Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 287: Being bullied in one's own territory
Tingyun originally had a plan today, but because her arm was injured, she could only rest in the room. When Xia Lin pushed open the door and walked in, Xiaoyue was applying medicine to her.

You can see that there is a burn mark on her left arm from the elbow. Although it is not too serious, it will leave a scar if not treated properly.

Because she couldn't wear clothes when applying the medicine, Tingyun was startled when she heard the noise. After turning around and realizing it was Xia Lin, her expression changed from surprise to grievance. Her mouth drooped and she was about to cry out.

"Don't cry."

Xia Lin walked over and sat opposite her: "Didn't you say no one was injured? What's wrong with your arm?"

Although he told her not to cry, Tingyun couldn't help crying when he asked about her injuries: "Yesterday, when I was learning how to use strong liquor for cupping, I poured too much. The liquor burned and flowed down my arm. I was scared to death. I thought I was going to die."

Xia Lin was quite angry at first, but when he heard that she was injured because she was stupid and not because she was bullied, his anger immediately dissipated.

"I always thought you were pretty smart."

Xia Lin picked up the teacup and poured himself a cup of tea: "Take good care of it. What do you say about the burning shop?"

"What can I say? I know someone set the fire, but what can I do?" Tingyun sighed. "I happened to not be staying in the store that day. According to the yamen runners who put out the fire, there were three padlocks hanging outside the store, which clearly meant they didn't want the people inside to come out."

Ling Yue next to him added, "That's right. We used to live in the shop. We just put a pin in it and it was fine. We happened to have a play to rehearse that day, so we came back. We were lucky, otherwise she and I would have become roast chickens."

Xia Lin crossed his legs and sat at the table, taking a sip of the teacup. He actually knew that this matter was very tricky and difficult to investigate. Obviously, they had hired a professional team to do this kind of thing. Now, the only thing he hated was that he did not have a complete and efficient intelligence and supervision team.

Now that the problem has been exposed, Xia Lin’s first thought is to establish a complete supervision and investigation system.

Damn it, he is asking for trouble. If he can swallow this anger and get bullied on his own turf, he would not be Xia Lin.

"Don't panic." Xia Lin pursed his lips and thought for a while before tapping his fingers on the table. "Now that things have come to this, you should first calm down and don't panic. We can slowly trace back to the future. If Xu Jingzong can't solve it, I guess there is no way to solve it either."

After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment, his brows slowly frowned: "It's not impossible."

"Ah?" Tingyun looked at him curiously: "What do you have in mind?"

"Let me think twice."

He actually had an idea, but he couldn't tell anyone about it for the time being, which was to copy the same idea and burn down another store.

As for whose shop to burn, he certainly couldn't burn his own. He had to burn down the shop of the city's biggest competitor quietly. In this way, Xia Lin could start the joint investigation with a clear reason.

Then don't blame him for being ruthless.

"Okay, I'll go find a way to deal with it first, and come back later. You take care of your injuries."

He stood up and walked out, pinching Tingyun's chest and saying, "Don't be so stupid next time. You almost burned yourself to death by cupping."

"understood……"

At this moment, Xiaoyue, who had been applying medicine to Tingyun, suddenly ran to Xia Lin, pointed at herself and said, "What about me? What about me?"

"Okay, you have it too." Xia Lin patted her on the butt helplessly and said, "Take good care of this silly woman."

After he came back from Tingyun's residence, he turned around and went to the government office, where he met Xu Jingzong. At this moment, Xu Jingzong was dealing with daily affairs. After seeing Xia Lin coming back, the old fox stood up with a big smile on his face and said, "Master Xia, you are back! Why didn't you let me know in advance so that I could have someone to greet you."

Xia Lin ignored his flattery and just sat on the chair next to him. Xu Jingzong quickly made way for him and said, "Sir, please sit here. This is your seat."

"Old Xu, let's not play this game with each other. It's disgusting." Xia Lin waved his hand: "Sit down."

Perhaps he saw the haze between Xia Lin's eyebrows, Xu Jingzong was silent for a moment, then lowered his voice and said: "Don't be angry, sir, I have secretly sent people to investigate the matter, but now I have told outsiders that there is no way, it is just a natural fire."

Xia Lin raised his eyebrows: "Oh? You are really good, you fooled me."

"To deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your own people. Don't panic, sir. The Yan clan has its own strategy. The Yan clan eats and drinks at your service here. If you have to worry about such a small matter, how can the Yan clan still have dignity?"

Xia Lin laughed out loud when he heard this. He looked Xu Jingzong up and down and nodded slightly: "You old boy..."

Old Xu said nothing, but just chuckled. Then he took out a key from the small box, put it on the table and gently pushed it in front of Xia Lin. After picking up the key and examining it for a while, Xia Lin didn't find anything different. He looked up and asked, "What is this?"

"Sir, there are two extra locks at the fire scene. These locks are quite particular. I found the most famous locksmith in town. He said that these locks are divided into four schools: the north, south, north and south. The northern school is Luban School, the southern school is Mo School, the western school is Zhuge School, and the eastern school is Yanshi School. Each of the four schools has its own exquisiteness, but they look the same from the outside. The only difference is the key. I asked the locksmith to make this key. He said it is the lock core of the northern school."

"Then what about the Southern School we use here?"

"Unfortunately, the craftsmen here are generally from the East Gate. The locks we have on hand are generally common in the north of the Yangtze River, especially Shandong and Heluo. I followed this clue to check the caravans in these two places. There are only three companies in the same business, two of which are mainly buyers, and only one is the Hongyuan Company that specializes in Lu embroidery."

Xia Lin did not interrupt when he heard this, but just gestured for Lao Xu to continue.

"Hongyuan Trading Company, the chief manager's surname is Hong. But in fact, this trading company belongs to the Fanyang Lu family. It used to be the leader in the town, but after the master's shop opened, it took away their glory. This is the first reason. The second is that my subordinates found out that the chief manager Hong secretly funded some scoundrels to serve as guards for the caravan. The third is that just a few days before the shop was burned, the eldest son of the Lu family, Fanyang County Duke Lu Chengqing, happened to come to Fuliang for a visit."

"So you think he ordered someone to do this?"

"I'm not sure, but it's 90% certain. Fanyang County Duke Lu Chengqing is handsome, well-mannered, knowledgeable and talented. According to rumors, he has no flaws. My lord, you know that people without flaws are the least likely to be investigated, so I made inquiries and found out some other reputations. It is said that Fanyang County Duke is kind and generous, and often supports some orphans, but he has supported many children, but he has never seen the children he supported show their faces, so some people say that Fanyang County Duke likes to eat young girls."

“Is this fake?”

"It's hard to know whether it's true or not, but there's a saying that there's no smoke without fire. Even if he doesn't eat, he probably won't do anything good. He claims to be a good Taoist, and he brought a hundred boys and girls with him." Xu Jingzong showed a grim smile, "My lord, what do you think?"

"But this has nothing to do with burning down our house."

"Yes, but I just have doubts. It's said that there is no impenetrable wall, but we can't find any clues after such a detailed investigation, so we can only start from his daily human nature. Besides, his family is the biggest beneficiary of our property being burned down."

"That's right." Xia Lin slammed the table and said, "No matter what, we should be suspicious of him."

"My Lord, don't worry these few days. Eat and drink as you please. I will make arrangements for you."

"You said so." Xia Lin glanced at Xu Jingzong: "Don't let me down."

Xu Jingzong smiled and bowed to Xia Lin: "It's just a trivial matter, please don't worry about it. As I said, if you have to take the lead in such a small matter, I will feel uneasy with my salary and shares."

After getting his promise, Xia Lin felt relieved. Xu Jingzong was not an ordinary person. Among all the county magistrates, he had the most tricks, the most ruthless strategies and was the least troublesome. He deserved the title of the most sinister man in history.

After walking out of the yamen, Xia Lin felt much more comfortable. However, when he heard that this Duke of Fanyang was right there, he was full of curiosity.

It just so happens that I have time to go and take a look.

On the way, he saw the cluster of burnt houses again. The anger in his heart surged up again. He cursed softly and walked away quickly.

He was heading towards where the Duke of Fanyang was staying, and from a distance he saw Dong Niang wandering aimlessly on the street carrying two large bags of medicine.

Xia Lin, who had originally planned to go see the Duke of Fanyang, suddenly changed his destination. He walked up to her in three or two steps and slapped her on the butt, making a crisp sound.

If this thing was put on other good sisters, they would basically scream and turn around and say "You are so bad", but it was completely different for Dong Niang. She just turned her head and glanced at Xia Lin silently: "Don't touch me if you don't want to marry me."

"I saw you walking around here with a medicine bag for quite some time. What are you doing?"

"My master asked me to buy medicine for someone, but that person couldn't be saved no matter what medicine he took, so I just bought some randomly. If he's not dead, I'll make some brown sugar water for him to drink when I get back." Dong Niang said slowly, "Why are you back?"

"I've been reinstated, so who should I buy medicine for? Li Jing?"

"Yeah." Dong Niang nodded and said, "He's dying soon. If it's longer, it'll take a month. If it's shorter... ten."

"Ten days?"

"Nine……"

"what?"

"Eight……"

(End of this chapter)