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Posted on , Translation by Dida
Chapter 114: Judgment
Xu Feng clasped his hands and bowed to the county magistrate.“I thank you on Zhou Huaishan’s behalf, my lord.”
The county magistrate hurriedly helped him up.
“Brother Xu, there is something I don’t quite understand. I treat Zhou Huaishan well because I know he must have been wronged. I don’t want to help evil and let him be harmed by others. It also follows my principles as an official. But why do you?”
When it came to matters concerning the Zhou family, Xu Feng was always extremely enthusiastic about helping.
“We’ve known each other for quite some time, and I’ve never thought of you as a warmhearted person. Don’t tell me you’re afraid something will happen to Zhou Huaishan and implicate you, just because you recommended him for the imperial examination back then!”
Xu Feng smiled.
“My lord really wants to know?”
The county magistrate rolled his eyes at him. “Of course! If I didn’t want to know, why would I ask you!”
“Does my lord know what kind of identity the owner of Bi Mo Studio has?”
The county magistrate was stunned. “Bi Mo Studio? You mean the one by the city gate?”
Xu Feng nodded.
The county magistrate said, “What identity? When they first opened their shop, they registered with the county office and were entered into the records. The Shen family is a wealthy merchant family from the Shanxi area.
They opened a shop here because they wanted to expand their family business outward. The official documents they presented at the time were all genuine.”
Xu Feng lowered his voice. “His family isn’t from Shanxi. They’re from the capital.”
“The capital?”
Xu Feng nodded.
“You also know that Dacheng’s family business has shops in the capital.
At the end of last year, Dacheng and I went to the capital on business and happened to encounter some high-ranking official handling a case.
At that time, the entire capital was on edge. I caught a glimpse of that high-ranking official from a distance.”
The county magistrate looked at Xu Feng and raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “Don’t tell me that high-ranking official was a member of the Shen family!”
Xu Feng gave a crooked smile.
“He really was. Although Shen Li is the second young master of Bi Mo Studio, he hardly ever shows himself.
Later, he took Zhou Huaishan as his teacher and accompanied Zhou Qing to the bookstore several times. I always felt that he looked familiar.
Until one time, Dacheng mentioned the shop in the capital to me, and I suddenly thought that this Shen Li might be the same high-ranking official I encountered back then.”
Upon hearing this, the county magistrate immediately burst out laughing.
“Oh, come on! That Shen Li looks barely over twenty. What kind of high-ranking official could he be who had the entire capital on edge? You might as well say he’s from the Capital Guard Battalion.”
Xu Feng shook his head solemnly. “I couldn’t have remembered wrong. The reason that high-ranking official left such a deep impression on me at the time was precisely because he was so young. It shocked me.”
This time, the county magistrate’s face twisted slightly in disbelief.
Rubbing his chin, the county magistrate said, “You mean that the high-ranking official who could have the entire capital on edge took a mountain-village commoner like Zhou Huaishan as his teacher?”
Xu Feng......
That logic did seem a little off.
But he was absolutely certain he hadn’t remembered incorrectly!
Could he have remembered wrong?
Even Xu Feng himself began to doubt it.
After staring at the county magistrate for a while with narrowed eyes, Xu Feng waved his hand.
“Better to believe it than not.”
The county magistrate said, “Fine! In any case, no matter what, if they have the ability to get Zhou Huaishan out, all the better. It’ll save me from being caught in the middle here.
If the Education Commissioner really presses the matter and they can’t get him out, then I’ll truly have no choice but to make a wrongful conviction.”
One rank higher is enough to crush someone.
Not to mention that the Education Commissioner could have matters reported directly to the emperor and came from the Hanlin Academy.
They couldn’t afford to provoke him.
Early the next morning.
Today was the final day before the three-day deadline for concluding the case.
Early in the morning, quite a few scholars from Qinghe Academy had already gathered outside the county office.
They held up banners and waved flags while shouting slogans, demanding that the county office give the scholars of the world an explanation and handle the case impartially and severely punish the murderer.
These scholars were people he couldn’t drive away and couldn’t yell at either. Listening to the shouting outside, the county magistrate’s head felt enormous.
On the day the report was made, he had already sent people to Qingyang Village, Chenbei Village, and several other villages to investigate secretly.
At present, he had neither evidence unfavorable to Zhou Huaishan nor evidence that could clear Zhou Huaishan of suspicion.
It was as if there had been no progress in the case at all.
Even if the court reconvened, he still couldn’t convict him.
But those scholars outside......
The county magistrate sat in his chair, rubbing his head in distress. Suddenly, he felt that he had misunderstood his son all these years.
At this moment, he would rather tutor ten sons in their studies than deal with this one case.
While the county magistrate was feeling troubled, Song Qi was sitting beside the window of a private room overlooking the street on the third floor of Fuyuan Restaurant.
He played with a teacup in his hand, watching the noisy street outside with great interest.
A series of footsteps approached from outside the private room. The door was pushed open and then closed again.
Song Qi’s attendant hurried forward several steps.
“My lord.”
“How is it?”
“As for the Zhou family, there has been no movement since yesterday. There’s still no movement now.”
“No movement?” Song Qi placed the teacup on the table and frowned at the attendant.
The attendant nodded. “Since early this morning, they haven’t left the house.”
They hadn’t left the house?
How could they not leave the house?
When he arranged this matter, he had specifically chosen these three scholars because their families were poor.
And when he had his people take them away, it had been done secretly in the middle of the night. The villagers absolutely wouldn’t know.
On the day the incident happened, Zhou Qing had gone to investigate those three scholars.
She had also successfully learned about the circumstances of those three scholars’ families from the villagers.
Anyone with common sense could judge that these three scholars were the breakthrough point in the case.
Under normal circumstances, the thing they should have done most was to go find those three scholars!
How could there be no movement!
“Are you certain no one from the Zhou family has left the house?”
The attendant nodded. “Our people have been watching the Zhou family’s entrance the entire time. We’re certain.”
The development of the situation differed somewhat from his own judgment. Song Qi stood up and began pacing around the room.
There was no movement from the Zhou family. Could it be that they firmly believed Hu Weiyue could save them?
“What about Hu Weiyue? Is there any movement on his side?”
The attendant shook his head. “We haven’t received any news yet. I imagine there probably isn’t.”
There wasn’t?
How could that be!
It was said that although Hu Weiyue was petty and held grudges, he was also someone who repaid kindness.
Zhou Huaishan had shown him kindness.
Now that Zhou Huaishan had fallen into trouble, was he actually going to stand by and watch him die?
Or could it be......
Wait, something was wrong.
Song Qi suddenly realized that on the day the scholar filed the complaint, the Zhou family had still been flustered.
When had the Zhou family calmed down?
After Zhou Huailin returned from the prefectural city.
In other words, Hu Weiyue had given Zhou Huailin a reassurance.
A sinister smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. Song Qi ordered, “Tell the people from Qinghe Academy to step things up. Force the county magistrate to conclude the case today.”
“Yes.”
Wasn’t the Zhou family acting as though they had nothing to fear?
Today, I’ll see just how fearless you really are!
The attendant received the order and left. Song Qi drained the cold tea in his cup and also got up to leave.
There was still half an hour before today’s court session to conclude the case.
After eating breakfast and getting ready, Zhou Qing left the house and headed for the county office.
As soon as she stepped outside, she saw Cheng Wu squatting beneath the old locust tree at the entrance.
Hearing the door open, Cheng Wu immediately raised his head.
The moment he saw Zhou Qing, whether it was because he had genuinely missed her after not seeing her for several days or for some other reason, Cheng Wu froze for a long moment before slowly standing up.
Zhou Qing frowned as she looked at him.
“Qing-jie.”
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