Divorce with three kids? I'll build a house and eat meat, driving my in-laws crazy.

Chapter 272 Hurry to the County Government Office
Magistrate Chu flipped through the case file again and again; there were already more than one clue in this case.

The task now is to connect these clues.

The first person to say that they saw a tall, thin man running out of the Hu family's house on the night of the incident.

He was wearing a mask, and he had a mole on his finger.

Xiu'er said that Manager Qian had faint marks on his hands, as if he had specially had them removed.

The second time, someone said that the Hu family had taken in a refugee, and that person disappeared completely after the Hu family members died.

Could that homeless man be Manager Qian?
The third time, someone saw the refugee running down the mountain that same day.

Could the refugee be the murderer?

The fourth time, and also the time when a key discovery was made.

Before being taken in by the Hu family, the refugee begged for food everywhere. When someone gave him food, they discovered that he had asthma and would cough frequently.

Therefore, the murderer was a tall, thin man with a mole on his hand and asthma.

Magistrate Chu frowned; Manager Qian had already been brought in.

The advisor found a corner to sit down and silently took notes.

Shopkeeper Qian chuckled and said, "Greetings, Your Excellency."

Looking at the plump shopkeeper kneeling on the ground, Magistrate Chu's wrinkles deepened for some reason.

After searching for so long, we finally found this one suspicious person.

But this person is as fat as a pig, and is by no means thin.

Tall, but not short.

"Get up," Magistrate Chu said calmly. "Manager Qian looks quite well lately."

He's gained even more weight; this guy must be eating well.

Shopkeeper Qian understood the magistrate's unspoken meaning, and he said happily, "Thanks to the magistrate's protection, Pingchuan County is safe and sound. I am happy for you."

Magistrate Chu gestured for him to sit down, glancing at his fingers out of the corner of his eye.

The anomaly was immediately apparent; there were indeed traces of mole removal on his hands.

The advisor brought over a cup of tea at just the right moment. Manager Qian took it, sipped it nervously, and placed it on the table.

"Your Excellency, you've summoned me for more than just tea, haven't you?"

Magistrate Chu liked to deal with intelligent people, but disliked dealing with those who were too intelligent.

He stroked his beard and said, "It's just drinking tea."

Then he asked the clerk to bring over another pot of tea, and the two of them chatted and drank in this casual manner.

The shopkeeper, who had been drinking, rubbed his stomach and said with difficulty, "Your Excellency, I...I need to go to the outhouse."

"Go, go." Magistrate Chu waved his hand, and Qian Lai rushed out.

When he came back, he smelled a pleasant fragrance as soon as he entered the door.

I noticed a large vase on the table, filled with a huge cluster of all kinds of flowers.

He wanted to cover his nose but didn't dare, and sneezed more than a dozen times as soon as he sat down.

He wiped it with a handkerchief and said apologetically, "Your Excellency, please don't be offended, my nose is rather delicate."

Magistrate Chu and his advisor exchanged a glance and asked, "Does Manager Qian have asthma?"

People with asthma can't stand this kind of stimulating floral fragrance.

Not knowing which flowers he might be allergic to, the advisor simply picked up every flower he could think of.

It seems to have had some effect; at least it made Manager Qian sneeze.

Despite his discomfort, Manager Qian said, "No, I just caught a cold. Achoo, achoo."

Magistrate Chu asked with concern, "Are you really alright?"

Just as Manager Qian was about to say it was nothing, he sneezed more than a dozen times in a row.

Looking up, I saw that the clerk had opened the window at some point.

The wind came in through the window, whistling through the flowers, and pollen drifted through the room, causing Manager Qian to sneeze repeatedly.

Magistrate Chu already understood; two of the clues had matched. He said to his advisor, "Send Manager Qian back first. We'll discuss the donation for disaster relief in a couple of days."

Manager Qian quickly bowed and walked out, feeling relieved.

It turns out that Magistrate Chu sought him out about disaster relief; no wonder the clerk was taking notes.

If he donates money, the amount will definitely be recorded and a notice will be posted to commend him.

Qian Lai doesn't want to donate money right now; he'd rather postpone something that costs money as long as possible.

Manager Qian boarded the carriage, and the clerk chatted with his coachman for a while before going into the study.

"My lord, Qian Lai's carriage has already left."

"Did you get any information from them?" Magistrate Chu asked.

"That servant said that Qian Lai used to be very thin, but he gained weight later."

Magistrate Chu opened the case file again and looked at it. Now all three clues matched.

However, this indirect evidence alone is not enough to make an arrest.

Qian Lai's carriage swerved wildly through the bustling market, kicking aside any people who blocked his way while his servants cursed and swore.

Yinyin carried an empty target made of wheat straw. She had sold out of candied hawthorns and was in a good mood, humming a song as she walked towards the shop.

When the carriage came rushing towards her, she froze on the spot, terrified.

Xiao Yishan suddenly rushed out, shoved her aside, but was hit on the head by the carriage.

"You blind fool, watch your step. If you bump into Master Qian, I'll break your legs."

Qian Lai glanced at Xiao Yishan but said nothing.

The carriage sped away, and the onlookers couldn't wake Xiao Yishan for a long time.

Yinyin hurriedly ran into the store and called Nie Tianlei.

Nie Tianlei woke Xiao Yishan up with a single injection.

Yinyin cried, "Brother Yishan, you scared me to death! I thought you were dead!"

The little one was crying so hard he could barely breathe.

Xiao Yishan remained silent for a long time, while Nie Tianlei frowned slightly. "Brother Yishan, do you still recognize me?"

The head was severely impacted and a lot of blood was lost, which could easily lead to temporary amnesia.

Xiao Yishan came to his senses, touched Yinyin's face and said, "Yinyin, don't cry, I'm fine."

Seeing that he could still remember things, Nie Tianlei breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go, let's go to the county government office now." Xiao Yishan stood up abruptly and pulled Nie Tianlei to leave.

"Go to the county government? What for?" Nie Tianlei didn't understand what he was going to do, but quickly locked the shop and picked up Yinyin.

"Where is Chu Xiu? Where is he?" Xiao Yishan asked anxiously; he needed Chu Xiu's help.

"Brother Yishan, you were looking for me?" Chu Xiu suddenly appeared behind the three of them and slowly walked over. "They're all closed, and they didn't even leave me a candied hawthorn."

He sighed, looking disappointed.

Yinyin smiled and said, "Only children eat candied hawthorns, adults don't."

"Who said that? I'm an adult and I love to eat it too," Xiao Wu retorted, unconvinced.

"Come on, come with me to the county government office to find your father. I have something important to discuss with him." Xiao Yishan pulled Chu Xiu's arm and dragged him outside.

Chu Xiu didn't want to go to the county government office; he knew his father was either being scolded or on his way to be scolded.

Xiao Yishan looked serious. He asked weakly, "You...you don't mean to ask my father to grant you and Miss Bai a marriage, do you?"

Xiao Yishan asked blankly, "Is this okay?"

Xiao Wu laughed and said, "My young master is lying to you. Of course, these things have to be consensual; you can't force it."

"Hurry to the county government office," Xiao Yishan said urgently. Although Chu Xiu was usually carefree, seeing that he really had something to do, he didn't ask any questions and just said, "Okay, come with me."

The market was crowded, making it inconvenient to take a horse-drawn carriage, so the group had to walk.

Xiao Yishan felt that the road he was walking today was exceptionally long, and he wished he could grow wings and fly over it.