrate thought for a moment, and added to the old housekeeper again, the housekeeper received the order, saluted, and hurried out of the backyard.

Zhixian looked at the corpse stump in front of him, his eyes showed a trace of annoyance and a little disgust, and his body subconsciously took a step back.

When the guests had seen it, they carried it to the firewood room and were carefully watched. With that, the county magistrate shook his cuffs, carried his hands behind his back, and walked to the main hall.

The two heads of the catchers soon came back and forth, and after inspecting the corpses one after another, they went to the main hall to meet the magistrate together.

"My lord, these thieves are too bold, it is better to summon the brothers in the county government right now to take all the people involved in gambling this time into custody and interrogate them strictly. After meeting the magistrate, one of the catchers with a sheep's beard immediately clenched his fists and said loudly.

Zhixian picked up the teacup on the table, gently shook the foam on the surface of the tea with the lid of the cup, sniffed the aroma of the tea back and forth, and took a small sip shallowly, but did not speak.

"My lord..."The sheep's beard catcher kept arching his hands, and he was standing in place with an embarrassed face at the moment, not knowing what to do, so he had to bend down and wait for the magistrate to speak.

Just after half a cup of tea.

Mr. Wei arrived.

The magistrate who was still there just now, as soon as he saw Mr. Wei arrive, he immediately left the chair and greeted him. As he walked, he put the teacup on the wooden table next to the high-backed chair and walked up with a smile on his face.

The sheep's beard on the side, who was originally holding his waist up, bent down at some point, and the hand became a gesture.

Mr. Wei glanced at the scene in the hall and quickly turned his eyes away.

After the county magistrate and Mr. Wei exchanged pleasantries, several people were ready to start today's meeting, except for the sheepbeard who was still bent over.

Mr. Wei arched his hand towards the other head catcher, and then walked to the opposite side of the sheepbeard catcher, and without speaking, he straightened his clothes and shook them to the end.

Seeing this scene, the smiling face of the magistrate gradually converged, he walked quickly to the two of them, supported Mr. Wei's elbow with one hand, and pointed to the goatee catcher with the other and said:

"A head catcher should be reserved, don't always bend over. I'm sorry, sir, to make you laugh. After the magistrate finished speaking, he reached out to help Mr. Wei, and Mr. Wei stood up with the strength of the magistrate's hand, and immediately stepped forward to support the sheep's beard catcher, seeing that the magistrate did not stop him, the catcher began to tremble with the help of Mr. Wei, and straightened his waist again.

At this time, the head catcher also knew that most of his words just now were to make the county magistrate unhappy, thinking of this, the sheepbeard catcher first saluted the magistrate, "Lord Xie." Then he arched his hand to Mr. Wei, and after whispering "thank you", he stood on the other side of the front hall and stopped talking.

After the magistrate sat down on the Lord's seat, today's meeting began.

After the magistrate saw Mr. Wei sit firmly, he began to say: "Everyone! Presumably, during this time, everyone knows what happened in the county. I won't hide it, but the remaining body stumps, "torso" and "legs" from the suspected autopsy this morning, were found by maids in my garden. The county magistrate stopped when he said this, leaned forward slightly, and looked at Mr. Wei with his eyes.

"I guess, my lord wants to know what tricks these thieves are playing?" Mr. Wei asked rhetorically, looking into the eyes of the magistrate.

The magistrate, who was sitting at the top, nodded lightly and motioned for Mr. Wei to continue.

"My thought is that this is a thief courting you. My lord, these 'torso' and 'legs' are no more than ordinary corpse fragments, and at present, they can be regarded as one of the most valuable "gifts" in our Guobei County. Mr. Wei continued.

"So precious... Then why don't they stay in their own hands?" the magistrate interrupted Mr. Wei.

Mr. Wei slowly stood up, put his hands behind his back, lowered his head and thought for a while, and continued: "The principal is small, and the income is not much, so it is naturally cost-effective to send it out." ”

The two heads of the catchers, along with the three of them, including the magistrate, all showed thoughtful expressions.

The head catcher, who had never spoken, spoke: "You mean, they want to buy off the government and commit crimes again? Use the same methods to make another profit?"

Mr. Wei smiled and arched his hand and said, "The grass people can only think of so much, and if you think about it, the ink in your stomach will not be enough." Lord Zhixian, if there is nothing else to do, the grass people will continue to go back to the private school to teach. "Mr. Wei is a smart man, he knows, it's time for him to go.

The magistrate did not keep Mr. Wei, and after a few polite words, he instructed the old housekeeper to send Mr. Wei back to the private school.

Before Mr. Wei was about to step out of the threshold and leave, the voice of the county magistrate came again: "The county government has been abundant in the past two days, and you will remember to come to receive the money from the private school in two days." ”

Mr. Wei stopped, turned around, slammed it to the ground, and said, "The grass people have thanked you." ”

The magistrate smiled and waved his hand, and Mr. Wei left, accompanied by the old housekeeper.

After returning to the front hall, the magistrate sat back in the first seat and began to give instructions to the two catchers.

"Now you go out and find someone to spread the news, just say that the county government has found new body fragments. Zhixian picked up the teacup on the side, held it in both hands, kept rubbing the teacup in his hand, and read in his mouth.

"When the rumors spread, you let people release detailed rumors about the parts of the corpse, so as to confuse the judgment of the people in the county, so that people can't tell whether the body fragments in our hands are 'torso' or 'legs'. Zhixian's eyes stared at the tea leaves floating up and down in the tea cup, and continued to talk about the action plan.

"By the way, go to the gambler and tell him that he should prepare five hundred taels of silver for me, and I will ask for it tomorrow morning. After saying this, Lord Zhixian finally drank tea slowly.

"Will he give it?" asked the goatee catcher.

The magistrate raised his eyes and glanced at the goatee catcher, scraped the tea powder again, and took a sip of tea. Immediately afterwards, the magistrate pursed his lips, frowned, and pushed the teacup onto the table casually.

"Phew!" After spitting out the tea in his mouth, the magistrate of the county picked up the corner of his clothes and wiped his mouth slowly, and the magistrate of Guobei County opened his mouth leisurely:

"Article 37 of the Great Liang Law, all those who gather to gamble and open gambling plates privately. ”

"Chop your hands according to the law..."