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

Chapter 87: One person, one small dark room (Additional update by the leader, Mr. Wen)
"Whose relatives are County Magistrate Geng's in-laws?"

Xia Lin pulled out the county magistrate of Poyang County alone and began to interrogate him. At this point, no matter how tough a man is, his legs will become weak after being dragged into the central army camp.

"Reporting to you, my Lord, the son of County Magistrate Geng married the daughter of the current head of the Ministry of Revenue, and is now serving as a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue."

"One is a fifth-rank official and the other is a sixth-rank official. They are both high-ranking officials." Xia Lin said with a smile, "Do you know where this batch of grain has gone?"

"I don't know... I really don't know. How could I know such things? Your Excellency, please understand..."

Xia Lin thought about it and realized that the matter here might involve a wide range of people. More than two million catties of grain, that's not just more than two hundred catties. If one oxcart can carry one thousand catties, then two thousand oxcarts would be needed.

The price of grain was not high, but such a huge quantity was worth a lot of money. Logically speaking, Xia Lin should just get the grain back and should not interfere in what happened afterwards. But he refused to accept this and he was determined to make a hole in the sky this time.

If he is not allowed to farm properly, he will use all these idiots to farm the land.

"Then have you seen any large convoys in Poyang County recently?"

"I didn't notice that several wealthy families in the county have been coming to look for Magistrate Geng these days."

Xia Lin nodded: "Make a list for me."

Naturally, the small county magistrate did not dare to play any tricks. He honestly wrote down all the people who had contact with County Magistrate Geng in recent days. After Xia Lin got the list, he was too lazy to sort it out and just followed the list to find the right person.

As long as the people on the list were on the list, they were all pulled out individually. On the next morning, he went to the manor on the outskirts of the city and walked in with a smile, but when the people inside saw him, they all looked panicked.

"Yesterday, I had a dream." Xia Lin crossed his legs and said with a smile, "There was a god in the dream who told me that he had a trick to tell the truth without hurting anyone. I thought, isn't this exactly what I want? So I asked for advice, and guess what? Hey, he actually gave me some advice."

After saying that, Xia Lin waved his hand and said, "Someone, come and bring the things up."

The soldiers below quickly brought up seven or eight large boxes. The boxes were big enough for a person to lie down in, but once inside, it was extremely oppressive, without even a chance to turn over.

"If I call your name, please come over and lie down. I'll give you a stick. If you are willing to speak, hit the box hard."

After saying that, Xia Lin began to call out the names one by one. Those whose names were called would be dragged in front of the boxes by the soldiers. Those people cried bitterly as if they had lost their parents, shouting that it was unfair, and looked as miserable as they could be.

But this trick didn't work. They were pinned down by the soldiers and headlocked from the outside. Then they were dragged away amidst bursts of ghostly howling.

These boxes were placed separately in different places. The environment was comfortable and neither too hot nor too cold, but there was no light at all in these places. Once people entered, they were completely in darkness.

Their howling would only cause them dizziness due to lack of oxygen because their spiracles are not big enough, and those who choose to sleep would open their eyes to find that there is still darkness in front of them, silent, still, dark and they cannot move.

Some people's spirits completely collapsed within just a few hours. They howled and started hitting the wooden boxes with the only wooden sticks in their hands, and the people who hit them would be released immediately.

It was only a few short hours, but the mental state of the people when they came out was completely different from when they went in. This claustrophobic space was definitely a legendary thing invented by the Cthulhu system. Originally, everyone planned to handle it with ease, but now when they came out, no one could withstand it. They all confessed everything in a flash.

This is easy to do. Just follow the clues and find out who the caravan and who the owner are. No one can escape. The carts carrying grain in the whole Poyang County are working from dusk to dawn and from dawn to dusk.

Not only that, there are also many caravans intercepted at the checkpoints on the road who are related to this matter. There is no need to waste time and just arrest them.

This was a big move, involving more than thirty officials. Although they all looked like pawns, everyone knew who were sitting behind these pawns.

After getting a bunch of evidence, Xia Lin returned and found County Magistrate Geng again. When he saw him again, he was sitting there, looking haggard. Xia Lin squatted in front of him and said, "Hey, Old Geng. You are a seventh-rank county magistrate after all. Is it that serious?"

"Is it that serious? Sigh..." County Magistrate Geng sighed, "Master Xia, I have nothing to say about my falling into your hands today, but if you ask me if it is that serious, I will say it is not that serious. I passed the imperial examination in my early years, became famous at a young age, and was appointed as a fourth-rank minister. Later, I offended a senior official and ended up as a seventh-rank county magistrate, and finally became a small pawn in the hands of others. Master Xia, you are young and promising, and I would like to advise you that it is enough and don't investigate further. If you continue to investigate, I am afraid that you, Xia Lin, Xia Daosheng, will not only lose your official hat, not to mention Master Guo, even the king of heaven cannot protect you."

Xia Lin smiled and whispered something in Lord Geng's ear. County Magistrate Geng looked up and then bowed to Xia Lin: "Thank you, Lord Xia."

After a while, Xia Lin left, and about two hours later, a voice came from the government office: "Oh no! Oh no! Lord Geng has hanged himself!"

When the soldiers rushed in, they found that Magistrate Geng had hanged himself for a long time and there was no way to save him. Xia Lin came in with his men and looked at the Magistrate Geng hanging under the plaque of fairness and integrity and just shook his head.

His line was broken, and the subsequent lines were naturally broken. Eighty percent of the grain was recovered, and it seemed that the matter should come to an end. Who knew that on the sixth day, something strange happened, and people from the capital came over.

Those who came were from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Dali Temple.

Did they think they were here to investigate Magistrate Geng? No, they were here to investigate Xia Daosheng, who abused his power to persecute loyal officials and kill innocent people to take credit for his crimes. The three judges held a trial for Xia Daosheng.

When these people arrived, the first thing they did was to remove Xia Daosheng's official seal and hat, and then they locked him up in Poyang County jail without any explanation to await his fate.

After Xia Daosheng walked in, he felt that the cage was filled with a foul stench. The head of the Ministry of Justice who escorted him in said with regret: "You are so young, how could you be so reckless... What a pity."

But Xia Lin just sat down in the cell and said loudly: "If you send me in now, I won't get out later."

Others thought he was talking nonsense, but who knew that just two hours after he went in, the Poxi Army, one of the three most elite armies in the world, entered Poyang County in an organized manner.

The Po Xi Army, also known as the Po Lu Army, has been passed down for nearly five hundred years. It was the Tiger and Leopard Camp under Cao Wei that has gone through many hardships and is still passed down to this day. It once followed Marshal Guo with five thousand remnants to break through the Western Regions and was just one step away from engraving the stone at Yanran.

As soon as this army came out, even though the establishment had been reduced from 200,000 to 8,000, the imperial guards would tremble with fear just with these 8,000 people. And now, they have surrounded the Poyang County Government Office.

For a while, the whole Poyang County was in a state of panic, and the murderous aura of Marshal Guo's Po Lu Army was not something that ordinary people could match. Although the three courts were well prepared and brought with them more than a hundred guards, how could these people compete with the Po Lu Army? Just looking at them made their legs weak.

"What are you trying to do? Do you dare to attack the imperial officials? Are you planning a rebellion?"

The head of the Ministry of War walked out of the door and looked at the leading officer: "Who gave you the order? I will report it to the court!"

"It's me."

The sound of horse hooves came from far away and got closer. The soldiers on both sides split into two sides. Then, Lao Guo came over majestically in bright armor, riding a silver horse and holding a long spear with a red tassel.

When the head of the Ministry of War saw that it was Old Guo who came, he quickly stepped back three steps and bowed, "General Guo..."

"Oh, it's you, boy."

Old Guo jumped off his horse and said: "Being an official is incredible."

“I dare not, I dare not…” The head of the Ministry of War was considered brave enough not to wet his pants after seeing his former commander. He really didn’t dare to be so arrogant again.

"I want to ask you." Lao Guo walked inside with a whip in hand: "Who told you to lock up my people?"

The officer hesitated for a long time and refused to speak. Lao Guo didn't waste time talking to him. He raised his whip and whipped him: "You are my soldier for one day, and you will be my soldier for the rest of your life! I am asking you a question, and you dare to hesitate? Speak!!!"

There was a loud shout, and even Xia Lin in the cell heard it clearly, and the dust on the eaves was shaken to the ground.

He is truly a fierce general... You can't tell at other times, but today Xia Lin really felt how fierce this Old Guo is. This fellow frightened a fourth-rank official to his knees with just one shout.

"General Guo, please calm down. It is my subordinate who does not know the seriousness of the situation. I am also following orders from the Central Government and dare not act rashly..."

"Humph." Lao Guo snorted coldly: "Go and invite my people out respectfully, and I will give you an explanation."

"Yes~"

The head of the Ministry of War quickly entered the cell and found Xia Lin. He said in a trembling voice, "Hey, come out... If you don't come out, the old commander will eat you."

"If you don't want to go out, just tell Master Guo that this place is comfortable and I don't want to go out."

"Oh, please, I beg you, as a colleague, please don't be so difficult. Look at my age, the same age as your father, you can't make me kneel down and beg you."

Xia Lin was also surprised. He was surprised that Old Guo was so powerful. Such a high-ranking official who was urgently sent from the court would have to be personally greeted by the governor in other places, but now he could say things like "Don't make me kneel down and beg you".

It seems that I underestimated Lao Guo before. This cup of coffee is too big.

"Hey, sir, are you so afraid of Lord Guo?"

It would be fine if he didn't mention Lord Guo. As soon as Lord Guo was mentioned, he shuddered as if he had peed, with a sad expression: "I'm already forty-two years old. If General Guo whips me a few more times in front of everyone, I... I... I won't be able to live like a human being anymore."

"Oh?" Xia Lin laughed: "Then I won't go out. I'll just wait!"

(End of this chapter)